2 New Candidates for Best Photo

Earlier today we got 2 photos that have to be entered into the "Best Photo of Callum" competition. You decide.

Here he is crashed out on his playmat with his trumpet rattle still in hand. Perhaps he will be a musician when he grows up.


And here is one that almost defies description. Jen and I had chocolate ice creams (on sticks) for dessert tonight. One of us (no names necessary) thought it might be a good idea to see if the kid liked chocolate ice cream. Which as it turns out he very much seemed too, although the sugar may have been too much for him based on this photo.

you turn me right round...

this just in...

callum rolled over (from his belly to his back) tonight, on his own, for the first time.

we're excited and proud of his accomplishment, but worried since the days of stationary baby are soon over. time to baby proof!

2-Month "Well Baby" Doctor Visit

We took Callum to see his pediatrician today for his 2-Month old "Well Baby" visit - basically a pre-scheduled appointment whether the kid is sick or not.

Our normal pediatrician is on vacation, so we saw a stand-in, who happened to be an Australian - the world is a very small place sometimes.

He did a thorough exam looking for any signs of issues. Basically he gave Callum a clean bill of health apart from his herniated belly-button, which apparently is common and will go away within a year or so.

Today, Callum weighed in at 13lb 12oz (6.237kg) which puts him in the 94th percentile for weight. That means he has put on 4lb 4oz (1.928kg) in 8 weeks. He was also measured at 24.75 inches (62.87cm) which puts him the 93rd percentile for height. That means he has grown 4.25 inches (10.8cm) since he was born. In summary, he is a big kid, but there was little chance that that wasn't going to be the case I suppose.

He also received his first immunizations today. Jen did not have the fortitude to participate, so it was left to me to stand strong and hold the kid while he had three injections. Two jabs in his right thigh and one in the left. In true form he screamed like crazy as soon as the first needle went in, but the nurse was experienced and had all 3 injections done in just a few seconds before he really had time to recover from his first scream. It was a new scream that we had not heard before, so we now know what to listen for if he is in pain any time soon. He was rewarded with a big bottle of breast milk and calmed down within a few minutes and has been unusually quiet for the rest of the day so far.

The doctor mentioned that when he reaches 14lbs, we can begin to consider introducing solid foods. This was a little surprising to us as we had not planned on starting until he was 6 months old. Although, Jen seemed a little relieved at the prospect since his appetite is picking up and she is having a little trouble keeping up with him.

Photos

We've been posting a lot of photos on the blog lately. Now that the Christmas period is over and Mum has gone home, I am thinking that the volume of photos and video will slow down.

Anyway, I wanted to say that if anyone sees a photo they like and want to print it out, please let me know and I will email over the original high resolution version. The ones on the web might be OK in some circumstances, but they are not the originals.

Mum is safely home ... finally

Finally got a call from Mum just a little while ago - much, much later than I was expecting. Apparently her plane was re-routed to Sydney to take on more fuel, so she was a couple hours late into Melbourne and obviously missed her originally scheduled connection to Adelaide. So she had to spend a couple of hours in Melbourne airport before finally getting on a flight home.

I am feeling very sorry for her right now, as I can only imagine how exhausted and physically sore she must be and she did the whole trip solo which only makes those long flights longer. But as I always tell Jen when our own travel plans don't go to plan, you usually get the best stories when things go wrong.

Mum's Last Day

Today was Mum's last day with us here in the US. I just dropped her up at the airport for the lengthy flight home to Adelaide via Melbourne (no direct flights to Adelaide from the US - yet). The airport was the usual Friday night chaos with every spectrum of society represented in the departure area of the international terminal. Mum got checked in with little fuss (apart from the line) and I waited and watched her disappear into the security checkpoint.

Last night we went out for a last dinner at Benihana which is a Japanese teppan grill style restaurant (ie. the chef cooks the food right in front of you on a big hot plate). Great meal as usual and the Sake was pretty good too.

This morning we went down to Laguna Beach again and had a walk around the beach front and up to the top of the cliffs where there are some great views. We had lunch at a French restaurant that looked out on Main beach. All in all a very dignified way to spend a sunny "winter" afternoon in southern California.

Here are some photos form today: http://picasaweb.google.com/craigsdickson/LagunaBeach2?authkey=2NaToavVk60

Anyway, so long and bon voyage Mum! Come back soon! No, seriously, come back soon we need the help!! :)

Universal Studios

Today all of us (Jen, Callum, Mum and I) checked off one of the last "must do" items on Mum's to do list - Universal Studios.

