Week Six in Pix

 Week 6 : November 14th - 20th

Caleb has started to snort when he is really upset, which could also be due to being sick earlier this week and all of the extra mucus that entailed. It was a rough beginning of the week! Not much sleep for either of us because he wouldn't sleep for more than an hour at a time and only slept when he was being held. Teething, fever, diarrhea, spitting up a lot more than usual, but nothing too bad or to really complain about.

But, because I spent the majority of last week just holding him and soothing him to keep him from crying, I did not get hardly anything unpacked! The boxes aren't going anywhere, so I figure my time is best spent with Caleb, who will never be 6 weeks old again.

On Saturday Lizzi and Jeremy (my brother and sister) flew in to visit us for Thanksgiving and are the first aunt and uncle to hold Caleb. He's also their first nephew so he gets lots of extra loving with them around. And I get to have two free hands for important things like catching up on my blog and making Christmas presents (not unpacking though :)).

Here is some of his sixth week in pictures:

He is still so long and skinny and absolutely adorable! 

Caleb has really strong legs. He stands up when he's being burped and sometimes jumps

He has started to love his baths, especially when you rub his face with the warm, wet washcloth. He also pooped in the bath for the first time . . . 

Lizzi was the first aunt to hold Caleb, do you think she was excited?!

We went to The Woodlands' winter festival. They had a "snow area" you could pay $3 to play in melted, icy "snow" or $1 to go sledding down a little icy slide

Another cute picture with Aunt Lizzi

Standing by the fake snow and snow cone truck - rough winter we have in Houston . . . still eating snow cones in November

You can see the fake snow falling better now

Uncle Jeremy holds Caleb for the first time

6 weeks later, he does not fit into his coming home from the hospital outfit very well :)  It was huge on him when he came home, otherwise it would not fit. 

Getting ready to move - a couple of weeks ago

During week 5 of Caleb's life, we were getting ready to move from our apartment into our new home. As a result of being busy packing, I got very few pictures of this week with the camera but I started sending daily picture texts to Allen so I have a lot of cute pictures on my phone. I'm just too lazy right now to try to find the SD card adapter to put the pictures on my computer right now.

Picture of the week:

Sunday morning (Nov 13th) Allen was taking care of Caleb while I took a shower. When I got out of the shower, they were both asleep on the bed, with their hands positioned the exact same way! Caleb is his daddy's boy . . . 

Caleb's developments during week 5:

He is aware enough to realize that he doesn't like sitting in a wet/dirty diaper and lets us know when he is done sitting in his diaper . . . not that I used to let him sit in his dirty diaper for hours, but when I change him before he's done going I end up with a bigger mess to clean up (all over the changing table).

Dad got peed on for the first time (and second and third time)!

You can't see the wet spot on Allen, but this is the two of them dancing shortly after Allen got peed on. 

Caleb had his first trip to the DMV so Allen and I could get our Texas drivers' licenses. During our two hour wait, he made everyone laugh when he (very loudly) filled his diaper in a somewhat quiet waiting room.

He went to his first Webelos activity. He only lasted a few minutes being in the room with five loud 10 year-old boys building catapults.

Over the past couple of weeks his hairline has gone from being like his dad's to being like his maternal grandpa's.

He has developed an "I'm not getting my way" cry. I hear it most frequently when I try to burp him mid-eating.


I'll finish off the post with my bad idea of the week . . .

Allen drank the rest of my water at dinner and after complaining I was still thirsty, he decided to be funny. He filled up the entire pitcher for me to drink instead of just refilling my glass that he drank. So, I decided to be funny and I chugged the whole pitcher of water. It ended up being funny not only because Allen didn't think I would do it, but also funny (for him) because my stomach hurt for the next couple of hours and I was up all night going to the bathroom. 

Trick or Treat - week 4

Okay, so the title isn't any more creative than last week . . . but it will do.

Every day for the past four and a half weeks I have been faced with a dilemma that is common to all mothers: the baby is asleep, what do I do now? Do I shower? Sleep? Clean? Do laundry? Exercise? Eat with both hands instead of one? The hardest part of the decision is that I don't know if this nap will last 5 minutes or 2 hours. (once I have more kids, this dilemma will change since there are more things to factor in but I'll cross that bridge when we get there)

Today was one of those rare days where Caleb has taken more than one real nap, which means that I got a nap during his first one and got to shower during his shorter second nap! And now I even get a chance to type with both hands because I am sitting indian style (I guess cross-legged is probably the politically correct term for that) with him propped in my legs and the computer on the coffee table/ottoman in front of us.

This past week was full of trips to our new house to get everything move-in ready . . . Monday: fridge delivered, Tuesday repair man fixed oven and stove, Wednesday: electric company, Thursday: gas company, Friday: I can't seem to remember anything about that day except we may have eaten at Arby's on the way back from the house, Saturday: moved some boxes over and then Monday of this week had internet set up (and had stuff stolen by the installers that we are still trying to get back . . . thanks Comcast).

