ALLLLLLL BOY!

Thank Heavens for Little Boys!Let me just tell you, Cal Williamson is ALLLLL BOY! He is super curious, super squirmy, and I am starting to see some mischief develop too! Here are some "All Boy" stories from the week:

On this past Monday night, Eddie and I had a "date night" (read: we had to run to the mall and didn't want to haul Cal with us!), so my mom kept Cal for us. When we picked him up, my mom was super upset. Cal was playing on the floor and cut his nose either with one of his nails or with a toy... either way, he had a huge gash on his nose. We didn't care-- boys with be boys! But my mom felt terrible! He looks adorable with a big ol' scratch on his face and it doesn't seem to phase him at all. He didn't even cry when he did it!

Yesterday afternoon, I put Cal down for his afternoon nap. He sat up there talking for a while and then he was crying. I went into check on him, and it was really hot in his room with the afternoon sun shining in. I took off his shorts and shirt and put him in a light t-shirt and clean diaper to go back down. I went into my room and could hear him chuckling in his room. I looked on my video monitor and could see nothing but polkadots (the polkadots that are in his laundry hamper!). So, I went in to check on him, and the little munchkin had TAKEN OFF HIS DIAPER and thrown it at the video monitor and knocked it into the hamper. He then peed all over his crib... everything was soaked! He was so proud of himself when I walked in to get him and was tickled that he was naked-- he couldn't stop laughing!

(this is him right before the nap-- squirming like crazy!)

He now has TWO teeth coming in so he is a drooling mess all the time and it just cracks him up! He thinks the slobber coming out of his mouth is just the funniest thing ever and he laughs so hard as it drips down-- gross, huh?

In the top picture, I had to get creative when feeding Cal. He will take a mouth full of food and then start saying BYE BYE over and over again, spitting the food all over the place. Of course, I say no no, but Hank comes running to clean it up and Cal thinks this is the best game ever! He usually wipes the food over his cheeks and then turns his head to find the dog and wipes his face clean on the sleeve of his shirt. I tried to fix that by putting a dish towel on him under his bib. It worked! He stayed clean!

Family Ties

My family tree is an interesting one...

My dad's mom, Doris

My mom's dad, Bruce serving in WWII

My mom's parents (LOVE this picture of them!):
My dad's parents

My mom's mom passed away from breast cancer before I was born. My dad's dad also passed away (from a heart attack) before I was born.

My (remaining) Grandfather was so devastated after his wife died that he sort of shut himself down and wouldn't talk to anyone-- it was really hard on my mom to watch him be so upset. I love how in the picture of them above you can almost feel the love he has for her-- just look at how he looks at her......sigh!

When my brother was born in 1978, it brought my Granma and Granpa to town to see him. They started spending some time together and found happiness again in each other's company. They both had experienced a painful loss and that common factor was something that bonded them. For the first time in a long time, they were both smiling and happy.

This picture was taken right before I was born... they brought McDonald's in for my brother who was obsessed with BeeBies (french fries!)

Long story short, they fell in love, and waited until after I was born in September, 1980 and got married in October! In Spanish class in high school, we had to create a family tree with the limbs that were labeled (in Spanish)...my teacher could not understand that MY family tree actually grew together!

If you want to get technical about it all, my mom and dad are step-brother and sister-- how gross is that? haha

I love old pictures and after reading Lauren's post on her Happily Nested blog, I really want to do something with all of these pictures!

Fun Blog to Check Out

My friend, Lauren, started a new blog and after visiting it, I am hooked! Lauren has the cutest house and she shares some of her "design tips" on her blog. She has a great husband and a sweet (huge!) dog, who gets featured in several of her posts-- I now look for him (the dog) in the posts!

I especially love that her design ideas aren't overly expensive...and that she is totally honest about how much a project costs. I also love that you don't have to be an expert or crafty to complete her projects on your own.

So now, Eddie and I need to move into a new house so that Lauren can help me decorate it! If you have a chance to check it out, it's worth it, I promise! I am not crafty at ALL and she has inspired me.....
Here is Winston helping out with one of the projects (I LOVE the way this project looks when done-- SO neat and so easy too!)

