Paci Rehab: Night Two

I have apparently had more trouble giving up the paci than Caleb has. I have beaten myself up all day about how hard that sweet little baby cried last night. I called Carrie at about 9:00 this morning and apologized profusely for rocking her world too. She was not upset in the least and was just great about it. I worried all day about it and really dreaded the story I would hear when I picked him up. I walked in to Carrie's house and was greeted with nothing but smiles. Carrie said that Caleb cried for just a few minutes this morning before he went to sleep and didn't cry at all before his afternoon nap. He apparently laid down in his bed and played with his hands for about 5 minutes and then rolled over and fell asleep. Praise the Lord! Well, that's all great and everything, but it's a whole different story at home when he's going into his big bed and Mama or Daddy are walking out of the room and turning off the light. Rudy and I decided that it might go better if he did it, since Caleb has separation issues with me. We said night-night, gave kisses, waved and all that jazz in the living room. Rudy took him upstairs and did the bedtime routine then put Caleb down for bed. He started screaming as soon as the light went off. We braced ourselves for another long night. Nope. He stopped crying after about 10 or 15 minutes and we haven't heard a peep since. That was 45 minutes ago. All that being said - Rudy and I realize that we are just so very very blessed. Caleb never ceases to amaze us with how he transitions so easily and just keeps smiling through it all.

Big Changes

Caleb has done great with his tubes. We haven't had any problems at all! Yeah!!!! The day after the tubes went in, he started to babble more. We even heard "Mamamama" for the first time! He's now doing a lot of consonants and a lot of vowels too. He still prefers "dadadadada" and that's his response any time you try to get him to talk to you.

As far as mobility - Caleb is still doing his ever-popular wounded soldier routine. He has started to prop up on his left side pretty often, though. We're thinking this may be the precursor to learning to sit up on his own. He can now readily go from sitting to crawling. We've started to see more rocking on his knees too. I don't think it'll be long before he's crawling up on his hands and knees, but I've been saying that for weeks now, so we're just waiting. Caleb's newest love is pulling up from sitting to standing by holding onto my arms. He loves to grab on and then stand right up! He can't stand alone, so I support his hips or under his arms, but he has quite a bit of strength in those little legs.

This past weekend, we went to Hot Springs for a visit. On Friday night, we flew in to Little Rock. Mom picked us up at the airport and we made a b-line for Hot Springs. We were exhausted! Saturday was a relaxing day of napping and visiting with family. We went to see Aunt Harolyn and Uncle Poppie's new house they are building. It's going to be so pretty! We went to dinner with Mom, Pepapa and Anna Joyce at KJ's Grill. Ms. Kelly (one of the owners) came and got Caleb and took him back in the kitchen for a look around. She said he loved it and was most impressed by the ice machine and the noise that it made. Mr. L. came home from deer camp on Sunday and had a blast playing with Caleb. We went to Pepapa and Anna Joyce's to celebrate Uncle Jimmy's 40th birthday. Jimmy and Kim came over from Sheridan and we enjoyed visiting with everyone. Caleb even got to have a little cake and ice cream since it was a special occasion.

Sunday was a day of firsts too. All of a sudden, Caleb decided that he would start waving to everyone and everything. He waved at us all day and all night! He also discovered that he can make interesting sounds with his tongue. For 2 days now, he has been clucking and clicking his tongue like crazy. It's pretty amusing - especially to him. He's also getting better at clapping. He tries so hard to get his little hands together, but sometimes he misses.

Tonight was a dark night in Caleb's very young life. When we got home from Arkansas, it was time to say goodbye to our beloved pacifiers. To keep us from giving in and giving them back to him, I actually threw them in the trash - all of them - gone. I allowed him to have them through today, because we were flying and I needed to be able to give Caleb a pacifier in case his ears hurt, but once we got home - POOF - they were gone! I paid the price, too. I put Caleb down to bed like normal at 8:45. He screamed and screamed and SCREAMED for an hour and 45 minutes! I tried everything: I put him in bed and walked out. I rocked him. I read a story. I turned the lights low. I turned the lights off. I turned on music, then turned it back off again. I sat in the rocking chair next to his bed, I folded clothes in his room, I walked the floor with him and I rubbed his back. Finally, I gave up. I decided to fight one battle at a time. I scooped him up and brought him to bed with me. This is the one thing that always works, right? He started screaming all over again. Finally, it actually got a little funny. The sad little sounds he was making were just plain pitiful and I had to laugh to keep from crying myself. Eventually, the poor little guy had all he could take and he went from crying/screaming/moaning/wailing to snoring in a matter of seconds. I let him get into a good, deep sleep and I carried him to his room. That was over an hour ago and he's still sleeping...
I know the next few days/nights are going to be rough, but I really want to stop the pacifier usage now. I actually wanted to stop it at 6 months, but that's when the ear problems were starting to get really bad and I just couldn't take it away from him. Now, he's reached a point where he doesn't have a developmental need to suck anymore. He is old enough to self-soothe when he's upset and he's old enough to get himself to sleep. I want to get rid of the pacifier now - before it becomes something that he is so hooked on that it will take an all-out war to remove. We're at the point now where we're going to start phasing out the baby stuff (pacifiers, bottles, baby food, etc) and phasing in the big-boy stuff (sippy cups, table food, bowls, etc). I hate to admit that my sweet little baby is growing up so fast, but I have to do what I have to do. This feels right and it's what I'm going to do. So...bye-bye paci. We'll miss you - but only for a few days.

Separation, Dirty Diapers and Ear Surgery

The separation anxiety is getting better...knock on wood. Caleb has been responding very well to a set routine for bedtime. We do bedtime bottle, diaper change, PJ's, brush teeth, read 2 or 3 books, lights off, sing a couple of songs and lay him down. He's usually asleep by the time I get his clothes laid out for the next day and his books put away. He has been sleeping through the night too! I'm able to put him down to play and walk away now too. Whew!

Last week, Caleb had some sort of stomach bug and Ms. Carrie took the brunt of it. For some reason, he had terrible diarrhea during the day on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, but no problems at all at home. We started a bland diet and it seemed to help pretty quickly. Unfortunately, I got it on Friday and fought it all weekend. All is well now, though.

Caleb went to Jerry and Sherry's on Saturday to spend the night. We were supposed to go to an Alumni event on Saturday night, but with my stomach so upset, I just couldn't do it. Rudy went and I stayed home and scrapbooked all night. I actually enjoyed myself - despite the stomach issues.

Jerry and Sherry said that Caleb was a joy the whole time and was the star of the show at church on Sunday morning. We met them for lunch on Sunday and I was so glad to see my little boy! I still wasn't feeling so hot, so I slept most of the day while Rudy took care of Caleb.
This morning, we were up and at 'em early! We had to have Caleb at the surgery center at 6:45 to get his tubes put in his ears. He could not figure out why he couldn't have a bottle, so we had to do some very serious distracting to get through the morning! The poor baby was SO HUNGRY! We got there right on time and went back to a waiting/prep area. The nurses were so very nice and put our minds at ease as much as possible. We tried to occupy Caleb until they came to get him. Once he went into surgery, we went into the waiting room for about 10-15 minutes until they came back to get us. We were so relieved to see Caleb afterward; even though he was crying so hard he couldn't catch his breath. We got his bottle ready as quickly as possible and he was very glad to have it. Unfortunately, I only brought one bottle and he was hungrier than that, so he was mad when the bottle ran dry. That made him cry again, which meant taking in a lot of air. We had just gotten him calm when the air caught up with him and made him burp. That changed the air pressure in his ears and scared him. The poor little guy got all upset again and just fell apart. He literally screamed for an hour and a half - even after we got in the car and headed home. For the rest of the morning, he went from a little upset to a lot upset in just the amount of time it took to burp or hiccup. It was so sad. Rudy went to the grocery store and I finally got Caleb to sleep at about 9:45. We napped together in my bed until 1:00 this afternoon. We were very tired! After we got up and had lunch, he gradually got back to normal and then took a late afternoon nap. When he got up from his nap, he was our normal, happy-go-lucky little Caleb and we were glad to have him back! He has babbled a lot today and seems to be feeling fine tonight. He went down to bed with no trouble at all. I sure hope these tubes work and keep Caleb from having so many problems with his ears in the future!

Some Cold Days in February and a Trip to Maryland

Thursday, 2/15/07
Caleb was an angel at Ms. Carrie's on Thursday. He slept and played and was his usual fun self. I picked him up at 3:30 and we went home. He played and had a good time and even took a short nap. I fed him at 5:00 and then we went with Jenny to El Nopal for dinner. He was great at dinner and enjoyed eating the cheese and sandwich meat that I brought for him. When we got home, the tide turned. He got cranky and crabby and was just generally a grump. It was not pleasant. Rudy got home from parent-teacher conferences at about 8:30 and played with him for a few minutes before taking him up to his bed. As soon as Caleb saw Rudy leave the room, he lost it. He screamed his little head off and we decided to just let him cry it out. Fifteen minutes later, I decided I couldn't take it anymore. I had to go check on him and try to at least calm him a little. When I got to his room, I saw a child I had never seen before. He was crying so hard, I thought he was going to be sick. His whole face was blotchy and he was inconsolable. I tried to just rub his head/back and calm him down without picking him up, but he was having none of that. I ended up picking him up and it was at least 10 minutes before I got him calmed down. I have never seen him like that. We decided that there had to be something more to it than just not wanting to go to bed. His belly was hard as a rock. I gave him some gas medicine, some Tylenol and his ear drops. I held him, rocked him and finally got him to sleep almost an hour later. I put him to bed and crept off into my room. He slept until about 2:30 and Rudy went in to calm him. All it took was a head rub and he was fine. We all slept the rest of the night, but we were flat exhausted on Friday!

