Cal's First Day at Preschool

Calaman excitedly walked into Miss Kristin's HUGS preschool on Tuesday morning, his first day of school. After hanging his backpack on the hook he quickly took off to be with the other boys. I heard a "bye mommy" and got his signature hand wave... and that was it. He has come home a happy boy each day. I guess going to school will be a bigger adjustment for me than for him!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Calaman!

2 weeks old

1 year old

2 years old

3 years old

Dear Cal,

We are so glad you are part of our family! From the day you arrived three years ago you have been a bundle of energy and love, taking in every moment of life and leaving us all better for it.

We love your sweet singing voice, deep belly laugh, cala-snuggles, determination, vast vocabulary, smile and desire to master new things.

May your birthday wishes come true -- cupcakes, bacon and a visit to the train park!

Love,
Mom & Dad

Is it Time?

When it comes to potty training, I tend to think like my Aunt Erin. That is, wait until they are begging you. So, the question is does Cal's current behavior constitute begging. You know, things like:

• taking off his diaper and bringing it to me and saying "wet"
• retrieving his Ernie and Bert toilet seat from its hiding place in the cabinet, placing it on the toilet by himself, and then telling me to "help"
  
• wanting to read the book "Bye-Bye Diapers" constantly
• working the word "poop" into several conversations throughout they day

During our last visit with the pediatrician, he told us that if a child can operate the remote control, he can be potty-trained. In that case, Cal has been ready for months. So, Erin and all of you mothers out there, what suggestions do you have? I've read and heard a lot about the 1 day program, some good and some not so good. What has worked for you?

Two Years Old and Mr. Independent

Our little Cal is not so little anymore. He officially turned two on Sunday and has let us know that he likes to do things his way! Grammy came into town for the big day and we had a great time celebrating together on Saturday. Cal got to choose the agenda. In his words it was "choo-choo" (Train Park in Scottsdale), "mmmm...good" (Chick-fil-A), "pool" (swimming at home), and "cupcakes" (no translation required).

Here's a look at our day:

Cal was so exhausted and hot (think it got to 103 on Saturday) that he fell asleep on the way to lunch at Chic-fil-A (hence the lovely bed head in the Chick-fil-A photo)
That evening we opened gifts. Cal was so excited about his little tikes car that he couldn't wait for Chris to put it together before trying it out. Without any prompting at all he found he steering wheel, placed it in the correct hole, sat in the car and started saying "beep, beep."

And the Cala-Trivia Winner is...

Calahan's Aunt (and my sister), Anne Marie. Congrats, Anner! Leave me a comment as to which prize you want (homemade strawberry jam or a restaurant gift card) and I'll get it in the mail.

Thanks to everyone who played along. Here are the correct answers:

1) Which of the following "dips" does Calahan NOT like?

Mayo

Cal is known as our little dipper. He will eat almost anything if he can dip it. We often ask him if he'd like some ketchup with his hot dog, some chicken with his BBQ sauce and quesadilla with his salsa.

2) Who is Calahan's favorite Signing Time character?

Hopkins

3) What is Cal's favorite thing to say?

All done

Cal is a little analyzer and loves to tell us when something has finished (or he wants it to finish). All done is usually a good thing unless we are at a restaurant and he proclaims "all done" before we've even ordered our food!

4) Calahan enjoys all of the following activities EXCEPT:

Riding in the stroller

Much to my chagrin, Calahan hates being constrained when out in public. Shopping carts, high chairs, and strollers are all trouble. Surprisingly, Cal has learned to love brushing his teeth (if you give him enough baby toothpaste on the brush).

5) Which of the following has Cal NOT done:

Smeared vaseline all over the window in his bedroom (thank goodness)

Here's a little view of the oatmeal incident:

And here's a look at his hair after the bath gel incident. I think it was an honest attempt to gel his hair that went bad. Even though this happened in October, our carpet still smells like Molton Brown's black pepper.

6) How many ASL signs does Cal do on a regular basis?

More than 50.

Calahan has saved both of us a lot of frustration because he can tell us what he wants in sign when he can't say it. We've really stepped up our emphasis on sign since Crewe is going to have a speech delay and we will all need to communicate with him this way for a least a little while.

7) Cal's favorite musical instrument is:

The Drums 

I thought this phase might pass, but it hasn't! Cal loves to beat on the drums. He can actually keep a beat and also loves to tap his hand on his leg to the beat of music. I've got to get a video of this because it's so cute.

Thanks again for playing along. This is such a fun age. I wish I could just press the pause button.

Cala-Trivia -- Play along and win a prize!

