family

i had such a wonderful time visiting family this christmas and there are more great memories than i'll ever be able to recount in this blog. so, i thought i would try to choose one key memory with each family member to share.

great grandpa: had a way of being able to make caleb "talk" a lot. i loved hearing the conversations they would have.
great grandma: kept telling caleb that she wanted to "eat him up" and made sure to hold him every day.
doc: was the first of the extended family to be treated to one of caleb's laughs. he was "bumping heads" with caleb, which caleb loved!
nana: connected with caleb right away. he would smile every time that he saw her... and loved cuddle up in her arms.
uncle mike: was sick at the beginning of the week so had to wait until the 26th to hold caleb. but he made up for it by teaching caleb a new game called "blast off".
aunt hanell: looked so good with a little baby in her arms. she was great with caleb and you could just feel the love she has for him.
uncle luke: started in caleb's first basketball game. when he was holding caleb, caleb actually looked small again and during christmas dinner, caleb couldn't keep his eyes off his uncle.

solid foods?

i think it may be getting close to the time to start solids. my plan was to wait until closer to when caleb was 6 months, but i may not make it. he's gone from eating every 3.5-4 hours to eating every 2 hours. and he's gone from waking up once at night (after sleep 7 hours) to waking up at least 2 times (every 3 hours or so). he just never seems full. and i think he's doubled his birth weight, so it may be that time. i'll be asking his pediatrician about it when i take him in next friday for his 4 month appointment. part of me is excited for the possibility of this new step and part of me just wants to hang on to my little baby a while longer.

christmas trip

there's so much to say about our wonderful christmas trip to kentucky. but it seems so overwhelming to me right now. so, i think i'll just slowly work on it over the next week or so. one thing to say here, though, is that caleb grew over the week. it was crazy... he seemed a little bigger on the way home, but i thought it was just because i had been sharing him and was out of shape. but last night, we i laid him in his crib to go to sleep, he took up more room than before the trip. will this ever stop??

reaching

i often sit caleb in his bouncy seat while i eat breakfast and fold clothes. today, as i was eating, i heard the little rattle on his seat making noise. i looked over and saw him grabbing it with his hand (left hand, by the way). i thought maybe it was fluke, but later, as i was folding clothes, he did it again. it's definitely on purpose because first he looks at it, and then his little hand starts moving. he reaches, hits it, and then grabs and pulls. so far he's not nearly as interested in the two little giraffes attached to the same seat.

packing

it's amazing how much stuff a little baby needs! i feel like the washing and pulling out of all the "necessities" will never end! as much as it's a hassle to get ready, though, i can't wait to see my family for christmas. and i am so glad that they'll be able to see caleb at this age since they haven't seen him since he was much younger.

out of practice

for the past couple of weeks i have abandoned the habit of giving caleb a bottle now and then. partly because he had taken them so easily, partly because formula was no longer an option (because of my dairy/soy boycott), and partly because i have been wanting to freeze any milk i pump so that i will have it in case i need to be away. well, last night, we reaped the consequences of that two week break from bottles. actually, troy reaped the consequences. i went to book club and troy was going to feed caleb around 7 and then put him to bed. but caleb wouldn't take the bottle... and wouldn't sleep because he was too hungry. so, get came home at about 9:30 to my poor little man still awake. i learned my lesson and will go back to giving him a bottle every few days!!

caleb's first friend

today caleb had his friend, kian, over. they slept, watched their moms have tea, did some tummy time, ate, and generally had no idea the other existed. at first, play dates are for the moms, but someday, that all will change! in the meantime, it's fun to spend time with other little ones.

my christmas gift

troy and i exchanged gifts last friday. his gift to me was three large frames to go in our living room and yesterday we got the pictures printed and hung the frames up. i think this may be the best christmas gift i've ever gotten. the first is a picture of caleb's hand holding mine. the middle is our little man. and the last is caleb's tiny feet on top of troy's. we had fun taking the pictures together and choosing what we wanted up for all to see. i am so happy with them!

a new love

caleb found a new love today and it all started with an ingrown toenail. that's right, an ingrown toenail. i called the pediatrician's office to find out what i should to about it and they suggested soaking it in warm soapy water twice a day and putting some neosporin on afterward. so, this afternoon, i took off caleb's socks and pants, filled up the bathroom sink, and held him on the edge, dangling his feet in the water. he LOVED it. he would look up at me every once in a while and smile. and he was kicking like crazy. when it was time for him to be done and to go sleep, he was NOT happy about it. he would have liked to stay there forever.

