Sunday, January 16, 2011

Winter weekends with the family

We are practicing many new skills around here, like drinking and using a spoon on his own as well as learning some signs. This means there is a lot of encouragement and celebration of life's little accomplishments going on around here.

Taking a drink
Post drink applause
Post drink high-five

Yesterday was a beautiful winter day - the perfect day for an afternoon date! Lydia offered to watch Cale for a couple of hours while Alan and I hit the town to celebrate my birthday. We planned on skating at the new outdoor Halifax Oval in the Commons, but it was closed to the public for the day due to a speedskating meet so we went out to eat instead. Lydia and Cale had a great afternoon of playing nonstop.

This was our second birthday celebration of the weekend. My friend Tara invited us to a birthday brunch on Saturday, where Cale had a blast playing with and learning new tricks from some older babies who were at the party. He interacted really well with the other kids, minus one tackle that he couldn't resist giving another baby! He also managed to sneak in his first chocolate cupcake. I have been waiting until his first birthday to let him have his first sugary treat, but he found a big chunk of one on the floor which I noticed when he smiled up at me with chocolate crumbs all over his face! It was also so nice for me to have other parents to talk to. I realized that the reason why Cale hasn't been feeling well the past few days (diarrhea and frequent wakings) is probably due to the four molars coming through right now. The joys of teething.

Making new friends

On a sad note, we had to return our good friend Arlo to the shelter this week. Arlo has been a great pet to us over the past 2 years, but he has never been comfortable around kids and he was getting increasingly nervous around Caleb and showing signs of aggression. The decision to look for a new home for him was not an easy one, but I know he will find a new family that will love him as much as we did. It will take awhile to adjust for us to life without him. Miss ya lots, little buddy.

1 comment:

Grandma Linda said...

Happy Birthday Ashley! I'm glad you'll be in Freddy for Cale's birthday. You were a pretty cute baby too but nothing on Caleb :)