More Auntie Pics.....

These are more pictures that Auntie Michelle took. We were in the car driving Auntie to the airport so that she could fly back to Vancouver...:(

And this picture is funny to me. Caleb must have been REALLY tired when he was eating his applesauce....

Crabtree Valley Mall 'Rides'

Here we all are at Crabtree Valley mall and Caleb loves the little 'rides' they have there. Not super exciting but enough to keep this 16-month old happy.

Whoa!...what's Auntie Michelle doing back there??!!

It'll be another 15 years before Caleb will be in the driver's seat and both of us in the back holding on for dear life and praying that he's shoulder checking properly. :)

This Is My Flirty Face

This here is my flirty face. It must be the mark of a little future player on our hands. We're already dreading the onslaught of feminine attention that Caleb is going to attract with this flirty face of his. I suppose that they all start somewhere but isn't this a LITTLE early?

Auntie Michelle's Visit

This is the day that we were all hanging out outside for our garage sale. It was a LOT of work and we suppose it was a semi success. We have a neighbor that is potentially going to buy the entire lot of baby furniture. Crib, changing table, baby swings, exersaucer. She's starting a home day care and she only lives about 5 houses down from us. So I guess we'll have a back up in case something happens with Portia's home day care.

Here's Auntie Michelle and Caleb have a great ol' laugh...over what, we can't remember.

Caleb LOVED Auntie. He doesn't take to many people immediately, but as soon as he saw her, he loved her. He really enjoyed her visit and she was chasing him all over the house and he was thriving with all the attention.

On a side note, Caleb's got 4 molars that have broken through....so now his food repertoire can expand to include chunkier bits of chicken etc. His favourite foods right now are Chef Boyardee's tomato pastas (lasagna, ravioli, beef a roni etc.) and these toddler cheesy puffs that are really baked corn snacks made for babies. He's also really loving thinly sliced apples that I keep in the fridge with a squeeze of lemon juice to prevent browning.

Heather and Me

Here's Heather and me at her birthday dinner last week! Isn't she the cutest?

Of all the people that I've met here in Raleigh, it was funny how we both didn't think that we'd be as close as we are now when we first met. We're so different in so many ways, but she's been an amazing friend and she's always there to listen to my funnies and my woes. Her and her husband Brandon are two of the most amazing, most down to earth, most sincere and geniunely nice people that I've met down here.

Auntie Michelle is Here!

Auntie Michelle flew in late last night and she's at home taking care of Caleb today. She's only here for a few days and I wish that I could have taken today and tomorrow off, but alas, having a kid means that all your days are alotted for their sick days and doctors visits so I need to save up since I don't have very many days for 2007 (and it's only April right now!!!).

We're having a garage sale on Saturday and I'm dreading it. 1) What if too many people show up and it's hard to handle since Jay will be a work all day? 2) What if NOBODY shows up and I have to put all the crap back into the garage?? 3) It's advertised to start at 7:30am and end at noon...that's super early!! And I heard that there are the 'early bird' garage sale customers that will show up before it's supposed to start to 'grab the deals'....anytime before 7:30am on a weekend is too early for me. Hopefully, it won't be too bad. It's mostly baby clothes, some toys, Caleb's changing table, baby swings etc.

Look At Me!! I'm Feeding Myself!!!

I just needed to post these pics to show you Caleb's first attempt at feeding himself. Right now, he's refusing to be fed and insists on attempting to feed everything to himself by himself. Look at that yogurt face!!!

The Impending Visits of the Michelles...

Good news,...after last week's really fun poopy episodes, Caleb has not lost any of his precious weight. In fact, it appears that he's gotten even taller! And his feet look enormous.

We are eagerly anticipating my bestest friend Michelle to come down next Friday. This will be her first trip to Raleigh, NC and I can't wait!! A week and a half after that, my sister Michelle will also be coming down for a visit for a few days. Both of my Michelles will be here in the same month....I'm so lucky.

Spring Cleaning

Caleb is such a trip. Everyday I look at him I feel blessed for having him. One of my good friends, Heather, is pregnant now and I can't wait until she feels the joy of motherhood. While I don't think that motherhood defines me, I think that Caleb is my purpose.

He's still a little 'runny' from having his 15-month shots last Monday so hopefully this will pass soon. It's been a week and everyday it's gradually been getting better. He's cheerful and it doesn't seem to bother him any but I've had enough with having to spot shamp0o the carpet to last me for awhile.

This past weekend, the house was spring-cleaned...furniture has been rearranged and LOTS of junk has been thrown away. My new resolution is to keep a more sane house. My mood is often reflected onto the cleanliness (er, should I say tidiness) of my house so I'm hoping that a clean house will aid in a sane mind. :)

15th Month Dr.'s Appointment & Growth Spurts

Caleb had his 15-month appointment this morning and we have great news! He's thriving and had hit a growth spurt since his one year appointment! He's now in the 10th percentile for weight and 75th for height!! We're on track and hopefully he'll continue to pack on the weight and keep on growing....he's looking much sturdier now and he's got some chubby cheeks coming out.

He's also got a few words under his belt. "Thank-you" (which is says whenever he gives us stuff becuase we always say it to him)...."Daddy" (which he uses all the time) and "Mama" (which he rarely ever says unless he's upset) and "NoNo"...(which he says to EVERYTHING).

We've Now Got Eight Teeth!

Caleb has been doing sooo much better at this new daycare! He hasn't been sick once since he's been there thanks to few kids to expose their germs and he's been filling out his little chipmunk cheeks.

