Christmas in Merritt

Coy and Calum's Daycare Party

Christmas at Calum's House

No son, not today

Calum must have thought that Santa was coming last night because he was wide awake at 4am. We got up, watched some kids shows, had a bath, breakfast and finally went back to bed at 7am. He's napping now, very excited about Christmas. We made cookies this morning for his treat bags that he is giving to everyone tomorrow. He may have tasted one or two before he put them in the bag.

Tomorrow morning we expect to start at a reasonable hour. Coy won't be arriving till a bit later in the day but the kids will open their presents a bit earlier. We will be going up to Merritt to visit my family - probably on the 27th. The girls are going to stay in Merritt and Kamloops with their relatives.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Getting ready for Christmas

Don and I have had a busy time at work lately but are just about ready to gear down for Christmas. We finally put our tree up last weekend. Calum, Dakota and Desiree decorated it. Calum thought that it was a two or three day job as he was still putting decorations on it yesterday and I think he'll want to continue today. You can tell we have a little guy helping because all of the unbreakables are at the bottom of the tree, resting on branches, just ready to fall off as you walk by. He loves it though.

We've started looking for some new furniture and Calum also enjoyed that. He had to try every sofa and chair he saw (many times) and was so keyed up that I had to carry him out of the store with him protesting the whole way. Next time, maybe we'll send him shopping with his sisters.

Dakota has her jazz band concert tonight and the kids will be out of school soon. Calum's daycare closes the same time so we will all be busy. We are looking forward to seeing Grant, Jen and Coy and Carole this Christmas. We are also looking forward to a visit to Merritt to visit Nanny, Papa and my family. Calum loves it out there and Nanny and Papa have a new puppy that he's going to love.

We have finished most of our Christmas shopping. I expect we'll be at the mall like everyone else on the weekend though. Wish us luck.

We've got some new pictures that I haven't had time to download but will post them soon.

Calum, Desiree and Dakota visits with Santa - poor Calum doesn't recognize Grandpa in the Santa suit.

3 times!

Calum has grasped the concept of potty time - mostly - but only seems to want to use it in the morning. Three mornings in a row now he's used his potty. It's been a learning experience for us both. We've really got to work on the "aim down" thing. He just laughs as I frantically try to both praise him for using the potty while yelling "AIM DOWN, AIM DOWN! No, not at mommy." This is one of those times I think it would be easier if he was a girl.

Happy Birthday Rob

Calum, Dakota and Desiree wish their uncle Rob a very happy birthday!

Early Morning Party

Don and I had a special invitation to an early morning cartoon party. It started at 2:30 in the morning and essentially went on till just before 6am. A fun time was had by all, especially our host, Mr. Calum (NO, NO, NO, NO SLEEP) Bain. You know you're a parent when you not only give in to the cartoons but can also get excited at five in the morning when you kid happily points out the different colours of the Christmas lights. For anyone else, knowing the difference between blue and green may not be a big deal but I was so happy that we kept playing with the mangled mess of lights (still waiting to be strung) for about a half hour. Calum is learning more words too and can now say red, white, yellow, orange, green and blue (Blue being his favorite). He also learned the ASL sign for "light".

Don and I are fueled by coffee and lattes today and our intrepid host of the early morning party will likely be busy giving the daycare staff a bit of a tough day.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Mom (for tomorrow)!

Calum and the Funny Ball

This ball lasted all of a week. Calum had fun with it though.

Potty Time

Potty training has begun. Send help. We bought Calum a Diego seat that he can put on any toilet. He has been wearing it on his head. When we finally got him used to the idea that it goes on the toilet, he has been running back and forth (with pants down, mind you) between both bathrooms EVERYTIME I try to get him to use it. He likes to sit on it and to flush (repeatedly). He usually tells me that he needs to go after, well, after he needs to go so we haven't actually had any success yet. This is going to take awhile.

