Food Fight

Callum moves into the toddler room at daycare tomorrow. This means that he is at least 13 months old and walking on his own, which he does very well. Callum will also receive no more bottles during the day, eat breakfast at daycare and participate in arts and crafts. Whoa. My biggest stress with this is that I don't know whether or not they will microwave foods so I'm sending in items that don't need heated for his lunch. I'm also stressing whether or not Callum will be uncool for the lunch his Mom sent in. Do one year olds laugh at other one year olds? Callum's also perfected the art of throwing his sippy cup on the floor as well as any food he doesn't feel like eating. At the university, we don't refer to negative situations/people as "problems", but rather "challenges". The food/cup on the floor has been a challenge. He knows darn well he's not supposed to do it and looks directly at me before chucking the object on the ground. Today I told him he was in time out, and then promptly burst out laughing when I looked into his big blue eyes. Time out- give me a break. I suck at being a disciplinarian. We do have to figure something out because he laughed right back and hurled a chicken chunk on the floor. All three of us have been spending a lot of time outside because of Callum's new passion for the backyard. He enjoys walking around the yard, sliding on his new slide and moving rocks around the small flower garden we have. I have to keep an eye on him though because he's come to find mulch appealing and he's almost succeeding with getting it into his mouth- EWW!

Not this time

Alas no stars at La Dolce Vita but I am now six degrees of separation from some famous people. The maitre'd knew George Clooney, Christina Aguilera, Dean Martin, Gregory Peck, Ronald & Nancy Regan, Fred Astaire and Steve Martin. Pretty impressive. Maybe I'll see someone tomorrow. I've also been dying to see the paparazzi so who knows? We also took a detour through Beverly Hills to see the sights and I saw famous stores like Dior, Gucci and Fendi. Tomorrow is my last day here and it will be another full day of meetings, sessions and speakers. I hope to make the most of it and get back home! Friday will be a terribly long day but Iain and Callum will be on the other end. And to quote Dr. Suess: "To bed, I said". Good night!

Dinner in LA

The day has been eventful and it's not over yet. I am in between sessions and taking a few minutes to post. I've been invited to a dinner in Beverly Hills tonight by one of my partner universities. I am very excited because 1. I've never been to Beverly Hills 2. I love being treated to dinner 3. I may have the chance to see someone famous. We are going to La Dolce Vita, http://www.ladolcevitabeverlyhills.com/, which is supposed to be amazing. All I care about is the fact that I am going to be in Beverly Hills. I've watched bits and pieces of the movie "Pretty Woman" over the past month and I might actually get to see some of those places tonight. I'll let you know if anyone famous shows up. But the odds on a Wednesday night are probably slim to none. I spoke with Iain a little while ago and things are going well at home. I think that he secretly enjoys when I go away because he can do boy things like play PlayStation and not do the dishes. I also have a feeling that when Callum gets older, they will enjoy it even more when they get a break from Mommy's nagging. Yes, folks, I'm a wife. Wives nag and I'm good at it. But Iain is fabulous at not letting me bug him too much and even humors my incessant demands. I'll try to post about dinner but my WiFi is only good for 24 hours and I'm not renewing it.

Travels

I post today from the fabulous city of Los Angeles CA. I'm attending a conference for NAFSA, the Association of International Educators, which is the largest forum for my career field. There are currently 7,400 participantsin LA for this conference and the attendance is down from the 12,000 who attended the conference in Washington D.C. last year. I didn't go to that conference because of Callum's arrival. Anyway, it is always amazing, overwhelming and uplifting to do anything with NAFSA. The trip here was alright although I hit a few snags. My flight from Cincinnati to Los Angeles was oversold and guess who didn't have a seat? Yup. I managed to get on after the airline offered up vouchers for other travelers and they re-routed a few people. Normally I would have given up my own seat but since I was traveling for business, I figured that I'd better just get there already. But I didn't get the joy of perusing the airport and eating breakfast after my stupidly early 6 a.m. flight from Harrisburg. I had to stalk the ticket booth to make sure that they didn't forget me! Then I got onto the 6 hour flight to find out that all food, other than a microscopic sized bag of peanuts, must be purchased! Drinks were free- how generous! My past couple of long flights have gone abroad and it must be an FAA rule to feed people so I've never gone hungry. But yesterday I shelled out $2 for a bag of M&M's. Pretty sad. After my 50 minute shuttle ride from LAX to the Westin, I was about 3 hours early for check in so I had to lug myself from the hotel to the convention center. It looked a lot closer when I was riding in the shuttle. I wouldn't have walked with my laptop and purse if I would have realized that it was at least 10 blocks away. I did manage to get into my hotel room early which was a blessing, especially since the hotel oversold and were turning people away. Gotta love how the travel industry treats customers. One tip that makes a difference if you are traveling- sign up for the priority card with the hotel before getting there. I was able to skip a line of 10 people to check in simply because I had the little plastic card. All in all, things are going well although it would have been great to sleep in past 4:34 a.m. Jet lag can be brutal and totally uncontrollable. Iain and Callum are fairing well through my absence but I have a feeling that once I get back Callum won't let me out of his sight for a little while. Separation anxiety is a stage that he just doesn't seem to outgrown. Anyway, I miss my guys and look forward to my uber early flight home on Friday. Like Dorothy always said it best, "There's No Place Like Home!".

