There are toys EVERYWHERE

When you can move around on your own and pull up to chairs, couches, tables and cupboards, everything becomes a toy!

The phone is a fascinating toy, but it isn't as fascinating when someone isn't talking on it!


My cupboards will never be the same again...

...then he smiles and all is forgiven... I'm a sucker...


This cute boy is just about 9 months. He can motor around on all fours, is starting to stand all on his own and has cut his front 2 teeth. Just in time for Christmas!

Lane is 8 months!

He has mastered the art of crawling, has recently mastered pulling up on furniture, loves to stand up while steadying himself on the furniture and just in the last couple of days has figured out that he can get back down to the floor and crawl or sit after standing. He's a busy boy; some days he's even too busy to want to nurse!

He loves playing in the box of potatoes and carrots we have sitting in our kitchen. It is normal sight to see him gnawing on a potato or carrot with dirt smeared all over his face.


Our "office space" is also particularly fascinating with all the cords, boxes, paper and large objects. After feeling like it was futile to keep saying "NO" to him all the time, I tried putting chairs in front of the electronic stuff to keep him from gnawing on electrical cords. The only thing it did was slow him down as he managed to wiggle through between the back and the seat of the chair. He seemed to enjoy the challenge and was quite proud of himself when he made it back to those cords.

Really, he just likes to stand around now. He'll talk to himself, annoy the dog and walk between two chairs but I think he really is just happy to finally be upright, all on his own. He seems to have inherited the independent spirit of his parents. And my mother is laughing at me right now.

Look what I can get into!

The beginning of November marked another new stage in Lane's development and the destruction of our world as we know it. Lane can crawl. Yes, HE CAN CRAWL. Which means he can get into all sorts of trouble now.

But wow, does he like being able to move. He is so happy to be on the floor and able to find whatever toys he wants. It hasn't been without bumps, bruises and pinched fingers and he has had to learn what the word "NO" means, but for the most part, he is a happy, content boy.

And dangit, the kid just keeps getting cuter!

Toys & Friends

So I'm a little behind on posting pictures of dude. All right, a lot behind. I have a list as long as my arm of excuses for not getting these pictures posted a month ago but I'm pretty sure you don't want to read the list. Let's just say that I'm having too much fun working and being a mom.

We have had an unseasonably warm fall. Like, we're still in that icky stage of temperatures where you don't want to wear a really warm coat but you still need a coat. You know, that one stage that I don't have a suitable coat for. All that to say, it's been nice outside and so we try to take advantage of it when we can. Which also means we've had a couple of occasions to try out our double stroller:


Lane and Rachel seemed to enjoy their ride in it on this particular day, although you sure couldn't tell from the looks on their faces here!

But really, they do like playing together:



As long as we can keep Lane from poking out Rachel's eyes. One day soon she'll be able to fight back and then life ought to be interesting.

Until then, Lane has to stay content with his basket of toys:

Which shouldn't be a problem.

Mommy, look at me!

This is one of Lane's new favorite toys:




Pulling the chain to turn the living room light on and off. He loves it. And his dad loves it because I am too short to play this game with Lane.

Happy .5 birthday!

On September 26, we had a party to celebrate Lane's six month birthday. Crazy, I know, but it was a fun excuse to have a cake, have friends over and play Killer Bunnies. In reality, Lane got the short end of the stick because not only could he not blow out his candles but he couldn't eat any of the cake either. Good thing he won't remember a thing...

Lane was fascinated with the candles, even if he didn't know what to do with them.


But really, he just loved the attention. Here he is smiling at Auntie Laura.

Cute Pics

It has happened. Lane was so tired at supper that he fell asleep while eating... or at least sucking... it is hard to tell but there is a frozen peach in his food holder. Not that he ate much of it this particular night...





Lane's puppy is one of his favorite people. He loves to pet her, grab her, scratch her, hug her, really he just loves her. We're not always certain that the love is reciprocated but for the most part she puts up with Lane.

