Sunday night we were about to go to bed early to get caught up on our sleep and then I got a phone call from my friend Betsy who told me some terribly sad news - our friend Neil had died. He was only 34, which is shocking enough, but the story is truly tragic for other reasons. Neil got married 3 years ago to a woman named Tina and she had had brain cancer prior to meeting Neil, but was in remission when then met. After they got married her brain tumor came back and she had surgery almost a year and a half ago and then tried radiation, chemotherapy, a trial drug, etc., and nothing seemed to be working, so back around May of this year, she basically decided to stop treatment and Neil had been taking care of her at home. She had lost all ability to speak and could not really move except her left arm. She was sleeping all but about 2 hours a day, but was still eating and drinking. Everyone was prepared that she was going to probably die pretty soon, so it was terribly shocking to hear instead that it was Neil that had passed away. As of right now, his cause of death has not been determined, but I am guessing it had something to do with his heart. Anyway, I was just devastated by the news because Neil is one of my closest friends and when we were in high school, I called him my big brother and he called me his little sister. After he died, I assumed that Tina's condition would deteriorate quickly and sure enough, Tina passed away on Tuesday morning, less than 48 hours after Neil passed away. I think that was for the best, but it is still so terribly sad. Needless to say, it has been a very sad week as we are trying to process everything that has happened and grieve. They are going to have a combined memorial service for them in a few weeks. Here are a couple of pictures from the couple of recent visits we had with them.
So, Monday was spent finishing unpacking, although I had done very well on Sunday and had gotten all the laundry done and most everything put away. Caleb slept very well Sunday night since he was still catching up from our drive home, and he didn't get up until almost 9:30 (the second time) Monday morning. I was afraid he wouldn't nap very well, but he did sleep about 1 1/2 hours, so I was happy with that. Our big excitement for the day was a trip to Trader Joe's to stock up after being gone for a week and a half. I also decided that I am going to try harder to get Caleb to eat food since we are going for his 9 month doctor's appointment in about 3 weeks and I don't want to have to tell the doctor that he is still not eating. I gave him some oatmeal mixed with pears and he actually opened his mouth for a few bites, so I think that was a small improvement. After Steve got home, we didn't have a chance to go for a walk, but we did play in Caleb's room practicing his standing up skills for awhile. 
If you are a regular reader of the blog, you may recall that Caleb loves to walk over to the trash can and play with the trash bag when he is in his walker. Well, this week he has decided to start taking the lid off the trash can and carrying it around with him in his walker. He is very proud of himself when he does it and I am actually quite impressed that he can hold onto it, because it must be heavy for him.
Tuesday our big outing was a trip to Babies R Us to get a baby shower gift and a couple of other things for Caleb. Caleb took a 30 minute nap, so I was not too impressed with that. I left him in there for awhile, because he looked so tired, but he never went back too sleep. After Steve got home, we went and visited with our neighbors for awhile because we hadn't seen them since we got back and we wanted to thank them for getting our mail while we were gone. The rest of the day was just spent playing and was pretty normal.
Caleb has now figured out how to jump and grab the toys on his walker, which is pretty fun for him
On Wednesday, since my mom isn't here to watch Caleb, I took the morning off and then Steve took the afternoon off. I knew that Steve wanted to show Caleb off at work, so I dropped Caleb off there on my way to work and then Steve brought him home. He only took a 30 minute nap for Steve as well, so I didn't feel so bad. The issue on both Tuesday and Wednesday, I think, is that when I was feeding him at 10:00, he kinda fell asleep while eating, so then I think he wasn't quite as tired at his normal nap time. Maybe when that happens I should put him down later than usual. Wednesday after I got home, we took a walk and gave Caleb a bath and this is the first time we gave him bath toys, now that he is sitting up by himself in the tub!
Waiting to get out at Daddy's work
Loving his bath toys!!
Yesterday was a pretty good day. We played in the morning and didn't go out and do anything. In the afternoon, Caleb took a nap and originally he woke up after 25 minutes and I thought we were going to have a disaster, but I put the pacifier back in and he went back to sleep for an hour and 15 minutes. Then I had to go to Sandy Neck Beach to get a permit for our church to go have a bonfire there this weekend. After we went there, we went to Kidz Closet, a consignment store, because they were having 20% off their whole store. We got a few good things and then came home. After Steve got home, we took a walk and then while we were eating supper, we gave Caleb some puffs for the first time. He liked playing with them at first and then actually ate some, so maybe he will get the hang of this eating thing after all.
Then we got ready to put Caleb to bed. We have been giving him Tylenol before bed ever since we got home because of his tooth, but it hasn't seemed to be bothering him that much, so last night we didn't. Well, Caleb had a hard time settling down for bed, which never happens, so we ended up giving him Tylenol after the fact and then he was fine.
Well, I guess that catches us up. I took this morning off of work again, and Rad and Jen are going to watch Caleb this afternoon, so I need to go now and feed Caleb before dropping him off!
So sorry about Tina & Neil. I really haven't ever heard a story so tragic before.
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