This week's developments: Caleb has found his toes and he's started to blow spit bubbles. Sometimes he just sits and stares at his feet like they are the most amazing things he has ever seen. I find it pretty funny!
Out of nowhere, Caleb has started to blow spit bubbles and the drool factory has kicked into gear. I had just noticed it yesterday and then I read something about the expected milestones for this week and it mentioned an increase in drool. I guess that means he's right on track.
This week should be an exciting one for us. On Wednesday, Caleb and I are flying with my cousin, Becca, to Arkansas! I'm not nervous about flying with him, I'm just nervous about packing and hauling all of our junk through the airport. Mom has already informed me that she has diapers and formula on hand and has borrowed a pack and play so that Caleb has a place to sleep. That will make the travel a little easier. Rudy is sad that we will be gone for a few days, but he's in the full throes of band camp, so he is a little distracted (and stressed) anyway. Maybe with us out of the way, he'll be able to concentrate on work for a few days without feeling like he's being torn between work and home.
We're still struggling with tummy time! Caleb hates being put on his tummy to play and he just yells at us like we're killing him. We've tried putting all sorts of interesting things in front of him, but he still hates it.
Since Rudy started back to work last Thursday, Caleb and I have had a lot more time to ourselves. I find it to be very stressful and very fulfilling all at the same time. I don't get much done except for when he's napping, but the time that we spend together is priceless. Now that he's napping for about 2-3 hours every day at noon, I have time to get some things done around the house, but I'm usually so sleepy myself that I have to make myself keep moving. Once Rudy gets home in the evenings, he's ready to have some Daddy time, so I'm able to get things done then. I have a whole new understanding of stay-at-home moms - not that I ever thought that would be easy!
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Friday, July 21, 2006
Caleb's First Cardinals Game
For the second time in his life, Caleb slept all night on Thursday, June 28th! I bathed him, fed him and put him in bed at 9:30. He didn't make a sound until 5:15 Friday morning! I kept waking up during the night and listening to the monitor and I could hear him breathing soundly, so I went back to sleep.
On Friday, Rudy's band played the National Anthem at the Cardinals game, so we all went. Of course, Rudy was busy with the band, but Caleb and I got there plenty early so that I could see the new stadium. Wow! It's really nice! Since we were there so early, we stopped at the Build-A-Bear Workshop and bought a Fredbird for Caleb. We made it to our seats and Jerry and Sherry came shortly after that. The band sounded great on the Anthem and then we settled in to "watch the game." There's really no watching the game when you have a 2 month old baby! Even with Jerry and Sherry more-than-willing to hold him and do whatever we needed, it was a challenge. It was pretty warm out there and it got really loud sometimes, which scared Caleb. I took him down into the concourse and walked around with him for a while, which calmed him and we went back to our seats. Sherry and I worked hard to keep Caleb's ears covered when it got loud and he made it through until the end of the ninth inning. When the game went into extra innings, we had to leave. I was worn out and so was Caleb! Overall it was a good night, but it was exhausting.
On Friday, Rudy's band played the National Anthem at the Cardinals game, so we all went. Of course, Rudy was busy with the band, but Caleb and I got there plenty early so that I could see the new stadium. Wow! It's really nice! Since we were there so early, we stopped at the Build-A-Bear Workshop and bought a Fredbird for Caleb. We made it to our seats and Jerry and Sherry came shortly after that. The band sounded great on the Anthem and then we settled in to "watch the game." There's really no watching the game when you have a 2 month old baby! Even with Jerry and Sherry more-than-willing to hold him and do whatever we needed, it was a challenge. It was pretty warm out there and it got really loud sometimes, which scared Caleb. I took him down into the concourse and walked around with him for a while, which calmed him and we went back to our seats. Sherry and I worked hard to keep Caleb's ears covered when it got loud and he made it through until the end of the ninth inning. When the game went into extra innings, we had to leave. I was worn out and so was Caleb! Overall it was a good night, but it was exhausting.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
It's HOT!
