A full night's sleep!

This past week Caleb has been doing a few new things. He rolls from his back to his belly....and rolls and rolls and rolls. Today I left for a few minutes to do some dishes and when I got back he was pinned in the corner across the room.  He sits up unsupported and plays by himself really well. He is on the way to cruising!

He is getting his first tooth on the bottom left, it just broke the surface of his gums yesterday. We can tell it hurts him sometimes so we hope it sprouts soon.  Most exciting....Caleb sleeps through the night! The last several nights he has been sleeping from bedtime to wakeup = VERY HAPPY PARENTS! When he does wake in the middle of the night, he rolls himself onto his belly. There is nothing sweeter than seeing a soundly sleeping baby with his butt in the air.

Whoever thinks you need fancy toys for kids is crazy. Give this little boy a spoon, whisk, baby food top, cup, pretty much anything he can hold, and he is set. He started banging things the last few days too. Here was our dinner entertainment last night - both Nathan and Caleb.

Nathan plays the guitar for Caleb in the evenings, it is really sweet. I told him he needs to learn some kid songs -:). Our little guy cracks us up and makes us smile all the time. I think he knows how much we love him!

Living close to Uncle Nathan

Elizabeth told us that Sam has been very excited he will be living close to his Uncle Nathan when they move to Virginia. So, on they way to their new home in Richmond for the next 8 weeks, they came to visit us for the night. As soon as the boys ran in and gave us hugs, they headed straight for the toys and Twix, our cat. It had been a couple of months since they were last here, but they knew exactly where to find the trucks...kids are smart, especially when it comes to toys!

Caleb was asleep when they got here, but after napping for 3 hours, Andrew came with me to wake him up. Andrew jumped right into his crib and Caleb's eyes got so wide when he woke up to his cousin in his bed. Haha, I wish I had a camera to capture his face! We played with the boys all afternoon. It was fun to get Caleb and Jacob together again. They are getting so big and they were really staring at each other...in between grabbing each others face, ears, hands. It was very cute. Sam and Andrew are great big brothers and big cousins. They are so sweet with Caleb and they like to hold him. Sam and Caleb had a good hug going, but I think his patience was wearing a little when it came Andrew's turn -:).

Andrew quickly moved on to the trampoline...I mean exercise ball. Good thing dad was close by!

After dinner we gave the boys a bubble bath in our big bathtub and they loved it! They had fun making beards out of the bubbles and splashing around. Towards the end, they decided to have a contest about who could tolerate the coldest water. They would turn the water on super cold, sit under it as long as they could, then run away. I think those two are ready for the polar plunge. Little boys love running around naked after bathtime...let's just say it took a few minutes of chasing around to get pajamas on!

The night ended with dancing to Hap's cell phone ring tones, a wrestling match, getting arrested (jail was our hallway bathroom), and reading bedtime stories. Kids have the best imaginations. If only we can be more like little kids!

We had a wonderful visit with the Jolliffs and were thankful for the time we got to spend with them. We will be seeing them in the coming months and looking forward to another fun weekend soon. We love you -:).

6 month update

Caleb had his 6 month checkup earlier this week. As promised, here are his stats:

Weight: 14lbs 5.5oz (5th %)

Height: 25'' (5th %)

Head: 17''

Daddy said he did great with his shots and he just cried a little bit. Did I mention that Caleb is active???The only time he is not moving is when he is asleep (or watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse for a few minutes after he wakes up). It is a lot of fun to play with him, and only a matter of time before he is moving on his own. He is sitting up pretty good and is getting better at playing by himself. Last night when he woke in his crib, he was on the other side from where we put him down to sleep and he was turned around. I think our stationary days are about over! 

We took Caleb to dinner twice this week. One night at a Chinese restaurant, he accidentally knocked a plate off of the table, and the waitress tried to charge us $15 for the plate. After she and Nathan had a little discussion, she ended up charging us $5. Hello, have you heard of an accident? Needless to say we will not be returning to that restaurant. Last night we went to an Italian restaurant and we made it out plate breaking free. Caleb makes an attempt for just about everything in his potential field of reaching, so we are pretty careful to keep the knives far away and some things he can play with close by. He's great table company if he has something to play with!

We have had a very mild winter this year. We have had a few 60 degree days in January and in general pretty mild days in the 40's. I am sure I just jinxed us and we will now get a blizzard and 2 feet of snow like we did a couple of winters ago for the snowpocalypse....we shall see. It was nice to wake up to a couple of inches of snow. I love how pretty the snow looks on the trees and covering the ground. Here is a view into our back yard.

Hap, Elizabeth, Sam, Andrew, and Jacob will be swinging by for a visit tomorrow, so be on the lookout for another post in a few days. 

Home Renovations

One of the things I love about Nathan is his drive to learn new things, especially when it comes to projects around the house. We have been talking about putting up crown moulding and a kitchen backsplash for some time, and since Nathan had a 2 month break from school, he learned how to do both and he was hard at work during his time off. He worked on the moulding as he had time and it took him a couple of weeks, and the kitchen backsplash we did over New Years weekend.  I can't take much credit, except for holding trim while he used the nail gun, and helping place tiles and with the grouting. He did all of the precise measuring, cutting the trim and tiles, and the finishing work. I am really proud his hard work, and the house looks great. I have a very handy husband -:). Here are some pictures of his hard work.

