FORE!

or

Skin in the Game.

I swear, I do still have Callan wear clothes! I promise. But he loves to streak. And I can't fight it. So I figure I have a few years before it becomes a problem for us. Answering the door nude at 12 is inappropriate. But I think I can get it under control before then. I think. In the meantime, here's some naked golf pictures.

Three Daze

Phew! What a great and busy long weekend!

First, we helped NiNi celebrate her birthday! Here's what happens when I make a cake and Chef Grant makes a dessert. The beautiful dessert which he threw together just that morning arrives at my house with hand torched meringue and a dressy little sauce. The cake that took me three days in the making (one to bake, one to frost, and one to serve) looks like it was constructed in a wood fired stove by a hobbit. I had to make extra frosting to try and cover my mistakes. And I had to buy wax letters because I was concerned the weight of any additional frosting my make an already collapsed cake implode. Sheesh GRANT! You can see that NiNi let Callan practice the birthday song and a candle blow-out in prep for his big day! Happy Birthday Mom! We love you LOTS!!!

On Sunday we went to the Zoo again and met my friend Monica and her four kids! Callan was thrilled with the company! The kids were glad to meet him and even more glad that he wasn't one of those kinds of babies (the kind that cries). There were very curious about his hair...how it stands up and what color it is under his hat. Best of all, they were allowed to push the stroller. Wild times I tell you! After a big nap (for Eric) we went to the pool.

Monday we went to visit Eric's family at the lake. For as much as Callan loves the pool, he was very uncertain about the boat. OK, it was just the life jacket he wasn't a fan of. But I was glad he didn't want to get in the water because I saw a (cover your eyes)

S-N-A-K-E!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A swimming snake. An anaconda. Or maybe an amphibious garter snake but very scary either way. A life jacket won't help you with that, people!

Hand Rolled

Hand rolled makes Cigars sound more exotic.
Hand dipped makes chocolates sound artisan.
However, apply either of those adjectives to toilet paper and they loose some of their cache. But we have both at our house! (Both kinds of TP, neither of the others!)

Callan is in to everything. EVERYTHING. He can walk. He can run. He crawls at the speed of light. He opens doors, cabinets, bottles. The man is figuring it all out. And I wish I could say we are staying a step ahead of him...but we aren't! Here's video of me trying to coax him back into his room for pajama time. (Listen to Eric encouraging me to hurry before he pees. Couch coaching is so helpful!)

The Naked Chef

Our diaper optional policy extends to the kitchen. Anyone care for a beverage? Callan's pouring!

Just Zoo It

Our first trip to the zoo! Of course, we picked a rather chilly morning to make our inagural visit. You'd think waiting until mid-May would ensure some balminess---but not so much. Good news, Callan didn't seem to mind! He seemed to really enjoy himself---he was pretty quite at first, just taking it all in. I think it is hard for him to know where to look. He wants to watch the kids, the animals, the golf carts, the leaves....I mean there is a lot going on! We were able to visit the petting zoo, the gorilla house, the cat house and the aquarium. All in all, I think Callan's favorite thing was that most of the ledges in the zoo are perfect Callan height. He can stand by himself and walk along using the ledge for balance. He thought the ledges in the aquarium were particularly delightful. By the time we visited there he was over the quite stage and was hooting and hollering. I had to keep reminding myself that it was our first visit---not our only. That we didn't have to see and do everything that day. Phew. Pressure. Luckily for me I had that mindset as we had to leave the zoo a little earlier than I had planned because someone was getting cranky and hungry. And I packed Callan a lunch. That's right deductive reasoners, it was Eric! 11:30 a.m. he was hungry and disappointed that the pizza they serve wasn't from Pizza Hut or other fine Pizza chain so we had to get out of there to feed that hungry baby. (Again, Eric.) I guess I need a bigger diaper bag!

Thong. Tha-Tha-Tha Thong.

We reached a new diapering low today. Poor Callan. Crawling around post bath--trying to evade the diapering and pajamaing that was waiting for him, he got more intimate with the diaper than he might have cared to. Whoops. I was trying to diaper a moving target. It seems very reminiscent of the 'catching an oiled pig' contest I have seen at fairs. You lunge for a leg and hope for the best. Well, the diaper was a little askew. On both sides. Meeting in the middle.
I fixed it, but I did think it was funny. Tired of those pesky diaper lines? The no-diaper line diaper...the thongper. Yuck.