It's officially HOT - 100 degrees to be exact! It has been so hot this week and we have done everything possible to stay inside and stay cool! It's pretty warm in our house, especially upstairs, so we have the fans running on high speed and Caleb has been spending a lot of time in nothing but a diaper. On the positive side, he didn't get cold when he had his bath.
I heard a beautiful sound a couple of days ago and I can't wait to hear it again. Caleb laughed! He really laughed out loud. Oddly enough, though, he was asleep when he did it. The child makes more noise when he's asleep than he does when he's awake. Sometimes he starts crying as if he's in the most horrible pain imaginable and two seconds later, he's smiling!
We had our first visit from our parent educator today. Missouri has a wonderful Parents as Teachers program and it’s even free. We enrolled through the school district where we live and we are excited about it! Our PE's name is Amy and she is very nice! She came this morning to meet us and shared some great information with us.
The past couple of weeks have been big for Caleb - and for us. On the 8th, he spent the night with Jerry, Sherry and Rebecca while Rudy and I went on our date. According to them, he did great and was a complete joy! Last Friday night, we went to see Tim McGraw and Faith Hill in concert and Caleb stayed with Monica. She took him to Daniel's baseball game. She said that he was the easiest baby ever!
On Sunday, Rudy went to Branson for an overnight golf trip with Chad. Caleb and I were all alone from early Sunday morning until Monday afternoon. Sunday was a lazy day for us, but we had fun on Monday running some errands and meeting Monica for lunch. When Rudy got home on Monday afternoon, he was so excited to see Caleb! He swore that the child had actually grown while he was gone!
I've been getting caught up on my scrapbooks in the past couple of weeks. I went to a crop at church and got a ton of pages finished. Today, Rudy agreed to let me have a Mom's Day Out and I went to the Archiver's store in the mall. I scrapbooked for hours and I was so excited about the pages that I finished! I'm even going to a crop at my neighbor's house on Friday night. I'm really trying to not get too far behind since there are SO MANY pictures of Caleb to be used!
We had a few scary moments tonight. I hadn't been home from scrapbooking for long when it suddenly got very dark and windy outside. The weather turned nasty very fast and we headed for the basement. We had a terrible storm, but we were very lucky. Our area is one of the only areas in St. Louis that didn't lose power tonight. There are over 300,000 people without power right now in the metro area! We didn't go out after the storm to check for damage or anything, because it was dark. I guess tomorrow will tell. I don't think we had any damage, but a lightning bolt hit very close to our house. Rudy estimated that from the sound of it, it couldn't have been more than a couple of hundred yards away! It was LOUD! Dewey was a total wreck - like he always is in storms, but Caleb slept through it all in my arms. I learned what it feels like to become protective of a child. I wasn't worried about myself or my house or anything else - just making sure that Caleb was safe. Amazing what motherhood does, isn't it?
Band camp starts tomorrow for Rudy, so Caleb and I are on our own during the day for the next couple of weeks. Unfortunately, that means that the school year is quickly approaching and I'll be headed back to work on August 10th. I'm having a hard time imagining the whole thing - leaving Caleb and getting back to work - and it makes me more than just a little sad. On the other hand, I'm ready for a little more routine in my life and I know that I can't provide the type of life that I want Caleb to have unless I go to work. So, I'll take the bad with the good, and as I always say, "Put on my big girl panties and deal with it!" I'm just going to enjoy the last days of pure freedom with my favorite little baby boy!
I heard a beautiful sound a couple of days ago and I can't wait to hear it again. Caleb laughed! He really laughed out loud. Oddly enough, though, he was asleep when he did it. The child makes more noise when he's asleep than he does when he's awake. Sometimes he starts crying as if he's in the most horrible pain imaginable and two seconds later, he's smiling!
We had our first visit from our parent educator today. Missouri has a wonderful Parents as Teachers program and it’s even free. We enrolled through the school district where we live and we are excited about it! Our PE's name is Amy and she is very nice! She came this morning to meet us and shared some great information with us.