Where have the last two months gone? Calahan is 20 months old today and I completely missed doing his 18 month update. So, I'm going to do an update via a trivia quiz about the little man. Here's how it goes: Anyone who wants to play along should use the comment function to reply with his/her answers to the 7 questions below about Calahan. Answers are due by January 15th. The person who scores the highest will win their choice of a jar of homemade strawberry jam (Cal's favorite breakfast treat) or a $10 gift card to one of Cal's favorite restaurants (Chick-fil-a, McDonalds, or Cheesecake Factory).

Got it? Okay, start answering! You don't even have to know Calahan to play along. Good Luck!

1) Which of the following "dips" does Calahan NOT like?

A) BBQ Sauce

B) Ketchup

C) Guacamole

D) Mayo

2) Who is Calahan's favorite Signing Time character?

A) Hopkins

B) Rachel

C) Leah

D) Alex

3) What is Cal's favorite thing to say?

A) No

B) All done

C) Dada

D) More

4) Calahan enjoys all of the following activities EXCEPT:

A) Reading books

B) Listening to music

C) Riding in the stroller

D) Brushing his teeth

5) Which of the following has Cal NOT done?

A) Spilled an entire bottle of men's body wash on the living room carpet

B) Smeared vaseline all over the window in his bedroom

C) Emptied a brand new container of oatmeal all over the pantry floor

D) Put a container of hot chocolate into the washer full that washed with a load of clothes

6) How many ASL signs does Calahan do on a regular basis?

A) 10-15

B) 16-30

C) 31-50

D) More than 50

7) Cal's favorite musical instrument is:

A) Piano

B) Drums

C) Maracas

D) Anything he can find in the kitchen cabinets

16 Months and Growing

Calahan is growing like a weed – both physically and mentally. He is getting taller, his hair is beginning to fill in, and he now has two molars. He also seems to be learning something new everyday and regularly entertains us with his new skills and attempts at new skills.

Calahan is a total organizer. In the bathtub today, he separated his rubber ducks from the rest of his tub toys. He also likes to be clean. He hates to have anything between his toes, and although he loves to go outside, he can’t stand to be outside barefoot.

He is also a multitasker. He cracked me up the other day when he climbed onto his rocking dog with his sippy cup in one hand and his hairbrush in the other hand and then proceeded to rock while drinking his juice and brushing his hair! He loves his sippy cups and can often be found running while drinking – I call it drunk driving!

Calahan loves books. His current favorites are ones with animals, different textures that he can feel, and flaps he can lift. He also loves any book that plays music or can be sung aloud. He can find almost any book by name.

One of his major accomplishments of the past few weeks is going to sleep entirely on his own (yipee!). We don’t have to rock him or sing multiple songs anymore to get him to go down for a nap! He will often tell us “night-night” and bring us his blanket to let us know he is tired. With a simple kiss and a “sleep good” he climbs into his crib and talks himself to sleep!

His vocabulary is growing.  He regularly says about 10 words: dada (his favorite word), mama, night-night, nana, bye-bye, baby, eat, amen, Jesus, cheese, nose, and no-no-no (with the accompanying pointer finger).  When he is not talking, he is signing. His favorite signs are more, all done, please, thank you, cracker, milk, drink, car, dog, ball, brush teeth, and wash hands.

Calahan's First Haircut

Notice the chips in his hands!

Calahan is signing "more" as in "more chips if you want to keep cutting my hair!"

Yipee!  I'm all finished!

Salt and vinegar chips, a fountain drink, and cousin Mindy.  That's the recipe for a good toddler haircut.  If only I had figured that out a couple of months ago!  Calahan's hair had been curling in the back for several weeks and had sprouted a nice ringlet at the top. At first it was endearing, but then it grew old as his hair began to resemble a mullet and a mohawk. I just didn't have the guts to cut it myself. Thanks, Mindy for doing the honors.

And, yes, this really is just his first haircut. It took over a year for his hair to get to a point where we could cut it. We giggle when we remember that there were premies in the NICU that had more hair than Calahan when he came to visit Crewe last month.

One year old

Calahan turned one on May 10th!  It's hard to believe that our little guy is now a toddler.  Since he loves animals, we took him to the zoo to celebrate his big day.  We should have taken him to the mall instead because he was far more interested in the people than the animals.  He did get slightly excited about petting a goat and watching the rhinos.

No birthday is complete without cake and we gave Cal a whole bunch of cupcake choices.  He attacked the cupcakes with both hands only to realize that they made him very sticky.  Calahan doesn't like to be dirty and immediately began to wipe off the frosting... on his clothes of course!

We are so grateful to have this little guy and are looking forward to another great year.