Since we’ve last spoken, Victor has done so much growing! At 10 months he finally started to crawl! I love it! It’s so cute to see his little tush up in the air. He has also learned to wave, pull himself up (only in the tub, but still), and eat food. Prior to this month he had an aversion to any kind of puréed texture foods and would only nibble on solids before spitting them out. Now he actually swallows, and doesn’t throw anything up! He loves fruit, cheese and yogurt. I think he is trying to make all the dairy farmers in his family tree proud. There are a lot of them. We are still waiting for some teeth though. He is still all gum.

On the move!

In the past month he has also learned to sleep without being swaddled, and can be put down while still awake. Actually, he has to be since he doesn’t fall asleep while nursing anymore. We also are at one nap a day for him already. He was waking up at 5:30 every morning, so I had to do something about that.

Calvin is talking more and more every day, forming funny little sentences, and growing taller and taller every day. I think he is in need of all new pants for this fall! Recently we did a little TV detox for him. He got really used to watching shows while I was painting the suite, and when it was done, it was an easy habit to fall into to keep him occupied. But I was realizing that it just made him extra grumpy when he wasn’t watching. The first couple days without TV were pretty hard. But he got used to it after a few days. He still asks once in a while, but we keep it to a Friday evening movie and maybe a short YouTube video here and there. He is generally happier all around without watching much of it.

Mr. Daddy Head

Over the past month we have spent lots of time at the zoo. Calvin loves being able to run wherever he wants, and especially likes the train.

Looking toward the fall and winter, I am trying to come up with ideas to get us (mainly Calvin) out of the house. Last winter he was still little enough to be fine with staying home, but I think this year it will have to be different. We have our zoo pass which I will be using, as well as a library card. I have also been told of a couple other indoor things I may look into getting passes to.

Rawr!

Toilet training will also happen sometime in the next couple months. I think. I am not looking forward to it. Normally my parenting style is just to do whatever makes sense to me, whatever my mind comes up with. I don’t read parenting books or look up different methods for things, but I think that may change for toilet training. I have no clue how it’s going to work, and that frightens me a little! But once it’s done, I will be back to just a single diapered bum. Hooray!

Our cutie patootie.

We also have a couple trips coming up. This weekend I am taking the boys to Regina. All by myself! I am going to go visit my friends from Victoria who joined us in the prairies earlier this year. It will be interesting to see how an 8 hour + trip will work with no Tim, but it will be fine. The main thing I learned from our road trips earlier this summer was that Calvin does better with fewer things to occupy him. Contradictory to everything everybody says, he does not do well with a ton of different activities. He just gets frustrated and throws them around. And I am not stopping the car every half an hour to pick up his toys. I will bring some books, maybe a Mr. Potato Head, and that’s it.

And then in October, we are going West yet again. This time the boys and I are flying out for a cousin’s wedding. Tim will join us the following weekend for Thanksgiving and another wedding. I think flying with they boys will be just fine, especially since it is such a short flight. My approach to flying with kids is to keep it simple. I am not bringing a stroller or the kitchen sink. I will bring my diaper bag with a couple snacks, books and diapers. What else do you need? Nothing! I’m not sure why parents complicate their travel plans by bringing everything they own. I suppose one thing I have going for me is that most of what I need my parents have, so that makes things easy.

Something about the height of the tub side allows Victor to pull himself up.

But now, this week, I have a project in the kitchen I am trying to finish, meals to get organized for Tim while I am away, and other miscellaneous to-do items.