The past couple of weeks have been big for Caleb - and for us. On the 8th, he spent the night with Jerry, Sherry and Rebecca while Rudy and I went on our date. According to them, he did great and was a complete joy! Last Friday night, we went to see Tim McGraw and Faith Hill in concert and Caleb stayed with Monica. She took him to Daniel's baseball game. She said that he was the easiest baby ever!
On Sunday, Rudy went to Branson for an overnight golf trip with Chad. Caleb and I were all alone from early Sunday morning until Monday afternoon. Sunday was a lazy day for us, but we had fun on Monday running some errands and meeting Monica for lunch. When Rudy got home on Monday afternoon, he was so excited to see Caleb! He swore that the child had actually grown while he was gone!
I've been getting caught up on my scrapbooks in the past couple of weeks. I went to a crop at church and got a ton of pages finished. Today, Rudy agreed to let me have a Mom's Day Out and I went to the Archiver's store in the mall. I scrapbooked for hours and I was so excited about the pages that I finished! I'm even going to a crop at my neighbor's house on Friday night. I'm really trying to not get too far behind since there are SO MANY pictures of Caleb to be used!
We had a few scary moments tonight. I hadn't been home from scrapbooking for long when it suddenly got very dark and windy outside. The weather turned nasty very fast and we headed for the basement. We had a terrible storm, but we were very lucky. Our area is one of the only areas in St. Louis that didn't lose power tonight. There are over 300,000 people without power right now in the metro area! We didn't go out after the storm to check for damage or anything, because it was dark. I guess tomorrow will tell. I don't think we had any damage, but a lightning bolt hit very close to our house. Rudy estimated that from the sound of it, it couldn't have been more than a couple of hundred yards away! It was LOUD! Dewey was a total wreck - like he always is in storms, but Caleb slept through it all in my arms. I learned what it feels like to become protective of a child. I wasn't worried about myself or my house or anything else - just making sure that Caleb was safe. Amazing what motherhood does, isn't it?
Band camp starts tomorrow for Rudy, so Caleb and I are on our own during the day for the next couple of weeks. Unfortunately, that means that the school year is quickly approaching and I'll be headed back to work on August 10th. I'm having a hard time imagining the whole thing - leaving Caleb and getting back to work - and it makes me more than just a little sad. On the other hand, I'm ready for a little more routine in my life and I know that I can't provide the type of life that I want Caleb to have unless I go to work. So, I'll take the bad with the good, and as I always say, "Put on my big girl panties and deal with it!" I'm just going to enjoy the last days of pure freedom with my favorite little baby boy!
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Discoveries!
In the past couple of days, Caleb has made two major discoveries: his hands and Dewey! We noticed just yesterday that Caleb was staring at Dewey for the first time.
As for his hands, he's been trying to put them in his mouth for a couple of weeks now, but just in the past week, he's been staring at them. It's so hard for me to imagine being so helpless that you don't know that you have hands.
The cooing and gooing is almost nonstop these days too. Caleb "talks" to us all the time. Of course, we talk back to him - either cooing and gooing right back or pretending that we really know what he's saying. He just smiles and lights up when we talk to him. What a great feeling!
We're still working on the nap schedule. The past two days have been pretty consistent. Caleb slept for about an hour in the morning, then 3 hours mid-day and then about an hour in the late afternoon. He's getting very consistent about getting sleepy around 9:00 or 9:30 at night and going right down to bed then. I usually get up with him once during the night for a quick feeding and then he sleeps again until at least 5:00 or 6:00, when Rudy gets up with him.
We're working on giving Caleb more time on a blanket on the floor so that he can learn to roll over. He HATES being on his tummy, but he's getting a little bit better about it. He likes to lay on his back and look around the room or play with the toys on his baby gym.
I am amazed every day by the changes that I see!
