One

One last post for the year. One more look back at everything that has happened this year. One more miletsone hit today: the 10 month mark. Lots of "ones."

I can't believe the end of 2011 is here. Although such a whirlwind, I clearly remember January and the baby shower at which so many awesome friends and family members celebrated the upcoming arrival of Caleb with me. As if it were yesterday, I remember the caravan of Mom & Bill with their trailer and me in my car, first to Santa Nella and then to Red Bluff - with Paul following 10 days later - to wait until Caleb was born. At the time, that seemed like the longest wait of my life. I remember seeing Caleb for the very first time and remember the overwhelming rush of emotion those first moments. It's still so very vivid to me.

March, April and May were all about bonding, adjustment, bottles, diapers and sleep! It was so good to find our groove... to find what worked for us. There were no arguments over who HAD to feed the baby or change his diaper. Can an adrenaline rush last for many months?? I went back to work in April and we got into a new groove with a new schedule, but it was an easy transition.

The summer months were so much fun. Every week from the time our nieces and nephews got out of school for summer break until the week they had to go back to school, one of them was here to babysit. It was great to have full-time in-home daycare, the cousins got to bond, and I got some good time with all of them :)

After the kids went back to school, I took another leave of absence from work. Those weeks were the most fun! At the beginning, Caleb turned 6 months and was turning into a fun interactive little person (from an adorably baby-ish baby). We played, went to the park, shopped, went to lunch with Daddy and with friends. The transition from my 6 weeks off went right into another 6 weeks that Paul took off from his work. That was a bonding extravaganza. Paul was in heaven as was Caleb. In that time, we took a week long vacation to Palm Springs and enjoyed the time we got to spend with him. Caleb hit so many milestones during this time - crawling and teeth to name two biggies.

Paul returned to work at the beginning of November and Caleb has been in full-time daycare since then. I am so, so happy we found a great daycare provider! After visiting a few places, my heart was heavy as I began to think I would have to settle in some way - whether it was a schedule I didn't agree with (3 hour naptimes?) or a distance I didn't want to travel (neighboring city that would add at least an hour of driving to each day). But on that fourth visit, I was so relieved to know we didn't have to settle on any one of the wants on our wish list. I am truly at ease when he's there... our provider is super!!!

So here we are in December. December 21st. Caleb is 10 months old today. He's on the verge of walking, has five adorably placed and spaced teeth, is eating mostly "real" food instead of baby food, squirms like a fish when getting his diaper changed (he has better things to do than slow down for that, you know), loudly expresses his opinions at times, climbs *over* Starr instead of around her, thinks Coco's growling "leave me alone" sounds are absolutely hysterical (uh ohhhh), and crawls through the doggy door faster than you can say "the doggy door is only for doggies!"

We have over 3,000 pictures that encompass everything from pre-birth ultrasounds to this week's trip to the beach. To skim through them beginning to end is just mind boggling, but what a great trip down memory lane. The best words on which to end 2011: happy, eager, proud, relieved, but most of all, grateful. Looking forward to a great 2012 for us, and for you!

Merry Christmas!!

Everyone takes their kid to the pet store to get the Santa pic, right??

Baby's First Christmas.

Our Little Chameleon

How fast things change. It seems Caleb is displaying/practicing/developing a new skill or attribute every day. Let's see... he's an official turbo crawler, has three teeth on the bottom (and none on top yet), pulls up on anything in front of him and walks around holding on to furniture transitioning from table to couch and so on, and is starting to clap! My absolute favorite, though, is when he waves bye-bye. It's soooooo cute and clumsy at this point... his whole arm waves. MELTS MY HEART! I even pretend I have to leave so we can do the whole bye-bye routine, I go into the garage, and then I come back into the house and do the whole "you're home!!!!" routine. Pure awesomeness. He also started the whole repeating-consonants thing with "babababababababa" and then moved to "mamamamamama." Of course I love the "mama" noise, but he knows no connection between "mamamama" and me..... but I still answer him as if he's talking to me ;)

He started daycare full-time when Paul went back to work (after a 6 week leave of absence) on November 2nd and since that time he has caught two colds, had two ear infections, and conquered all of it like a champ with the help of antibiotics. He's finally getting back to his non-sick sleep routine which lasts from about 7 p.m. to about 6:30 a.m. waking once or so for a bottle or snuggles. All that fun at daycare wears him out. He comes home so tired that sometimes it's hard just to get him to eat before the bedtime routine starts. It's hard seeing him so little throughout the work week so when I get the chance, I pick him up early.

