11 months

well, the day came and went, and i now have an 11 month old.

this past month, calvin:

- was a spit monster. he went through a phase where he was spitting all the time. it wasn't like a little drool here and there - it was a full on intentional chunk of spit to the face or floor. we tried to get him to stop by telling him no.. so now he only spits when we tell him no.

- started pointing to things. i can ask him 'where's the airplane?', and he will point to his hanging airplane. he points to things he wants, and of course he loves the lights.

- still loves animals. i took him to petsmart and he was in heaven.

- crawling faster, walks around on furniture, and will stand for a few seconds on his own.

- started drinking whole milk. i still give him a little bit of formula, about a 1:3 ratio.

- clapping = yay! or good job!

- loves to hang out with his cousin jackson.

- can climb up all of the stairs, and is becoming more aware of heights.

- gets into everything but especially loves: the kitchen drawers, toilets, and the dryer.

 - loves string cheese, and has become a really good eater (and pooper.. he is back to being the blow out king).

- loves books and balls.

- says dada, mama, baba, and nigh-nigh (mostly he repeats what we say).

- and one of the best things about our little boy, is that he loves to cuddle, especially when he is tired.

we'll take it!

q & a

"where did calvin get his light hair from?"
                                                        - says almost everyone

well, take a look.

here are a few pictures of josh when he was little... 

ok, so josh's hair isn't super light in that last one, but i just think it is so sweet.
 i love my boys.
...

p.s. a year ago, i looked like this:

definitely, not so cute.

squinter

the other night i found the charger to my point-and-shoot and charged it up.  i took a picture of cal and noticed that after the flash he squinted his eyes really tight over and over again. it was so funny and so cute.. i might have proceeded to take about 25 pictures with the flash on just to see the post-flash eye squeezes.. and i might have laughed harder than i have in a long while. o and i might have done it again the next day.

now every time he sees a point-and-shoot he starts squinting his little eyes. such a smartie.

here are a few of the above mentioned pictures. my next goal is to get a video of his reaction.

<3 his yummy chubby cheeks and goofy teeth

did i mention that i might be slightly attached to this little man of mine.

roman and calvin

 

sorry it is blurry

i just had to document the blooming friendship between these two boys.

roman and calvin are 6 months apart, and live over 600 miles apart,

but kailee and i are determined to make sure these two are buddies (just like their dads).
and i think it is working out nicely.

here's to our sweet little boys!

best buds for life.

5.11.12

co-sleeping: something i love to do. always have.

growing up, i shared a room with my sister for a long time, and before that i was on a bunk bed in my brother's room.
even when we had our own rooms, i often slept in her bed in her room. i just needed someone there.
in college i preferred a shared room (even with a random roommate who would lock me out  as she 'prayed' all night long... or would make my bed and leave notes about how she couldn't feel the spirit in a messy room... ha) to a single.
in romania, i slept on the floor with two girls next to me and two on a bed in the same room.
when we got married, i loved having a queen sized bed - better for cuddling.
anyways, recently calvin has been sleeping with me.
c and i both sleep better when we are next to each other. we have done this before, but as he got bigger, our bed got too small for three people. c was the one kicked out and put back in his crib... this time around it's been josh. we start out the night with josh and i... c wakes up around midnight and i bring him into our bed.. sometime between then 7am josh ends up in the guest room.
after a few nights of this, c again was sent back to his crib.
this whole week i have been trying to get cal to sleep in his crib. i thought a few episodes of cio would work but...
now that he can pull himself up, he stands at the end of the crib closest to the door and wails while he tries with all his might to climb over the side. when i go back to check on him, his little arms are stretched out reaching for me, his head is wet from tears and sweat, and he has a coughing fit trying to catch his breathe...
so. not. worth. it.
i pick him up. he grabs onto me and clings for dear life. buries his head into my neck, closes his eyes and whimpers.
when i think he is asleep. i lay him down. sometimes he rolls on his side, grabs his blanket, and continues sleeping. most of the time his little arms start searching the bed and when he realizes he is alone, his eyes and mouth shoot open.
this is when i crawl into his crib. cuddle him like crazy, as he calms down and falls to sleep. i purposefully take deep relaxing breathes, and he mimics me. i kiss his cheeks and inhale his baby breathe. his little hands always find my hair and he rolls it between his perfect fingers, or tickles it across his face.
when his breathing slows, and his hands drop my hair and fall to his side... i carefully make my way out of his crib..
surprisingly, i am not frustrated with this little routine we have going right now.
i learned early on that having kids is all about phases. that things come and go... he'll eat, play, and sleep perfectly for a little while, then teething comes and throws it off... or he learns how to crawl and can't do anything else but practice... and then all of the sudden he is back to eating, playing, and sleeping like a champ.
so for now, through this phase... i will enjoy being calvin's mom - the one he wants close to him as he falls asleep.

10 months

taking his owl picture this month was very difficult, and at times precarious as calvin kept trying to jump off the couch.

 
10 months

 9 months

our little ham is 10 months old.

this past month:

- c's army crawl turned into a full fledged crawl:

cal crawling and escaping from Whitney Asay on Vimeo.

- has spent lots of time outside (bikes, swimming, walks), and has got himself a nice farmer's tan.

- is pulling himself up on everything:

 and because of that he skipped many naps to practice his new skills:

too busy to nap from Whitney Asay on Vimeo.
- he switched over to formula because of all his teeth.
(figuring out how much formula to give him has been the trickiest part. he hardly drinks more than 4 oz.... but i feel like that isn't enough for a 10 month old... but he's content and has lots of wet/messy diapers so i guess it is ok )
- holds the bottle on his own.

 -  loves toast and cheese, and eats lots of finger foods.
- loves opening and closing anything he can find (doors, drawers).
- went through a phase where he was constantly grinding his teeth (worst sound ever).
- got little sores on both his big toes from doing this:

 

so he got some new shoes (but i only paid 7 for them here).

- loves animals. especially my parents' horses and any bird. he also played with a toad and some caterpillars this month.
 - learned how to wave.

waving to a bird

- says ma ma ma ma when he is sad.
- got his first real haircut (#3 on the sides and just trimmed everywhere else).
here is what he looked like before (turn your sound on low):


silly boy needs a haircut from Whitney Asay on Vimeo.
during:

after:

- still a screamer (all day long).
- has outgrown his 6 m clothes. wears 6-12 m, and some 12m.
- is so fun to tickle and wrestle.
- nothing stops him from getting to computers or iphones.

we can't believe how fast he is growing!
love this little c.z boy!