Friday, February 16, 2007
Friday was yet another good day at daycare. We went home and got busy doing laundry and packing for our trip on Saturday. Friday night was another rough night, but not nearly like the 2 previous ones.

Saturday, February 17, 2007
We got up and headed to the airport early Saturday morning. We flew to Baltimore and Todd picked us up at the airport. We went to Todd and Tammy's house and Caleb loved meeting his aunt, uncle and cousin. He and Elle played together the whole weekend and had a great time! Saturday night we got BBQ and stayed at the house so the kids could play and we could visit. It was a lot of fun. Caleb was having no part of sleeping in the pack & play on Saturday night, so he slept in the bed while Rudy and I tossed and turned another night away.

Sunday, February 18, 2007
We were supposed to go to church Sunday morning, but everyone decided it would just be too much to try to do all of that with both kids and little sleep. When naptime was over, we packed up and headed to the mall. We had to take 2 cars because we had 2 carseats and 4 adults. The kids loved riding the train at the mall - it's Elle's favorite thing to do. We were going to go out to eat afterwards, but when we got ready to walk outside it was snowing so hard! We decided not to go out, so the boys went to get pizza and brought it home. The kids played again that night and (thank heavens) Caleb slept all night!
Monday, February 19, 2007
We got up and dawdled around for a while before we left for the airport. Our flight was fine and we made it home right on time. We stopped for dinner and then came home. Caleb got a bath and crashed out at 8:00. He slept all night and never made a sound until about 7:00 this morning. Hopefully, our sleep problem was a short-lived one. We'll see...

Valentine's Day

Wednesday was Caleb's first Valentine's Day. He was soooo cute in his Valentine's shirt and big boy jeans. The day was great. We gave sippy cups to both of his friends at Ms. Carrie's as Valentine's treats. Our family went out to dinner at Chili's.

Wednesday night was not fun. Caleb went to bed just like normal between 8:30 and 9:00. He woke up SCREAMING at midnight. In my sleepy stupor, I went in his room and picked him up. He calmed a little bit, so I took him in and put him in bed with us. Two adults, a 25 pound baby and a 28 pound dog in a queen bed is not a happy situation. So...after tossing and turning and trying to get comfortable for about an hour - I gave up. I got up with Caleb and went in his room. I rocked him back to sleep and laid him down. Nope. He screamed again. I made him a bottle and gave it to him at about 2:00. We ended up in the guest room for the rest of the night and didn't sleep much at all.

Snow Day!

Yeah! We had a snow day today. It was only the third one we've had since I've worked for Rockwood, but it was well-deserved. We didn't really get that much snow, but the rain and sleet underneath the snow made for very slick roads. We stayed in all day and enjoyed being home. We went outside for about 10 minutes this afternoon, but it was too cold to stay out any longer!

Caleb has started to try to pull up on things - especially me. He loves to stand up and can stay on his feet for a long time with someone to help him balance. We support him either under his arms or at his hips so that we don't pull a joint out of socket, but he does all the work. He thinks he's big stuff! Last night, he kept trying to pull himself up to standing by pushing against my chest with the back of his head and pulling on the rocking chair with his hands. I know it sounds crazy, but it works for him. He loves it!

We switched to real milk on Sunday night and Caleb has done very well. He has had some strange diapers, but doesn't seem to mind drinking something different from what he's used to. We do have to warm it a little - he still hates cold things. We'll keep an eye on the diapers to make sure he's just adjusting and he's not allergic.

More than likely, we're back to work tomorrow. It would be a miracle to get 2 days in a row...

A Lazy Weekend and New Tooth

Rudy had to go to Indianapolis last weekend with the winter drumline kids. That meant that Caleb and I were on our own for the whole weekend. On Friday, we went to dinner and did some shopping with Jenny. On Saturday, we were lazy bums - staying in our PJ's all day long! Sunday, we went to church, Qdoba, Sam's, Baby Depot and Schnuck's. It was a busy day! Rudy got home last night and was glad to see us, but wasn't feeling so great.
Yesterday, Caleb's 2nd top tooth (left) finally broke through his gums. He has been pretty miserable waiting for that to happen, but it's finally out. He's such a goofy little snaggletooth!

Nine Month Well-Baby Visit

Today, we visited a doctor's office for the 3rd time in 8 days. (The co-pays are killing me!) This was a good visit, though. We went to see Dr. Koenig for Caleb's 9 month well-baby visit.

Caleb weighed in at 24 lbs, 13 oz (95th percentile) and was 28 3/4 inches (75th percentile). He didn't have to get any shots (yeah!) but did have some blood drawn to check his hemoglobin. It came back in the normal range. Dr. Koenig said that means that Caleb can start having milk now. He said that most doctors go by the one year rule for milk, but he doesn't believe in that. He said that Caleb is big enough and his bloodwork was right where it needs to be for him to be able to tolerate it. I asked him what kind of milk to give Caleb and he said 2% would be fine. We'll try it as soon as we run out of formula...

Dr. Koenig also gave me information about safety for Caleb's age. He talked about preventing choking, head injuries and falls. He also talked about how easy it is to pull a kiddo's arm out of socket. After all of that fun talk, he told us to have a good day and he'd see us in 3 months!

An Update from the ENT

We went to see Dr. Forsen, the pediatric ENT this afternoon. After the obligatory comment about Caleb "not missing any meals," he asked me lots of questions about family history and how we do things with him. He finally got around to actually looking in his ears and said that they are not currently infected. He said that Caleb does, however, have fluid in his ears. Apparently, this is genetic and there's nothing we could have done to prevent it. He said that he recommends tubes for the little man but it's up to us. Knowing Rudy's history of ear problems and knowing that so far Caleb has gotten an ear infection every single time he's had a cold, I decided to go ahead and schedule the surgery. On one hand, I feel like an awful parent for putting my child through surgery that is optional, but on the other hand, I know it's for the best in the long run. I scheduled the outpatient surgery for Monday, February 26th. That's the first appointment available, because the doctor will be out of town for a mission trip in Honduras and for a ski trip. I hope our "donation" goes for the mission trip, not the ski trip.

Ears, Teeth and a Visit from LaLa

I took Caleb to Dr. Koenig's office on Thursday, 1/25, for a follow-up visit on his ears. Dr. Koenig took one look in his ears and said they looked like a trainwreck. He referred us to an ENT. Actually, his words were, "I'm going to send you to see one of my friends who cuts holes in kids' ears." So...we're going to see an ENT on Thursday, February 1st. In the meantime, he's on yet another antibiotic. We're also giving him ear drops and infant Tylenol about every 4 hours to ease the pain.

On Friday, February 2nd, we have his 9 month well-baby visit, so we're going back to see Dr. K again.

On Sunday morning (1/28), Caleb's top two teeth finally broke through. He seems to feel a little better now, but he's still pretty cranky with his ears. He keeps patting the side of his head and it is so sad! I, of course, am a little spazzed out about the fact that his baby teeth are coming in all spaced out. Seriously - we're going to start a fund for braces now. It's inevitable. I thought that maybe the fact that he ended up with straight hair meant that he also wouldn't inherit his parents' teeth, but I was wrong!

My mom came to visit this weekend. She was so excited to see Caleb crawl. He also showed her his new sense of independence. He gets frustrated when toys won't do what he wants them to do and his lack of coordination means that his toys often don't do what he wants them to do. (He gets his impatience with inanimate objects from his father.) While Mom was here, we went to the mall. She made veggie soup for us on Saturday night and it was wonderful! She left on Sunday morning, just in time for us to make it to church. We had a great visit and I'm looking forward to going down there in early March.

The sounds coming out of Caleb's mouth these days crack us up. I don't know if it has anything to do with the ear infections or not - but in addition to the almost constant "DADADADADA" we're also getting lots of squealing and what we are calling "singing." However, I think he may have gotten my musical abilities so don't start thinking American Idol just yet.

Yesterday after church, we went out to lunch and had our first not-so-fun experience in a restaurant with the little man. He was sitting in the high chair and fell forward and bumped his mouth on the table edge. That led to a lot of screaming. He also refused to sit and entertain himself like he usually does - so we passed him back and forth between bites of our food. I'm hoping it was a result of the ear/teeth combo - not a sign of things to come. I have discovered the wonderful world of Gerber Puffs. They are quick-dissolving finger foods that Caleb loves. Those alone will buy us about 20 minutes of happy baby time in a public place.

It's a busy week for us - 2 doctor appointments in addition to the usual buzz of life. I'll try to update after the appointments.

Crawling

Oh. My. Gosh. My. Child. Is. Crawling.

This afternoon, Caleb decided he wanted a toy that was out of his reach. He proceeded to pull himself forward with his right arm and dragged his legs behind him (army/combat crawling). His left arm just got stuck under his body, but he managed to go forward anyway. I grabbed the camera and shot a short video, which you can see at www.dropshots.com/haleyvillines. Since then, he has continued to practice and has gotten much much better...and faster. He has decided that independent movement is a pretty cool thing and he spent about 30 minutes tonight scooting all over his room on his belly. He kept heading for Dewey and also for Dewey's chewbone (yuck!), but we redirected him most of the time. He scoots pretty fast on the hardwood floor in the living room and can hold his own on the carpet too. He went from one side of his room to the other and even pulled some books from the bottom of his bookshelf to play with. Holy moly...We are in trouble!!!!! By the way - that left arm still gets in the way sometimes, but he's working on it. I suspect he'll have it all figured out by the end of the day tomorrow.

