Calum gets up to no good

He's really starting to explore...and he can't even crawl yet.

This was a "test" Halloween costume - a mummy! It's a toss-up next year between a mummy or a baby sasquatch.

Calum really likes Uncle Grant and Auntie Jen's dog Cedar. As you can see Cedar is barking up a storm and what you can't see is Calum laughing up a storm...Calum thought it was the funniest thing ever.

This is Calum as Harry Potter (Angie made the costume, including knitting the scarf) at the daycare Halloween Party. Poor Calum thought that we were dropping him off. As you can see he cried a fair bit, we only stayed for 15 minutes.

More pics

Forgot to report - Calum looked pretty cute as Harry Potter. We didn't get any pics as he had his costume on for a grand total of about 15 minutes. I've got everything on hand though and am going to get a few pics of him later today. Check back later this weekend. Notice the Harry Potter like scar on his forhead? He just had to pull a wicker basket down on himself.

Heh, what are you doing with the candy?

Hope you all had a good Halloween. We decided not to take Calum out this year. He's much too small to be needing the candy and it wasn't the best of weather anyway. I did take him a few houses down the street to look at their decorations. There is a house on our street that really goes overboard on the decorations but the kids seem to like it. Calum was more interested in all of the people out for a walk than the lights.

We had a fair number of trick or treaters. It took them awhile to get started but once they did they came in big groups. Calum watched them all with big eyes. He also noticed we were giving away the candy. I think he may have something to say about that next year.

Calum has now completed his first month at daycare. Things are going fairly well. I still have to go up to feed him at lunch time and have to be there to drop him off in the morning so I end up walking back and forth all day. One day I made 4 trips - luckily it's not too far. I'm glad he's settling in a bit though. He loves to get down and play, is really curious about the other kids, is getting pretty independent and seems more able to entertain himself.

Hmmm....really sleepy today. I'd better get back to work before it's time to hike up the hill again to get Calum.

Calum on parties

Calum thinks parties can be scary and too noisy. Enough said. We went to his Halloween party and stayed for about 10-15 minutes. I think Calum thought we were going to leave him there. To be fair, it was pretty busy and Calum is still a little grumpy about his immunization shots. I picked him up after lunch yesterday because he was grumpy at daycare and just wanted his mom. We had a great afternoon. He deleted my email and was pretty quiet while I made a couple of calls for work. About 5 of the kids were sick at daycare yesterday and I think Calum is getting there too - no swimming today because he has been coughing and sneezing.

I don't usually post links but have you seen these photos of mass consumption http://www.chrisjordan.com/. Pretty scary. I found the link on one of my favorite ways to kill time while surfing - looking at the Boing Boing archives http://boingboing.net/archive.html

His first party

Calum's daycare will be having a Halloween party on Friday night. It will be his first party and his first chance to experience Halloween. I'm not entirely sure what infants might do at the party - maybe eat orange-themed food like carrots, squash, sweat potatoes.....? Calum will be going as a character from Harry Potter. It will be another opportunity for him to wear his tie and I'm in the process of modifying a robe for him. Also, for the first time in many, many, many (okay, that's enough) years, I tried to knit something. The end result is a scarf for Calum to wear with his Hogwarts robe. It's not fancy and I don't know if it would survive a wash but it was strangely fun to do. Don't expect me to tackle anything bigger anytime soon though mom.

Dakota and I are back to our ASL classes tonight. I hope that we haven't forgotten everything. The classes are fun but I sure wish that they didn't last 3 hours. It can be pretty exhausting after a long day. The good news is that I know Calum can last that long without me so it is a bit easier on Don and Desiree.

No other news this week - oh, Calum is getting another immunization on Thursday. He's getting really strong so hopefully Don can come along to hold him. I still hate to see him get them and it can be a real challenge just to change the little wiggly, squiggly guy. Calum and I wish everyone who has tickets for the lotto the best of luck, especially Don. As for the rest of you, we know where you live.

Have a good week. I'm off to get the little guy.

A day at the pumpkin patch starts with a llama at the gate. Dakota, Calum, Angie and Desiree all agree..."he looks like he's going to spit!"

Grandma Bain, Angie and Calum pick some pumpkins

This was just before Calum tried to eat the stem of the pumpkin

After the pumpkin patch, Calum beat up his sister Dakota

He is growing up

Calum in his "command centre"

a moment of contemplation

With mom and dad

Calum makes new friends

I was so tired last night I forgot to post about our recent swim lesson. Calum now has a swim friend named Trevor. Trevor fancies himself a bit of a barracuda. Calum sees himself more as a starfish. They both like rubber duckies and aren't afraid to let people know about it.

