Christmas 2012 and a language boom

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!  We picked Tony up on the 20th and Cal wanted to help him do a little work.

 

We drove to Larned on Saturday the 22nd, and thanks to the hardworking characters of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse our drive was much more enjoyable.  Cal reluctantly took a slight snooze on the drive, but while he was awake he was jamming out with Mickey and/or pointing at the semi trucks zooming by.

 

He and Great Grandma were having quite the conversation. 

 

Cal napped for part of Christmas morning. "Why?" do you ask?  Well, that would be because he woke up at 4:51am to try and catch Santa.  It didn't work.  The only thing he caught were 2 episodes of Mickey Mouse while his Mama rocked him while semi-snoozing in the chair. I do love rocking him, though, and it's about the only time he'll actually sit still, so I'll take it. 

 

"Hi guys!  I'm wearing my mom's new shoes."

 

The dogs got the couch.  The humans got the floor.  Story of our lives!

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Opening presents is exhausting!

 

New favorite hobby!

 

Cal loves his Uncle Tony, who is full of endless energy just like him!  They spent a lot of time playing airplane while running through the house and reenacting WWF wrestling moves.

 

We have enjoyed our quiet'ish time now that we're back in Topeka.  Cal opted out of breakfast this morning so he could do a little light reading.

 

He just said "uh oh" because he ripped the page.

 

Guess who learned how to crawl out of his crib?  Oh goodie!  He slept in bed with me and kicked Mitch to the guest room on Friday night.  Cal squirms and rolls so much in his sleep that the three of us (oh, four....sorry, Ollie) don't fit in a bed together!  We took the front of his crib off and bought a toddler rail, which has worked great!  He has slept in his bed the last two nights and for naps.  The only caveat is that I have to lay with him until he falls asleep.  Well, that was the case until tonight when I laid with him for an hour and he kept kissing me and laughing, singing, swinging his arms around and smacking my face, pushing me out of his bed, etc.  I finally got up and kissed him good night and left the room.  He got out of bed, as expected, and then knocked on the door for about 5 minutes while kind of whining.  Amazingly enough, he went back to his bed and went to sleep on his own!!!  Mitch and I couldn't believe our eyes while watching the video monitor!  We hope this new bedtime routine can continue. 

 

Cal's language has really started booming in just the last week.  He has started putting atleast 2 words together and has a vocabulary of over 20 words, I'd estimate.  He still signs for "more" and "eat" frequently, and will occasionally throw in the sign for "dog" for good measure.

 

Our little boy with boundless energy has quite a great sense of humor and ornery streak.  He loves to have 'conversations' with us, chase the dogs, play with playdough and color, stack and demolish blocks, etc.  He has started mimicking us ALL.THE.TIME. now.  It's hilarious and we all end up cackling in the end.  Cal follows the motions in several songs (Wheels on the Bus and Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes, etc.) and even carries a little tune while singing with us...or on his own! 

 

We love our little boy and are so blessed to have such a healthy and happy child!  We hope you have a great time ringing in the new year.  Cheers!

 

 

 

First haircut!

Yep....the mullet is gone.  One might say that we waited too long, but we hated to cut his curls off (they're usually more curly than this). However, lately his disheveled, frizzy hair has looked more like a cockatoo (according to Mitch) or a British rocker (according to Tony).  So we decided to kick Christmas break off with a haircut.  Here are some before and after pictures:

 

12/21/12: Cal sat fairly still for his haircut, thanks to the suckers!  He didn't care for the ticklish razor, though.  He kept trying to turn around to look at the lady to see what the heck she was doing. 

 

He likes to share his suckers.

 

The first snip...

 

First sucker down.  Time for back up!


"Hey....watch that razor, lady."

 

The finished product! What a cute little man!

 

Snow Day!

I'm going to mark this one down in the books, folks: December 20, 2012 was the first (and hopefully not the last Snow Day) for Topeka Public Schools.  Mitch didn't have to go into work until 10am, so we decided to let Cal open a gift from us. 

Cal was pretend sleeping on his blocks.

 

I'm backtracking now to stay on the Christmas present theme and to explain where the aforementioned blocks came from.  These next pictures are from the other night when we surprised Cal with his gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Walter!  We had to give them to him early because we may not have room to take them to and fro Larned for the actual holiday. 