A Change of Plans and A Couple of New Developments

Brrrr - it's cold! We've had an ice storm and we're expecting 2 more waves of it before it's all over. Normally, that would be just fine on a weekend. We would stay home and be lazy and enjoy every minute of it. That wasn't really our plan for this weekend, but that's what we've ended up doing. Until the weather forecast turned ugly, we were planning on Jan coming in on Friday night. We were going to do some shopping and play with Caleb on Saturday and then my parents were flying in on Saturday night. Caleb's baptism is scheduled for Sunday morning, so everyone was going to be here for that. Change of plans! Jan watched the forecasts for a few days and then decided on Friday morning that she just didn't think it would be a safe trip. Mom and Mr. L. decided this morning that they were afraid to try to come in as well. Even though everything is pretty clear right now - things could get nasty by tonight or tomorrow.

We're sad that everyone couldn't come for Caleb's baptism, but we completely understand. Unless something changes overnight, we're still planning to go ahead with it. We'll take lots of pictures and share those with everyone on Shutterfly. On a happier note - Caleb is trying so hard to crawl. A couple of times in the past few days, he has managed to pull himself forward with his arms. It's called "combat crawling." Lots of babies do it - especially those who are in the higher weight percentiles.

Also, our little love bug has gotten very affectionate. He not only lays his head on our shoulders to give us hugs, he also leans toward our faces to give us kisses. Of course, these are open-mouth, drool-soaked, off-the-mark kisses, but they are so very sweet to us!

A Vist from Ms. Amy

Amy Alexander, Caleb's parent educator, came to visit last night. She brought lots of fun toys and was so impressed with Caleb's development. She said that he is doing great - especially in fine motor - and that we have nothing to worry about developmentally. I asked if we should be concerned about him not crawling yet and she said no. She said that he is ready to start being held in a supported stand near the couch or the recliner. Rudy tried it later and he did great. Aaagh - that means I have to move everything off of the bottom bookshelves soon!

Christmas, Big Boy Bath, A Swing, Noodles and More

This is the first chance I've had to update my blog since way before Christmas. There's so much to tell! This is going to be a long one...

Our last day of school was December 21st. We went out to dinner that night and then came home and had our Christmas celebration together. It was so much fun to watch Caleb rip paper off of boxes! His eyes would get big every time he saw a new toy and (of course) they all went straight to his mouth. We gave him a shape sorter, a ring stacker, a set of mini playground balls, some Roll-a-Rounds (clear plastic balls with little toys inside), new spoons, new bottle nipples and some new pacifiers. He also got some building blocks from Todd, Tammy and Elle and a pop-up toy, puppet and musical book from Jerry, Sherry and Rebecca.

We left for Arkansas on the 22nd. Caleb was a great traveler again and slept most of the time. He really hates it when the sun comes in the windows and gets in his eyes, but he was a trooper anyway. We made it to the Voises in Rogers on Friday afternoon and had a great visit and dinner with them. The Voises gave Caleb a different set of Roll-A-Rounds and he loved them. Jan and Chris came in too and we all spent the night there that night. Before bed, Jan helped me give Caleb a bath. Since we didn't bring the baby tub, Caleb got to take his first big boy bath in the real bathtub! He loved splashing in the water!

On the morning of the 23rd, we loaded back up and drove to Spiro to see the Morrises. We enjoyed our time with them and then went to Jan's new house in Ft. Smith for the night. She took us out to dinner to celebrate Rudy's birthday and we did our gift exchange there that night. Jan and Chris gave Caleb some stacking blocks, some clothes and PJ's and a learning placemat.

Christmas Eve morning, we loaded the car again and hit the road for Hot Springs. We made the trip down 71 and 270 and finally made it to Hot Springs that afternoon. It was good to know we would be out of the car for a while. We went over to Pepapa and Anna Joyce's house for our annual Christmas feast of prime rib, green bean bundles and twice baked potatoes. There is always way too much food there! Caleb got another ton of Christmas gifts: a "baby grand" piano and a stuffed reindeer from Pepapa and Anna Joyce, rubber duckies from Jimmy and Kim, a winter hat from Julie and Chris, a long-sleeved bib from Becca and Jimmy (and Maddox) and a book and LeapPad from Harolyn and Brad.

We stayed in Hot Springs from December 24th until December 28th. Christmas Day was very low-key. We stayed in and relaxed all day long. Mom and Mr. L gave Caleb a bunch of clothes, Green Eggs and Ham with a Sam doll, a Curious George and some other toys. He also got a pop-up toy from Joyce and Bob. He ended up with more stuff than he could even play with! He is such a lucky and blessed little boy!

Rudy and Mr. L. went to deer camp on the 26th and 27th and Mom and I spent those days shopping and visiting family. It was very relaxing. Caleb was such a good little boy the whole time. He really travels well - aren't we blessed?

We left on the 28th and went to Little Rock. We had dinner at Chad and Ronni Fellers' house with them and with Chris and Starr Wilson. It was the first time we had all gotten our kids together. It was good to see everyone and to meet the Wilson's kiddos.

We left Little Rock on the 29th and finally got to sleep in our own beds that night. We had a great trip, but as always, it was good to be home. It took us a couple of days to get unpacked and get everything back in order, but we did it. We had some friends over to celebrate New Year's Eve and then watched the Hogs play in the Capital One Bowl on New Year's Day. Unfortunately, they didn't win - but at least we were back in a bowl. It was a great season. It was just unfortunate that it ended the way it did.

We had to be back at work on the 2nd. It was NOT fun to leave Caleb that morning, even though I knew he would be fine at Carrie's. He did much better at it than either Rudy or I did. Carrie was sick on Wednesday, so Rudy and I split a sick day to stay home and take care of Caleb. He was able to go back on Thursday and Friday, so we finished the week as planned.

Rudy has had All-Suburban band this weekend, so Caleb and I have had some fun time together - just the two of us. Last night, I took him to the mall just to get out and move around. I had a couple of things to take back to some stores, and that was a good excuse to get out of the house. Today, I took Caleb to the playground at Bluebird Park. He loved the baby swing! It was his first experience with a swing and I think it will definitely be the first of many. He also liked watching the other "big" kids playing around him.

Tonight, we went to dinner at the Pasta House. For the second time in a couple of weeks, someone actually came up to me and told me that we should think about getting him in commercials or modeling. As flattered as I was, I don't think we'll be taking that route. Carrie told me yesterday that she thought Caleb was about ready to try some finger foods and I had been thinking it was about time for that too. (We've been giving him little tastes of things, but nothing that needs any chewing.) I decided that we'd try something different, so I asked the waitress for some pasta with no sauce. We gave Caleb a couple of small pieces and he entertained himself throughout our whole meal by eating and playing with the pasta. He loved it! I told Rudy that it looks like we're going to have to start keeping some cooked pasta in the fridge for a while. Oh, what a mess he will make!

Caleb hasn't hit any new major developmental milestones recently. I keep thinking he's going to take off crawling any day now, but he just can't seem to get his knees up under him in order to go forward. He "swims" around on the floor on his belly and uses his hands to "steer." Sometimes he pushes himself backwards, but we aren't sure if this is actually on purpose. He can get around in a small area to get to reach different toys, but I certainly wouldn't call it crawling. He's not really even "combat" crawling - it's truly more of a swimming motion.

In the past couple of weeks, our little man has gotten very snuggly. Sometimes when I'm holding him, he almost throws himself against me like he's giving me a hug. Tonight, after I gave him a kiss, he came at my face with his little mouth like he was kissing me back. Who knows if he means to be affectionate, but it's pretty sweet anyway. I'm his Mama and if I want to tell myself that he is showing me love, then that's exactly what I'll do!

Caleb continues to babble just like he has for quite a while. He mostly says da-da-da and I keep trying to tell him that he needs to say ma-ma-ma, but he won't listen. :) He sometimes mixes things up with a /g/ or even an /f/ here and there. He has started to change up his vowels too. Tonight, when I was putting him in his carseat, he said "doo dah" and I thought that was pretty funny. He has really started to use more inflection and sometimes sounds like he's trying to carry on a conversation. It's cute when he "talks" to us and even cuter when he "talks" to his stuffed animals or to Dewey.

This coming week is a busy one for us. Rudy has lots of band activities and Tuesday night is our visit from our Parent Educator, Amy. Next weekend is Caleb's baptism and we have lots of family coming to town for that. Jan and Chris will be here on Friday night and my parents are coming on Saturday night. The Hatches and the Voises may be coming too, but we aren't sure yet. It will definitely be a busy weekend, but it will be joyous and memorable!

Make Mine a Double...

