Callen's 1st Birthday Celebration!

Callen's birthday celebration was simple and sweet which was just perfect for this little guy!

He has completely stolen our hearts and we are all happy with that!

We celebrated at a park since Callen LOVES being outside.  

Pizza, fruit, and cupcakes were all on the menu - more things he loves.

And we had to throw in some balls- he's obsessed!

His adorable spider-crawl, love it:

I can't get enough of this sweet boy:

Caught in action...loves sucking those fingers:

Party guests were Shar, Trav, and the girlies. 

Oh so fun!

Chowing down:

And our cute Cal with his very favorite toy EVER:

He started making these hilarious faces and we think he's pretty darn cute (and funny!). What a character!

Investigating something:

More of the monster balls:

Opening gifts:

Blowing out the candles, he was fascinated:

A gentle little poke was enough for him, ha!

He liked it!

Happy Birthday littlest man! We sure love having you in our family!!

Callen: 11 months

Callen's stats:

Height: 

Weight: 20 lbs

Takes two 1.5-2 hour naps a day

Sleeps 12 hours at night

Callen at 11 months:

Our cute boy is a bundle of energy now!!!  He NEVER stops moving. 

He is a pro crawler and gets any & everywhere!

He loooooves exploring every single bit of our house, and finds all sorts of stuff to show for it!

He pulls himself up to stand on everything, now.  If an item is taller than him, it's fair game.

Tries to walk by pushing objects around: chairs, stools, ride on cars, benches, etc.
He has strange obsessions with random objects like stools (this one and another one), the vacuum, microwave, etc. It's so funny.

Got his top two front teeth.  He is looking so big now with 4 teeth!

He eats AMAZING. He absolutely loves finger foods and has almost given up baby food. He's just not interested in it anymore.

He's done nursing.  We went to the bottle because he was pretty much starting to wean himself (by not being interested) but we kept it up for a little bit longer. He is officially only on bottles now. A bittersweet moment for this mama.

He's fascinated with faces and loves to touch/scratch/pinch/pat them.

Started making the 'kissing' noise. It's so hilarious and oh so sweet.

He started clicking his tongue. So fun when they start discovering their sound effects!

He started saying Mama. Best day. I love it!

He throws everything. EVERYthing. 

Really likes being outside

He stood alone for the first time. He hasn't done it a lot since, but sometimes he'll slowly let go of what he's holding onto and try to balance.

Dear Callen,

This has been a month of growth. You are soaking in every thing you can and leaving baby-hood behind. I am a little mixed on how I feel about this...I just want you to stay my sweet little baby!  But it makes you so  happy and excited that I can't be sad for long. Your enthusiasm for every bit of life is catching and we love that about you. I love the way your face lights up when you see any one of us. I love the way you touch my face as I give you a bottle and I love the sweet kissing noises you make when you lean in to plant a big, slobbery, wet kiss on me.  You like to move so much that snuggles are hard to come by. But oh, when they do come, we are all the more ready to treasure it!  

You, my little Callen, are a determined little man. That is going to help you so much in life.  We are so glad we're along for the ride.

We love you,

Mommy, Daddy, & the bros.

Callen: 10 months

Callen's Stats:

Height:  29 inches

Weight: 18 lbs 6 oz

Takes 2- 1.5-2 hour naps 

Sleeps 12 hours at night

Callen at 10 months:

This little guy  finally really crawling and he LOOOVES it! He explores everywhere!

He got his first 2 teeth this month- the bottom front. SO CUTE!

Top teeth are trying to come in but haven't popped through just yet

Still sucks on his two fingers and must have his monkey blanket to go to sleep

He's super super wiggly during diaper changes now and he hates them! Kinda tricky, but good thing he's cute!

He love love loves singing time and stories, especially stories that have real pictures in them.

Such a happy little ham! He makes us smile constantly!

He's pretty obsessed with the stairs. He has attempted to climb them and has gotten up a couple but he's still too scared to do it often, which is fine with me!

He started making this funny growling noise when hes really excited for his food.  He loves to eat (still doing baby foods).

Sat in a cart for the first time this month. He liked it okay, but he's definitely still happier in his carseat while I shop.

He pulled himself up to standing for the first time! And now he's hooked, it's the new 'cool' thing to do. Which means he can reach a lot more, UH OH!

He started drinking from a bottle.  He still nurses his morning and night feeding and then gets formula bottles in the day. He's doing great and I am SO happy he's doing so well with it. West loves to feed him when Cal lets him.

Dear Callen

This month has been another perfect one with you. Every stage, every new development is just a joy to watch and be a part of. Your brothers have so much fun with you and you adore each of them. They all have such unique and special relationships with you. How lucky you all are to have each other.  

You are such a sweet and happy baby. We love all of your exploring and every bit of laughter and silliness you bring to our family. 

We love you, little man!

Love, 

Mom, Dad, and the bros.

Callen: 9 months!

Callen's Stats:

Height:  29 inches

Weight: 18 lbs 6 oz

Takes 2- 1.5-2 hour naps 

Sleeps 12 hours at night

Callen at 9 months:

This has been a big month for our adorable little man! 

He is sitting on his own now and he LOVES it.  

He also started crawling!!!  YAY!  He still prefers to get in the plank position, then he tries to 'walk' forward like that, then he'll drop to all fours and take a few steps. He's still faster at the army crawl, though, so he does that a lot. Or he does a funny combination of the two that includes these adorable little scoots to get where he wants. He is really getting around, though, so whatever works!

He's kind of over baby toys and just loves to get into anything and everything.

His favorite thing to find is paper. That is the coolest stuff, for some reason.

He has a couple weird obsessions:  the vacuum, the microwave, and the ironing board. 

If he sees the vacuum or the microwave he FREAKS out and wiggles his body and makes a lot of noise until you take him over to them. Then he kind of just looks at them and hits them. Weird, yes. And pretty darn funny!

He is our first kid to have an allergy to something...  I kind of noticed his mouth was a little red around it one day after eating, but I just thought it was from dry skin. Then he ate yogurt bites a few days later and his poor face broke out in a horrible rash.  SO...we are holding off on anything with dairy in it for awhile.  Poor guy was still so smiley even though this couldn't have been comfortable:

He loves to be in the same room with us and to babble, babble away.  He is very vocal and lets us know when he wants something!

He LOOOVES baths still.  

He adores his brothers and is so good to let them hold him, cuddle him, and pretty much drive him bonkers!

He chews on everything and is so close to getting a bunch of teeth!

We've still kept him on mostly baby foods, which he loves. He's such a great little eater!

He is a wiggle wiggle wiggle worm.  Constantly moving EVERYWHERE!

Still loves books (reading and chewing on them), balls, and toys that make noise!

Dear sweet Callen,

You are growing, growing, growing into this amazing little person that we just can't get enough of!  Your smile lights up the room and you love to flash it to anyone who looks your way.  Your happy, sweet personality is so contagious and you help to make our home a brighter place. You are such a little ball of energy and are happiest when you are exploring every inch of our house.  We love you to pieces our little Cal. You make our days better because you are here.

Love lots,

Mom, Dad, & the bros