 

Look at how happy he was when he saw the gifts under the tree!

 

 It didn't take long for him to break into his blocks and start stacking.

 

 "Hey Dad, can you hurry up?!  I want to play ball!"

Ok, back to the snow day.  Cal and I stayed nice and cozy inside until about 10am, at which point he realized that there was something different about the outdoors and he wanted to go investigate.  Luckily, a neighbor gave me some hand-me-down snow boots and they fit him perfectly!  It was bitterly cold out, but he had a great time chasing the dogs and crunching around in the snow. 

 

Here's our giggle box playing with his blocks:

 

What do you do with your nights when it gets dark by 5pm?  Break out anything and everything to keep your child entertained.

 

While we're enjoying the snow here in Kansas, our new niece, her parents, and Grandma are enjoying the warm weather in Costa Rica! Here are a few pics of beautiful Gabriela Sofia Pines.

 

Tis the season....to graduate!

Can you believe it?!?  Law School is over!  Mitch graduated on Friday, December 14th and although he didn't want to walk across the stage in his regalia, we did go to the champagne reception to celebrate with his classmates.  He got to talk with a few of his favorite professors and say goodbye to the halls that he walked for the last 3 years.

Professor Pierce and Professor Duncan

Mike Hinkin is an avid KSU fan, too, and we see him frequently at the games.

 

Mike, Melissa Pope, and Summer Ott (we were sorority sisters at KSU!

We took advantage of having a babysitter and went out with friends afterwards.  One of us came home at 11pm and the other came in at 4:30am with Mike after a trip to the casino.  $25 dollars richer....success!!  :)  I'm not naming names. 

   

 

 

Aside from MItch's graduation, life has been fairly calm aside from Cal's croup.  I took him to the doctor 2x in 3 days and he was put on steroids and had an ear infection to boot.  Thankfully the steroids helped knock out his cough almost immediately and he is sounding better and better each day.  Oh, and he's sleeping more and more through the night again.  I'm doing a celebratory dance for both reasons!  Here are some recent Cal pictures.

 

Spagetti and yogurt face.

We're raising an avid reader...or a demolition expert.  Either way, this happens atleast 3x a day. 

He's been refusing to sit in his booster seat lately!

I love this pic!  He also prefers a real fork over his safe, plastic ones.  Those sharp prongs make it easier to stab food....and scratch up the table.

 

Crud, he has Croup.

I stayed home with Cal on Monday because he was coming down from a 102 fever.  KK and the girls from daycare sent him a video message to let them know that they missed him.  He watched it on repeat for a good 10 minutes and even named the girls in the video (well, named them with HIS version of their names). 

 He was back to running around like a wild man by Tuesday so do daycare he went!  However, he caught my cold in the meantime (which is unimaginable, considering he only drinks from my straw and eats off of my fork throughout the day even though I desperately tried to remember to NOT let him do so) and began to feel under the weather again.  When he woke up this morning, he was wheezing some and boy he was hoarse.   His coughing fits mirrored my own, or worse.....a "barking seal".  This is what the doctor always tells me to listen for when Croup is a concern.  I took him in and low and behold, he has a mild case.  Thankfully it's only mild and he's in fairly good spirits.  He's moving around a little slower and is quick to cry when frustrated.  His Mama is enjoying the extra snuggles that he is seeking for comfort, but I am anxious for his breathing to return to a non-wheezing state and for him to feel better soon.   Keep him in your prayers, please!

Oh....this is a picture back from the OSU/KSU football game this fall.  Dayle's daughter, Finley, wasn't too shy to initiate a kiss and Cal wasn't too hesitant to plant one on her!  However, should his other KSU football girlfriend, Alex, find out then he may have some explaining to do!

 

Makeovers at Daycare!

Kay said that Hailey was "putting lipstick" on Cal.  :)

Let's play fetch....but only by my rules.

Cal and Ollie love playing fetch together, but lately Cal has started fake crying and protesting when Ollie takes the ball away from him.   It's a cyclical event because once he gets the ball back he can hardly wait to throw it to her and start all over again!  Here's a short clip.

