Week 10

Caleb is 10 weeks old today! It is hard to believe it has already been that long. I am going to try to post on a weekly basis now that I am caught up, but we'll see if I am able to keep that up. This week was warmer than last week so Caleb and I got out and took a walk on most days, which was nice. I always enjoy getting out of the house. Thursday, in particular, was especially warm, and I didn't even wear a coat when we went out. I made sure Caleb was bundled up well, though!

Caleb slept so good this week! Sunday night he slept 8 1/2 hours - from 8:30 - 5:00. Then he went back to sleep from 5:45-8:45! I thought that was so great until he didn't take any naps that day. So, maybe it wasn't as great as I thought. The rest of the week he slept at least 6 hours at a time, and the last 3 nights he has done 7 hours! I feel so well rested when he does 7 hours in one stretch. It sure beats the 2 1/2 hour stretches we started out with! Usually he goes back to sleep for a couple of hours after the 7 hours, which is good too. His naps haven't been that great this week, but hopefully this week will be better for that. The problem I have is knowing when he is going to take a short nap and when he is going to take a longer nap. One day this week, I put him on my shoulder when he got sleepy because I thought he would sleep for half an hour or 45 minutes and then he would want to eat. Turns out he slept for 2 hours while he was on my shoulder, so I should have put him in his pack and play and then I could have gotten something accomplished. Oh well. I like holding him when he is sleeping, so I didn't mind too much. Here are a few pictures of Caleb sleeping!

This is a homemade sweater by the mother of a friend of mine from work! I love it! 

I love the hand that busted out of the swaddle. That doesn't happen too often, luckily.

 

 

 

 

 

We ventured out to a kids consignment shop this week called Kidz Closet in Sandwich. They had a lot of good things, but it wasn't organized too well. The sizes were mixed up and everything was crammed in there. I bought a few things in size 3-6 months, but it was a little overwhelming, so we didn't stay a real long time. I am sure I will go back there, though.

I started doing a little bit of work from home this week. My boss didn't want to ask me to do it, but he was pressured from some other people to ask me, because we have a big website project that we have been working on for almost 2 years and I have been heavily involved in it and it is very close to completion, so they want me to be involved again. I spent about 7 hours this week working on the website and it was good to get back into things a little bit without actually having to leave Caleb. In 2 weeks I go back to work for real (although only part-time, thank goodness), and I am not looking forward to leaving Caleb!

 

We made a quick trip to Vermont this weekend to see Steve's parents and mostly for Caleb to meet Grandma Gadway who hadn't seen him yet. She was very excited to see him. We didn't try to make it for church, since it is such a long drive. We left home around 9:00 on Sabbath morning and stopped halfway there to feed Caleb. We ended up getting to Steve's parents' house around 1:00, just before everyone got home from church. We had a nice day and Caleb went to bed around 8:00. We left to come home today around 1:20 and Caleb actually slept the whole way, which was amazing! I did not think that would happen. I was joking with Steve about which was more of a miracle: that Caleb slept the whole way home or that I didn't have to stop and go to the bathroom on the way home. I actually did have to go for about the last hour and a half, but I didn't want to wake Caleb up by stopping so I just held it. Here are some of our pictures from Vermont.

 

 

 

 

 

We are anxiously awaiting the return of my parents from New Zealand. They have been gone over 2 weeks and I can't wait for them to see how Caleb has grown! He is also smiling so much more now, so I can't wait for them to see that as well. Here are a few more random pictures from this week!

 

 



This is a Mickey hat that doesn't fit Caleb's head, but I wanted to get a picture!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Love those cheeks!!

 

Daddy's hat

 

 

Caleb's 2nd Month

Caleb turned 2 months old on Friday the 25th. His second month was very busy and had a lot of milestones. One of the first things we did was make our first trip to Vermont to Steve's parents' house for the Conrad Christmas. It was our first long trip and we did have to stop once on the way up to feed Caleb in a parking lot, but other than that, the trip was ok. We had a good time in Vermont and were able to stay for a few days, which was nice.

