Baby steps!

UGH and YAY! is all i have to say to that. I'm so proud that he's taking steps and at the same time it's extremely sad to watch my baby quickly becoming a toddler. I'm not very fond of that word. In fact it scares me a bit. Seems like just yesterday Caleb and I sat in our special chair a couple of times a night and bonded while i fed him. Just yesterday he slept in his bassinet and just yesterday i was hearing him cry for the first time. How time flies. On the other hand, he's more independent and i don't have to hold him 24 hours a day.

When does it stop bothering me that he no longer needs me as much? I know. I know. He'll always need me but never like this first year. Now i know why mom's never let go of their sons. Sheesh! I won't do that but the temptation is huge, especially when said son wants nothing and no one but you. I WON'T. I PROMISE.

So now he's taking some steps. Another move towards becoming free of mom and dad's arms and hands. It hurts but it's the best feeling in the world knowing how far he's come. He's so healthy and thriving beautifully that i can't imagine him in any other way. I so badly want him to walk and just as badly don't want him to but i guess that's the challenge. We do what's best for our kids even if it means we're not quite ready to let go.

He's about to turn 1 in less than a month. Walking, babbling, stretching his arms out so i can hug and hold him in the mornings when he wakes up. Our goal is to always encourage the kindness in him. That part that makes him want to open-mouth kiss us out of the blue. The part that makes him walk up to his grandma because he hears her (pretend) crying. He's so beautiful and honest. I get very emotional when i think about him and what a blessing he's been to us. He'll always be my baby. The one i held for the first time almost a year ago. The one that slept between us on his first night home because neither one of us had the heart to put him anywhere else. I miss that baby but the reality is that we couldn't be happier with the boy he's becoming.

We've got so much time to enjoy him and our job as parents will never end but full independence of Caleb is around the corner, well, at least once he starts to really walk. Baby steps at the moment are not only his but also ours. Ernest and I are so in the process of learning to let go...let's be honest, me. I'm taking baby steps towards letting go. Ernest can't wait till he's walking, talking, running and all other fun activities. I cry any time he does something new because it makes me happy and it hurts at the same time. I'm rambling.

Here are a couple of pics.

Problem solving 101

Caleb's intelligence is astonishing. His problem-solving skills are killing me. Twice already he's been unable to do something and has figured out how to make it possible. THe other night he was standing, leaning on the couch next to his chair. on his side of the chair was the little mobile that's attached. He started to want to climb in to chair and saw that he couldn't because of the mobile. So he took his little tushie around the chair and climbed into it from the other side. Then he sat there and watched Yo Gabba Gabba. I watched him amazed at how smart he is. I was so proud to see that he just knew what to do. He's very much like his father in that respect. I've always said that Ernest is extremely intelligent without even knowing it. He understands things i can't even wrap my brain around. Well, thank goodness Caleb's got his brain.

Then this morning he followed me into the bedroom while i got dressed. This is never fun anymore because i can't just prop him up on the bed and know that he's not going anywhere. So me getting dressed also translates to pulling him away from outlets, drawers, his father's night stand where he keeps important stuff which Caleb likes to pull and throw on the floor or put in his mouth, and making sure he doesn't get hurt. So i'm standing there blocking his way from getting to the side of the bed that has the outlets and he's upset. Whining, grunting, and whining some more. I say, "no, Caleb. Momma said you can't go there." He's still upset. So he sort of attacks my legs in the same way a bull attacks it's matador but i stay firm when he looks to my left and sees that he can get under the chair and go around me. HE DOES! Then i just let him until i saw him head straight to the outlets so then i got him out of there.

I hope he never loses that. We'll make sure to always encourage it. He's amazing.

We hope to have video of him taking tiny steps soon. He's been doing it but since i'm the one to catch him i can't video it as well. Soon, friends. Soon.

fun with videos

Some of these i've posted on FB but somehow, i'm still waiting for them to process. UGH! Here is some footage fast - and some pics of Caleb Carter growing up way too. Enjoy!

A Momma's Boy he is not!

Ernest always says that I've turned Caleb into a Momma's Boy. Well, i haven't, however, I do plan on enjoying every second of this phase which is "i only want my mommy and no one else." The funny thing is that he only wants me if he sees me. Otherwise, he's more than happy to hang with others. Example, Ernest picks him up from day care and i don't get home till 7 so for 2 hours he's perfectly content hanging with his dad. The same goes for my mother. He doesn't even think about me but as soon as i walk through the door it's all about me. HA! AND I LOVE IT.

But if Caleb ever takes a nap on our bed guess who's side he prefers or who's pillow he prefers to get very snuggly with? NOT MINE!!! Oh yeah it's all about dad. Example, i put him down for a nap not too long ago but as soon as he saw Ernest laying in bed he wanted to play so he didn't stop until he woke his dad up. Then Ernest left the bed and Caleb snuggled up to his pillow slowly and lovingly closing his eyes everytime he smelled it.

