beach babe

We're conditioning him to love the beach and love the water.

First time toes touched ocean.

 

life these days

Can't believe August is already over. BYU is in session and we totally feel left out. Admittedly, we are sad to be missing out on the BYU-Provo vibe, even though we are living the good life in San Diego, it is just so much fun up there. We cheered on our Cougars last night for the first football game of the season. Happy we came out with the big W. 

We have settled into our new grown-up life. Well, as settled as we can feel with 87% of our belongings in storage and living with my parents.

1. Tristan's Job: Off to a slow start with multiple weeks of training and his assignment getting pushed back but he is finally in the nitty gritty of the KPMG work-life. He is not the biggest fan of the 35 minute commute but is loving what he is doing. And that makes us all happy. 

2. Brittany's Job: Being a mother is one heck of a full time job. It's the best job I've ever had. Callen and I are best friends and love to hang out all day long. We eat, sleep, run, shop, ride in the car, and repeat. He makes me smile so much my cheeks hurt. It is true I wish I was back at the clinic hanging out with friends, doctors, patients, and being an athletic trainer but I would miss Callen too much. Training for the Provo Halloween Half marathon is in full swing. It was so much last year there was no way I could sit it out this year. I've done all my weekday runs pushing Callen in the BOB and let Tristan watch him for my Saturday long runs. My mom and I are training together and it has been awesome having a buddy.

3. Callen's Job: Callen has it hard being a baby. He has started a new sleeping and eating schedule this week to help him begin sleeping through the night. It has actually been going very well. Next week is his 4 month birthday which, of course, we will celebrate.

4. House Hunt: We've been searching the MLS listings every day looking for the dirt cheap beach front home. Weird nothing like that has popped up. House hunting is hard work and rather stressful. We have gone to look at several places and finally put an offer in on a place today. The listing agent emailed back letting us know our offer was number 29 they had received. The home has only been on the market for 48 hours. Ridiculous. Let us search on.

Oatmeal cereal re-visited. 

What happens when dad feeds baby...things get a little messy.

 

rice cereal

This morning, while eating my hot breakfast cereal and holding Callen, he would pucker his lips every time I brought the spoon to my mouth thinking it was for him. He obviously wanted to try some of what Mom was eating. So, I obliged. We are about 12 days shy of Callen's 4 month mark but I decided today was the day to try some rice cereal. Stuck the kid in his factory recalled Bumbo (did you hear about that?), tucked a burp cloth into his shirt, and let him have at it. He loved it. And so did I. 

Yummy, yummy, yummy in Callen's tummy.

baby einstein

We've discovered Baby Einstein, and so has Callen. He loves the music, movement, and colors. There are plenty of videos on YouTube to watch for free. We pull it up on the tablet when we're home, or on our phones in an emergency situation. It can keep Callen entertained for a half hour straight. It is also used when nothing else is working to calm the crying baby. I walked into our room one night while Tristan and Callen were watching some B.E. before bedtime. 

tummy time

Dr. Tolba, our new pediatrician, told me Callen needs to participate in 30 minutes of tummy time a day. Five minutes here and there throughout the day is perfectly fine. He said children today are rolling over and sitting up later because sleeping on their back is stressed so much and that tummy time is very important to strengthen all those core muscles. Our only problem...Callen dislikes tummy time.We try to make it as fun as possible. Laying next to him, lots of toys, mirrors, Baby Einstein...

...but gradually he becomes more, and more upset.

It's a work in progress.

new doctor

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

After leaving Dr. Holmes behind in Utah I was worried about finding an awesome doctor in San Diego. A pediatric practice came with high recommendation from my mom's friend, who has five children of her own. I'm thinking they must be good if she takes all her children there? The next available new patient visit was scheduling two months out. I knew that would never do and after explaining our special circumstances... just moved here, new insurance, my 3 month old still hasn't received his 2 month immunizations... I scored an appointment 2 weeks later. We met with Dr. Tolba and he. was. awesome! Only 38 years old he is old enough to have enough experience but young enough to have studied all the new, up-to-date practices while in school. He was very personable, took his time in the room, and prompted my questions so I made sure I didn't forget to ask anything. I left the appointment feeling very well taken care of. 

Nakie Callen and his best friend waiting for the doctor to come in. 

3 month 1 week stats:

Height: 24 inches long; 43%

Weight: 14lbs 5oz; 64%

Head Circumference: 16 inches; 28%

Dr. Tolba said Callen is continuing to do very well. He said he is strong and holds his head very well. He also said at 4 months we can begin rice or oatmeal cereal and then about a week later introduce baby food, starting with veggies. Eating real foods is going to be so much more fun than milk!

After the doctor left the nurse came in to give Callen 2 shots in each thigh and made him drink one (which he liked). As expected he didn't enjoy being stabbed with a sharp needle but I had a bottle ready to stick in his mouth the second she was done. Crying was minimal and I reminded myself he wont remember this.

 And this is basically how the rest of the day went...a little bit grumpy.

Poor Callen bug. I love you.

anniversary weekend

Friday, August 10, 2012

Tristan took a day off work and we escaped to the Dana Point beach condo to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary. Five years of awesomeness and I keeps getting better. We brought little Callen along and enjoyed 2 nights and 3 days of good family time. 

Friday, our anniversary, we stopped by Cafe Rio for lunch. Yum! It had been a couple months of painful withdrawals. First timer? Please! We are experienced Rio goers.

 We went to the pool where Callen went swimming for the first time, ever. He seriously loves the water. Then we went downtown for a candlelit Italian dinner accompanied by a sleeping baby in a carseat. 

 Saturday was a blast. Our best friends, the Jackson's, happened to be in town so we beached it with them all afternoon then met them for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory in Newport Beach. 

Callen ready for the beach.

 Taking the elevator down to the beach.

Ryan and Tristan

 Livy and Becca

 Sunday we lounged around and slowly made our way back down to Carlsbad. We knew it was time to go when we ran out of clean burp cloths and baby wipes. Oopsie!

Callen and his friends ready for the car ride.

In our fifth year of marriage, Tristan graduated, we had a baby, and moved to California. I can't wait to see what year 6 brings.