Caleb
Caris
Alrighty, I guess we need to take more pictures of Caris with her eyes open to really compare.
More Cute Pics of Caleb
Caleb loves the piano.
Caleb loves reading books. If I’m busy, Caleb will read it out loud to himself. Of course, I haven’t been able to understand his renditions of the books yet.
Pupu bought me this wawah (wagon). I like to pull it all by myself too.
Bath Time
Big Brother Caleb turns 21 months old
Caleb is still adjusting to his new baby sister. He really is trying. He’s watching and learning…. maybe a bit too much. Caleb sees Mommy burping Caris. Caleb tries too… only Caleb can be a little rough with his burping technique. Caleb sees Mommy wiping Caris’ mouth after being nursed. Caleb goes up to Caris and tries to do this too. Oh dear. Caleb, your sister doesn’t want her whole face covered with the spit cloth. Caleb sees Mommy rocking the car seat back and forth to settle Caris. Caleb tries to… You can already picture it, right? So, yes… my helpful big boy scares this Mommy when he’s around baby Caris.
We bought Caleb a baby doll. Someone gave us the idea that, if we could teach Caleb to be gentle with the doll, then he could be gentle with Caris. Not so. Then, we thought… maybe Mommy could hand Caleb the doll when he gets jealous that Caris is nursing. So, instead of trying to pull Caris out of Mommy’s arms, Caleb could hold a “baby" of his own. That didn’t work either. Well, I guess Caris now has her first doll.
Caris, enjoy those rare moments when your brother leaves you alone.
This may be a tough transition time for Caleb, but he’s still going strong with learning & playing. He’s still our innovative boy.
(Caleb knows his colors and shapes… lots of them at least.)
(Caleb loves playing in the sand.)
(Yes, Caleb put those chairs together himself, climbed up, smiled at me, and said, “Oo, ooâ€â€¦ aka Choo-choo as in a choo-choo train.)
(Caleb got up onto the chair all by himself, pulled the laptop to the edge of the table, and figured out how to open it.)
And with age, Caleb has become even more of a risk-taker. He loves to jump off of things like the couch. He still likes to climb everything. And his falls seem to be getting bigger as he gets older.
Here are some pictures after he fell right after his Gymboree class this past Tuesday. Caleb’s first “fat lip.†He split his lip open and was bleeding everywhere. It looked far worse than what it really was.
But as always, our son recovers quickly.
Soon, we’ll be celebrating Caleb’s 2nd birthday. Can you believe it?
Happy 2 Month Birthday, Caris!
Caris turned 2 months today! And she got her first set of shots… 8 vaccines in all. And, just like when her brother got his shots, she’s been feverish and fussy all day. She’s been throwing up her Tylenol and breast milk. Poor Caris. Good thing they make rectal tylenol. She seems to be doing much better now.
Caris’ Stats:
23†long – 75th percentile
12#, 1.5oz – 75-90th percentile
Travel Town Museum
On Saturday, we went to Travel Town Museum. It was Caris and my first time, but Chris & Caleb have been there before for a “daddy/son day.†We had lots of fun climbing up to see the insides of trains.
We’re not sure exactly when this happened, but at some point, our son had a huge tear down the left back side of his pants. He was wearing a dark blue onesie, so the tear wasn’t as obvious as it would have been if a white diaper was showing.
On our way home from Travel Town, Caris started crying. She was hungry. We had cut it pretty close to her feeding time. The freeway was trafficky, so we decided to pull off and feed her. I nurse Caris. Chris chases Caleb around the car. About 30 minutes later, both kiddos are strapped in their car seats again and we’re on our way. Caris starts crying again. This time it’s a “I feel uncomfortable from too much gas and I need to spit-up†cry. Caleb hates it when Caris cries. And even more, I think he hates the attention Caris gets from us as we try to verbally soothe her from our front seats. So, Caleb starts mimicking her cry, but only louder. Caris gets even more upset with Caleb crying too. 2 crying kids in a car is no fun. My maternal hormones are going crazy. But the funny thing is that, as much as the crying was bothering me, it must have been bothering Chris just as much. My normally calm-driving husband was now gripping the steering wheel and speeding up to try to get home faster. I couldn’t help but bust out laughing. I guess there are paternal hormones too???
Happy 1-Month Birthday, Caris!
One month later, Caris now weighs in at 8lb, 15oz (9lb, 3oz after feeding, though). That’s pretty good for a baby that started out 4 weeks ago at only 5lb, 11oz. She’s also 21.25 inches long, up more than 2 inches from birth.
