Just a Lazy Saturday

Today was an uneventful day. Mom went out this morning to get a haircut and left Caleb at home with Dad. Mom went out again this afternoon to pick up dinner. Dad is sort of gettig the hang of dealing with Caleb by himself. This evening after dinner, Mom, Dad and Caleb went for a walk around the neighborhood. About halfway around the subdivision, Caleb decided he didn't like being out and he let us know quite vociferously. So Mom and Dad cut the walk short and took Caleb home. Caleb spent the rest of the day either eating or sleeping with Mom.

Earlier this week, I mentioned that we have received some gifts that stand out in our minds more than others. One of the packages at our baby shower came from Mrs. B who will is the Cradle Roll teacher at our church. She has been teaching cradle roll forever and everyone at church swears by her. She loves the babies and it is obvious. When we opened the package it was full of items, many of them handmade. She made a number of shirts as well as other items including the burp cloth shown in this picture. She stitched the word and the characters onto the towel and it is very cute.

I have a feeling Mrs. B will become one of our favorite people. We are looking forward to taking Caleb to her cradle red class. She is a very important member of our congregation and her effort in making the clothes wll always be special to us.

Fabulous Friday

Caleb and Mom both survived their first full week on their own. In fact, both seem to be doing quite well. Caleb visited his pediatrician this morning and the report from the doctor is that he is doing very well. He now weighs 8lb 2 oz which means he has gained over two pounds since we brought him home.
When Mom first got up this morning, she found that Caleb had completely wiggled his legs out of his blanket. Of course, that has nothing to do with the fact that Dad swaddled him at 3:00 AM and was thus half asleep when he swaddled him.

For his appointment with the doctor Mom dressed Caleb in his dinosaur overalls. These are sized "Newborn" and despite the fact that he is gaining weight so quickly right now, the overalls swallow him up and his feet barely stick out the end of the legs.
After the appointment, Mom went in to her office because school was out. Mom left Caleb in his carrier while she did a little bit of work and got some files to bring home. This is the first of what will be many days that Caleb will spend with Mom at work.

After such a busy day, Caleb and Dad spend some time together while Mom eats her dinner.

To close out the day, Mom, Dad and Caleb went to Wall's for some ice cream. For the first time, Caleb got to get out of the car at Wall's. Dad and Caleb sat at a table outside while Mom went in to get the ice cream. Caleb was awake most of the time we were at Walls and seemed pretty content to just hang out in his carrier. Except for rare circumstances, Caleb seems to like his carrier pretty well. We didn't get a picture of Caleb's first visit to Wall's however because the camera did not get into the diaper bag.

Cute as a Bug

We have recieved a lot of nice things to use in our care of Caleb. We are grateful for every act of generosity shown to us and every item we have received. However, some items are just a little more special to us or melt our hearts just a little more than the other items. We received one of those items just this week.

Mom has a really good friend, MB, that went to college with us. Both MB and Mom share the same middle name. During college, they began to have a nickname for each other where they replaced the other person's middle name with the word "bug." Eventually, they began to call each other just "bug" and they still call each other that to this day.

It has been fun to play with their shared nickname and buy each other gifts featuring bugs. It was been especially fun to buy their children bug themed clothes. Earlier this week, we received an oversize package with MB's return address on it. When we opened it, we found a cute blanket with Caleb's name embroidered on it along with a picture of a bug. Of course, Mom fell in love with the blanket and insisted on using it immediately. Here's a picture of Caleb wrapped up in his new blanket.

Mom has generally enjoyed her days at home with Caleb since Dad went back to work. Mom especially likes the moments when Caleb is awake and alert and at peace. The second picture comes from Mom's hang out time with Caleb earlier today. They were laying on the bed and Caleb was in a really good mood looking at Mom and interacting with her. The second picture is taken from Mom's perpspective as she lay next to Caleb today.

Cozy

One of the coolest gifts we were given was a Boppy Sling. This is a neat way to carry Caleb around because it allows the wearer to be hands-free yet keep Caleb nearby. It's cool for Caleb because he sits down in it and curl up in a little ball and sleep. Mom really likes the sling because she has found that Caleb sleeps really well in there. Mom likes to put Caleb in the sling if she needs to do something using both hands or if she just needs a break from holding him.

