Two-Month Well-Baby Visit

Yesterday, Rudy and I took Caleb to see Dr. Koenig for his 2 month doctor's visit. Everything checked out just fine. Dr. Koenig has no concerns about Caleb at all! I was blown away that he weighed 13 pounds, 10 ounces (90th percentile) and his length (I can't remember exactly) was in the 50th percentile. I guess that means that even though his eating is sporadic and driving us crazy - he's getting plenty to eat! After the checkup, it was time for Caleb's first round of vaccinations. I've never seen him so mad - even after a bath! He screamed and screamed, then went to sleep. When we got home, he was cranky and it was just obvious that he didn't feel well. His temperature got up to just over 100 degrees, but a little Tylenol and some time in Mama and Daddy's arms made life better. He slept well last night. I put him in his bed at 11:00 and he slept until 4:00 AM. I fed him then and put him back down and he slept until 8:00. He seems to be feeling okay this morning, just tired. As I write this, he's asleep in his swing. I expect that he'll continue to get back to his usual happy self as the day goes on. Our next doctor's appointment is September 11th.

I got an exciting phone call yesterday! One of my very best friends, Cindy, had her first baby in Tulsa! Haven Paige Brixey was born on her parents' wedding anniversary - what a great gift! Cindy's sister sent me pictures and boy, is she cute! Cindy broke the pattern of the YaYas having boys, since Les and I both have sons. Congratulations to Cindy and Tyler and Welcome, Baby Haven!

Eight Weeks Old

How hard is it to believe that Caleb is eight weeks old?!? I look at him now and I can't believe that he is getting so big and has changed so much. Our neighbors across the street had a baby boy a couple of weeks ago and he weighed almost the same as Caleb did when he was born. When I held him earlier this week, I couldn't believe the difference between Caleb and Gabe! It doesn't seem like he should be able to change so much so fast! We have a doctor's appointment tomorrow, so we'll see just how much he's grown.

Eating is our newest issue. Just before we went to Arkansas, Caleb was consistently eating 4 ounces every 3 hours, except at night when he would go for longer stretches. He decided to throw a kink into things and one day after he ate his usual 4 ounces, he started fussing and putting his hands in his mouth, so we knew he was still hungry. We gave him another 2 ounces and he was a happy camper. Well, that was the beginning of the confusion. Now, we never know how much he's going to eat. Some feedings, he takes 2 ounces, sometimes 4, sometimes 6. How on Earth are we supposed to prepare for that? We usually make a 6 ounce bottle and hope for the best. Surely he'll even out soon and we won't be wasting so much formula every day. Rudy and I have decided that while it's not ideal, it's not the end of the world to waste a little. We'd rather be prepared for Caleb's feedings than have to scramble to make more when he's still hungry.

As for our eating issues, it's time to tackle the pregnancy pounds. I didn't gain much, but what I did put on HAS to come off. Plus - there are some pounds that didn't need to be there before I got pregnant. So...Rudy and I have jumped on the Weight Watchers wagon. I'm actually going to meetings and doing the whole program and Rudy is following my lead, but isn't going to the meetings. As an incentive for myself, I had a "Mom's Day Out" yesterday after I went to the dentist. I bought some clothes so that I can wear something other than the maternity clothes that I've been wearing for about the past 11 months. Like most everyone else, when I feel better about the way I look, I'm more likely to do what I need to do to feel even better. I'm optimistic about this plan. I've done it before and it really does work!

I'll post again tomorrow after Caleb's doctor's appointment.

Back from "Vacation"

We got home yesterday from our whirlwind tour to visit friends and family in Arkansas and Oklahoma. It has taken me more than 24 hours to get unpacked, go through mail and e-mail, make a dent in the laundry and get settled into being back at home. Now that Caleb is here - vacation will never be the same. Where to start? I guess it only makes sense to start at the beginning!

I had my 6 week postpartum doctor's appointment on the 13th. Woo hoo - what fun! Actually, it wasn't all that bad - could've been worse. She checked me out and said that everything is healing just fine, but I'm not quite where she would like for me to be just yet. I'm supposed to "take it easy" for a couple more weeks.

Jenny and Michael came over for lunch on Thursday, the 14th. We had a great time visiting and catching up. Michael enjoyed seeing Caleb for the first time since he was 2 weeks old! After lunch, Jenny and I went out and about with Caleb for a while. I had some errands to run and just needed to get out of the house!

On Friday, Rudy, Caleb and I left for Arkansas! We weren't sure what to expect when traveling with a 6-week-old baby, but he did awesome! Honestly - Caleb is a dream to travel with. He slept about 90% of the time that we were in the car. He only woke up when he was hungry and only got a little fussy when he had been in the car for hours and hours on end. To tell the truth - I was starting to get a little fussy myself. :)

We made it to Rogers at about 4:30 Friday afternoon. We had a great time visiting with Grandma and Grandpa Voise. They fell instantly in love with our little man and he returned their love with tons of smiles.

