Nom nom nom

Okay, so my posts have been spaced a little farther apart than I had hoped, but life somehow gets in the way.  I still have a bunch of catchup posts to do, but for now, here's a topic near and dear to my heart: Eating.

Most people probably know that Tim and I are fairly adventurous eaters.  We like to try new things and love all kinds of foods.  So while Cal started on the typical rice cereal and pureed fruits and vegetables, we quickly moved him to meats, fish and more exotic flavors.  Because of the prevalence of food allergies, there is a lot of conflicting information about when to introduce what foods so we decided to just ignore it all and hope for the best.  Cal is now off baby food (even though he still only has 6 teeth) and pretty much eats what we do.

He's had all the usual stuff - pasta, fruits and veggies, cheese, etc. but also has no problem eating things like fish (including shellfish), eggs, lamb, liver (mixed with other ground meat), spicy foods or nuts (when chopped and mixed in things like bread).  Overall he's a pretty good eater, though like most kids his age, Cal is a carb addict.  Rice, pasta, bread, potatoes, if it's a starch he is loving it.  He's totally obsessed with crackers, so the word (and its Chinese transalation, bing gan) is forbidden in our house.  We've also taken to keeping them hidden away at all times, because if he spots a box he won't rest until they're in his hands!

The only problem?  Mealtime is a mess!  Cal insists on feeding himself (and sometimes Reyna) which usually means food everywhere - on the floor, in the cracks of the highchair, in his lap, up his sleeve...  sometimes I go to change his diaper later and find crumbs inside!

So, without further ado, here are some pics of mealtime with Cal:

Eating Spaghetti









Eating Dumplings

It's so good I can't stand it!

The Cracker Obsession

We're Back!

So... after almost 6 months off, we're back!  I took a break because there was WAY too much going on between moving to the new house (twice... more on that another time), weaning Cal, sleep training Cal, going back to work, etc.  Also, to be truthful, they changed the format of the blog and I didn't have the patience to try to figure it out.

In the next few weeks I will add some posts to catch up on details and events from the last 6 months, but first, where are we today?

Cal
Cal turned 14 months old last Saturday.  He is happy, healthy and at a really fun age right now. 

Although he's been cruising and walking here and there for awhile now, just in the last week or so did he really start using walking as his main mode of transportation.  It is hilarious to watch him strut around so proud of himself.  Here's some video we caught on Sunday right before his bath:

Cal Takes a Pre-Bath Stroll

When he's not touring the house, Cal's favorite activity is tearing apart the house.  He loves to open cabinets and drawers, take everything out and see what he can break.  I am probably a VIP customer at Amazon for the number of times I've rushed to replace Cal's broken item of the week. 

Here I caught him red-handed after he opened up the spice pantry, emptied the salt onto the ground and then tried to hide it under the rug.

Our hope was to raise Cal to be bilingual in English and Mandarin, and so far it's working out really well.  He understands a lot (though he doesn't always choose to listen!) and has a pretty decent vocabulary of single syllable words.

During the week, Cal goes to storytime (although the current session just ended), Gymboree and swim classes.  We're also starting some playdates with local moms that I've met.

Playing peekaboo with the teacher at Gymboree

Swimming with Daddy

First time on a floatee

The House

1.5 years after buying our house in Summit, and undergoing extensive renovations, we finally moved in!  Over the next few weeks I'll post a series of before and after pictures of the different rooms.  To start off with, here's the front:



May 19, 2010



December 17, 2011

The structure from the front is pretty much the same, though we have a new roof, new windows, newly painted shutters and completely redid the landscaping (we'll start some plantings this spring).


Reyna
We haven't forgotten about our four-legged baby!  Reyna is doing well.   Now that Cal is starting to feed himself (and by "feeding" I mean either smearing the food on his face, mashing it onto the tray or throwing it on the ground) she is loving the clean up.  Reyna is the same old princess, except now that we're in a house, she has two beds (one upstairs, and one downstairs) and of course blankets to go with each.

