One Year

Caleb made it through another night again last night. There's a saying out there about "sleeping like a baby." Whoever came up with that saying surely wasn't talking about MY baby. Of course I'm grateful that he has been sleeping all night in his crib the last few nights, and he certainly looks peaceful if you go into his room and glance at him, but now we have evidence that all is not as it appears.

When Mom went into his room this morning, she found him like this with his foot sticking out of his pajamas. He doesn't fuss loudly enough to wake us during the night, but it is apparent that he does not necessarily sleep peacefully through the whole night. He obviosly fidgets enough to get his foot out of the pajamas.

Today was Mom and Dad's ninth anniversary. I wanted to take a picture of Caleb wearing this shirt because it was one year ago tonight that Mom used this little shirt to tell me we were going to have a baby. I came home from work last year and Mom was in the kitchen cooking. When I got home, she handed me a small, green gift bag. I opened it and I pulled out this tiny little white T-Shirt that says "There's Nothing Like Watching the Canes With Dad." I stared at the shirt for a minute and I meekly said "Really?" Mom said yes and we hugged. We just stood there in the kitchen holding each other for the longest time and I don't know how many times I asked her if she was serious. Every time I asked, she said yes.

That was a really special night. For a long time, before we were even seriously considering having a baby, Mom wanted to come up with a really clever way to tell me she was pregnant for the first time. I think she was wonderful and I will always remember that night.

Now, here we are a year later. Caleb's been with us for a little more than four months. I can barely remember what our life was like before Caleb came along and our life before last year seems like a distant dream now. Caleb has changed us and it is all for the better. His growth and advancement are so exciting to watch and I look forward to many more anniversaries when we get to recall two of the greatest moments in our lives: our wedding and the day we knew we were going to be parents.

Roly Poly

Caleb had another successful night of sleeping. He slept through the whole night we did not have to go into his room a single time to soother him. It's an odd feeling, though. We are used to him waking constantly and we are used to having him next to us. So it is a big adjustment having him sleep quietly through the night in another room. Because it is so out of character for him to sleep peacefully for an extended period of time, you begin to question whether he is OK. When I go into that nursery, I'm looking for any sign of breathing or movement. In my logical brain, I know he's fine and millions of babies sleep on their own. By my emotional brain wonders about his safety and whether I should keep him close at all times. Of course the logical brain wins out, but that does not prevent me from tensing up when I first walk into the room to look at him.

Of course, this morning, Mom had a sign that he was OK when she first walked in the door. Caleb had rolled over in his sleep and was just about sleeping on his tummy. Mom came back into our room just long enough to wake me and say "Caleb rolled over. I'm going to get the camera." Of course, I jumped out of the bed and went into the nursery to see him. There he lay on his stomach looking as paeaceful as ever.

Mom's about to start school again, so she and Caleb took one last opportunity to come have lunch with me. Caleb has been trying to figure out how to sit up the last few days. He generally understands which muscles are necesary and tries to use them, but he just doesn' have the strength quite yet. He usually ends up just slumping over, or, when he's in the car seat, sort of on his back, he draws his legs in and drops his head in so that he curls up like ball. At the restaurant, we left him in his seat, but he was still trying to sit up. Based on the way he was sitting, his efforts generally ended with his legs sticking straight in the air. One time I grabbed his leg and moved it in front of his face. He ended up contemplating his foot in the same manner his ponders his finger. So we had a lot of fun with him today.

He's a Good Boy!

The second night of sleep training was a complete 180 from the night before and was amazing. We have a good friend from church leaving town to attend law school and we had a going away dinner for her last night. Due to the size of our group, the restaurant was moving very slowly, so Mom had her dinner packed up in a to go box so she could come home and follow the bedtime routine. When I got home, Mom and Caleb were both fast asleep. I sat down at the computer to check my email and post and by the time I was done, it was well past the time Caleb had awakened the night before. So I was getting a little nervous. I went to bed and we didn't hear a peep out of him all night long. He actually slept through the entire night IN HIS CRIB! It was the best night of sleep Mom's had in ages.

I figured the reason he slept so well was because he did not sleep much the night before and becuase Mom had kept him awake late in the evening when he showed any signs of going to sleep. So I was worried that he would be worked up and not sleep tonight. But he's been in bed for a couple of hours and has slept just about the whole time. He did wake and we could hear him crying on the monitor, but he must have soothed himself as he quit crying before we went into the room to soothe him.

