Caris turns 5 months!

Yay, Caris…  You’re 5 months old.  You need to tell big brother Caleb that his crib is not scary… nor are bugs/bees, dogs, bees, fans/air conditioners, fake gravel, mud, etc, etc.  Once Caleb stops screaming every hour or so, I think you’ll start napping/sleeping better again.  I hope so at least.  This mommy loves her sleep.  Sleep lots, little 5-month old!

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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.

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Caris, enjoy those rare moments when your brother leaves you alone. 

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This may be a tough transition time for Caleb, but he’s still going strong with learning & playing.  He’s still our innovative boy.

IMG_3425 (Caleb knows his colors and shapes… lots of them at least.)

IMG_3471 (Caleb loves playing in the sand.)

IMG_3479 (Yes, Caleb put those chairs together himself, climbed up, smiled at me, and said, “Oo, oo”… aka Choo-choo as in a choo-choo train.)

IMG_3533 (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. 

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But as always, our son recovers quickly.

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Soon, we’ll be celebrating Caleb’s 2nd birthday.  Can you believe it? 

Happy Birthday

Happy 1 year birthday!

Caleb had his 1 year birthday party a week before his actual birthday.  His actual birthday was when we were at camp.  (By the way, who’s camera was used to take pictures at his birthday?  I have mostly video footage)

Caleb had a blast at his party.  Too much of a blast that he didn’t get much of a nap in afternoon (only 30 minutes).  Of course if that wasn’t enough, after his wild birthday party he goes another baby’s birthday party.  2 parties in one day.  Let’s just say that Caleb didn’t sleep too well that night either.  I believe he woke up 6 times?

Update:
My wife informed me that he woke up not 6 times, but 8 times.

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Caleb got some great toys for his birthday.  He had so many new toys he didn’t know what to do with them all.  But his favorite toy (now) has to be his trucks.  He loves those trucks.

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Of course sometimes he just likes plain ol’ boxes.

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And sometimes he likes Tommy in the plain ol’ box.

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His actual birthday was more laid back even though we were at camp.  He had a bunch of people play with him.  He got to play with his trucks around camp.  And then on the night of his birthday, he woke up once at 8:45pm.  He didn’t wake up again until 5:40am!  Almost 9 straight hours of sleep.  I must say I was amazed.  If he could do 9 hours every night, he would have some much more happier (and awake) parents.

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11 Months Old

Caleb turned 11 months old on Tuesday.  We can’t believe Caleb’s almost one year old!

Over a week ago (last Thursday), Caleb took his first steps.  Well, he’s taken 1 or 2 steps on his own before this… but on Thursday, he walked to me in 5-6 steps.  He tried walking again today outside.  He still prefers to hold onto somebody’s hand or another object.  He also favors clinging to mommy’s legs as she walks around trying to get stuff done, making her do what she now calls the Caleb shuffle.

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He’s been trying to feed himself more often.  Most of the time, he won’t eat unless he gets to try himself.  Yes, our son is determined.  And, yes, Caleb is messy.

Yummy hummus & a giant pretzel stick:

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Caleb’s spinach fun:

 

Also, our son has started throwing infant tantrums.  I knew that we could expect them in the toddler years… close to 2 years old or so.  Did you know there are a few babies who throw tantrums?  Ours is one of them.  It used to be where we would take something away and he would just scream or cry.  A few days ago, I closed his bedroom door since it was time for him to get ready for his nap.  Caleb wanted to go out to keep playing (as always).  He took one look at the door, one look at me, and then flung himself on the floor on his back and starting hitting the floor with his legs/feet and arms/hands while screaming and crying.  Quite a sight. 

Here’s a short video of Caleb with Ellie’s (our kitty) collar.  He pulled it off her neck.  Each time Chris tries to touch it, Caleb yanks it away from him out of fear that it might get taken away.  This is just Caleb’s infant way of saying, “mine!!!!”  Did I mention we have a strong-willed child?

Also, on occasion, Caleb makes it very known that he doesn’t want to be put in his car seat.  He arches his back, yells/screams/cries… grabs at the mirror, at the window, at mommy’s hair.  This almost always seems to draw a slew of onlookers since Caleb rarely does his protests quietly.  No, Mommy is not abusing this child.  And, yes, Mommy is strict and still makes her child get into the car seat. 

 

Besides the tantrums, Caleb’s learning to do lots of fun stuff too.

Caleb is still a little scared of the vacuum cleaner sound, but he loves to play with the vacuum.  I can’t wait until he can help me clean.  Yay! (I know, I know… please just let me dream!)

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Caleb likes to make himself comfy in his stroller

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Caleb loves to clap.  Here’s a 1-second video of it.  We have another better one that we’ll put up once we download it.

