Thursday, July 29, 2010
Hurricane Cal
Hurricane Cal came to town yesterday and he wrecked some havoc in our house! We stayed home yesterday afternoon instead of doing some kind of outside activity (pool, story time, museum, play group, etc), which is rare for us. We both like to get out of the house. For some reason, we just stayed home and we had SO. MUCH. FUN! Cal is super busy, but I love his busyness! It is wonderful to watch the wheels turning as he figures something out or his expression as he does something that he thinks is funny.
I followed him around for 45 minutes of the day with a camera, just to try to document what we were doing....keep in mind, this was only 45 minutes of the ENTIRE afternoon....
Then, we went DOWN the stairs (notice Hank's paw in the top right picture)
Then, after noticing Hank's "baby" we played keep away with the dog.
After going all the way DOWN the stairs, and then back UP them again, we played in the nursery. He was thrilled to find the letters he tore off of the wall. He also enjoyed opening up his drawers and walking under them.
Next, we rearranged the changing table and found the most exciting thing ever: a diaper!
ONE. BIG. MESS. (I love this kid soooooooo much.)
Cal chased the cup into the guest room where he discovered Daddy's golf clubs! FUN!
ohhhhh.....a window! Wonder what's out there?
(after these pictures, Cal attempted to carry the golf club up the stairs and was furious when he couldn't figure out how. I had to put the camera down to do a little redirecting)
I woke up this morning sore, and couldn't figure out why....now I think I know!
I followed him around for 45 minutes of the day with a camera, just to try to document what we were doing....keep in mind, this was only 45 minutes of the ENTIRE afternoon....
2 side notes: 1. Cal is shirtless.... that should be your first indicator about our day! 2. Hank would NOT leave us alone the entire day! That's why he is in so many of the pictures. He loves following Cal around.
First, we went UP the stairs (notice Hank...)
First, we went UP the stairs (notice Hank...)
Then, we played with the electrical outlets until Hank came busting through the door
Then, we went DOWN the stairs (notice Hank's paw in the top right picture)
Then, after noticing Hank's "baby" we played keep away with the dog. 
After going all the way DOWN the stairs, and then back UP them again, we played in the nursery. He was thrilled to find the letters he tore off of the wall. He also enjoyed opening up his drawers and walking under them.
Next, we rearranged the changing table and found the most exciting thing ever: a diaper!
Back downstairs we went, where Mr. Cal found the next more entertaining thing ever: a CUP! He "drank" out of it, threw it, put it on his head, pounded on it and chased it! Who knew a cup was so much fun? 
A favorite from the day :)
A favorite from the day :)
And, of course, Hank couldn't miss out on the fun....
ONE. BIG. MESS. (I love this kid soooooooo much.)
Cal chased the cup into the guest room where he discovered Daddy's golf clubs! FUN!
ohhhhh.....a window! Wonder what's out there?
(after these pictures, Cal attempted to carry the golf club up the stairs and was furious when he couldn't figure out how. I had to put the camera down to do a little redirecting)I woke up this morning sore, and couldn't figure out why....now I think I know!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Where's the light?
Cal has discovered lights and when you ask him "where is the light?", he loves to point them out to you. Also, he is getting really good at TOUCHDOWN, which is really fitting since football season is right around the corner. We gotta make Poppy proud :)
I was home alone with Cal when we were finding the lights, so I had to shoot the video in the mirror since he likes those lights best and can only see them when I am holding him. Yes, feel free to make fun of me and my voice (it's like nails on a chalkboard, really).
Video Click Here
I was home alone with Cal when we were finding the lights, so I had to shoot the video in the mirror since he likes those lights best and can only see them when I am holding him. Yes, feel free to make fun of me and my voice (it's like nails on a chalkboard, really).
Video Click Here
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Aunt Liz
I took Cal to the pool Friday afternoon for a late play group with some friends. We were getting into the water and I heard my phone ringing. I went back to check on it and saw a text message from my brother: "Call asap. I have bad news." My heart dropped to my stomach.
He answered and told me my Aunt Liz was found dead. No details were known at the time.
Aunt Liz is my mom's brother's wife. They got married 2 weeks before my parents did. Uncle Pat and Aunt Liz live up in Michigan and have for as long as they've known each other.
This is a really sad passing for many reasons....
Uncle Pat and Aunt Liz have two kids: a son, Patrick, is about my brother's age, and a daughter, Molly, is about my age. Patrick is getting married next month. Molly just had her first baby in March. To think of the two of them going through both of these huge events without their mom makes my heart break. My uncle is the greatest guy. He is caring and loving and attentive and just all around wonderful. I hate for him to have to go through this.... Molly and her husband live in Connecticut and Patrick and his fiance live in California.