Mama Dia

What a wonderful Mother's Day weekend!!! We got to see our GG and our NiNi...life is good!

GG and her friends Mildred and Ellie were in town on spring break! Great Grandmas Gone Wild! They went on a road trip and hit the SAC Museum and a couple of nurseries. Ellie was a "Rosie the Riveter" and she worked on the Inola Gay which is being restored at the SAC, so they even got a behind the scenes tour of the restoration. Pretty cool!!! We went to meet them at a little place over in Papillion (who cares where? keep reading). Needless to say that once Callan arrived, GG couldn't concentrate on the petunias. Callan loved getting to see GG, Mildred and Ellie. He was a big fan of all the flowers and would have loved to have been let loose to grab and eat at will. No such luck. As if to signal his disapproval of that choice, he cried the entire way home. Of course, being the ultimate planner that I am, I left at rush hour. SOOOOOOOOO it took me 50 minutes to get across town. I was alternating a contortionist move that involves twisting my right arm completely around up over the car seat to deliver cheerios/binki/bottle to Callan's mouth and loudly singing my sad, sad repertoire of songs (which oft includes classics like, On Top of Spaghetti. POOR baby!) Shockingly, neither of those things helped a bit, no matter how tried. I guess Callan is a better judge of singing talent than I give him credit for. In those many moments I went from being someone who doesn't want her child to watch much TV to believing I can't survive another minute w/out a DVD player in the car. If my singing doesn't help I'm sure insert name Barney/Elmo/Dora/Deigo could have. But, we survived and went on to a great Saturday!











We met NiNi and PaPa downtown for some breakfast and shopping. Callan LOVED the Farmer's market and watching all of the kids and dogs. And, as per usual, PaPa loved showing Callan all the new sites and sounds.







On Saturday we went out to dinner at Roja with our friend Kim, my parents and Uncle Grant & Aunt Johanna! We got some very exciting news...we have a new family member! Dog cousin Moxie!



On Sunday we spent the day at home trying to accomplish something. I can't remember what exactly, as it didn't get accomplished. OH well! We went to the park for a little while and just spent the day playing. We discovered dandelions. (Ironically, the same year that Eric has learned to make the lawn beautiful. Life is cruel.) We had a great time!



Callan is just getting SOOO brave! He can stand unassisted and today he stood up with out pulling himself up, and then took 5 steps! He is also experimenting with climbing. NiNi discovered that he can hoist himself up onto the bottom shelf of the changing table...and from then on anything that remotely resembles a step is fair game. Drawers, boxes, bowls, stacks of diapers. We just might have a monkey on our hands!

And today is Callan's 11 mo birthday! I had better get it in gear for the first bday celebration. I see a spreadsheet in my future...............

Blogiversary!

Today is my one year blogiversary! My first post was last Mother's Day---May 11th. Obviously not much has changed. Right?

Last year: typed at the table in the middle of the afternoon with no interruptions. Took 5 minutes, max. I probably even did something crazy like take a nap afterward. Or read the paper.

This year: Thought of this post for 48 hours, started three times, and am now typing one handed, holding a sleeping baby with the other. Took 2.8 days! Don't have time to read what I wrote let alone read the paper!

Last year: 25 pound ankles
This year: 25 pound baby

Last year: I waddled
This year: Callan toddles

Last year: CLEAN house, clean bathrooms, clean floors.
This year: Clean dishes?


Just a few differences! What a masterful teacher young Callan has been! I knew things would be great--but this is just completely beyond my wildest expectations. OH what a wonder that little guy is!

This is How We Do It

One of my friends recently asked me "What is Callan up to? Anything new?"

And the answer to that is that every minute of every day something is new with Callan. He is just changing SO much right now it is amazing. This was made painfully clear to me tonight when I started realizing that I could barely keep up with him. Meaning I was having a very hard time distracting him from what he wanted to do, he might be a little determined. I felt like I spent all night following him, intercepting him, telling him no and why not and then picking up after him. I have a feeling this is the new normal! Here we go!

Here is an outline of our evening...

Go for a walk.

Do a little playing.

Eat dinner.

