November 30

Caleb had a great time with my flowers today. Look at that sweet expression - you can tell the kid is up to no good, but is trying to hide it.

I tried to prevent any problems by giving him a small blossom to play with. If only it were that easy! He wasn't satisfied with the little flower; he wasn't satisfied at all until he had a handful of petals from the big yellow flowers. I finally had to call a halt to his explorations before he knocked over the whole vase.

November 29

We had so much fun today, playing and laughing and making silly faces....

Somehow I didn't manage to capture any of it on film. However, I did get this one of Caleb playing with his blocks. He has progressed from merely chewing and drooling on them to actually handling them! Don't laugh - it's a big step!

November 28

I'm a sucker for bathtime, every time.

Chris is off at a Blues game tonight, so I got to do bathtime with Caleb. We had a lot of fun!

November 27

We hosted my family's Thanksgiving dinner yesterday, so it was a long day.

However, I got this wonderful photo of Caleb attempting to enjoy his first Thanksgiving feast. (No one tell him that the food is the yummy part, not the plate! He'll be so disappointed).

November 26

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have so much to be thankful for. Chris and I are continually reminded of how much we depend on God's grace and provision over our lives. The gifts He has given us are better and more wonderful than we could ever deserve.

We're also thankful for our family. In this photo, Caleb got to meet his Aunt Grace and Uncle Adam for the first time. Though they're far away, we're so happy to have them in our lives.

November 25

Not much to say about this one - it's just a happy baby!

He always seems happiest when he's not wearing his diaper. I hope this doesn't foreshadow his future preferences...

November 24

It may have been 55 degrees out today, but Caleb still needed to wear his new hat and mittens on our run.

I knew they were cute when I bought them, but it wasn't until I put the hat on Caleb's head that I realized just how cute they were.
Thanks, Old Navy, for making my baby so stinking adorable.

(Also, my baby does not normally slouch like this in his chair. He's just started this new "reaching for something below my chair" thing. I'm not sure what he was reaching for here, but apparently it was tantalizing. Unfortunately, his mittens prevented any grabbing.)

November 23

Caleb had a lot of fun playing with his blocks today!

By "playing with," I mean "chewing and drooling on" his blocks. Really, that's all he can do at this point.

Some day he'll build us a tower.

November 22

We got our Christmas tree today. This was Caleb's first Christmas tree experience.

He was fascinated.

November 21

We had a fun - and busy - day today! It wasn't until it was almost time to put Caleb to bed that Chris asked me about my photo of the day.

Oops!

So I got out the camera and found this - a happy baby in the bathtub!

November 20

Today Caleb played with his playgym for the first time in a while.

It was like Christmas morning! He was so excited and happy to be batting at the little stuffed squeakers and pictures of animals.

It was a good day.

November 19

The rice cereal-eating is going well! In fact, it's going so well that tonight Daddy took a turn at feeding Caleb, so I was able to take a few photos.

Caleb looks forward to eating the cereal now - he leans toward the spoon, smacks his lips, and tries to "help" us feed him. In this photo, he's definitely "helping". I tried giving him his own spoon so that he would help less, but that spoon just went straight to his mouth and got in the way. Maybe another time.

November 18

We had a BUSY day today, so I didn't have time to take a "good" picture. Instead, you get one that makes me laugh.

In this one, Caleb is standing up and using my knees for balance. However, he's captivated by the camera and is about to reach out and grab it. Here he is contemplating his plan of attack.

November 17

How many times can I say "he's so curious" before it gets old?

I'm going to risk it one more time: He's so curious! I never realized that one of the truest joys of being a parent is watching your baby discover something new. I love the fact that Caleb is fascinated by everything around him.

November 16

It was a big day in our household today - Caleb ate his first real food. He had rice cereal mixed with a lot of breast milk.

I initially wanted to wait until 6 months to introduce solid foods, but he seems so ready that I just couldn't wait. This picture pretty well sums up how it went: he wasn't super excited about the food (see his face), but he was interested enough that we kept going (see his hand).

Now we'll just keep practicing until he can eat more than a few teaspoons of it!

November 15

Yes, this is my child surrounded by and playing with spoons.

One of my mom's friends surprised us with a bunch of little gifts that Caleb really needs: socks, bowls, and spoons.

SPOONS!

We haven't introduced solid foods to him yet, but will in the next month or two. Thus, this was Caleb's first experience with spoons. He loves them. Give the kid a spoon and you've never seen such a happy baby. Thanks, Susan!

November 14

Today Caleb discovered balls.

There's no turning back now - our little boy will be forever captivated by any ball. And look - he even knows instinctually what to do with a basketball! Doesn't it look like he's about to shoot it?

He didn't shoot it, though.

We'll save that for tomorrow.

November 13

Just when I think Caleb is getting so good at sitting up,
this happens:

November 12

Caleb was much happier today than he has been the past few days. Every day, I'm more and more thrilled to see what a cheerful and inquisitve little boy he's becoming!

Side note: The shirt he's wearing in this photo was #2 for the day. He ended up wearing 5.

November 11

Caleb is getting more and more curious each day.

Part of that curiosity involves putting everything he can into his mouth.
I realize this is standard for all babies.
However, it is still hilarious that even my camera strap went in his mouth.
At some point, this will probably get old, but right now I love it!

November 10

Caleb was unusually fussy today.

This photo makes all of the rocking and nursing and singing and tickling and bouncing and silly noises worth it.

November 9

We had another BUSY day yesterday, so I only managed to take a few photos.

This one was one of my favorites, just because Caleb is reaching for the camera for the first time.
Chris thought Caleb looked scared, but I think he's intently studying the camera as he reaches out to touch it.
We have a curious little man on our hands!

November 8

More naked baby. Irresistible, right?

I love that he has started clasping his feet together like this. How cute!

November 7

Remember how Caleb discovered his feet the other day?

He. Loves. Them.

Chris thought it was gross that Caleb was chewing on his socks, until I reminded him that Caleb is a baby and his socks don't get dirty, really. Then he just thought it was hilarious.

Thanks to Grandma Gayle for the adorable socks that Caleb loves so much!

November 6

Today we discovered Caleb's plastic rings.

LOVE them!