As you can see from the pictures, Calum loves the snow. He was so mad when he had to come in yesterday. He kept going to the window to show me the snow. He had a play date with Bailee again this weekend. While he was napping, we made cookies and painted pictures. When he woke up they tormented the cat. It's nice having a playmate around. Calum is slowly learning to share and even let her sit on my lap this time.

Be careful in the snow. It's looking like a snow day for the kids, which means a long day for me.

All Calum wants to do is go out and play in the snow

He's a bit unclear on the concept of underwear

Calum loves Christmas lights

A time lapse of Calum's patented spin dance move

Calum loves to dance, Dakota is his spotter...

The definitive Calum dance move...headstand with arms out

He can read...almost

Whenever Calum sees letters - in signs, books, posters, etc. he tries to read them. It's pretty funny because he thinks that they all say E-I-O (like the Old Macdonald song). He has a book with a lot of E-I-Os so he thinks everything says that. It bodes well though, because he at least recognizes that letters can have meaning. Maybe we will have a little reader before kindergarten.

Our family as South Park characters

Sock Puppets and Cars

Calum was so cute this morning. I was busy getting his clothes ready while he was finishing his breakfast and watching Blue's Clues. When I came back to the living room he had his socks off and on his hands and was pretending that they were puppets. They were talking too each other and eating breakfast too. That's the first time he has ever done that.

He loves to play with cars these days. We picked him up a few of the matchbox cars on the weekend, just to see if he was ready for them. Everyday he grabs my hand, gives me a couple of cars and we have to race them down the hall. One, two, three - GO! He claps and runs after them. When they tip over he runs over to fix them. What a funny little guy he is.

He's still a very helpful boy too. If we bring home take out he will rush over to grab a bag or a box. He will even try to carry the pop - all to make sure he gets some before the girls. You never know who will try to get his happy meal. Last night we had pizza and we had to move his little table into the living room so he could eat and watch the new Ice Age movie. We had a pizza box on one side of the table and he kept helping himself to more slices. He loves pizza! When he was done he took his plate into the kitchen. I forget to check where he put it and this morning I found it in the garbage. Last week he put one in the fridge, one in his snack cupboard and one in with the pots and pans. His sippy cup has been found there too.

That's one way of looking at it

Calum continues to be quite vocal (and physical) about protecting what he considers his (pretty much everything). He has a very indignant little look, complete with a finger wave or outstretched hand, and a very loud "MINE!" I think he even scares one of the kids at daycare. I've noticed that he likes to keep his distance from Calum and doesn't know quite how to react to him. The others will either push back or give in. The staff at the daycare have told me that he's even lectured them. They said he is a natural leader. I guess that is one way of looking at it.

He's a real character now.

P.S. We now have to keep opening the back door to look outside for the bug.

Happy Almost Birthday to Grandma Bain

Grandma Bain's birthday is almost here. I thought I'd post while I remembered. Happy Birthday!

A Bug's Life 2

Calum insisted on looking for the bug again yesterday. He looked in the spot he had last seen it but it wasn't there. Our little guy is determined though so he kept looking. Persistence paid off because not 5 minutes later he found one.

He was so excited, pointing at it and saying "Bug! Bad Bug!" Why it was bad I'll never know. We watched it for a few minutes then I wanted to show him how it curled up when it felt threatened so we blew on it. It rolled around on the floor for awhile then just stayed curled up. I took pity on the poor thing as Calum was starting to poke at it so we put it outside.

Every five minutes we had to check to see if it had moved. After 20 minutes of it not moving I was worried that it was dead so we took it back inside and after 5 minutes of warming up it was moving again. Big mistake! Calum happily played with the bug again. I was using the video camera to record him when it happened. He had gotten up to pick up something then came and sat back in the general area the bug had been. He sat on that poor little bug. I'm sorry to say that the poor thing got squashed. Calum didn't realize so I just picked it up and said it wanted to go back outside and threw the little thing away.

I'm beginning to understand the parents that sneak out to buy new goldfish before the kids wake up and realize that their fish had died. I'm on the lookout for a bug. Preferably one that cannot be easily squashed.

