His Latest Report Card

Calan had his 12 month check up recently. It's always exciting to see how much he's grown. He also had to get a couple shots- which is never fun- but this time I was more nervous since he is older and more aware of what's going on around him.

We LOVE our pediatrician! He is the nicest man and his office is adorable! While we waited Daddy and Cal checked out the "Nemo" fish tank.

They had us strip him down for his check up. He has changed so much in just a couple months. He's not walking yet, but he sure had fun exploring while we were waiting. His stats were very impressive...

Length- 31 inches, which put him in the 95%

Weight- 23 pounds 13 ounces, which was in the 75%

Our little man is slimming down, last time he was 95% in both categories.

The doctor said Cal was healthy and developing perfectly! Good job little buddy!

It was time for shots and it made me sad. Cal looked at us with the look of "why are you letting this happen to me?" Because we love you so much and want you to stay healthy, that's why sweet boy.

On the way out Patrick grabbed Cal a sucker. He'd never had a sucker before and was pretty excited about it. It helped all of the pain go away!

Calan is growing up so fast! What a great report card! We are so proud of you, buddy!

Little Lessons You Teach Me...

Dear Mr. Calan,

You often remind me of the love Heavenly Father has for us.

Today, like many days, you were practicing your walking by holding on to something as you move around the room. We were up in your bedroom and you started at your crib, moved to the ottoman and then to your rocking chair. You have been doing this for a while, but just recently you are doing it much more confidently. You often hold on with one hand as you reach with your other hand to get to your next destination.

Some of your moves are a bit risky. Sometimes you wobble a bit and sometimes you even fall down. I used to always stay right behind you to make sure you didn't hurt yourself. But today I stayed back a little bit. You could see me and knew I was close by, but not close enough to catch you if you fell. I needed you to know that you could fall down and you would be ok. In fact, soon enough you will learn that you can get up by yourself.

If I didn't let you fall, and if I picked you back up every time, you would never learn that it is ok to fall and that you could pick yourself up again. You did fall down and you were not very happy about it. But I was right there, cheering you on and showing you how you could pick yourself up again- with maybe a little help here or there.

Then my thought turned to my Heavenly Father. He never likes to see us fall. He doesn't like to see us sad. But He knows what we are capable of and will ALWAYS be right there to cheer us on and with a gently prompting help to show us the way. He knows we will get stronger. He knows we can become the person He sees in us.

I would never leave you alone, especially when there would be a potential for you to fall.

I want you to know, little Cal, that Heavenly Father will never leave you alone. He is always watching over you... even when mama isn't there. He loves you... He loves all of us. He let's us fall so we can get stronger. He let's us fall so we can learn how to get up. He let's us fall because He believes in us.

Just like I believe in you...

I love you,

Mom

Look what I can do...

Cal has a new trick.

And as you can tell he is thrilled about it!

This morning we heard him in his room. He wasn't crying. He wasn't even calling out for us (so to speak). He was giggling. A lot.

Patrick went in to see what was going on and this is what he found. We had to grab the camera to capture this moment and his pure joy.

Cal finally figured out how to pull himself up in his crib.

Yes, at 11 months he's finally realized that he can do this all by himself and he is quite pleased!

The only problem is that this new trick has distracted him from the real purpose of being in bed- sleeping. At nap time today I laid him down and before I even let go he was working to stand up. I "explained" to him it was time to sleep but he just ignored me. Back and forth he went loving every second of his new found freedom. As I watched him yawn for the 5th time I laid him down again and simply walked out of his room. I have not heard Cal cry for nap time for several months. This boy loves his sleep. It took him a little while to settle down, but sure enough he did and I found him heaped in a pile in the corner of his crib.

Even tonight, rather than grabbing his blankie and rolling over to fall asleep, he cried for a bit and finally gave in.

Oh how you make us smile little boy.

We love to see your simple pleasures!

Just like Mommy...

Our little boy has been working on these two front teeth for a couple of months.

They are now in and they are precious!

His sweet little grin just makes us smile!

His grin looks a lot like my little grin when I was his age.

(I'm a bit older than Cal in this picture)

We love little spaces between our teeth. :)

Cal also loves, loves, loves his airplane blankie.

Every night we lay him in bed and hand him his blanket. He snuggles up with it and it stays with him all night long.

When I was a little I loved my blanket too. In fact, in my baby book my mom wrote that at 10 months I could not sleep without it.

And we are both side sleepers.

Little Cal, we sure love watching you grow and discoving the things that you love.

And I love the things you do just like mommy.