Late update

     Wow!  I didn't realize it has been since sometime in June since I updated this blog.  But, as predicted by my wise Aunt Glo on June 15, 2010, we have been crazy busy keeping up with our walking and running baby.....
     So, what has happened since June?
     Keltan had his 1st birthday party on July 3.  I was reluctant to have a big party, desiring instead a small gathering of family and a small cake.  Inga persisted, however, and, like my dad, I gave in to my wife.  We planned a rather big gathering of family and friends (28 guests in all).  Grandma came down early and helped us get the house and yard in shape.  To that, we owe her a HUGE Thank You!
We decided to serve fajitas as our meal, so I bought a whole side of beef and a semi full of chickens, along with a farm of veggies.  We got all the tables and chairs set up, the citronella candles lit, the fans out and plugged in, the drinks in the huge cooler, and the guests started to arrive about 5:15 for the 5:30 start.  Mind you, this was July 3.  July is a month of drought in Texas.  It never rains.  It never gets below 90 degrees.  We never get a puff of cloud in the sky in July.  Except for July 3, 2010 at 5:45 PM in Terrell, Texas.  It POURED!!!!  We had to move the party inside.  30 people in our house was a bit tight, but we made it work.
     Then it was time for cake.  Keltan (mommy) blew out the candle, and we got Keltan a huge slice of it.  He knew exactly what to do!  He grabbed a humongous handful of it and shoved it in his mouth.  Of course, it wasn't messy enough for Grandma, so she helped him smear some more on his face and in his hair!  Silly Grandma...
     As I mentioned before, Keltan is now mobile.  He walks and walks and walks.  He thoroughly enjoys walking in the yard, so much that, if I carry him into the back yard, he wiggles and squirms until I put him down to walk in the grass.  He has also discovered the great fun in running from Mommy and Daddy when he his putting a forbidden object in his mouth.  Oh yes, that is GREAT fun, and ends in loud giggles.
     For some time now, Keltan has loved to tear down blocks as I build them.  A few weeks ago, he discovered that, if he replaces the block, he can tear it down as well.  So started the building phase.  We're still working on it, but he likes to put blocks together, only to tear them down immediately.  This has also phased into attempting to put lids on bottles, and basically anything on anything.
     Which leads to the toilet....
If it can be carried, it needs to be in the toilet.  That is Keltan's creed.
     Our little guy has been fighting an ear infection.  We thought he was just being fussy with his teeth and not sleeping well.  Turns out he had an ear infection.  We gave him the 10 day dose of antibiotics, and thought it was cleared.  It wasn't.  He just finished his second strain of antibiotics last night, and we hope we got it this time.  He goes in on Friday to see the doctor and find out.  He also successfully defeated Pink Eye.  It took eyedrops to fight that.  If you have ever tried to give a cat a bath, you understand what we went through to give him eyedrops.  Funny thing is, with the very last dose, he just let us put them in with no fight.  Figures...
     We traveled a couple weekends ago to Guthrie to see Grandma.  On the way home, we stopped in Oklahoma City to see Inga's Grandpa and his wife, Betty.  Since they are both in declining health, we were a little concerned with how Keltan would behave while we visited. Turns out we needn't have worried.  I took his little Spider Man ball in with us, and he had a great time showing off with that.  He chased it around the living room, and then started throwing it into the small trash basket, which thankfully was empty.  When Betty sat down, he decided to play ball with her.  This brought out a side of her I hadn't seen before.  She had a great time with him.  So, he entertained us all for a while.
     We took him to swimming lessons at the city pool last month.  The lessons were only 2 weeks, and consisted of nothing more than acclimating them to the pool.  He really enjoyed it, as did his mommy and daddy.  On the last day of class, I took him down the big slide.  This slide is a really nice one, for kids.  It empties into about 3 feet of water, and has twists and turns in it.  Well, it turns out that big boys don't go down it so well.  I had to push us most of the way.  It was my plan to stand up at the end, and not get the little guy's head under water.  As we were going down, I was thinking that would be a very easy task.  HAHA!  At the very end, it suddenly decided that I needed to MOVE!  We got jetted out, and, as I was caught by surprise, My bum ended up on the bottom of the pool, and Keltan ended up with a face full of water!  He only gulped in a couple gallons, however, and survived fine.  I didn't take him down it again.
     It is incredible to watch his little personality grow, though frustrating at times when he attempts to exert his will in a situation.  This makes you sit back and think about how to best handle some things, and I do a lot of figuring out a better solution than the one I presented.  There is, for sure, a learning curve.  I hope the things I mess up on won't scar him for life.
    
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