This idea (above) is one of my favorites and one I would like to attempt with pictures from places we have traveled. Here is a link to that post.And again.....Mr. Winston is helping Lauren!

Enjoy!

Bye Bye!

This is another one of those videos where I am pretty sure he's saying something, but to others I just seem like a crazy mom. Cal has been waving his hands a LOT lately and just started putting together what sounds (to me!) a lot like bye bye.

He was doing it a bunch this weekend when Eddie's sister was around, but we weren't ever quick enough to grab the video camera. Today after lunch he was extra chatty so I started filming.....

What do you think? Can you make out bye bye? Am I crazy for thinking so? :) ---> don't answer that one.

http://gallery.mac.com/cewilliamson#100371

A toofer!

We knew it was coming.... Cal has sprouted a sweet little tooth! His nose has been runny and the amount of drool coming out of his mouth is unbelievable, so we knew it was coming any day now. Last night he was just exhausted and woke up several times in the night-- and once I just held him and snuggled a bit, he was out-- it was about the sweetest thing EVER. I had a feeling after a night like last night that we might see the tooth pop through and this morning it wasn't there, and then right before his afternoon nap, I felt it! It is darn near impossible to get a picture of it, but it's there! I will try to post a picture if I get one.

Wish me luck nursing.............

What a weekend!

Whew! What a weekend Mr. Cal has had! It is hard work being a baby (and being so cute all at the same time!). He is working on cutting a tooth right now (notice the drool in the pictures) and he has had quite the runny nose to prove it! Cal has become SUPER talkative lately, and the above picture is pretty typical for what he does all the time! Just chatting away, carrying on a conversation with any/everyone! Not sure what he's saying, but he's adamant about it!

On Friday, Cal and I went to Durham Academy to the book fair to buy a couple of new books, so you know he had to look nice to meet everyone! I LOVE this outfit: linen pants from Baby Gap and a turquoise polo shirt also from Baby Gap. He is wearing the cutest shoes from Old Navy-- they look just like little boat shoes. He has a pair of Sperry Topsiders, but he is able to take them off immediately and for some reason, these shoes from Old Navy stay on him. He is having a big time playing away with his toys!

Also on the weekend agenda for Cal was trying super hard to crawl! Here, he has rolled all the way into the closet and he is trying to crawl himself out. He gets SO close and then collapses on the floor super frustrated. It is so cute to watch him. I just want to do it for him!

And, just another look at the awesome drool that we have going on :) Gotta love a teething baby! (at least he's a happy teether!)

Eddie's sister, Carrie, came for the weekend to hang out with Cal. It's nice having her just in DC so she can come down often to visit with him.

(we skyped with Eddie's other sister, Tricia...we had a late night wine party after Cal went to bed and had a little dance party for Tricia!)

I had the Junior League "Home Roam" on Saturday, so I was gone working that most of the day. I know Eddie was thankful to have his sister there to help him with the little guy.

After such an action-packed weekend, Cal was tuckered out tonight! He didn't put up a fight at all... There is nothing sweeter than a sleeping baby!And the last picture just cracks me up... The sun shines directly in Cal's nursery windows during all nap times and then tonight, it was still bright in there. Because of the shape of the windows, we can not hang blackout shades (we have tried numerous times!). Instead, I got crafty and strategically placed burp clothes over most of the cracks to cover up where the sun shines through-- does this not look like white trash at its finest??

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Big Boy Carseat!

It was time.... Cal's long legs were continuously kicking the back of the seat! My parents bought Jackson, their other grandson, a new car seat when he out grew his infant one, so they did the same for Cal today. We went to Bye Bye Baby and picked out Cal's new seat! He LOVES it-- he can sit up and look around! The girl in the store kept telling us that since he was right at 20 pounds, we were okay to face him to the front of the car (!!). I thought you had to wait until he was a year AND over 20 pounds, but she kept insisting otherwise. She said his legs were too long to face the back of the car and we needed to face him to the front. Whether or not she was correct, Cal is facing the back of the car and is happy as can be!

When did you turn your baby around? Was the lady in the store right?

