A chronicle of the first year of Caleb's life. Share with me the ups, the downs, the joys and the sorrows of this new adventure called fatherhood.

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Saturday, May 17, 2008

Go Marlins!

Caleb slept pretty well last night. Of course, he needed to because he had a pretty big day today. We all went out to breakfast together then drove out to the Everglades to that Auntie M could see alligators in the wild. We stopped at the Clyde Butcher Gallery out in the Big Cypress Forest. Caleb ate while Dad, Uncle S and Auntie M looked around. We saw a number of gators and enjoyed looking at the photography in the gallery. After a while, we all piled in the car and headed back toward Miami. We stopped in at Gator Park for Auntie M and Caleb's first visit to the park. After a picnic, Dad, Uncle S and Auntie M went on an airboat ride and then we all went to see the gator wrestling show. Unfortunately, we don't have any pictures from Gator Park because Dad put the camera battery on the charger and then forgot to get the battery before we left the house.

After resting at home for a little while, we all headed north to see the Florida Marlins play the Kansas City Royals. This was Caleb's first Major League baseball game. After the game, we enjoyed some fireworks before heading home.

Caleb did great at the game. He slept through most of the game, which the Marlins won 7-3 but when he was awake, he was in a very good mood and seemed to enjoy the atmosphere.

Caleb really enjoyed spending time with Uncle S and Auntie M who have been so good to him all weekend. They even bought him a Marlins t-shirt that he can wear to games later this year. And Uncle S let Caleb wear his sunglasses. We have really enjoyed the visit with Uncle S and Auntie M. Caleb is really disappointed that they are leaving tomorrow morning and he hopes they come back to see him again real soon.

Lots of Attention

Caleb got to spend Friday with Uncle S and Auntie M and Mom got the chance to take a break during the day while someone else watched Caleb. Everybody had a busy day going to breakfast, the mall, the grocery store and finally to Wall's for ice cream. In the first picture, Caleb is hanging out with his Uncle S earlier this morning. In the second picture, Caleb is dancing with Auntie M to the music at Wall's. Notice Caleb's socks in this picture. Of course, Uncle S and Auntie M came to see Caleb bearing gifts including some socks. Mom really likes this pair of
socks because they are a perfect match for the frog on Caleb's onesie. Mom and Dad are really glad to have Uncle S and Auntie M here with us for the weekend and we are so grateful for how much they already love Caleb and we have enjoyed seeing their excitement at getting to spend time with him.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Visitors!

Caleb is really excited because his Uncle S and Auntie M came to see him for the first time today. As you can see, he wore himself out with excitement and took a nap on his jungle gym this afternoon.

Some friends gave Caleb a reall cool pair of socks which he wore today. The socks have a blue cat face and a red rabbit face on the toe. The cat and the rabbit are rattles and are designed to rattle when he kicks his feet. It's such a clever idea. I'll get better pictures of the socks next time he wears them.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Goin' to Work

Caleb made his first appearance and Dad's office today. For the big occasion, Mom dressed Caleb in this onesie and sandals. Mom fell in love with the sandals and she things Caleb looks so cute in them. Everyone at work agreed that Caleb is a beautiful baby, but his vist was rather anticlimactic. Caleb was in a deep sleep when he arrived at the office. There was no waking him up to show off his eyes.

Dad, Mom and Caleb went to lunch at California Pizza Kitchen. As seen in this photo, Caleb continued his nap and did not stir despite the commotion in the restaurant. Notice the sandals.

Caleb continued to sleep all the way home and when Mom opened the back door to get Caleb out of the car, this is what Mom found.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Changes

The title of this post is meant to be a play on words. (Dad's not as creative as he would like to be.) This is a picture of Caleb on his changing pad. Of course, this is where Caleb gets most of his diapers changed. So the title is obvious. But the funny thing about the pad is the change that comes over Caleb when he is laying on the changing pad. As you can see from this picture, Caleb is perfectly content. For some reason, his mood will instantly change when his is laid on the changing pad. He can be screaming his head off, but when he is laid on the pad, he will almost instantly grow quiet. He has rarely cried while on the changing pad and he gives us little trouble while changing his diaper other than the occasional spray. Many times, he will resume his tantrum as soon as he is picked up from the changing pad, but for those few minutes he's on the pad, he's just a happy little baby. If we could figure out how to keep him from rolling off the top of the changing table, we'd be tempted to let him sleep there.

Mom and Caleb had a busy day today. Mom and Caleb made it to Mom's doctor, two trips to Walgreens to pick up a prescription and a visit to school so Mom could get some work done. Along the way, Mom and Caleb made a Target run. Rather than the usual routine of Mom carrying Caleb in the sling, she propped Caleb's car seat in the shopping cart. This is a picture of Caleb napping in the car seat while Mom shopped at Target.

Caleb continues to work on strenthening his neck and holding his head up. After Dad got home from work, Caleb got some neck exercises in. Mom wanted to get a picture of Caleb holding his head up on his own, but by the time she got the camera out, he was no longer holding his head up, but was resting his head in my hands. Despite not getting the picture she wanted, Mom still captured a cute picture of Caleb.

Monday, May 12, 2008

School Visit

Mom took Caleb to school today to show him off to all of her students. Unfortunately, she didn't get any pictures of Caleb at school, so you'll have to settle for this picture of Caleb from this evening.

Mom said Caleb was a big hit at school and everyone was glad to see him. As mom described her tour around the school, she kept saying about each class, "they were excited to see him." I finally asked if there was a class that was not excited to see Caleb. After thinking about it, Mom said no, every class was excited. Mom loves Caleb the most, but I know she was very happy to have the chance to see her other "kids" and share Caleb with them.

Bonus Picture: This picture is kind of blurry because mom rushed when she took it. I am including it because, despite the fuzziness, it is a really cute picture of Caleb, and Mom swears Caleb is actually smiling rather than it being an accidental expression.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

First Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there! A special Happy Mother's Day to TuTu and Whatshername on their first Mother's Day as grandmothers and also to both of Caleb's great-grandmothers.

Caleb made his big debut at worship service this morning. While we loved all of the attention he received, today was all about the three of us celebrating Mom's first Mother's Day. Mom dressed Caleb in this linen onesie given to him by Whatshername. Whatshername had hoped Caleb could wear this outfit when we brought him home, but he was so small when he was born that it was way too big. Mom decided to save it for Mother's Day and it fit him just right.

After worship Caleb and Dad took mom out to lunch at The Melting Pot. We propped Caleb's infant seat in the booth next to me and had a nice meal together. Caleb wanted to be fed once, but other than that, he slept through the whole meal.

After lunch we came home and relaxed all afternoon (as much as watching the Lakers lose can be considered relaxing). Caleb pretty much slept all afternoon. He did wake up for a little while mid-afternoon. Caleb has been looking around at his surroundings a lot, so Mom wanted to get out Caleb's jungle gym. After Dad put it together, Mom placed Caleb on it and he seemed to really enjoy looking at some of the objects hanging in front of him. All in all, we had a great day!

First Mother's Day