It's the official "more out than in" milestone in a baby's life: Craig is nine months old, and stinkin' adorable.
He is rocking his all natural faux-hawk, smiling, moving, sleeping, wiggling, and his newest skill du jour: clapping.
In the last three months since his last update, Craig-O has mastered rolling in all the directions. For a while, that was his preferred method of travel. Not any more.
He has moved onto bigger and better things, including a modified army crawl (his Uncle Clay said it looks like he is break dancing The Worm).
He is also sleeping pretty amazingly. The last month or two, he's been sleeping 10-11 hours straight at night, and I can usually get him to take a morning nap.
Afternoon is still a little dicey, but... at least he sleeps at night!
He is also sleeping in a room by himself, not with his Mom and Dad, mostly because we moved into a new place that has three bedrooms. We're hoping to have him and Calista in the same room soon, now that he's sleeping so well. The bigger issue now is Calista waking him up in the night!
He's as happy as ever, and he's starting to grow into his cheeks, which I'm pretty sure also contained dimples! It's adorable when he grins and is happy. Also starting to grow is his hair... on just the top. I have not cut a single hair on his head, and it is naturally growing in a mohawk. People always think I've styled his hair, but nope. It's all him.
Craig loves to eat, and is gaining weight like a champ.
So much a champ, actually, that we had to buy a new car seat - his old one only went up to 22 pounds, which just isn't cutting it anymore! We wanted to make sure he had one that fit him before we went on his first road trip - down to Idaho and Utah. While in Idaho visiting with Grammie and Grandpa May, Craig decided he could clap, and it has been his favorite thing to do (or have done for him) since. Clapping at him can calm him down when he's a little fussy, like a magic on/off switch. It's hilarious.
I love watching he and Calista interact.
The vast majority of the time, he loves any attention he gets from her.
And most of the time, she's really good with him.
...most of the time.
She gets very concerned if he's crying, insisted, "Let's go check him!" and loves to talk to him in the car.
She also loves when he joins her in the bath.
All in all, we are in love with this little guy. He is basically perfect, and all we could ask for.
So, remember how we got a pass to the dinosaur museum for Christmas (Thanks, Cliffy!)? The last weekend in May, we went up for a third time. This one was a little different, though, because it was the first time we've gone when there wasn't snow on the ground! Yay! This means it's the first time we got to do anything outside, which in turn means that I need to blog about it. Obviously.
We started off by doing a short (1 kilometer) interpretive hike of the badlands outside the museum. Calista walked the whole way (I strong! she says), and Craig got carried like the baby he is.
Poor Craig, borrowing his sister's too big (pink) hat... it kept falling into his face.
It was a beautiful day to do the hike, warm but not hot (because the badlands can get HOT), slightly overcast with a very mild breeze... so pleasant!
The hike itself was beautiful and fun.
See? Beautiful.
We taught Calista that the striped rock is called...
Sedimentary rock!
(So, for those keeping track at home, we have a future pianist, paleontologist, geologist over here).
Definitely fun.
By the end of the hike, Calista was ready for a break. So we went to the outdoor picnic area and had lunch, tried not to feed the gophers/prairie dogs (unsuccessful),
or let them eat Craig (mostly successful),
and let Calista play on an awesome play structure.
Complete with a dinosaur "skeleton" you could discover.
Lastly, we went through the actual museum and then headed home. My updated review of Royal Tyrell Museum? Come visit us and let's go see dinosaurs together (inside and outside!).
Calista has always loved music. The first time she ever laughed, it was at me, singing and dancing for her. Now, as Calista is getting older and more skilled (obviously), she has started singing for us... or for Craig. So, are you ready for some adorable videos?
Calista singing the ABCs while she accompanies herself on the piano.
Someday I'm sure she'll actually learn to play the same tune that she is singing...
Calista singing and rocking Craig... can you say, "Awwwww!"
In the week and a half since I took this video, she has gotten even better at singing and is easier to understand every day, even by the missionaries, when Calista started singing "I am a Child of God" at church... in the middle of the sacrament...
And, of course, Craig wanted in on the action.
So, they played together, while Calista sang Do-Re-Mi (from The Sound of Music).
Are more musical duets in their future? I almost guarantee it, at least here at home.
I hope the Grandmas and Grandpas enjoy the video overload. They're probably the only ones who will slog through the 3.5 minutes.
Happy Easter, everyone! Yes, a day late and a dollar short, but at least I have cute pictures and funny stories to make up for it, right?
This year, I was hoping Calista would be old enough to learn the basic idea of what Easter is all about. We've talked about it before, obviously, but I was hoping some of it would actually stick this time around. So, for Family Home Evening the Monday before Easter, we had a lesson on Jesus and the Resurrection. We basically used the Church's Nursery Manual lesson for it. Calista seemed to kind of get it, and we talked about it a little during the week, too. Saturday evening, I told her that it was Easter tomorrow, and then asked, "Why do we celebrate Easter?"