We've now got 8 teeth! The fourth one on the bottom finally popped out and he just loves to show them off! He's been giggling a lot and just finding so many things amusing. This age is so fun!!

We're eagerly anticipating Auntie Michelle's visit in April. I can't wait to see her and she can't wait to see Caleb.

He's laughing in these pictures because I'm making fake burping noises (after he let one out) and he thought that was hysterical....funny kid.

Day At The Playground

Last weekend, we played on the playground for the first time. Caleb had a ball going down the slide and climbing and crawling through all the tunnels. I think that he had the most fun when he was sifting the playground sand through his fingers.

After this playground visit, he took a LONG nap! lol

Belated Chinese New Year Outfit

Look at this cheeseball...we dressed him up in his Chinese New Year outfit (belatedly...but better late than never) just to take pictures for Grandma & Grandpa. This is the outfit that I purchased in NYC while I was pregnant in their Chinatown. It came with that cute hat with the queue in the back...it was the smallest size they had and Caleb's finally fit into right now...

To me, it looks like his face is changing every day...

Gung Hey Fat Choy!

Gung Hei Fat Choy to Everybody!! On Sunday, Caleb, Jay and I went out to eat at a the Chinese Buffet on Millbrook and we had some dim sum and some lucky steamed buns for lunch to bring in the New Year. Caleb seemed to love the sticky rice and 'sui mai' the best. He was getting very proficient at dropping the foods he didn't want underneath his high chair and making flirty eyes with all the little girls that walked by.

Still Only 7 Teeth

We still only have 7 teeth. I've been trying to get a good picture of it...but it's hard to get a toddler to open wide. The bottom picture shows it fairly well. 3 teeth on the bottom and 4 on top. He's still teething so maybe we'll have the 8th anyday now.

Jay's got Caleb in these matching sweatsuits everyday with the bright white sneakers. We've now graduated to size 5 1/2 and I swear he's got better clothes than we do. Whenever I see him like that I keep expecting him to start break dancing for me....or do a layup. :)

Isn't He Just A Cutie-Pie??

Isn't Caleb just such a cutie-pie? Of course, I have a biased opinion....but I LOVE his haircut. Now our bathtime ritual is minus the hair combing which used to cause us both such distress since his hair used to get knotted in the back where he slept on it.

This car toy (which Auntie Michelle bought last year) is still such a big hit with him. Now he climbs on and starts motoring around in it. He especially loves all the lights and the music. Everytime the music comes on, he shakes his body from side to side...it's his new dance. He used to dance up and down and have both hands up in the air....now his hands are by his side and he wobbles. I'm trying to teach him the 'harlem shake'....j/k.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Caleb's First Hair Cut!!

So yesterday, I finally convinced Jay to cut Caleb's hair....He tried to cut it first with his trimmers...and that didn't work out so well. So then we drove down the street and had the barber(ette) fix it. Now it's SOO Cute!!! Jay admits that it was a good idea to cut his hair even though he wanted to see how curly his hair was going to end up when it's long.

And because Jay cut the top a little too short....I couldn't ask for the mohawk that I wanted :)

Old DayCare Rant and Rave

So I was so mad about this that I couldn't even put it to words last week.

Here's what happened:

Tuesday (of last week), no fever, one loose diaper no other symptoms other than it looked like he was either teething or coming down with a cold since he wasn't as energetic as usual

Wednesday, I called daycare to say that I was going to bring him in later than usual and then called again after I had changed my mind and took him to the doctors instead. Once at the doctor, I called daycare to let them know that they were worried about Strep and to warn the other parents in case the other kids come down with fever.

Thursday, I stayed home with him

Friday, I stayed home with him and then in the evening Daycare called to ask me if I was coming by. I thought that since I owed her payment for the past two weeks that she wanted to get paid. So I had Jay drive over there and drop off the check and pick up the receipt. She never said anything to Jay but instead slipped a note in with the receipt to say that she has been emotionally and physically upset since none of her other kids showed up at daycare for the rest of the week and that she is terminating her services with us.

I told her that it wasn't anything other than a cold but now I've been so mad that I haven't talked to her since.

We went to the doctors today today for a follow-up and when I told them what happened they thought that it was shocking. They said that it was probably good riddance and that I could find better care with a daycare that had a better understanding with babies and their needs/illnesses.

So now we’re at a new dayare – Portia’s Home Daycare who is our neighbor and he’s been there for 3 consecutive days now. Caleb is much more relaxed and now doesn’t require any winding down time when we get home after daycare. Plus, since it’s been cold out here, his outside exposure is down to a few seconds since it only takes us walking him across the street to get to his new daycare.

I couldn’t believe that they could terminate his care like that and I was just so mad that she didn’t even tell me this to my face! I called the daycare licensee people and they said that even though it’s unfortunate, there’s little they can do since she’s privately owned.

All I can say now is that babies get sick and as for causing her emotional distress….there’s probably more to her story than what I’m getting. Whatever the case, hopefully this new daycare will be a better fit.

We're At A New DayCare Today...

We're at a new daycare today. Without getting into too many details, the previous one just wasn't as good a fit as we had hoped. The new one is our neighbor who is a 4 star licensed in home day care so we'll be trying that out. Today is his first day. I'll keep you posted on how it goes. I have high hopes for this one so we'll see.

Also, Caleb has been sick for the last week or so. They thought it was strep so they gave him antibiotic shots everyday for three days and then now he's on a 7 day run of amoxillan. None of their cultures tested positive for strep so I think that the antibiotic is just a precautionary measure. He's gotten better just in the past couple of days so let's hope that it's over now. It's been the worse illness so far.

He goes back to the pediatrician on Friday for a follow-up.