Too Much Stuff

Now that we are taking our little man out and about (well just church and to visit the grandparents, but that still counts) I am amazed to discover how hard it is to just get out of the house for a little while. Why is it so hard, you may ask. Because of all the stuff we have to make sure we take with us. I'm trying to keep the diaper bag stocked with essentials at all times, but I'm the kind of person who feels the need to check it before we leave anyways.

We need his paci. I hate to be so dependent on it, but sometimes its the only thing that calms him down, especially if he's upset in the car. We need lots of diapers and wipes. Believe it or not, 10 diapers is not always enough for an afternoon away. We learned this from experience. We need a change of clothes, or maybe 2. This we also learned from experience. We need a blanket, in case he gets cold. We need a burp cloth unless we want to end up with spit up all over us. We need his jammies if we're going to be out late, so that I don't have to wake him up when we get home to change him. Toss in my wallet, cell phone and keys, and we're ready to go.

But wait, we still have to get Caleb strapped into his carseat. And it must be done just before we leave and not a moment sooner because while he doesn't mind riding in the car, he does mind sitting in his carseat if it's not in motion. He even gets fussy when we stop at red lights and stop signs. If you could just see us driving down the street. If I'm in the front seat (sometimes his screaming warrants me moving to the back to attempt to quiet him before we go crazy), but if I am in the front, I spend my time trying to reach his paci to pop it back in his mouth or jiggling his seat so that he will think the car is moving even if it's not.

The things we do for our kids...sometimes crazy, but always worth it.

5 weeks old

Caleb is 5 weeks old today. Hard to believe. It seems like just yesterday that we brought him home from the hospital, but at the same time I have a hard time remembering life without him.

At 5 weeks old....

Caleb is sleeping through the night even better, about 6.5 hours, which is amazing.

He's even more alert.

He loves looking out windows, and at a particular shadow on the ceiling above his changing table.

He scoots from one end of his bassinet to the other when I put him on his stomach,
looks like we'll be moving to the crib soon.

He's eating quicker and better. I don't have to spend the whole time waking him up, which is nice.

He still smiles in his sleep, and is close to smiling while he's awake or at least Charles thinks so.

Big Boy!!

Caleb had his 1 month doctors appointment this afternoon and he now weighs 10 lbs. 11 oz. He has gained 2 lbs. and 6 oz. since his last appointment. AMAZING!!! He's a big boy. The first thing the doctor said to me was, "So I guess breastfeeding is working for you." No kidding.

Everything else was great and he goes back in a month. And apart from the fact that I woke him up when taking him out of his carseat when we got there, and he spent the next 20 minutes screaming, it was a good appointment.

At some point I'll have to post a picture of myself as a baby, I was rather, shall we say...chubby as a baby, and it seems Caleb has inherited that from me. I'm fine with it though, I think fat babies are cute. :)

This little guy needs some prayer. Click on the picture to get his story.

Happy Boy

He only smiles like this while he's sleeping...I wonder what he's dreaming about.

Naptime

A perfect day for a nice...

long....



nap.

What I love about Caleb at 1 month old

*He still sleeps alot, but when he is awake he's much more alert.

*He is content to sit and look at you, no need for toys or entertainment. A face is all he needs.

*He is beginning to recognize my face instead of just my voice.

*He is getting faster at eating, which means more time for other things.

*He has started making cooing sounds.

*He can sleep anywhere and sleep peacefully.

*He can lift up his head and look around, if you talk to him he looks around to find you.

*He is absolutely adorable when he sleeps.

*He's not big enough to get dirty and need a bath every day.

*He is so cuddly. Holding him is so much fun.

*He has the cutest little feet.

*He looks like his daddy.

Basically I love everything about him and can't wait to continue watching him grow.

This baby boy just slept "through the night". I fed him at 11:30 last night and he just woke up a few minutes ago at 6:00. Probably just a one time thing, but we'll see.

We're getting there...

Slowly but surely we are gradually getting more of a routine, thank goodness! This week Caleb has been taking good naps, in his own bed, not my arms, yay! Although it does take a few minutes of patting his back to get him to sleep. I know... I know... he needs to be able to get to sleep by himself, but it kills me to listen to him cry and cry, and if patting his back for 5 minutes helps him then I'm gonna do it... for now. Just watch, he'll be like... 12 ... and I'll still have to pat his back before he goes to bed, wouldn't that be strange. Hopefully it won't come to that. I'll gradually just wean him off of it, but I'm going to wait until I'm a little less sleep deprived because right now it is wonderful to have him napping in his bed several times a day ... 4 to be exact.