Tim and Christine
I went back to work part-time at the end of November.  It was definitely a tough adjustment at first.  I went from a demanding full-time job to a full-time mom of a demanding baby.  Trying to do both (and not feeling like I was failing at both) was a bit of a struggle, but with the help of a wonderful nanny, flexible job and both our families, I think I'm finally in a good rhythm with some sort of work/life balance (if you can call it that).

Tim and I are now just trying to find some semblance of stability in our life.  Of course, there is still tons of work to do on the house, as we still have to furnish it, decorate it and finish all the small projects that we put off. But we're also finally getting out with just the two of us (we went back to rock climbing the first time this weekend!), making new friends and just being The McWus...

Milestone Alert: Cal is mobile!

It's time to get the baby gates!


The last few weeks Cal has been "pre-crawling" - getting up on all fours, rocking, moving backwards, scootching on his tummy.  But now he is finally taking his first (slow) steps forward:

Cal Crawls!

Since he can also move from his tummy to all fours and back to a sitting position, Cal is also working on standing up.  He still needs to hold onto something while standing, but one thing is clear.  This kid really wants to walk.

Cal Stands!


Cal and Reyna's relationship has been markedly improving the last few weeks.  Cal is still fascinated with Reyna, and Reyna seems to finally accept that Cal is part of the family.  She has been very tolerant as he is now able to maneuver himself over to her when he touch a paw, pull an ear, grab a tag...
 

Let's be friends

Some other random pics:

Cal Update: 8/31/11

I know, it's been a really long time since the last post.  There's been so much going on lately, I haven't been able to get in front of the computer to update the blog.

Cal will be 8 months old this weekend!  Time really flies.  Our little guy is really not so little anymore, as he is now over 20 pounds.   Factor in food and his constant fidgeting, and he is a tough guy to hold onto for more than a few minutes.

He is eating solid food 3 meals a day now.  Since the prunes, Cal has had chicken, sweet potato, pears, peas, apples, green beans, pork, mixed grains (oatmeal), peaches and winter squash.  Fruits are still the clear favorite (he is CRAZY about applesauce), with sweet potatoes a close second.  

The biggest thing with Cal lately is he has started the early steps of crawling.  He gets on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth, and sometimes takes a step or two. 

Sheesh.  It's hard enough crawling without these big blanket obstacles in the way.

When he gets tired though, he resorts back to his normal form of locomotion, which is to scoot backwards on his tummy and spin around.  It's hilarious to watch!  He can also stand unassisted if he holds onto something:

Is there something I can help you with?

Since Cal can now sit well on his own, he's started to sit in shopping carts and in restaurant highchairs as well. 

Wow, have you seen these prices?  The baby store is a racket!

I want french fries.  NOW!

Mostly we're just enjoying our time together with Cal, in these final weeks while the weather is perfect for afternoon strolls, before I go back to work and we're still living with Nana and Poppy.

House Update: Tiling and Interior Trim

Things continue to move along at the house.  Much of the interior trim is done and doors are in.

Here, the family room is trimmed out at the top.

 The French doors to the sunroom are in.

The beadboard in the sunroom is up (though it hasn't been painted yet)

Tiling has also begun.

Powder room

It's actually a mosaic!

Slate for mudroom

Master bath shower

Master bath (the tub will be where the bench is right now)

Closeup of mosaic (matches the shower)

Guest bath (brown is where the glass tile border will be)

Guest bath shower (will have matching border)

On Monday, landscaping will also begin on the backyard (the front yard will come later).  It's really interesting to see how the house is coming together.   We are eagerly awaiting the kitchen cabinets to be done, after which things will really start wrapping up and we can start thinking of a move-in date!

Happy 7 Month Birthday

This past Wednesday, Cal turned 7 months old.  He is now weighing in at about 19.5 lbs.  Cal is great at sitting up and can get up on his hands and knees momentarily with a little push on his feet.  He's a little shaky, but can stand on his own while he's holding onto something.  He is also babbling a lot, and starting to make more complex sounds.  We're all waiting for that first "mama" or "dada"!

Here are some random pics from the last week.




Daddy, let me explain to you how this remote works

  

Tim continues to take fashion cues from his son



Ding Dong.  It's dinner time!

Cal unleashes his inner piano prodigy



Beethoven again?  It's so yesterday.