Caleb was 9 months last Monday, November 21st, and we went for his checkup. Basically, he's the size of a 14 or 15 month old weight- and length-wise. I'll update with the real stats and a recent picture soon.

Happy Halloween!

No time for words other than life is great, Caleb is even better! Happy First Halloween, little man!

All dressed up for daycare

We nailed "happy, cute, sweet skeleton" this year. We'll try for scary another year...

A fun trip to Boccali's Pumpkin Patch in Ojai. Wasn't too fond of the hay poking him until we put a couple of pumpkins next to him :)

A "First" I Didn't Want Just Yet

Just when everything is going great, bam! His first cold. I am so sad! He wheezes and sneezes and coughs and it sucks. I wasn't looking forward to *this* milestone :( I would love to make it all better so he could actually get some good rest, alas this too shall pass.

Don't Blink or You'll Miss Something!

It's been exactly four weeks since I last posted and ohmygosh have things changed! A month ago, Caleb was sitting but was still a little wobbly. Since then, he mastered sitting. If you lay him down on his playmat, he'll immediately push up into a sitting position. If you lay him in his bed, he'll bounce up into a sitting position. There is no more laying this kid down! It's like a game of Whack-A-Mole! (Disclaimer: I do not hit my kid with any sort of mallet. Kidding about that whole Whack-A-Mole thing.) But honestly, that's so two-to-three weeks ago because now his favorite thing to do is pull himself up into standing position. Sometimes there may be a brief sitting session in between laying down and standing up, but inevitably if there's something he can use to pull himself up (crib, laundry basket, ottoman, couch, barstool, chair, end table, coffee table -- get it??), he's up. This is kind of fun during the day! This is kind of NOT fun at naptimes and bedtime! He can be super overly tired, but he'll still pull himself up in his crib. And even more fun? In his tired and cranky state, he gets super pissy because he doesn't really know how to sit back down. Half the time he falls down (and half of those times he hits some part of his body on something that doesn't feel good and cries) and the other half of the time he hollers for requests help. Good, busy times!

Ok, so the point of that whole blurb was to say he's mastered sitting, and is almost the master of standing while holding on to something/anything. But that's not all he's done... that would be boring. He's also learned to crawl! Crawling! Yay! We smile nearly non-stop during the crawling hours because he's so cute!! And what's more? He sprouted a new tooth (fully showing) and another tooth (little nubbin' popping up)! Teething! Not quite as much "yay!" as yelling to one another "where's the damn teething gel/pellets??!?" and "ohmygod is he ever going to sleep normally again?!?!" and "arghhhhhhhhhhhh I just want to sleeeeeep!" Milestones. Hittin' them with a vengence.

Not so much a milestone as just lovely noise... he has been experimenting with a different-than-normal voice for a while now and it creeps me out.  I heard it one day and warned Paul it was kinda strange. Then he heard it. I swear it sounds like Grandpa Simpson/decades-long smoker/Chuckie doll evil voice. I am doing my best to capture it on video. In a much different voice, he also sounds like a very loud parrot. The kind of voice that would turn all sorts of heads in even the kid-friendliest of places. It'll be such a proud moment some day. And in yet another voice, his "normal" voice, he babbles like a baby. Imagine that.

The Six Month Check-Up

This guy won't stop growing. And that's good and all... but perhaps the rate at which he's growing could slow down?? Here's the quick update from our visit to the doctor this past week. Caleb is:

Weight: 20 pounds 13 ounces - 95th percentile (the average of a 10 month old)
Head circumference: 18 inches - between 90th and 95th percentile (also avg for 10 month old)
Length: 29.75 inches - off the percentile charts and the average length of a 1 year old!!

He's wearing 12 month clothes for one-piece things, but can still wear 9 month shirts and even 6 month bottoms. Crazy. I'm going through his clothes today for the umpteenth time to weed out the too-small stuff and replenish with larger things. He'll be stylin' in a new wardrobe by this afternoon ;)

Our Baby is Six Months Old!