The service is going to be Tuesday. My parents are up in Michigan, and I sooooooo want to be there too. It just isn't feasible with Cal and a place to stay and renting a car, etc, etc, etc.... After much discussion with my parents, we decided it would be best if I didn't go. I just hate that I am not there for my cousins and my uncle. I will see them next month at Patrick's wedding, and I am looking forward to hugging them tightly.
Liz was perfectly healthy and this was totally unexpected....
Liz taught for many many many years and just recently retired from the profession. She has a great personality, a smart sense of humor and a ton of friends.
the point of this post is not to be Debbie Downer, but to remind you to kiss you loved ones and tell those you care about how much they mean to you.
Molly, if you read this: I love you so much and I hope you know how much I want to be there for you in person. Please know I am thinking of you non-stop and my heart is hurting for you and for Patrick and for your dad. We all love you guys so much.
He answered and told me my Aunt Liz was found dead. No details were known at the time.
Aunt Liz is my mom's brother's wife. They got married 2 weeks before my parents did. Uncle Pat and Aunt Liz live up in Michigan and have for as long as they've known each other.
This is a really sad passing for many reasons....
Uncle Pat and Aunt Liz have two kids: a son, Patrick, is about my brother's age, and a daughter, Molly, is about my age. Patrick is getting married next month. Molly just had her first baby in March. To think of the two of them going through both of these huge events without their mom makes my heart break. My uncle is the greatest guy. He is caring and loving and attentive and just all around wonderful. I hate for him to have to go through this.... Molly and her husband live in Connecticut and Patrick and his fiance live in California.
The service is going to be Tuesday. My parents are up in Michigan, and I sooooooo want to be there too. It just isn't feasible with Cal and a place to stay and renting a car, etc, etc, etc.... After much discussion with my parents, we decided it would be best if I didn't go. I just hate that I am not there for my cousins and my uncle. I will see them next month at Patrick's wedding, and I am looking forward to hugging them tightly.
Liz was perfectly healthy and this was totally unexpected....
Liz taught for many many many years and just recently retired from the profession. She has a great personality, a smart sense of humor and a ton of friends.
the point of this post is not to be Debbie Downer, but to remind you to kiss you loved ones and tell those you care about how much they mean to you.
Molly, if you read this: I love you so much and I hope you know how much I want to be there for you in person. Please know I am thinking of you non-stop and my heart is hurting for you and for Patrick and for your dad. We all love you guys so much.
Liz with her in-laws, my grandparents:
Friday, July 23, 2010
Golf is on
Last weekend, Eddie's mom and sister were in town. Eddie's mom had her 40th high school reunion (when you see her picture below you will be shocked that she has been out of high school 40 years! She is a YOUNG looking grandma!), and Carrie, Eddie's sister came down from DC.
On Sunday, the British Open was on, so Cal put on his little golfing outfit (HA!) and I had to take a few pictures. I wonder if he'll love golf as much as his daddy...???
On Sunday, the British Open was on, so Cal put on his little golfing outfit (HA!) and I had to take a few pictures. I wonder if he'll love golf as much as his daddy...???
Thursday, July 22, 2010
The Museum!
who is that guy??Cal didn't really take a morning nap, so he was kinda sleepy when we got there, but he LOVED all of the different activities! It was funny, the boys (who are one month apart-Cal was born in Sept, and Wyatt in Aug- although Kelly and I had the same due date), didn't really care a thing about the other one. They were into all of the different things to see and do and explore. They are both active and were crawling all over the place. It was almost impossible to get a picture of them together!
After we visited the different learning stations (yes, I realize the boys were not learning anything, but it was still really cool to watch them take it all in), we headed into the area that houses live animals like birds and snakes and turtles. Cal loves birds so this was fun to watch.
The museum has a little kids' area that we went to next. Within that area, they have a toddler area where everything is safe for the little ones to roam and explore. It was awesome!!! The boys were all over the place, although Cal was a little timid at first and stuck by my side.
Here are some pictures from the day...
exploring around
exploring around
Cal and Wyatt: figuring things out
Getting up on tip toes to reach!
I just love his little body in this one....
What a fun day! Whew!
another night
Well, after yesterday's crazy night, Eddie and I were both looking forward to a great night of sleep for the entire family. Cal went down around 7:30 and was exhausted. As soon as I lifted him into the crib, the screaming started. Eddie and I agreed to just let him scream....and that he did.
For about 35 minutes, it was LOUD screaming, not just crying. But, he did eventually give in and pass out.
At 11:00, he woke up and was crying. I was dead asleep. I went into his room and picked him up and tried to feed him a little more of the bottle he didn't finish earlier. He ate for a few minutes and then started screaming. I tried rocking him, but he kept wiggling around and didn't want to be rocked. I stood up and held him in my arms and he was asleep in no more than 30 seconds. The poor guy is so tuckered out! I put him in the crib, and, of course, as soon as I lifted him over the railing, the screaming began.
