Hands Down!

Today was the BEST DAY EVER! My little Caleb is getting more and more and MORE fun every day, but today was particularly fabulous!

He and I got up at about five to play ~ at about six, we decided to have breakfast. Runny rice cereal! It was delish! Caleb ate about a tablespoon of cereal mixed with some water, and ate every drop!

Then at noon, he ate about a tablespoon of green beans. I don't know how much he's supposed to be eating, to be honest, so we're just offering him food until he seems to be tired of it. At least, that's the case with veggies, because...

...for dinner, he had bananas, and he ate a FULL HALF! Yummy! He seems to be getting the hang of eating from a spoon on just the second day!

And actually, I gave him some of my potato for lunch. Just teeny chunks, but he instinctively chewed it. It was marvelous fun!

He's still having four bottles a day, but it's nowhere near as fun as spoon food.

Check out the new pictures if you get a chance. That kid is QUITE the cutie!

Beans and Bananas...

Today was Caleb Zakai's 6 month appointment! In addition to having his first month ever where he didn't gain more than two pounds, we were excited to get the okay to feed him solids!

He's eighteen pounds eight ounces, and healthy as a horse. (A horse that still wheezes a lot!) Which is kind of a relief, since we figured we were going to have to get his new carseat this weekend. We still need to get it quickly, but it's not an immediate concern. The doc said the only other major thing to keep in mind is to keep Caleb exceedingly safe in the sun. Sunscreen alone won't do it - the kid will probably have to wear a hat until he's got a full head of hair. Nice.

His first exposure to real food was bananas. (B-a-n-a-n-a-s. Hollaback boy!) He would make these ridiculously awful faces when he tasted it, then be eager for more! It was more fun than anything I've done for a long time.

And of course, it just got better. We gave him green beans for dinner! Even worse faces, and not so much a great attitude about the prospect of more. But infinitely more fun, because he kept grabbing for the spoon just when it was getting to his mouth, so it was far messier.

Save your lectures, old-hand Mommas. I know it won't be so cute and wonderful after a while. Let me enjoy it while it IS!

I'm so psyched for tomorrow morning. He's supposed to have runny rice cereal for breakfast! Doc said rice in the mornings, veggies at lunch and fruit at night is a good general rule to start with. It will be really handy, because he's been really unhappy about the number of bottles he's had lately, and this will be in addition to the amount that he's been eating already. Of course, to be honest, between the bananas and green beans, I'm not sure he even took in a tablespoon of food.

Holy crow, life is so awesome! By the way, for those of you who grew up with me loving DC Talk, if you haven't heard the Diverse City album by Toby Mac, I highly recommend it...

(Nobody said the WHOLE blog had to be about Caleb!)

Waited too long again!

Holy crow! So much has been going on, and we've been having such fun that I haven't been keeping this as updated as I need to! We'll start with late last week...

Caleb is starting to sit up! He's still got quite a few spills when he overcompensates a lean, but every day he gets better. I think it's great because I've been nervously monitoring the back of his head, and it will be good to have that thing away from the floor a little more!

Saturday, we had a Mary Kay party with Johnna, Susan, Jaz and Jess. It was a lot more fun than I would have expected - of course, almost everything in life is more fun with Caleb in our lives! (There are a few exceptions, but they aren't worth mentioning here...) Caleb sat in his saucer smiling for a while, then got very vocal during the "spa" part where we weren't talking because our faces were buried in a hot towel. So Johnna, who was hosting, grabbed him and kept him on her lap during the next part of her presentation. He fell asleep faster than you can put on eyeshadow. So he went to his crib to take a nap, but made sure to wake up in time to be the center of so many ladies' attention again.

Then Sunday, we went to the AQUARIUM! It was SO much fun, and Caleb stayed awake for a long time, then snoozed, then enjoyed the end. It was awesome! Not only were there a lot of fish ~ which is pretty much all I expected ~ but there were otters, sharks, seahorses, jellyfish, an octopus, three tigers, birds galore and a huge tank where you could feed and pet these little rays. They were anywhere from about twelve inches in diameter to about three feet. (That was the last thing, and probably my favorite!)

Also, that afternoon, I put Caleb in his doorway jumper again. I tried about a month ago, and he sat in it for a while, but didn't seem to get the concept of it. Now he's jumping and grinning all over the place! So that's where he goes right now while Momma is getting ready in the morning!

