Brrrr

It started to get cold here tonight. (Stop laughing...it did!) Miami weather is usually pretty nice, but it does get chilly here on occasion. However, it does not usually happen in October. But
if the conditions are just right, it will get pretty chilly. A cold front is moving in from the North and it is expected to get down into the 50's overnight with a windchill into the 40's. Once the sun started going down this afternoon, we immediately started to feel the chill. Since we were going out to hang out with our Starbucks bible study group, Mom bundled Caleb up for the first time in his life. Fortunately, Mom was able to cobble together an outfit of a sweatshirt, sweatpants, some thick socks and a the only cap he has that fits. Mom and Caleb took a walk around the neighborhood this afternoon before I got home from work, so Caleb was already bundled up when I got in the house. I hardly recognized him since I couldn't see his red hair and some of his features. But he didn't seem to mind all the extra clothing and he looked quite cozy strapped into the car seat.

Shopping

One of the rituals that we counted on for some time after Caleb was born was our shopping trips. For the first few months, Caleb would ride in the Boppy Sling, usually asleep. He outgrew that a while back and he started to go through the grocery store in the Bjorn carrier. Now that Mom's school year is in full swing, we rarely have the opportunity to go to the grocery store together, so Mom has started going by herself. Today, she emailed me this first picture with the note that it is
getting more challenging to have Caleb at the grocery store. He started in the carrier but he was too wiggly, so Mom had to move him for his first ride in a grocery cart. I guess it won't be long before he is able to pull items off the shelf into the cart.

Caleb is also more challenging with regard to bringing the groceries into the house. Mom had to put him in his crib to keep him contained while she put the groceries away. Caleb has been really fussy in the afternoons lately and has been really demanding of Mom, so she was a bit surprised when she went to get him out of the crib and found him playing quite contentedly.

Fall?

We concluded a very busy weekend with a visit to the Little Farm pumpkin patch. Autumn is the time of year we get most homesick. We have recently seen friends on Facebook posting pictures of their babies at pumpkin patches and other fall/harvest events and we decided we needed to do the same with Caleb. We got him an outfit at the mall last weekend that seems appropriate for fall and then we were off in search of a pumpkin patch. Mom suggested Little Farm which is an educational spot
located in the last remaining agricultural zone in our area. So we headed there after worship today. Prior to going to the farm, Caleb did not nap during worship, so he slept through our lunch and was still asleep when we arrived at the farm. After wandering around allowing Caleb to see some barnyard animals and experience the smells of a farm, we found the pumpkin patch. The patch was really a single flat bed trailer covered in hay and pumpkins and surrounded by hordes of adults pointing their cameras
at some kid on the trailer. It was kind of intimidating so, of course, we dove right in. It was hard finding a spot where we could get a clear shot of Caleb without people in the background. We discovered it was near impossible to get Caleb to pay attention and look at the camera, which is a first for him. He has gotten so used to the camera that it is getting difficult to get a candid shot of him because he knows to look at the camera when he sees it. But today, he was far more fascinated by the hay. He
had a clump of hay in his hand just about the whole time he was on the trailer. He was so interested in his surroundings that he did not notice or care when he toppled over onto his side. We did manage to get two or three really cute pictures of Caleb, but in most of them, his focus is on something else. It was kind of warm today, so we were all worn out when it was time to leave. It does not matter how many scarecrows or pumpkins you put out this time of year, it just does not truly feel like Autumn when it is 80 degrees outside. At least the weather somewhat cooperated and we had some clouds to make it look like a fall day rather than being bright and sunny with blue skies.

After our adventure at the farm, we came home and we all ended up crashing in the living room until it was time to head back out for our evening assembly. I fell asleep on one couch watching football and Mom and Caleb slept on the next couch. After a while, Mom got up and I ended up with Caleb. She took our picture because she was mad at me that I would not let her change the channel because I was watching football. This picture was taken to prove that I was not watching football.

Chores

Feeding Caleb is quite the mess. His food usually ends up all over his face, chest, the tray and the high chair. We have decided to put Caleb to work and earn his keep. You can see that he enjoys
cleaning up and does so with joy.

Tonight we went to a birthday party for several people from church who had October birthdays. It was a fun night because we kind of got a break from Caleb. There was an unending stream of people who wanted to hold him, so Mom and Dad were able to enjoy the evening in relative peace. We left the party a little later than his bedtime, so he was starting to get really tired by the end of the night. He fell asleep almost as soon as we got into the car.

Book Lover

Tonight, we went to our favorite book store. This is the bookstore where we purchased the last several Harry Potter books because they do really cool events. They also host lots of author events. Tonight, they hosted an appearnce by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson to promote their new book, Science Fair. Dave Barry is a humor writer who has written numerous books and he wrote a humor column for the Miami Herald that was syndicated in papers all over the country. We enjoyed his columns even before we moved here, but since he often wrote about the humorous side of Miami, we grew to appreciate him even more. A while back, he teamed up with Pearson to write a series of Peter Pan prequels. We decided to go to the first appearance at the book store for the first Peter Pan book because we are fans of Dave Barry. Mom enjoyed the book and we have since gone back to get the next two books in the series. When we found out Barry and Pierson had another book out, we knew we had to get it.