That's right... he takes 4 naps a day. He wakes up in the morning, typically very early, eats and then almost immediately takes a nap. He takes another nap in the middle of the day, one in the late afternoon and one in the evening. Although I guess the evening nap could just be considered nighttime. I call it a nap because it is after this that he eats again, gets a bath, and gets his jammies on. Normally between 8 and 9.

At night he does wonderful. I typically wake him to eat before I go to bed, between 11 and 12, and he is already close to sleeping until morning. Right now if I feed him between 11 and 12, he can make it until around 4 or 5, which is too early for me to start my day (good thing he takes him first nap after this). But sometimes he eats earlier the night before (around 9 or 10) and is up at 2 or 3 to eat and then sleeps until 6 or 7. Tonight he'll eat around 11:30 so hopefully he'll make it until around 4 and then go back to bed until 7 or so. I don't think it will be long until he is sleeping 6 or 7 hours at night!!

So slowly but surely things are getting back to normal around here ... a different normal, but it's still nice.


BTW : Caleb is one month old today. Happy Birthday Baby Boy!!

Little Tiger Fan

4 weeks old

Things get rather confusing at this point. While Caleb is 4 weeks old today, he's not 1 month old until Thursday, the 23rd. So I wasn't sure if I should post today or wait until Thursday. But oh well. I can not believe it has been 4 weeks already, that seems crazy! We have a doctors appointment next Monday and I will be very interested to see how much he weighs. Any guesses?? My guess is 10 lbs. 3 oz.

The last couple of days have been rough. I wanted to attempt to get Caleb on some sort of a schedule so I started paying attention to what time he was napping and what time he was eating every day. After several difficult days I realized I was trying to do too much too fast. So for now, I'm just trying to establish a routine. He eats, plays, naps, over and over again throughout the day, on a 3 to 4 hour cycle. Hopefully in a week or so this will be established enough to attempt to start watching the clock again, and getting some sort of order to my days. If his first "cycle" starts at the same time every day then my days will pretty much look the same. So that's the goal.

At 4 weeks old...

Caleb is more awake and more alert.

He likes watching the mobile on his swing, and sitting in his bouncy seat.

He eats every 3 to 4 hours, and sometimes 2.5.

At night he sleeps anywhere from 3 to 5 hours between feedings at night, so I'm still getting pretty good sleep.

He has outgrown even more newborn clothes and is even wearing some 3 month clothes.

He still loves sleeping with daddy in bed, and when he gets fussy sometimes its the only thing that works.

He takes naps in his bassinet rather than the swing, but does not go to sleep very well on his own.

He still likes his paci but doesn't NEED it.

First Sunday at church

Caleb attended church for the first time this morning. I was a little nervous about taking him with so many other people, but he did great. We sat in the chapel so there weren't too many people. I expected him to sleep the whole time, because it was right in the middle of naptime, but I guess there was just too much going on because he was awake the entire time. The unfortunate side effect of changing up his schedule this morning has been that his schedule has been messed up all day.

He ate as soon as we got home, and started acting tired (I'm sure he was since he had missed his earlier nap) so I put him down, but I think at this point he was so exhausted he couldn't sleep, because he just cried and cried. Finally, he fell asleep, but only for about 20 minutes and then he woke up crying again. It had been 2 hours since he had eaten at this point (he usually goes 3) but I thought he might be hungry so I tried feeding him again, which just put him back to sleep. So now he's napping and I'm hoping he'll be back to normal once he wakes up.

He wore an outfit that my mom made for him to church this morning, and looked very cute if you ask me...he also looks JUST like Charles in this picture

