The grossest thing ever...

Okay, maybe not EVER, but it's pretty stinking gross. Caleb Zakai has been allowed to have meat since he was six months old, but other than the random pre-chewed bite I've given him - pretty gross in and of itself - he hasn't had any. I realized today that the time had come to introduce more into his diet when I watched my dad feed him a good chunk of a full Mexican meal.

(Which reminds me of Serena feeding him practically half of her piece of ice-cream cake. Girl, I thought he was going to be wild and then crash, but he remained pleasantly stable that whole day!)

Anyway, I go ahead and cook the chicken, and then puree it with some pear juice. I realize as I'm pressing this mixture into ice cube trays that I'm getting a little nauseous. MEAT IS NOT MEANT TO BE THIS LIQUID! ("Slurp-A-Lunch" on Aqua Team Hunger Force should have taught us this.) Ew. Just typing about it is making me feel a little sketchy.

Other big events of recent history: Caleb got his first cut requiring a band-aid today. We have some exposed carpet tacks in the entrance to our kitchen that we usually keep an entryway rug over. However, with a scootching baby, it doesn't stay in place anymore. So he moved the rug, then went back to where he started, and apparently caught one of the tacks with his toe. I honestly didn't even notice that he was hurt, because he's been a little fussy all day - teething again?! What the heck? So then later, as I'm trying to make him laugh, giving myself a concussion by allowing the ceiling fan to conk me repeatedly, I notice as I'm losing consciousness that his foot is bleeding profusely. Apparently he takes after his momma and Grandpa G and bleeds far more than the wound warrants. So we had a wonderful mother and son half hour playing with his feet in the sink. Once I've got the teensy eighth inch scrape cleaned out, I threw on some neosporin and a bandaid.

Note to self: if I ever need another ten minutes of peace, put a bandaid on Caleb's big toe. He's had SO much fun playing with it!

The other big news is that he's learned how to undo his diaper at night. It's been so lousy hot that I put him to bed all naked except for that, and he's decided that even that is too much. The first night was the grossest, because he had done a stinky grossness that required an immediate bath and two loads of laundry. I thought it was a fluke. But he's done it for the last two mornings as well. I'm going to have to put on one of those little diaper covers like Terra uses.

He sat with me in church tonight, the first time since he was a teeny baby. Because he's teething, he's cranky, clingy and the snot flows like milk and honey. Not the most ideal situation to take him to the nursery with other little babies. Even if I know it's a result of his teething, I doubt that his teachers or other parents would see it that way. He really got into praise and worship. Because he's starting to imitate everything around him, it was really fun to watch him "praise the Lord" with his arms up. But let me tell you, that kid weighs about ninety pounds when you have to hold him through a half hour of singing. But he did a great job, and kept flirting with the older couple sitting behind us. This kid is going to be a LADYKILLER! (Well, I guess a more accurate description would be "charmer," because he throws that million watt grin at anybody, male or female!)

He's officially moving to the mobile nursery at school tomorrow. He started taking "field trips" over there this week, so he's getting pretty used to it. I'm really going to miss the current teachers, but I'll still see them fairly regularly. And HE'LL still see them all the time. His new official teachers have come over to say hello on a daily basis for the last five months, so now his old teachers will go see him in his new room. I think every teacher at that place knows him. It's fantastic to see him always opening up to new people. He's already so much more wonderful than I am!

This morning started at 5:15 am. That's earlier than most weekdays! But we made the most of the time. It's amazing to just spend time with him with no agenda. However, I'm really hoping he sleeps in a little bit tomorrow. I'm going to keep him up pretty late tonight and hope that it works. I could use a lazy morning!