Caleb spent the night with Jerry, Sherry and Rebecca on Friday night. When I picked him up on Saturday afternoon, I noticed that his eye was a little "goopy" - like it was when he was a newborn and his tearduct was blocked. I didn't think much about it, b/c that cleared up on its own. By bedtime last night, it was really getting worse and he had tears running down his cheek, but he wasn't crying. He felt warm, so I took his temp and it was 98.9 - nothing to worry about. I called Jerry and Sherry and asked if he had maybe scratched his eye or bumped it or something. They said they didn't think so. When Caleb woke up this morning, his right eye was so matted that he couldn't even open it. The left one was matted too, but not as bad. We cleaned it like we did when the tearduct was blocked and he screamed like he did then too. After Caleb's morning nap, it was just as bad as it was when he woke up this morning. Rudy and I decided we were going to have to go to the doctor. Rudy had a Christmas gig at the Galleria, so I took Caleb to urgent care. He was a trooper, but didn't get a good report. He was running a slight temp of 99.9. We found out that he has a DOUBLE case of pink eye. I also asked the doctor to check his ears, because I was concerned about the decrease in his babbling. Well, lo and behold - he has a DOUBLE ear infection too. So, now we're starting another round of amoxicillin and a round of eye drops. This will be a fun Christmas trip! :)

Oh, yeah - weigh in: 24 lbs, 14 oz. Don't laugh!

Wiggle Worm

Caleb isn't crawling yet, but he's sure close to it! His new trick is to lay on his belly and move himself in a circle. He can make a complete 360 degree rotation in under a minute if he really gets with it. Usually, though, he gets sidetracked and stops to look at or play with something. It's a pretty funny sight to see. We can tell that he really wants to move forward. Sometimes he accidentally pushes himself backwards and other times he just gets one knee up and then quits. It must be very frustrating for him and sometimes he gets mad and starts fussing. Other times he just rolls over on his back like a turtle and gives up. I don't think it'll be long now and then we're in trouble - Caleb on the move!

Here Comes Santa Claus!

Thanksgiving has come and gone. We have so much for which to be thankful. I say this every year, but it means even more this year. Caleb continues to amaze us with his developmental growth spurts. He is now sitting up by himself for quite a long time - until something gets his attention and he leans for it...then he topples. He is rolling over and over and over...but still gets mad about it when he's tired. About a week ago, I was hanging up laundry in his room and he rolled himself against the bedroom door. He hadn't figured out how to roll the other way yet, so he was stuck. I showed him how to go back to his left and he's been "on a roll" since then. He has started yelling just to hear his own voice. It's usually something along the lines of "yayaya" or "wawawa", but he'll occasionally throw in a /b/, /m/, /d/ or /p/.

On the other hand...our little easy-going newborn has turned into an infant with an opinion. Don't get me wrong - Caleb is still happy-go-lucky most of the time, but when he wants (or doesn't want) something to happen, he is quite vocal about it. This is particularly true when it comes to having his face cleaned or being put down to play when he wants to be held. We've seen a lot of this the past 2 days. I blame it on his daddy's genetics, but I'm sure he blames it on mine. We can both be opinionated in our own right, I guess - we've never been accused of being wishy-washy that I know of.

November was a fun and very busy month. I'm so busy at work right now that I don't even want to see a computer when I get home. That's why I haven't been posting much. Rudy's after-hours work has decreased a lot now that marching season is over. (Yeah!!!) On November 19th, we attended the wedding of Rebecca Villines and Sean Franklin. Rebecca is Rudy's first cousin, so we got to see lots of family there. Our family from Texas (Larry/Ana, Alexander, Anthony, Mary, Jimmy/Sandy) came in for the wedding. Uncle Terry from Ft. Smith came in too. None of them had met Caleb, so we were extra excited about seeing them.

We spent Thanksgiving in Springfield, Tennessee, at Doug and Lisa's house. Ken, Dennis and Kathy were there too. Caleb got to meet more aunts and uncles! We had a fun time visiting with them. The only low part of the weekend was the Hogs' loss to LSU. Oh, well - the SEC championship game is this weekend, so we have 2 more games to enjoy (hopefully). We had a wonderful dinner on Friday at Doug's restaurant - The Depot - and really enjoyed our time with family. The trip was short and sweet and Caleb did pretty well overall. He got a little fussy in the car - it was a long way! I was able to climb in the backseat with him and entertain him most of the way. On the way back, we actually had to stop for a few minutes just to give him some time outside of the carseat. He was so tired of being restrained! I can't say that I blame him!

We made it home yesterday safe and sound. Last night was pretty low-key, just unpacking and doing laundry. Today, we put up the Christmas tree and the stockings. Rudy went to Target and Babies R Us to get baby-proofing gear. Since Caleb is on the verge of being mobile, we have to start thinking about the stairs, cabinets and outlets more and more. I'm hoping he waits until after Christmas to start crawling so that the tree is safe!

This week starts the official countdown to Christmas. I love that December is a short work month, but that just means that we have 4 weeks of work to do in just 3 weeks' time! At least I have all my shopping done...

Drool Drool Everywhere!

We had an awesome weekend! Rudy was home all weekend and we took full advantage of having some family time together. Friday night was very low-key. On Saturday, we went to the Sears Portrait Studio for Caleb's 6 month portraits. They turned out really great - I can't wait to get them back! Saturday night, we enjoyed the Razorbacks' win over South Carolina with about 50 other Arkansas fans at Ozzie's. Caleb was a real trooper throughout the whole thing - even though it was a late night for him. He barely fussed and thoroughly enjoyed watching all of the people and playing with Jerry, Sherry and Rebecca.

On Sunday, we went to church and took Caleb to our church nursery for the first time. When we picked him up, the nursery worker was telling someone else what a happy-go-lucky guy Caleb was. When we got to the door, we just told her we were there to pick up Mr. Happy-Go-Lucky. She said that she was amazed at how good he was the whole time. He must have really had a good time. We certainly enjoyed being able to pay attention in the worship service. After church, we went out to lunch and then came home and cleaned like the Maid Brigade! The house had been abandoned for a few weeks and was in need of a good cleaning in a bad way. Rudy got cracked up when he vacuumed, because Caleb was so intrigued by the vacuum cleaner!

We had a real "breakthrough" on Saturday. Caleb's first tooth literally broke-through his gum! His tiny little tooth is on the bottom and in the front of his mouth. That could very possibly explain all of the nasty congestion and diarrhea that we fought all last week. It definitely explains the ridiculous amount of drool that we are dealing with. Poor Caleb just drools continuously! All of his toys are wet after he plays with them and he just can't keep a dry shirt.

Another big development this weekend was our realization that Caleb can now hold his own bottle. Now, instead of putting his bottle in his mouth ourselves, we hold it out in front of him and reaches for it. He puts it in his own mouth and then holds it himself. He can control it for most of the feeding, but toward the end, he starts to have trouble tipping it up high enough to get the rest. Regardless, it's a big accomplishment for him (and us)!

Tomorrow is Caleb's 6 month well-baby check-up. I'll try to post tomorrow night to give an update.

A Visit to the ER, 1st Halloween and 6 Months Old

Since I last posted, we've had lots of excitement around our house! My mom came in to town for the weekend before my birthday. She enjoyed spending time with Caleb while I went to a wedding shower and Rudy and I went to my 30th birthday party on Saturday. My party was a lot of fun! There were 13 of us there and we laughed and carried on as if we were at a 21st birthday party, instead of a 30th.

Last Thursday (10/26), when I picked Caleb up from Carrie's, she told me that he had been having some nasty diapers and she was on the verge of calling me to pick him up but didn't because it was the end of the day. We decided that it was probably from all of the sinus drainage he's been having and didn't really worry about it too much. His stomach was fine that night so we sent him back to Carrie's the next day. He was still congested, but seemed okay other than that.

That Friday (10/27), Jenny and I left for Las Vegas. We went to celebrate our birthdays with a Jimmy Buffett concert and a whole lot of fun! Halloween weekend in Vegas is like nothing I've ever seen! The concert was awesome and we had a great time. Our travel was horrible, but Saturday made it all worth it. PLUS - our Cardinals won the World Series while we were there. That was so awesome!

Back to Caleb... I called Rudy when I got to Vegas to check in and he said that Caleb was sicker than he had been the day before. We decided that he should take Caleb to the urgent care to get him checked out and maybe get some sort of medicine to help him. When they got to urgent care, Caleb threw up all over Rudy. I have to give it to Rudy, though - he handled it well. He took care of that baby above all else, even though he had a huge marching contest the next day. As planned, Jerry and Rebecca came to get Caleb, because they were scheduled to keep him Saturday night. Rudy passed along the doctor's instructions for them to follow. I felt so completely helpless. I was miles and miles away and couldn't do anything for my sick baby or my exhausted husband. I had full belief that they would be okay without me, but told Rudy and Jerry to call me if anything changed or if they needed me to hop the next plane home. Caleb continued to have diarrhea for the rest of the weekend. When I finally got home at 2:00 Monday morning, I walked in the door and heard Caleb screaming. I got to the top of the stairs and found Rudy changing yet another nasty diaper. I told Rudy to go to bed and I took over right then and there. It was a long night. I stayed home with him on Monday and he seemed to be feeling so much better, so he went back to daycare on Tuesday. He wasn't just right on Tuesday, but it wasn't awful, so we continued to think it was either congestion or maybe even the green beans that he was eating that was causing the diarrhea. Carrie agreed that it likely wasn't contagious, so she agreed that we should keep bringing him the rest of the week. She did say that she was a little concerned because he hadn't eaten much that day and he hadn't had any wet diapers. That worried me too, but he wasn't showing any other signs of dehydration, so we just decided to keep an eye on him. Tuesday afternoon, we put Caleb in his lion Halloween costume and went to the Sheltons for a quick visit. On the way there, we heard the unmistakable sound of a baby diaper blow-out. By the time we got to the Sheltons, the pants of Caleb's Halloween costume were soaking wet and we had to just take them off of him. The poor thing was a legless lion for the rest of the evening! The crazy thing is that he never acted like he felt bad. He was laughing and smiling through the whole thing! When we got home, Caleb refused a bottle and refused Pedialyte. He still hadn't had a wet diaper, so I got worried. I called Monica for advice and she suggested that I call the pediatrician's exchange. I did and the nurse that I talked to said that we needed to take him to the ER to get his fluids checked. After one more nasty diaper, we packed up his diaper bag and headed out the door at 9:00.