I walked out of the room and Eddie was awake too and we both agreed to not go back in there. He was going to learn to work himself down. He screamed. and screamed and screamed and screamed. it wasn't a cry. it was a bloody murder scream. It was SUPER hard on both of us, especially since we knew if we just held him, he would go right back to sleep.
He finally gave in at 12:35. PHEW! He woke up at 6, and as we were working on getting out of bed, he got super quiet and had fallen BACK asleep!
I am taking Cal to the museum today with a friend, and need him to nap around 9 (which of course means he won't!), so we woke him up this morning at 7:45 so Eddie could see him for a little bit too.
Hopefully, we are in the process of breaking this little habit..... I did notice a full moon last night.....hmmmmmm........
For about 35 minutes, it was LOUD screaming, not just crying. But, he did eventually give in and pass out.
At 11:00, he woke up and was crying. I was dead asleep. I went into his room and picked him up and tried to feed him a little more of the bottle he didn't finish earlier. He ate for a few minutes and then started screaming. I tried rocking him, but he kept wiggling around and didn't want to be rocked. I stood up and held him in my arms and he was asleep in no more than 30 seconds. The poor guy is so tuckered out! I put him in the crib, and, of course, as soon as I lifted him over the railing, the screaming began.
I walked out of the room and Eddie was awake too and we both agreed to not go back in there. He was going to learn to work himself down. He screamed. and screamed and screamed and screamed. it wasn't a cry. it was a bloody murder scream. It was SUPER hard on both of us, especially since we knew if we just held him, he would go right back to sleep.
He finally gave in at 12:35. PHEW! He woke up at 6, and as we were working on getting out of bed, he got super quiet and had fallen BACK asleep!
I am taking Cal to the museum today with a friend, and need him to nap around 9 (which of course means he won't!), so we woke him up this morning at 7:45 so Eddie could see him for a little bit too.
Hopefully, we are in the process of breaking this little habit..... I did notice a full moon last night.....hmmmmmm........
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
suggestions??
It is 5:36 am here in the Williamson household, and Cal and I have been going strong since 4. Before that, he woke up at 9:30, slept in my arms until about 11:00 and started screaming when I went to put him in the crib. Eddie and I each took turns trying to get him down. At 1:00 (after either screaming or being held--me awake the entire time), I gave in and brought him to bed with us in my arms-- horrible idea. Eddie and Cal slept; I did not. At 4, I tried to shift Cal and that's when we woke up. I have been walking laps around my house while holding him and singing. We have rocked, we have stretched out, we have tried it all. I finally just gave in and let him play for a while.
What is this kid's aversion to his crib? He is fine until we lift him up over the railing. Any way to avoid that? We were doing SO well with sleep....I feel like a zombie right now!
What is this kid's aversion to his crib? He is fine until we lift him up over the railing. Any way to avoid that? We were doing SO well with sleep....I feel like a zombie right now!
Monday, July 19, 2010
10 Months Old!
Cal boy is 10 months old! I just can't get over it....before we know it, we'll be celebrating his FIRST birthday (to all you local folks, I have already set the date: September 19th!).
Mr. Smiles (as my dad calls him) is SUPER active and into everything. He crawls at an alarmingly fast speed (and it is still the unconventional crawl with one leg forward) and pulls up on everything. He loves to pull up and let go and see how long he can stand on his own. He has two new push toys that he loves to push around the house, and then let go of with his hands in the air.
Everyone kept telling me that it just keeps on getting better.... they are so right. I would have sworn to you 3 months ago that it couldn't get any better because he is just so much fun, but I am telling you, 10 months is SO MUCH FUN! Every day is an adventure and I love to watch him discover new things. He is SOOO much fun now. I love it :)
Sleeping: we are making all kinds of progress! Ever since we started weaning and giving him a bottle of milk at night, he's been sleeping through the night-- it is AWESOME! He is still taking two really good naps a day (usually about 2 hours each).
Food: Cal has NO issues in this department! He loves pretty much everything! Graham crackers are on the top of the list and he love ground meat (beef and turkey). He still loves cheese and we just discovered he loves some spaghetti--hilarious to watch him eat this! We are giving him yogurt in the morning and then nursing for morning nap, a snack when he wakes up, veggies at lunch, some milk for nap time, and then a big dinner and milk before bed. My sweet boy loves to eat!
Sippy Cup: Cal loves his sippy cups! He chugs from them and when he's done, he tosses them over his shoulder. I don't want him to get dehydrated in the heat, so I have sippy cups of water all over the house. He will push his little cart over to one and chug from it, toss it aside, and then push on over to his next mess to make. He is also now (finally!) taking a bottle-- I just give him one a day, at night, before bed. He is not to fond of milk in the sippy cup.
