Caleb Laughs

It's a little rough around the edge, but Caleb is definitely laughing!

This Week's Firsts

Caleb is still working on laughing. He really isn't anywhere near it, yet, but he gets all wiggly, his eyes go wide--as does his mouth--and you get the idea that he would be giggling away if he could.

He went to the dr. this past week. After his eye infection, he continued to have a low-grade fever, and then on Monday a little rash showed up on his chest. So off to the dr. we went. Turns out the low-grade fever was really nothing. Temps taken under the arm are completely unreliable, and I have to do it like a real mom--in the poor baby's heinder. And the rash? The dr. said rashes are kind of hard to diagnose, but it looked like a heat rash to her, probably due to all the bundling we've done in the cold weather. She said there's nothing to do for it, and certainly don't stop bundling! The rash hung around for a little longer, but I don't think I noticed it today.

In other news, Caleb weighed in at 12 pounds! He'd just been weighed a couple weeks before, and he'd weighed 10.6, so he's quite the eater!

On Valentine's Day, Caleb was in the church nursery for the first time! We were at the church for a Valentine Banquet. I did pretty well. I really wanted to check on him after we'd eaten, but Jon convinced me that they would let us know if he needed anything. Later I got to go feed him, and it turns out he was doing just fine. He likes to play after he eats, and he inevitably eats at the beginning of Sunday School, so we'll probably start putting him in the nursery on Sundays.

And today Caleb managed to roll over after his nap! Once today I found him on his side (from his tummy), and once I found him on his back! His first hints of independence...can you imagine trying to babyproof OUR house? Oh, dear.... I'll need a whole flock of you organized people to come help me!

Make 'Em Laugh

I think it's interesting how babies are born with a sense for the dramatic, but have no sense of humor. They come out of the womb wailing and crying. They tug at our heartstrings with big pouty lips and eyebrows raised in concern. Their eyes widen in surprise or fear. But it's not until we laugh that they start to learn what's funny.

Which is good, because I've convinced Caleb I'm quite hilarious.

Parenting

I'm feeding Caleb. All of the sudden he starts crying in a squealy sort of way.

"What's wrong? Are you done? You haven't eaten very much."

I try to shift positions for him. Maybe he's uncomfortable? His crying gets louder and squealier.

"Oh dear...baby, I don't know what you want!"

I pick him up to give him a hug, because that's what I'd want right then.

BUUUURRRRPPPP.... then silence.

"Oh."

Caleb smiles at me as I settle him back to feeding.

And this is how we learn!

This week's firsts

Caleb had his first bout of an eye infection this week. We think. It was all red with green stuff coming out, so I stayed home with him instead of going into the office this week. And we've been putting an antibiotic ointment in his eye, but it almost cleared up completely by the second day of the ointment, so I'm wondering if it was just allergies? I talked to a nurse, and she called in the ointment prescription based on my description, so it could have just been me being paranoid. Either way, his eye is better, and that's what matters!

Caleb also brought a ball to his mouth for the first time this week! I was pretty impressed, and he thought the texture of the ball was really neat on his tongue.

He also tried to laugh, I think. It came out sort of like a cough, and kind of surprised him, but he had been all smiley and wiggly, and I was laughing when it happened, so I'm pretty sure it was a laugh. I can't wait to hear it more!

To the park we go

For all you non-Texans out there, it's been a great January/February around here. Some days it's highs in the 80s, then it turns around to highs in the 30s and 40s the very next day. So it feels like winter, but with a little spring mixed in, which is just about the way winter should be!

These warm-weather days have come just in time for my work-off-the-baby-fat exercise regimen ("regimen" is used very loosely here...mostly it means "take a walk when the weather's nice"). I've made a goal to take Caleb outside any time it's over 60 degrees.

So Caleb and I have been to the park for a walk several times now! The second time there was a guy there practicing tight-rope walking on a rope tied between two trees. He was also juggling knives (not at the same time as walking on the rope). He wasn't that great at either skill, but hey, he was better than I will ever be! And it felt very "big city" to have a tight-rope walker at the park.

I'm not sure Caleb's a big fan, yet, but I know he will be.

Caleb got your tongue

I stuck my tongue out at Caleb one day last week, and his eyes widened in wonder. We spent the next little while sticking our tongues out at each other.

Could it be true?

Yesterday and today, we've been able to put Caleb down for a nap while he was still awake! He fussed for just a few minutes, and then went to sleep!

We haven't read any books on sleep training, or looked online, or anything like that, but we figure that if we can lessen his dependency on external things to get him to sleep (rocking, music, swaddling, etc.), then that's probably a good thing. I'm sure he's not fully independent--we've had to rock him to sleep a couple times today--but it's a start!

Here's our little man in a nap before church this morning.

The Tour

I did this video tour of the house and nursery when we first made the big change...around Labor Day, while I was still pregnant.

Caleb's Dedication, February 1, 2009

Thank you to everyone who was there to support us and commit with us to grow Caleb up to be the man God has designed him to be. It was a fun day, and I think we lived the "big family" commercial at Olive Garden afterward!

Here are the photos from that day:

My camera (KarenD took these)

My mom's camera

Leanna's camera