Post Grandparent Update

Grandma and Grandpa McCall have gone back to Canada. We had a great visit with them.

Since they left, Dougie has been working on all sorts of milestones. He can now officially crawl. It sort of sneaked up on us. He was doing something that looked a bit like crawling but it wasn't quite close enough. Then all of a sudden, he started. He doesn't seem to like doing it that much but it gets him where he wants to go. He still loves standing. He basically crawls over to something so he can pull up on it and stand.

He'll use anything to stand


It's amazing the mischief you can get into once you can move around


We've officially started a new swimming class (our last class was last week). Initially, we had the class on Tuesday mornings at 9:15. We thought it would be a good time since it was before Dougie's first nap and he wouldn't be too tired yet. We were wrong. He was way over tired and miserable the entire class. So, we moved it to Saturdays at 11:15. We had our first class at that time today and it was so much better.



The best part is that Daddy can come watch the classes and take pictures. Our new teacher is quite nice as well. We only had 2 kids in class today so we got a lot of attention.

Fun With Uncle Rudy and Auntie Carol

This was Mom and Dad's first trip to Texas since Uncle Rudy and Auntie Carol got their new place. So, we packed up the car and took a trip up to Denton to see it. This time, we remembered our camera so we actually got some pictures of everyone.

Dougie with Uncle Rudy, Auntie Carol and "cousin" Hannah


Auntie Carol even managed to pull together a wonderful meal that met all of my strange diet restrictions. We had a fabulous time and Mom and Dad really liked the community they are living in.

Tuesday, Uncle Rudy and Auntie Carol made the trek down to see us. We had a great time just sitting around, chatting and watching Dougie. Dad had already gone back to Toronto but we had a great time anyway. Of course, we took more pictures.

Dougie with Grandma and Great Auntie Carol


Dougie with Great Uncle Rudy and Grandma


Auntie Carol is so funny!


And another teeth shot


It was so nice to have them visit. Dougie sure enjoyed hanging out with them and can't wait to see them again (us too)!

Grandma and Grandpa Visit

Grandma and Grandpa McCall are back for a visit. Dougie sure appreciates them braving the temperatures of a Texas August but with tropical storms hitting and a hurricane coming up the coast, it must be love.

They arrived mid-day today so we had the afternoon to do a bit of shopping and then spend the afternoon playing with Dougie. He just learned to sit himself from a crawling position so it was fun for them to see some new tricks.

Of course, we have some pictures from today.

Grandpa and Dougie playing on the floor


Grandma and Grandpa playing with Dougie


Grandpa is as fun to stand with as the diaper box

Standing/Cruising Boy

Dougie LOVES to stand. Given an option, he will almost always opt to stand. He can pull himself up and once he's up, he can remain there for quite a while. He also cruising now. He'll pull up and then walk around whatever he is using for support. Sometimes, he'll even let go to see how long he can stand -- not long BTW. I wanted to share some more pictures of him standing today.



(notice the two little teeth on the bottom)


He's turning into such a little man.

Sault Ste Marie

Last weekend, the three of us travelled up to Sault Ste Marie to introduce Dougie around to some of his relatives. It was a bit of a trek to get up there -- Kim and Dougie met me in in Lansing, MI (she flew into Detroit, and I drove across from Chicago) and then we made the big car trip up through Michigan, across the Mackinac Bridge, and to the Soo. Dougie did OK in the car -- slept for a long while, needed to take a break every now and then at a rest stop. We played some Canadian folk tunes for him on the way up, just to get him in the mood.

Although we weren't able to stay very long (only for the weekend), we had a fantastic time up there. The highlight of the trip was introducing Dougie to his great-grandmother Baba. Her verdict -- Dougie is "very strong"!



Uncle Dan and Auntie Judy had us over to their house for dinner, and we got a chance to say hello to my cousin Cathie (check out the family resemblance in the eyes!) ...



... and her daughter Danica (Dougie's second cousin):


We also took a trek out to camp -- last time I was there, Dan and Judy had just started a big set of renovations -- now it's all done, and it looks great! (Way bigger and more modern than I remember back when I was young -- especially the kitchen) Baba made it out to camp for the first time this year, and we also got to see John, Vicki, Stephanie and Danica. Some assorted pictures from the day:

Uncle John and Dougie:


Uncle John, Baba and Dougie:


My cousin Stephanie and Dougie:


Uncle Dan, Aunt Judy, Dougie and me:


Uncle John and Dougie in the hammock at camp:


Me, Kim and Dougie, with a nice view of the St. Mary's River:


Baba, Aunt Vicki, and Dougie:


Full set of photos is available at Soo Trip August 2007.
Thanks to everyone for a fun time, especially to Uncle Dan and Aunt Judy for playing host!

Tooth Count

We are up to 2! Dougie isn't loving this process but he's doing surprisingly well.