Saturday is the day we are moving in, which means I really should not use Caleb's nap time for sleeping or showering, I should be using it to pack!

Monday was Caleb's first Halloween and he got to dress up as a jack-o-lantern from the costume I made while over-due and waiting for him to be born. We went trick-or-treating to one friend's house to show him off and Mom ate his candy. If he were older, I'm sure he would have reacted like one of the kids on this funny video whose sneaky mom ate all of their candy.

I unknowingly prophesied which tooth Caleb would have when he wore his jack-o-lantern costume.

He's so cute I couldn't just add one picture!

A pumpkin to make it festive

Candy corn makes it even more festive!

Dad and Caleb trick-or-treating

Caleb's tooth still hasn't broken through the surface but Monday it was hurting him a lot so I called the pediatrician to ask if I could give him Tylenol. Here is how the conversation with the nurse went:

Nurse: I think you gave me the wrong birthday. When was your baby born?
Me: October 10, 2011
Nurse: That's this month.
Me: Yes
Nurse: Babies don't teeth that young. What are his symptoms?
Me: There is a white thing poking through his gum, he is crying a lot and will only stop sometimes if I rub his gum with my finger or his pacifier.
Nurse: So his only symptom is irritability? No fever?
Me: I don't think he has a fever, but his primary symptom is the tooth pushing through his gums. At his two week appointment the pediatrician confirmed that it is his tooth growing in.
Nurse (in a very snotty tone): I wish I would have seen that. Babies don't teeth that soon.
Me: Well, I wish my three week old wasn't teething. Can I give him Tylenol or not?
Nurse: I'll talk to your doctor and have someone give you a call back.

That frustrated me and I felt so bad for Caleb that we just sat on the couch and cried together. I wish there was some way to take Caleb's pain away! I suppose that is one of those refining things about motherhood, that you begin to love in a way that you would gladly take any pain just so your child wouldn't have to suffer it. (Eventually another nurse called me back and told me the dose of Tylenol I could give Caleb and that helped some.)

Caleb helping Mom cook . . . thanks for the sling Grandma

It is fun seeing Allen and Caleb together! Allen gets excited when he walks in from work and just wants to hold Caleb and play with him. Caleb recognizes his dad's voice and looks for him when he can't see him. At night, if I can't get Caleb to fall asleep after eating then Dad takes over and does such a good job getting him to sleep. He's got a magic touch . . . and a magic trick: when Caleb is fighting falling asleep and keeps trying to hold his eyes open, Allen "manually" closes his eyes. If he can get them to stay closed for about 30 seconds, Caleb will be out.

Dad and Caleb watching some football or an RSL game, I can't remember which one... either way, it was some manly bonding time, I'm sure. 

Dad helping Caleb get the poops out

Caleb has started cooing more and making fun noises. He also laughs in response to noises we make.

Caleb playing with Mom

Mom cutting and filing Caleb's nails since he gave himself his first real cut this week on his face. It drew blood and everything.

His umbilical cord also fell off last week so he got to soak in a warm bath. At first he is unsure about what is going on and cries for a few seconds until he realizes that the bath feels good, then he just relaxes and wiggles his legs around in it.

The other bath picture I have of him is cuter but not internet appropriate

Outgrowing the newborn clothes, lengthwise but not in width yet

Well, I only had one diaper change and one feeding interruption and I think it's longer than anyone will want to read . . . plus, I just got peed on so time to go change both of our pants and his diaper again. So . . . th-th-th-th-th-that's all folks!

Caleb Week 3 . . . I'll get more creative with the titles

 Last Monday at Caleb's 2 week appointment he was 22" long (90%), 8 lb 5.5 oz (38%) with a head circumference of 15.24" (84%). The doctor was surprised at his tooth, especially since he hasn't lost his umbilical cord yet. He also mentioned that Caleb holds his pacifier really well for only being 2 weeks old, it's hard to pull away from him and he keeps it in unless he doesn't want it. 

Still a smiley, happy baby

Caleb's tooth is actually breaking the surface now, you can feel it with your fingers. Other than rubbing his tongue along his gum and biting on his pacifier more, he hasn't really been more fussy about teething... I guess he doesn't know any different since his tooth has been coming since he was born.

A few times when I've checked on Caleb, he has had his head covered with his blanket as shown in the picture. I have to make sure I don't tuck his hands under his blanket, otherwise he covers his face when he brings his hands up to his face, so he always has cold hands. 

I could take pictures of him all day

Wednesday night he slept for 6 hours straight! Unfortunately I didn't take advantage of it as I was awake for the first two hours of it and didn't sleep for the last hour because I couldn't believe he was still asleep and kept checking on him to make sure he was okay. He has not repeated the feat. 