Food: Cal has NO issues in this department! He loves pretty much everything! Graham crackers are on the top of the list and he love ground meat (beef and turkey). He still loves cheese and we just discovered he loves some spaghetti--hilarious to watch him eat this! We are giving him yogurt in the morning and then nursing for morning nap, a snack when he wakes up, veggies at lunch, some milk for nap time, and then a big dinner and milk before bed. My sweet boy loves to eat!
Sippy Cup: Cal loves his sippy cups! He chugs from them and when he's done, he tosses them over his shoulder. I don't want him to get dehydrated in the heat, so I have sippy cups of water all over the house. He will push his little cart over to one and chug from it, toss it aside, and then push on over to his next mess to make. He is also now (finally!) taking a bottle-- I just give him one a day, at night, before bed. He is not to fond of milk in the sippy cup.
Crawling: anywhere, everywhere, anytime. He just wants to be moving. Constantly.
Words: He points to Hank and says something similar to doggah and says mum mum all the time. He also still says dadada and will point and a bird and say bur. Other than that, he will carry on a full conversation with himself pretty much everywhere!
Walking: He is a great "cruiser" and will cruise around everything! He walks while holding our hands, but doesn't really need our hands very much. He can stand on his own now (and get into that position without holding onto anything), but once he realizes he is standing on his own, he will drop to his butt pretty fast.
We are falling more and more in love with this little boy each and every day. I didn't think it was possible to love this much.....
Walking: He is a great "cruiser" and will cruise around everything! He walks while holding our hands, but doesn't really need our hands very much. He can stand on his own now (and get into that position without holding onto anything), but once he realizes he is standing on his own, he will drop to his butt pretty fast.
We are falling more and more in love with this little boy each and every day. I didn't think it was possible to love this much.....
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Weaning update...
It's been interesting weaning Cal Boy. With some things it is so easy, but then we hit a little bump and it gets hard.
We have been doing milk in a bottle for 3 nights now and for 3 nights he has slept through the night (woooohoooo!). Last night, though, he had half of the bottle and shoved it away and started rooting on me BIG TIME. I had Eddie come in to finish the bottle, so he couldn't smell me, and when I walked away, I could hear Cal giggling. I love his laugh, but at this point, it was way past bed time and he needed to be asleep. I went back in to split the boys up and to try the bottle again, and he pulled down my top and was working on attaching himself before I could put the bottle down to redirect. He was SO mad and SO hurt that I would not nurse him! He was screaming and crying and trying his best to latch on to anything he could.....it broke my heart. Maybe I am doing all of this too fast for him...?
So, I nursed him for just a few minutes on each side, since he wasn't taking any more of his bottle, and then he went down for the night.
All in all though, I think we are doing really well. Yesterday, he woke up and ate his yogurt and cheerios, nursed before his morning nap, woke up and had a few graham crackers, played a while and had lunch and then had milk before his afternoon nap (wouldn't take much), and then I nursed a little bit before he went to bed. I have been pumping for a brief time before bed (when he didn't nurse), just to relieve some of the pressure to get me through the night.
It is definitely a painful process to wean down.... I think it's painful for both of us!
We have been doing milk in a bottle for 3 nights now and for 3 nights he has slept through the night (woooohoooo!). Last night, though, he had half of the bottle and shoved it away and started rooting on me BIG TIME. I had Eddie come in to finish the bottle, so he couldn't smell me, and when I walked away, I could hear Cal giggling. I love his laugh, but at this point, it was way past bed time and he needed to be asleep. I went back in to split the boys up and to try the bottle again, and he pulled down my top and was working on attaching himself before I could put the bottle down to redirect. He was SO mad and SO hurt that I would not nurse him! He was screaming and crying and trying his best to latch on to anything he could.....it broke my heart. Maybe I am doing all of this too fast for him...?
So, I nursed him for just a few minutes on each side, since he wasn't taking any more of his bottle, and then he went down for the night.
All in all though, I think we are doing really well. Yesterday, he woke up and ate his yogurt and cheerios, nursed before his morning nap, woke up and had a few graham crackers, played a while and had lunch and then had milk before his afternoon nap (wouldn't take much), and then I nursed a little bit before he went to bed. I have been pumping for a brief time before bed (when he didn't nurse), just to relieve some of the pressure to get me through the night.
It is definitely a painful process to wean down.... I think it's painful for both of us!
Thursday, July 15, 2010
New at the whole bottle thing...
He did so well last night..... then we tried a new bottle during nap time.....
A little plug
HOW CUTE IS THIS LITTLE GUY???A friend of ours out in Texas has started her own little children's clothing line, Petite Pineapples. Everything is ADORABLE and it's super inexpensive! This little t-shirt is only $12! I am getting one for Cal's first birthday, which is going to be here before we know it. Anyway, she has some of the cutest little girl stuff and a little boy's romper that I have my eye on... check out her blog by clicking here.
First night with cow's milk.....