On the drive up we passed through the I-110 and I-105 freeway interchange - for my money, the most imposing freeway interchange in the LA area, but only if you are traveling on the 110, it doesn't look as good if you are on the 105. A drive through this interchange tends to reinforce Australian tourists' usual pre-conceived opinion that LA is a concrete jungle.

We arrived early and we picked a great day as it was off season and the middle of the week so there were very few lines at any of the rides and attractions. But, as is usual with theme parks, it still takes the whole day to get through everything and we finally book out of there about 10 minutes after the park officially closed. We then had dinner at Karl Strauss Brewing Company in the City Walk area.

I did have an interesting father-son moment at the park today. Jen and I decided that the Terminator 2 "experience" ride was not appropriate for Callum (loud explosions, smoke, flashing lights etc.). So since I had been on it previously on another visit, Mum and Jen went on it and I hung out with Callum. In a spectacular stroke of luck, right across from the Terminator ride was a tiny little bar made up to look like part of an Irish street scene. So I was able to imbibe a pint of Redhook ESB while I waited for the ladies. So Callum and I shared a beer (on an emotional level only of course) for the first time in a bar. I am sure I got dirty looks from some uptight folks as they walked past and saw me with a beer in one hand and the kid under the other arm. Screw 'em.

Anyway, here are the photos you requested: http://picasaweb.google.com/craigsdickson/UniversalStudios?authkey=rayxdZLa270

San Diego

Today Mum and I went down to San Diego, about 75 minutes south of where Jen and I live. We started the day by driving up to the top of Mt Soledad which gives a great view over the La Jolla area and over Mission Bay to downtown San Diego.

We then drove down to the harbor area and jumped on a harbor cruise for 2 hours. For those who are not familiar with San Diego, it has the largest US Navy installation on the west coast, so there always a lot of ships in and around the harbor (hence some of the photos below).

When we got of the cruise we jumped on a tourist trolley that runs a circuit around the city. We took the trolley out to Coronado island and got off at the Hotel del Coronado stop and had a late lunch on the patio restaurant looking out over the awesome beach there.

We got back to the downtown area and walked into the Gaslamp Quarter which is the old part of town that always reminds me a lot of the Rundle Street area in Adelaide - lots of restaurants and bars etc.

We stopped for a wee pint (Stone IPA for me, Guinness for my Mum) and then headed home.

Photos for your perusal: http://picasaweb.google.com/craigsdickson/SanDiego?authkey=L_izFVlSGeg

Mum's Birthday

Today was Mum's birthday and since we are co-located for a change we decided to make a big day out of it.

We started this morning with Gospel Brunch at the House of Blues in Downtown Disneyland - this seemed appropriate since it is a Sunday after all. The buffet was excellent and the Rosemary Cornbread at the House Of Blues once again didn't disappoint. :) The performers were great and Callum approved - although he was wearing (tiny little) earplugs, so who knows if we should believe him.

After that we indulged in another kind of religious experience - professional ice hockey! We took Mum to see the Anaheim Ducks play the San Jose Sharks. Most of the game was pretty ho-hum and the Ducks trailed. However, they were one goal down with about 23 seconds left and scored to even the score and force overtime. In overtime the Ducks scored in less than 1 minute and took the win.

"Did you take any photos?" I hear you ask, but of course:
http://picasaweb.google.com/craigsdickson/MumSBirthday?authkey=qa1ymAo-2sY

Jen Bored In The Car Again

Not sure where I was, but Jen was waiting in the car with the kid again today at some point and decided to play with the new camera again.

Here is some video of Callum sleeping deeply and peacefully, but loudly and obnoxiously! :)



Also, there was her attempt at turning Callum into a fashion model:

Hollywood & Santa Monica

Today Mum and I did a trip up to the Hollywood area and then across to the beach at Santa Monica.

We stopped at Griffith Park and the newly renovated observatory. This was the first time I had been up to the observatory and it had actually been open. We went inside and looked around at the displays (think museum, but with an astronomy bent). We walked around the outside of the building and checked out the view. It was unfortunately a bit of a hazy day, but we could still make out downtown LA and Century City.

Then we drove down into Hollywood proper and as with all other tourists I have taken up there (including myself the first time) she was adequately underwhelmed. Hollywood is not what most people think it is, with most movie studios long gone from the area and now it really is just a big tourist trap, with lots of souvenir stores and gimmicky places to visit (for a fee of course). We did walk along the walk of fame (the stars in the sidewalk) and had a look around the Kodak Theater complex (where the Academy Awards are handed out each year, except maybe this year because of the writers strike).

We then took a drive along Sunset Boulevard and did a quick detour up into Beverly Hills to check out some of the nice streets and big homes. That was followed by a quick drive along Rodeo Drive (no point stopping since we could not afford anything) and we headed over towards Santa Monica.