feeding time

i used to get a little annoyed by how often caleb needed to eat. but then, instead of seeing it as a time of not getting to do stuff, i found things that i can focus on doing during those times. like singing... that's my time to sing to caleb. we are really liking "away in a manger" right now. it can be anything so long as it's not too peppy or else he gets distracted. and we pray for family and friends. and i tell him Bible stories and stories about people we love and who love him. i want him to always grow up hearing about those who are important in our lives. now that i've found things we like doing during feeding time, i think i'll miss them as they grow fewer and fewer.

my big brute

yesterday i was at a bridal shower and i saw my friend and her adorable little girl. this little girl was born exactly one month before caleb... and weighs about 2.5 pounds LESS than he does. i have a brute! he is 15 weeks old today and he weighs almost 16 lbs! i remember when he was first born, we took him for a check up when he was 2 days old. it was a saturday and my milk hadn't come in yet and he had lost more weight than they wanted him to... so we supplemented for a while and my milk came in on monday. so, tuesday we take him again just to be weighed to see if he had started gaining again. and he had gained 10oz! the lactation consultant who told me the good news that he was doing fine said either the scale was a bit off or he was a brute... because i guess babies don't usually gain that much weight that quickly. well, her assessment has proven true. we are the proud parents of an eating, weight-gaining machine!

trying something new

this week i've begun to try and switch caleb from 3.5 naps over to 2.5 naps. he has been taking 3-1 to 1.5 hour naps and his little 45 minute evening nap. my goal is to try and make that be 2- 1.5 to 2.5 hour naps and a little 45 minute nap in the evening. tuesday was our first trial... and it worked beautifully. yesterday, didn't work at all. today seems promising, though... it's 11 and he's in the middle of his first nap. he woke up once but i was able to get him back to sleep. i'm also trying to leave the heater on so it's warmer in there as well has giving him some white noise. i know it will take some work, but i think we'll get there!

almost there...

today, caleb almost rolled over. he was so close... he got one hand under him and used the other to push off. he made it onto his side. i was cheering him on and thought he would really do it. but then he decided he was tired so went back onto his tummy, gave a big yawn, and laid his head down on the blanket. i took the hint, picked him up, and put him to sleep. maybe next time...

facebook problem...

i like facebook. i check it a lot and have fun keeping in touch with friends with it. and some of the applications are very clever. but there's a problem. i found a new application called My Starbucks. and you can select your favorite drinks and put it on your profile. and people can send you drinks. it's great... but the problem is, now i'm craving one more than ever and i can't have any dairy! oy!

at least they have good apple cider!

one of these things just doesn't belong

so, caleb loves sucking on his thumb. specifically, he loves sucking on his right thumb. the question, though, is what to do with the pointer finger. ideally, it would be hooked around his nose like his cousin nathan can do. but, inevitably, it actually ends up either in the mouth (which messes everything up) or in the eye (which hurts). the funny thing is that caleb loves sucking his thumb so much he even tries to do it while nursing. and then he gets frustrated when nothing works right. one at a time, buddy!

laughter is the best medicine

caleb is laughing now!! the first time was saturday night. we had had a long day of him not sleeping very much and troy was getting him undressed for his bath. troy tickled his tummy and ta-da, a laugh!! then today, i was singing "this little light of mine" to him. and when i sang "don't let satan whoo it out" and blew on his hand, he cracked up! it was excellent!! i hope i never get used to that sound!

goodbye, dear friend...

i received some sad news on friday... apparently caleb is (most likely) going through a lactose intolerant phase right now. it seems to be upsetting his intestines and causing him to spit up more than usual, have blood in his stools, and not sleep well. so, i need to cut out any dairy from my diet, at least for a while. the plan is to cut it out totally for a couple of weeks to see if that makes a difference. then, i can try to slowly reintroduce it to find out how much he can handle. it's been 2.5 days now and its a lot harder than a thought it would be. i love my milk, instant breakfasts, cheese sticks, pizza, hot chocolate, starbucks, and ice cream... especially ice cream. it does seem to be making a difference, though, and for that i'm thankful. but does anyone have any good suggestions of what i can eat that is still good???