On Friday night, we needed to give Caleb a bath, but we didn't bring his baby bathtub, so we had to figure out how we were going to go about the process. I had read online that a lot of people had success with just getting into the bathtub with their babies, so I thought we'd give it a shot. It worked like a charm! Caleb was much calmer and more relaxed in the tub with me in there with him. He didn't scream until we took him out of the water to dry him off. If anyone has any suggestions to make that less traumatic - I'm listening! We already close the vents in the bathroom and run hot water to get it nice and steamy so that it's not too cold. He just hates it!

Saturday morning, Rudy took Caleb and I over to Les and Nick's new house in Bella Vista. Les and I were braving the idea of taking a 6-week-old baby and a 3-year-old boy to Tulsa for Cindy's baby shower. We're either brave or crazy - I'm not sure which it is! Turns out - we're neither one - just blessed to have the best boys in the world! Caleb and Jackson traveled so well and we were thrilled with the way the trip turned out. Cindy's shower was great and then we went to her house and sat in her baby's nursery and talked for hours! I love my girls. I don't know what I would do without them. I honestly cherish every minute that I get to spend with them and our babies have made our bond even closer. There's just something about motherhood that makes us part of a club that only we can understand. I count it as one of the pleasant surprises of being a mom - a closer relationship with my best friends. After dinner, Les and I loaded the boys back up and headed for Northwest Arkansas. We had so much fun talking that the trip went quickly.

Rudy's mom, Jan, flew into NWA on Saturday while we were in Tulsa. She was excited to see Caleb when we met up with them on Saturday night. She stayed in Rogers with us Saturday and Sunday nights.

Sunday was Rudy's first Father's Day. He had picked out a new golf bag for himself as his Father's Day present. I added to that by giving him 3 books to read with Caleb that are about Daddies. We enjoyed being with Rudy's family on Father's Day and had a wonderful meal with them to top off the day.

On Monday morning, we were up bright and early for the second leg of the tour! We went to Spiro, Oklahoma, to see Rudy's Grandma and Grandpa Morris. We hadn't seen them since Christmas, so we were glad to get to visit with them. They enjoyed meeting Caleb. After we had lunch in Spiro, we loaded back up and headed for Sherwood, Arkansas, where we spent the night with my Memmie and Poppie. They are so very special to me and I could not wait to introduce Caleb to them! Watching them smile when that baby boy looked at them was possibly the highlight of the trip for me. As much as Poppie loves his four granddaughters, he has always wanted a grandson. I am so grateful to have been able to give him a great-grandson! We had a wonderful time playing our marbles game with Memmie and Poppie, pigging out on Memmie's fabulous food and just visiting. Memmie even hemmed some blankets for me to use to swaddle Caleb. I sure didn't know how to do it myself! Pat came over for a short visit on Tuesday. When it came time to leave, I thought we were going to need a crowbar to pry Caleb out of Poppie's arms! He got pretty attached to the little guy pretty quickly!

The final stop on our tour was Hot Springs. We got there on Tuesday afternoon and Mom and Mr. L. were anxiously waiting for us! I guess I should say they were anxiously waiting for Caleb. We got all settled in and then my family started arriving for our cookout. Mr. L. made burgers and we got to show off our pride and joy to Pepapa and Anna Joyce, Aunt Harolyn and Uncle Poppie and Jimmy and Kim. It was a very fun night. By the time everyone left, Caleb was exhausted from being passed around. For the first time, Rudy and I saw the slight signs of stress in his little body as he got overwhelmed by all the new faces and the noise that comes along with a family party. He handled it beautifully, though. He didn't fuss or cry and when he seemed stressed, he calmed quickly with just a few minutes in my arms or Rudy's. I wouldn't have traded that night for the world. Seeing my son in the arms of the family that has loved me all of my life was one of the most amazing experiences that I can imagine. When I caught a glimpse of Pepapa giving Caleb a kiss, I felt a peacefulness that I can't explain. Family is an amazing thing.

