Thursday, May 29, 2008

Now I know what the straps are for!!!!


I was chatting with my sister Karen today about how active Caelan is now, and I told her, I know what the straps on the changing table are for. Those straps are not for when your child is an infant, when they coo and gently kick their feet. They are for NOW, when they go into the "alligator death roll" and you have to chase them all over the changing table, put them into a wrestling hold and have to invent new ways to attach the tabs to a diaper. There shouldn't be just one set of straps but a couple, one for their head, and their arms and legs.
As soon as Caelan turned 9 mos it was like a switch was turned on, he is "crazy man". That is the affectionate name I call him. He is crawling like a pro...and fast! He is extremely curious so loves to get into anything he can, has started to pull himself up onto furniture, and has also figured out how to get to a seated position from all fours. Which is how I find him now in his crib, sitting, chatting away, when he's supposed to be sleeping at nap time. This picture is from today, "nap time", after 2 hrs and 26 mins of playing and chatting to himself. Gotta love 'em!

Kinzer's Garden

Our prize winning tomato!!! I can't tell you how excited
we are about this little mater!
We are so proud of our little garden. We can't wait until we can have a huga green-giant garden. So until then we shall shower these little containers with love and well wishes. We have rosemary, lavender, cilantro, basil, dill, a tomato plant, bamboo, two decorative flowering plants and attempting to grow two avocado trees. We are always teasing each other "Honey, I'm going out to work in the garden." Shawn says he's going to buy me a big floppy hat, gardening gloves and tools for proper garden tending.

Kickin' it at the Pool



The weather was beautiful today and the sun was warm, so the mommies and babes headed out to the pool. The water wasn't quite warm enough for a dip yet so tootsies it was. Caelan didn't mind, I dangled his toes in and he went hog wild splashin all over the place. We are really looking forward to future pool parties. Caelan is gettin his water wings and nose plug warmed up as we speak!

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

9 Months old today!!!!

We can't believe it, Caelan is growing so fast. Nine months have gone by and we watch as our beautiful boy gets bigger, faster and funnier. It is so unbelievable to watch a little person that we created tackle his firsts, and seconds, thirds & .......We love every single moment we spend with him. He is the joy of our lives and the reason for so many laughs, smiles and tears. All I can say is, what an incredible gift he is!!

Speaking of gifts, Caelan decided to share a present with us for his 9 month birthday...tooth #2!!!!! Although considering how uncomfortable he was today I don't think he liked the gift as much as we did. Hee.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Happy Memorial Day

Caelan watching the soldiers march by
WWI rememberance
Buffalo Soldiers rememberance
Friends and family carry photos of loved ones lost
At 3:00pm there was a moment of silence
We want to say Thank You! Thank you to all who serve, served, have given their lives and the families that support them!
Your sacrifices are not forgotten.
Today Caelan and I went to the Memorial Day parade in DC. The parade was great, many men and women remembered from so many wars this country has fought. Caelan really enjoyed watching the soldiers, listening to the bands, watching the horses and many colorful costumes go by. What an important way to show honor to those who have served and died fighting for this country.

Mmmmmm pancakes....

Daddy made us the best breakfast this morning, pancakes and bacon! Caelan loved the pancakes! As fast as I could cut up little pieces, he was shoving them in his mouth even faster!

My new fort

The other day I was doing laundry, I look over and Caelan was under the clothes basket playing his little xylophone. Awwwwweeeee.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Time for a haircut?

As crazy as his hair gets, I can't bring myself to cut it, just yet.

Dinner with Scottie

Our cousin Scott, "Scottie", as he has been affectionately called since birth, is here in DC for an internship. Through a political science program at Marquette he is able to work for the rep of Wisconsin, which sounds quite glamorous since he gets to rub shoulders with the "big wigs". We are really proud and excited for this opportunity for him. Last night we went out for Mexican in Shirlington, aye ya yaaaaa. Caelan is really looking forward to spending more time together with him!

The tooth....

