5 Months Today!

So, today is the 25th, which means that Caleb is now 5 months old! I can't believe how quickly the time has passed. It doesn't seem like that long ago that he was born, yet at the same time, when I think about being in the hospital, it does seem like a long time ago. It is crazy to think about how much he has changed in such a short time. When he was first born, he wasn't very interactive with us and now he is smiling all the time, laughing fairly often and so responsive to us. It is just amazing to see how quickly babies change. It makes me so happy that I am able to be home with him so much to see all of the changes. I am so blessed with the work schedule that I have!

Let's see what happened in the last week. Last Friday was a typical work day for me. Caleb had a good day for my mom and for Rad and Jen. He has had a couple of bad days with Rad and Jen, so I am always happy when he is good for them. After we got home on Friday, Caleb rolled over for the first time, but it was a little anti-climactic. I had put him on his stomach on his play mat and he was kind of propped up on his hands and then he just rolled onto his back. He hasn't done it again, but admittedly, we don't do tummy time enough with him, so he doesn't have a lot of opportunities. He has gotten pretty close to rolling from back to front because he spends a lot of time on his back, but he hasn't quite done it yet.

On Sabbath, we went to church and Aunt Toni, Uncle Terry, Aunt Sherrie, and Uncle Kevin were there visiting. We stayed in church for awhile while Caleb was happy and awake and we went up for the children's story and then we went into the mother's room so he could eat. Here is a picture of Caleb with Uncle Terry in church and a picture of him in his church outfit.

 

 

After church, we stayed for potluck and then Caleb really needed a nap, so we left and went to my parents' house to put him down for a nap so we could visit with my aunts and uncles.

 

 

My mom and her 3 sisters and their husbands were all headed to Newport for the rest of the weekend, so they left around 3:00 and we went home. We didn't do too much else the rest of the day. On Sunday, I worked in the morning and then we left around 12:30 to join the group in Newport. Rad & Jen and David & Yully went down as well. When we first got there, we waited a little while for everyone to get together and so we went out and sat on the porch and enjoyed the view for awhile. I had just bought a sun hat for Caleb to wear this summer, so I put it on him and realized that it most definitely will not fit him this summer, because it was just about too small right now. Oh well.

 

 

Then we took a walk into the town with everybody and some people got a cupcake from Cupcake Charlie's and some people got some frozen yogurt with toppings (and some people got both - Steve). Then we walked a ways to a Thai restaurant where we basically took up the whole restaurant. Here is a picture of Caleb with Grampy in the restaurant.

 





 

After we ate, we walked back to the time share and Steve went home with Rad & Jen and David & Yully and Caleb and I were spending the night so we could hang out on Monday with my mom and dad.

 

On Monday, Caleb got up at about 5:00 and then went back to sleep from about 6:15 to 9:00, so I was able to get some work done. After I fed him again, my mom and I took a walk into the town and looked for a place to eat lunch. Caleb fell asleep in the stroller while we were looking for a place. My mom told me about a place called the Brick Alley Pub that had a good salad bar, so we thought we would go there. We get to the door and there is a sign that says that strollers have to be folded up before entering the restaurant. Well, Caleb was asleep, so that wasn't going to happen. My mom didn't think it would matter because there was literally no one else in the restaurant. However, when we walked in and asked if it was ok to leave him in the stroller, they told us no, and so we said that we would be leaving. I couldn't believe it! I mean, if it was the middle of summer and the restaurant was packed, that would be one thing, but it is ridiculous to lose a customer because of that reason when the restaurant is empty. So, we went to a different place and had a really good lunch. After lunch, I fed Caleb and then we drove home. My mom came with us because my dad had to go to a lunch in Providence and just went home from there. Caleb slept the whole way home, which was really nice. It was nice to see Steve when he got home from work. Sunday night was the first night he had spent away from Caleb since he was born. Here is one more picture from Caleb in Newport. I was getting our stuff packed up and my mom was holding Caleb. When I brought his play mat out, he got really excited, so we put him on it!

 

 

 

Caleb slept pretty good Monday night. He originally woke up around 4:00 but wasn't crying. He was just talking to himself. I really didn't want to be awake at 4:00, so I just lay there, delaying the inevitable of getting up. However, Caleb went back to sleep on his own and didn't get up until 7:30! So, that was nice. Then, I had a very pleasant surprise when he napped for 1 1/2 hours in the morning without me even having to go up and put his pacifier in. Then, he napped for another 1 1/2 hours in the afternoon, although I did have to go and put his pacifier in after about 40 minutes. He has not been a great napper, so this was very good. I got a lot accomplished during his naps, so I was very excited! I know this won't always happen, but I will take it when I can get it!

