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!