As for his hands, he's been trying to put them in his mouth for a couple of weeks now, but just in the past week, he's been staring at them. It's so hard for me to imagine being so helpless that you don't know that you have hands.
The cooing and gooing is almost nonstop these days too. Caleb "talks" to us all the time. Of course, we talk back to him - either cooing and gooing right back or pretending that we really know what he's saying. He just smiles and lights up when we talk to him. What a great feeling!
We're still working on the nap schedule. The past two days have been pretty consistent. Caleb slept for about an hour in the morning, then 3 hours mid-day and then about an hour in the late afternoon. He's getting very consistent about getting sleepy around 9:00 or 9:30 at night and going right down to bed then. I usually get up with him once during the night for a quick feeding and then he sleeps again until at least 5:00 or 6:00, when Rudy gets up with him.
We're working on giving Caleb more time on a blanket on the floor so that he can learn to roll over. He HATES being on his tummy, but he's getting a little bit better about it. He likes to lay on his back and look around the room or play with the toys on his baby gym.
I am amazed every day by the changes that I see!
Friday, July 7, 2006
Mother of the Year
I blew it! My chances for Mother of the Year went out the window in the past two days. Okay...so maybe I wasn't in the running, but here's the deal -
Last night, I put Caleb in front of the TV so that we could have 20 minutes to eat dinner. I know, I know - shame on me! Here's a secret, though...it won't be the last time. He was being so clingy and fussy yesterday and just was not content in his swing, where he usually sits while we eat. Rudy and I had made a nice dinner and we really wanted to eat at the same time, so I put the bouncy seat in front of the TV, turned on the Baby channel (it's developmentally appropriate!) and sat down to a peaceful meal. Caleb loved the Baby channel with its bright colors and sing-song voices. We didn't leave him there long, but just the fact that I did it was enough to make me feel guilty.
Tonight, I was trying to clip Caleb's fingernails and took a plug out of his finger! He screamed bloody murder and I felt like a horrible person for making him bleed. He bled and bled and when it finally stopped, I swaddled him and laid him down to sleep. Oh, it's a good thing he won't remember it.
Tomorrow night, Rudy and I are going on our first grown-ups-only date since Caleb was born. We have dinner reservations at Sam's Steakhouse and then we are going to spend the night at a nice hotel in the city. Jerry and Sherry are keeping Caleb for us. Hopefully, we won't spend the whole night worrying about how he's doing. I'm sure I'll wake up during the night to "listen to the monitor", but hopefully I'll sleep peacefully, knowing he's in good hands.
Caleb is pretty consistently sleeping through the night now. He is getting on more of a sleep schedule. He usually sleeps from about 9:30 or 10:00 at night until about 4:30 in the morning. I get up and feed him and then put him back to bed. He sleeps from that point until about 7:00 or 8:00. Rudy gets up with him then, feeds him and goes for a walk with Caleb and Dewey. Sometimes, he'll take a little nap when they get back and sometimes he's just ready to talk and play with his Daddy. Rudy usually wakes me up around 10:00, because the only really good sleep I get is from the time he gets up with Caleb until then. It's just something about knowing that someone else is responsible for him and I don't have to listen for him to wake up - I really sleep hard during those few hours. Once I get up, we usually play and talk and then I feed Caleb before I have my lunch. Caleb sits in his swing while Rudy and I have lunch and usually falls asleep sometime around then either in his swing or in one of our laps. He doesn't sleep very long during the day! After he wakes up, it's feedings every 3 hours and a couple of catnaps here and there all mixed with playtime with whichever parent can play and some time in the swing and the bouncy seat. This is when we run errands or go out to do things outside of the house. Caleb begins to get pretty tired around 8:30. If he needs a bath, we do that before his bedtime bottle. When bedtime rolls around, I have the absolute joy of spending snuggle time with Caleb. I swaddle him, rock him and sing to him until he's almost asleep, then lay him down in his crib and we start the whole cycle over again. These are the best days of our lives!