 

Wednesday was another work day and Caleb had a good day with Grammy. She came over in the morning and he actually slept until about 9:15, so that was good for her. Here are a couple of pictures she took yesterday. The last one is of his hands and she took it because it is very similar to how my dad holds his hands sometimes. I think it's a cute picture.

 

 

This morning I had to go back to the dentist, so Steve stayed home with Caleb and went in to work late. I woke Caleb up at about 6:15 to feed him so he would go back to sleep while I was at the dentist. I put him back down at about 7:15, but he didn't go back to sleep until almost 7:45, because he was talking to himself. Anyway, I got back at 9:15 and he was still asleep and didn't get up until 10:00! As I write this, it is almost 2:30 and Caleb has been in his crib since 12:45. He didn't fall asleep until about 1:00 and then woke up about 30 minutes later and I had to put the pacifier in a couple of times, but he is still asleep now, which is great! I think I have finally realized that when he wakes up the first time (usually after 30 minutes), he is not necessarily ready to get up, even though he is usually happy if I get him up after 30 minutes. I am optimistic that he is going to keep up this pattern of napping longer, especially since he is more active now in his Johnny jump-up (which he absolutely loves). I am crossing my fingers anyway! Here are just a couple more pictures from this week!

 



 





Week 20 & Grammy's Birthday

Last Friday I worked and there was not much exciting that happened. Here is a picture my mom took from her day with Caleb.

On Sabbath, we went to church (didn't make it for Sabbath School). Caleb wore a tie to church for the first time and it was really cute and he got a lot of comments from people.

We spent most of the service in the mother's room and Caleb fell asleep while we were in there. He was kind of in the sun and it made him look so angelic. I love this picture!

 

After church, we had people over to our house for lunch for my mom's birthday. Usually we have lunch at her house, but it was nice for her to not have to cook for a change. So, had Rad and Jen, Dini, and the Cragwells over. The Cragwells have been gone for a couple of months, so it was nice to see them again. We didn't do too much else the rest of the day on Sabbath. Sunday I worked in the morning as usual, and then the rest of the day was not very exciting. I think Caleb and I went to BJ's and the dollar store. Here is a picture from Sunday of Caleb and Kylie.

 

 

On Monday, it was a holiday, so I automatically get paid for 8 hours, which is really nice. I didn't have to stress as much about working this week because of that. Of course, Monday was tainted by the news of the marathon bombings, which was really sad. Caleb and I also took a quick trip to Babies R Us. It had been awhile since we were there and someone had given us a $50 gift card. I ended up buying some clothes that were on sale.

 

Tuesday afternoon I had to go to the dentist, which I was not too excited about. I love the people, but do not like the experience of going to the dentist. I brought Caleb with me, because the ladies at the office really wanted to see him. He did very well there, but unfortunately, I had a couple of cavities, so I had to make two more appointments to go back, which I was very upset about. I only had my first cavity a year ago, so I had a pretty good track record up until that point, but clearly things are starting to go downhill, which I am not excited about. Tuesday, I also took out all of Caleb's 6-9 month clothes, because it is time to move into that size. I have a lot of summery clothes in that size that I am really looking forward to having him wear! I am so ready for the warmer weather!!

 



Wednesday I worked, but Grammy had a good day with Caleb. She has been coming over to our house in the mornings the last couple of weeks because Caleb sleeps for awhile and she can get some things accomplished, so that is nice for her. Here are a few pictures she took on Wednesday. I especially love the picture of Caleb and my dad. It is so cute how they are smiling at each other!

 

This morning I had to go back to the dentist and Jen is on April vacation, so I asked her if she could come over and watch Caleb. I had to leave at 7:45 and Caleb got up at 5:30 and went back to sleep at 6:30, so I wasn't sure how long he would sleep for Jen, but he slept until 8:30 and then they played for awhile until I got back at about 9:20. The dentist appointment went ok. I didn't enjoy it, but it was fine. I have one more appointment next Thursday and then hopefully I will be all set for awhile. My mom had told me yesterday that the office was going out for lunch today for my mom's birthday. I kind of invited myself and Caleb to go along and so my mom invited Jen too. So, we had a nice lunch this afternoon at Alberto's, which is a very nice restaurant. Caleb was in need of a nap, which he didn't take, so it was a little iffy at the restaurant, but he did pretty good. Since he didn't get a nap earlier today, when we got home he ended up sleeping about 2 hours, which was really great. I could get used to that! Here are a couple of pictures from our lunch.