I'm looking at him right now and he's SO adorable! He seems so long to me. Maybe he's gonna be a tall boy. I certainly hope so! He's also been spending a lot of time working out his voice. He'll just screech for a while ~ not crying, just playing with sounds. It's fun, but after a while, it's a little tough to not be worried that he's always going to sound like that. Neurotic fears, dontcha know!

Anyway, I gotta go grab him and smooch him forEVER!

Friday morning...

So Caleb and I were working on a new trick yesterday morning: the one where I put him on my shoulders and he holds onto my hair for support. (It works best with wet hair, for anyone with forthcoming children.) Toward the end of our demonstration to Daddy, the sweetest little man in the world VOMITED ON MY HEAD. Soooo precious.

He's playing a lot more now. I was beginning to despair that all of the baby toys we got were going to go to waste, but he's really starting to enjoy them. Although to be honest, his absolutely favorite toy is a wet washcloth. It will entertain that boy for fifteen minutes or more!

We're sure looking forward to another gorgeous weekend! The weather is supposed to be glorious, and I'm thinking maybe a pick-a-nick!

Lemon Juice, Toots and a Tea Drunk Kid...

Caleb Zakai has said his first word.

But I've got to do the back story! First of all, the three of us spent the whole day on Saturday running errands. Not much of a fun day, huh? We ended it by doing lunch out. It gave us something to look forward to ~ at the restuarant, Caleb was having a grand old time giggling and cooing and charming the socks off his folks and everybody within a three block radius. He's reaching out and grabbing everything these days. It's a blast! Anyway, he reached out for a small bowl of lemons we had in front of us, and we just decided to let him have one.

It's pretty much the stereotypical first exposure ~ adorably disgusted faces, followed by a continued chomping on the lemon. I would say it lived up to my hopes and dreams of his first lemon sucking.

When we got home, I was changing his diaper while Jonathan was in another room. I got Caleb's new diaper on, and he grabbed his feet, pulled them up to his face, and let out a GIANT fart! Jonathan actually thought it was the dog moaning. (Keep in mind he was a room away!) So I'm cracking up, and Caleb lets another one rip. After that, Jonathan came in to giggle with me, because he just kept doing it. Feet in hand, pull them up to his mouth, and POOT! Yes, I'm juvenile enough that baby toots crack me up!

So Jonathan and I are literally just sitting there watching him, then looking at each other and laughing when Caleb lets go. After a couple minutes of this hilarity, Caleb starts his little babbly bit. All kinds of little words, phrases and questions in his baby language. But then he pauses, and then very distinctly says "toot!" Not in babble, not mixed in with other words, just all by itself, and very loudly. Holy crap, Jonathan and I started laughing so hard for so long that Caleb could have tooted half a dozen times and we would have missed it.

We had to call both sets of grandparents, but I fear the story didn't relate very well over the phone. It probably doesn't relate very well in print, either, so trust me: it was VERY funny!

For Caleb's first Easter, we went to Loveland to see my fam ~ Grandpa got home from Germany on Friday after a month away, so he was jonesing to see the baby. It was a fabulously fun day. Grandpa decided that Caleb looked thirsty, and we've been letting him drink out of a cup, so Caleb drank a LOT of iced tea ~ some with caffeine, some without. He got to where he would try to grab for the cup himself, even though it was pretty heavy. It was so much fun!




I think this is the "golden age" of baby-dom. Caleb is still teeny enough to carry around and he's cute as a monkey's uncle, but he's starting to explore and experience new things every day. It's amazing, amazing, amazing!

Finally Friday!

Ha! I'm not even working today, so yesterday was technically my Friday. However, I'm working harder at home than I would be at work. I had made plans to take today off to do some Spring Cleaning, thinking that I would take Caleb to school so that I had some alone time to dig into the chaos that is our home. However, it being Good Friday, his school is only open a half day. So I've been busting booty trying to make a dent in the mess before I have to go pick him up.

The incredible thing is this: I'm already tired - which is why I'm taking a break to write - which means that even if his school wasn't closed a half day, I would have gone to get him so that I get a whole afternoon with him all to myself! And I'm not going to spend that time worrying about what needs to be done around the house, or what I COULD be doing, because what I SHOULD be doing is enjoying my son!

He's too precious for words, by the way. He slept in the buff last night. I need to talk to Wendy or some other hot-climate dweller, because I honestly didn't think about how to dress him for bedtime in this heat! I had him in a shorty outfit when I put him down, but two hours later he woke up and was screaming bloody murder, which hasn't happened in almost two weeks. So I went in and picked him up. He was drenched! So I took him out of his outfit, and literally stood there and blew on his face until he fell asleep.