Calista: "Jesus!"
Me: "What did he do?"
Calista: "Jesus died."
Me: "And then what happened?"
Calista: "Jesus feel better."
So, now you know the real reason we celebrate Easter.
Of course, it's also awfully fun to have Easter baskets (full of chocolate!), hunt for eggs, and wear brand new pretty clothes to church.
Calista loved the chocolate in her basket, and had to be convinced to let it go to search for eggs.
Once she realized there was chocolate in the eggs, too, she was more than happy to participate.
This was Craig-O's first Easter basket. We didn't really think he was quite ready for candy, so he didn't get any. He did get cute bunny ears, a little stuffed bunny, and a book.
And he loved them.
Before all of that, though, we took the obligatory Easter Sunday pictures.
Yes, that's right folks, our little man is six months old! Weighing in at 18 lbs 7.5 oz and 27 inches long, he is fighting fit. Well, now he is, at least. He struggled with a cold a while back, which messed up his sleeping patterns for a while. I am pleased to announce that (I think) he's back to a normal schedule. AND... I think I may have finally gotten him to take naps in his bed! I still need to work on getting them to be longer, but at least he's not crying the second I put him down (during the day. Nights he's been fine).
Little man has also officially rolled over. The first time he did it, I didn't actually see him do it because I was getting Calista breakfast in the kitchen. A few days later, Craig was having some tummy time and getting a little grumpy. I told him, "I just want to see you roll over!" and, no joke, 2 seconds later he did for me. Do you want to see it?
Craig-O can roll over! He still hasn't rolled over the other way (back to tummy) but that's okay.
And, as always, Craig is a happy kid.
Every where we go, people comment on two things. 1) His cheeks.
Because look at them!
And of course, 2) How happy he is.
He is all smiles, all the time. Well, most of the time, at least.
Whenever the little guy starts making loud squealing noises, the cat needs to investigate.
Just checking to make sure all is well, nothing to see here.
Craig is not "moving" but he does wiggle himself into and off of things.
He started out in the middle of the pink flower... but now he's stuck! He's doesn't seem that close to crawling or anything yet, but we'll see. He could surprise us.
Random picture of Craig playing piano with Kyler.
Doesn't Craig look thrilled?
Winter is beginning to end, so Craig has been able to get outside a little more (as I mentioned before).
Craig has enjoyed the different world he's being exposed to.
Like swings (for the first time!)
And, of course, going to the zoo all the time.
He enjoys story time, and also has started to enjoy the animals and everything, too.
He likes the zoo!
He also likes going on walks, and Calista likes to help push his stroller.
She may occasionally try to steer him off the sidewalk, however...
More swinging (with massive puddles of melting snow all around).
Calista is getting really good with Craig. She absolutely adores making him smile and laugh, and will give him hugs all day long.
And Craig loves the attention she gives him. Calista will hug him, he'll grin, and then Calista will say, "I love you too, Baby Craig." And then... my heart will melt. Every time.
Not everything is always perfect between the two of them. The other day, I noticed Calista bending down as if to sit on Craig. When I told her not to sit on him, she said, "Okay. I hug him instead." Yes, good plan!
Also, Calista, being an older sister, is rather bossy at times.
Craig doesn't listen much usually. Good thing, too. I like to hear him laugh whenever he wants, regardless of what Calista says.
Spring has starting to be sprung in Calgary. It may still look really cold outside, but that's what happens when you have so much snow on the ground - it takes a while to melt! Really, though, it's been a nice couple of days, so we took advantage of Kyler's day off and went to a park.
Remember that visit we made to this same park last year? In the background of a couple of the pictures, you can see a bridge over the river. This is that bridge now:
Because of the flooding that happened last June... there is no bridge! It was kind of surreal to look out across the river and see... nothing. We didn't let it ruin our trip, though.
We had fun taking a little walk,
although pushing a stroller through the "snow" was a not the easiest thing ever. A might bit slushy, if you know what I mean. Which is why we made sure Calista wore her rubber boots... and since she was in her boots, she got to play in the puddles as much as she wanted.
And then, yes, to the playground! Where we had Craig's first time on a swing!
He loved it! And then Calista joined him a bit.
I love watching the two of them together. Craig adores Calista, and Calista thinks he's pretty funny... and will absolutely love when he's old enough to play with her (and boss around), I can tell.
Calista was willing to try new things a bit, so we let her on the tire swing.
She thought it was fun... but didn't spend much time on it. The slide was more comfortable for her.
Because, remember from last year, she can do it all by herself!
I'm so excited for the weather to warm up, so we can have lots of fun playing outside!
Kyler and Jeanette got married on the 25th of August 2007, after knowing each other for four years and being each other's rebound date. It's a healthy relationship.