I told you Mommy, there was a tooth in there....
Finally we can see the miraculous tooth,
not just feel the sharpest thing ever when he bites our noses.
(If you click on the image, it will enlarge the pic
and you can see "the tooth".)

We have lift off!!!

On the 20th Shawn and I were talking to each other, doing our morning regulars, making breakfast etc. and Caelan was on the floor, rolling around in his big basket of toys having a grand old time, when Shawn looks over and says "Gina, he's crawling!" Shawn grabbed the camera and I jumped to the floor and became his cheering section, overcome with excitement and tears. Can you explain the feeling of watching your child crawl for the first time?

Sorry for the delay....

We are finally on line again. The internet is back and running full speed ahead. Caelan has been so anxious to post some more exciting details. He wanted me tell you all since our last posting he has started blowing kisses to mommy and daddy and he has started CRAWLING!!!! It has been an exciting week!

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Burke Lake

Shawn posing for the "Field & Stream" magazine cover
Caelan and I after our hike around the lake
A hungry, hungry squirrel
Did we have enough fun time? Of course not, the day after we get home from our North Carolina trip, dad needed to get his new lures wet. We went to Burke Lake in Fairfax county. Dad fished and Caelan & I hiked. (and hiked and hiked) I think we hiked about 4 miles and Shawn caught two fish.
It was another nature appreciation day!

The trek home to Virginny

On Tuesday we started off our trek home with a promise to Caelan we would stop at the Bass Pro Shop and see the fishies. Of course he was dazzled by all the fish and tried staring down an albino catfish. The rest of the ride home in daddy's bigrig was uneventful. Lots of singin', stories and sleep. What a great traveler Caelan has become! He keeps asking us when we're going to take our next road trip.

Another fun day!

Caelan's first ride in a swing
Down the slide with Daddy
A blue heron
Mossy backed turles
Happy Anniversary Jay & Barbara!
On Monday, 5/12, we had a full day of fun! We walked over to the pond by their house and played on the swings and slides. Caelan loved his first ride on a swing, he kept laughing and laughing. We left there and headed on down the road to South Carolina ( 5 min away) and had some lunch at T-Bones. This restuarant was a vacation away all by itself, it sat right on Lake Wylie. Wow was it beautiful! We sat out on their large deck over the water, eating crab dip, enjoying some adult beverages and watching the boats go by. The weather was perfect, not a cloud in the sky and the temp was about 75.
The blue heron and turtles were enjoying the day as well.
We went home to celebrate Jay & Barbara's 1st wedding anniversary
and share the top of their wedding cake. What an honor!
That night we had a wonderful dish for dinner called Dolma.
This is an Iraqi meal made of grape leaves stuffed with
tomato rice, ground beef, onion and spices. It was wonderful!
We are so grateful for the friends we have!
We had so much fun and can't wait 'til our next visit.

Happy Mother's Day

My Special Day!
Shawn, me, Jay, Barbara and Caelan, Caelan the sailin' man
Gobble, gobble?
First I want to say Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms and Grandmas we know and love. I woke up this day and couldn't believe I now belonged to the group that cherishes this incredible day. Hearing others wish me a Happy Mother's Day just sounded crazy. Anyway, I had a day I will remember, literally, forever. Caelan gave me the best gift a mom could want....his first tooth! Seeing his "tooth", or should I say tiny sharp thing pokin out of his gum, was a feeling that was overwhelming. I was really emotional. I kept yellin out, We have a tooth! We have a tooth! I was smoochin him and yellin. He was such a good sport, he had no idea what I was yellin about but let me shower him with the love. And now we check the growth of that little blessing every day.
The rest of the day was really nice, we had a wonderful breakfast with Jay and Barbara, then we took a trip out to one of Jay's friends turkey farm. Jay asked me what I thought about the turkeys, well considering there were 75,000 (yes, 75,000) of them, it was a bit overwhelming and thought how to avoid getting pecked! We drove back to their home and had one of my most favoritist-ist-ist meals....king crab! Mmmmm.