Mommy's Little Reader

I really want Cal to enjoy books as much as I have so we have a ton of them! I try to read to him at night, but he doesn't really go for it. He would much rather eat the books (and throw them across the room) than listen to a story. That is fine with me-- he is still young! He did sit in the rocker in the nursery and play with a book and I took some quick pictures of him. I am now obsessed with Picassa, so I will turn these pictures into a blog post!

My mom swears that my brother and I were early talkers because she always read to us. I am hoping Cal will enjoy being read to as much as I used to!

7 Months Old!

I can NOT believe that Cal Boy is now 7 months old!

It's getting harder and harder to get his picture holding the sign. It's funny, when my friend (Hey, Stephanie!)'s daughter was 7 months, I remember her writing both of those exact things: can't believe she's 7 months, and it's impossible to have her hold the sign!

Milestones for now:

Sleeping: still a MEGA issue. No more sleeping in the swing....ever. It's only in the crib (or occasionally the stroller)

Food: loves everything! He eats all of the veggies and fruit I give him! I am cutting back on nursing...

Sippy Cup: I have been searching for a sippy cup that he will actually use, and have tried several different brands, but he doesn't seem to like any of them. I finally found one yesterday that he LOVES! He is such a big boy drinking his water from a sippy cup.

Crawling: Sill no crawling here...and I can't say I am complaining! He can roll like no one's business. He will push up on to his hands and knees, but is not moving forward yet. He will reeeeeach for something, and then just decide to roll to it instead. I really have to watch him with Hank now because he will roll across the room just to be near his buddy.

Words: He is still saying UP and a few other mombo jumbo words. I love listening to him "talk"!

Body After Baby

I was hesitant to write this post, but I know some day I will want to look back and read about the journey to get my body back after having a baby...

It isn't easy for me to admit this, BUT I gained just under 50 pounds when I was pregnant. GULP. Dang, that is a LOT. I knew it was A LOT while I was pregnant, but I also knew a lot of it was water weight, and I also had a 9 pound baby (didn't know that part while I was pregnant!).

Everyone kept telling me: "It takes 10 months to put it on, give yourself 10 months to take it off..." Uhhhh....I understand that logic, but 50 pounds is A LOT (have I mentioned yet that it was A LOT of weight?), and I didn't need to be carrying that much around.

I am proud to say that I am now below my starting weight as of now... we'll see if I maintain it!

While I would like to say that it is because of diet...it's not. I am hungrier now than I was during first trimester of my pregnancy. And I eat 3 times as much as I did then. Literally. While I am writing all of this, I might as well admit what I ate on Sunday: a bagel, a blizzard from Dairy Queen, nachos, 3 chunks of chocolate ship cookie dough, quesadillas. Seriously-- how gross is that?

The main reason for the weight loss is nursing. So many people can't believe I have nursed as long as I have....I can't imagine not nursing (not for the weight loss, but because of the benefits). Doctors tell you the amount of calories burned when you nurse, and I have no idea what they are. I know nursing has increased my appetite immensely.

The other main contribution to the weight loss is walking. I figure I average 20-25 miles a week that I walk. It is a sure fire way to get Cal to sleep in his morning nap when crying it out ain't working! Hank is now trained to heel perfectly beside the jogger and we make great time. I try to keep up a really fast pace. I love that time by myself, either listening to music, listening to a book on tape, or talking on the phone (I have a headset that I can use while I walk-- I don't have enough hands otherwise!). Everyone is happy after a walk: Hank is thrilled, Cal is happy to have napped, and Momma is happy to be outside and getting the heart rate up.

I did Zumba three times and loved it and I have gone to the gym I think 4-5 times since Cal has been born. I just love this beautiful weather and love being outside enjoying it! Soon it will be too hot to walk and I will have to try to go either wayyyy early in the morning or at night.

When I stop nursing, I know I am going to have to cut back on the amount of sweets I am consuming. It's not that I have cravings, per se, but I really want the sweets! Go figure!

Also, my weight is below my starting weight, but my body shape has changed completely. My boobs are twice the size they were previously. My stomach is pudgy with love handles (this is new to me). My legs (my problem area) have slimmed some due to the walking....but everything is different than it was before.

Just to give you a little looksie at what I had to lose........ (I could have been a contestant on The Biggest Loser. Seriously):(I might walk double tomorrow, just to make up for that picture! hahaha)