Sidebar, what is it with babies and sniffing things? He'll take my shirts, his dad's shirts or anything we have on or have worn and just sniff or rub all over his face. Guess they smell something totally different.

Back to the story. So he kept hugging Ernest's pillow and then turning to me, then turning back to it and hugging it. Everytime he would snuggle with the pillow his eyes got heavier and heavier. Ernest returns and lays next to him. Moves the pillow and puts himself in its place. Caleb never moved. Ernest puts the sheet over him, snuggles Caleb close and that was it. Caleb is now napping with his dad.

I'm telling you. It was so beautiful to watch. It was a little more than i could handle and so i felt like the third wheel and had to leave the bed. Here i was waiting for him to nap so i can nap too but no. I'll let them have their moment. I wish i had a picture of it but you can imagine it. Maybe it's better left physically undocumented.

An apple a day...

Here are some pictures of Caleb Carter doing some solo eating of an apple. He liked it. Now that he has teeth he put some dents into that apple. It was amazing to watch my little boy holding that apple and scraping it with his teeth. Anyway, enjoy!

Changes

I've thought about it and here it is. I'd really like to be able to update this blog more often than i do but it's almost impossible to do and have pics to go along with the stories of Caleb Carter. Sooooooooo, what i'm going to do is blog shorter posts more frequently. I will try to post as many pictures as i can especially of milestones or anything else he's doing, but i can't promise that it will happen every time. He keeps us very busy especially now that he's so mobile. On that note, he's got another tooth to go along with another ear infection. Saturday morning was rough. He was screaming in pain and i could do nothing to help him aside from a little Motrin, which did help. What an awful sound that cry was. If i never hear that cry again it'll be the happiest just fine. Luckily he's a strong little guy and spent the rest of the weekend much better. Playing and being Caleb Carter. He's drooling like a mad man. There's drool everywhere. I've never seen him drool like that before. He's got more teeth on the way which i guess means more ear infections, hopefully i'm wrong.


He's also sleeping through the night. HALLELUJAH!!!! He doesn't wake up to eat anymore, which means less bottles for us to make - HALLELUJAH!!!!!! again! He does wake up at least once in the middle of the night. I go in there, he sees me, grabs his blankie and goes right back to sleep. How am i feeling? GREAT! He goes to bed at 9:30. Wakes up at 6:30 and actually just stays in his crib playing quietly. I went in there this morning because my alarm clock woke me up, otherwise he would've kept playing. What a lucky mom i am. What a beautiful boy i have. So now i just take him into our room and play with him for an hour. We laugh, he stands, ignores crawling, and we just have fun. Then we get ready for Day care. He's still crying when i leave but i've been told that as soon as i leave he's fine. I don't know if i should be happy or offended. Nevertheless, i'm just glad he stops crying.

One last thing. Recently i've been told that Caleb's taking on a little bit of his father's looks. Of course i choose not to see it because he mostly looks like me. His dad is handsome, yes, but i could show you some baby pictures of me and you wouldn't doubt his looking like me for a bit, but i won't, or maybe i will, but not on this post. Anyway, you be the judge. He definitely has his father's expressions and he's looking like Stephen (his big brother) a bit too. By the way, Stephen looks very much like Ernest. Ok, so here's a pic of Caleb looking like his brother who's looking like Ernest. Enjoy!

We've got a tooth!

PLEASE CLICK ON THE PICTURE OF THE TOOTH SO THAT YOU CAN SEE IT IN A DIFFERENT WINDOW SINCE THE BLOG CUTS OUT THE TOOTH.

Well, Caleb does. FINALLY!! After starting to teeth since he was three months old, finally, at 7 months there's a tooth. I was changing him last Thursday, i believe, and i was doing my usual silly dance and making faces at him when i noticed something white in his mouth. He was laughing (cuz i'm so funny at 6am) and i noticed it. So of course i tried to see it closer but he only stuck his tongue out and wouldn't let me. So i decided to be funny again and there it was. A TOOTH!!! It had just broken through the gum. He already looked cuter than he had 5 minutes before when i thought he didn't have a tooth. It all makes sense now. All those fevers and various infections the weekend before. They were pushing his tooth through. So now here's this tooth. A sign that he's becoming an actual person and is faster and faster leaving his baby-dom behind. How sad and amazing at the same time.

Another sign that he'll soon be off to college? He's standing. Still doesn't crawl but he stands. Why? Why is that ok? He's completely overlooking a very important milestone in his development and just cruising onto something that's just going to help him leave me quicker. Yes, this is about me. I'm going to use this blog to also work through my issues with Caleb growing up. Hope you can still stay with me.

Oh yeah, and he's also clapping like a madman. First thing he does in the morning when i go get him from his crib, after he gives me a big smile of course, is clap. While i'm changing him? Claps. While i'm feeding him? Claps. Usually while the spoon is in his mouth and then the cereal goes everywhere. You get my point. He claps. All you really need to do is say YAYYYYYYYYY and he'll clap. It's so satisfactory.

So, a tooth, clapping, and standing. When he starts walking i'm going to need therapy. Enjoy the pictures.