November 2012

Callum will be 18 months in January and my mind is blown. It is complete torture at how fast this tiny boy has grown and here's what he's been up to in his 16th month:

continues to be freakishly strong. he held these rings at a cross fit competition (for a friend, i'm not that cool) for 45 seconds on his own. here's Russ trying to pry his fingers off the ring because we were stressed. Oh Cal we love you!

• the biggest event (for me) was weaning Cal. i had previously weaned him to just nap times and bed times, but even then he would still wake up once to eat at 5 or 6 am. and if he had a rough night of teething or something, any time he was up he wanted to nurse. on top of that he was getting all of his molars and nursing with molars is should be reserved for the 7th circle of hell. so, while i was away basically for 2 days with bijou, i came home and decided now was the time.  it was so sad at times, and then totally anti-climatic at other times. it made me feel like less of a mother, and it made me feel free. selfish and awful mixed with relief. it was such an odd experience, and although he was sleeping fine, he wouldn't do a sippy of milk until about a week in. and if you want to see what a feral animal looks like, try to sit in your usual nursing rocker with a baby you aren't willing to nurse. now he loves his baba and i can actually rock him to sleep and sing to him and he sips away on his milk and i love it! on top of that he finally sleeps through the night without a peep and i am down with that. for the first time in a looong time i'm not sharing my bod with any babe and that freedom is a welcome guest. 
• the pre-two tantrums have started. my honeyman and tantrums?! not a sentence i'd ever thought i'd string together, that is how normally sweet he is. but take away his toy, his food, jump on his back (Hayes) and you're gonna hear an earful for an eternity.
• his snuggles are the best, he lays his head on your shoulder and all his limbs sort of melt into yours and i could live in that snuggle. 
• he is a full-time walker, no dropping down to crawling at his convenience anymore. his walk has such a wide stance it makes me laugh, but i think it's to combat our slippery wood floors.
• he's obsessed with Hayes' potty. he sits on it, stands on it, takes it apart, and he has picked up on the fact that after Hayes uses it, Hayes gets a treat. so when i take Hayes to the pantry to pick one out, Cal is always close behind yelling "da! pees!" (treat please!)
• he loves books. my motherly guilt comes in fierce for this one because i should sit down to read to him more. but if i'm too busy, he'll still sit turning pages on his own for awhile.
• loves loves food. he will eat anything. hot wings to edamame, clam chowder to carrot juice. doesn't discriminate, doesn't care just keep it coming.
• he's starting to develop his sense of humor and loves to make everyone laugh. he's silly and i love seeing that side of him!
• his daredevil side terrifies me, and i can see that he has a real taste for the adrenaline rush. 
• in contrast, unlike Hayes he gets scared during movies and TV shows and wails and comes running for me. i am going to have to get used to screening for him, because Hayes just doesn't get scared of anything, (except really loud uninvited noises outside - shut the garage door without Hayes' say so and that's your earful from Hayes.)
• Cal got so many teeth the last month i can't keep them straight. all his molars, a few more here and there. i finally bought a new bottle of those Chamomilla melt-aways and he is doing so much better now!
• we have self-pay insurance so i've totally put the Dr. well-baby check-ups off, but so far he's been such a healthy boy with hardly any complaints. it was around this time with Hayes that i called a friend sobbing about how often Hayes was getting sick and started using essential oils again. it sounds crazy, but neither of them have gotten sick since. witch doctor alert!