Caleb's Story: Caleb is Crawling, Auntie Jen's Birthday, 3 Meals a Day & Veterans Day at Church

I am going to start this off by saying that Caleb is officially crawling now! He started off the week by starting to army crawl and dragging his stomach on the ground. However, the last couple of days he has actually been crawling on his hands and knees. He is not quite Speedy Gonzalez yet, but I am sure he will continue to gain speed as he becomes more comfortable with his new skill. Now I know that he should have been crawling awhile ago, but it's better late than never! His favorite thing to crawl to is the gate in our living room. We leave it open against the wall and he likes to slam it. He also does the same thing with the door to the dog crate. Caleb loves making noise, so he loves the banging.

Last Friday I didn't have to work because I had worked on Monday. It was odd to be off on a Friday, but very nice! Caleb had a good nap in the morning and then we went to lunch at Panera bread in Mashpee Commons with Jen and Tiffany. It was a nice day and we got there early and did a little shopping before lunch.

Checking out his shoes!

We had a nice lunch and then I could tell Caleb was getting tired, so we left. I didn't want him to fall asleep in the car on the way home, so I talked to him the whole way home. I thought he would have no trouble going to sleep at home, but for whatever reason, he didn't want to go to sleep, so after quite awhile, I finally gave up and nursed him to sleep for a nap. Not exactly how I wanted to spend that time, but oh well. Then I had to get ready for supper, because we were having my parents, Rad & Jen, and David & Yully over for supper for Jen's birthday, which was Sunday. Jen always asks me to make shepherd's pie for her every year, so it is a tradition. We had a very nice supper and visit with everyone and then when it was time for Caleb to get ready for bed, everyone left.

Caleb has been getting up around 5:30 ever since the time change, but he did sleep in until almost 6:00 on Sabbath morning! He took a good nap before we left for church. We were having a special Veterans Day service at church, so we were supposed to wear red, white, and blue. I tried to pick out a special outfit for Caleb!

I fed Caleb at the beginning of the church service and then we actually went into church for awhile. Caleb did very well and went up for the children's story and looked at a book quietly in the pew. He especially liked listening to the church choir sing.

Clapping for the choir

We went into the mother's room during the sermon because Caleb was getting a little antsy. Afterwards, we had a nice potluck and Caleb used the high chair at church for the first time. I haven't mentioned before but he is finally eating three meals a day! Those who know us well know that is a major milestone, because Caleb has had such struggles eating solid food! It is such a relief to have him eating so well now. I am still sticking to a lot of purees, but we do some finger foods and I need to continue to branch out more.

Notice the one shoe on, one shoe off

After potluck, we went home and put Caleb down for a nap shortly after that and it was a good one. Then I fed him and then I had to go over to the church to help my mom get supper ready for our church business meeting. Steve and Caleb came over a little later. Caleb and I only stayed for supper and then went home so Caleb could get ready for bed. Steve stayed for the business meeting because he actually had to present something from the building committee. I am sorry I missed it, because everyone told me he did such a great job!

On Sunday, it was Jen's birthday, so we went out to lunch at Alberto's with my parents, Rad & Jen, and David & Yully. Sadly, I did not get any pictures. We had a lovely lunch and Caleb was very well behaved. He just sat and played in the high chair and I had brought some food for him and he ate it very well. Jen opened her presents while we were there and got some nice things. I left at the end of lunch and took Caleb home for a nap. He had only taken a 40 minute nap in the morning, which is now short for him, so I was hoping he would take a good afternoon nap. He fell asleep almost immediately, which does not always happen, especially in the afternoon, and slept for an hour and 20 minutes! I was worried that I was going to have to wake him up because we had to leave to go to a play with Rad and Jen and my mom for Jen's birthday. Caleb woke up just in time, though, for me to feed him before we left. We went to the musical Clue, based on the board game. It was actually very well done and we enjoyed it very much. If you know how to play the game, the musical was just like that, where you had to guess who, where, and what weapon. The audience all had scorecards to make their guesses and at the end, they revealed the answers. I got everything right, which I was excited about. No one else with me got it right (Steve wasn't playing, because he was entertaining Caleb) and surprisingly, when they had people in the audience stand up who got it right, not too many people stood up! Caleb enjoyed the play very much and was enthralled with the dancing and singing. The play was an hour an 20 minutes long with no intermission and he sat through most of it quietly and Steve only had to get up for a few minutes with him.

So, all in all, it was a great show and I hope that Jen really enjoyed it and had a nice birthday!

Monday was Veterans Day, but it was just a normal day for us since I don't work on Mondays anyway and Steve didn't have the day off. Caleb had an hour and 20 minute nap in the morning and then we went out and did some shopping after that. We went to Babies R Us, the grocery store, and Old Navy. Then we went to visit my mom who was cooking all day for a cooking class she was having at her house that night. Then we went home and had lunch and then I put Caleb down for a nap around 2:00. I don't know what happened, but Caleb would not go to sleep. I probably went into his room 30 times to move his feet from out of the crib slats and to put the pacifier in his mouth. He was very fussy and of course did not like me moving his feet, so it was not a fun experience. Finally he fell asleep around 3:10, which is ridiculous, and only slept 25 minutes and then woke up grouchy, so I was not impressed. After a little while, the grouchiness went away and he was fine, but I put him to bed at 7:00 instead of 7:30 that night since he was tired.

Tuesday morning Caleb got up at 5:30 (like clockwork) and we were originally supposed to go to Plymouth Plantation with Jen and the school kids, but it was supposed to rain/snow, so Jen canceled the field trip early in the morning. When she canceled, it hadn't started yet, but it was definitely a good decision, because it ended up snowing pretty much all day and some even stuck on the ground! I am so glad we didn't have to be out in that weather and the good news is she was able to re-schedule for Thursday and it is supposed to be sunny and 50 degrees, so that will be much nicer!

So, instead of going on the field trip, we were able to go to our play group, which was fun, and then we took a quick trip to Trader Joe's. Caleb had another hour and 20 minute nap Tuesday morning, and I put him down for his afternoon nap around 2:15 and he struggled again and I have no idea why!! At 3:20, I finally gave up and nursed him and he fell asleep instantly, so it's not like he wasn't tired. He just couldn't go to sleep for some reason. It was another frustrating time, and I need to try to be more patient with him because clearly something is going on that is not normal.

Today I went to work and Caleb went to Grammy's. I warned her about his bad napping the last couple of days, but I knew she would be more patient with him than I was. It turns out that he only slept 45 minutes in the morning, so I thought that would work in her favor in the afternoon and he did fall asleep fine in the afternoon and slept another 45 minutes. I was just happy that he actually fell asleep, so I am not as worried that he is in some sort of bad pattern. He definitely seems to be getting his top teeth, because I can see the white spots. It doesn't make any sense that that would be affecting his afternoon naps, because his morning naps are fine and he is sleeping all night still. Whatever it is, I hope it is done now!

Here are some pictures from Grammy today. The report was that Caleb is very busy!!

It happens to the best of us after a good meal!

(These pants will be retired now)

I wanted to post a few pictures of Caleb's babysitter Dede and her girls, Josie and Rissa. Dede had taken these pictures and emailed them to me this week, so I wanted to include them because we are so happy that we have Dede and the girls to watch Caleb sometimes when Grammy or Auntie Jen aren't able to. They love him so much and take such good care of him and it is so nice to have someone we can trust with him besides family.