comparing

it's hard not to compare. i compare myself to others in so many different ways. and now that i'm a mom, i have yet another area in which to compare. in relation to other kids, how is caleb sleeping... eating... crying... growing... learning... talking... moving... etc, etc, etc. the fact is, everyone is different and that's the way it's supposed to be. i want to love my little man for who he is and not think about how he compares (because obviously he would be superior in every way...) to others.

lips

caleb started making a few new sounds today. it's like all of a sudden he has discovered his lips. he is smacking them together, making them pop, squirting drool out of them, and making all sorts of interesting sounds. sometimes the sounds almost scare him, other times he is pretty proud of himself. i love watching him discover more and more that he is the one who controls that little body of his!

what do you get...

when you combine a baby who likes to suck on his fingers and a baby who is learning to grab things? you get caleb who is constantly sticking his hands into his mouth and taking hold of his tongue. it's pretty cute... but i have to make sure to keep his finger nails nice and short or it can hurt him a bit.

super pee

i give up. i think caleb is just a more forceful pee-er than most or something. but he just goes through diapers like they're cheap! first it was disposable so i was really excited to get the cloth ones. those help a bit but then he started getting through those, too. we used disposables again thinking maybe we had hard water and needed to do a treatment on the fuzzi bunz. he peed through the disposables again. then we did the treatment on the cloth diapers. we thought it worked because he wore 3 or so of them without peeing out of them. then it happened again this morning. partially it's annoying to have to do so much laundry all the time. but the real bummer is the fact that it always happens when he's sleeping. so then he wakes up and won't go back to sleep and so gets grumpy because he's sleep-deprived. our poor little pee monster!

fuzzi bunz

we started using fuzzi bunz recently... they are the cutest little cloth diapers. i love the colors and how soft they are but i was a bit hesitant to get started. honestly, i thought i would be totally grossed out by them. especially since we are washing them ourselves. but, i decided to give it a shot and i am so glad that i did! i actually don't mind the laundry. it's far less disgusting than seeing the heaps and heaps of dirty diapers we were throwing away. i'm not too much of an environmentalist, but i just couldn't handle all that trash! now i just wash them every 2-3 days and while i fold them i get to teach caleb his colors. what a great investment :)

raspberry shake

caleb and i have a new game to play! it's called "raspberry shake" and it has nothing to do with a real shake (unlike the picture would lead you to believe). to play the game, caleb lays on a blanket (as usual) and i blow raspberries with my tongue while simultaneously shaking his body by vibrating my hands on his belly. it makes him smile. i'm looking forward to when he can blow raspberries and all i have to do is make my hands vibrate!

my little sea otter

i call caleb my little sea otter because he loves having his hands up by his mouth. sucking on his hands is one of his favorite hobbies. this works out great when he's tired and soothes himself to sleep. it does not work out great, however, when i'm trying to feed him. he tries to eat and suck on one or both of his hands at the same time. we're still figuring out what to do about it. right now i just laugh and keep moving his hands away... over and over and over!

lefty?

a couple of weeks ago caleb was babysat by a friend named sandi. she mentioned that she thought his grip was stronger in his left hand than in his right. she thought this may be an indication that he would be left-handed. if that's the case, i'm ok with it... but how do i teach him to tie his shoes?

travel

we just got back from traveling for thanksgiving. here's what i learned... 1. caleb takes about a day to adjust to a new location. 2. that day is easier on him than it is on me. i just hate seeing him so off of what he's used to. he was grumpy and didn't sleep well and, consequently, i was the same way. i'm hoping now that i know to expect the transition to take a day, that i'll be able to handle it better.

my happy thought(s)

if i had to pick a happy thought to help me fly, i would have so many to choose from! i could pick the thought of caleb snuggled up against me, fast asleep. the three of us cozy in bed on a saturday morning. the amazing smile caleb flashes me when he first wakes up in the morning. the little face caleb makes when he's trying not to smile as troy wraps him up in a warm towl after a bath. the conversations caleb and i have when he's supposed to be eating. the way troy prays for our little man. so many happy thoughts!

you annoint my head with oil...