Lots 'o Pics

Here comes a rapid debut of recent pictures from our adventures!

 

The dogs helped Mitch navigate on our drive to Larned.

 

 

There is a stretch on I-70 that has numerous wind turbines installed.  More and more have gone up over the years.  They're impressively large and are in a prime location as we have ample wind flow in the plains! 

 

 

It was so nice over Thanksgiving that we spent a fair amount of time outside.  Cal kept playing in the one section of the yard and I cornered him for repeated modeling sessions. 

 

 

"Mom, what do you want from me?"

 

He was more interested in petting Bullet than taking a nice photo.

 

Nope, that's not a large spot of white hair.  There was an unfortunate sun spot on Mitch's head in this photo!

 

 

My beautiful grandma  helped make an amazing Thanksgiving dinner.  Mom and her have set the bar pretty high in cooking standards!

 

Larned has an amazing new park.  It's actually part of the water park that we went to this summer.  There are several forts and a lot of activities to keep a little one busy. 

 

Down he goes!

 

I brought my iPad home from school to familiarize myself with it.  Cal enjoyed the games so much!  He and my students seem hardwired to maneuver through this fancy new electronic!

 

 I've got a big helper on my hands!  The milk cup in his hand highlights his concern for good hydration.  I can't sweep or Swiffer without Cal running up to me screaming and yanking the handle out of my hands.

Cal loves musical cards!  This one is from his Baba Belle.  We don't understand Czech, but one of us loves opening the card 20 times a day to smile and dance to the tunes.  :)

December 1st was the last K-State football game of the season....and what a season it has been!!  Our friends, Logan and Andrea Andrews, brought their little Cooper over to our tailgate.  It was so good to see the newly minted Californians! 

Cal learned a new word last week...."Touchdown!!!!"  He even throws his hands in the air and then claps for himself.

"Put me in, Coach!!"  Mitch and I can attest to his throwing capabilities.  As can all the books in our house, the airborne Elf on the Shelf, anything that is small enough to pick up and launch....you get the idea. 

Lilah Beth was interested in Cal's toys, but he was in a stingy mood and didn't want to share.  He actually made it a game and offered her the toy, then quickly yanked it away when she reached out to examine it.  He does the same thing with Ollie and his snacks.  It's like he's saying, 'Here....do you want this?  NONONONONONONONONONONO!!!!"  (He actually does say the NO part.) 

Look at how thrilled he is that he's tricked her.  Lilah doesn't look as entertained.

Johnna and I grew up together.  It's so fun that our kids are a few months apart in age! 

 

Cal watched the pregame and first quarter on Daddy's shoulders.  He loved the vantage point.  Mitch's shoulders weren't so thrilled come Sunday morning's soreness.

Cal and Alex Post became good friends during the games this year.  All season long, Tina and I chased them around together and laughed as we watched them give each other kisses.  I wish we would've got that on film!!

 

The crowd rushed the field after we beat Texas for the 5th time in a row!  The stadium rattled during the game, especially during the second half when the Cats pulled ahead and started whomping the Longhorns.

The boys had a celebratory drink after our Cats were named the Big XII Champs!!!

 

The Bobs and their wives.  CHEERS!!!!

 

 

 Cal got a special visit from Santa on Sunday night!  Our neighbor, Lynn Lindsay, plays Santa for organizations around town and offered to come by to see Cal.  While Lynn was in a festive mood.....Cal was not. 

 

He laid down and was really still.  "Maybe if I don't move, this jolly bearded man won't see me."

 

High five for Santa!  (By the way, do you see our Elf on the Shelf hanging on the TV in the background?  Cal loves looking for him each morning.)

 

"Fine, I'll play with the toy you brought me, but ONLY if my Daddy holds me while I do it."

 

I really had hoped to get a cute photo of Cal and Santa beside the tree, but he wouldn't even sit on Santa's knee.  I asked Lynn to stand behind the chair and I thought he might lean over it to get closer to Cal. Instead, I took this creepy photo.  No wonder Cal is scared of Santa.....this picture is a little frightening.

 

Scratch that.....terrifying.

Santa left and Cal went back to pulling the ornaments off the tree.  All was well once again in the Walter house.