....and he slept through the night!!!!!! THANK YOU, LORD!
(I know, I know.....it's about damn time, right? Yes, I know this. But I am starting to wonder if he just wasn't getting enough milk before bed and was waking up hungry? I guess I can't get too excited since it was only one night. He could have just been SUPER tired-- it can wear a kid out tearing things off of walls, you know.....)
We are going to try the same thing today: nursing before naps and then bottle before bed. Hope for the same outcome!!! Plus we are going to the pool today so I am going to just wear his little tail out! :)
PS- total side note....I took my friend, Julie, dinner last night. She just brought home her second baby. Her first is a little girl who turned 2 in December. She is convinced that Cal's name is really COW. We walked in and she started asking COW to come look at her toys! Then Julie asked her to say hi to CAL and she MOOOOOOOOed!!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!!! I guess that's what we get for such an....odd.....name! hahaha
(I know, I know.....it's about damn time, right? Yes, I know this. But I am starting to wonder if he just wasn't getting enough milk before bed and was waking up hungry? I guess I can't get too excited since it was only one night. He could have just been SUPER tired-- it can wear a kid out tearing things off of walls, you know.....)
We are going to try the same thing today: nursing before naps and then bottle before bed. Hope for the same outcome!!! Plus we are going to the pool today so I am going to just wear his little tail out! :)
PS- total side note....I took my friend, Julie, dinner last night. She just brought home her second baby. Her first is a little girl who turned 2 in December. She is convinced that Cal's name is really COW. We walked in and she started asking COW to come look at her toys! Then Julie asked her to say hi to CAL and she MOOOOOOOOed!!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!!! I guess that's what we get for such an....odd.....name! hahaha
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
He got the L
Above Cal's bed, we hung hand made letters: C, A, L. The A was a bit lower than the other two letters:
A while ago, I heard a loud THUD and went in to see the A pulled off of the wall. The C and the L were out of reach....or so I thought....
A while ago, I heard a loud THUD and went in to see the A pulled off of the wall. The C and the L were out of reach....or so I thought....
Today I went in and saw this: 
(notice the L laying in the crib--this is during NAP time....)
(notice the L laying in the crib--this is during NAP time....)
The Wonderful World of Weaning
This post is not going to be very interesting, but I think it will be helpful to me to look back later on in life to figure out how and when I started weaning Cal Boy.....
Cal is still nursing and for the most part, I LOVE IT. He is down to 4 times a day (not including the night time "visits"), but most of those are very brief. I have also started not nursing him when he first wakes up since I nursed him more than likely in the middle of the night. He is SO active and SO busy that it is super hard to hold him still long enough to nurse. Usually we are lucky to have 10 minutes of eating. He would rather be moving, wiggling, twisting, turning, etc....
I have been talking with the doctor about weaning him down for the trip Eddie and I are taking next month sans Cal. It is about 4 weeks away. Since we are nursing about 4 times a day, it seemed like a logical time to start introducing cow's milk. I was going to put it off another day, but as I was nursing Cal before his afternoon nap, he bit me. He has bitten me before and it hurt, but now that the top teeth are coming in, it REALLY hurt. I did the same thing I had done before where I say NO and put him in the middle of the floor and he just started cracking up (lovely, right?). After trying to nurse again, with again, the same outcome, we went to plan B.
We bought some vitamin D milk in anticipation of this week, and I had some milk pumped, so I mixed breast milk with vitamin D milk in a sippy cup (maybe we could skip bottles all together??). He loved it. He drank quite a bit, but was really ready to get moving again. I let him go around the room with his sippy cup and he would take a swig and then toss it. I put it in his crib with him during nap time, and he must have tossed it somewhere because now I can't find it.....
For bed time tonight, I used the only bottle we have (!) and mixed 2 ounces of breast milk with about 5 ounces of cow's milk and rocked him as I fed him. He immediately took the bottle from me and turned it up like a wino and started chugging. He couldn't get enough! He would stop to catch his breath and smile at me and then would go right back at it!
Once he finished the bottle, I sat him in the crib and he just toppled over to fall asleep with the fullest belly you have ever seen! I went back in not even 5 minutes later (to look for the first sippy cup.....??) and he didn't even lift his head to look at me. It will be interesting to see how tonight goes sleeping wise.
I am very sad to be done with nursing (or working on being done with nursing), but I know it's time. I just love snuggling with him and I love the way he feels curled up in my arms. I love having that special time just the two of us. I love the way he looks up at me while he's eating as if he is sooooooo thankful for me (and I am looking at him the exact same way: so grateful for him).
It will more than likely take a few weeks to be completely weaned, and I am okay with that. Cal will be 10 months on Friday and I am pretty proud of myself for doing it this long. Truth be told, I would have continued nursing until a year if we weren't going away. This trip will be really helpful to me though. I have to just draw the line and if I weren't traveling, I am sure I would try and do it just one more time.....
