Happy Halloween

The past couple of weeks have been very busy to say the least. October and November are very busy times for me at work and we've been keeping busy on the weekends. Callum also went through a phase of about 10 days of getting up before 5:30 a.m. There was even once when I had to coax him back to sleep at 2 a.m. by laying on the floor in his room because he thought it was time to get up and go watch Big Bird. This was pretty painful but we've pushed bedtime back by 30 minutes which has been helping him sleeping through the night until at least 6:30 a.m. I have no idea how tonight's time change will screw up his sleep pattern but we'll see how it goes.

Last weekend, Jen, Jeff and Dante came to visit. Dante and Callum had a great time playing together as well as enjoying the annual Shippensburg Halloween parade on Saturday night. Although Dante is almost a year older than Callum, the two of them hit it off and loved chasing one another around the house as well as sharing the 'ol Mickey rider.

The borough of Shippensburg designated Thursday as the night for goblins and ghosts so we took Callum Trick or Treating for the first time. He walked happily to at least a dozen houses and very willingly accepted candy into his pumpkin. After making a round up and down our street, we returned home to hand out candy for an hour. Callum loved having the kids come up to the house and watching Mommy and Daddy give out candy. He also had his first Smarties and M&M's (that we know of) to eat as his evening snack. That definitely won't become a regular part of his diet at this age but I figured he deserved at have at least one taste of candy from his efforts walking around town.

Callum also had a party at daycare and came home with more candy than any child should ever get at age 18 months. Iain's volunteered to be the family taster and tackle this feat. As long as the weather holds out, we're going to a fall festival at his daycare in about an hour. This will be our last little bit of family Halloween fun. It's been a great holiday, and after Callum goes to bed tonight, Iain and I plan to watch some horror movies- we have the Birds and the Omen on DVD all ready for tonight. Happy Halloween!

Ongoing October

I've finally managed to find a Halloween costume for Callum. I bought one a few weeks ago but it turned out to be slightly too small and I figured that he wasn't going to shrink between now and Halloween so best to take it back. I went back to the local kid's consignment store and found a bear costume that fits much better. I'm a little worried that the material that lines the costume is a bit too itchy but we'll just see what happens. Given the hideous weather we've been having in South Central PA, it should be plenty warm enough for the annual Halloween parade and daycare party as well as Trick or Treating. I'm not 100% sure Callum will Trick or Treat this year but we'll see a bit closer to the time. We may just make a trip to Aunt Karen and Uncle Tedd's house and to a few of their neighbors. Since the last post, we hosted Pappy Al and Grandma and the three of us, without Callum and Iain, ventured into D.C. for a tour of the city. Despite the spiting rain, it was a great day out. Callum also demonstrated his love for his grandparents the next day by throwing a holy fit when they left. I've never seen him behave that way when leaving anyone other than me or Iain so it was a bit of a surprise. But it's nice to see the bond! We may take them up on babysitting a bit more often when we make it into Uniontown. Callum's add some new words and phrases- yes phrases!- to his vocabulary. He refers to Elmo from Sesame Street as "'Mo" and "Appy" for Big Bird (don't ask). Today, Callum said "Peek A Boo" and also regularly says "Bye bye, Dadda", "Bye bye Shuster". It is so cool to hear him put these things together! He's also taken to animals and their noises. He can meow like a cat, bark like a dog, and roar like a lion when asked. I'm sure his development is on par for any other 17 month old but I think the progress children make is just so amazing. Our all time favorite saying is "Goal!!!" in which he raises his hands over his head to cheer on his soccer team.

September

So far so good for this autumn. We've been enjoying the company of friends and family while watching our little guy grow and learn, learn, learn. Callum appears to be part child and part sponge. His vocabulary has taken off and he's able to catch on and repeat words constantly. Today he learned "please" which is always nice to hear! Some challenges we have faced include biting, as in Callum bites others, as well as long days for all of us. We had a week when Callum was being sent home with a note almost every day which addressed his biting of other children. After three or four days of this, we finally got a note that Iain and I both reacted to in the same way- "Thank goodness- someone bit him". Funny enough we haven't had any notes since someone else's kid bit Callum- maybe the repeated time outs and someone else's fangs turned him off to biting. Of course, he's still biting at home but it's usually when he is very angry or very happy to see me. Callum's current favorite things to do are pushing his toys around the house, feeding the cats, reading books and playing outside. We went to Stoner's Dairy Farm for an outing today and Callum had a blast. He rode a pony, pet animals at the petting zoo, picked a pumpkin, and walked his balloon dog. I was impressed with his patience while waiting in lines as well as his desire to spend time with all of the animals. Iain and I are really enjoying this aspect of parenting. He's definitely at a fun age- despite the random biting and occasional tantrum. We'll be planning now for visits from Pappy and Grandma as well as Jen, Jeff and Dante in a few weeks. Then, my second favorite holiday, Halloween! YAY! We need to figure out a costume for Callum but we'll figure something out. Hope you enjoy the rest of this gorgeous weekend!