Like New

Tuesday, Septebmer 23, 2008

Marissa's mom brought Caleb a new play mat similar to his jungle gym. She said she found it at a garage sale. Since there were two, she took it as a sign that she should get them for Caleb and Marissa to keep in the nursery at school. She cleaned them up and Caleb played on it today.

Poppy and TuTu arrived this afternoon bearing gifts. They played for a little while with some of the new toys they brought. Being a baby, Caleb says his new books taste real good.

We all met for dinner at Five Guys and Caleb sat in his stroller while we ate. He was a good boy all through dinner, but it was also pretty obvious he was tired. After we came home, Mom fed Caleb and then he took a nap in TuTu's arms. He did wake up again and we played with him on a quilt for a few minutes and we were all entertained by his cuteness. However, he must still be worn out from his trip. He got cranky quickly, so Mom decided to go ahead and put him to bed an hour early. Tonight was the hardest night he's had going to sleep in quite some time. It took him a couple of hours to finally fall completely asleep where he didn't wake up every few minutes and cry. I expect because he did not go to sleep right away, he will be tired again Wednesday night. Hopefully he will go right to sleep so that he won't be tired and cranky during Poppy and TuTu's visit.

Sick Day?

Mom and Caleb took a day off from work to rest after the long weekend. I think they were able to do some things around the house, but I think they mostly slept. After their break today, I'm sure they are now ready for Poppy and TuTu's visit this week.

Weekend in Tennessee

We are all back from our respective hectic weekends in one piece. Dad had a great time enjoying a big Hurricanes win and seeing his cousin and new baby Kolt. Meanwhile, Mom and Caleb had a good time seeing lots of family in Tennessee. This was a tough weekend for me. This was the first time I have been away from Caleb. I missed him very much and was really excited to see him last night. Things quickly got back to normal today, but they won't stay that way for long because Poppy and TuTu will be here for a visit starting tomorrow.

There'll be more time for that later. It's time to get caught up on the weekend.

Friday, September 19, 2008

After Mom got off work, she and Caleb headed to the Fort Lauderdale airport to fly to Nashville. Caleb has been on an airplane several times in his short life. Mom said he did really well on the flights. This was especially good news as Mom was nervous to make this trip with Caleb by herself.

Caleb's arrival was greatly anticipated in Tennessee. Mom and Caleb were met by a large contingent including Granddaddy, Whatshername, Uncle S, Auntie M and Auntie M's dog Tillie. Had Granddaddy and Whatshername had a larger vehicle, I'm sure the welcoming party would have been larger.

After dropping Uncle S, Auntie M and Tillie off at their house, Granddaddy got some play time with Caleb before he went through his bedtime routine. Though it was late and I'm sure he was tired, Caleb enjoyed playing with his Granddaddy.

Before going to bed for the night, Caleb got his nightly bath in Whatshername's sink. It doesn't matter where he is, Caleb sure loves his baths.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Caleb had a pretty busy day on Saturday. The day began with a visit from Great Grandmama and Great Granddaddy in the morning. Though you can't really see it, Caleb started the day with his UM bib on in honor of Dad's game.

I was OK with Caleb and Mom heading up to Tennessee without me, but I really have to call things in to question now. When I first met Mom way back when, she consumed a lot of caffeine and her preferred caffeine vessel was a southern soft drink known as Sun Drop. Sun Drop is kind of like Mountain Dew, but Mom would tell you it is way better. In fact whenever they visit, Granddaddy and Whatshername are sure to bring a six pack or two of the stuff to Mom. So I am a little bothered by the fact that Whatshername is pushing the stuff on Caleb at such a young age.

Then there is Granddaddy who expects Caleb to share his love of yard work. He made Caleb take a break from play time in an effort to put him to work. Caleb's not quite up to the task yet, so Granddaddy settled for taking Caleb for a ride around the yard on the lawn mower.

After his day of hard work, Caleb wound down by going out to dinner with more family and then hosting Maw Maw for some more play time. After all the playing, it was finally time for Caleb to have his bath. Because he got his bath in the sink, there was a cup nearby and Caleb felt he needed to have it. I just hope he didn't drink any soapy water.



Sunday, September 21, 2008

While in Tennessee, Mom took another shot at having Caleb sleep in Whatshername's Pack 'n Play. Last time we were in Tennessee, we tried to have Caleb sleep in the Pack 'n Play, but he was having none of it. Part of the problem was that we would disturb whenever we tried to lay him all the way down in the bottom of the crib. Mom was surprised that there was not an attachment to the Pack 'n Play that sat higher. On this trip, Mom poked around a little and sure enough, there were some additional pieces in the Pack 'n Play box. Mom attached it and it was a little easier to get Caleb in and out of the Pack 'n Play.

Also on this trip, Mom came across a quilt that turned out to be the quilt she played on when she was a little baby. Thanks to a touch of nostalgia, Mom declared that this was the quilt Caleb should lie on to play and that this should have been his play quilt all along.

Caleb had a good time going to cradle roll class in Tennesse. It is neat to see him sitting in the big boy seat actually paying attention to his surroundings as he grows more aware.

I'm not surprised that Whatshername was pushing the soda on Caleb. I'm a little more surprised at Mom. Her second favorite drink other than Sun Drop is Purity chocolate milk. Because Granddaddy and Whatshername occasionally bring some Sun Drops, I think chocolate milk may be about what Mom misses the most. Chocolate milk is usually a staple of a visit to Tennessee. But I can't believe Mom is pushing the chocolate milk on Caleb.