Transitions

Month 12 of Callum's life continues, and we continue to have fun with him on a daily basis, although sometimes he definitely tests our patience. He is quite strong willed and gets very upset when he doesn't get what he wants or doesn't get enough sleep. Today was a day when both of those things happened at the same time and he was a bear by 4 p.m. I finally had to call Iain in from cutting the grass because I couldn't take the yelling anymore. Callum treats mom different than dad and sometimes I think that he thinks that I can read his mind and improve the current state of any situation. I wish he had a few more words in his vocabulary to make communication a bit easier! He now loves the outside and walking around our yard as well as up and down the sidewalks. Callum's also discovered the neighbor's yard and Yorkshire terrier. It makes it a bit awkward when he wants to continue his stroll into their manicured landscaping! Although they are more than cordial, we haven't had any lengthy conversations in the past three years. So it is a bit odd when Callum wants to charge into their backyard! He was very mad at mommy earlier when she wouldn't let him visit a second time. On a positive note, Callum had his picture done at Sears this morning and he was very smiley for the camera. He is also transitioning onto the toddler schedule the daycare keeps quite well. He will move into the toddler room in a couple of weeks. His new schedule involves a set time for breakfast and other meals, only one daily nap and eventually no bottles. He's still having 2 a day at daycare and a tiny one before bed. I am dreading when the nightly one has to be dropped. He enjoys it so much and it calms him tremendously. It also makes me sad that he won't be taking bottles anymore! We'd like to wish everyone a Happy Memorial Day Weekend- safe travels to anyone on the road or in the sky. The Burnetts will be camped out at home until the return to work on Tuesday. I'll actually be leaving the boys for four days alone as I travel to Los Angeles for a conference. I'll post more about this before I depart on Tuesday. Until then, enjoy the long weekend!

Toddling Along

Since my little one woke up early today and I am at work super early, I thought I would post an update. Callum has entered the world of toddlers in two ways since his birthday. The first way was by taking his first steps on May 5. Iain brought him home from daycare and set him down on his feet in the kitchen. Callum walked right over to me! He definitely takes his time and really prefers to hold onto a finger or two when walking, but he can go it alone. He knows that if he wants to get to something really fast that crawling is the way to do it, but he's enjoying his new ability to step out on his own. Sometimes Callum gets so excited with walking, he makes a head dive towards the person or thing he is walking to. It's been fun so far watching him with his new found independence. The second way he has become a toddler is by throwing tantrums! Yes, at age one, Callum has thrown himself on the floor and bawled over things like not being able to play with the door handle (because Mommy has to hold him while doing it), not being allowed to pull on the ceiling fan cords (because Mommy has to hold him while doing it) and not being able to sit on the counter in the kitchen sticking his fingers in the dishwater (because Mommy has to hold him while doing it). Are we seeing a pattern? I didn't think that the tantrums would come so soon but according to the many sources I have been referencing, this is totally normal! So much for the terrible twos. Overall, he's not been unpleasant but if there is something he wants or wants to do and he can't, he gets so ANGRY. Thank goodness I've ordered my latest parenting book, The Happiest Toddler on the Block. I'm learning about the "Fast Food Rule" and "Toddlerese", which are ways to handle the behavior that comes from a child between one and four years old. I'll let you know how it goes, especially if it works! Bring on the tantrums! Okay- not really.

Happy Birthday Callum!

As you can see, Callum had a terrific first birthday. Despite a rocky road to a nap, he slept well and was a joy all afternoon. He enjoyed his cousins and friends with a Curious George pinata, ate cake- and I mean really ate cake, opened presents and overall, had a fun day. Many thanks to everyone who helped with the party and attended to celebrate his birthday. It was one to remember!

One Year Already

We can't believe that a whole year has past since Callum entered the world. We technically have a few hours until he is officially 12 months old but I'm not staying up until 2:30 to ring in the new year. I did that once already. He's also suffering from another ear infection and is having a rough time getting settled. Hopefully he'll be feeling better in the morning. ;-/