Last night, I put Caleb in front of the TV so that we could have 20 minutes to eat dinner. I know, I know - shame on me! Here's a secret, though...it won't be the last time. He was being so clingy and fussy yesterday and just was not content in his swing, where he usually sits while we eat. Rudy and I had made a nice dinner and we really wanted to eat at the same time, so I put the bouncy seat in front of the TV, turned on the Baby channel (it's developmentally appropriate!) and sat down to a peaceful meal. Caleb loved the Baby channel with its bright colors and sing-song voices. We didn't leave him there long, but just the fact that I did it was enough to make me feel guilty.
Tonight, I was trying to clip Caleb's fingernails and took a plug out of his finger! He screamed bloody murder and I felt like a horrible person for making him bleed. He bled and bled and when it finally stopped, I swaddled him and laid him down to sleep. Oh, it's a good thing he won't remember it.
Tomorrow night, Rudy and I are going on our first grown-ups-only date since Caleb was born. We have dinner reservations at Sam's Steakhouse and then we are going to spend the night at a nice hotel in the city. Jerry and Sherry are keeping Caleb for us. Hopefully, we won't spend the whole night worrying about how he's doing. I'm sure I'll wake up during the night to "listen to the monitor", but hopefully I'll sleep peacefully, knowing he's in good hands.
Caleb is pretty consistently sleeping through the night now. He is getting on more of a sleep schedule. He usually sleeps from about 9:30 or 10:00 at night until about 4:30 in the morning. I get up and feed him and then put him back to bed. He sleeps from that point until about 7:00 or 8:00. Rudy gets up with him then, feeds him and goes for a walk with Caleb and Dewey. Sometimes, he'll take a little nap when they get back and sometimes he's just ready to talk and play with his Daddy. Rudy usually wakes me up around 10:00, because the only really good sleep I get is from the time he gets up with Caleb until then. It's just something about knowing that someone else is responsible for him and I don't have to listen for him to wake up - I really sleep hard during those few hours. Once I get up, we usually play and talk and then I feed Caleb before I have my lunch. Caleb sits in his swing while Rudy and I have lunch and usually falls asleep sometime around then either in his swing or in one of our laps. He doesn't sleep very long during the day! After he wakes up, it's feedings every 3 hours and a couple of catnaps here and there all mixed with playtime with whichever parent can play and some time in the swing and the bouncy seat. This is when we run errands or go out to do things outside of the house. Caleb begins to get pretty tired around 8:30. If he needs a bath, we do that before his bedtime bottle. When bedtime rolls around, I have the absolute joy of spending snuggle time with Caleb. I swaddle him, rock him and sing to him until he's almost asleep, then lay him down in his crib and we start the whole cycle over again. These are the best days of our lives!
Monday, July 3, 2006
Two Months Old
By the time I finish writing this, it will be July 3rd - but as I start it, it's still July 2nd, so it's still Caleb's "birthday." I continue to be amazed at him. He is growing and growing and just when I think I can't love him any more - he does something or looks at me a certain way and my heart expands just a little bit more. Caleb is smiling so much now that I wonder if he knows something I don't. He hardly ever cries and has slept through the night 2 of the last 3 nights.
In the spirit of my one month post:
Things that I love about my two-month-old baby boy:
- his "goos" and "gahs" in response to our voices
- the way he lays in his crib and "talks" to the Razorbacks on his mobile
- the loving gaze that he gives me when I sing to him at bedtime
- those chubby cheeks!
- the way his whole face lights up when he smiles
- the feel of his breath on my cheek when he's sleeping on my shoulder
In the spirit of my one month post:
Things that I love about my two-month-old baby boy:
- his "goos" and "gahs" in response to our voices
- the way he lays in his crib and "talks" to the Razorbacks on his mobile
- the loving gaze that he gives me when I sing to him at bedtime
- those chubby cheeks!
- the way his whole face lights up when he smiles
- the feel of his breath on my cheek when he's sleeping on my shoulder
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Happy Two Month Birthday, Caleb!
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