A budding artist?

Well, it's happened. We went into Calista's room after a not-so-sleepy nap and found this:

What wonderful art. 

She got put in timeout. I asked her why. "I draw." Where did you draw? "On wall." Sigh.

I love you, child. I love your strength and your smile, but...
Don't draw on the wall!

So, any advice on cleaning the wall?

Two months!

Little man is now more than two months (uh, 12 days ago...), and we are beginning to adjust well... I think. It helps that he is a very chill kid. If I am paying attention and able to respond to him in a timely manner (which sometimes doesn't happen. Having more children than adults when I'm alone with them, sometimes one gets the shaft), Craig can go nearly all day without actually crying. Fussing, yes. But in his first two months of life, there hasn't been a time when the cause of his crying was unclear (Calista smacked him or something...) and when we haven't been able to calm him within a few minutes. I can't believe it, but it's true. And you'll hear no complaints from us!

First bath. In baths since, Calista "helps" by washing his toes or whatever she can reach, and actually, she's not too bad.

Kitty cuddles. I'm not sure the cat has joined him in the bassinet since... he is starting to take up more space, wiggle, and probably fuss more than she likes.

Hazards of having an older sister: Calista put a bassinet sheet on Craig... to keep him warm?... and a glow-in-the-dark bracelet on his head. Naturally, I snapped a picture that will exist forever.

First day we went to church. It's hard to get him to keep his head up when he's asleep!

They are learning to get along better. Or, more specifically, Calista is learning her boundaries and what she can and can't do with Craig.

Thanksgiving Day (Canadian) hike!

One month old, and photo bombed by the sister.

One of my favorite pictures ever at the moment. This is going in both of their photo books this year.

Who doesn't love sleeping babies?

Although, Craig looks a little uncomfortable in this one.

My three favorite people in the world. Isn't Kyler being a good dad?

More sleeping baby!

We pulled out the high chair so when I'm in the kitchen, he can come too and see me. Craig has definitely enjoyed that, though on this particular day, he fell asleep while I was making dinner.

Two months old and grinning after church.

On the days that Kyler is home during Calista's nap time, he takes Craig so I can have a break. Of course, sometimes this means Kyler gets a nap, too, which he's not complaining about.

Bundled up at the zoo.
*Not pictured - two blankets, one used to snuggle him in, one used as a wind break.

Happy little chub!

We love this little man. Craig is sweet, happy, and growing so well (13 lbs 6 oz and 23 1/4 inches long as of today!). Next time you see him, you should give him a squeeze, because he is so squeezable!

Make the world a better place...

By smiling all the while!

Little man can smile (this one above is the first smile for the camera), and does fairly frequently. It's such a cute little grin, and often has some cooing to accompany it, as well.
How can you not fall in love with that face?

Bowtied Blessings

The first Sunday in November, we gave our baby boy a name and a blessing at church, with the help of some of our family, including Kyler's dad, brother, and brother-in-law, and my dad. 

Kyler said some really nice things, blessing Craig with love and charity for his parents, siblings, and those around him, and that he would be able to teach, lift, and grant assistance to those in need. Craig was also blessed to know truth from error, and to know which knowledge will be useful to him to grow into the man he is to become. It was sweet, and Craig was awake and quiet for the whole thing - what luck!

After the blessing, everyone came back to our apartment to chat, eat, and hold the baby (of course!). 

The four of us.

Paige holding Craig.

Grandma Maria holding Craig.

My dad holding Craig.

Oh, and the girls all sitting in one chair playing the computer. Silly girls.

A close up of our little man. We love him so much.

A plane, boss, a plane!

The real reason Mom and Dad came to visit at Halloween was for Craig's baby blessing. We took advantage of them being around to have some other fun, too.

Like going to the Calgary Aerospace Museum. Calista loves planes (and so does Dad, for that matter!), so we had a good time.

There were some planes you could climb up a set of stairs to look in.

Calista had to look in every one!

Of course, so did the rest of us. They were interesting!

She felt like such a big girl up there!

Looking at a cool helicopter.

And, since Grammie May likes to humor her grandchildren (even when they didn't know they wanted to be humored), Calista got to ride in a "helicopter."

We also took some fun portraits.

Kyler and I.

Calista didn't want to be left out!

And proof that Grammie and Grandpa were there, too!

We really enjoyed to museum, and I would definitely consider going again. I want to go to the dinosaur museum first, though...!

Boo!

A little skeleton action to get into the Halloween spirit.

Let me tell you, Halloween with a two-year-old is fun. Calista was young enough she didn't care what costume she wore or things like that, but old enough that she was able (and willing) to say, "Tick o teat!" or sometimes just, "pease?" and everyone thought she was adorable. 

Per our Rasmussen family tradition, we yet again carved a watermelon, rather than a pumpkin. The insides taste better, although it is really messy to hollow out.

Calista enjoyed it a lot more this year. She was fascinated with the whole process, and enjoyed stealing watermelon bits out of the tupperware we were putting them in.

She also helped Kyler carve it... and had to be told a couple of times to not reach for the knife. All is well, everyone came out of this adventure with the same number of fingers they started with.

On Halloween itself, we started the day by going to the zoo, not because it was Halloween, but just because it was Thursday. Regardless, we got some cute pictures of Calista, and she, as always, loved to be there.

With the penguins. I told her they wanted to eat her (because she's a fish).

She got to touch a cute little python (although she was too quick to get a picture of the actual touch). Calista loved it, and touched the python (named Bellatrix) a couple of times.

The stare down with the snowy owl. I am not sure who won.

After we got home from the zoo, while Calista "napped," we got Craig into his costume and took some pictures.

He's a mummy, in case you can't tell.

He slept all through taking pictures, even when we changed his position. Cute little mummy.

Then... my parents came! They were coming into town for Craig's baby blessing (post to come), and they decided to get here in time to see Calista go Trick-or-Treating. We went to a local mall and decorated a pumpkin for free (okay, for a food donation to the food bank, but close enough).

The pumpkin Calista picked out.

Kyler helped her decorate it.

Calista and the finished product. She loves it.

And now it's time to go beg for candy!

Calista was a lot more into it this year. 

Last year, she'd only go up to about 2 people, so she didn't get a ton of candy (not that she needs it, then or now). This year, though, she loved talking to people and by the end of our circuit through the mall, had a bucketful of goodies.

Checking out her stash, early in the process. A note on her bucket: she picked it out herself because it had a spider on it. Calista kept repeating, "Itsa!" and wanting us to sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider." It coincidentally matched the green on her costume.

Taking a little break from collecting candy to play on the car. Does she not look like Boo from Monsters, Inc?

Craig during the trick-or-treating festivities. He didn't get any candy, because we're mean parents.

Calista was also lucky enough to make a Halloween-themed gingerbread house with Grammie May.

No pictures if them working on it, but Calista loved making it.

And especially loved eating it.

Happy (belated) Halloween!