Six Months

Caleb turned six months old today. As Granddaddy would say, he is 1/2 now. I can't believe it has been half a year since Caleb was born. These past six months have been a blur. We are still adjusting to this change, but it has been one of the most incredible experiences that we have been able to enjoy. I go into his room at night and look at him just lying there in his crib asleep. I look at him and I am amazed that there is this little person living in my house now. This little person that I have to raise and help guide him along his journey in life. I am overwhelmed at both the awesome responsibility and privilege Caleb represents. I only hope that I can live up to all that Caleb needs from his Dad.

So many people have warned me about how fast this time goes by. I now understand how true it is. Even though I "knew" this, I realize that you can't really know the truth of that sentiment until you are experiencing it. It seems as though I blinked and half a year disappeared. And in that time, Caleb has changed so much. And there is so many more exciting changes on the horizon. I have to remind myself to stop and take a breath and be sure to savor each of these moments as the occur.

When the book of Luke says in Chapter 2, verse 19 that "Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart", I think I have a sense of what that means. I now understand the eagerness to try and lock away all the good memories that come at you in a torrent. There are so many small moments that are enjoyable that, as wonderful as they are, will be impossible to recall with time. But I want to hold onto as many of them as possible.

That is what this blog is really about. The blog has become a great way for distant friends a family to keep tabs on Caleb. And I am grateful for that. I am grateful that I can see how much people love Caleb by their desire to view the blog. I am grateful for readers' impatience (Uncle S ;>) when there are no posts. I had no idea how well this project would be received.

But, this blog is really for me. I didn't realize it at first, but for me, this blog is a way to store these memories. This is a way for me to make note of things I want to remember. This is a way for me to be able to say to Caleb one day that you did this or you said that (assuming he does start talking at some point). This blog is my chest where I can store my Caleb treasures so that I can continue to ponder all these things in my heart.

On to the pictures

As you may recall, Mom is taking classes on Wednesday nights which means I am responsible for Caleb. Under his feeding schedule, he should be getting hungry while Mom is still in class which puts the burden on me to feed him. So Mom has been leaving me bottles each week. Back when we were still in the hospital trying to overcome Caleb's jaundice, we were under doctor's orders to supplement his feedings with formula. He had no problem taking from a bottle back then. But once the doctor gave us the clearance, Caleb nursed exclusively and did so until a few weeks ago when we started trying to give him a bottle. It hasn't gone very well. He has pretty much refused to take a bottle from me. We've tried different bottles with different nipples and nothing seemed to work. We figured that eventually, on one of these nights, he'll get hungry enough to drink from the bottle.

Tonight, after bible class, I went to get Caleb from his class. The teachers told me that he hadn't gotten cranky which surprised me and they hadn't given him the bottle. Once Mom arrived, I handed Caleb to her and went to find someone I need to talk to. When I returned to Mom, she had Caleb and he was taking from the bottle. I took Caleb and gave him the bottle and he took a pretty good amount from it. Hopefully, this was a learning experience and he will continue to take from the bottle in the future.

I mentioned a couple of days ago that Caleb has been grabbing at his socks. Really, he likes to grab his feet whether he has socks on or not. He pulls his knees toward his chest and
grabs his toes with his hands. If he has on socks, he clenches the material and as he lowers his feet, the socks stretch come off his feet. It's only been a matter of time before he completely pulls a sock off. Well, accomplished it tonight. He got a sock off his foot. Of course, just like everyhing else, the sock went straight to Caleb's mouth.