Adults are the Biggest Babies Sometimes....

Caleb has unfortunately had his first illness this past weekend (which is one of the reasons why I don't have a new picture of him to post.....so I posted one that hasn't been seen yet).

He's all snuffly and whimpering in his sleep (which is partly funny and partly makes you feel so bad that you want to just hold him all day long). We've used the suction (only when neccessary) and he HATES us when we do that. He hasn't been sleeping which is probably due to the fact that his nose is all stuffy and it's hard for him to breathe.

Luckily for us, it was a long weekend so I didn't have to miss work or inflict daycare on him when he was feeling so poorly.

He's feeling a bit better now. Last night, he actually slept like he normally does. Florice has been so good with him. She gave him lots of love and cuddled him all day since he was sick.

I now feel a little under the weather myself.....and if what I have is any indication of what Caleb had, I have to give him props for handling it so well. Adults are the biggest babies sometimes aren't they?

A Missed Co-Worker's Birthday Comment

So, here at my work we celebrate our co-worker's birthdays by bringing in food. People normally bring in the requisite cookies, baked goods and if we're lucky some will the really yummy items such as ribs, meatballs, spinach dip....you get the idea.

Well, I come into work and I hear vague comments over the cubicle walls about spinach dip....then I see somebody bring in a huge bowl of ice......so after my morning coffee fill-up, I stroll over there and ask "Is it somebody's birthday today?".....YES!! IT WAS SOMEBODY'S BIRTHDAY! It's Wendy's Birthday! Wendy, if you read this.....HAPPY BIRTHDAY I'M SORRY I COULDN'T BRING ANY GOODIES FOR YOU!!!!

So here I am at my desk, munching away on foodstuffs while having not contributed a single thing to the office party. As bad as I feel for not having brought anything (due to being left out the "BRING FOOD BECAUSE IT'S SOMEBODY'S BIRTHDAY" email) I will still happily munch away on the array of goodies.

Is that bad?

Caleb's First Drink of Water!

I was such a proud mommy last night. Caleb was nursing before he went to sleep and I was drinking from a big BoJangles plastic cup. He stops nursing and he puts his hand out onto the cup. I thought that this was because of the condensation so I remarked that it was cold. He then grabbed or the lip of the cup and pulled it towards him. Not thinking much of this, I switched it out for a cup that was filled with a little bit of water and playfully asked him if he wanted to 'take a sip of water'.

To my surprise, Caleb actaully pulled the cup to his mouth and drank some water! I had read in the baby books that some babies as young as 5 months can master drinking from a cup but I was shocked that Caleb was already there! We weren't about to embark on the cup drinking skill for another couple of months (or so I thought).

I'm not sure if I was more surprised at him drinking from the cup.....of if I was just surprised that he could communicate to me what he wanted without crying.

I've alerted Florice as to his new skill and maybe they can also work on this new skill at daycare.

Our first Roll-Over!!

Yesterday Caleb rolled over (one-way) for the very first time! We even have it on video! Y ay!

He's been doing new things every day. Yesterday Jay brought home a 4 month old Boxer and while it was very cute, I regretfully told Jay that we can't have a dog in the house at this time since Caleb is hopefully going to be crawling soon.

But when Caleb was introduced to the doggie, he yelled at him! He didn't cry, he just made this noise that I had never heard him make yet. It was like he was saying "Hey, Go Away, You're too Big for Me to Play with you Mr. Doggie". AAH!

Tummy Time and Congrats to the Eric & Kelly

We've been trying to encourage 'tummy time' with Caleb. He normally doesn't like to lay on his belly even though he needs to spend some time there or else he may never learn to crawl. He's been getting better at it lately. He likes to be propped up so in this picture, we've been using Daddy as his prop. He has been laughing out loud lately! This is a fairly new skill. He loves to 'rough-house' and even Florice at daycare commented that he likes to play like a boy.

I just can't resist taking pictures of Caleb in his new outfits. he's wearing 6-12 month old pants (we just have the waistband rolled down) and the hoodie is also 6-12 months (with the sleeves rolled up). He's also wearing some nice white kicks which he only wears for special occasions.

Yesterday, Caleb went to Church for the first time. He didn't seem bothered by the loud music and he seemed to like looking around at everybody.....he even made a point to take a nap during the 2nd half of the service :)

I'm very excited to hear that Jay's brother Eric & his wife Kelly are expecting!! Congratulations!

Can't Help Sucking My Fingers!!

Caleb loves to suck his fingers. Every chance he gets, he's got his fingers in his mouth and if he's really hungry, he'll stick his whole fist into his mouth. It's quite comical.

Anybody see?? He's learned to grab is foot!

Here are some 'old' pictures of Caleb from a few weeks ago. It's been hot on and off here in Raleigh. Some days it's in the 80s F (26 C) and then other days it's in the 40s (4 C)....and then inbetween those crazy weather changes, comes thunderstorms. Hopefully Hurrican season won't be as bad here on the east coast as last year, although North Carolina was spared almost all the storms in 2005.

