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.