I'll keep you posted on the weaning wars :)
Cal is still nursing and for the most part, I LOVE IT. He is down to 4 times a day (not including the night time "visits"), but most of those are very brief. I have also started not nursing him when he first wakes up since I nursed him more than likely in the middle of the night. He is SO active and SO busy that it is super hard to hold him still long enough to nurse. Usually we are lucky to have 10 minutes of eating. He would rather be moving, wiggling, twisting, turning, etc....
I have been talking with the doctor about weaning him down for the trip Eddie and I are taking next month sans Cal. It is about 4 weeks away. Since we are nursing about 4 times a day, it seemed like a logical time to start introducing cow's milk. I was going to put it off another day, but as I was nursing Cal before his afternoon nap, he bit me. He has bitten me before and it hurt, but now that the top teeth are coming in, it REALLY hurt. I did the same thing I had done before where I say NO and put him in the middle of the floor and he just started cracking up (lovely, right?). After trying to nurse again, with again, the same outcome, we went to plan B.
We bought some vitamin D milk in anticipation of this week, and I had some milk pumped, so I mixed breast milk with vitamin D milk in a sippy cup (maybe we could skip bottles all together??). He loved it. He drank quite a bit, but was really ready to get moving again. I let him go around the room with his sippy cup and he would take a swig and then toss it. I put it in his crib with him during nap time, and he must have tossed it somewhere because now I can't find it.....
For bed time tonight, I used the only bottle we have (!) and mixed 2 ounces of breast milk with about 5 ounces of cow's milk and rocked him as I fed him. He immediately took the bottle from me and turned it up like a wino and started chugging. He couldn't get enough! He would stop to catch his breath and smile at me and then would go right back at it!
Once he finished the bottle, I sat him in the crib and he just toppled over to fall asleep with the fullest belly you have ever seen! I went back in not even 5 minutes later (to look for the first sippy cup.....??) and he didn't even lift his head to look at me. It will be interesting to see how tonight goes sleeping wise.
I am very sad to be done with nursing (or working on being done with nursing), but I know it's time. I just love snuggling with him and I love the way he feels curled up in my arms. I love having that special time just the two of us. I love the way he looks up at me while he's eating as if he is sooooooo thankful for me (and I am looking at him the exact same way: so grateful for him).
It will more than likely take a few weeks to be completely weaned, and I am okay with that. Cal will be 10 months on Friday and I am pretty proud of myself for doing it this long. Truth be told, I would have continued nursing until a year if we weren't going away. This trip will be really helpful to me though. I have to just draw the line and if I weren't traveling, I am sure I would try and do it just one more time.....
I'll keep you posted on the weaning wars :)
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Goofy Boy!
Cal has been imitating me a lot lately and will match my faces and then we both crack up. Today, we did this for quite a while and we both had tears running down our faces from laughing so hard.
I tried to capture a little bit of it using my computer's built in camera, but it was hard to capture it all. Plus it is time for bath and bed, but I really wanted to try to take a snap shot of the day...you know, in case he forgets how to be a copy cat tomorrow (I know he won't, but still....).
Here is a link to the video. Ignore the girl in black.....
I tried to capture a little bit of it using my computer's built in camera, but it was hard to capture it all. Plus it is time for bath and bed, but I really wanted to try to take a snap shot of the day...you know, in case he forgets how to be a copy cat tomorrow (I know he won't, but still....).
Here is a link to the video. Ignore the girl in black.....
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Who reads this anyway?
Eddie was giving me a hard time the other day because I really enjoy reading other's blogs and I like to update ours as well. He asked me if anyone actually read The Williamson Family blog.
It got me thinking... Most of my posts do not have comments on them, but friends will often comment in person that they loved the post about ______, or they thought the story about Cal throwing his poo was hilarious.
I added a "counter" button on the side of the blog and was blown away by the numbers! It has had over 3,000 views since I installed the button, and that was less than a month ago. Then, I added the device on the side so you can see where people are from who read your blog-- that is THE coolest part! I love to think of people in Indiana and Charlotte and Massachusetts reading this blog! Do I even know anyone living in Massachusetts??
I do not make my blog public knowledge on facebook or anything like that. I don't have a real reason not to, but some of the things I write are more private and I like to think of my blogging "family" as a little closer than my facebook family (which is ironic in itself because I can choose to be friends with someone on facebook, but I cannot choose who reads this....hmmmmm). If a friend on facebook asks for the blog address, I send it to them via private message as opposed to writing it on their wall. Again, I have no real reason for this-- a blog is meant to be public, right?
The whole purpose of this post is to say HI to those of you who read this that I don't know about. It makes my day when someone tells me they read my blog. I have several girlfriends from college who have told me that follow it now and I love that!