When we got to the ER, Rudy and I got upset because all of the nurses kept talking about how fat/chubby/roly-poly, etc Caleb is. They were saying how it was going to be hard to draw his blood and how they sure hoped they didn't have to start an IV on him, because it was going to be so hard to do. We were sitting there with a sick baby and all they could do was talk about how fat they thought he was. We know he's a big boy, but it was completely unnecessary for them to do that. (By the way, he weighed 20 lbs, 12 oz. when we were there.) We talked to the doctors and nurses and then they tried to take his blood. They really did have a hard time finding a vein and Caleb screamed like I've never seen him scream before. It completely broke my heart. I had to walk away a couple of times. It was just too hard to see him in that kind of pain and not be able to do anything at all about it. Once they finished, Caleb fell sound asleep in my arms. He was exhausted. The doctor came back pretty quickly and said that Caleb was not dehydrated. Thank Heavens!!!!! He said that we just needed to keep a very close eye on him and that it was likely that the diarrhea was being caused by a stomach flu which would be very contagious. At that point, I decided I would stay home with him on Wednesday for certain. On the way home, I called my mom and she offered to come stay with him so that I wouldn't have to miss work, but that wasn't necessary.

Caleb and I stayed home on Wednesday and we both slept most of the day. He didn't have anymore diarrhea and he started to gradually eat again. Last night, he had made it 24 hours without diarrhea, so we called Carrie to tell her that he would be back at her house today. He had a great day today and a great night tonight. Hopefully, this means he's on the mend! I did elevate the head of his bed last night and we put a vaporizer in his room to help with his congestion. Hopefully, he'll be able the shake that nastiness soon.

On a much happier note, Caleb is into full-force babbling these days. It started on Sunday. His favorite thing to do is, "dadadadadada!" He likes to play with his volume when he does it too, so he'll go from whispering to yelling and back again. It is hilarious! He also loves it when Rudy bounces him up and down in front of the couch or bed when Dewey is up there. He laughs hysterically at that. I made him laugh tonight by hiding behind Rudy's back and scaring him by playing peek-a-boo. It's been a few days since we've heard that glorious laughter, so it was a wonderful night!

Caleb is six months old today and he continues to melt us and make us laugh every single day. He is the greatest Earthly joy of our lives.

Babble Babble Toil and Trouble

Caleb is keeping us so busy that I haven't had much time to post an update for a while, so here goes -

October has been absolutely crazy and so much fun! The first weekend in October, Rudy took the band to Tulsa for a marching contest. Caleb and I took advantage of him being out of town and flew to Arkansas to be with my grandmother on her 80th birthday. She said it was the best gift I could've ever given her, but it was truly my pleasure. I just love watching my parents and grandparents with Caleb, so it was awesome to get to spend the whole weekend with Memmie and Poppie. Mom and Mr. L. came to pick us up on Sunday and take us to the airport. Not only were they helping us out by giving us a ride to the airport...they couldn't stand having Caleb so close by and not getting to see him. I know the truth! They aren't fooling me!

This past weekend, Jan came to our house and took care of Caleb while I went to Fayetteville for my annual homecoming weekend with Leslie and Cindy. Rudy had a marching contest on Saturday, so Jan agreed to come in and got to spend some time with Caleb as a reward. I missed him so much! Being away from Caleb and Rudy for a whole weekend was rough! Even though I had an amazing weekend in Fayetteville with "my girls", I was happy to get home and get a big smile from "my boys."

October just doesn't stop for us...this weekend is my birthday party. Mom is coming up on Friday night to visit and - again - spend some time with Caleb. She's going to LaLa-sit on Saturday night while we're at my party. I'm very grateful! The following weekend, Caleb will be spending some quality time with Jerry and Rebecca while Rudy has the big Greater St. Louis marching contest at the Dome. Jenny and I are going to Vegas to see Jimmy Buffett as a celebration of our birthdays. It seems like I keep "pawning" my child off every weekend, but that's really not the case at all! This has been a particularly crazy month for us and I miss him so very much every time I'm away from him.

Caleb has really started to babble more this month. He's babbling mostly vowels, but some early consonants too. I'm hearing some /b/, /m/ and /d/ sounds. Nothing in the world gets him "talking" as much as Dewey does. Everytime he catches a glimpse of Dewey, he starts jabbering and won't take his eyes off of him.

On Sunday night, we finally hit a major milestone that I've been waiting for - Caleb rolled over again. He actually rolled from his tummy to his back 4 times. I've been encouraging him to do it for weeks - since he did it the first time and got scared. He's only done it one more time since Sunday, but at least now I know he can. He is sitting up with less and less support and can sit up alone for about 5 seconds on a solid surface - until something to his left or right (usually Dewey) catches his attention.

We've introduced squash and peas into Caleb's ever-growing repertoire of foods. He really likes eating from the spoon now and doesn't try quite as much to grab it when I'm feeding him. He gets so mad when I don't feed him fast enough and also when I wipe his mouth. He still doesn't have any teeth, but there are a couple of bumps on his gums that may become teeth at any time. I was late getting my teeth, so maybe he will be too. Caleb's hair has really started to grow and get thicker this past week. It stands straight up in some places and is as blonde as it can be. He's a total cottontop! When it's dry, there isn't any curl, but when it's wet, you can see a little. It would be bizarre if he ended up with straight hair, but I think it would be a total blessing. Toddler boys with curls are so cute, but I always feel sad for middle school and high school boys with curly hair.

I can't wait to see what amazing feats Caleb surprises us with this week!

Carrots and Raspberries

I can't believe I haven't posted anything in 12 days! Let me try to remember what all has happened...

Caleb and I made our first solo roadtrip on September 22nd. We met Mom in Fayetteville and had a great weekend! On Friday, we hit the road as soon as possible and unknowingly drove through a tornado warning on the way down there. The drive wasn't too bad until we actually got to Arkansas, though. We were less than 20 miles from the hotel and traffic came to a standstill. Come to find out, there were power lines down on the interstate. That added about 45 minutes to our trip, but we made it. By the time we got to the hotel, I was completely worn out. Mom was excited to see Caleb (and me) and we caught up quickly and then hit the bed. On Saturday, Leslie came to pick me up and we went to the football game. It was a crazy game and I was tired again when it was over. I went back to the hotel and we were lazy all night. We ordered in and just laid around. Mom told me all about her day with Caleb. They went shopping and watched the ballgame on TV. On Sunday, we packed up and headed home. The trip home was a lot smoother than the trip down there! Caleb was a good travel buddy!

The Monday after we got home, I decided it was finally time to tackle the cereal experience. We got everything ready and crossed our fingers and offered Caleb a spoonful of rice cereal. He took to it pretty quickly and even tried to "help" get the spoon to his mouth. Oh, boy! That was the 25th and now we're on to carrots! Tonight was the first trial with something that actually had some taste to it. He LOVED them! He ate about half of the bowl. Actually, he hate less than that and wore a whole lot of it. I still haven't figured out how it got behind his ear! He was thrilled when he realized that he could blow raspberries with carrots in his mouth. I was not nearly as thrilled, but got a little tickled by the whole thing anyway. It was just so stinkin' cute! Caleb still tries to help and loves to chew on the spoon. There are pictures of the cereal experience on the Shutterfly site and a video on DropShots. I'll put some carrot pictures on soon. We can see the beginnings of a couple of teeth coming in. Oddly, they are not in the front of his mouth - more to the side. He chews on anything and everything he can get in his mouth, especially our fingers. He hasn't been too fussy, but just doesn't seem to be himself. We've had to give him Tylenol a couple of times and that seems to help. He doesn't really like the cold teething rings, but will chew on them once they warm up a little.

This past Friday night, Jenny and I took Caleb to the Summit football game and then out to eat. On Saturday, Caleb had a Daddy Day! They had a fun day together while I went to an all day scrapbook crop. Rudy took Caleb to a marching contest, but it was a little loud for him, so they left. Saturday night, they went to see Jerry, Sherry and Rebecca and had dinner with them. On Sunday, Rudy played his trumpet at church. I thought Caleb would be okay in the sanctuary, but he decided that the middle of the sermon would be a good time to "talk" to everyone around us. I took him back into the cry room and we finished the service there. Sunday night, I went to the grocery store and Rudy bravely tackled the task of giving Caleb a bath by himself. He did a great job! He's an awesome Daddy!

This weekend, we're going to Sherwood to spend the weekend with my grandparents. Memmie is turning 80 on Saturday and the best gift I can offer her is a visit from Caleb. What could be better?!? Rudy is taking the band to Tulsa for a marching contest, so it'll just be Caleb and me. We're flying down there on Friday night and coming back on Sunday evening. Should be a fun trip. I'm just trying to figure out how to pack everything!