Busy Days

Here's an example of my busy days

I wake up sometime between 5AM and 7AM and feed Caleb. If it's closer to 5, then it's back to bed for both of us for a few more hours of sleep. If it's closer to 7, then there's a good chance Caleb is up for the day. Let's just say he has slept until 7. After eating, he's good and awake for a bit. I on the other hand am not so awake, so we lay on the couch and watch some TV while I try to wake up. Around 8:30 or 9 it's time for a quick nap (for him, not me) before it's time to eat again. While he sleeps I have time to pick up a bit around the house...or not...depending on what I feel like doing :) Between 9:30 and 10 it's time to eat again, and by this point Caleb is probably crying. I've read that as parents you should look for hunger cues so that your baby doesn't end up screaming and crying because they are so hungry, but with Caleb, that's not possible. He goes from being sound asleep, to crying in a matter of seconds. So once he's up, I change his diaper, and feed him. He normally goes right back to sleep at this point to finish up his nap. At this point, I rush to get ready for the day, not knowing how long I'll really have before he wakes up. I shower and get dressed. Sometimes I have a good 30 to 45 minutes to do this, and other times (like today) he wakes up and cries as soon as I get in the shower. At 11:45 Charles comes home for lunch. He takes over for a few minutes so that I can finish getting ready (if I haven't had the chance) and so that I can do a few things around the house (load the dishwasher or start a load of laundry or something). Then we have lunch, or if Caleb is being difficult, we take turns having lunch. Around 12:30 or 1 it's time for Caleb to eat, yet again, and then he's awake for a few hours. He then eats again, followed by naptime. I have a good hour or two at this point to get things done around the house. He wakes up when he's hungry and I feed him...again...it seems like that's all I do, doesn't it?? It's probably about 5:30 or 6 at this point. Charles comes home from work and takes over again, while I get dinner ready. It's really just warming something up for now. We have had so many people bring us meals...its been great! Charles and I eat dinner, or once again, take turns eating dinner. We just hang out in the evening. Every other night Caleb has a bath at some point between 6 and 9 and get's changed into his jammies. Around 9 he eats again and then it's time for bed. Sometimes he eats one more time around 12, in which case he's up again at 5Am and the day starts over again. And sometimes he makes it from his 9 o'clock feeding until 2ish. In that case, he sleeps until about 7AM and the day starts over again.

Busy days....but I love it!

3 weeks old

Caleb is 3 weeks old today! He has already changed so much and is getting so big. Here is where we are right now....

He can hold his head up all by himself to look around.

He sleeps for 4-5 hours at night and lets mommy sleep.

He loves sleeping with daddy in the evening.

He loves being swaddled and sleeps so much better when he is.

He loves taking naps in his swing.

He likes his paci, but thankfully doesn't have to have it all the time.

He has outgrown some of his newborn sized clothes and newborn sized diapers.

He takes long naps during the day, but then wakes up starving, and I just can't move fast enough.

I can't believe it's already been 3 weeks!

Dad's Perspective...

I thought I would take a minute and tell you about my perspective on our life now. Let me start by saying that I love being a dad! It is a very unique relationship experience for me. I think that it compares to God's love for us in that He loved us before the foundation of the world. I have never loved someone just because they exist. Caleb didn't have to earn my affection. I love my heavenly Father because He first loved me, I love my parents in large part because they first loved me, I made a choice to love Elaine forsaking all others but only after getting to know her, and then there is Caleb who I loved before I met him and the love grows each time I see him. This may seem kind of weird, but I really have thought several times about how unique a parents love for a child is. I am beginning to understand the love that our parents have for us. Thanks Mom and Dad from both Elaine and myself!

Elaine really makes it easy on me! Either that or I am just a horrible Father/Husband...hmmmm...something to ponder!?! Just 5 days after Caleb was born Elaine encouraged me to play my weekly softball game (I didn't play as I thought I would be nominating myself for bad dad of the year!). Less than 2 weeks after he was born I spent 2 hours fishing at Herb Parsons Lake...and again a week later! I have changed some diapers but rarely without Elaine offering to do it for me. She is definitely the primary care giver and is sure to peek her head around the corner if Caleb is crying while under my watch (Elaine...I just laughed out loud...'Daddy's Watch') just to make sure I am at least attempting to calm him...ha! She let's me sleep while she feeds him at night! I could go on, but at the risk of making her sound like Super Mom let me end by saying again that she makes it very easy for me to be a dad. She is very comfortable with kids and now she just has to manage two instead of one! Thanks Babe!

And last but not least is Caleb. Really this kid is a bundle of joy...at least most of the time. I love his awake time and watching him as he...well, sits there for the most part, but I like to brag on him and tell him how strong his neck is, how well he is flinging his arms and kicking his feet, or ask him what he is saying as he kind of gargles and spits and sputters. One of my favorites is watching the faces the guy makes as he goes to sleep and wakes up...we have some video maybe Elaine can put a few up. It is amazing how helpless he is and how he is totally dependant on the care of his mom and dad. He can't feed himself, cant change his diapers, can't even go to sleep when he is tired without the work of his parents. Again, it is a picture of a love that our Father has for us. I am quickly realizing how helpless I am in the eyes of a sovereign God. It is a true statement to say that we love our children well because of the love that our Father has for us.

Stay tuned for my next post..."Never mind, he is a terror just like his daddy!"

Bathtime

Caleb had his first real bath last night. He has had a few sponge baths, but now that his umbilical cord has fallen off he can have a real bath. I was hoping he would enjoy this more than the sponge baths he has had, thinking that he would be warmer and more comfortable during the whole thing. Well it started out pretty good....