Most of the parents at the swimming lessons don't interact as a group but last week Calum and I talked with Cara and her 10 month old son. Calum and Trevor were sharing a rubber duck and didn't seem too interested in our substitute teacher and the silly songs he was trying to remember. It was nice to hear about the experiences of another new mom and to share some sympathy. One thing we all agree on - the time it takes to get the kids ready for swimming and changed after swimming is a lot of work for the 30 minute lesson but it's worth it because the little guys love the water and the sleep well afterwards.

Due to the ongoing strike there has only been 1 other infant in daycare with Calum. His name is Haris and he is another 10 month old. Haris and Calum play around each other and seem to get along okay. Both would rather be carried around by the staff all day but what can you do?

Almost time to rescue the little guy (again - I went up around 11:30 for an emergency feeding session). Don's cellphone is toast and he's off to the mall to see about getting it fixed. If Calum is in a happy mood we may meet him there.

Sunday into Monday

Calum has survived his daycare adventure rather well (the little stinker). I was called in early on Friday because he wouldn't take a bottle and he wasn't eating much.

He seems to be teething so is more clingy than usual. That really means that I have a little shadow named Calum. He goes everywhere (yes, everywhere) with me. This made for a rather long weekend. Don was away at Prince George and the girls have been busy with friends so Calum and I got to do rather a lot together. Funny how the house is still a mess and the laundry half finished. We did read books and discovered the joy of cereal and toast though. I hope he does well in daycare tomorrow. We could both use the break. He probably would like something a little more interesting than mom and I need to get caught up on some work (still). It's almost midnight so I'd best get off to bed - long week ahead. I expect Calum will be looking for me again soon too. It's a lucky thing that even when I'm dead tired he still looks cute.

Happy Monday all.

A nervous mom

Okay, it has now been 2 hours and 25 min since I left Calum at day care and I'm getting a little anxious. I got a call from them about 35 minutes ago to tell me that all was fine but I gotta tell you, I'm not getting a lot of work done today. I miss my little guy! He was home with me for the last few days (Grandma B. rescued us yesterday because I had to work and Calum is getting over a cold). It has been a pretty unsuccessful week work-wise but it has been nice to get in some play time with Calum. I guess we didn't stay far enough away from Jonathan because Calum did pick up that cold. Bonnie and mom told me that it will happen when a child gets introduced to day care because they are not used to all of the colds going around. The sad news is that once again Don and I have picked it up too.

Don is supposed to be going to Prince George this weekend but hasn't finalized plans yet. He has been busy with the UBCIC Annual General Assembly the last few days. I thought he wouldn't be home last night and went ahead and ordered dinner without him. Poor Don thought we would be going out for our anniversary - talk about mixed communication. We'll have to try to do something after he gets back from PG.

Now, seeing as the house is clean and I'm not getting a whole lot of work done here I'm going to be a bad mom and head up towards the day care. There is a small hair salon about 1 block down that I can go to and get a trim while I wait. Calum is supposed to be at the day care till 2pm but I want to be close in case he needs me earlier. Hmmm......2 hours early. Maybe I'll just join the teachers who are picketing right out front of the school (and attached day care) for a couple of hours. To be fair, I did know I would have the toughest time with this transition.

Heh, did you all notice that Calum is now 7 months old! Everyone told me before but now I really can appreciate it. Babies grow up too fast.

A word on day care

Calum would give you more than a word if he could! We've gone to day care for two days now. The first day we went for 1 hour and yesterday we were there for 2.5 hours. So far, I haven't left him alone yet and I know it's going to be pretty stressful when I do. Calum is giving everyone the impression that he is a very happy, easygoing baby but I'm sure that will change. He's really interested in the other kids, likes the workers and the toys. He even ate their yams - something I'm sure he wouldn't do at home.

We haven't done much there yet. Mostly, he's played and watched the other children. We've made a few friends. Aiden and Paul seemed the most curious about Calum and both have tried to share their toys. Latoya is just scared of us, Harris seemed oblivious, Adam tried to steal Calum's mommy, Jonathan is sick so we tried to put the length of the room between us and Desmin likes to nap. Yesterday seemed to be a bit of a tough day for everyone. It was raining so they couldn't go outside, one was sick and another was getting sick. Everyone was tired, then hungry, then tired, then hungry....you get the idea. Calum was the only one not crying. They put a CD on to calm them down and guess what? It worked. Aiden and Latoya even danced for us.