Mom and I took Caleb to her office and Mr.L's office on Wednesday. Everyone was happy to see him. Then, the adventure really got into full swing! Wednesday evening, we took Caleb for his first boat ride on Lake Hamilton. Mr. L. bought him an infant lifejacket, which we call the "shark suit" because it has a shark on it. It is possibly the cutest thing I've ever seen in my life! Once we got Caleb into it, we set sail for a cruise around the lake. He was asleep within seconds and slept like an angel almost the whole time we were on the boat! He loved the noise and the vibration of the boat and the water.
We packed up and left for home on Thursday. We stopped in Little Rock to have lunch with Chad, Ronni and Owen, then hit the road for St. Louis. The trip home was as easy as the trip down there. We got home about 8:30 last night and crashed!
Caleb has changed so much in the past 2 weeks, it's unbelievable. His face is changing and becoming more "boyish." He's smiling almost nonstop and is starting to use his hands to bat at things even though he doesn't have much control over them. The greatest thing that has changed is that he is now cooing at us. When we sit down and talk to him, he coos nonstop and just smiles the whole time. Who could resist that?

I think Caleb's nickname has finally set itself in stone. For some reason, I can't stop calling him Caleb-bug or sometimes, just plain "Bug." It just fits him!

Before we left for our trip, we decided that we would move Caleb to the crib in his room when we got home. Last night was his first night in his "big bed" and he did awesome! I hooked up the monitor and he slept just as peacefully as always. I even slept better than usual. I don't know if it was because I was so tired or because I couldn't hear every single gurgle that he made. Either way - it was wonderful. I'm trying to develop a bedtime routine to help him sleep better at night. Last night, I took him upstairs and changed his diaper, changed him into a onesie, turned down the lights and gave him his late night bottle. About halfway through the bottle, as he was getting sleepy, I swaddled him, turned on the sound machine and sat in the rocker with him for the last of his bottle. When he was finished, I held him close to me and said a nighttime prayer, then laid him in his crib to sleep. I walked out of the room with a little tear in my eye, but a peacefulness in my heart. He's there again tonight after the same routine and has been asleep now for 4 hours. I keep thinking he'll wake up any time for another bottle, but maybe I'll get lucky and this will be the beginning of his longer stretches of sleeping at night. Here's hoping!

It has taken me over an hour to write all of this. I can't imagine how long it will take for you to read it. I promise my posts won't usually be this long. There was just so much to tell this time! Make sure to check out the Shutterfly site for the pictures from the trip!

Six Weeks

Caleb is 6 weeks old. I absolutely cannot believe it! I keep thinking that if he had been born any earlier in the school year, I would be going back to work this week. Whew! I'm so very glad he was born when he was. The timing couldn't have been better.

A lot of people have offered their congratulations on our ability to get Caleb to sleep through the night at less than 6 weeks. Though they are much appreciated - hold on to your congrats for a while. That all night sleeping was a one-time thing. He hasn't done it again, but we are almost certain he is sleeping just fine for his age. I would be astonished if he were already sleeping through the night consistently.

I go for my 6-week postpartum check-up on Tuesday. Yikes and double yikes! I'm certainly not looking forward to it. Wouldn't it be a little weird if I were?

Rip Van Winkle

Caleb slept through the night last night! Becca was here to take Aunt Harolyn to the airport and she spent the night. Rudy went to practice putting and Becca and I gave Caleb a bath. I fed him at 9:30 and we all went to bed at 10:00. He didn't wake up until 5:00 this morning! I was amazed. I would like to say that I got a good night's rest last night, but it wouldn't be true. I had to look the gift horse right in the mouth! I kept waking up to check on Caleb and make sure he was okay since he wasn't awake. I think he was so worn out from his bath that he zonked out and didn't even think about waking up until 5:00. Rudy says we need to give him a bath every night if that's the case - no thanks! I'd rather get up for a peaceful nighttime feeding than endure the torture of giving him a bath every night. He hates it!!!!

And In This Corner...

Caleb has had a stuffy, snuffly nose for about two weeks now. We started using the nasal aspirator (AKA: booger sucker) and Caleb hates it! When we started pulling stuff out of there that made us gag a little, we decided it was time to call the pediatrician. We went in on Saturday morning. The first thing they did was put him on the scale. OH. MY. GOSH. My one-month-old baby boy weighs ELEVEN POUNDS, SIX OUNCES! That is a three pound weight gain in one month. The doctor didn't say it was a problem, but we're thinking about entering him in a tough-baby contest because we think the other babies would be scared of him. :) Why are fat rolls so cute on a baby and so unattractive on adults????

After we got over the initial shock of the weigh-in, the doctor came in and checked Caleb over. She said that the nasal congestion doesn't appear to be anything more than just that - not a problem at all. It sounds awful, though and it's enough to keep me up at night making sure he's still breathing! The other thing we had checked is the doggone baby acne. Bless his little heart, Caleb is just covered with it! His cheeks, chin, forehead, neck and shoulders are all red and bumpy. There's nothing we can do about that either. He's just a mess! It's a good thing he's cute...and sweet. :)

On Saturday night, Rudy's uncles, Ken and Dennis came over for a cookout. They were in town for a few days. We enjoyed visiting with them and they enjoyed meeting Caleb.