Gettin' Ready

Caelan is gettin' ready for our big trip to Charlotte, North Carolina, 5/10-5/13/08. We're going to visit our friends, Jay and Barbara, who recently moved there from Arlington. We're driving there, about an 8hr trip, and have prepped Caelan on proper long trip protocol. He promised to sing, tell stories, then sleep on the way.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Singin' & Dancin' at Gymboree

Down the slide, weeeeee
Bubble time
I had so much fun!
Today Caelan and I attended a Gymboree Play & Music class in Alexandria. We sang songs with fun moves, played games with new friends, worked on muscle strengthening and had bubble and parachute time. I believe Caelan's favorite was the baby soccer and the dancing around in a circle like musical chairs. He got very excited, kickin and talkin, during both of those activities.
The Gymboree program is set up to benefit both moms and babes. Interaction and discussion time for moms, and songs and activities for the babies. These activities are fun but also skill building at the same time. This group was level 2, 6-10 mos, some were mobile and some trying to be mobile (which is us).
After the class, Caelan was wound up! He was kicking and chattering away, telling me all about it. I asked him who he was and what he did with my chill little Caelan? We both really had a great time, I'm so glad we were invited by our friends Tara and Adelyn.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Sushiiiiiiiiiii



Caelan was getting ready to finish off his last sushi roll before I stopped him to snap a quick photo, we couldn't believe how many rolls he ate. Matsutaki has his favorite sushi buffet in the afternoons.

Later that afternoon, he insisted we go to Coldstone Creamery where he had his first nibble of orange sherbert, he was a HAPPY CAMPER!

Monday, May 5, 2008

Calvert Cliffs State Park (cont.)

Caelan, in his carrier, and I
Building sandcastles
Looking for fossils and sharks teeth
A little friend
Once we got to the beach, it was beautiful. Caelan was a little nervous, but after he got used to the loud noise of the surf and wind, he was excited. I laid out a blanket on the sand and let him grab his first handful of sand. He didn't know what to do with it because it wouldn't shake off his hand. After a little exploring and attempting to put it in his mouth he decided a little snooze was in order. To be honest I could have slept right there as well, the sound of the surf crashing in, pure serenity.

Shawn, searched, searched and did some more searching, no shark teeth, but we did find a variety of shellfish and mollusk fossils.
Cool stuff!

Calvert Cliffs State Park

Mr. Turtle basking in the sun
Beaver lodge
Wetland just off the hiking path
Black Racer snake
The Cliffs


Hooey, did we have fun today! We took a trip out to Calvert Cliffs State Park in Maryland. (9500 HG Truman Pkwy, Lusby MD 301-743-7613) This park is located on the Chesapeake Bay and is known for the fossils from these cliffs, over 600 species have been identified.


We started our trek from within the park then on to a trail that is 1.8 miles to the beach. We could not have picked a more perfect day. The weather was nice, 70's, no bugs and very few people on the path. Caelan got to see many firsts on our hike. We passed creeks, wetlands, thick forested areas, could hear all kinds of birds and saw a couple critters on our way to the beach.


US Air Force Cycling Classic


Caelan has officially attended his first pro cycling race (the first of many, if his dad has anything to say about it). Sunday 5/4/08, Crystal City sponsored the US Air Force Cycling Classic. There were a couple different classes of races from kids to pros. The pros started at noon but we meandered on down to the race (since its just blocks from our apt bldg) around 2:00 and the pro riders were still making their rounds. I have to admit it was very exciting to watch and we got some free Powerade. Bonus!

