Excessive Cuteness

Warning - the following video contains excessive cuteness...

You have been warned:



If you cannot see the above embedded video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjSxcjOSmiM

Caleb's First Trip to Atlanta

Caleb and Mommy and Daddy visited Atlanta for Aunt Amy's wedding shower.  We had a lot of fun with Aunt Amy and Brad, and Caleb loved spending time with Gabriella and her parents, JJ and Melissa, too!  JJ is Isaac's best friend from College, so it was wonderful, though slightly surreal, to introduce our children.

While Mommy and Aunt Amy did wedding-related things on Saturday and Sunday, Caleb and Daddy visited with Gabriella, played with her toys, and went to Tot Shabbat and the Library with her. Unfortunately we did not take a single picture of Caleb with Amy or Brad, but we got a few great ones with JJ, Mel, and Gabriella at Isaac and JJ's old college hang out - Melton's App & Tap. 

Caleb had a great time sitting in the high chair

JJ, Gabriella, and Mel

The whole gang.
I cannot tell you how simultaneously great and surreal this is.

Caleb looking cute in Daddy's Hat

More Cuteness.

Melissa with Caleb and Gabby
(who was being uncharacteristically generous with
her mommy by letting her hold Caleb)

We can't wait to see the whole gang when we are back in Atlanta for Amy and Brad's wedding (and Mommy's birthday) in October!

Six Month Update

I'm sorry that I have been remiss in posting to the blog for quite some time.  Now that Caleb really has an evening routine that takes up most of my free time.  These days our evenings look something like this:
5:30 PM - Pick Caleb up at Tali's
5:50 PM - Get home from work/Tali's
6:15 PM - Feed Caleb something solid (peas, carrots, apples, etc)
6:30 PM - Give Caleb a bath (or swim and then give a bath) and get him dressed for bed
7:00 PM - Play with Caleb or read him a story (i.e. let him chew on some books)
7:30 PM - Nurse/lullabies
8:00 PM - Caleb goes down for the night
2:00 AM - Middle of the Night Feeding
6:00 AM - Good Morning Caleb!

Now sometimes this routine happens an hour earlier or later... it really depends on Caleb's mood more than anything else.  But while you would think that him going down at 8 would mean I still had two good hours to get things done, it's funny how it never quite works that way!  There are always household chores to do, eating (though not-often-enough making) dinner, catching up (barely) on email, and possibly watching one of the 4 TV shows that I follow.  Oh, and actually having a conversation every once in a while with the hubby... all of this leaves astonishingly little time for blog posting (or facebooking, etc). 

I used to post to the blog in the mornings and evenins while I was nursing because I could do it from my iPhone and Caleb did not seem to mind.  Well those days are over now that he refuses to nurse if I am doing anything other than singing and/or otherwise focusing solely on him. 

So, sorry again!

Now, for an update!
Caleb now weighs over 15 pounds.  He got great reviews at his 6 month Dr. appointment, and though he grew 2 pounds in barely a month, he is still only 7th percentile for everything (weight, height, head circumference).  He sits on his own, though he cannot actually get himself up to a sitting position yet, and he actually now stands on his own if he is holding on to something.  Yesterday he started walking with me holding both of his hands.  He rolls over and prefers to sleep on his belly now (though I still put him down on his back, he just rolls over as soon as I put him down).  We lowered his crib a couple weeks ago because we watched on the monitor as he got up on all-fours, lunged forward, and fell over... so it was time to drop the crib a level. 

Caleb talks a lot now.  He seems to have talking moods where he goes non-stop, but then other times he is much more quite and observant.  He likes the bath now.  He especially loves putting his hands in the water running out of the faucet and dumping a cup filled with water.  Oh, and chewing on the wash cloth.

I will post another post shortly with the photos from our photo shoot at Portrait Innovations recently... it is just amazing to me how much he is growing and changing every day.  Even though time is short and days are long, I would not trade it for the world!

State of the Caleb Address

Caleb is quite the talker these days!  He has an opinion about everything!



If you can't see this video, you can check it out on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu2lIaRY-UY

Caleb Eats A Piano

Caleb loves his piano toy... not only does it sound good... it tastes good too!



If you cannot see the video here, you can check it out on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hx87yPdFLMc

Enjoy!

Photos of Caleb's First Meal

I already posted a video of Caleb eating his first solid food - Peas, but it took me a while to upload the photos off of my camera.  Here are some great photos of Caleb's first attempt at solid foods:

Rice Cereal Face (pre-peas)

First Impressions...

Grrr... Peas!
This is when he had finished and we let him chew on the spoon.

All Done!

Even though I am pre-dating this post back to August 8th, now that it is almost September, Caleb has tried: Peas, Bananas, Carrots, Apples, Sweet Potatoes, and a french fry (thanks to his good friend Edie who is almost 2).  Next we'll try some of the homemade peaches Aunt Suzy gave us!  You would think he would show a preference for one food or another, but honestly, as long as it's being served on a spoon, (or in a nice fried stick) he doesn't seem to care what it is! He does have a preference for foods being a little bit thicker than the strained jars generally offer, so Mommy often puts in some rice cereal to thicken things up.  Dr. Aaron said that we should really wait 3-4 days between each new food that we introduce just to check for allergies, so Mommy has been pretty good about that.  But since he hasn't shown any propensity for allergies thus far we'll probably let him start trying new foods closer together in the next few weeks.  Mommy bought sweet potatoes to cook for dinner sometime this week, so that will be her first attempt at making a Caleb-propriate portion of what Mommy and Daddy are eating (mushed up without the butter or salt).  Wish her luck!

Visualize Whirled Peas!

We've been leading up to this day for a while now.  Caleb has been practicing chewing and swallowing his rice cereal, he's been exercising his spoon utilization skills any time he has the chance, and he's been sitting on his own and acclimating to the high chair.  This morning we turned a new page in the world of the Squish.  And it was good.

Observe:


If you can't see the video above, you can view it on YouTube at this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3esQFSMoFBk

And so we have arrived... Sweet Peas were a success!

I cannot believe that Caleb will be 6 months old on Tuesday.  It's been a really rough week for mommy - getting used to the idea that he is moving steadily away from infant and toward toddler.  Obviously we aren't there yet, but every day seems a little closer.  Caleb is such a little man now.  He sits on his own, he rolls over, he mimics movements (which means we get waves for "bye-bye" if we wave at him long enough).  He says repetitive consonant sounds (like babababa and, as of this morning, mamamama).  Yesterday I watched him see a toy he wanted at the end of his crib, roll onto his tummy, wiggle and push his way against the sides of the crib until he got to the toy, grab it, and roll back over onto his back to play with it.  He wouldn't do this if I was watching, and he only does it in the crib where he can push off the sides, but still...

I know we have not been good about posting to the blog, so if I have time today (maybe during his lovely 2-hour mid-day nap) I will try to back post a few things.  But otherwise, know that Caleb is doing well, that we love and miss all of his family, and that he is having a great time playing with all of his friends.