Mom and Caleb flew back to Fort Lauderdale in the evening and then drove to Miami International Airport to pick Dad up from his trip. We were all very excited to see each other, but we were also ready to go to bed after our long weekends.

Hiatus

The blog will be going on a short break while Dad travels to Texas to see Miami play Texas A&M and Mom takes Caleb to Tennessee to see Whatshername and Granddaddy. Look for a full report on Caleb's trip to Tennessee sometime on Monday.

Until then, Go Canes!

More of the Same

Here's another picture of Caleb sitting in his bouncy seat as happy as can be. This picture wasn't taken long before I got home this evening. When I got home, Caleb was finishing up his dinner and was in a really good mood. The three of us played together for a few minutes and had a lot fun before we went out separate ways. Mom headed out to a board meeting and Caleb and I headed out to a restaurant to meet some of our friends for a birthday dinner. Caleb fell asleep in the car on the way to the restaurant, but did not stay asleep for long. He was awake during dinner, so I strapped one of the toys to the handle of the car seat. He seemed pretty content to play and entertain himself while I ate. Mom eventually joined us had dinner. By the time we got home, Caleb skipped his bath and went straight to bed. He is such a good baby and he is so easy on us. He rolls with the punches about as well as anybody can which gives us a lot of freedom to enjoy spending time with our friends. I've heard horror stories of people who never get to go out becuase their babies are so demanding of attention. We are blessed by Caleb in so many ways and this is just one of the many ways our lives have been enriched. We have the joy of being parents and in many ways we still get to enjoy life much the way we did before.

Survived Again

Caleb and I survived another Wednesday afternoon together. Here is how our routine pretty much goes. I leave work early so that I can get home and Mom can head to class. We almost
literally pass each other in the doorway and handoff Caleb as I am on the way in the house and Mom is on her way out of the house. Mom will have just fed Caleb, so he might be playful for a few minutes, but he will usually be ready for a nap. Once he's ready, I put him in the swing and he'll sleep between one and one and a half hours. Once he wakes up, I eat dinner, try to give him a bottle and then we head over to the church building. We make some rounds to say hello and then I drop Caleb off in the cradle roll class before going to my own class. Once class is over, I go get Caleb and we hang out until Mom shows up so e can do another handoff and Mom brings Caleb home and puts him to bed while I go to a meeting at church.

Tonight was off just a little bit. When I got home from work, Caleb was playing on the quilt and was wide awake. Mom said he even cried when she tried to put him in the swing after feeding him, so she put him back down to play. She took the first picture after he had rolled over and was trying to grab anything nearby. He likes to play with his pacifier and chew on it. If you look closely, you'll notice the nipple is facing away from Caleb. I took the second picture after Mom left. I put Caleb back on the quilt and pulled up a chair behind him. He looked cute straining to look at me, so I had to take a picture.

He started his nap a little later than usual and slept right up until it was time to go to the church building. I tried to feed him in the nursery before our classes started, but he doesn't seem to want to take the bottle from me. We'll have to keep working on that. Other than that, he is a really good boy and I enjoy our alone time on these afternoons.

Break Time

We've been fortunate to capture some really nice pictures of Caleb the last few days, so I was really interested to see today's picture when I got home and Mom told me she had taken a really cute picture of Caleb. When I saw this, I had to agree that this was a pretty cute picture. I guess even little baby boys have to stop every now and then, lay their heads down and take a break from all the playing.

Learning to Sit

Mom loves to catch Caleb trying to sit up. He can't keep himself up on his own right now, but if he is strapped down and has something to hold on to, he can pull hiself up pretty far. The bouncy seat can go from more of a reclining position to a sitting position. Mom has moved it to the sitting position to try and encourage Caleb to sit up on his own.

Big Boy Chair

Caleb's cradle roll teacher moved him from the bouncy seat to one of the upright chairs in class this morning. Mom came to our bible class after leaving Caleb in his class and she was a mixture of sad and excited. She said our boy was a big boy and he was in one of the big boy chairs in the cradle roll class. She also lamented how quickly he is growing. We're going to have to put a dictionary on that boy's head or something.

He didn't make it all the way through class, though. He go tired of sitting there, so one of the cradle roll assistants held him for part of class. When he was in the chair, he sat between to older children who are about two years old and he was a big hit with him. The little boy on his right kept kissing his forehead and the little girl on his right kept patting his head. Right now, he is the youngest baby in there, but that won't last for long because several others have been born since him. But that makes me glad because he should have a nice, full Sunday School class.

He's Got Skillz!

Today was the first full fledged college football Saturday that I've been able to enjoy from the comfort of my own home. As you can see from this first picture, Caleb was overwhelmed by the excitement and channeled his energy into this nap in which he was dead to the world.

When he did finally wake up, we enjoyed hanging out and working on Caleb's football skills. Back in July when we went to the first UM football practice of the year, one of the sponsors was giving away miniature nerf footballs which can be seen in the picture from that day. In honor of college football season, we gave him the football to play with. As with everything else, it was usually in or near his mouth, but did take the occasional break from chewing on the football to show off his mad football skills. He's got solid hands and he only fumbled a few times. We had a fun afternoon, but I'm looking forward to the day when he and I can wathch football together and I have the opportunity to teach about the game in some father/son bonding time.