We took Caleb to church for the first time on Sunday. He was so good! He didn't fuss at all, but did make some pretty funny noises in his sleep. The sermon was called "Sing When the Spirit Leads You." I told Caleb that the preacher was not talking to him and he needed to please stay quiet during church.

Yesterday, Becca and Aunt Harolyn came to spend the night. Jimmy met us for dinner and we had a great time. Aunt Harolyn fell in love with Caleb and just couldn't believe what a good baby he is. She kept saying that she thought we were drugging him. We swear we're not!!!! He's just that good! Aunt Harolyn and Becca "babysat" for us this morning while Rudy and I went to the dentist. I'd say the babysitters got the better end of that deal.

One Month Old

I can hardly believe that Caleb is one month old tomorrow. In some ways it has gone by so fast and in others - I can't imagine what life was like before him. We're still learning to be a family of three. It's slowly but surely becoming our "normal" and we love it. Just as we expected, we are pretty tired and we are sometimes overwhelmed with the responsibilities, but we're doing okay. We remind Caleb every time we try something new (for the first, second, third... time) that we are learning as we go. Maybe we're trying to convince ourselves more than him. Everything is getting easier. We can change diapers in a flash and changing clothes is getting quicker too. Caleb still hates bathtime, but we're getting faster and we've learned some little tricks to make it easier for all of us. We have taken the advice that we've read that you can't spoil a newborn and we're loving on him as much as we can while he's a captive audience for our loving. We answer his cries as quickly as possible and we hold him when he needs to be held. Everything else can wait. Fortunately, with Rudy home during the day now, this is easier. We trade off whenever we need to and we're really working together as a team to make our routine work. I absolutely could not ask for a better Daddy for Caleb. I feel so blessed that Rudy is so hands-on and involved with him. Some men are not as willing to wash bottles and change diapers! Rudy not only does it - he enjoys it and enjoys every minute he has with Caleb. He loves to take him for walks in the Baby Bjorn carrier. They go at least once and sometimes twice a day!

We've worked out a system where I do the overnight feedings and Rudy gets up with Caleb in the mornings at about 5 or 6. I get to sleep for a few consecutive hours that way. It fits our natural sleep schedules and it's working for us! Caleb is starting to sleep longer at night - sometimes up to 4 1/2 hours at a time, but usually closer to 4. When he wakes up during the night, I feed and change him quickly and quietly and put him back to bed. That keeps him from wanting to play at night - another trick that is working well for us. He's also staying awake for longer periods of time during the day. Sometimes he'll be awake for the entire 3-4 hours between feedings. That's when we have fun. Last night, we took Caleb to his room and played with all of his baby toys. We looked at things that blink and listened to things that play music and rattle. He was so cute looking so intently at all of the new things. The best part is that we could do it all again tomorrow and it would be just as amazing to him - and us. He does have a few favorite toys: the zebra on his bouncy seat, his swing and a lion that hangs on his car seat. He just stares and stares at them. We've even seen him "reach" for the zebra - but he just gets mad because he doesn't have the arm control to actually get it. All in due time!

Since Caleb was just a few days old, we've delighted every time he "smiled." We aren't quite naive enough to think that he was actually smiling at us at that point, but today - everything changed. I came home from a doctor's appointment to find Rudy and Caleb in the floor in the nursery playing and talking. I walked in, said "hi" to them both and got down on the floor with them. Caleb turned toward me. When I said "hi" to him and got within his range of vision, he smiled the biggest smile I've ever seen! His whole face lit up and my whole heart melted into a big puddle!

Of course, we have the new parent worries that come along with the job. Caleb has a lot of congestion in his throat pretty often and it worries me that he will inhale some of that into his lungs and get sick. So far, that hasn't been the case, but I would certainly sleep better at night if he didn't snort and gurgle so much. I've had to use the nasal aspirator several times and that is traumatic for Caleb and for me! We both hate it!!! He screams and I feel so bad. I would certainly hate for someone to do that to me! Other than that, he seems to be doing very well. He doesn't cry very much. He lets loose now and then and wails when he suddenly decides he's really hungry and when we give him a bath. We are so very very blessed to have dodged the colic bullet and to have such an "easy" baby.

We thank God every day for Caleb's health and the ease with which he has adjusted to the world.

Things I love about my one-month-old baby boy: - his toothless grin - his soft hair, long eyelashes and chubby cheeks - the noises of contentment he makes when he eats - the ridiculous grunts he makes when he poops - the way he calms down when I hold him in my arms - the way he smells after a bath - the way he gazes at me when he takes his bottle - the way he makes his Daddy laugh - the way he sleeps peacefully laying on my chest

Happy One Month Birthday, Caleb!