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...