Passport Renewal

My passport expired this month. When I called the consulate to see how long getting a new passport would take, they said 3-5 months. I certainly didn't have that sort of time. They indicated that if I went up to Canada, I could get it renewed more quickly. So, that's what we did. We had a trip planned to visit the Sault clan but I added a day on so I could get my passport. We were in and out the same day with a new passport in hand.

As an added bonus, my mother drove up to spend the day with Dougie and me. It was great to have her there to help pass the time while we waited for the passport. Here are a few pictures from our day.

Grandma trying to wake Dougie up for our day


Play time at a park by the river


Mum giving Dougie some pushes


Dougie loves swinging


Cooling off at the mall with Grandma

Tooth

We think Dougie's first tooth has erupted from his gum. It's his bottom right tooth. Right now, it's just above the surface of the gum enough that you can sort of see it and you can feel it. The left tooth doesn't look too far behind. It seems like he has been teething for the last 4 months so its nice to see something finally come of it. Once it comes through a bit more, we'll get a picture.

Babbling Baby

Dougie has started a new kind of babbling. He's starting to make word sounds a bit more and he carries on conversations. This new babbling style just started today but we managed to get it on video and wanted to share. Watch the bottom left corner near the end of the video.



An example of Maggie love, she put herself under him while he was jumping and didn't care at all when he jumped on her head.

Look Who's Standing

We're still trying to master crawling. We haven't worked out how to pull up to sitting or standing yet. But once Dougie is standing, he can hang on there.

More Shots

Dougie went into the doctor's today for shots. He got Hib and Prevnar. He did really well with both of them though he wasn't overly impressed with the experience.

It's been a really quiet week for us. Tomorrow we have the first board meeting for our MOMS Club though which should be exciting. And of course, we have swimming. Dougie will be very tired by the time we get home. Hopefully, we can sneak a nap in between the meeting and swimming.

Here is a picture of Dougie while I was getting ready this morning. He's found a great way to keep himself busy for the few minutes I need to get dressed. He'll make faces at himself in there for as long as I'll let him sit there.

Redecorating and Updates

We decided to redecorate our bedroom a bit. Some new bedding and a bit of paint and it seems like a whole new room. Scott still needs to put the blinds up but here it is.



We're really happy with the results. We've moved Dougie's crib to the other side of the room so he's still in with us but a bit further away. Hopefully, not being quite so close will help him not wake up as easily when we come to bed.

Speaking of Dougie, he got some playtime in with Dad this weekend.





He is still trying hard to crawl. He can sometimes go backwards and other times he just gets into position and rocks.



Finally, here is a short video of Dougie playing with one of his shakers.

Best Swimmer EVER!

Okay, perhaps "ever" is a slight exaggeration. Dougie continues to do really well in swimming though. I was talking with his teacher before class and she said they were going over the students to see who will be ready for promotion. The deck manager asked her opinion on "Douglas" and she couldn't think of who he was, then she said "OH DOUGIE, he's the best student in my class". So, our little guy is doing very well. He's up to 6 seconds under water and has no problem with it. He really loves the class as well which makes it that much better.

Last Kindermusik With Miss Kat

Dougie had his last Kindermusik class today with Miss Kat. It was quite sad. She really is a wonderful teacher and I'm going to miss her class a lot. We're currently in the process of picking another Kindermusik teacher. I think we're going to take the second summer session off but we'll see.

In exciting news, we got a new oven installed today. The old oven only had one working burner and it was very hard to cook anything properly in there. I haven't tried the oven part yet but the microwave works really well. I think we'll bake a celebration cake or something this weekend.

So Much Catching Up

The last week has sure gone quickly. Let me fill you in on some of the things that have been going on.

Firstly, we went up to St. John's, Newfoundland for the wedding of a good friend of ours. We had a great time doing some touring and seeing the area. It was the first time any of us had been out there. Here are a few pictures from our site seeing.























The wedding itself was lovely. Jeremy was kind enough to let us bring Dougie to the ceremony. There were actually 3 babies there in total so he fit in. We got him a little suit so he'd be dressed appropriately. Of course, we have pictures of that as well.







This last picture is at the reception. We had a baby sitter arranged for most of the evening but she finished at midnight and the band went until 1. It was actually one of my favorite bands (Irish Descendants) so we decided to bring Dougie down to hear the last little bit. We took Dougie out to dance and the lead singer said that Dougie was their youngest fan. After they finished playing we asked if we could get a picture. He said only if we let him hold Dougie. So, that's Dougie and the lead singer of the Irish Descendants.



We're back in Dallas now and settling back into our routine. It's been nice to have the week broken up by Independence day. Scott isn't traveling this week so we have him around which always helps.

One more picture, this is Dougie in the middle of playing Giddy Up Horsey.