Happy long weekend everyone. Dakota has a parade today for Air Cadets. Desiree is working but is happy because she gets paid for time and a half. I'm still trying to wrap up the database project for my Band. I've got a few documents left to code then edits to the database and my final draft on the manual. I hope to have it wrapped up by the end of the weekend. I'll actually be sorry to see it go. It's been a lot of fun. My next couple of weeks look to be busy as I really get into the research an my most recent project and try to finish some other things by the end of December.

Bug!

Last night Calum and I were exhausted and both fell asleep early. I put Calum in bed about a half hour earlier than usual and tried to stay up to watch CSI NY with Don. I fell asleep but Calum woke up. He wouldn't settle back to sleep so he came out to the living room with us and I walked him around the house. He kept wanting to go back to the kitchen. When I was sure he was awake enough to not topple over, I put him down and he started pointing and saying "bug". There was a little bug near the back door and we had to get down on our knees to appreciate the beauty of the bug. Even after it escaped, Calum had to tell Don and the cat all about the bug and show them where it was last seen. Don had to open the door and look for it. Who knew a bug could be so interesting?

The girls are doing well - looking forward to the long weekend. I'm still busy so expect I will be working a bit. Don's probably hoping that there is a weekend full of hockey. I haven't checked the weather forecast yet. I hope we don't get too much rain. We've discovered that a few of our doors need some weather proofing. We were busy mopping up puddles last week.

Slept Thru the Night!

Whew, we did it. We kept him awake a bit longer and Calum made it through the night! We all got to catch up on our sleep. Yesterday at daycare he was so sleepy he fell down when he was out for a walk. He hit his lip and it is now puffy. They said that he didn't cry much and he was fine last night. Busy day today so I'd better get back to it.

No Blues Clues, It's 2:30 in the Morning

Calum's internal clock is a bit off. We (Don, Calum and I) all woke up at 2:30AM and Calum refused to go back to sleep. We watched more Blues Clues then took a drive to get him settled down. He fell asleep within 10 minutes in the car. Don and I were pretty sleepy. I'd only been just falling asleep when Calum decided it was time to get up. He woke up again at 6:30, no sleeping in for us. Apparently he made up for it with his afternoon nap today (3 hours) and is now sleeping again. I hope that this doesn't mean he'll get up early again. I've got a busy day at the office tomorrow and don't want to accidentally delete some database that I'm working on.

P.S. Isn't our nephew cute? Don and I tried to get him away from his mom and dad but we had no luck....next time they will probably be more than ready for a little baby-free time so we are trying to be patient. After they left Don was mumbling something about not getting to hold him long enough. I don't think that he'll give anyone else a turn to hold him next time.

Coy and Bailey Visit

Visits and work

It was a pretty busy weekend. I was busy trying to get tasks done on several projects. I completed the most urgent and have 2 big tasks to finish early in the week.

Grant, Jen and Coy were in town and we got to see the little guy for awhile after his baby shower. He's 3 weeks old now and is certainly a healthy boy. He makes the cutest noises and is all warm and soft. Calum was very jealous when I first held him and tried to climb on my back as my arms were taken. We took some video and he liked looking at it so maybe he's coming around.

We also had a few other visitors - Grandpa, Grandma and Buddy and a friend and his daughter. She's a bit younger than Calum but seems a bit bigger. He wasn't sure about her, especially when she tried to get hugs and kisses. He kept pointing at her and telling me that she was "Bad". To be fair, it was past his bedtime and it was a long day.

Not a lot more went on this weekend. We watched Blues Clues a few dozen times, did some chores and shopping. It looks to be a busy week for me, luckily Don has some vacation time and will be off today and tomorrow to help out with Calum.

I'll post some pictures in the next couple of days. Better get to bed now, Calum still doesn't settle till everyone is in bed.