Baby Boogie, Amoxicillin and a New Cousin

We've had a tough week around here. Caleb hasn't been feeling so hot and just hasn't been himself. That means he's only smiling and laughing about 80% of the time instead of 90%. I guess that's not so bad, but we kind of like him the way he usually is. Since Caleb's doctor appointment last Monday, he's been pretty sluggish and his eyes have been watering a lot. He also has a nagging dry cough and has been spitting up pretty frequently. I tried to tell myself that it was either seasonal allergies or a mild reaction to the shots last week, but it just wouldn't stop. Last night, Caleb went to bed as usual - about 8:30 or 9:00. At 12:20, he woke up crying and sounded like he was miserable. I went into his room to try to put his pacifier in his mouth and rub his head, but he just wouldn't go back to sleep. In my exhausted stupor, I threw in the towel and picked him up. I walked around his room for a while, but he just couldn't be consoled. So, I caved again - the second time in 2 weeks - and took him to bed with me. We both slept off and on all night, but I was completely exhausted all day today. I honestly can't believe I'm still awake now at 10:00. I went ahead and sent Caleb to Carrie's, but called the doctor's office when I got to work. They suggested that I go ahead and bring him in. Fortunately, my schedule allowed me to do that, so I went to get Caleb and take him straight to the doctor. When we got there, I explained his symptoms to Dr. Koenig. He checked for an ear infection and listened to his chest. He said that there really isn't much way to tell the difference between a cold and a sinus infection in babies, other than the length of time that it sticks around. Since Caleb has had symptoms for over a week, he said it was more than likely a sinus infection and wrote a prescription for Amoxicillin. I stopped at Walgreen's on my way back to Carrie's and got it filled. As soon as I smelled it, I was instantly taken back to my childhood. I used to LOVE that stuff!!! We gave him 2 doses today and he seems to be feeling a little bit better - though that may be all in my head. At least he ate tonight and went to bed like normal. Now, we'll see if he stays asleep.

After school, he seemed to be in pretty good spirits, so we kept our plans to go to the Baby Boogie workshop at the Parkway Early Childhood Center. Caleb was amazed to see so many other "little people" in the room. We enjoyed watching the different ages interact with each other and we enjoyed learning some new songs and fun things to play with Caleb. He wasn't too thrilled with the music. It's nothing new for him - we sing to him all the time, so he's used to it. After the workshop, we stayed and played with some of the baby toys for a while. He loved the mirrors the most. That baby that looks back at him in the mirror is just so doggone cute! Who wouldn't love to look at him?

Caleb and I are going to Fayetteville this weekend. My mom is meeting us there and is going to keep Caleb while Leslie and I go to the football game. It should be a fun weekend and I am looking forward to it. Rudy can't go with us, though, because the band has its first marching contest.

Monday was happy day for our family. At 4:17 AM, my cousin Becca gave birth to an 8 lb, 12 oz baby boy named James Maddox Spencer. Maddox is super cute and Becca is doing great. They went home from the hospital today and all is well. I can't wait to introduce "the boys" and watch them grow up together. Hopefully, they will be as close as Becca and I are. Welcome to the world, Baby Maddox!

Four Month Checkup

Caleb had his 4 month checkup this afternoon and all is well! He weighed in at 18 lbs, 10 oz (higher than the 95th percentile) and 26 inches (90th percentile). He's a big boy, but Dr. Koenig said not to worry about it. He said that everything is just fine.

We endured the 2nd round of vaccines and Caleb was a trooper. He cried a little when he got stuck, but he made it through just fine. So far, he hasn't had a fever tonight, but he's been very tired and he's already in bed at 8:00.

I asked Dr. K about starting solid foods and he said to wait until Caleb is consistently drinking 8 oz bottles and still showing signs of hunger. That shouldn't be too much longer. He's already consistently draining 8 oz bottles, but he doesn't seem to be hungry afterwards.

For quite some time, I've been a little concerned about Caleb's eyes being yoked. They sometimes seem to point in slightly different directions. I asked Dr. K about it today and he said that it's not something that he noticed and that everything seems to be fine. He told us how to keep an eye on it (no pun intended) and we're going to do just that. That made me feel better.

Our 4 month old baby boy is healthy and happy and that's all we can ask for in life. Praise be to God!

Roll Over!

We had a busy week around here and it was all topped off with a big achievement. Tuesday and Thursday were the usual band practice nights, so Caleb and I were on our own. On Wednesday, I took him with me to a birthday dinner for a friend and he flirted with everyone at the table.

Friday night was Caleb's first football game experience. It was Summit's first home game, which meant the first performance for the band. I was so excited to see the band's halftime performance and they did a great job! I can't wait to see the rest of the show in a few weeks. Caleb did much better at the game than I expected. I was afraid it would be too loud for him, but it wasn't. He even fell asleep and didn't wake up until the crowd went crazy after a touchdown. We left shortly after halftime and came home so I could put him to bed and get some things cleaned up around the house.

Saturday was a pretty lazy day for us. Caleb took a 3 hour nap and I actually had to wake him up to get ready to go to the Fenton Days parade. The band marched in the parade, so we made sure to be there. Jenny went with us and we all sweated through the hour and a half together. It wasn't a very pleasant experience for Caleb - too hot and the sirens scared him. It will definitely be a while before Caleb goes to another parade.

As soon as the parade was over, we took Jenny home and then went home ourselves. A little later, Jenny came over to the house to keep Caleb and I company because Rudy had another commitment for the night. We had a lazy evening, watching TV and just hanging out. We played with Caleb most of the night. I decided that he needed some tummy time, so I put him down on a blanket on the floor and when he fussed, I helped him roll over on his back. This happened about 3 times and then I flipped him back onto his tummy. All of a sudden, he rolled himself over! When he did, Jenny and I cheered and laughed. He got scared and started crying. I was so excited! I've been trying to help him roll over for weeks and he finally got it! Of course, he hasn't done it again - even though I've certainly given him plenty of opportunities and encouragement.

Tomorrow is Caleb's 4 month check-up. He'll get the 2nd round of vaccinations and all of the other fun stuff that comes along with the territory. I have some questions for Dr. Koenig that I need to make sure I have written down so that I don't forget to ask. I'll try to post tomorrow night so that everyone gets the update from the appointment.

Ouch! But What a Great Weekend!

We had a super weekend, even though the Hogs lost in a major way! Oh, well...next weekend is Utah State. Maybe that will be a little less painful.

We didn't get to Fayetteville until almost midnight on Friday. We went straight to bed and woke up ready for a fun day on Saturday. It was one of the best days I can remember in Fayetteville. The weather was gorgeous and there was electricity in the air. It was amazing! We started off our day by meeting Jan and Michael to go take some family pictures on the Hill. We took a bunch of them and you can see them on the Shutterfly site. Some turned out great, but it was certainly hard to get a good picture of all 3 of us at the same time! While we were taking pictures, we met Miss Arkansas and had Caleb's pictures taken with her. She was shooting some video and pictures for the Miss America pageant, so maybe Caleb will be TV-famous!
After the "photo shoot," we handed Caleb off to Jan and Michael and they went to Rogers for the rest of the day/night. Rudy and I took off walking to Dickson St. and had lunch at Jose's. Yum! Jerry met us there and after lunch, we walked up and over the Hill to go to the Union. We bought a few things in the Union and then went down to band practice. On the way down there, we picked up Leslie. We also saw Frank Broyles and had our pictures taken with him. That's Arkansas Royalty! After we watched the band practice for a little while, we went back through the practice facility and as we came out of the bathroom, there was Frank again...showing Jerry Jones around the place. Holy Moly!!!!

After that, we walked over to some friends' tailgate party. On the way, I slipped off of the heel of my "cute shoes" and landed on my butt on the ground. It hurt pretty bad, but I got up and dusted myself off. I have been sore ever since! We stayed at the tailgate party for a while and then walked to the Alumni house for the pre-game rally. That was a lot of fun and something new for us. We walked over to the stadium about an hour before game time and got there just in time for the band's pre-game festivities. We had a great time and enjoyed the game, until the 2nd half, when things got really ugly. USC managed to beat us 50-14. Actually, the way we turned the ball over, we managed to beat ourselves that bad. However...the day was so great that it was all worth it. What a day!

On Sunday, we checked out and went to Rudy's grandparents' house in Rogers. We were excited to see Caleb and everyone else. We had a nice lunch with the Voises and with Jan and Michael. We left there at about 3:30 and headed for home. We got here safe and sound last night and had a relaxing day today. Now, it's time to head for the bed and get ready for another week. It's a short one, but very busy. Rudy's first football game is this Friday. Saturday is the Fenton Days parade and a drumline contest. Whew - it will be a crazy weekend, but at least we get to stay home.

Caleb turned 4 months old on Saturday and I'll be taking his teddy bear pictures this week. It is amazing how much he is growing. He is now very successfully reaching for things...and taking them straight to his mouth. He's on the verge of rolling over and his laughter is enough to make any day better. He let us know pretty clearly this past week that he's ready to increase to 8 ounce bottles, so we have. He'll be eating cereal soon - probably after our doctor's appointment next Monday. That will be fun, I'm sure! Mr. Bubble Blower - spitting cereal all over us - can't wait!

Are You Ready for Some Football

We are officially on the 48 hour countdown to kickoff! This time tomorrow, we'll be in the car headed for Fayetteville. The Hogs are playing USC on Saturday night. I'm not very optimistic about the outcome of the game, but it will be fun, nonetheless. Jan is picking up Caleb on Saturday morning and he's spending the night with her and the Voises in Rogers. We're headed home on Sunday night. It should be a super-fun weekend!

So, what's been happening with us?!?