Mom did say that Caleb was pretty cranky today, but the times I saw him he was in a good mood. He played on his jungle gym today and of course he turned himself sideways. When Mom put him down, Caleb was laying underneath the arch and the pillow you see was under his head.

Tomorrow is a big day for Caleb. He is going in to get some professional pictures done. Of course, the outfits he is going to wear are very important and Mom had to choose them very carefully. Apparently, this afternoon, Mom conducted a fashion show with Caleb as her own person model. Mom said that Caleb was very patient and tolerant as Mom made him try on several different outfits.

This evening, Mom had to go to the AT&T store because she was having issues with her iPhone. I like this picture because Caleb's red hair seems to stand out. That red hair has become quite the conversation starter as everyone asks about its origin. It now appears that it could have come from either side of the family. If it was Mom's side of the family, it's quite likely it wil turn blonde when he is a little older. If it was Dad's side of the family, he may keep it. We have also heard that red hair is a recessive gene and both parents have to carry the gene for it to express itself. So the answer is we really don't know where it came from. We just know we like it and we hope he keeps it.

On the Move

The sleep training got off to a rocky start last night. After the bedtime rituals, Mom put Caleb in the crib. This part was actually easy. Caleb talked himself to sleep shortly after he was down in the crib. Unfortunately that did no last. A couple hours later, just as Dad was settling in to sleep, Caleb woke up quite unhappy. Caleb cried for well over an hour. Mom went into the room on a regular basis in an effort to soothe him and he finally back asleep. He was awake several times in the night and Mom got up to comfort him each time. As a result, he did not get enough sleep and has been pretty tired this evening. Mom would not let him sleep so that he would be ready when we put him down. For the record, he's already asleep and has slept longer tonight than he did last night.

Although he is not crawling yet, Caleb is becoming more mobile. We have to keep a much closer eye on him on the changing table now because he is liable to wiggle right off. Mom captured several pictures of Caleb playing on his jungle gym. What follows is an uninterupted series of pictures that have no human assistance whatsoever.

New Routine

This morning, we got up and went to see the church we are here to visit. We had a nice time there. As everywhere we go, Caleb was a big hit. Here he sits on a couch the church foyer while we wait for the minister to go have lunch.

Tonight we started Caleb's sleep training. As part of that, we have established a bedtime ritual so Caleb will get some cues that it is time to go to sleep. So far, Caleb's been getting a bath twice a week, but Mom decided that Caleb would get a nightly bath as part of his bedtime routine.

After the bath, we wrapped Caleb in one of his towels. This towel is one of the more interesting gifts we received because it is from a lady in our congregation and is semi-homemade. She took a full size bath towel and a face towel and sewed them together using the hand towel to make a hood for Caleb much like some of the towels that we received from the store. As you can see, she also attached some little lions to the hood of towel. We really like this towel because it is a high quality towel. I'm tempted to use it myself.

We also love it because of the time, effort, talent and love that went into it. We are so blessed to be part of church family that loves us so much and who want to love Caleb too. We are confident that this church family will love Caleb and will help us raise him for as long as we are a part of this congregation.

Not So Fast, My Friend

Saturday, July 2, 2008

Caleb's day got an early start as he got his first taste of Miami Hurricane Football. The Canes held their first practice today and it was open to season ticket holders. We arrived on Campus just before 7:30 A.M. as some of the players were taking the practice field to do some stretching. We watched practice for about an hour before we decided to call it a day. Though it was only 9:00 when we left it was already extremely hot and we all were feeling a little miserable.

Tonight we are in Ft. Myers, Florida. After practice, we went home cleaned up and packed the car for a last minute trip to Fort Myers. We are here to visit a church and meet with one of their ministers. Uncle Bob heard their preacher speak at the Spiritual Growth Workshop and was already interested in taking this field trip. Uncle Bob is part of a committee at church that is looking at different ways to improve our congregation and the are all going to visit different successful congregations in an effort to gain some insight into successful churches. So, Uncle Bob asked if we would make the trip with him and here we are at the Crowne Plaza in Ft. Myers.

Tonight after dinner, we headed out to Sanibel Island to get some beach time and watch the sunset. Sanibel is known as a wonderful shell beach and I found some nice shells that I brought
home. Mom wanted Caleb to put his feet in the sand and the water. He seemed to enjoy being out there.

Unfortunately, we did not get to stay out too long. After a few minutes out on the beach, I felt tiny little itchy bites on my legs. I looked down and discovered that we had stumbled upon a large swarm of sandflies or no-see-ums. These are nasty little critters that bite everywhere. We had heard about them when we moved to Florida, but we had never encountered them until tonight. We ended our beach stay and headed back to our hotel.