Being 2nd born, Caris has kind of gotten shafted in a lot of areas. Pictures is one of those areas. It’s time to be better picture takers with our little girl. When I have a moment, I’ll download the pictures we do have and try to post some up. She is a cutie.
Caleb’s Sleep
So, Caleb’s sleep has always been easily disrupted. About a month ago, new neighbors moved in behind us with a dog who loves to bark. I was praying that the dog would quickly learn to be quiet so he wouldn’t wake up my son anymore from his mid-day nap. I noticed shortly after that there was no longer any barking. Yay, prayer answered affirmatively! 🙂 So, Chris & I have been wanting to visit our new neighbors with a welcome gift. We finally got around to going to their house this past Saturday. We learned that they gave their dog to the animal shelter since he wasn’t adjusting to the smaller house and backyard. Awh, now I feel bad. But my son is back to taking longer daytime naps.
Caleb has been talking in his sleep sooo much lately. In the middle of the night, he yells out these words and then goes back to sleep, usually. I’ve just spent the last hour listening to him babble away in conversation with himself. He’s practicing all these sounds, words, and phrases. Kinda cute. But not as much at 5:30AM. This boy just can’t shut off his brain. Sleep seems to always be the first thing affected when things change in Caleb’s life… good or bad things. Oh well, another developmental phase. Hopefully, we’ll have a big boy who can communicate better with us soon. We love you so much, Caleb.
Already Growing
Caris was born at 5 pounds, 11.4 oz. By the time we left the hospital (2 days later on Wednesday), she was 5 pounds, 7 oz. At her 1st pediatrician appt last Thursday, she was down to 5 pounds, 6 oz. It’s normal for babies to lose up to 10% of their birth weight in the first week. The goal is for them to be back to their birth weight by the end of their 2nd week. At her follow up appt yesterday, Caris weighed in at 5 pounds, 14 oz. She’s already bigger than her birth weight. Like her brother, she likes to eat. Go Caris!
Platelets
My platelet count came back last week the same value as before. So, it’s still slightly on the low side, but not getting any lower. The doctors expected it to get much lower in the 3rd trimester, but it hasn’t… praise God! They’ve warned me that there’s always a chance that my platelet count will lower more right before delivery, so they’ll do a quick blood test in the hospital when I arrive. If any emergency arises during delivery (like an emergency C-section or postpartum hemorrhage), I’ll need a platelet transfusion. Chris & I are praying that no such emergency arises and that my platelet count will be within normal range, so that I won’t need platelets. But we’ve also begun to plan a little… we’ve set up a directed donor platelet account with the Red Cross. Essentially, friends/family can donate platelets, which would be held on reserve for me at Arcadia Methodist just in case I need them.
If you’re interested in donating platelets, all you have to do is call the American Red Cross Patient Services Dept at 1800-696-1757. You have to setup an appointment at one of their plateletpheresis centers (they’re all over LA and Orange County). Plateletpheresis is a much longer process than donating whole blood and usually takes anywhere from 1 to 2.5 hours. You can learn more about plateletpheresis at:
http://www.lifeshare.org/donating/plateletpheresis.htm
http://www.givelife2.org/donor/apheresis.asp
Here are some eligibility guidelines in the link below. You need to also have not taken any aspirin-containing products for at least 36 hours. They also recommend that you are either a regular blood donor already or you know that you’re not scared of needles since the process takes much longer than a normal blood donation.
http://www.redcross.org/en/eligibility
Some other stuff to know is:
- Platelet donors do NOT have to match the same blood type as me. They look at other factors within the blood to give me the best match, but there is no platelet donation that would be life-threatening for me (like with a whole blood donation).
- Platelets only last for 5 days. It takes 2 days to process the platelets, so they’re only good for 3 days in the hospital. Thus, if I haven’t gone into labor or I simply don’t need them, your platelets will be used for another patient at Arcadia Methodist (e.g., a chemotherapy patient or a trauma victim).
- Since we have no idea when Caris will make her way into the world, we’ll need multiple staggered donations throughout February. Her due date is 2/14/09, so she’s considered “term” from 1/24 until 2/28. We’re hoping to get donations starting at least on 2/1/09 (meaning that your platelets would be ready at the hospital from 2/3-2/5 – since they only last for 5 days).
If you have any questions, you can ask Chris since he’s donated platelets before! 🙂