Today we go again, this time for 4hrs. I will leave Calum for a bit alone too. That's going to be a real shocker for him. He's used to getting picked up when he wants for however long he wants and getting milk on demand. Wish us luck. It's been an exhausting process so far and I expect that it's going to just get more tiring. Calum and I have had our schedule so mixed up we have been taking baths at strange times and both seem ready for bed in the early afternoon. I keep telling myself that it will all get better and that Calum will adjust but it's so hard making this transition.

Got to go pack up the day care bag and get Calum up from his nap. The girls are off from school till the strike situation gets settled - let's hope that it ends soon or they will really be bored.

Happy thanksgiving weekend everyone! Don and I have our anniversary coming up on the 12th. My brother's birthday was on Oct 6 and my Dad's is on the 19th. Also Don and Rita's anniversary is on the 31st! A busy month indeed.

School days

Calum is going to be a school boy! Well, sort of. We just heard today that he has finally got a spot in the Burnaby South daycare. On Wednesday we go up to do the paper work, then on Thursday I will try leaving him there for a couple of hours and if that works, we will try to go for a couple more hours on Friday. I don't know if it will be harder on me or Calum. I've really gotten used to our afternoons together. It's also been really nice knowing that while I've been working downstairs, he's been getting a lot of TLC from Grandma Bain. It seems like it will be a good program though - formula, diapers and baby food are included so it sounds like a good deal too. When I'm working from home I'll be able to dash up the hill to rescue him and Desiree and Dakota both go to the school and can be with him in minutes if necessary. Calum the school boy.....our baby is growing up!

Funny though, he seems more like his dad every day. Last night he discovered (all by himself) that if he blew on his arm he could make interesting sounds. I'm just waiting for him to find out he can make the same noise with his armpits. He is curious about everything around him and I always need to watch what he has in his sights. Recently, he has decided that my measuring tape is the neatest thing. It's his newest toy and he will play with it for quite some time. Mind you, he is a baby and can easily be distracted. It's pretty funny to watch him play. If we put him in his exasaucer he usually winds up throwing all his toys in a little circle around him. Poor grandma has spent countless hours picking them up for him only to have him drop them again. He loves things with different textures and is really starting to use his hands to learn about things.

Dakota and I have started our ASL classes. The first one was a lot of fun. Dakota is pretty good. The instructor is deaf and we have all been warned not to talk in class. It's an interesting thing, as we all try to communicate without verbal communication. We played a game where you use gestures to communicate and it was pretty funny. Dakota was great but I caused our team to lose some points because I couldn't figure out a good way to say skeleton!

Calum has had another swimming lesson. He was supposed to try putting his head under water but the last time I tried to get him to blow bubbles in the bath he drank a lot of water so I nixed that idea. We settled for getting his head wet and taking an extra turn "jumping" into the pool. No lesson this week because of Thanksgiving but next time we may try.

Calum is sleeping but I expect he will notice I slipped out on him soon so I'd better sign off and get to a few of the other chores I've put off all day. Have a good week everyone.

More pics

Froggin' with Mom and Dad

It's An Action Figure!

Cool in Black!

Quiet reflection

Calum's boots

Desiree, Calum and Dakota

Reading one of his many books

Hello Siobhan

Calum's first swimming lesson

Calum and Angie at Tin Wis at Tofino

"Hey don't take the picture"

Calum and Don at Tin Wis - an early morning walk

"Come on and take the picture"

Off we go to Nuu-chah-nulth country...

The Nuu-chah-nulth were very generous and took everyone out to look for whales...the swells were big and rocked the boat...the rocking made Calum fall asleep for the first while.

It was a bit cold out on the water

Dakota looking very stoic

Here we are...if you look closely you can see the UFO

Calum, Mom and Dad took an early morning walk...in the background is Tin Wis Resort, where we stayed.

Misc pics

Calum and George

A boy on the move

We will be off to Tofino for the weekend in just a few short hours. Wish us up some sunshine. I'm going to try to post a few more pics to brighten up your Friday!