No tears at this point, although he doesn't seem to know quite what's going on, but by the end of it all.....



He didn't seem to like it any more than the sponge baths. Oh well...at least he's clean for another couple of days.

2 weeks old

Caleb had his 2 week doctor's appointment this morning, and everything went great. He was born at 8 lbs., a few days later he was down to 7.5 lbs and they wanted him to be back up to 8 lbs. by today. Well, he was. He weighed in at 8 lbs. 5 oz. so they said he is doing great. He has also grown an inch, which is crazy! He was born at 20.5 inches and today he was 21.5 inches. He is still in the 50th percentile for height and weight. The doctor said that because Caleb is back over his birth weight I don't have to wake him up to feed him at night anymore. Yay!! There are some nights when I have to wake Caleb up after 4 hours of sleeping to feed him, so I'm hoping it won't be long until he is sleeping through the night on his own. I can't even remember what 6 hours of straight sleep feels like, but I'm looking forward to it.

He also had his first shot today. It was the hepatitis B shot, which sometimes they give at birth, at the hospital, but Caleb didn't get it there, so he got it this morning. He DID NOT like it. But he only cried for a few seconds and then he was fine, and I'm sure completely forgot about it a few minutes later.

We spent the rest of the day at the house, me watching the Michael Jackson memorial (I'm not sure why) and Caleb sleeping and eating, since that's all he does.

It's crazy that Caleb is already 2 weeks old, but at the same time I feel like he's been here forever. It reminds me of the way I feel about being married to Charles, on one hand it's hard to believe it's been almost 4 years since we got married, but at the same time it feels like we've always been married. Both are wonderful!! I love being married to Charles, and I love being Caleb's mom, and I know Charles feels the same way. He is such a great dad! I love watching him and Caleb together and the cute way they interact with each other.

Here is a picture of Caleb from today...at 2 weeks old.

Caleb and his lovie that he got from Aunt Rachel

The Cutest Smile

A Busy 4th of July Weekend

We had a busy weekend. Well, busy considering we now have a 2 week old baby to tote around with us. It began Thursday night when we headed out to Charles' parents house to visit some friends from out of town. They came all the way to Memphis just to see Caleb. It was Caleb's first long car ride, and by long, I mean 40 minutes, but he did just fine. We only stayed for about an hour, but that was long enough for Caleb to get passed around from person to person, which he doesn't particularly like. I think it was just too much stimulation for him, because it took him forever to fall asleep on Thursday night, and he normally has no problem at all.

On Friday we went out to my parents house for the 4th of July, and saw my aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. Once again Caleb got passed around alot, but he did a little better than the night before. On Saturday we hung out at the house, and then Charles went fishing in the afternoon, and then we watched fireworks on TV. Let me just tell you, it's not the same as seeing them live, but we didn't really want to get Caleb out again.

Sunday, we just relaxed. It was a fun weekend, but I can't wait until next year when Caleb is 1. Will he like fireworks or will they scare him?? We'll just have to wait and see.

My two guys, relaxing after a long weekend.

In case you noticed Charles' new haircut, I did it myself....impressive huh?

The Joys of Parenthood

This afternoon Caleb was having his "awake time". It only happens twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening for about 2 hours at a time, and he's asleep for the rest of the day. Anyways, he's just hanging out when all of the sudden our power goes out. At this point I'm not sure why it's gone out, but I give my mom a call just to let her know that we may be heading out there for the night if it doesn't come back on. I didn't think I could handle changing diapers and feeding Caleb in the pitch black in the middle of the night. So, she and my dad are just leaving Wednesday night church and want to stop by to see Caleb. I tell them to come on over, and just sit in the darkening house waiting for the power to come back on. They show up a few minutes later and hang out for a little bit, all the while I know that Caleb needs his diaper changed, but he's so content that I hate to change him and make him mad. (He doesn't like getting his diaper changed) Thankfully the power comes back on and my parents head home. At this point I've forgotten about the needed diaper change, so I just hand Caleb off to Charles so that I can get a few things done around the house. The next thing I know Charles is yelling, "HE'S PEEING ON ME". I tell him that's not possible...it's not like he's naked....he's wearing a diaper. Then I remember that it's been over an hour since he first needed his diaper changed, and sure enough, diapers are not unlimited in their absorbency. Caleb's diaper was so full that he had, indeed, peed all over Charles' shirt.

It's only fair after the peeing incident earlier this week during bath time. So now, Caleb has officially peed on both of us. Ah...the joys of parenthood.