Caleb and Dad like to cuddle too

He rolls onto his side on the changing table to see the pattern on the changing pad better. Sorry if this is more information than you want, so just skip the rest of this paragraph about potty talk. It is now not as funny or cute as I first thought it was when he pees while on the changing table and soaks his clothes and lays there smiling in a puddle of urine. He also is a master of peeing out of his diaper. If his legs are straight when he pees, it shoots out the top of his diaper, which we can't put on any tighter or (until his umbilical cord comes off) can't put any higher. 

When other people hold him, he recognizes his mom and dad's voices and turns to look at us. 

Big smiles for Dad

I love how he holds my finger in his fist while he eats and occasionally takes breaks while eating and gives me big smiles. After he eats I love how he smiles up at me and then falls asleep laying on my stomach/chest. 

We closed on our house on Friday and are now home owners! Or in Allen's words, home owers...  To celebrate, we went to Lowe's and spent more money buying a fridge, washer and dryer! Saturday we went to the house to clean for a couple of hours. We will take our time moving our stuff over there and won't be moving our furniture from our apartment for another week or two. Caleb was the star of the show at the closing. Our realtor, our mortgage officer and the escrow closer all loved him. He was sleeping in his carseat and any time he made any noise, all three women would stand up and look at him and ooh and aah about how cute he is. Eventually we took him out for them to hold him.

Cleaning our new home ! 

Caleb - Week 2

Caleb turns 2 weeks old tomorrow but it feels like we've had him for much longer (in a good way)! Allen returns to work tomorrow; he's had two weeks of paternity leave. It's been great to have him home but he's getting a little cabin feverish. 

Caleb is a little boy with a lot of personality:

-Stretches out! Before he was born he liked to try to stretch out in my belly and basically kept his foot lodged up in my ribs on the right side. Right after he was born he had to have his lungs suctioned (since there was meconium when they broke my water) and as soon as they laid him on the table, instead of curling up, he stretched out his arms and legs. 

-Loves to play with his dad! 

-Loves his hands! In the 3D ultrasound we got, he had his hands up by his face in the womb. After he was born, we tried swaddling him up and he did not like it! We have learned that he sleeps well when swaddled ONLY if he can keep his hands by his face. Even when he eats, at least one of his hands has to be touching his own cheek. For how much he likes his hands by his face, surprisingly he has yet to scratch himself. 

Dad gives Caleb his first fingernail clipping

-Knows what he wants/doesn't want! When I try to get Caleb to keep eating when he has decided that he's finished, he makes his whole body go limp and his arms fall back but his lips and jaw are clenched so tightly shut that we can't even pry them open. Then when we stop trying, he opens his eyes and gives us a really big smile. 

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-Doesn't want to miss out!  He tries sooo hard to keep his eyes open and not fall asleep when he's in a room with us. When he is awake he's perfectly content sitting in whatever room we are in, just looking around. If we put him in his room after he has fallen asleep, he wakes up and cries when you leave unless given his pacifier. Then once you leave the room, he spits out the pacifier and cries until you come back. So in the middle of the night we end up laying on the floor next to him, holding the pacifier in until he falls asleep. Early this morning after he ate, he was wide awake and after laying awake for 15 minutes, decided he was tired of being alone. After a couple of failed attempts to get him to fall asleep, I held him while I slept on the couch. He was happy to just lay in my arms and didn't cry at all and eventually fell asleep an hour or so later. 

Allen took this picture of us when he woke up in the morning . . . cuddling with a baby is so fun

The picture of Caleb on the soccer ball is from one of my friends. She's a photographer and for a baby shower present she did a newborn photo shoot for us. We took the soccer ball from our wedding and this is the first picture she has on her website of the photo shoot. We're excited to see the rest!

In Caleb's room

He yawns like a pirate

The picture of his open mouth was our attempt to show you what looks like a tooth growing in... I'll have to get a better picture to prove it, but it definitely looks like a tooth!

The weather here is amazing so we go on walks.

Caleb's First Week!

Wednesday around noon we came home from the hospital.

Thursday he had his first pediatrician appointment.

Friday, Grandma left to go back to Hong Kong.

Everything else that weeks seems to be kind of a blur . . . Caleb is such a happy baby, who doesn't cry much and settles down quickly when he does. We love him!!!

We just got back from his first pediatrician's appointment

He skipped the newborn size socks and jumped up to the 3 month size

First bath at home (Thurs, Oct 13) . . . 

. . . which he loves

I love hooded towels!

Thanks to this outfit, Lizzi has nicknamed Caleb  "Monkeybutt"

The first smile that we caught on camera - Friday, Oct 14th 

He is a very alert baby who loves to look around at everything going on. 

Caleb likes planking

Caleb goes cross-eyed when he tries to focus on things close to his face.

Caleb loves his mom : )