caleb has cradle cap. i saw it and just kept thinking that it would go away on its own. but it didn't. instead, it got worse and worse and looked more and more gross. so, i read about it on the Internet and called his doctor to see what they recommended. in the end, we did a combination of two treatments. first, we would put oil on his head (picture troy pouring olive all over caleb's bald little head while caleb is eating...). then, we used a fine-tooth comb to get a bunch of the dry scales out. finally, we washed his head really well in the bath using dandruff shampoo. the first day it was a lot better, the second day a bit more. i'm hopeful that if we keep this up, we can actually make it go away!

sleeping like a baby?

something sad has happened. caleb is no longer sleeping like a baby. always before he has slept with his hands up by his head. it was so cute and so baby. but today when i went to get him up from his first nap, i saw that only one of his hands was up. and he slept his second nap with both his hands down. my little baby is growing up!

evolution of bubble-blowing

1. think about blowing bubbles
2. drool
3. blow bubbles and let them run down chin
4. drool some more
5. blow bubbles and keep them on lips
6. suck bubbles back in
7. repeat steps 2-6

smiles

i love when caleb smiles! he has been smiling for a long time, but i still remember the first time he smiled AT me. it was october 22nd and he was down for a nap. he started waking up and i went in there to rescue him from his crib. i walked in and put my hand on his back and said hello... and he got a huge grin on his face. that was a good day. since then, he's been smiling a lot. he smiles when we change his diaper, when we talk with him, after he eats, etc. i love his smiles!

email

caleb is now about 2 1/2 months old. definitely old enough for his own email address. he can email his grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends. since he has a hard time with the actual typing (among other things), i just hold him on my lap and do the typing. so if you get an email from caleb and it has some misspellings, don't blame him, blame me.

sleep and cuddles

caleb does not like going to sleep... he just doesn't want to miss anything! and he's smart, too. this makes an interesting combination. when the lights get turned off, he knows it's time for bed so starts crying. when i start singing his lullaby, he starts crying. BUT there's a good side to this. he used to not cuddle much because he would be afraid we would put him to sleep. but now that he knows the sleeping cues, he cuddles like crazy until we start trying to put him to sleep. it's so nice to have him cuddled up on my lap... i take advantage of it for a while before going to turn off the light and start singing. then comes the crying and the fist sucking and the sleeping.

caleb's daily routine

caleb is an easy baby and troy and i are working hard on being good parents... but the baby whisperer has helped us all. she really helped me to understand how to get caleb on a predictable routine. sometimes i thought i wanted to put him on a really strict schedule but then i realized that would be more for my benefit than his. that's why i appreciate the baby whisperer's more balanced approach to parenting. he loves it and sticks to it really well. and i like that i can tell what my little man needs from me. so this is what it looks like now... the times seem to be give or take 15mins:
7:00 wake up, eat, quiet activity
8:30 sleep
10:00 wake up, eat, activity
11:30 sleep
1:00 wake up, eat, activity
2:30 sleep
4:30 wake up, eat, activity (including picking up troy from the bus)
6:00 sleep
7:00 wake up, eat
7:30 bath
8:00 bedtime
10:30 dream feed
4:00-4:30 night feed

Kick the Duck

while this may look like an ordinary duck toy to most, it is in actuality, an important part of caleb's new favorite game. the game is called "kick the duck" and it involves caleb laying on a blanket and me holding the duck near his feet. then, he kicks (that's why it's called "kick the duck") and the duck makes a beautiful chime sound. caleb gets a huge grin on his face and kicks again... again the duck chimes. what a great game!

self-soothing

caleb has discovered his fist. and he loves it! when it's time for a nap, i turn out the light in his room, he lets out one little "wah" and then immediately stuffs his fist in his mouth and closes his eyes. then, he's ready to sleep! i love it because he falls asleep on his own, he can fall back asleep if awakened mid-nap, and his fist never moves away like the pacifier does.

blogging

so i've been thinking of blogging for quite a while now... especially after caleb was born. and i've even had this blog set up for a while, i just never got around to writing anything. but a few days ago i was thinking about all the amazing things that caleb is learning and how he's growing and i'm growing as a mom. and i'm going to forget it if i don't get it down somehow. so even though i've missed a lot, it's never too late to start. my plan is to blog as i learn and observe how we're growing as a family... and maybe even go back and blog about some things that happened in the past.