Kitchen Before 

                                                                             Progress

                                                                        

                                                                        Kitchen After

My pictures do not do the crown moulding justice since I can't get that high to take pictures unless I am on a ladder, but it looks awesome and it brings a new dynamic to the rooms. I especially love how it looks on our red dining room wall.

Thanks for all your hard work Nathan, the house looks great!

6 Months Old!

Six months ago today we welcomed Caleb Nathan into the world! Our lives have changed in wonderful ways these past 6 months, and we could not imagine life any differently. At 6 months old, Caleb continues to be a very active and curious little boy with so much energy. In the evenings after we pick him up from daycare he plays for another couple of hours before bed.  He sits up on his own for a couple of minutes at a time while playing with toys, he still loves to stand and gets excited that he can do it himself while holding onto couch cushions. He loves putting his feet in his mouth (and everything else he gets his hands on - like his birthday sign), he plays with all kinds of small toys, his music table, exercauser, door jumper, and any object you give him. He smiles and laughs a lot and likes playing peek-a-boo.  His teachers at daycare say he loves food and he eats every ounce of it.

Clothes: 3-6 month and 6 months sizes
Diapers: size 2
Eating: bottles every 3-3.5 hours. When I got pneumonia in December and had to get on antibiotics for a couple of weeks, he stopped nursing:( But I continue to pump so he gets mommy's milk during the day and formula at night. With his bottles, he eats oatmeal for breakfast, a fruit or vegetable for lunch, and rice cereal with his night bottle.
Sleep: about 7:30pm - 6:30am, waking once a night to eat (and multiple times just because...we are working on that)!
Naps: 3 a day - he sleeps well at daycare

We take Caleb for his 6 month appointment on Wednesday, so stay tuned for his height and weight.

Happy 6 month birthday Caleb, we love you!

Back to the Grind

I survived my first week of work and Caleb's first week of daycare. Going back to work is bittersweet. I love the time I had at home with Caleb, but there are aspects about work that I was happy to return to, especially the people. It will be an adjustment getting back to the fast paced days, but being home gave me a different perspective on life, family, and work, and I really look forward to going home each evening to spend time with Nathan and Caleb.

While it is sad to leave Caleb in daycare, sad for us at least, he seems to be having fun. Nathan said he goes well to the teachers in the morning, and when I pick him up in the afternoons he is playing with toys or other kids. He eats all of his bottles and food, takes 3 naps a day, and his daily report says he babbles a lot and is very sociable with other kids. We are thankful he adjusted so quickly and  that he is enjoying his new daytime setting. Now if we can only get his night time sleep under control we will be good!

Nathan started back to school this Saturday. He is half-way done with his Masters program, and he can now count down in semesters...only 3 to go!  It was great for him to have a 2 months break from school over the holidays. During that time we visited my family for Thanksgiving Thanksgiving Extravaganza in Florida and his family for Christmas A Plan B Christmas, and we did some home improvement projects. More to come on that in a future blog post when they are complete.

This weekend was quiet which was exactly what we wanted -:). On Saturday I enjoyed being home with Caleb while Nathan was at school and we had a 65 degree day in January...love it! On Sunday we went to church, we got outside for walks and runs, and hung out at home playing with Caleb.  His latest fun activity is standing on the couch and holding onto the couch cushions. He gets the biggest smile and starts laughing when he stands up all by himself. It is sooo cute!

I also did some crockpot cooking. My mother-in-law gave me a couple of cookbooks for Christmas and each week I have been making a new recipe. This week I make crockpot lasagna. It was so easy and it tasted delicious.

Have a great start to your week!

First Day of Daycare

We started Caleb in daycare on Friday, since I will be returning to work on Tuesday and we wanted to give him a trial day before he begins full-time. Over the last 5.5 months we have left him at the gym and church nursery and with family and friends, so we were not worried about leaving him, though sad that this time has come. The time I have had at home with Caleb has been wonderful, and I am so thankful to have had this opportunity to bond with him and help him grow and learn about the world. Going back to work is going to be a transition in many ways. 1) re-integrating into work after being home for 6 months, 2) leaving Caleb in full-time daycare, 3) being a 2-person working household. When we picked him up in the afternoon, he was sitting contently in a swing.  His report said he ate all his bottles and food and took 3 naps, so he seemed to make an easy transition. We know Caleb will have fun with all the kids...it will probably be harder on us than him, but we know and trust that he will be well taken care of -:).

Happy New Year

As I welcome 2012, I look back on the wonderful 2011 we have had. I am very thankful for God, Nathan, Caleb, our wonderful family, and friends. In January, we took at nice vacation to Argentina, in February Nathan built our awesome deck, in March Nathan started his Masters in Engineering Management program, in April I had a baby shower in Florida, in May we went hiking in Shenandoah, in June I had a baby shower in Virginia, in July we welcomed Caleb Nathan into the world, in July and August my and Nathan's parents, my brother, and many good friends came to meet Caleb after he was born, in September we visited Nathan's family and friends in Illinois over Labor Day weekend and my mom came to Virginia to visit, in October I did a 5k race, in November we visited my family in Florida for Thanksgiving, and in December we visited Nathan's family in Illinois for Christmas. We spent a lot of time together as a family, with our families, with good friends, and I am looking forward to what lies ahead this year! This little boy is wishes you a Happy New Year -:).