Help Vegas eat his dinner. (by putting our hands in his food, and our feet in his water)

Make a grocery list. Take Kleenex Inventory.

Check the light bulbs.

Take bath.

Play naked Kitchen. Too much fun!

Oh! Look what we made!

OH man did this make me laugh. I guess that is the danger of diaperless play. Lesson learned.

Look Who We Ran Into

Or, look who came to visit so they could actually, literally run. What I am about to write makes it seem like I should include a disclaimer. OK, just for the record, athleticism may run in my family, but it does not run in these veins. The owner of these veins does not run, unless it is to a great sale, or away from someone scary. I certainly don't do it for fun. NOT fun. Jiggly bits slamming up and down. Not for me. I would need sooooooooooo much help from engineers (spandex, protective padding, levers, straps, all kinds of stuff) that it is just not worth it. Walking is hard enough, I see no need to speed it up. But my little sister does. Aunt Ang ran in her first half marathon this past weekend. Here's what crazy looks like after the race...running through the pain of tendinitis in both knees. Man, it is hell to be fit, eh? But YAY for Angie! And if they didn't have enough crazy in their house, Joe ran the full marathon!!! They both did awesome and are looking forward to their next opportunity. For my part, I made a pie. Huh. I wonder why I am the fat sister!?!?! ; )

But that is not why you are here, are you my one reader? You want to know about Callan!

Well, I hope he wouldn't mind me saying, but he had a pretty great weekend. Lots of time with his NiNi and Papa (what we are trying out for my parents in lieu of Grandma and Grandpa) which is always so much fun!

A visit from Aunt Ang and Uncle Joe. Which means that Callan also got to see something he hasn't had to see in a while--a surgical mask! OK, momachondria caused me to force my sister to wear a mask around Callan for fear of the Swine Flu. I know, is she a great and patient sister or what??? She had a confirmed case at her school, so under the advice of my pediatrician we took 'prophylactic' precautions.

He also got to see the elusive Uncle Grant and Aunt Johanna. Those two are soooooooooo busy. Work, school, a new home and they dare to have a social life. They make me tired just hearing about it!

We had lots of fun, but it sure made us miss everyone who wasn't with us for 'family dinner' Eth, Liza and our GG!

International Man of Mystery

"Hola Guapo!" was the official and most common greeting during our trip to Mexico. Apparently, Callan's appeal is international. I had no doubt.

We had a seriously wonderful trip! Callan is perfect, and he behaved perfectly---no airplane crying, no tantrums, just wonderful wonderfulness. Can you even stand it? He was awesome (and as noted in previous paragraph) practically too cute for words.

Every day with my little Mister feels like heaven, but it was a wonderful treat to also wake up in paradise! Yay Eric for winning a wonderful vacation for us! We could get used to this kind of thing!!! ; )

Callan just enjoyed everything! He loved the water and watching the other kids. He also was very pleased to learn that on vacation, there are on no food rules. You aren't forced to eat your vegetables and meat isn't snuck into your mouth sandwiched between banana slices. He was able to pretty much eat only fruit, yogurt, cheese and cheerios for five straight days. We have already begun the veggie revolt now that we are back home!

Our first trip taught us, or tried to teach us a lot of things:

1..You can't change yourself too much. The universe won't let you.

I have spent WEEKS preparing for this trip. I had spreadsheets of check lists, due dates---I mean I was seriously working against type to make sure we had everything we needed. I even shipped freakin' boxes to myself ahead of time full of all the things I knew we would need. Infant sunglasses that are 100% UVa & UVb, pool float w/shade, sunscreen, deet free bug spray, antibacterial wipes, creams, lotion, shampoo, canned organic fruit, cereal...I think I would have made Martha Stewart proud...I mean I was ready. Or so I thought. Apparently my research on international shipping was a little lacking. 2 of my 3 boxes were held (and are currently in captivity) in Mexican Customs in MexCity. BOOO. I was frantic last Monday trying to track the boxes and then giving up and working to replace everything that was in the boxes to pack and bring with us. Phew. Crisis averted. Lesson: I did twice the work to try and be something I'm not (organized) than I would have done if I would have just waited until the last minute in the first place. OH well!