Calum the fish

We took Calum to his first swimming lesson yesterday. I was a bit concerned when we got there because all of the other kids seemed so much older than him. We went into the shallow end of the big pool too and I thought it might be a little cold for him. He looked a bit concerned for a few minutes but quickly decided that he liked it. We played games, practiced "jumping" into the pool, had them chase balls around, pick up things from underwater and tried to get them to blow bubbles. I think some of the other parents thought me a bit strange because I kept making car sounds for him. He likes it, what can you do? I was the only parent that seemed to cheer for their kid too. Everytime Calum slid off the edge of the pool and into the water we cheered. Heh, I'll do anything to get that smile out of him.


The lessons last a half hour and the last 15 min of each class are spent in the much warmer kids pool. Calum didn't complain once and we had a great time. He even managed to flirt with a little 3 year old girl. They both seemed fascinated by each other. She didn't even mind when our ball burst out of the water and landed right in front of her with a big splash. Calum sure likes girls - big and small. Maybe they all remind him of his sisters. The rest of the day he seemed to be more talkative and happy (after his naps of course). I think we've got a water baby on our hands.

Pass the peas please

Yesterday I gave Calum his first real taste of baby food. We decided on the peas and guess what? He likes them! We made a big mess and I only gave him a little but I think he's going to like his big boy food. I also tried a bit of an experiment. I gave him his juice in a sippy cup and a bottle. He managed to get a few sips out of the cup but had more success with the bottle. The little stinker. He can too drink from a bottle, he just chooses not to.

Yesterday we took Dakota to the dentist. She got her front tooth capped and had the root of the broken one removed. She got to keep the root and has been showing it to everyone. It's huge! It was all done within an hour. Her next appointment will be worse. I'll spare you all the details but I sure wouldn't want to have it done. Today is picture day and she's not too happy about having a picture with the new gap where her old tooth used to be. Retakes are next month though so it's not that bad.

Our poor household seems to have been hit by every cold and flu bug this year. Don is not feeling well now. It came on rather suddenly and he's been feeling awful for a couple of days. He only managed about half an hour on his computer yesterday so I know he is sick. Flu season has arrived.

Oh what a weekend

I checked in with the daycare on Friday and Calum did not get in for September. I should hear back from them by mid to late October to see if he gets in for November. He has 2 infants ahead of him on the wait list but a couple of infants in the program will be moving over to the toddler section around that time. While this means it will be a bit longer before I can get back into a more regular working schedule, it may be for the best as it will give us more time to try to convince him that the bottle isn't such a bad thing. The teeth should be coming in around then and I definitely want him on the bottle at that time.

We had a nice dinner last night. Maybe Grandpa Bain will post his pictures on his blog. We forgot the camera. Calum was very well behaved up until the end. By the time we got him home he acted as though he was starving. He did drink a half bottle while we were in the restaurant but apparently that wasn't enough. He was pretty tired though and fell asleep at about 8:30. He woke up at 5:30 though and we had to go out to the living room to settle him down. He went back to sleep but unfortunately I was up.

Today we went shopping for Don's present. He decided on a new camera lens for our 35mm. It's a great lens and I'm sure you'll see many pictures that he takes with it. While we were shopping in North Vancouver, we got a phone call. Dakota had gone to the skate park and had a tumble. She called from the skate park with some bad news - a chipped front tooth and one totally broken. We hurried home to check on her and she seemed fine otherwise. Her version of the story is that she was trying a more challenging part of the park, got scared and closed her eyes. She also admitted she wasn't wearing her helmet. One of the conditions we have given her about skate boarding is that she must always wear her helmet - we remind her everytime she goes and she always gives us the "I KNOW!" reply. It's funny how teens assume parents are forgetful. We know that they should know, but when we remind them about something it's just our way of telling them that we also know they will not listen. I guess we are lucky it was just her broken teeth.

Don took her to the dentist and it looks like one can be capped but the other has to be removed. I had a somewhat similar experience when I was younger. My tooth was chipped after I was hit dead on while playing baseball. Dakota doesn't know it yet but she's got a few painful visits to the dentist ahead of her. She seems fine now though - busy on the phone and chatting online.

I had plans of catching up on some work this weekend but I think those plans are pretty much shot. Don is trying to settle Calum down but he's giving him a hard time. I'm going to see if I can get online for an hour or two at least. Next week looks to be just as busy with visits to the dentist and dealing with a grumpy Calum as he gets over his cold.

Oh - Calum is 6 months old today!

Sniffle, sniffle continued

Calum and I are both sick now. Calum is getting a bit better - except for the runny nose. I feel a bit better today too so luckily for us it hasn't been a bad one. Don has the sniffles too so we are hoping he won't get any worse. Especially today! Happy Birthday Don.