Today, Mom and Caleb went out yet again to a support group for nursing moms. I think the trip was really good for Mom. It allowed her to get out of the house for an extended period of time, it allowed her to interact with other adults, and it allowed her to get advice and reassurance from other moms. Mom seemed really juvenated today after attending the group.

This morning while Mom was getting read to go to the group, she was moving around the house and used the sling to hold Caleb. He was fast asleep the whole time she was getting ready and didn't stir at all. Mom took a peek in the sunlight at Caleb snoozing in the sling and this is how peaceful he looked.

Out for a Walk

A theme that seems to have emerged lately has evolved around Caleb going out. As a newborn, and at his pediatrician's orders, we have been keeping him in the house and limiting his
time out of the house. So I guess it is a big deal when we take Caleb out of the house. Getting out of the house is also a big deal for Mom because she is stuck here with Caleb all day and is getting quite a bad case of cabin fever. So any chance Mom gets to leave the house is really exciting.

Today, Mom took Caleb for his first walk around the neighborhood. We have talked about going out for a walk for a couple of days now and Mom finally went through with it. While Mom enjoyed the exercise and the fresh heir, I didn't get the idea that Caleb was too impressed. According to Mom, Caleb did not like the sun so much. Of course, he has not been in direct sun light very often. So mom kept the canopy over Caleb for most of the walk, so she did not really get to enjoy him as much as she had hoped. Perhaps and early morning or evening walk would be more enjoyable.

The walk was also another first. Although we have used the infant carrier numerous times, today was the first time Caleb rode in his stroller. I doubt it made much of a difference to him since he still rides in the infant carrier, but it is nice to get some use out of the stroller rather than just having it take up space in the living room.

Out of the House

Caleb had a couple of firsts today. This morning, Caleb went with Mom to visit Mom's doctor and check on Mom's blood pressure. Caleb's been out of the house many times in his two weeks at home: two previous trips to Mom's doctor, two trips to the pediatrician, a run down to Knaus Berry Farm, two Wall's Ice Cream runs. Caleb has been in the car several times for varying lengths of time, buth this was the first time that Mom and Caleb went out on their own as a couple. Mom's blood pressure is back to normal which is a huge relief to all involved and Mom reports that Caleb did very well this morning. In this picture Caleb is in Mom's arms getting ready for their big outing together.

Tonight, after Dad got home from work, Caleb had another first. This was the first time Dad and Caleb stayed home alone together while Mom ran out so Mom could run some errands. While it was not an overall bad idea, the timing could have been better.

Caleb started waking up as Mom and Dad ate a yummy dinner dropped off by some special friends from church. According to Mom, Caleb had two more hours to go before he would want to eat. The plan was for Mom to go to the grocery store while she had a large window before the next feeding. Our was mistake was thinking Caleb would not want to eat soon after waking.

Caleb was fine at first and enjoyed spending time with Dad. However, Caleb was fussy and his fussiness increased as time went by. Caleb decided he was ready to eat, however, Mom wasn't here. Dad tried his best to soothe Caleb, but Caleb just wasn't having it. Caleb was on the verge of all out meltdown, so Caleb and Dad both were happy to hear the front door open. Mom helped avert a near disaster. Other than that, it was a good day.

Sleepy Sunday

Today was Mom and Dad and Caleb's first full day at home alone. Dad went to church while Mom and Caleb stayed home. Dad came home to have lunch with Mom and Caleb and then mom and baby napped most of the afternoon.

Yesterday was a difficult day. Caleb was very hungry all day long. He ate ALOT. Because he was eating so much, he wasn't doing much sleeping and he never really got into a peaceful, restful sleep yesterday. When he did sleep, Caleb was very fidgety and he was uhappy if we tried to put him down in either the bassinet or his bouncy seat. Caleb spent much of the day in either Mom or Dad's arms. He was so fussy yesterday that he was unhappy if we sat with him. He was most content when whoever was holding him was standing up.

The upside to so much eating and little sleeping was that he wore himself out. Caleb spent most of today in a very deep sleep and even slept in his bassinet part of the afternoon. Caleb slept so deeply that Mom said he had a five hour stretch last night where he would not wake up to eat.

For just today, this is a good thing. However, right now, he is in a bad pattern where he gets really tired and sleeps all the time. With all that sleep, he then builds up his energy and generally does want to sleep for the next day and a half. He swings from extreme to extreme. Mom and Dad are looking forward to the day when he is on a consistent, predictable pattern.