Our little devil - Calum's Halloween

In our trial run - the daycare Halloween party - we learned that Calum does not like wearing costumes. So much for the Sherif idea. With a cold night forcasted we decided on the next easiest thing. We added some horns and a tail to his fleece track suit and he was a devil. He had a great time. Uncle Rob stayed back at the house to hand out candy while Don and I took him around to a few houses in the neighborhood. Calum liked looking at all of the pumpkins and was a little scared of some of the decorations. He was happy with his treats and it was cute when he and Dakota were looking through their bags. Dakota went out with friends and got a lot of candy. Desiree had to work and missed all of the fun.

Pics from last weekend - Gliding and Puddles

Happy Anniversary

Because things just got really busy again and because of all the excitement tomorrow will bring I thought that we'd better post this tonight.

Happy Anniversary Grandpa and Grandma Bain!

Bazooka - The fish with one less fin

Noticed something strange floating in Bazooka's bowl this week - his dorsal fin! I'm not sure how it came off but it's off. Bazooka was still happily swimming around, taking the occassional nibble on it. YUCK! Calum, Dakota and I cleaned his bowl and gave him some real food. He seems OK and if you didn't know it was missing he looks normal. Now that I think about it I didn't check on him this morning.....better be off.

Blue, Blue

Blues Clues - Calum thinks that it should be on 24 hours a day. Sometimes he'll wake up a couple of hours after I put him to bed and demand "Blue". He wants to get up for a little late night tv. The funny thing is that we don't actually own any of those DVDs. We rent them and every week he will pick one of the two that are his favorite. Imagine watching the same 4 episodes, every day, numerous times a day for weeks. I can honestly say I hope that he gets over this phase quickly. It's my fault though because I wanted him to watch it at first because they do a lot of signing.

What ever happened to Sesame Street? At least that show has variety.

We don't know what the weekend plans are yet. I have some documents that should be arriving today so I expect I will be busy with some database work. I'm almost finished my small project for my Band - still a few glitches to work out and some report templates to design. Hope you all have a good weekend.

Mine!

Calum is still trying to learn the concept of sharing. Unfortunately he's still in the "everything is mine" stage. He's taken to pushing the other kids at daycare away if he feels they are too close to anything he considers his. I see this in the mornings when I go to drop him off and spend some time settling him in. Today, nobody else was allowed to play with the Thomas trains. I consistently tell him that he has to share, that he can't push other kids, that he has to be nice but he's still testing the boundaries. Hopefully he'll learn not to do this soon.

I've decided to start the potty training over Christmas break. He's almost ready now. Last night before our bath he was running around the bathroom naked as I got the tub ready. It was only about 2 minutes and I turned around and caught him peeing! He knew what he was doing and proudly pointed it out to me. Once before he stood up in the bath and happily did the same thing. That little stinker.

The girls are doing well. Desiree is working a lot these days - nothing like retail to take advantage of cheap labour. Dakota is supposed to be going gliding this weekend for Air Cadets - if she manages to get a permission form before the weekend. She's been especially forgetful about things like notices, forms, and letters lately. I think that she had the form she needed last week but lost it and forgot to get a new one this week. Don and I have told her that it is her responsibility to get the form so we'll see if she follows through. I've also told her to get a new form for parent teacher interview requests. She "lost" that one too but I may just pop across the street this morning and get a new one.

Interim reports went out yesterday and happily Dakota is doing much better so far this year. I want to talk to a couple of her teachers about their comments though. Desiree reported she is doing well but I didn't see her report.

Calum has a Halloween party on Monday night. Last year he cried and we had to leave early. This year I think he'll be more excited. They've decorated the daycare and he loves showing it all to me. He also likes pumpkins. They've got a bunch for them to play with and he is always carrying the little ones around.

Calum and Dakota on the Beach

Exploring the Alleys of Vancouver

OK, so it was just up the street from Don's office. The alley was painted this year and we thought it would be a good place to take some photos. Unfortunately, there were people sleeping there and it smelled like pee. So, we took some quick shots and made our way to Starbucks. Calum mostly liked looking for birds and getting attention from the other people walking in the alley.