 

 

 

 

My dad had commented that the outfit I had Caleb in today made him look like a jailbird and then Steve said the same thing when he got home, so Steve decided to put him on a chair and made it look like he was in jail. It was pretty cute and I couldn't pass up the photo op. Steve is supporting his back, but he was actually holding himself up pretty well!

 

 

Caleb is starting to notice the dogs more. You can't really tell in this picture, but Cody's tail is really wagging and he was trying to touch it. It is very cute. I can only imagine what he is going to do to those poor dogs once he is mobile. They better look out!

 

 

I guess I didn't have anything really exciting to report this week. Here are just a couple more pictures. This weekend we are going to Newport, so maybe I will have something more exciting to report next week!

 









Music Clinic and Sick Again!

So, last Thursday Caleb, my mom and I drove up to Freeport, Maine for the music clinic weekend. We left around 10:45 and stopped in Saugus at one of my mom's favorite restaurants (Prince) for eggplant parmesan. We also fed Caleb there, so that worked out well. Then we went the rest of the way to Maine and Caleb slept the majority of the hour and 45 minutes, which was great! Aunt Melanie had rented a big house with 4 bedrooms for us to stay in, so we stayed with Aunt Melanie & Uncle Bill, my parents, Shawn & Camille and Corey and her kids (Duncan didn't make the trip). It is an awesome house right on the ocean and it was a really good deal, especially split 5 ways. Definitely cheaper than staying in a hotel and so much more convenient because there were sitting areas and a kitchen, etc.

All of the older kids loved Caleb. Brady especially seemed to like Caleb and he kept saying "I pet him." He also put a "v" at the end of his name instead of a "b", so it sounds like "Ca-love". It was so cute. Aubree also really seemed to like Caleb. Acadia really liked his car seat and she kept putting her dolls in it!

 



It was so fun to see all of the kids. They have all changed so much since we saw them at Christmas. The house was pretty chaotic at times with all of the kids running around. I guess I can see what I have to look forward to when Caleb gets a little older. Steve and my dad and Rad came up late Thursday night, so it was nice for Steve to have the day off on Friday to spend with us. We just hung out in the morning, went to Chinese food for lunch, and then I was able to do a little shopping at the outlets by myself while Steve took Caleb for awhile. That was very nice! I was able to spend a gift card from Gap that Steve got me for my birthday, and of course I bought several things for Caleb as well! Friday afternoon Steve and I took Caleb for a walk, because it was a beautiful day. We also took another walk with everyone Friday evening before sundown.

 

Friday morning Caleb woke up with another cough and runny nose. I wasn't too happy about that and then Sabbath morning he woke up and was even worse. We had another episode of projectile vomit just because he had a coughing fit right after he ate. That was not fun. We went to the end of Sabbath School, but didn't make it through church because Caleb needed to eat, so we just went back to the house to try to get him fed before the rest of the family returned from church. There were a lot more family members that joined us on Sabbath. All of the Copseys were there and the Walls and Rad and Jen with the school kids came over as well. We got to see Westin, who we hadn't seen since New Year's Eve. He is so cute, but definitely quite a bit smaller than Caleb! Here are some random pictures of some of the group, including one picture of 10 of the 11 kids that were there (Westin was sleeping and Jonathan's girls were not there).

 

The 4 sisters

Brady enjoying a cupcake

A lot of people say Caleb looks like Grampy!

Aubree & Camden

Love this picture of David and Aubree

Shannon is 27 weeks pregnant with baby Griffin!

Finley Mae

 

Westin

Bode helping light the candles for the April birthdays

Devin and Bode

3 April birthdays

10 of the 13 cousins!!

Caleb and Westin - 6 days apart

Love how Westin's hand is on Caleb's leg in the first picture and Caleb's hand is on Westin's leg in this picture!