Friday, May 2, 2008

Caelan's 411

This is the down low on our big man in the house. He is 8 mos as of April 27th! We are constantly being told by strangers how big he is, I just reply...Yeah he's a biggin! (And we love every square inch of him) So yes, he seems to be growing leaps and bounds. He is such a happy little guy, always so content and so smiley!
Food: Caelan is not a picky eater, he can keep up with the best of 'em. He's added yogurt, bread, pancakes, rice, cantelope, kiwi, strawberries, watermelon, apples (we share apples all the time), avocados, butter beans (thank you Jaedyn), yellow squash, brussel sprouts (which is a no go), baby mum mums, freeze dried fruit, blueberry & sweet potato puffs and organic baby food with turkey or chicken.
What's he doing? We've been working with him everyday on his sign language. He is using "up" and "more". Shawn has taught him to clap and he loves doing it so proudly. Rolling is his primary mode of gettin where he needs to go. He is working on moving from a seated position then on to his belly. Once he's got his hands out in front of himself he rocks and rocks but can't get that one little leg out from under his body. He uses his index fingers for everything, picking up food (which is the most precious thing to watch), turning pages on a book and putting them in "holes", ie: noses, ears, drains, peek-a-boo books, etc. He has now figured out how to call us if we aren't looking at him, he will grunt once in our direction and will do it until you look at him. It's like he's saying "Hey". He recently, like this past week, has started bouncing to music with a happy smile on his face. He doesn't have any teeth yet, but I love looking at his big gummy grin anyway! He's now wearing 9-12mos clothes and sz 4 shoes. Which he got his very first big boy shoes (tennies and sandles, sooooo cute) recently.
Favorite things to do: Loves to play in water. We go swimming 1-2x a week and he splashes like crazy. And bath time is fun time. He enjoys all the walks we take and the outings we go on with our moms groups. He is always so curious and watching what is happening around him. He enjoys reading books and looking at family pictures. Pulling his toy basket over and rolling in everything is a new past time. And he still sucks on anything he can get his mouth on.
Nicknames: Caelan the marchin man, Bubba joe, scoochie, sweet potato, fuzz head, honey bee, and sweetie pie. And responds to all of them, Ha!
He is just growing so fast and each second is so precious to us.
I recently read a wonderful quote: "Happiness is found along the way, not at the end of the road."

Caelan's new mode of transportation

Today Caelan and I took his new Kelty Kids carrier for a spin. This carrier has a metal frame covered in canvas that you wear on your back, lots of room for da babe, a weather shield & lots of padding for da mama & da dada. Its much more comfortable on the back than his front pack.
So today we hiked out onto the Mt Vernon trail near our apartment. He was kickin and talkin along our way. He sits high up, so he has a great view and holds on to my shoulder straps like he's driving. The trail was really busy today with bikers and runners and Caelan would smile at each one of them. He's such a friendly guy!
Wow was it work out for me! I can't wait to use it on a real hiking trip.

After our trek, it was tubby time. He is a crazy man in the water. He loooooooooves water, spishing, splashing, kicking and diving after his tubby toys. I was soaked by the time it was over but I have to admit I was laughing too much to me bothered by the drenching!

The National Zoo (cont.)

The push-up prairie dog
Naked mole-rat village
Would you care for a cheese puff?
We were on safari, peeking through the grass
Nuff said.

The National Zoo

Caelan wanted to help push the stroller
Water polo, anyone?
Moe, Larry, and Curley (or so they said, as they laughed)
A curious lil meerkat, checkin out Caelan
A tamarin, who loves to play the tambourine (just kiddin)
Well, Caelan and I spent our May day at the National Zoo. I believe April still had some showers to give before it could bring May flowers because our day started with the sprinkles. We met our friends from the mom's group at the zoo. After trying to wait it out, some of the moms decided to take a rain check. Well, Caelan persuaded me to stay just a little bit longer. So we headed into the elephant house where they were holding the hippos, but no ele's. Well when we came out, the rain had stopped and the sun was peeking out. I high-fived Caelan and told him good call and off we went to see the animals. I carried him in his front pack, so he could be up close and personal, which he LOVED!. Every animal he saw, he growled at and made all kinds of fun noises.
The zoo is beautiful, and soo big we'll have to come back to see some more of the animals another day. This zoo is part of the Smithsonian so there is no entrance fee. (But if you plan on driving, go early because the lots fill up quick, which I learned, and bring some $$ because they charge heftily for parking.
Metro is the way to go!)
We had such a great time, I can't wait to bring him back!