Whoa! What happened there? How did six months fly by already? It seems the majority of conversations I've had about Caleb include some version of "Enjoy every moment. It passes by way too quickly." Of course as I grow older I've noticed how fast time flies, but I'm actually going to say I appreciate having a kid at this point in my life (read: late in life) because I DO know and recognize this. I'm not one to leave dishes in the sink but part of my conscious "enjoy these times with him" thought is to leave some things for later... dishes, for example. I won't let them sit overnight (neither will Paul) but we will let them sit there until Caleb's asleep for the night, napping or has some solo play time. 

I try to photodocument as much as I can so my soon-to-be-senile brain can remember these moments. In the first six months, we've taken approximately 1,500 pictures of him. It's really more than that, but sometimes I thin the herd as I'm reviewing them by deleting those with poor lighting, a wonky eye, or blurry and unrecognizable action. I'll admit it's disturbing seeing that number. I need to chill out. Where do we sign up for the study that correlates camera flashes with poor vision?

Some highlights since I last posted are a trip to AZ to see Paul's grandpa, parents, and aunt and uncle -- and some big firsts: sleeping in his own room/crib, swim classes, trip to the zoo, and professional photo session! There are also lots of developmental milestones he's nailed, my favorite being the yoga pose "cobra." Ironic that the baby who didn't like tummy time at all is alllllllll about tummy time now. He realizes it's linked to his mobility and that he can get from *here* to *there* by being on him tummy and scootching. There is certainly no more leaving him on the bed unattended (dammmmmmit!) as he freely rolls from back to front to back to front... you get it. He also gets himself in crawling position then looks at me like "now what?!" Countdown until he's crawling starts NOW. And I'll be honest. I'm ok if he delays hitting that milestone ;) At least right now I'm faster than he is, but once that crawling starts... uh oh.

Things Caleb likes:

• Meal time! Put him in the highchair and he's alll excited about food time.
• Baths, stroller time, and books. They've been on the list before, but they are all still HUGE "likes"
• The dogs. Actually not sure if this belongs on the "likes" list or the "intrigued by" list, but since I don't have the latter, we'll just put it here. He actually notices the dogs now. He wants to "pet" them. By "pet" I mean he wants to grab them and pull. Starr (yellow Lab) isn't affected because her hair is short and he can't grab on quite yet. But she's mellow and likely won't care. Coco (Yorkie) on the other hand, is just pissed. He grabs the hair by her face and pulls. She nips at him. It's not ok for her to do that, but it's not ok that he does that either. We intervene but unfortunately Coco takes the brunt of the punishment since he doesn't understand he shouldn't "pet" her in such a way. But in Coco's defense, she's not all that bright at times and I don't think she understands either. For the time being, I'm going to re-establish a barrier between the two... baby pen is going back up so they can each have their own space.

The one thing Caleb really doesn't like:

• Falling asleep. He fights it and fights it until he succumbs to the evil heavy eyelids. I am hoping this is one of those things he'll grow out of...

Here are some of the highlights over the past month...

Our trip to AZ:

4 Generations!

Grandma and Caleb having some fun at dinnertime

Caleb teaching Grandpa a thing or two about the iPad. Or vice versa...

Caleb with Grandma and Great Grandpa

Took the blow up pool with us to AZ to beat the heat.

Reading time

We also had new dining experiences, to include:

Dining al fresco in the backyard. See Daddy working up on the hill?

Painting with prunes! (Because Caleb doesn't think they're worthy of putting in his mouth)

And a couple more firsts:

First swimming lessons! 4 Saturdays throughout August at the YMCA.

Santa Barbara Zoo with 4 of his cousins!

It's been such an amazing, awesome, wonderful, incredible, remarkable, brilliant six months with our little-big guy. I knew it would be great, but so much more so than expected.

A Few Firsts and some General Cuteness

Wish I had time for a real update, but work has been hellish and I just don't have time. On a good note, I am taking another leave of absence from work during August/September to spend four weeks with Caleb and I can't wait!!!!