So it was really hot a few weeks ago, so we decided to buy a small baby pool and see if Caleb would like to hang out outside. Well, Jay had filled it with hose water rendering it ice cold. Without thinking, I put Caleb in his little 'swimmers' diaper and put his feet into this cold water. It took a second and then his face screwed up and and he let us have it!

I then went back inside to add some hot water into this kiddie pool....and there you have it, Caleb lounging (since he can't sit up yet) in this luke warm water outside in the hot sun. Do you notice that we now have green grass? We're one of the first lawns in our neighborhood to have green green grass (thanks to Jay's obsession with yardwork and fertilization).

Yesterady, Caleb discovered his foot. Florice alerted me first and then when I got him home, I put him on his back and sure enough, he grabbed his big toe and jerked it around a couple of times.

He hasn't rolled over yet (that I know of) but there was one day where I put him down on his back, turned away and next thing you know, he was on his belly yelling at me to turn him back over. But since I didn't actually see it, does it count as his first roll?

And Introducing the Exersaucer

Caleb is now settling into his routine at daycare and Florice (our caregiver) is a miracle worker. We are so blessed to have found her.

He's also really liking his exersaucer which makes noise when he bounces up and down and lights up with music when he touches the buttons.

I'm really liking my new job. I get to leave early and hang out with my little man all evening. Our normal routine after we get home is nursing for about half an hour and then I give Caleb his bath and wash his hair. After that, we just hang out in our room watching TV until Daddy gets home. After that, we take turns taking our baths and then get ready for bed.

By the way, is anybody watching American Idol?? I'm really like Elliot Yamin and Chris Daughtry.....vote vote!! This is the first time that I've been sucked into reality TV (now that I'm home more and actually get to follow what's going on).

Caleb's 4 Month Doctor's Appointment

We had Caleb's 4 month doctor's appointment on Easter Monday and he received 3 more shots into his little tiny legs.

All looks well. They said that his head size was only in the 8th percentile but height was in the 50th percentile. weight was only in the 25th percentile. He now weighs 13lbs 6oz and he's 25 1/4 inches long.

Btw: he's also losing all his hair in the back due to the fact that he's been sleeping on his back....:) it's funny.

His thrush was gone. The white spots (which I thought was still thrush) was apparently just tastebuds that were irritated.

I was surprised that the doctor told me to stop his nighttime feedings and that he should now be sleeping 8 hours....it seems so unfair to inflict that upon him now since we're also just starting a new in-home day care (which he loves). I was also surprised that they said that he should be starting solid foods now. Get ready for the stinky poopies!! We've bought the rice and barley cereal as well as an assorted collection of stage 1 foods. We're not going to force it but we're going to give him a taste every day to see if he's open to the idea. So far, he's a little confused as to what we're doing. We've tried the rice cereal mixed with milk and I even managed to get a whole spoonful of peas into his mouth before he wouldn't let me use the spoon anymore.

As for an update with the daycare, I am 100 percent sure that I made the right move. Florice (his new caregiver) is so great! He doesn't fuss with her and he takes the bottle very well.....he also takes naps when the other children are down for naps. This makes my day at work go by so much smoother since I don't have to worry as much (as much....notice I didn't say 'anymore'). He also doesn't fuss anymore if we put him down and go about our business washing dishes.....or writing on the blog.

Caleb's First Baby-Sitter & Our First Evening Out!

Caleb had his first babysitter last night! (That picture is a week or so old). Jay had procured tickets to Cirque du Soleil's Delirium at the RBC center and we called Heather that very same day to see if she could watch Caleb.

My sister actually suggested it!

She reported that all was well, and that he didn't fuss with her! She even gave him a bath and had him in deep slumber by the time we got home.....so deep that he didn't wake up until after midnight for his nighttime feeding. I had even apologized profusely in advance because I thought that he would fuss. Apparently, he doesn't need me every night after all.

Jay and I are so grateful for Heather for giving us a few hours off to go watch a show. The show was great! Not as great as "O" at the Bellagio or "Mystere" at Treasure Island, since it wasn't as acrobatic as the other shows and the costumes were not as surreal as the Vegas shows, but the performances were still amazing. And Jay had got us great seats. Right in the middle, row G (A being closest to the stage).

I can't wait until Caleb gets old enough to benefit from going to some shows....but in the meantime, it's great to know that he likes Heather so much! Future ladies man, here he comes. Just leave it to my son to like the most attractive girls that come visit him.

Anybody Know of a Good Caregiver?

Anybody know of a good caregiver? Caleb's isn't working out as great as we'd thought....

Visit to Sears Portrait Studio

Today we went to Sears Portrait Studio and while we intended to only get one picture in wallet size to document Caleb at 3 1/2 months and have some to send to our parents, we ended up getting the whole package which included have the pictures put onto a CD. We just couldn't resist when we saw how Caleb was smiling in those photos!

We've had a smiley day today, but I was only successfull getting him to smile if I he's the only one in the picture. We're working on getting some smiley pictures with all of us in it.

Today we went out for lunch for Heather's birthday at Mellow Mushroom and daddy stayed home and cleaned the house. We're about to embark on our second full week of childcare at Tonya's house and the his reports are getting better and better. They say that he's much more calm and even smiling every now and then.