Tomorrow we are going to try to get everyone together for a birthday dinner for Don and his Dad. Calum and I still haven't gotten Don's gift yet but may go out this afternoon. Or maybe not. Maybe we will just take him shopping this weekend.

In other news, Calum's spots don't seem too bad. Some have gone away, a few new ones have appeared but I think the tape idea does work. I think I'm going to put off the swim lessons for awhile though. The only place Calum and I have been where we could pick up a cold was to the pool last weekend.

I've got loads to do today so I'd better get back to it. Happy weekend.

Sniffle, sniffle

Poor Calum has a cold. He's handling it fairly well, except he hates it when we wipe his nose. He had Don and I up pretty early today too but went back to sleep in my arms at about 5:30. I'm hoping he's not too cranky today so that I can get some work done.

Desiree and Dakota are back in school. Dakota has just started high school so it's a big change. Yesterday she got up early and went back to her elementary school for another chance to say goodbye. Luckily she is now at the same school as Desiree so even if they don't see each other all the time she at least knows her big sister is around if she needs her.

Both Desiree and Dakota now have jobs. Dakota delivers the Burnaby Now on Wednesdays and Saturdays. It seems like it will be a lot of work for little reward so I don't know how long she will stick it out. Desiree will be working in the deli at Superstore starting at the end of the month. Not bad for a first job! If she likes it I expect it will be a good part time job for her for awhile.

Don's birthday is coming up - September 9th. Calum has already given him his presents - a new wallet and a DVD. I think the girls have presents or at least an idea of what to get him. I'm still waiting for inspiration. You wouldn't think it but he can be pretty hard to buy for.

Well, back to work while all is quiet.

Calum at the pool, trying to touch the bubbles

He likes it!

We went to the Newton Wave Pool on Friday. Our niece, Jenny, was visiting and we had promised to bring her. I decided that it was a good time to introduce Calum to the pool. While he wasn't jumping up and down, he wasn't complaining either. I think he liked it, especially when he got to touch the bubbles and watch the other babies. The only challenging part was when we were finished and I had to change him. The change room had only 1 high change table and a cage like structure to put them in while you change. I made the mistake of leaving his shirt on too so it was hard to get the wet things off. Then when he was changed I was still wet and I wasn't about to put him in the cage thing. One poor kid was already in there and she had fallen once already and hit her little head. Next time I bring the stroller in with me.

Calum seems to have developed a few little red bumps on his arm and leg. Last week we asked the nurse about them but she just told us to watch them and take him to his doctor if they got worse. He's not complaining any - not itchy, no fever - so we watched. Finally on Saturday I decided they looked a bit more irritated and we brought him into the clinic. I'm not entirely convinced that the doctor was certain but he said Calum had a virus called molluscum [related to the pox family]. He told us that they would go away eventually and not to worry. Well, we did some searching on the net when we got home and while a lot of babies seem to get it, it doesn't sound pleasant. These red spots eventually blister and then dry up. The not so nice sounding part is that I read stories from parents that said it took months for them to go away. Is Calum supposed to go around with these spots for that long?

A few parents recommended covering them with medical tape or bandages to avoid the infant scratching or spreading them. I don't know if it will work but we decided to try. Calum now has little bits of white medical tape on his arm and leg and anywhere else I saw something suspicious. So far, no new spots. You are supposed to leave the tape on for a week but I think I'll give it another day or two and bring him in to see his regular doctor. He supposed to start swimming next Saturday and I need to know if it is okay for him to go in the water while he has them.

Wish us luck.

POWER to the PEOPLE!

Calum is a bit upset

Calum, Nicola and Jen

On a roll

Calum rolls, and rolls and rolls. Just yesterday he seems to have decided that rolling is fun and it's something he wants to do a lot of. He would roll from front to back before but when we were playing yesterday I had a hard time confining him to one area of the living room. I started with a small blanket on the carpet. He rolled off of that in a matter of seconds. I added another, enlarging our play area and he quickly moved off of that one too. Finally I put a big blanket down and surrounded Calum with toys. He was rolling, spinning, lifting himself up on his arms, kicking his legs and grabbing anything within reach. Somehow he gained a whole lot of confidence during the day and now I have to watch him like a hawk. Our baby is growning up.

birthday greetings

Belated birthday greetings to our niece Jenny LaBounty [Aug 29th] and Don's Dad [Aug 30th].