A few "firsts":

First time in the pool (June 18th, Hyatt in Indian Wells)

First rice cereal (July 2nd)

First yams, although apparently yams in North America are sweet potatoes... so whatever they're called (July 19th)

And now, some general cuteness:

Llama foot dreams

Eat my shorts!

Cousins

Just plain cute!

Still loving every minute... even though the teething has begun. Hopefully I'll get to post a toothy grin soon :)

Happy 4th of July!

Growing Like a Weed

We had our 4 month visit to the doctor this week and she concurs: Caleb's a big boy! He is:

• 18 pounds 1 ounce (90th-95th percentile, the average of a 7 month old)
• 27.5 inches long (off the charts and the average length of an 8 month old)
• 17 inches around his noggin (75th percentile)

He's also hit a couple of great milestones in the last week... rolling from his back to his tummy and getting his first (semi-)solid food!!

Caleb performed his most recent trick, rolling over, at Paul's aunt and uncle's house when we visited them and Paul's grandpa last weekend. PAUL'S UNCLE HAD THE BEST REACTION TO THIS EVENT, EVER! I know it's wrong of me, but I almost wish I would have taken a video of him instead of Caleb. I mean, we've seen Caleb roll over a zillion times in the past week, but I suspect we may never see Jim jumping up and down like a contestant winning a new dryer on The Price Is Right ever again! But since I wasn't fast enough to capture that particular moment, I'll share the picture that I did snap:

Immediately after he rolled over by himself for the first time!

We had such a good time with them! Here are a few pics from our visit:

Representing 3 generations, we have Great Grandpa, Caleb and Paul.
Grandpa was mesmerized by Caleb's blue, blue eyes.

Auntie chilling with Caleb. Please read the t-shirt... I think I may need one of these some day!

Who do you think is the most excited in this picture? I'd venture to guess it's the tall guy with the beard...

The most recent of milestones was achieved today with the introduction of single grain rice cereal. All I'll say is, I'm not sure any made it down into his tummy...

Catching Up - Grandma and Grandpa's Visit in May

Organizing pictures is tough work when you take so many! I have finally organized the pictures from the last 8 weeks or so and can finally post about Grandma and Grandpa's visit in May! Connie and Rick drove here from Colorado and got here on Sunday, May 10th - Mothers' Day. We got to spend 2 short weeks with them but tried to do as many fun things as possible on the weekends when Paul and I weren't working. But during the weekdays, Caleb got some pretty intense G & G time all to himself! They took walks and they played; they cuddled and snuggled. Grandma even showed us cool stuff for kids on their iPad so now we're considering that... AS AN EDUCATIONAL TOY! Who knew?!

I'll let the pictures and captions tell the rest of the story of this most awesome visit:

Caleb! Guess what?! Grandma and Grandpa are coming to see you!

That means it's time for snuggling...

... and cuddling...

... being outdoors...

... and learning to suck it up when it comes to tummy time!

Rick, Connie, Caleb and I went to Ojai to have lunch with Grandpa Jay and Grandma Barbara... where we ran into Nana
and Papa! How cool is that?! Only person missing was Paul :(
From L to R: (front) G'ma Barbara (stepmom), Nana (mom),
Caleb, and G'pa Jay (dad)
(back) Papa (stepdad), Grandpa (Rick), me, and Grandma (Connie)

Grandpa trying to feed Caleb a Whodidily Cupcake in Montecito.
Bad Grandpa! (hehehe)

We decided to go for a cruise out of Santa Barbara on a big sailboat... this is right before we left.

The beautiful view of the Santa Barbara coast from the boat

Grandpa and Caleb... just chillin

Good times, good times!

The next day, we went to Boccali's in Ojai for the anniversary festival.

Mom and son... they are both so happy!!

Our friends Norm and Michelle, then me and Rick

Paul, Barbara and my dad

It was such a great visit and we can't wait to do it again!!

Four Months Old

I've done my absolute best to enjoy and appreciate each Caleb moment in the last four months. I am constantly reminding myself that these moments won't last forever and that soon enough he'll be crawling, walking, talking, talking back, and unappreciative of the constant kisses. So before those last two things happen, I'm just taking it all in. And? LOVING IT!

He is still such a good baby... I definitely know when he needs something because those are the only times he cries. And those times? Rare.

At this stage...