With Grandma

 

Meeting cousin Bethany and Darren

 

Steve wanted to buy this onesie when we were in Newport

With Aunt Caroline on the blanket she made for him

 On our way home, we stopped at the Edwards' house to see how big Westin was getting! It is so fun to get the 2 boys together since they are so close in age. We hope to get together more often!

 

 

 

 

Later that week, Caleb and I went out to lunch with Nathan and Caleb, which was fun, since I hadn't seen them in a very long time. It was nice to have Caleb meet Caleb.

 

 

 

I started pumping this month and Caleb has taken several bottles. That is a relief, since that is what he is going to have to do when I go back to work in a few weeks. We don't give him a bottle all that often, but every time we do, he takes it fine, so I am not too worried.

 

First bottle!

The pumping is going well. I don't do it every day, but I will do it if Caleb doesn't eat too much on one side or if he goes a really long time between feedings (neither of which happen much during the day, but sometimes happen at night). I have started to store milk in the freezer in case I am not able to pump enough while I am at work to feed Caleb while I am gone.

We went back to Newport for the weekend the first weekend in January with my parents, Rad & Jen, and Dini. The Piroskis also came for one of the nights. We had a lot of fun and enjoyed the Cliff Walk.

 

 

 

On Monday, January 7, I went for my 6 week check-up at the OB and everything was fine. I then wanted to start exercising again, so I have started going on my treadmill as often as I can as well as taking Caleb for walks in the stroller around the neighborhood, as long as the weather is ok. I love being active and I can't wait for the warmer weather when we can take longer walks! I don't usually dress him in this outfit to walk around the neighborhood, but this is what he looks like when he is all bundled up.

 

 

 

One of the things we have started this month is to have worship with Caleb every night before he goes to bed. Sometimes he is alert and sometimes we have to do it while he is eating to make sure he stays quiet. We are reading one Bible story every night and having prayer with him. I know he doesn't understand, but it is never too early to start!

 

 

We are still enjoying our visits to the office on Wednesdays for lunch. I am going to miss that when I go back to work, because Wednesday is going to be one of the days that I work. Caleb is quite popular with the ladies there, but Grampy usually is the one that holds him the most because he eats the fastest (the ladies refer to him as "the baby hog"). Here is a picture of Caleb with Uncle Rad at the office (while Rad was not in school).

 

 

One of the biggest things this month is that Caleb is definitely smiling! I love to see him smile for real and not just when he has gas! He loves to smile when I touch his nose, his mouth, and his cheeks. It is so cute! Here are few examples of his smiles!

 

 

 

 

 



We went for Caleb's 2 month check-up on Friday and he was the star of the office. All of the nurses oohed and aahed about how cute he was. One of them told me he was the cutest baby she had seen all day and another one told me she wouldn't be able to get anything done if she was me, because she would just be looking at him all day! So, his stats are:

 

Weight:  12 pounds, 7 ounces (54th percentile)

Length:   23 1/4 inches (62nd percentile)

 

We saw the nurse practitioner this time and she said she couldn't be happier with his progress and how well he is doing. And I need to add the fact that he did so well with all of the poking and prodding she did and didn't fuss at all. He did have to get 3 shots, however, and of course he cried at that. I have heard him scream before, obviously, but it was so sad to see him scream when he got his shots because he was so calm right before she did it and then he was so upset because he wasn't expecting it. It only lasted a couple of minutes, and he calmed down after I picked him up and then fell asleep in the car on the way home. Here is a picture of him at the doctor's office, before the shots!

 

 

Caleb has been sleeping much better this month. The night before his 1-month appointment was the first time he ever slept 4 hours straight and now 4 hours is average or even a little short. He has given me several 5 hour stretches and even a couple of 6 hour stretches, which is very exciting. I hope he is well on his way to sleeping through the night!

 

Well, that's it for now! I will close with a few random pictures and I will try to post more often now that I am caught up to date with what is going on with Caleb.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was the week they won, not the week they lost!

 

He was completely sound asleep here!