At Santa Monica we parked by the 3rd Street Promenade and walked down to the pier. The ferris wheel and other rides were closed (it is winter after all), but their lights were still on and made for interesting experiments with nightime photography between my Mum and I.


http://picasaweb.google.com/craigsdickson/HollywoodAndSantaMonica?authkey=3ogCI6a-hKc

belly button troubles...

when callum was born he had a nice healthy belly button/umbilical cord. after the cord healed and fell off, he had a perfectly lovely "inny", but as time has passed we've noticed his inny has been turning itself inside out.

we went to the doctor today and found out that callum has an umbilical hernia. basically, there is a tiny gap in his stomach muscles that is allowing fluids to fill out his belly button. the doctor assures us that he is perfectly healthy and the belly button isn't at all painful or uncomfortable to callum, and that it should heal within the next year or so. so, besides looking uncomfortable and a little odd, callum remains a very healthy little boy.

A Couple Of Fun Photos

Photos from Ted & Les' House

Once we got back to Sacramento (Lincoln to be precise), my Mum to took some photos of the outside of Ted & Les' house and their property. For those who haven't been there, here you are: http://picasaweb.google.com/craigsdickson/TedAndLesSHouse?authkey=pVY1P65cmKA

Muir Woods

Well we had the one nice day yesterday since we arrived in northern California, so I guess we were lucky. Today was grey and wet in San Francisco and wet all the way back to Sacramento.

We headed north out of San Francisco over the Golden Gate Bridge and stopped briefly at the photo spot on the north side of the bridge to grab a couple of photos. Then we headed up into the hills near Mt Tamalpais. I wanted to check out Muir Woods National Monument because I had never been there and Mum is very much into trees and plants. We were not disappointed, the Pacific Redwood trees are gigantic - the ranger said they are not as round as the Sequoia trees near Yosemite National Park, but the Pacific Redwoods are taller.

We happened to visit on a "quiet day" where the rangers encourage everyone to turn their cell phones off and keep kids under control so that the woods are quiet and peaceful - which they definitely were (it probably helped that is was cold and wet as well). While we were visiting there were preparations being made for a big celebration the next day to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the woods becoming a National Park.

Photos :
http://picasaweb.google.com/craigsdickson/MuirWoods?authkey=ZgD5CElOl9c

Monday in Sacramento

Callum had a big day today as he got to meet his Great Grandma Margrett (Les' Mom). Of course, to meet your Great Grandma you need to look your best, so Callum was treated to a bath. However, as I wrote about previously, Callum and baths is a precarious concept. Since that first bath that was somewhat disastrous, we purchased a proper baby bath and things have been going much more smoothly, to the point that he seems to actually enjoy bath time now. However, since Jen was at her parent's place, there was no purpose built baby bath, so it was a sink-bath for Callum. Based on the photos, he seemed to cope reasonably well.

Some photos of the big meetings: http://picasaweb.google.com/craigsdickson/CallumMeetsGreatGrandmaMargrett?authkey=RsQapfUpLjM

Jen also played around with the rapid-fire feature on our new camera. Here is a sideshow of that little effort:

Monday in San Francisco

Mum and I arrived in San Francisco last night. It was still a little damp and wet when we arrived. We went out to dinner at the Thirsty Bear, which is a great bar/restaurant down near the Moscone Center. The bar brews its own beer and the restaurant is Spanish themed with a tapas style menu. Sunday night happened to be Flamenco night, so we were treated to some flamenco dancing performances while we ate and drank (and drank). Apparently the excellent beer agreed with my mother, as she had a little trouble getting her coat zipped up as we went to leave! :)

Today the weather was excellent - blue skies and sunny, but still cold as far as temperature goes. We spent the morning on a bus tour of the city and in the afternoon we took a cruise on the bay. We did a little shopping and finished the day with a ride on the famous cable cars from Ghiradelli Square all the way up and over the hill and down into Union Square.

Some photos from our adventures today for your viewing pleasure: http://picasaweb.google.com/craigsdickson/SanFrancisco1?authkey=to4hbh1A9jU

Sunday in Sacramento

Today Mum and I headed off for 2 nights in San Francisco, about a 2 hour drive away. Jen stayed in Sacramento with Callum and caught up with some family members that didnt get to come to the cancelled party on Saturday.