You think your life is trivial and who would really care to read about your day to day boring chores, but apparently, I am more exciting than I thought: YEEHAW, y'all!
(now post a comment, will ya??)
It got me thinking... Most of my posts do not have comments on them, but friends will often comment in person that they loved the post about ______, or they thought the story about Cal throwing his poo was hilarious.
I added a "counter" button on the side of the blog and was blown away by the numbers! It has had over 3,000 views since I installed the button, and that was less than a month ago. Then, I added the device on the side so you can see where people are from who read your blog-- that is THE coolest part! I love to think of people in Indiana and Charlotte and Massachusetts reading this blog! Do I even know anyone living in Massachusetts??
I do not make my blog public knowledge on facebook or anything like that. I don't have a real reason not to, but some of the things I write are more private and I like to think of my blogging "family" as a little closer than my facebook family (which is ironic in itself because I can choose to be friends with someone on facebook, but I cannot choose who reads this....hmmmmm). If a friend on facebook asks for the blog address, I send it to them via private message as opposed to writing it on their wall. Again, I have no real reason for this-- a blog is meant to be public, right?
The whole purpose of this post is to say HI to those of you who read this that I don't know about. It makes my day when someone tells me they read my blog. I have several girlfriends from college who have told me that follow it now and I love that!
You think your life is trivial and who would really care to read about your day to day boring chores, but apparently, I am more exciting than I thought: YEEHAW, y'all!
(now post a comment, will ya??)
We've been gone...but now we are back!
The Williamson's just spent a week at the beach. Well, part of the Williamson's. Eddie had to work, so he was down for the 4th and then came home, and I stayed down there with my parents and Cal for the rest of the week. It was BEAUTIFUL! The weather was perfect, and at times it was even cool-- very unheard of for July in NC! The cool weather didn't last long though, and the heat and humidity came back in full force.
I took a TON of pictures while we were down there. Cal was so much fun and was always putting on a show. He didn't do very well at night down there (big shocker, right?). Our last night there, he got up FIVE times...!!! Come to find out, he has two new teeth coming in on the top and I think they are just killing his little mouth. He was in a lot of pain and it was breaking my heart (and making me super tired!).
I took a TON of pictures while we were down there. Cal was so much fun and was always putting on a show. He didn't do very well at night down there (big shocker, right?). Our last night there, he got up FIVE times...!!! Come to find out, he has two new teeth coming in on the top and I think they are just killing his little mouth. He was in a lot of pain and it was breaking my heart (and making me super tired!).
Cal's first trip over to the ocean. He spots a bird long before any of us ever see it and starts pointing and saying "bah!" (or something similar to that). He gets soooo excited whenever he sees one and has to point to it. This day at the beach, there were a ton of seagulls out. It was almost more than he could take!
Cal is obsessed with his sippy cup-- the kid can drink some water!!
Didn't your momma teach you not to point?
This little outfit was a gift when Cal was born. I remember thinking it looked so huge. It is precious on him. I love how it has his name across his bum.
These are just a few other fun ones of Cal loving the beach!
Camp Richards was in full effect everyday with paddleboarding, boating, kayaking, and just enjoying being outside. We were all worn out at night and mom and I would play Rummikube and then crash hard. Oh, and I mentioned Cal's new teeth? They are on the top, but they aren't the two front teeth-- they are the FANGS! hahaha! His two bottom teeth will fit perfectly in between his new fangs- hilarious. I will try to get a picture of them if he'll ever let me.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Lemme paint a lil' picture...
I am still at the beach and will do a FULL blog post with pictures when I get home, but I had to share this little story...
On Tuesday, I was playing outside with Cal and I got an email from Tamara Lackey, the photographer who shot our wedding and Cal's one month pictures. She is in the process of shooting her second DVD. The first one was geared towards professional photographers teaching them everything from how to improve your client experiences to setting up a studio, etc. Her second DVD is geared towards everyday people who love to take pictures....uhhhh, me! Oh, and the crew on this DVD was the crew from Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Pretty neat to have them in my house!
So anyway....she emailed to see if Cal and I would be available to shoot the portion of it where she talks to a mom about her camera and gives her pointers on how to capture a busy baby doing busy things. That's my life!
So, while I am at the beach, and driving 3 1/2 hours with a baby and a dog are not at the top of my list, I felt like I should do it... I knew it would be fun and I love doing anything with Tamara. I also kind of felt like I owed Tamara for all of the wonderful images she has given me....I know it sounds crazy, but that's how I was feeling.
On Tuesday, Cal took a pretty good morning nap, played a while, then ate some lunch. I was going to let him sleep a bit while I packed up the car and then we were going to hit the road. He went down for his afternoon nap and I was running like crazy and stepped on a squeaky board and woke him up after 30 mins of sleeping. He was NOT happy about it! He was crying...okay, screaming, and really upset! (guess he was in the middle of a good dream...?)