This is Lane's friend Rachel. She is a little bit younger than Lane so she hasn't really got him figured out yet but this particular evening Lane just wanted to play with her. Well, sort of. He wanted to pat her and hit her and poke her eyes out. Hence, my hand in the picture. We're hoping that one day soon they will actually be able to play together.

And this is my big boy sitting in a big boy chair, chewing on my security fob for work. I think I was trying to work and so was just feeding him whatever I could find to keep him happy...

The last day at Grandma & Grandpa's house we discovered the rocking horse. How cool! Lane loved it - and we loved watching him play with it.

New Toy

There is a new toy in our house: the jolly jumper. Lane seems to enjoy it; check out the movie.

I apparently still need lessons on how to use my camera, my apologies if you end up with a crick in your neck.

My gardening dudes

Jamie loves gardening so it is no surprise that he likes to introduce Lane to the concept. Lane already loves being outside, loves it when we let him pull out the grass and so I guess it follows that he loves to bury his head in the garden...



Getting right in there... how are those beans doing, Lane?

Tell me he won't be a farmer!

'til the cows come home

This one is for my cousin Leanne and any other cow loving people out there:



Yep, my son is wearing a cow diaper. There is nothing like the world of cloth diapers...

Cute pics, once again

As all of you that have kids know, these little creatures just keep changing. The past couple of weeks have been full of changes again and we are amazed by just how much he can change in the span of a day.

He has started to really take a shine to his books:

His favorite seems to be The Hungry Caterpillar. He seems to like it when I read the whole book to him... I'm not sure if it is the crazy voices I use or if he just likes the pictures.... regardless, I'm hoping that he is learning how much fun books are.

This dude has also learned to sit and is currently perfecting it while I type this up.

He has also been introduced to a taste of food. Currently he likes to suck/gum frozen peaches, cold apples and occasionally a raw carrot. He likes them the more he gets to eat them!

He can sit up to read his own books now!

And finally, a cute picture of the two of us!

Pics of the week

The boys hanging out on the couch. Lane's smile was so cute that I couldn't help but take a picture.


A close up of the cute boy himself.

Another shot of the boy, drool and all.

Does this one really need a caption?! Let's just say that Lane wants anything and everything he sees us have.

Father & Son

I'm slowly realizing that I'm the picture taker in our family. For those of you that know Jamie, this may come as a bit of a surprise; for those of you that know me and my family, this is an even bigger surprise. Anyway, what that means is that I don't end up in very many photos with my son but that we are collecting quite a few pictures of my son and his father. This particular photo is my new favorite and may actually get printed out and *gasp* put in a frame .


This was taken on the loooong drive home from BC via Edmonton. Lane was being a grumpy boy so we stopped on the side of the road in hopes of putting him in a better mood. So off the boys went to check out the field... or weeds, in this case. Either way, I love the shot as it not only captures the beauty of our prairie landscape and sky but it also seems to evoke the feeling that father is teaching son about the important things in life.
Lane did not want to let go of this weed but it did calm him down.

One more discovery

My boy is growing up. I know, big surprise. But it sometimes is hard to believe how quickly he is growing up... or how fast time flies by... or any other of the numerous cliches available on the subject. When we got home from our trip out West, not only did the two little white teeth in his mouth remind us of this fact but this was also a good indication:


Now, don't get me wrong. He didn't get into this position by himself, nor did he stay there long. BUT he was standing without any help from us and wow, did he love it. His new favorite thing to do is stand up against something and gnaw on that particular object. If his persistent spitting up hadn't already taught us that nothing is sacred, this gnawing/drooling would've clued us in pretty quick.

Cute pics

We just completed a tour of Western Canada these past few weeks; we took a road trip out to BC to attend a family reunion but somehow ended up taking quite a few detours along the way. Not that the detours were a bad thing as they allowed us to see most of Alberta and a lot of southern BC but they did their best to drive us insane as our perfect little angel still does not like being in his car seat for an extended period of time. Here are some of the favorites that were on my camera - if anyone else has some priceless pictures of us they would like to share, please feel free to send them this way.