The most amazing thing that has happened this week: laughter! Last Thursday night, after an exceptionally hard day at work, Caleb made it all better. He was laying on our bed and I started tickling him and doing our usual afternoon playtime things. He opened up and laughed - really belly laughed! It was so amazing! You can share in Caleb's laughter at: www.dropshots.com/haleyvillines

We had a fun weekend with Mom and Mr. L. They came in on Friday night and we went to dinner. Rudy had to work, so he wasn't with us until Saturday morning. Mom and Mr. L. thoroughly enjoyed spending time with Caleb. Mom and I took a short trip to Gordman's on Saturday to update Caleb's "wardrobe" and get a couple of little happies for ourselves to. We had a great dinner at home on Saturday night and enjoyed visiting with each other. I stayed at home with a sleeping Caleb on Sunday morning while Rudy took my parents to the airport. We spent the rest of the day relaxing and getting some things done around the house. The brass group that Rudy plays with had a gig at a bridal fair, so he was gone for a while. I kept noticing that it was pretty warm in the house and I finally went and looked at the thermostat. It was set on 77, but it was 85 in the house. Hmmm... There was no way that we were about to call a repairman on a Sunday, so I turned off the A/C and kicked all of the fans into high gear. At about 9:00, it became all too clear that we were not going to be able to sleep upstairs, so we got out the big air mattress and inflated it in the basement, where it wasn't AS hot as the rest of the house. Caleb slept in his pack & play in the basement too and we were just one big happy family. As soon as I got a chance at work on Monday, I called a repair company and made an appointment for the afternoon. The repairman was right on time when I got home from work and fixed the A/C quickly. It wasn't a very big deal - but $150 later, we were cooling off! It was awesome to be in our own bed Monday night and we were cool enough to actually get some good sleep.

It's been a crazy week for us, as usual. We're all healthy and doing well, though, so we can't complain.

Go Hogs!!!!

We're All Better!

Oh, what a weekend! Rudy ended up with the crud that I had. We called Jerry and Sherry on Saturday and begged them to come get Caleb. (We didn't have to beg very much...they love him!!!) Rudy and I were sick bums on Saturday and Saturday night. I went to get Caleb on Sunday morning and went to church with Jerry. By the time I got home, Rudy was feeling much better and we're back to normal now. We're just keeping our fingers crossed that Caleb doesn't get it too!

Caleb's First BooBoo, Mama is Sick and Daddy's Students are Back

Caleb has completed his first full week of daycare and he lived to tell about it. When I went to pick him up on Monday, Carrie introduced me to a little girl who she said would only be there this week. Well, the first two days with that extra little pair of hands were difficult for Caleb. Monday, she screamed through naptime, so he didn't get a very good nap at all. On Tuesday, I knocked on the door and Carrie answered it holding Caleb as usual. He was facing away from me and she said, "Before you see him, we had a minor accident, it's really not that bad." He turned around and I could see blood on the top of his nose. Carrie explained that the little girl was trying to be sweet and "share" a book with Caleb, but got too close and scratched him. I didn't get upset - these things happen. She did go to time out and apologized. She even took the baby wipes to Carrie to help her clean up his cut. When we got home, it was still bleeding and did so for quite a while. It finally stopped and after his bath that night, it didn't look so bad.
On Wednesday, the school buses started rolling again in Rockwood. Rudy's days and evenings are once again filled with middle and high school students. I don't know how he does it. My days are now filled with phone calls to parents, testing sessions with 3-5 year olds and meetings, meetings, meetings. I always look forward to picking up Caleb at 3:15!

As for today, I have caught a nasty bug and have spent the day throwing up and sleeping. I have a touch of fever and I hurt all over! Rudy went ahead and took Caleb to Carrie's and he stayed there all day. I couldn't even go pick him up - Rudy had to go get him. Now, because of my fever, I'm afraid to be around him. I can hear him talking to Rudy downstairs and crying now and then. Rudy is being awesome to take full care of Caleb and let me just be sick. Mamas aren't supposed to be sick.

A Wild and Crazy Week!

Since the last time I posted, so much has happened in the Villines household!

On Saturday (8/5), Rudy and I were given the royal treatment at the Cardinals game! Caleb stayed with Monica, because it was just too hot to take him and it's so loud there. When Rudy's band played the National Anthem at the game back in June, there was a parking mix-up and it was a big mess! So...the group sales representative for the Cardinals offered us free tickets to a game and invited us onto the field for batting practice. Wow! We met him at the stadium and he took us straight onto the field. We stood right beside the dugout and watched the Cards take BP. It was awesome! Rudy even got Albert Pujols' autograph on a baseball for Caleb. We were then taken to a "party room" on the first base line. It was air-conditioned and had outdoor seats, plus there was a free buffet and drinks. The night was awesome and the Cards beat the Brewers. Albert even hit a homerun!

Last week was the dreaded "back to work" week for us. On Monday, we went over to Carrie's house so that Rudy could meet her and her family. We were all in agreement about her keeping Caleb for us, so that was a complete load off of my mind!

On Wednesday night, I packed my lunch and Caleb's diaper bag with a heavy, heavy heart. I knew he would be okay, but I just dreaded the beginning of a whole new chapter in our lives. The chapter we were in was so amazing and I knew that the next one could not possibly be as great - it meant less time with my baby.

On Thursday morning, I got up and got ready for work. Then, I fed Caleb and Rudy and I got him dressed and ready for the day. Of course, when it came time for me to leave, the little stinker gave me a great big smile that melted my heart! I left the house with tears in my eyes and met Monica for breakfast in Eureka. Rudy had the hardest job of all. He had to drop Caleb off at Carrie's and go to work. He called and left me a message afterward, saying that he had changed his mind and didn't want to be in charge of drop-offs. I told him that was just tough, because I couldn't do it. I'd rather do every single middle of the night feeding than have to do drop-offs in the mornings.

I made it through my first day of work and only called to check on Caleb at lunch. I was pretty impressed with myself! I was relieved to find that he was doing well and was actually napping when I called. When I picked him up at 3:45, he was playing in the floor with Carrie and was in a great mood! That made me feel so much better. When we got home, we took a little nap together and then got the house straightened up.

About 9:15, Jan and Chris made it here from Arkansas. Jan and I gave Caleb a bath and then got him ready for bed. The poor little guy was exhausted and so was I.
Jan and Chris kept Caleb on Friday, so leaving for work was a little easier. Just knowing he would be at home made me feel a little bit better. I couldn't wait to get home that afternoon to see him, though! Friday night, we went to dinner at Zia's on the Hill. It was good, but not great. Caleb was an angel. He slept all the way through dinner.

On Saturday, Rudy played in the Arkansas Alumni Association softball tournament. I worked the concessions and it was a long day! Jan brought Caleb out to the ballfield for a little bit and everyone enjoyed seeing him. We were too tired to cook dinner Saturday night, so we went out for Mexican food. Yum!!!!

Jan and Chris left this morning and we had a lazy day at home. I even put off running my errands until tomorrow. I guess Caleb and I will have a busy afternoon going to the bank, post office and grocery store. I did manage to do a little laundry today and get our things ready for going to work/Carrie's tomorrow. Caleb slept most of the day. I think all of the activity of the weekend was just a little much for him - and we all know he doesn't want to miss anything exciting!

As far as new developments for Caleb, it's all about the raspberries! We have laughed so much at him for blowing spit bubbles and making the craziest noises with his mouth! Sometimes he even spits on us. Rudy told him today that he looked like he was foaming at the mouth. It's pretty humorous, but I kind of miss the cooing and gooing from a couple of weeks ago. I'm so glad I got some video of it! I'll have to do the same thing with the raspberries.

Tummy time is getting a little better and Caleb's tolerance of the bathtub has improved a thousand percent. He is grabbing at things and taking them straight to his mouth. He has also developed a love for sucking on his fingers. It kills me to let him do it, but sometimes I have no choice. I've tried and tried to pull his fingers out and put in the pacifier. Sometimes, he even puts his fingers in his mouth and pops the pacifier out and across the room. If he ends up being a habitual finger or thumb sucker, it's not for the lack of me trying to avoid it! I gave it a valiant effort, to say the least. I just cringe when I hear him on the monitor at night sucking those fingers. My philosophy has always been that I prefer pacifiers over fingers/thumbs, because you can take away pacifiers at some point, but the state frowns on cutting off your child's thumbs. In my line of work, it's just so hard to imagine my child being a habitual fingersucker. Oh, I hope it's just a phase!

Childcare Search Success

Caleb and I went today to meet with the potential childcare provider that I mentioned in yesterday's post. I was excited to find that I was comfortable in their home and I felt like Caleb would be safe and happy there while I'm at work. So, my stress level has once again leveled off. The provider's name is Carrie and Caleb will be spending his days primarily with her and her 18-month-old son, Drew. She also has a 12-year-old daughter, Samantha, who doesn't start back to school for a couple of weeks. Her husband, Kevin, will be there in the mornings, but will leave for work shortly after Rudy drops Caleb off for the day. Because their house is so close to mine and because Rudy doesn't have to be at work until well after I do, he is going to do the drop-offs in the mornings and I'm going to do the pick-ups in the afternoons. That makes me one seriously happy Mama! I was dreading the drop-offs and this will make going to work so very much easier!