So, I changed plans and got everything loaded up and put him in the car, thinking he would fall asleep before we got off of the island and probably sleep the whole way home. Ohhhh, sooooo wrong.
Here is the painting a picture part:
We got going and he screamed. We drove for an hour, and I stopped to get him out and stretch and he screamed. After 2 hours of solid screaming (I could not talk on the phone he was screaming so loudly), I decided to try to feed him. Well, with the dog in the backseat, there wasn't a lot of room for me back there too. I squeezed between Cal in the car seat and Hank, the 88 pound dog to try to feed Cal some green beans. I would have gone into a restaurant, but it was 102 out and I couldn't leave Hank in the car. Cal ate about 3 bites and then stuck his tongue out and started "spraying" his food everywhere. The entire back of the seat, my face, Hank, the carseat, the blanket, EVERYTHING was covered in green beans. But on the plus side, he was not screaming. Until I put the car into drive again and we continued the rest of the way....
Now, just to add to the fun of it all, I am 5'10'' and crawling back and forth from the front of the car to the back of the car is a challenge. I would have used the door in the back, but couldn't get by the carseat or the dog, so I had to try to crawl back up front. MUCH harder than it sounds. I had one leg in the front, one in the back, and my head in the ceiling, Hank trying to lay on my leg in the back, and Cal grabbing a handful of hair. It was QUITE the sight!!! By the time I got home, my nerves were shot.
The shoot went well-- Hank totally stole the show. They decided they wanted to show how to handle the most chaotic of a shoot that there could be--- yup. That's my life! Cal was sleepy and a little in shock of all of the people in my house and Hank was in heaven. He was retrieving sticks 5 feet long and bringing them over and showing off. It was fun and the ride back to the beach was much easier on me and Cal!
On Tuesday, I was playing outside with Cal and I got an email from Tamara Lackey, the photographer who shot our wedding and Cal's one month pictures. She is in the process of shooting her second DVD. The first one was geared towards professional photographers teaching them everything from how to improve your client experiences to setting up a studio, etc. Her second DVD is geared towards everyday people who love to take pictures....uhhhh, me! Oh, and the crew on this DVD was the crew from Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Pretty neat to have them in my house!
So anyway....she emailed to see if Cal and I would be available to shoot the portion of it where she talks to a mom about her camera and gives her pointers on how to capture a busy baby doing busy things. That's my life!
So, while I am at the beach, and driving 3 1/2 hours with a baby and a dog are not at the top of my list, I felt like I should do it... I knew it would be fun and I love doing anything with Tamara. I also kind of felt like I owed Tamara for all of the wonderful images she has given me....I know it sounds crazy, but that's how I was feeling.
On Tuesday, Cal took a pretty good morning nap, played a while, then ate some lunch. I was going to let him sleep a bit while I packed up the car and then we were going to hit the road. He went down for his afternoon nap and I was running like crazy and stepped on a squeaky board and woke him up after 30 mins of sleeping. He was NOT happy about it! He was crying...okay, screaming, and really upset! (guess he was in the middle of a good dream...?)
So, I changed plans and got everything loaded up and put him in the car, thinking he would fall asleep before we got off of the island and probably sleep the whole way home. Ohhhh, sooooo wrong.
Here is the painting a picture part:
We got going and he screamed. We drove for an hour, and I stopped to get him out and stretch and he screamed. After 2 hours of solid screaming (I could not talk on the phone he was screaming so loudly), I decided to try to feed him. Well, with the dog in the backseat, there wasn't a lot of room for me back there too. I squeezed between Cal in the car seat and Hank, the 88 pound dog to try to feed Cal some green beans. I would have gone into a restaurant, but it was 102 out and I couldn't leave Hank in the car. Cal ate about 3 bites and then stuck his tongue out and started "spraying" his food everywhere. The entire back of the seat, my face, Hank, the carseat, the blanket, EVERYTHING was covered in green beans. But on the plus side, he was not screaming. Until I put the car into drive again and we continued the rest of the way....
Now, just to add to the fun of it all, I am 5'10'' and crawling back and forth from the front of the car to the back of the car is a challenge. I would have used the door in the back, but couldn't get by the carseat or the dog, so I had to try to crawl back up front. MUCH harder than it sounds. I had one leg in the front, one in the back, and my head in the ceiling, Hank trying to lay on my leg in the back, and Cal grabbing a handful of hair. It was QUITE the sight!!! By the time I got home, my nerves were shot.
The shoot went well-- Hank totally stole the show. They decided they wanted to show how to handle the most chaotic of a shoot that there could be--- yup. That's my life! Cal was sleepy and a little in shock of all of the people in my house and Hank was in heaven. He was retrieving sticks 5 feet long and bringing them over and showing off. It was fun and the ride back to the beach was much easier on me and Cal!