 

Caleb loves to sort things.  Give him measuring cups.  Give him regular plastic cups.  Give him things to put into cups.  Give him rings.  Give him blocks.  Sorting things is fun, fun, fun. 

He even likes to put things where they don’t quite fit or belong.  Caleb, that block doesn’t fit into daddy’s xbox!

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Caleb loves to go through cabinets, especially the ones we’ve chosen to not childlock.  He loves to pull things out of the cabinets/drawers.  And we always find unexpected gifts in cabinets too.  Mommy says to daddy, “Have you seen where Caleb’s green ring is?  He was just playing with it, but it’s missing now.  (10 minutes later) …Oh nevermind, I found it behind the extra diaper wipes, inside the closed cabinet that’s inside his closed bedroom closet.” 

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I’m sure there’s lots more Caleb is learning to do, but this post is getting long.  So, bye for now!

Happy 10-Month Birthday!

Caleb turned 10 months today.  Caleb’s got the cruising thing down.  Give him a piece of furniture, a wall, a knee, a hand… and he’ll show you his cruising stuff.  He also tries to stand and walk on his own.  He doesn’t quite have the coordination down yet, but he’s trying.  He loves his little push toy walker. 

When he finally starts to walk well, we’re going to have to buy him his first pair of shoes.  He received some pass-me-downs from friends at church, but our son has big 5.5W feet and has outgrown all the shoes passed down to him already. 

It seems like he hasn’t stopped teething since the last 6 came in.  Animal-like gnawing and puddles of drool are commonplace, but Caleb still only has his 8 teeth.  No canines or molars yet.

 

This made me laugh.

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9 month birthday

ok, ok… so our son is nearing his 10 month birthday and we have yet to blog on his 9 month one.  we’re a little behind with our blogging.  we’re a little behind with everything!

 

At his 9 month checkup, we discovered that our son is no longer this huge baby anymore.  Always in the 90-100th percentile, he is now in the 50-75th percentile in everything.  Hmm, am I starving my baby?  Strange thing is that Chris and I get different measurements than Caleb’s doc.  Our scale told us that he was 22.5 pounds, and we measured him at 29.5 inches.  Oh well.  We know our munchkin is a healthy, active baby.

Length = 28.25  (50 percentile)

Weight = 20 lb, 14.5oz  (60 percentile)

Head Circumference = 45.5 cm  (50-75%)

 

Grandma & grandpa bought Caleb his first ride-on toy.  Caleb loves it!

 

Caleb’s crib now looks like a white prison.  Since he started crawling, we’ve had to remove the bumper from his crib leaving it completely bare.  Good thing, though… cuz Caleb loves to stand and climb.  He climbs onto our bedside tables already.  He pulls out his dresser drawers and tries to climb them.  He pushes boxes and get on top of them to reach things on higher shelves.  Where did he learn to do all this from?

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Caleb is looking more and more like his daddy.   Both of them are so adorable!

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Caleb still loves his music class, but now he’s more active and can stand and hit the drums hard.

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Awh, Caleb had his first (and hopefully) last allergic reaction.  We tried out a new rice cereal, not thinking that there would be any problem.  Within 5 minutes of having it, he started getting unusually cranky and his face turned red.  Then his eyes and face got puffy and itchy (see picture below).  It was pretty scary.  But our newlywed fellowship was there and prayed for him.  He got drastically better within a couple hours without any need for a visit to the ER or for medications.  Praise God!!! 

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Pupu (mommy’s mom) visited Caleb at the end of March.  I had so much fun with her.

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Caleb now occasionally can fall asleep at church for a short morning nap.  This is far better than the hour or more of wailing he used to do when we took him to church.

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Caleb is usually much better when we go out to eat now.  He loves menus… maybe more than mommy and daddy.

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Caleb’s 1st time on a playground swing.

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My, How I’ve Grown

[Caleb just celebrated his 8 month birthday on Wednesday, 3/27.  Happy birthday, baby boy!]

 

I’ve got 8 teeth now.  Can you see them when I smile big?

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I can brush my own teeth now… kind of.

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I’ve really excelled in my music class.  This is how we play those jingle bell things.

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I’m getting faster, but I still crawl like I’m a soldier.

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I like to pull myself up on anything I can. 

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I’m fine tuning my pincer grasp.  I’ve gotten much better at eating cheerios, except for those few slippery ones that just don’t want to stay in my mouth.

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I’ve learned some new tricks along the way.

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I’ve even learned how to shake my head no. 

 

[We love you so much, baby Caleb!  It’s so fun watching you learn new things.]

Happy Birthday!

Happy 6 month birthday, Caleb!

Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday, dear Caleb!
Happy birthday to you!