Things Caleb loves

• His play gym. Um, more like destructing his play gym. He's happy to play with the toys hanging from it, but he's happier when he's kicked a leg or two out and has the whole thing flattened out on top of him.

• Song time! The Itsy Bitsy Spider (with hand gestures, of course) and Five Green and Speckled Frogs (which, imagine this, can actually be Ten or Fifty Green and Specked Frogs, depending on how long you need the song to be! Kinda like 100 Bottles of Beer on the Wall, Kids' Version!)
• Bath time! Bath time climbed the list from "tolerates" at eight weeks to "loves" at four months! He splashes, he floats on his back (Daddy's assistance), he plays. It's magic. And it prepared him well for the pool in Palm Springs on Fathers' Day weekend :)

• Reading time! He looks at the pictures, reacts to the silly voices we make, and "reads" along. His attention span is better than mine... I'm working on that.
• Stroller time! He likes to be on the go, whether it's a walk in the neighborhood, rolling through the library, or bumpy terrain at the park.

Things Caleb tolerates

• Sitting with us while we eat at the table. This will hopefully move up to the "loves" list above when he actually gets to indulge in eating food instead of watching us eat in front of him.

Things Caleb doesn't like much

• That darn binky falling out of his mouth. While he IS able to find it with his hands sometimes, he just isn't coordinated enough to find his mouth quite yet. A hole in one is still a fluke... I mean, it happens, but it's most certainly about the stars and moon aligning moreso than any mad skills he's acquired. As entertaining as it is for me to watch, he frankly gets pissy about the whole thing.

And to add categories this time around...


Things Caleb's parents love

• Hearing him scream with delight and laugh. Best sounds EVER!
• Watching him hit new milestones and make new connections.
• His omnipresent smile.

Things Caleb's parents tolerate

• I have to put this here because my "love" and Paul's "doesn't like so much" come out as a neutral: Paul gets up with him 9 out of 10 times at night. I don't even hear them most times - but I soooo love that he (Paul) hasn't complained even once about this. Caleb will sleep through the night some nights, but many nights he just can't quite get over the 4 or 5 a.m. hump. So we (mostly Paul) will feed him, change him, and get him back to bed for a nice wake-up time between 8 and 9 a.m.

Things Caleb's parents don't like much

• Seeing dog hair on my little guy's hands. I know it will only get worse as he crawls on the floor, but I really don't like that.
• He is growing and changing so fast! I wish I could slow some of that down.

Just thought I should document some of these things before I forgot. Life is flying by and if I can freeze just these few thoughts and observations, why not?

Sweetest Sounds Ever Heard

This video melts my heart! Caleb's cousin Michael played peek-a-boo with him in Target tonight:

I love him so much!

My Newest Favoritest Picture

Yeah, I know favoritest isn't a word ;)

Here's Caleb and Daddy looking at their twins:

Stats and Crazy Thoughts

Stats first since I'm so excited to say... our healthy boy is still a BIG, healthy boy!

At 9 weeks, his head circumference was 16.5 inches (90th percentile), he weighed 14 pounds (95th percentile) and was 26 inches long (off the charts - the average length of a 5.5 month old!). The doctor said he eats, sleeps, pees and poops just the right amount. Wait, was that TMI? Sorry if so... I mean those terms in the most medical of senses ;)

Perhaps getting 9 hours of sleep on one of the weekend nights and another 9 hours last night (yes! a work night!) made me a little loopy because I said something to Paul about having another and he said something like "did we win the lottery and you didn't tell me??" I guess this is one of those situations where I can't say "money aside..." because, well, money is never aside. Perhaps we can talk along those lines if I get another kick-ass bonus next year :) For now, and for always, Caleb is a blessing and I know we're lucky to have him and our lives are so full and complete just the way we are.

And some recent pictures of our little-big guy:

Had to put a pic with Paul's hand so Caleb would look small(er) than something

When do we add peanut butter and chocolate to the diet?

Ack! So cute! We have 3 robes for him and use them all because, well, why wouldn't we when he looks this cute??

Currently my facebook profile pic because every time I look at this, I smile!

Chicks dig him

From today... 9 weeks 3 days (but who's counting?)

From the weekend... Happy Easter, naked baby style!