2 Months

Baby Caleb is growing like a weed! We have our two month old appointment on Tuesday the 27th and I really can't wait to see how much he has grown. I can't even begin to guess. Just a few weeks ago I was complaining that 0-3 mon. clothing was too big on him and he had "nothing to wear." Now, he is wearing 3 mon. clothes and some of them are starting to get tight, too!

Eating and Sleeping Habits:

We are getting into a better rhythm at home. I wouldn't say that he has a strict, dependable schedule, but we are working into a routine. I feed him every 2 1/2 to 3 hrs. during the day and at night he can go between 4-8 hrs. between feedings. Usually he wakes up once during the night between 2 and 4 am. However, occasionally he still wakes up twice. He naps in the mornings at around 9 am after being up an hour or so and naps again a couple of times in the afternoon. He is usually ready for bed between 7:30 and 8:30 pm depending on how the day has gone with naps.

Emily 3 yrs. 2 mon. and Caleb 5 wks. old.

Princess Emily (Belle) also wore this dress to see her first musical with Mom and Dad (Beauty and the Beast) 

Jen and Elizabeth visited for a week at the end of October. 

Here's our little man in his church clothes!

My hairy men! haha.

Challenges:

The three biggest challenges for me this month have been preschool drop off and pick-ups, Caleb's rides in the car seat and coordinating nap schedules. Our 3 yr. old has preschool from 9-12 (to 1 pm Thurs.) Tuesday-Thursday. It is so hard to get out of the house with both of them and be somewhere on time by 9 am!!! Jeremy usually drops off Emily on Wednesdays and Emily's grandmother (Dinkney) picks her up that afternoon. I love Wednesdays! I get precious one on one time with my little boy without the hassle of the car pool. The preschool car pool is complicated by the fact that Caleb often cries while he is in the car. Sometimes we have no problems, but other days are awful. Ideally, Emily naps two hours in the afternoons usually from 3-5pm. Sometimes I can time it so that both kids are sleeping at about the same time and I have an hour or so to do something besides taking care of them. However, we also have days when I'm going back and forth between their rooms and getting nothing done at all. I just cringe when I finally get Emily to nap only to hear Caleb's waking up cries.

Favorites:

Caleb is now enjoying his new monkey mobile--both the sound and the moving objects. He likes his activity floor mat. Sometimes when he is fussy and I know he isn't tired, hungry, or "poopy",  I just place him on a pallet on the floor to let him stretch out and kick around. He loves his floor time! Caleb still enjoys bath time so long as I get the temperature perfectly warm. He loves faces. It makes his day to have someone talk closely to his face and then wait for him to "talk" back. We are getting big smiles and lots of coos these days. My Aunt Rita swears that she got him to say, "I good." Actually, it really did sound like he said that! :) Also, I would have to say that nursing at mom's breast is probably his favorite place in the whole world to be. He loves to cuddle and loves milk!

11/27/12

Height: 23 inches 

Weight: 12 lbs, 12 oz.

Head circumference: 15 3/8" 

Thanksgiving at Memommy Meisel's house

New Discoveries and Accomplishments:

We saw that first real smile at 5 wks of age. He now has much better head control (can raise head 90 deg. and hold it when on stomach). He now can tummy scoot in the bed. Recently at Nan and Pops' house, he scooted himself all the way to the side of the crib and was kicking the rails which woke us up!

Big Sis Reactions:

Emily still LOVES her brother. She calls him "Bubba." I love it when she says it although I have always disliked the nickname "bubba." I have noticed that when friends or family are holding Caleb and making a fuss over him, she will run up to him, plant a huge kiss on his cheek or head and say, "I call him Bubba!" I think she gets attention when she does this because everyone thinks it is so funny and cute! Then, she runs off back to whatever she was doing. 

A couple of times I think she may have had an intentional poop accident. It is hard to say whether she didn't get to the potty on time or if she did it on purpose because I was busy trying to get Caleb to sleep and she wanted my attention (even if it was negative attention.)

Everyone told me that eventually Emily would try to breastfeed her baby dolls because she obviously sees this modeled to her many times a day. She didn't really do it the first month, but she has a couple of times this month. One conversation went like this:

Emily: Baby (her doll) is hungry. I think she needs milk.

Me: You're probably right. Better feed baby.