2. Giving Birth is a Right of Package.
This being our first family trip since Callan was born, I discovered an ascribed role I was previously unaware of: Family Packer. I assumed I would be in charge of packing up Callan. I know Eric would have done it, but I just didn't want Callan to have one t shirt and one pair of sweatpants as his only clothes for the trip. So that one, I was ready for. What I was not ready for was that I also had to pack Eric (who was having a little what to wear in a tropical paradise while working clothing crisis) and pack Vegas up to go to the Kennel. In addition to packing myself. Luckily, we got everything in, and I didn't even have to sit on a single suitcase!

3. Haircuts before vacation = Bad idea!
Or maybe that should be, letting your mom cut your hair is a bad idea. Callan, are you reading this? Callan's hair is growing like crazy! And as you may have noticed, it has a mind of it's own. So we figured it was time for a trim. Well I got started and thought I had done a pretty fine job. Eric took one look at it and told me I hadn't taken enough off. I have been using the clippers so as to not cut Callan, but my greatest fear of cutting his hair (aside from actually cutting him) is to accidently give him a flat top. SOOOO against my better hair cutting judgement (despite the red hair incident of '03 I do have some better hair judgement sometimes) I took the clippers to the top of his little noggin. I almost started crying!!! IT WAS SOOOOOOOOOO short! Or it seemed like it. I had a moment of feeling like ok, maybe I could glue it back on. Or that Callan could wear a hat for the next month. Or I could just tell everyone he was terribly advanced and had cut his own hair. With pinking shears. But, luckily, the majority of the problem was just his bed-head. It wasn't nearly as bad as I had feared. And thank GOD it will not be the bad haircut that is forever memorialized in all of our vacation pictures. Seriously. I'm sure that will happen sometime....but not this time! Yay!

4. Eric is right. Sometimes. Or at least once.

But we were in a foreign country, so it could have just been the international waters throwing me off. Nothing interesting, just worth mentioning as I am sure I won't admit to it again and want to document this one occurrence.

5. Pina Coladas are the new water.

Seriously. Most delicious thing ever. They make the beach better and the beach makes them better. It is a ridiculously wonderful mutually beneficial relationship. Plus, they both make me happy. I believe Micheal Scott would call that a win-win-win.

6. McGruff did not say take a bite out of your mom. He said crime. Crime.

I ate dinner over a swarm of mosquitoes our first night there. So I had about 40 bug bites from my knees to my ankles. Those were annoying. But my nastiest bites were from my hungry or thirsty or teething son!!! Since we haven't had teeth yet in tank top weather, more often than not Callan, lets me know when he would like to belly up to the bar by giving my t shirt, or sweater, or sweat shirt a little nip. Well, apparently the warning nip still happens even without the protective clothing. So I have about 15 baby bites from shoulder to shoulder. And they are hanging around longer than those of the mosquitoes. The good news is---you can't get west nile from baby bites!

7. Swim "diapers" is kind of a misnomer.

OK. Swim diapers may keep solid waste out of the water---but they do not repel, hold or absorb pee. Which after thinking about it, of course they don't. That totally makes sense. But, we know how I like my experiential learning! The first time Callan got out of the pool and sat on my lap I thought, hmm. That's weird the water feels so warm now. Right. Water. I learned and relearned this lesson a few times a day while on our trip. A high chair and a few pool lounge chairs also learned this lesson. Whoops.

Even though we had the best time ever, we are glad to be home! And if the universal greeting in Mexico was "Hola Guapo" our most common greeting upon returning is "How are you feeling?"...all feeling perfectly well--thank you for asking! But not to worry, the momachondriac has been taking regular temps just to be sure. (Thank GOD for digital ear thermometers! The old fashioned way I would really, really have to think about that. Yuck!)

I wasn't sure how Callan would feel about being home. He was glad to see Vegas, thrilled to see his room and toys, and absolutely beside himself to see his Grandma Char and Grandpa Mike! I guess there is no place like home!


Love to all!

P.S. I am seriously delayed in my posting, and consequently, seriously delayed in my blog bday wish to my sister! Glad you had a great birthday Ang! We are looking forward to seeing you this weekend and cheering you on to victory in your first ever half marathon! Can't wait!

Beat It.