Everyone is ready to crash because even though we thought we were home and done traveling, we discovered there is always something to do or somewhere to go.

From Mother With Love

As Granddaddy would say, Caleb is 1/3 today. Caleb is four months old meaning he's already made it through a third of a year.

I didn't actually witness any of the action taking place in today's pictures. Today's pictures are all courtesy of Mom and are of things she wanted to share.

Mom took this picture of Caleb in the mirror. She had given him a new rattle today which he seemed to like quite a bit. Mom wanted to show that she was zooming around the house with Caleb on her hip clutching the new rattle.

Caleb also enjoyed playing with his new rattle while lying on his changing table.

Finally, Mom had Caleb in her lap and was playing with the rattle. But this particular picture is not actually of the rattle. Mom pulled out the camera and Caleb turned his head away from her. Mom spoke his name and he responded by turning to face her.

His grip continues to improve and he is beginning to associate sounds and the direction from which they originate. We are blessed to have such a wonderful baby.

Work Hard, Play Hard

When Caleb is at work with Mom, he has a lot to accomplish during the day. He has to play and exercise. He has to eat. And he has to nap. That's a lot to get done for such a small boy. So Caleb decided to multi-task today. He decided to fall asleep WHILE he was playing, thus accomplishing two things at once.

On the Move

It's strange to me that some days, I have a hard time figuring out what to say and which picture to use. Other days, there are a bunch of pictures and so much to tell. Today was one of those multi-picture days.

Caleb's been wiggly for a while now, but now he is actually starting to propel his body. He can really pump those legs pretty vigorously now. Watching him, you get the sense than at any moment he could get some traction and launch himself into crawling.

Mom took this first two pictures this morning with the phone on her camera. Mom originally laid him on the quilt so that his head should be at the bottom of the picture and his feet at the top. She stepped out of
her office into the main office to talk to a parent and she came back in and Caleb had done a complete 180. A few minutes later, he had managed to get himslef further off the quilt.

The key to Caleb's movement seems to be the fact that he has pretty strong legs. Dr. K. commented on his leg strength way back at the two month appointment and he has stood on his legs really well just about since he was born (with assistance of course). Tonight, as we were getting ready to head to the church building for our Wednesday night class, Mom tried to get Caleb strapped into the car seat, but he wouldn't cooperate and bend his legs. He just stood in the car seat for a few moments. Mom finally got him settled into the seat and we were off.

We had decided before all of our trips that we would start leaving Caleb in the Cradle Roll class once we got back to Miami. Tonight was our first opportunity to do so since we were in Orlando this past weekend. Mom quickly ran in, got him situtated, snaped a couple of pictures and joined me in class. We got the report that he generally did pretty well with a little fussing at the end.

So not only is Caleb moving on physically, he's moving on in "maturity." I can't believe he is already at the point where he is going to be able to be in bible class on his own. This feels like such a big step. It's going to be nice for Mom and me to enjoy class together again, but it feels so odd to leave our son in the care of another person. I know that one of our major (and maybe even sole) duties as parents is to prepare Caleb to survive on his own without us, I just didn't know we would have to start doing it so soon. (I'm also pretty sure I'll look back at this some day and think I'm being pretty silly to let this be such a big deal, but to me, right now, this is a VERY big deal.)

Little Dude

We got this onesie for Caleb a few weeks ago. I was going through a phase where I was referring to Caleb as "dude" and so I thought this shirt was humorous and appropriate. Mom wasn't so thrilled with my use of the word "dude". The ironic thing is that I have stopped using that word now that he is wearing the onesie. I didn't consiously stop calling him dude and I don't really remember when I stopped doing it. I must have been some where along the way during our trips over the past month.

The first picture was taken this morning just before Mom and Caleb headed out the door for the day. He had only been dressed for a few minutes, yet you can see that Caleb has already drooled all over the the shirt. One of the reasons Mom thinks Caleb is already teething is because he drools a lot.

He has been drooling so much that we've been putting bibs on him to keep the clothes dry. The funny thing is that right now, in addition to the drool, his other activity lately is to grab anything he can. He is also trying to figure out how to get things in his mouth. When He has his bib on, he grabs on to it and tries to eat. Between the stuffing of the bib in his mouth and the general arm waving, his bibs don't stay straight very long. Mom sent me this second picture because caleb had completely turned the bib backwards. It doesn't do much good that way.