Caleb's Story: Visit with Steve's Family, Some Spring Weather, Update on No Swaddle & Taking a Few Steps!!

First of all, here is the update on how naptime is going without the swaddle. We are strictly down to one nap a day. It just seems to work better that way. I still struggle with the fact that that means Caleb is really tired at his nap and then really tired at bedtime (because there is so long between waking up in the morning and the nap and then between the nap and bedtime), but 2 naps a day just wasn't worth it without the swaddle. He ended up sleeping less time overall, so I think this is for the best. I was hoping that Daylight Savings Time would mean Caleb would sleep a little later in the morning, but we are still on our same schedule without missing a beat, so, oh well. I really can't complain about 7:00pm-6:00am without a peep in the middle of the night. 12 hours would be nice, but I will settle for 11 since some people get a lot less than that! So, since Caleb has been pretty tired at naptime, he is going to sleep without any struggle in about 5 minutes or less. And he has been sleeping around 1 1/2 hours, which I know is probably not a lot when it is the only nap, but I am happy with it and I hope that once he starts running around and when the weather is nicer and we get outside more that maybe that time will increase to 2 hours. Anyway, I am just thrilled that Caleb is finally napping without a swaddle, because I feel like that is a big step for us!

On to the weekly update. Last Friday my mom was still gone, so we had our pastor's wife, Carmen, come and babysit Caleb in the morning and then Rad and Jen watched him in the afternoon. Carmen had never taken care of Caleb before, but we trusted her completely. They had a great morning and she sent me texts telling me how lucky I was to have such a happy and content baby who wasn't needy at all. And then once he fell asleep for his nap in about 2 minutes, she told me he was perfect in every way! Obviously he is not perfect, but it is nice to hear things from other people that reinforce the fact that we have a very good kid!! So Rad went to my house to relieve Carmen around noon, while Caleb was still napping, and then when Caleb woke up, he brought him back to his house. They had a good afternoon, which included taking a walk.

On Sabbath morning, we headed up to Lowell to Caroline & Corey's house. Steve's parents were there as well. We went to church and Caleb had fun playing in the mother's room.

After church we rushed home to get Caleb down for a nap. Sabbaths are hard because he can't get a nap until at least 1:00. He was definitely tired, but was a trooper. He went right to sleep in the pack and play, but unfortunately only slept about 35 minutes. At home he would probably have gone back to sleep, but no luck here. Oh well. We had a nice lunch and then spent the afternoon and evening just visiting.

I put Caleb to bed at 7:00 and then I worked for a couple of hours. We also Skyped with Amy and Greg for a long time, so that was nice. Made it feel like we were all together!

Sunday morning Caleb was up around 5:45 old time, or 6:45 with Daylight Savings Time. We had breakfast and then shortly after that went for a walk. Caleb and Grandpa were dressed alike, so we had to get a picture.

I worked another little while after we got back from our walk and Caleb had fun playing with everyone.

I put Caleb down for a nap around 12:00 and he went right to sleep, but again only slept about 40 minutes, so that was a bummer. We had lunch and then headed home around 2:30. We got home around 4:00 and took a walk with the dogs. It was a pretty warm afternoon, so we were happy to enjoy it! Then around 5:00 we fed Caleb supper and Grammy and Grampy came over to see Caleb since they had been away for awhile. We are glad that they are back!!

On Monday, our big outing was to Kohl's. I hadn't been there in awhile, so we went and ended up getting a lot of clothes on clearance, so that was good! I mostly got things for Caleb, but scored a few good deals that I will save for later for gifts.

Other than that, Monday was just laundry and catching up from the weekend.

On Tuesday, we made a trip to Market Basket, which is right next to the bridge. I don't usually go there because it is farther, but I decided to this week just to do something different. Well, I didn't realize they were doing bridge work, so I got into traffic 2 miles before the bridge and I thought I would be in traffic forever, but luckily it was only about 10 minutes. It could have been a lot worse! After we got our groceries, we also went to the Carter's store that is in the same plaza. I got some nice pajamas for Caleb for next year (2T) on clearance for $3.99, so I was happy with that. Pajamas are not usually something you want to buy used since they get so much wear.

Tuesday afternoon was such a beautiful afternoon, that we didn't want to stay in the house after naptime, so we headed to Babies R Us to get a new sippy cup for Caleb. He has finally mastered the art of sucking, but isn't quite getting the hang of tipping it up, so I wanted to find one with a straw. I got one that actually has a weighted straw, so it works with any angle, and he is loving it and doing great with it! I think I am actually going back to get another one so my mom can have one at her house too. While we were in Babies R Us, I couldn't resist trying on these bunny ears on Caleb (but we didn't buy them).

After we got back from Babies R Us, we went outside on the swing for the first time this year. Caleb had fun! I can't wait for the warmer weather to be here permanently!!

Tuesday after Steve got home, we were practicing having Caleb walk between the two of us, and he finally actually took a few steps! They were sort of lunging steps, but he actually took several in a row (3-5) instead of just one step and then lunging into someone's arms. So, he is certainly on his way to walking, but obviously we are not there yet! Everyone keeps telling me that once he is walking, I will wish he wasn't, and I know what they mean, but since he is taking so long to walk, I think I will actually be very happy to have him walking (even though I know he will be getting into more mischief).

Yesterday Caleb was at Grammy's house all day, and they had a good day. It is kind of a long day now that he only takes one nap, but luckily he is such a good boy that it doesn't matter too much. They went to the office for lunch, so he couldn't get his nap until 1:00, but at least that meant he fell asleep quickly. Actually, my mom just decided to change the day of office lunch to Tuesday so Caleb could stay on schedule and then she doesn't have to chase him around during lunch.

Well, that's about all for this week. I am looking forward to this weekend and seeing Alison and Shannon and their families and getting lots of great deals at the consignment sale! Corey, wish you could come too!! Here are a few more pictures to close.