We can't wait until he gets bigger so that we can go play at the park or in somebody's pool. We're lucky right now. He's very easily entertained by other people and the TV too (even if we're just watching the news).

Cool! Blog to Book

Cool! I just found a website that converts your blog into a book!

http://www.blurb.com/index.html

My First Week back to Work

It's been my first week back to work and it's been very hard to hear that Caleb is crying all day long becuase he doesn't want to take a bottle. So then I sit at work and try hard to not think that I'm a bad mother for not being able to stay at home with him all day long.

He's staying with Tonya who has a baby that is 2 months younger than Caleb. I just called her to check up on him and he's getting progressively better with each day at her house. He's not fussing and crying all day and has (reluctantly) started taking the bottle.

The worrying about how Caleb is adjusting to childcare has taken over my head so that there are many times during the day that I forget that I'm at a new job and that I'm actually out of public accounting. I'm so glad to not be doing time sheets and to have regular 8 hour days. I'm still in the habit of checking the time after each task and then I remind myself that I no longer need to track my time!

I still haven't gotten around to telling everybody that I've left yet. Hopefully, people will check my blog and just know. I have to admit that the commute causes me to grumble a little bit, but then I look at the time and notice that it's before 5pm. So what if I have to drive a little longer if I only have to be at work for 8 hours a day?? Plus, they have a subsidized cafeteria here.....so I pay $0.26 for a large salad during lunch, and if I want to splurge, I can get a hot meal and a large drink for $0.95. The foods ok. It's better than me having to pack a lunch every day. The most expensive thing I pay for is $1.50 for a cheese omelete in the mornings. I'm totally getting spoiled.

In the meantime, I've been trying to re-create the smiling picture that I took of Caleb below to no avail. I've taken a dozen pictures and all I get is the face right afterward with a little drool coming out the side of his mouth.

A Visit from Granpa Prentice & Auntie Rosalynn

This past week, Granpa Prentice & Auntie Rosalynn came to visit and we all had a chance to hang out and visit with each other since we don't get a chance to see family much out here in North Carolina.

Caleb had a great time hanging with them! He even gave Auntie Rosalynn a big poopie diaper experience :)

Granpa Prentice even gave Caleb a new nickname. It's "Scoops"....as in "I'm gonna 'scoop' you up!". Hopefully, we'll be seeing them again soon!

In less than a week, I'll be gone to work and we'll be leaving Caleb with Tonya, our caregiver....I'm half excited about going back to work, and half dreading having to leave Caleb to somebody else's care.

Smile for the Camera!

Here's our first picture of Caleb smiling! It was a freak coincidence of us fooling around with the camera and him wanting to play.

2 Week Notice

My apologies for the late blog entry this week. I've been busy with all the tiny details involved with.... GIVING MY 2 WEEK NOTICE!!!

I'm finally leaving PwC and neverending timesheets and moving on to try my luck in industry. This decision was reached because of Caleb. This new job will give me more stable hours which will give me more time with my son and no more work travel.

So...in two weeks, I will be going 'back' to work and we will be leaving Caleb with a caregiver. Jay has decided to work only 4 days a week so Caleb will only be with a caregiver 4 days of the week. I'm so sad to be leaving him in somebody else's care but my Mom assures me that all babies go through this and that it is harder for the mother than it is for the baby.

Look Ma! No Hands!

Here is Caleb. Daddy's already urging him to put weight on his legs. It's the old adage, "running before you walk"...in this case, attempting to get your son to walk before rolling over/sitting up/crawling.

Caleb loves to sleep. He's now sleeping later in the mornings so I still get to enjoy my 2 hours of ER (Primetime in the Daytime) before I go back to work in couple of weeks.

His legs are finally getting some baby fat and he's filling out overall...he's so cute!

Everyday, especially when he looks right at us and smiles, he makes our hearts grow bigger until you think that it would burst. It's an incredible feeling. To have such a little being dependent on you for their every need.

Our 2nd Month Doctor's Check-Up

Yesterday we had Caleb's 2 month check-up at the doctors office. The good news,... he's now 11lbs exactly and he's 23 inches long. The bad news, he has Thrush (oropharyngeal candidiasis, or OPC) in his mouth and needs to take this medication 4 times a day for 1-2 weeks until it's gone. Apparently this is something that he would have gotten during the birth process and is easily curable and common in newborns.

Caleb also had something in his belly button burned off by the doctor since it looked like he still had a part of the umbilical stump still attached and it was looking a little red. The result? Now the belly button area is darker than his other skin and the doctor has assured us that this will fade in time.

He also had 3 shots. The first was a combo Polio, Hepatitis B & Deptheria Tetanus & Pertussis Vaccine. The 2nd was the Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine and the 3rd was the Haemophilus Influenzae Type b (Hib) Vaccine. The poor little guy had 3 needles stuck in his legs before he could get over the shock and start wailing like a mad man.

Overall, he's growing well and he's now in the 50th percentile in height and weight and he's developing normally. He's cooing and he's smiling (the doctor says that it's because he has gas and not because he's happy but I disagree) and he's following us with his eyes (slowly) when we move from one side to another.