Callan's first Easter was so much fun! We spent Saturday with Eric's family in Wahoo. The weather was beautiful! Aunt Beth brought lots of eggs so Callan was able to enjoy his first egg hunt....he seemed to know just what to do! And when he lost interest his cousins were more than happy to pick up his slack. Callan loves to watch his cousins, especially Rachael! He was also especially thrilled that MoJo, Stephanie's teeny tiny Yorkie was there, he was lots of fun to watch run around. Lucky for MoJo Callan can't quite catch him just yet....

Now that Callan is eating 'table' food, these events present an interesting challenge for us. ME! I am learning that any special occasion that normally involves dessert or candy also involves people wanting to feed said dessert or candy to my baby. After spending the last ten months feeding Callan exclusively breast milk and making all of his baby food homemade so that it was completely organic with no pesticides or preservatives....you can understand that I might be a little resistant to this idea. This started early in the week when my dad sent me an email asking me if I would be letting Callan have Easter candy!?!?! (written "will you be letting Callan have a little candy on Easter?", meaning: "Do you intend to ruin one of the great pleasures of grandparenthood by refusing to allow me to give Callan one tiny little harmless piece of candy on a holiday that is all about candy?") ((ANSWER: NOOOOOOOOO CANDY! (sorry Dad!)) On Saturday I was diving between Callan and wrapped candy, blocking a well intentioned great grandmother trying to feed Callan pie, cake and, just for balance, a Hershey bar. I was succesful! But hours of being on sugar watch started to wear me down. By the time Sunday rolled around my resolve was weakening.

Sunday. Callan's first Easter basket was full of lots of fun stuff from The Bunny! An Elmo puppet, some bubbles, a new book and a little chicky. Callan loved the bubble container and Vegas loved and wanted to eat Elmo, the book and the little chicky, with a helping of Easter Basket for dessert. My parents, my grandma and Grant and Johanna came over to have Easter dinner with us. We had a great time! Callan was thrilled to see everyone and was almost immedeately tired from all of the attention! I too was starting to feel a little tired.

And by the time dessert was ready and I was whipping the cream for pies...I crumbled. I decided since it was just cream and an isty bit of sugar and vanilla, that it would be ok. Just a little taste. Well, of course, Callan was delighted. I had no idea the beater instinct was so strong. I think it is a Hon gene. But we are back on the bandwagon! If I keep this up, when we get to Mexico, Callan will arrive in a protective bubble and by the time we come home he'll be drinking a margarita at the airport. I have to get a hold of myself!!!! No more lines in the sand. No more sugar until the big birthday cake! I MEAN IT!

We were so glad to get to see Grandma Char and Grandpa Mike, GG, Uncle Grant and Aunt Jo, but we missed Angie, Joe, Ethan and Liza! Can't wait to see you all in June!!!!

P.S. We also missed wishing Aunt Beth a Happy Birthday! And an early Happy Birthday to Grandpa Roger!

No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service

As long as they don't require pants we should be in business!

The first of April brought April showers and Aunt Angie!!! Boo on the rain, YAY for the Auntie! Ang came to visit and volunteered to be the Grandma Char's Apprentice Sitter. Our union is pretty tough here, I don't know if she'll get her card soon, but the customer seemed pleased with her work. I think that she may have been slightly surprised to learn that for someone who is only a few weeks away from running a marathon---her endurance needs a little work! I think that she was shocked at how much energy Callan has and that 'watching' him is not nearly as passive an activity as it sounds! We got some great pictures while Ang was here---but of course they are not on my camera. Here's one that is... I can't remember for sure but I believe Ang was on diaper change duty immediately prior to this picture being taken. It is a testament to how great a communicator our little man is becoming...he was able to let her know, times up--we are getting up and getting moving now--pants or no pants!

We loved seeing Angie---but seems like it is never enough time!

Back That Thing Up

OK! We are so far behind on posts. (When implying guilt I duly imply there is more than one person to blame. Are you fooled?) But you've heard this before. I have promised improvement and failed to deliver. I think we can all agree that forgiveness is more likely than change...but lets hold out hope!

One important thing to catch up on...pictures! Just before the U.I.F.A. (unfortunate incident featuring the appendix), we got Callan's 9 month pics taken. Below are a few of them---they turned out AH-MAAAAAAAAAAZING! Behold!

Now is that a sweet baby, or what????