Here is Callum meeting his Great Auntie Glennis and his 2nd Cousin Josh:
http://picasaweb.google.com/craigsdickson/CallumMeetsGlennisAndJosh?authkey=J6BhGDW5zwA

Winter Storm

We arrived up here on Thursday night. Early Friday morning a pretty strong storm came through the area, with high winds and lots of rain. We originally lost electricity at about 5am on Friday morning and it came back on around 8am. Then it went out again at about 10am and is still off at the time of writing this post at almost midnight on Saturday night. The only reason I have an internet connection right now is because Ted has hooked up a generator to the house and we have some power, but he is going to shut it down at midnight to save gasoline and start it up again in the morning.

Mum, Jen and I went for a drive Friday afternoon to get out of the house (since there was no electricity). We drove down into downtown Sacramento through some of the worst freeway driving conditions I have ever had to deal with. The rain was very heavy and visibility was minimal. Coming along Business I-80 I actually saw the car immediately behind us, but one lane over, hit a puddle, aquaplane into the center divider and crunch up his front quarter panel and headlight. The downtown are was pretty messed up, whole trees down blocking roads, localized flooding to the point we had to go around some streets to avoid driving through water that was obviously really deep.

We had lunch at Brew It Up, a great beer bar, with facilities to brew your own beer on site.

Friday night, Jen and I left the grandparents at the house to eat by candlelight (no power still) and met Sam and Jen Sturdy at the Auburn Brewing Company. Jen Sturdy brought her friend Melissa and another friend she met while travelling overseas, Sonny. As it turns out Sonny is from Norwood, a suburb of Adelaide, my home town, so once again, it is a very small world.

Today (Saturday) we woke to still no power. We were supposed to have 30 or 40 people coming over today for a party to meet Callum and Mum. However, with no power, Ted and Les decided to cancel the party.

Instead Mum, Jen, Callum and I went for another drive up towards Placerville to check out the countryside. Eventually we stopped at the Placerville Brewing Company. The beer and food were good, but don't expect a masterpiece of architecture if you visit. It is basically a beige box on the side of the highway.

On the way back we stopped at Jen's sister Natalie's house, she had not had a chance to meet Callum yet.

Oh, did I forget to mention that today is my birthday? Not exactly feeling very birthday'ish with all the stuff going wrong today. But Nat was nice enough to bake me a birthday cake.

By the time we got back to Ted and Les' they had the generator hooked up and they had some power running, so the day ended on a bright note (pun totally intended!).

Trip to Northern California

This afternoon we flew up to Sacramento to visit with Jen's family who have not yet met Callum and also show my Mum around another part of California.

There is a storm forecast to hit the area up here later tonight and through the weekend, but we just got in on the flight before it got too bad although it was slightly bumpy on the approach to the airport.

We are staying with Jen's parents (Ted & Les). As soon as we arrived, Callum provided us with my new favorite photo of him as he was being held be Grandpa Ted.



So he is either going to be into heavy metal music, or some kind of west-side gangsta when he grows up. I think his new cold weather hat only adds to his street credibility. :)

Disneyland and California Adventure

Mum and I went to Disneyland yesterday. We were contemplating taking the kid along for his first Disney experience, but at the last minute we decided against it, so Jen stayed home with him. Turns out, that was one of the best decisions we have made lately. The crowds were huge today since there were still the holiday crowds around and also it was the last couple of days of them having their Christmas decorations up.

Some photos to prove we slogged through 10 hours of theme park fun!
http://picasaweb.google.com/craigsdickson/DisneylandAndCaliforniaAdventure?authkey=wJ-fcUiNa9w

New Years Eve and Day

So it turns out that there are actually very few realistic options for New Years Eve activities for people toting along a 5 week old kid. We looked and looked but there was really nothing for us to do outside the house. It would appear we have moved into the phase of life where we will be either having parties at our house or going to friend's houses who have kids for these types of events since no one really wants to take a kid out. :(

Anyway, that said we had quite a good time at home as it turns out. We went out in the afternoon and did some shopping at the Irvine Spectrum and had a drink and small bite to eat at the Yardhouse.

We then came home and made up a large batch of cheese fondue, followed by an equally large batch of chocolate fondue. Around midnight we whipped up some cocktails and shot off some party crackers on the patio. A sedate evening, but enjoyable nonetheless.

Jen decided to try out one of Callum's outfits that we received as a gift. She is desperate to dress him in older people's clothes for some reason. So his outfit included a sweater vest and a pair of size 1 Converse all-stars. Check out the photos on the link below.

On New Years Day we had a laid back time and hung out around the house. My Mum cracked open one of her Christmas gifts from us which included a kit to take plaster imprints of Callums feet and hands. It turns out that getting a 5 week old to nicely spread out his fingers and hold his hand open on cue is a little bit of a stretch. After a couple of miscues, we did get the imprints done.

Of course there are photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/craigsdickson/NewYearsEveAndDay?authkey=1vnzo-2Vo7c