First Solid Food and New Photos

For the last two months or so, Callum has been watching with great interest as we eat. Lately he has taken to pretending to chew when he sees us chewing. So after talking with his doctor at his last appointment we decided that it was about time to introduce Callum's first solid food, rice baby cereal. Doesn't sound too exciting, but it was actually pretty good (I admit, I tasted it) and Callum loved it!



He eagerly reached for the bowl after he got his first few tastes. As soon as he finished one bite he instantly wanted another. Though about half of each bite ended up all over his stomach, diaper, chair, face, arm, hair, my arm, my hand, or his chin, rather than in his mouth.



Callum loves to suck his fingers. Between each bite, they went into his mouth. Maybe he was sucking off the cereal that he spilled on them.






He was getting pretty good with the spoon, even trying to help me out, towards the end of the bowl.






Here are a few other pictures from the last few weeks.



Callum loves to listen to Juston play his banjo (an awesome gift that Juston's brother Mason gave him). Callum will "sing" with the music, it's really funny. He successfully strummed the banjo after listening to Juston play the other day. Juston can't wait until Callum's old enough for an instrument of his own!



Callum likes playing with his soft blocks. It's fun to build towers for him to knock down.



I love this outfit, so I couldn't resist putting a photo up of him wearing it.

Little Bear

It was as I suspected. Callum's bear outfit that I knit him ended up fitting him during the spring. I've found that the sizes of baby clothes, and baby knit patterns are somewhat unpredictable. Most of the clothes that Callum wears now are at least a 6 month size, and he's only 3.5 months old. When he was born he was too little for even the newborn size. So, he's grown into and out of clothes very quickly. Even though it's 80 degrees outside I had to put Callum in this outfit for a few pictures. Maybe he'll have a little brother or sister some day who will fit in the outfit during fall or winter.









Usually Callum seems to hate the camera and will cry as soon as we "hide" behind it. I think he's learning that it's not so bad.

Work and Play

Lately Callum's been fixated with putting his fingers (or fist) into his mouth and sucking and slurping. He's also been grabbing and holding things more. So I thought he might actually hold on to some toys now, so I gave him a teething ring to try out.



He seems to think that it could be fun, if only he can figure out how to get it into his mouth!



Almost in the mouth! Licking it at least.



Ok, so he hasn't quite gotten a hang of holding on to toys yet for a longer period of time.



"Look Ma, no hands!"



Sometimes Callum likes to help out with laundry or dishes by sitting happily in his chair while I work.



But after a while he gets tired of watching me work.



Or he finds his fingers for some tasty sucking.

"Ah'GuBaa"

It's amazing just how fast Callum is growing and developing. He loves to "talk" now. He is practicing all kinds of sounds, nasals being his current favorite.



Play time with Dad before bed!



Callum's cute outfit handknit by Grandma Lantrip.

Recovered Photos!!!

We mentioned earlier in our blog that my hard drive had crashed, and all of our photos of Callum's first couple of weeks went with it. We are really thankful that my dad was able to recover all of our data that was lost, even after we went to the Apple store for help and they said there was nothing more to do to try to recover it. So here are some of our favorite photos that had been lost, including ones of Callum and Grandma and Grandpa Lantrip!



This photo is from the day that Callum was born. Grandma Lantrip has a mask on because she had a cold, in case you were wondering.


















Grandpa Lantrip has nicknamed Callum "Peanut", so he had this shirt made for him while they were visiting, though he'll have to wait until he grows into it this summer to wear it.









-Erin

Smiles!

Callum has begun to smile at us recently. We've been on a quest to capture a photo of his smiles, though they are still a little hard to predict. Here are a few of our favorites so far.

Lots of learning

This past week my parents visited us and met Callum for the first time. We had a really good time with them and they enjoyed getting to know their grandson! Juston's parents visited for several weeks right after Callum was born. I think Callum had a good time getting to know all four of his grandparents!












Callum has been taking more interest in the world around him lately. He likes to watch us and sometimes he will give us a big smile! Sometimes he will reach for toys or our faces, or hair (and pull it!). He likes to listen to us talk as well. It's been fun seeing how he is already growing and changing at just five weeks of age. He's getting bigger too! When he was born, most newborn size clothing was way too big for him. Now he is wearing some 3 month size outfits. He is also a really expressive baby. He makes lots of different faces and noises. We can sit and be entertained by him for hours!



We spent some time with our friends Kevin and Mindy and their baby girl Cora over Christmas break. We had fun getting to know Cora and playing with her. It seemed like one of her favorite past-times was playing on her activity mat, so we decided to get one for Callum. He's just beginning to take an interest in it. So far his favorite part about it seems to be the striped bars that hold the toys. He will stare at the stripes for a long time.




Before Callum was born I decided that I wanted to use cloth diapers. I just don't like the idea of producing so much garbage when I can just wash and reuse cloth diapers. Plus, when we live overseas, I may not be able to buy disposable diapers where we are. His cloth diapers didn't fit him until just this week. But now that they fit him, we have been using them and I think that he likes them, I'm sure they have to be more comfortable on his skin than plastic, plus I think they are cute!

-Erin

Callum's Adventure's at Three Weeks of Age

Hello All,
This has been a fun week with Callum. We've had the chance to take him out and about a little more. We went for a hike at a state park that is near our home. We discovered that he really likes riding in his baby carrier. He has also decided that he likes to take a bath now. At first he hated it and just cried, but now he seems very curious about the whole thing and just sits there very calmly as I wash him. He seems to really like the warm water! He's also has fun hanging out with mom and dad! In the photo with mom he's wearing a sweater that our friend Jennie made for him, isn't it cute?

The Great Epiphany

Exciting news this week, Callum discovered that his hands are connected to his body via the arms! He is beginning to reach for various objects near him and he often gets his thumb in his mouth after a few attempts. It has been very interesting and amazing to watch this discovery take place, from the fumbling and complete lack of control of his hands to grasping for his mobile that is attached to the changing table. That even the greatest of men pass through this stage of development is amazing to me, all share in this process.

Cacophonous Computer Crash

Life has been a bit hectic of late. One of our computers' hard drives noisily ceased to function two days ago. Unfortunately, it was the computer we had been storing all of the Callum's photographs on, so they are all gone except a few prints we had made. Oh well, there are more important issues in life. Callum is healthy and well and he continues to grow and develop at a rapid rate. Today is his two week appointment at the pediatrician and we expect all to go well.