Hanging out in Mom and Dad's bed yet again...




Sometimes all it took to get this silly boy to fall asleep was the touch of a finger...

...if only that had worked every time he started fussing while were driving!

Hanging out with Dad in Stagleap Provincial Park (west side of Creston, BC).

Getting ready to hit the pool for the first time (Osoyoos, BC).

Roughrider

My boy has an auntie and uncle that are die-hard Rider fans. Not to say that I am not a Rider fan but my enthusiasm doesn't quite compare to that of Uncle Mike and Auntie Tara. In their university days (which aren't that far removed) they were those people who painted themselves up, wore watermelon helmets and made a day of going to the game...at least that's the story I've been told. I never did manage to catch a glimpse of them when I watched the game on TV.



With such Rider pride in the family, it was no surprise that Lane received Rider gear before he was even born...




...even though it has taken him 4 months to be able to wear it.



Go Riders Go!

Discoveries

We continue to be amazed by how quickly Lane changes. Just when we figure out what "normal" is, he discovers something new and changes everything on us.

During our trip he "discovered" that he can play with the toys hanging from his car seat...


... that books are really cool things to read...

... and that toes are even better to suck on than books.

Clothesline

So maybe this picture isn't that exciting to all you reading this but in my world this was an exciting event. I HAVE A CLOTHESLINE! And I love using it. Not only can I avoid heating up my house with my dryer but the sun does a wonderful job of brightening all our clothes and giving them a fresh scent. Granted it does take a bit more work on my part but it gets me outside and somedays even Lane helps me take the clothes off the line.

Slide

After what was already a long day of travelling, we decided to stop at a park in Minot before we started our 3 hour drive to truly finish off the long day of travelling. Of course, I can't stop at a park and not have some fun! I decided it was high time that Lane experience the best part about playgrounds: the slide. I excitedly climbed up the ladder with Lane while Jamie indulgingly pulled out the camera to memorialize the event. I plopped myself down, arranged Lane on my lap, smiled for the camera and then took off...


...at a very slow speed. Apparently I picked the little kids slide that was actually meant for little kids.


Not only was the slide slow, but my hips barely fit as I went through the zigzag and Lane didn't seem to care in the slightest that he was going down a slide. In fact, I don't think it even registered that he was moving. Boys.

Four Generations

A four generation picture is a special occurence in any family. For the Calloway family this is a one-of-a-kind photo as it is the first time to our knowledge that three generations of Calloway men have been photographed together. Jamie's Grandpa James died 3 years before Jamie was born and his Great-Grandpa Ab died when his Grandpa James was only 9 years old.

Pictured: James Calloway (father), Ruby Calloway Atkins (great-grandmother), Lane Calloway, Larry Calloway (grandfather)

The girls next door

There are two cute little girls that live next door to Granny. Their names are Jade and Sara. I made friends with them last year while we were in NC for three months. It took a bit of effort but it was worth it - they will probably end up being friends for life. Jade was so excited to hear that I was coming back to visit her and play with her. Almost every day she would run down to Granny's and ask her if I was there yet. Kids are so sweet! Unfortunately I foiled her plans as this time I brought a baby along with me... but she and her sister were troopers and by the end of our visit both girls were asking to hold my baby.

I miss seeing these two little faces poking around the door... girls, feel free to come up and visit us anytime!



This is my attempt to take a picture of all four of us... it sort of worked... sorry Lane...

Granny

We spent the first two weeks of July in North Carolina staying with Jamie's granny. Who is now Lane's granny as well. We enjoyed spending time with her and Lane enjoyed all the extra spoiling he got. He got to play with toys at the kitchen table every morning and then Granny would rock him until he fell asleep. Mom just doesn't cut it any more.




Granny enjoyed meeting her new great-grandson and especially enjoyed holding him and spoiling him.