17 weeks - Cal's first flight and Thanksgiving in Florida

What a full week it has been! Cal became a traveling baby as we ventured off to Florida to see my Aunt Joanie, Uncle Jay, brother Ben and his girlfriend Melanie and her son Athan. It was Cal's first time meeting my side of the family (the Callahan side) and boy did he have a great time! As typical Cal goes, he shows his sad side when he meets someone unfamiliar, but he quickly warmed up to everyone by the next day and was so excited to see everyone each morning. We went on lots of adventures, soaked up some sun, and even went swimming! What a welcome change from the chilly weather we had been experiencing in Philly. There are lots of pictures from this week, so enjoy!

I will start by saying that Cal was the most amazing traveling companion. He was easily entertained by the tray table in the upright position, and he tilted his head back and forth as he examined it carefully for many many minutes.

Cal was the best baby and took naps on each flight (considering we had 4 separate flights between the way there and back, because we are cheapskates, this could have been a nightmare...) However, Cal decided he would be a traveling expert and eat and sleep and play and just do all the baby things that are fun, and he was even complimented on his good behavior! Yay Cal!

Don't mind my travel appearance, this is after waking up at 6am and then having a 2 hour delay, leaving us with a 4 hour layover. Woooooo.

This week Matt became the "Nap Master" and was able to get Cal to sleep in basically every situation possible. One being on the plane over his shoulder, which I have not been able to do for quite some time. 

Cal LOVED being with his family and here are some pictures to prove it!

Uncle Ben and Aunt Melanie enjoying the little guy.

Uncle Ben and Cal are good buddies already. :)

Cal and his great uncle Jay, right after Cal just spit up all over his shirt. (Sorry Uncle Jay!)

Cal and his cousin Athan holding hands on a walk in Cocoa Beach, and me.. just eating some chips.

This is a picture from the community that my Aunt and Uncle live in. They have springs in the community where you can go swimming or hang out at the beach with the palm trees. This was Cal's first experience in the sand. He had fun.

My Aunt and Uncle have an awesome pool and Cal got to take his first swim there! This is him and Matt all suited up to take a dip, and as you can see, Cal is excited! 

Cal chose to swim float in the hot tub, where the water was much warmer (only 90 degrees) and he just kicked back and relaxed. 

Another adventure Cal went on was a trip to Cocoa Beach. No swimming here, but he did dip his toes in the water and watch his feet sink in the sand. And being the good baby that he is, he even took a little snooze in his tent.

Since we were all about Cal being portable this trip, we decided to be real brave and take him to Epcot!

 Note: Cal's little hand on Mickey's shoulder.

When I was younger, my family and I took a trip to Disneyland and my parents bought me a pair of Mickey ears with my name stitched in cursive on the back in yellow thread. I wanted to get Cal the same souvenir, but he wasn't as excited about it as I was.

He was lucky enough to go on a few rides on boats, and he loved watching all the screens and fun lights!

Just doing the head tilt again, checking out the water below on The Land ride.

Lastly, we had the privilege of getting to spend time with our favorite Chattanooga neighbors, the Vogels! They moved back to their home state of Florida a few years ago, and we have stayed in touch ever since. This was our first time visiting their new home, and for Cal to meet their sweet girl Eden. 

16 weeks and 16 pounds!

Just a picture post this week! Cal is now a whopping 16 pounds! He's wearing 6 month clothes and likes to stand and hold onto things. He's getting really good at socializing with other babies and people by smiling and turning his head side to side when people are talking to him. 

We love him soooooo much. 

"Daddy, give me some of that pulled pork!"

15 weeks! Finally, a few videos and Cal finds his voice.

 

Check out Cal's pants in his 15 week photo - they are made out of a pair of socks! More about that later...

This week Cal was very social. We went to Rachel and Adam's housewarming party on Sunday, where Cal got to meet up with all his special baby friends. This is a picture that Matt took because he couldn't believe that we had so many babies in one place. Then I told him that this is pretty much an everyday occurance with the Mom's group.

I bought this mirror at a garage sale before Cal was born with dreams of it being in his room along the floor so he could look at himself. Since we spend most of our time in the living room, I brought it out this week to show him. He loves the mirror! He looks at himself and smiles and then he looks at me in the mirror, and then actually at me and I think he's trying to figure it all out. It's so much fun to watch him learn something new.

This is poor little Cal with olive oil all over his head. He has some pretty major cradle cap and my home remedy self wanted to figure out something natural to get rid of it... Let's just say it hasn't gone away yet and he's still a little greasy.

Here's a video of Cal showing off his mad jumping skills that he learned from his "cousin" Beck.

This week Cal found his voice and my, is it loud! This is what happens when I read him a story.

Lastly, Cal does a little jig.

14 weeks

Cal has been full of smiles this week. We are having so much fun with him as he giggles and does sweet sounds as he goes about his day. Don't get me wrong - he has his share of the fussies but the joyful moments seem to outweigh the challenges. We went on more walks in the Wissahickon this week and enjoyed the yellow leaves and friends. 

                        Peek a boo!

He seems to be in control of his paci now, which is good and bad. Sometimes he can put it in his mouth when he needs it but most times he rips it out of his mouth when he's crying in the car. Let's just say my back seat reach has really improved and most of the time I get the paci back in his mouth and not his nose. (Sorry Cal :))

This little guy loves his nighttime nude time. He kicks and flails like a wild man.

This is Cal's baby friend Teddy, who is 7 1/2 months. Here he is taking care of Cal.

Cal now sits in the bumbo seat, and I now enjoy eating dinner. 

Lastly, Cal has taken a liking to jumping, so here he is in his Jumparoo! He doesn't really understand what to do in here yet so I help him, but boy does he have fun!

3 months!

Well the time has come where I start referring to Cal in month form. I don't like it, because weeks makes him sound like a tiny baby still but I have decided to just embrace it and accept the fact that I do not have a shrinking machine and he is going to grow into a child no matter what I do to stop it. 

Last week was Halloween, so pictured below is Cal flying high above Philadelphia making sure the city is safe. (Fooled ya didn't I?)

Cal and his cousins- the princess riding a unicorn, a chili pepper, a frog and a dragon. What a crew.

I think it's for the best they won't remember this day.

 We passed out candy on Halloween night from our stoop and Cal made sure there weren't any cats up to no good trying to get candy. 

Cal prefers to go without clothes and when he is clothesless he likes to chat. This is him in deep conversation. 

After going out to pick up dinner, this is what I came home to. Matt's got the touch.

Something that I love this week is that Cal is more interested in his toys now that he is able to use his hands a bit more. Here he is just tossing the ball around like he's an athlete of some sort.

This was my favorite night of the week. Cal woke up crying shortly after going down to sleep, so I rocked him in the chair for a bit and he was such a snuggler. I love him so much.