He slept until after six this morning with no blankets and no clothes. We should all sleep so soundly!

I'm so excited that the weather is nice as well! We're going to buy sunscreen today so that we can spend some quality time in the sunshine today! That poor kid is even paler than I am, and I look like I've lived underground for a decade. But if I apply sunscreen correctly, that obviously won't change for a long time...but he'll enjoy the sun ~ maybe spend some naked time on a blanket outside!

I continue to get better from my bout with bronchitis ~ I actually think it was compounded with a common cold, which is doubly poopsalotta. But even things like that have two sides - I spent all of last weekend just with Caleb and Jonny, which is a rare treat. Speaking of which, I better get back to work so I can get some more done before my BAY-BEE comes home!

Craziness!

Okay, remember a few days ago when I was talking about missing Caleb's first roll because I was checking the weather? I have a feeling that this crazy state's weather will rob me of several more of my son's big moments. This morning, we had dressed Caleb in fairly warm clothes because I had heard it was supposed to be a little chilly. By the time I got him to the door, it was BLIZZARDING! So I get him into even warmer clothes, and good night if it wasn't almost seventy degrees when I picked him up after school!

His new favorite toy - other than Daddy's bearded face! - is Nonny Jo. He reaches for her whenever she's nearby, and buries his hands in her fur. And pulls. Actually, there have been a couple of times that I've really been nervous that she might growl or something because he literally pulls out hands full of her hair! Granted, his hands are small, but still!

But the only trouble we've come across so far is her overexuberance in licking his face. She's always been a licker, but we can push her away when she gets too close to our mouths or when we're tired of her. Some of us allow it longer than others. *Jonathan.* But Caleb doesn't need to eat Nonny slobber.

He's on my lap right now, and he keeps grabbing at my hands. It is SO cute! Sometimes he types something that I have to erase, and sometimes he slows my digits down to where I might as well type one-handed, but it is too fun for words. I keep telling him that he's going to be a computer guru like his papa!

Okay, he's slamming his head down on the keyboard, so I think it's time for someone to go to bed...

Goodbye Ninetieth Percentile!

So! Yesterday was the first only 24 oz feeding day, and it was followed by eleven - count 'em - ELEVEN HOURS of sleep!

Of course, his momma isn't used to this yet, so she was up three times thinking she heard him cry. Turns out the puppy, the fish and the papa snoring all contributed to her delusion.

What fun!

Another Neatness!

When the doc asked if Caleb was sleeping through the night yet, I kind of laughed. He asked what was going on. I said he was alternating between getting me up once and twice a night. Dr. Lewis shook his head and said, "He's taking advantage of you!"

So starting Saturday night, I wasn't supposed to feed him if it hadn't been eight hours since his last bottle. Saturday night, I kept him up until 8:30 since he'd had a lot of naps, and gave him a bottle shortly before that. He woke up screaming his head off at 12:30, at which time I went and made sure he was okay and patted his tummy so he knew I was around, then left him to cry himself back to sleep. Then he slept until 5:30!

The exact same thing happened last night, so I think we might be on the right track!

As I write this, he's trying his darnedest to roll from his tummy to his back. What fun!

So many updates!

So little time! I need to start doing little posts more often so that I don't end up writing Dostoevsky-length posts when I do post.

First of all, the little boy is ROLLING OVER! Holy CROW is it fun! The first time he did it, we didn't see it. He was laying on his back in his room while I went to check on the weather so I would know how to dress him. (We ran the gamut this week from freezing to seventy degrees. Love Colorado!) When I came back, he was on his tummy. I hollered for Jonathan.

"Look at him!" I shout.

"Yes," Jonathan replied. "He sure is cute."

"NO!" I yelled. "I mean, yes, he is cute, but did you flip him?"

"Nope."

"HE TURNED OVER!" Then we high-fived and spent the next twenty minutes trying to convince him to do it again.

I didn't actually get to see it until that night. And Jonathan didn't get to see it until this morning, three days later. And that little stinker went to his Grandma's house on Saturday so I could go to Terra's baby shower, and he didn't roll over once the whole four or five hours he was there, but then spent the evening in motion!

In other news, he went to the doc on Saturday, and is now in the NINETIETH percentile on everything. Dang! So while assuring me that he is not OVERweight, Dr. Lewis suggested that we hold off putting him on solids for one more month. Between that and the fact that he's being more mobile, I expect that this will be the month that he quits growing like crazy. But if he doesn't, so be it. Realistically, I'm going to think he's perfect no matter how big - or small - he is!