Mommies and their boys

The 4 girl cousins

 



So, we spent the rest of Sabbath just hanging out with everyone and then when most people got ready to go to the evening concert, we got ready to go home. We left at about 7:45 and got home at 10:45. I fed Caleb before we put him to bed and he had another projectile vomit incident, which was not fun at 11:30 at night. I slept in a little Sunday morning, since I usually get up at 5:00 to work. I ended up getting up at 7:00 and then feeding Caleb before I started to work. I worked 5 hours and then the rest of the day we took a walk and unpacked from the weekend.

Monday morning I went to the RMV because I had realized over the weekend that my license had expired on my birthday. They don't send you notices anymore, but for some reason I just remembered that it had expired. Caleb was very good in the registry. In fact, here is a picture of him sleeping in his stroller.

I had put the baby bjorn in the bottom of the stroller in case I needed to use it and later that night, we were going to take a walk and I asked Steve to get it for me, and only one piece of the bjorn was there and I had apparently lost the other part probably when I folded up the stroller at the registry. So, I was really ticked about that, because they are expensive, but we found one on eBay for $5 and $5 shipping, so we will be getting that soon.

Anyway, I had called Caleb's pediatrician on Monday morning because his cough and wheezing seemed pretty bad. So, they wanted me to come in, so we killed a little time after the registry and then went to the doctor's office. Here is a picture of Caleb waiting to see the doctor.

They tested him again for RSV and it was negative this time. They also gave me a nebulizer treatment because they said if that actually helped him, then maybe he had asthma. It didn't actually help him, though, so that means he doesn't have asthma and it is probably just a cold this time. Hopefully he will get better soon! By the way, they weighed Caleb again, and he is now 17 pounds, 5 ounces, so he has gained another pound exactly since his 4 month appointment two weeks ago.

Monday night Steve finally put Caleb in an outfit that Steve wore when he was a baby. We have had the outfit for awhile and it looks like we almost lost our window of time where it would fit Caleb, because as you can see from the pictures below, the pants are pretty tight. But, it is pretty neat to see Caleb in an outfit that Steve wore 34 years ago!

 

Tuesday was a gorgeous day! It was about 70 degrees here. Caleb woke up at 4:30 on Tuesday morning, which is pretty early for him, but he had gotten his hand out of his swaddle and both Steve and I woke up because he was sucking on his fingers pretty loudly. So, I fed him at 4:30 and then I put him back down around 5:30 and he slept until 10:15! So, that was a nice treat and I got a lot accomplished in that time! Unfortunately, we had a bad experience trying to take a walk in the afternoon. Usually I wait until Caleb is tired and he will sleep in the stroller. This time, since it was so nice out, I didn't want to wait until he was tired and that was a mistake. He was very fussy in the stroller for no apparent reason and it was not an enjoyable walk. Tuesday evening after Steve got home, I wanted to do something outside, but of course we needed to eat, so we got Thai take-out and went to a beach to eat it. We invited Jen to come with us, which was nice. It wasn't still 70 degrees at that point, but still a nice evening.

 

 

Yesterday, I had to work, of course, and I asked my mom if she would mind coming over to our house in the morning so Caleb could get a little more sleep. Usually he wakes up when I bring him to my mom's house and doesn't go back to sleep, even though he would normally go be sleeping at that time at home. So, she came over a little earlier than we expected and Steve was in the shower and I was feeding Caleb, so she couldn't get in! Then we forgot that we had the pack and play that is usually at her house, because we brought it to Maine with us. So, even though we didn't have to bring Caleb to her house, Steve and I ended up having to stop there and set up the pack and play before heading to work. I was almost late to work, but made it with 2 minutes to spare.

 

Today Caleb woke up again at 4:30 or 4:45, and again because his hand got out of the swaddle. When I put him back down at 5:45 or so, he seemed to have a little bit of a hard time settling down, but then ended up sleeping until 9:45, so I had another productive morning. I do enjoy the productivity, but I don't particularly enjoy getting up at 4:30, although I usually get up between 5:00-5:30 on my own anyway. Nothing much else exciting happened today. I did decide that it is finally time to get out the 6-9 month clothes, because Caleb is starting to bust open the snaps on some of his outfits. Probably I will do that over the weekend or on Monday. Tomorrow is another work day and then I am happy it is the weekend! Here are a few more random pictures from this week!

 

This is what 17 pounds looks like!

Such an angelic face!

Grampy loves Caleb so much!

Very much enjoying his Johnny jump-up

Finally starting to notice and pay attention to the dogs