Emily: (Lifts shirt and begins to nurse doll.)

Me: How are you feeding baby?

Emily: Well, actually, my boonies make milk. First she takes this one, then this one (as she point to her left and right chest)

Boonies are one of her baby words that I can't bear to correct just yet. She still calls breasts boonies! How funny! I just love that she said "actually." I find myself saying that a lot and it is funny that she picks up on those words.

And finally a note for my sweet boy--

Caleb, this month has flown by! We are so happy that you are showing us a bit of your personality now. We love to see your smile! We love watching you try to coordinate the movements of your mouth and tongue to talk to us. We laugh at how you tolerate your sister kissing you all the time as her long hair falls all over your sweet face. You are a good baby. You rarely cry unless there is a reason (sleepy, hungry, bored, or wet/dirty diaper). You look a lot like your Daddy did when he was a baby and your dark eyes are exactly what I imagined my little boy would have. We love you more every day.

Love,

Mommy

Caleb: 1 month

Caleb's first month has passed by in a blur! We have been busy adjusting to life with a newborn again and life with two kids. Case in point: this first month I think I left the house without Caleb's diaper bag twice and forgot to pack wipes on our first outing.  I haven't had to pack a diaper bag in a long time!

The first week was rough on Mom. I was recuperating from the delivery and adjusting to all of the discomfort that comes when the milk first comes in. The engorgement wasn't as bad this time as with Emily, but I also knew how to handle it better. Also, it took about 10 days or so before nursing was consistently good and comfortable. 

Emily frequently comments that Caleb has "a lot of hair!" Here she is having fun brushing it!

Caleb looks so tiny in Poppy's arms!

This is how Emily likes to hug Caleb. She usually says something like,

"He's so adorable" and then gently places her hands all over his little head!

When Caleb was five days old, the whole Lee-Burnham clan came to visit us! We had a house full of people. We enjoyed our visit although the toddlers did get a little rowdy at times. Everyone got to see Caleb and we also did a belated first birthday celebration for little Hudson. He'd already had his first birthday party, but the aunts and uncles hadn't seen him yet to give him our presents.

I finally got a photo of Aunt Laura holding Caleb.

Big sister was very proud to hold her little brother.

Love how cute and little they all are in this photo! Wish Stephen and Becca's two little ones were also in it. 

Pop has rocked three children and six grandchildren. He's a pro!

Emily and Hunter played so well together the whole day.

Hudson is ONE!

Maddie at 9 months.

I love this photo even though I hate to see him cry! Hudson was upset that the big kids blew out his candle.

Sweet time with my kiddos.

Here's one of Memommy Meisel and Caleb. She's still got the touch. She will be 90 in March 2013.

When Caleb was three weeks old, we made our first trip to Bowling Green and stayed the weekend at Nan and Pop's. We were reminded that traveling with a newborn takes longer. I think it added about 45 minutes to the trip since we had to stop once for a poopy diaper change and once to try to settle Caleb down. It was a beautiful fall weekend. We said our good byes (for now) to Laura and Will and the boys as they are moving to Vancouver for three more months of missions training. We are hopeful that we may see them again in January while they await their visas, but if they are approved quickly, we may not see them again for over a year.

Emily, Cooper and Hunter were quite adventurous with peddling down hills with their trikes. (Only a few tears were shed)

I had high hopes for a good photo of Emily and Caleb together in their fall clothes, but posing a newborn who has so little head control is a challenge. Also, it was a VERY windy afternoon. Caleb's face kind of shows what he thinks about it all!

ONE MONTH STATS: HEIGHT 21 1/4 IN. (50%) WEIGHT: 10 lbs 8.5oz (75%) 

We are thankful to God for the blessing of our healthy, beautiful, son. It has been a joy to see Emily love on him. So far, she has not seemed particularly jealous of him. We make every effort to give her plenty of attention, too! I try to remind her every so often of all the benefits of being a big girl instead of a baby (e.g. eating food and not just milk, being able to tell Mom and Dad what she wants, playing on the playground, getting to watch the "Beauty and the Beast" musical, etc.) She agrees that it is better to be a big girl! We are thankful for all the help that our parents have provided during these early days. We are thankful for our friends and family that brought over so many meals to us. I didn't have to cook dinner for a month!