Walking...?

Could it be? Do we really have a walker on our hands???  After the service today, Cal and I were playing like we usually do, and lately, Cal has been taking 1-2 steps towards me, but usually falls down.  This afternoon, he was standing for a really long period, so I thought I would try to see how far he could go.  I held out my hands, and then kept backing up and backing up.  Cal kept walking to me and walking to me.  He made it all the way across the room (about 15 steps!) so I decided to grab the camera.  It was wayyyy hard to film it on my own, but I had to try.  When Eddie got home, he sat on one side of the room and I sat on the other with the camera.  Cal was pretty proud of himself!

Here is a link to the video.  Once again, please ignore my voice (sigh), but this time, also ignore Eddie in his boxers in the background....HA!!!

This happiness was like a little gift from above after the sadness of this morning.

What do you think?  Will he be full on walking soon??

God's Work

I try to not be overly religious on my blog because I know not all readers share the same religious values that I do/my family does.  There is nothing wrong with that at all.  Everyone is different, obviously! After reading my last post, I realized I came across as MEGA Debby Downer and that wasn't the purpose.  Sometimes I write just to get feelings out and then go back later and realize how dramatic I sound. I wasn't trying to sound like I was some great person...it was just a way of expressing my emotions for all that had happened in the past few days......

This morning was my grandfather's memorial service.  We had it in the chapel of Croasdaile Village, where my grandparents are living.  It was so special-- Grandpa would have loved it.   My wonderful friend, Andrea, showed up.  She has known Grandpa for a loooooong time and grandpa would always ask about her. I was thrilled to see her there.  It meant so much.  A lot of grandpa's buddies showed up too, which is just so great to see. 

My mom got up in front and read a poem by Henry Van Dyke called "A Parable of Immortality."  Grandpa loved the water and being on the water in a sailboat, so this poem was especially fitting.  You can look it up if you want to read it (I would recommend it-- it's beautiful), but my favorite lines are as follows (her meaning the ship):

Her diminished size is in me, not in her.

And just at the moment
when someone at my side says, " There she goes! "
there are other eyes watching her coming . . .
and other voices ready to take up the glad shout . . .

" Here she comes! "

Grandpa used to always look around at the family when we were all together and say, "Isn't this a great family?" or "Is this family great or what?"  I could feel him there today with us smiling down thinking just that: what a GREAT family we have. 

my sweet sweet grandpa

here goes....

At 2:00 on Monday morning, I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. There was a pit in my stomach and I couldn't figure out why. After tossing and turning for a while, the phone rang at 3:00. Thinking it was a wrong number, I hit the silence button so it wouldn't wake up Eddie. I listened to the voicemail and the woman said there was an emergency at Croasdaile, where my grandparents live (it's an assisted living community). I called back immediately, but it was busy since she was trying to call me. I was shaking pretty badly at this point. Eddie was up and pacing beside me.

When I got in touch with the woman, she told me I needed to get there immediately--my grandfather had passed away. I was out the door 3 minutes later.

This is my mom's dad. I did a post a while back about my family tree and how it grows together (Grandpa is married to my dad's mom). ANYWAY-- unfortunately, my mom and dad were out of the country when this happened.

On my way to the hospital, I called my aunt first and told her and then I took a deep breath to call my mom and tell her the new that her father had passed away. Gulp. My dad has an international plan on his cell phone in case of emergencies, like this one (when he answered, he thought I was up with Cal and bored in the middle of the night and felt like calling him...uhhhh, not so much).

I got to grandma's and there were 2 police officers, 2 security officers, and one nurse and grandma sitting in the corner by herself. The door to the bedroom was closed. Grandpa was still in there.

He had gotten up in the night to go to the bathroom and fell to the ground on his way back. Grandma tried to get him up, but couldn't so she called security. They called me.  It is policy for a doctor to sign the death certificate before contacting the funeral home to remove the body. The doctor that was on call was not responding.  We were not able to contact the funeral home until several hours after I got there. It made for a very emotional morning.   

My Granpa was 92 (almost 93) and was an extraordinary man. He was always happy and laughed at everything. He was a solid rock in our family.

My parents tried as hard as they could to get a flight back here, but the soonest one they could get was Wednesday. Plans had to be made before then, and it was up to me to make them. It has been a crazy few days. I feel like all I have been doing is "figuring stuff out": who is staying with grandma? what am i going to do with cal when i go to the funeral home? will i be there in time to give grandma lunch? can her friend get her to her room while i go to the clinic to get her meds? can i find a sitter to keep cal while i keep grandma?..... it goes on and on and it is exhausting. Grandma can't be left alone, and I thought I could handle Cal and grandma at the same time and I couldn't. It was too much. Grandma is too needy and Cal is too...wild.  My aunt has been really helpful, but she had to go back to work today. She spent the night there Monday and Tuesday and we have been tag-teaming to help out as much as possible.

Grandpa's passing was a blessing. Or at least that's what we keep telling ourselves. He lived a great life and we are thrilled that he didn't suffer at all. He brought a smile to all that were in contact with him.  I ADORE this man and I am going to miss him so much.  I hope he knows how much be meant to all of us...and that we will never ever forget him. 

ack!

I have screwed up my blog and I can't figure out how to fix it!  I am going CRAZY!

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....

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...)

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 :)

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!

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

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.

Liz with her in-laws, my grandparents:

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...???

The Museum!

who is that guy??

Cal and I ventured out to the Museum of Life and Science today to meet our friends, Kelly and Wyatt. I have heard wonderful things about this museum and I was not disappointed.

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

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........