I decided that God was doing me a favor. The only way I can figure out his plan is to guess, but here's my guess. God knows that patience is not my strongsuit. God also knew all along that Caleb should be at Carrie's house when I went back to work. So...he provided a wonderful alternative for me to believe in and be comfortable with until Carrie was ready to open her home to us. (She just posted her advertisement a couple of days before I found her.) Kim's move is a surprise to us, but it was in His plan all along. God is good to me - in so many ways!

Another happy note about today - BAND CAMP IS OVER! For two weeks, Rudy has been working like a dog out in the 100 degree heat from 8:00 AM until 5:00 PM and then coming home dead-tired. Today was the last day of summer band camp and tonight was "parent night." The kids performed the parts of the show that they know - which is a lot - and they looked great! Rudy is pleased with the show and the way it's coming together. A happy band director is a happy husband and father.

Tomorrow night, Rudy and I are going to the Cardinals game. We have free tickets and the special privilege of going onto the field and visiting the dugout before the game. That's pretty cool! The Cardinals goofed up the parking situation when Rudy's band played at the game back in June, so we're getting the royal treatment to make up for it! Caleb is staying with Monica and she's taking him to a soccer game. I made her promise to face him away from the field. I don't want him getting any bright ideas about playing soccer. We like "Real" football in this house! Of course, because I say that - he'll end up being a soccer junkie. Oh, I hope not!!!!!

Childcare SNAFU...and Some Good News

Yesterday, I got a phone call at about 6:00 from Kim, the lady who is supposed to keep Caleb this school year. She told me that her husband has been transferred to Kansas City and she will be moving as soon as her house sells. OH MY GOSH! I was in total shock and didn't really know what to do. It was about 10:30 last night before I got my thoughts together and decided that I needed to get on the ball and find someone else before I go back to work in one week. I sent out an e-mail to everyone I know in this area who might possibly know someone who could keep Caleb. I also got on the same website where I found Kim and frantically sent e-mails to several people. I finally got in bed last night after 12:30 and watched the clock for a while with my head spinning. This morning, I had 2 phone calls and a couple of e-mails from people I had contacted. I narrowed it down to 5 potential people and then did some phone interviews. Of the 3 phone interviews that I did, I'm really only interested in 2 of the people. I'm going to meet one of them tomorrow morning, so we'll see. Hopefully, Caleb will have a fabulous place to go next Thursday when I go to work and this will all work out just fine.

On a happier note, I think Caleb's blocked tear duct may be getting better. This is the second day in a row that I haven't had to wipe his eye at all. His eyelashes are even dry tonight and his eye isn't running at all! I was really hoping for that to clear up on its own, because I didn't want to have to go through with the surgery to repair it. Here's hoping it stays dry!

Three Months Old

Caleb is now three months old. I can hardly believe we are a quarter of the way through his first year. He continues to grow and change and amaze us. He has started to really enjoy looking in the mirror and has even "talked" to his reflection a couple of times. Bathtime is SO much better lately. He even seems to enjoy it a little bit. I never thought I'd see that day! He is becoming more and more vocal and he is starting to look like a little boy instead of a newborn. He still hates tummy time with a passion, but we have seen some improvement in his ability to lift his head when he's on his tummy. His head is now about 95% stable when he's upright and he loves to be upright! The child doesn't want to miss anything at all - he wants to see it all! Caleb is responding more to us from a distance and now smiles when he sees us across a room. He is reaching for things and batting at them a lot. He even manages to grab them from time to time and when he does, he won't let go! This includes my hair!

Things that I love about my three-month-old baby boy:
- our "conversations" about the world
- the way he makes his grandparents (and mine) smile
- the fact that he tries to ooh and goo at me with his pacifier in his mouth when I'm trying to rock him to sleep (this will not be cute when he starts talking for real!)
- that toothless grin
- the fact that he is so easygoing and easy to take out and about
- the way his Daddy's eyes light up when they play together

Happy Three Month Birthday, Caleb!

A Trip to Arkansas

It's been a whirlwind week for us! Where do I even start?

Last Monday, I took Caleb to Weight Watchers with me and asked the lady to weigh me twice - once with him and once without him. With some "fancy math skills, " I found out that my baby boy now weighs 16 pounds! He's officially in size 2 diapers and it's time to switch over to those 3-6 month clothes. At this rate, he should have no problem meeting the 20 pound rule at one year to have his car seat turned forward. Actually, at this rate, he may be driving at one year!

On Tuesday, Becca came to our house. We went to the mall to get a shirt for her to wear to her shower, had dinner with Jimmy (who was in the area for work) and bought Caleb an outfit with an airplane on it for his first plane ride! We ran errands until bedtime and then hit the pillow hard!

Wednesday morning, we were up bright and early to get ready for our trip to Arkansas. I packed everything that Caleb and I would need for a five day vacation and then got him ready to go. When we got to the airport, we realized what a sight we were: Becca at 7 1/2 months pregnant and me toting Caleb around. We were certain that nobody wanted to sit with us! The flight went great. Caleb didn't fuss at all. I put his pacifier in his mouth for takeoff and landing so that his ears wouldn't bother him. He slept most of the trip! I am so fortunate!!!! When we got to the airport, Mr. L. and Becca's dad and sister were waiting for us. We rounded up our luggage and said bye to Becca, since she was going to her dad's for a few days. Mr.L. and I loaded all of our stuff in the car, changed Caleb's stinky diaper in the back of the Jeep and headed for Hot Springs. Caleb and I were both exhausted when we got there, so we laid down for a nap. The next thing I knew, Mom was in my room and couldn't wait to see us. We got up and visited a little bit, then got on the boat and went over to Pepapa and Anna Joyce's house. They were glad to see us and couldn't believe how much Caleb had grown in just a month. When we got back home, we had some dinner and headed for bed.

On Thursday, Mom had to work, so I took the opportunity to go over and see Memmie and Poppie in Sherwood. We had a great visit and Caleb showed them all of his new "tricks." He even "talked" to me like he does at home - constant cooing like he's really having a big conversation. Memmie thought that was the funniest thing ever! We were sad to leave their house, but had to get back to Hot Springs before the traffic got too bad. The weather was gross and I was driving Mom's car, so I wasn't too keen on getting stuck in rush hour traffic in Little Rock.

When we got back to Hot Springs, we freshened up and then went to dinner at Applebee's with Stacy Schmidt, my dear friend from Rogers. She was in town for the state Special Ed conference, so we just had to get together. She was so excited to meet Caleb. We had another treat when some of the ladies from the Rogers Special Services office stopped by to see us while we were there. Linda Stewart, my former supervisor and dear friend, brought Caleb some adorable gifts and he thanked her with several great big smiles and a Caleb-style conversation! We had a great time visiting with all of them and it was awesome to see everyone.

On Friday, Mom took a vacation day and we spent our time doing some shopping and errands for Becca's shower. I had to go to the bank and open an account for the Alumni Association, so Mom and Mr. L. kept Caleb. They didn't seem to mind.

On Saturday, Mr. L. kept Caleb for a couple of hours while Mom and I did a little more shopping. It was a low-key day and that was nice and relaxing. Unfortunately, it was way too hot for us to go for another boat ride. Saturday night, Joyce came by to visit. The Holmes crew showed up too for a few minutes. Caleb got to meet Julie and Chris for the first time and got a very cute blanket from Leigh Ann and Bill.

Sunday was the big day for Becca's shower. She had a great turnout and got some awesome gifts! Of course, she was excited to get some Razorback things for baby Maddox! Caleb was very well behaved during the shower - as always. He eventually fell asleep and I put him down for a nap in his bed.

On Monday, we had a relaxing day and then headed for the airport. Mom and Mr. L. helped me get everything to the Southwest counter and then Caleb and I were on our own to get on the plane and head for home. After we got through security, I put him in the Baby Bjorn and fed him. I decided it would be a good idea to change his diaper while we waited for our plane to board, so we went into the ladies' room. As soon as I walked in there, I realized that I needed to go to the bathroom. This was my biggest fear about flying alone with Caleb - what was I going to do with him while I went to the bathroom? I had nowhere to lay him down and nothing to sit him in. So, I did the best I could! I left him in the carrier and he basically sat in my lap while I did the public bathroom hover maneuver. It was quite a feat, but we made it! We got on the plane with no problem (I love pre-boarding!) and the flight home was as easy as the flight there. Once we got on the ground in St. Louis, we got our suitcase and Caleb's carseat and took the shuttle to our car. It was about 102 degrees outside, so I was really sweating by the time I got the car loaded and the carseat installed. The whole thing was a big challenge, but I did it all by myself and I was pretty proud of the way it worked out!

When we got home, Rudy was SO excited to see us! He told me that he couldn't believe how much he missed us and that he might not ever let us leave for that long again! Band camp has been going well and he's pleased with the year so far. That helped, I'm sure! Rudy watched Caleb while I unpacked our things and then we crashed into the bed!

Caleb has been getting back into his routine the past couple of days. It has taken some time, but he'll eventually get straightened back out. Yesterday, I had a doctor's appointment and then we went to Wal Mart and Schnuck's. He's so used to be hauled around everywhere - he was a trooper and slept through a lot of it! He went to bed last night at about 9:00 and woke up to eat at 4:00 AM. I put him right back to bed and it's now almost 10:30 AM and he's just now starting to stir. I think he was just completely worn out from the trip and has been catching up on some much-needed sleep.

I will post Caleb's 3-month birthday post later today or tonight and I'll add the 3-month pictures to the Shutterfly site too. I've already uploaded the pictures from our trip to Arkansas, so make sure you check those out.

Only 8 more days until I have to go back to work!