Mom picked me up from work and we went over to the bookstore. We browsed for a few minutes and before we took our seats to wait for the event to start, Mom picked out a couple of new books for Caleb to chew, I mean read. Caleb sat in his new stroller and did very well. He was not very disruptive during the entire presentation. While waiting for the event to start, an older couple next to us started talked to Mom about Caleb. They were highly impressed at his mellow demeanor and his curiosity for all that was going on. Numerous people passed by his stroller and he watched every one. At the end of the event, we waited in line to get our copy of the book, then we took a stroll through the neighborhood so we could get some dinner. After dinner and finding a new chocolate shop near the bookstore, we called it an evening.

Mom didn't tell me why she took this picture, but I wanted to include it because Caleb is such a happy baby.

Pulling His Weight

The first picture is really just here because Caleb is so cute. The second picture demonstrates the point. When Mom gets home from work in the afternoon, she hardly has any time to do
any chores around the house because Caleb demands her attention and to be held. Mom said this was the only chance to get anything done this afteroon as Caleb slept while she folded laundry.

Striking Resemblance

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

The swing we were given by the cradle rolle teacher is a pretty fancy contraption. The seat rotates so that the baby swings side to side or front to back. The control panel resmbles the inside of an airplane cockpit with about ten swing speeds, and controls for sound effects, lights and a spinning mobile. Above the swing seat is a ball that has lights in it and there is a mobile that goes around the ball that can actually spin. This is one high functioning machine. While the swing has been a lifesaver on many occasions, most of the features have remained unused up until now. Recently, I have notice Caleb looking at the fish on the mobile while he was swinging. Today, I caught him actually reaching for one of the fish. He was able to actually grab it for a split second but was not able to hold on because of the swinging motion. I now feel that we have gotten full use and benefit of the swing.

A while back, I added the Lily Pie birthday counter to the top of the blog so that we can all keep up with Caleb's age. Mom said it didn't fit because, at the time, Caleb was not eating solid food and was not sitting in a high chair. I'm happy to report that as of tonight, Caleb now completely resembles the icon. Caleb is perfectly capable of sitting in the high chair and he wears his food as well as the icon. But the final piece was put into place as we began the green vegetables this week. We have started out with green beans and the reaction seems to be mixed. He doesn't eat as much as when we feed him rice or sweet potatoes, but he does not flat out refuse it, either. It's interesting to watch him eat something new. After having the new vegetable in his mouth for a second or two, he closes his eyes, wrinkles his nose, shakes his head and his whole body shivers. He did this with some of the orange vegetables and he eats them pretty well now, so I'm hoping that this is more of a reaction to the new flavors and textures rather than than a flat out dislike.

Hide and Seek

Not only does Mom worry about Caleb knocking his head on the tile, Caleb does not like it when he rolls onto the tile which is cold and hard. He usually ends up crying when gets off the quilt onto
the tile. Mom tried to solve that problem today by putting a larger quilt underneath his quilt. But he is rolling so much that he rolls right off the larger quilt, too. So Mom tried to put him back in the middle of the quilt. The second time he tried to roll under the couch where Mom couldn't find him. I hope that he soon figures out that crawling is a much more efficient method to get around rather than blindly rolling to one side or the other. I guess the other option is to get a pack 'n play and confine him to a small space.

At Least He Enjoys the Sweet Potatoes

Monday, October 20, 2008

I may be criticized for writing about Caleb's "stinkier" side, but that is part of the package. Onward we go.

Snippets of tonight's conversations:

6:00 P.M. Mom (on IM): Hold on...I have to go do an emergency diaper change.

9:30 P.M. Mom: I'm glad you are home. I need you to take the cloth off the bouncy seat frame so I can wash it.

10:00 P.M. Dad: So, do we
have some pictures today or do I have to go wake the baby up?
Mom: No, I took some pictures of Caleb sitting up on his own in the bouncy seat. Those are the last pictures before the accident.

We were aware that Caleb's number 2's would take on some different characteristics now that we are feeding him solid food. However, we haven't seen much difference so far, though we started to see a change this weekend. Fortunately, Caleb is well trained and does most of his number 2's during the day time so I rarely have to deal with them. I guess tonight his system finally decided to clean itself out (as usual...I was still at work...thanks, C). We have had other parents describe "explosions" to us, but hearing about it from someone else cannot really prepare you for it. Caleb had his first real explosion tonight. I don't want to get too graphic (especially since I was not here for it), so I'll just say that Mom refuses to put Caleb back into the bouncy seat until it has been thoroughly washed and we'll just leave it at that.

Unusual Laundry

We knew the amount of laundry we would be doing would increase after having a baby, but we found an interesting item in today's laundry. Mom was folding some laundry and left the empty laundry basket on the bed where Caleb was laying. Because the basket has so many little places for a little hand to grab on, Caleb was immediately drawn to the laundry basket. Mom flipped the basket over and put it over Caleb and he thought this was so funny. He was just giggling and having a good time.

Later on, he wasn't having such a good time. We were in the kitchen worken and Caleb was on his quilt. We kept looking over at him and he kept rolling off the quilt. Mom wants to keep him contained to the quilt as long as she can because she is worried that he is going to roll off the quilt and smake his head on the tile. I sat him back on the quilt and surrounded him with pillows to try and keep him hemmed in and to soften the blow if he tipped over. The pillows did their job when he plopped over, but once he was on his stomach in the midst of all the pillows, he was upset and looking for a way out. He ended up scattering the pillows and rolling off the quilt where he continued his protests.

The last couple of days, he did not nap very well which has made the evenings very challenging as he has been pretty cranky. It helps him go straight to sleep at bedtime, but it is challenging when he is obviously very tired but he won't let you rock him to sleep. Hopefully, he will get back to his normal routine and take some naps during the day now that all the grandparents are gone and its back to being just the tree of us.