January 31

Have I mentioned that Chris is playing ice hockey again?

He is.

Today he got out his stick and was practicing his stick-handling for Caleb to see.

As if he needed any more reason to think his Daddy is the coolest person on the face of the earth.

I don't know what I'll do if Caleb decides he wants to play hockey.

I can't bear the thought of him being checked by some angry player the size of a grizzly bear.

Or the thought of him getting his teeth knocked out by a flying puck.

Luckily, I have time.

First he needs to learn to skate.

Or learn to walk.

Or get some teeth.

January 30

Caleb and I didn't leave the house today; we stayed in and played all day.

Sometimes days like that are perfect, and other times they are exhausting.

Today was one of the exhausting ones.

For me, at least.

This kid never seems to get tired of playing!

I was so glad when Chris came home. I don't know how single moms do it!

January 29

Should we tell Chris that Caleb was this cheerful, even though Daddy wasn't home?

If it helps, it wasn't me that made Caleb this happy. It was his sippy cup.

Seriously, the kid loves his sippy cup.

He loves it, despite that he rarely consumes any of the liquid in it.

Usually the water comes gushing out of his mouth like a waterfall as soon as he removes the cup.

Hence the bib.

January 28

I hope you'll forgive me for being a little late on this post. I fell victim to a nasty stomach bug Wednesday night, but I'm all better now.

Thankfully, Chris was able to stay home from work to take care of Caleb while I slept all day and all night yesterday. And, it looks like both of my boys avoided catching the yuckiness. What a blessing!

Around 7:00 last night I emerged from my stupor long enough to take this photo. Then I went back to bed.

This book is Caleb's latest fixation. It's a Kindermusik book that I must have bought at a garage sale, called "Wiggle, Waggle, Loop-de-Loo!"

Caleb LOVES it and insists on reading it over and over. There's something about the illustrations and the cadence of the words that he just can't get enough of.

And - how exciting -  you might notice in the picture that he has even learned how to turn the pages! He's such a big man!

January 27

I'm sick.

It snowed.

That's all you're getting today.

Hopefully I feel better in the morning.

January 26

I'm not going to lie.

Today was a rough day.

It started out delightfully, when Caleb decided to nap in bed with me instead of getting up at 6:30.

But it all went downhill from there, culminating in an epic battle over the afternoon nap. After an hour and 45 minutes, I emerged the victor. For 25 minutes. Then he woke up. *sigh*

But I know (KNOW!) that this sleep training will be worth it someday, when he is able to go down for a nap on his own and stay asleep.

Today just wasn't that day.

So I hope you aren't too disappointed that I don't have any smiley-Caleb pictures today.

I do, however, have this one.

Will that suffice?

January 25

Caleb rocked a mohawk today.

It was a resilient mohawk - I did it last night at bathtime.

In the course of the day, it survived:

 5 hours of sleep

1 feeding

90 minutes of fussing

5 more hours of sleep

1 snuggle session with Mommy and Daddy

1 visit to the pediatric urologist

2 miles covered by the cutest hat you ever saw to block out the

 10 degree windchill

Too bad you can't see it so well in this photo.

Fortunately, what you can see well is how much his Daddy loves him.

Lucky kid.

January 24

Caleb loves bubbles!

I mean, he SERIOUSLY loves bubbles.

What fun!

January 23

Today Caleb got to see his GREAT Aunt Maggie, in from Chicago.

It didn't take him long to love her the way we love her!

He also got to hang out with his cousins, who are super fun.

(By the way, I just googled it and discovered that they are actually Caleb's first cousins, once removed. That's a mouthful, though, so we'll just say cousins.)

January 22

Because I know I have been posting a ton of "Caleb eating" pictures, I will share this photo.

It's a good picture, I think.

But the "Caleb eating" ones just crack me up! And honestly, right now the focus of each day for me is Caleb and his eating.

What will I feed him?

Will he eat it?

How about now?

Maybe if I try one more time...

His new kick is that he will only eat if he gets to do it himself (if anyone doubts that he's my child, that should prove it). Hilarity usually ensues.

He is covered in prunes and squash, but feeding himself rather well!

Uh! I want that!

Yum!

Wrong end, kiddo!

January 21

Avocado! Yum!

Or not. He was actually playing with the empty spoon after refusing to eat avocado.

But the kid sure knows how to make it look like he enjoys eating!

January 20

Caleb wore 5 different outfits today.

No, not because I'm THAT bored.

Not because he's such fashion plate.

One outfit fell victim to diaper leakage, another to oatmeal, a third to spit-up, a fourth to green beans...

Obviously, none of that was Caleb's fault.

How could this little angel ever intentionally make a mess?

(This was the outfit he covered in oatmeal, despite a bib.)

January 19

I'm currently reading a book Chris gave me for Christmas, called "Super Baby Food".

The author explains that self-feeding is a learning process for babies, and that parents should allow it whenever possible.

Even if it's messy.

Which it is.

Those are green beans around his mouth.

And on his temple.

And on his forehead.

And in his hair.

And in his eyebrows.

And that's acorn squash all over his cheeks.

The good news is, Caleb loves green beans and acorn squash and feeding himself.

Other good news: Chris does bath time, not me.

January 18

The sippy cup:

it takes a lot of work...

But he's figuring it out!

January 16

We celebrated my nephew Ryan's 12th birthday today at my favorite Mexican restaurant. It was great to hang out with the fam, and Caleb was a champ. He fell asleep in his sling, and I was able to smoothly deposit my sleeping baby into his car seat.

Aunt Jenny was itching to get her hands on our little bug, so when he woke, she was right there to greet him.

Luckily, he loves his Aunt Jenny, so everything was OK.

January 16

Caleb's big drama for the day:

He was happily playing with his blocks,

when he noticed a REALLY COOL block just beyond his reach.

He tried and tried to grab it, but only ended up tipping over.

"Nooo, Mom, I don't want to be on my tummy!" he protested.

But then he remembered why he was on his tummy - his special block.

He almost had it...

Finally!

It was everything he had hoped for.

But wait! He was still on his tummy! Even the block couldn't change that!

And then he remembered he could roll over.

All was well.

January 15

Chris and I are trying hard to raise Caleb right.

Today's priority? Cheez-its.

Without any prior training, he instantly knew two things:

1. Cheez-its are exciting.

2. Cheez-its go in my mouth.

I'm not going to be the one to tell him he's missing out on the best part.

More Cheez-its for me.

January 14

We spent last night in Cedar Rapids, where Caleb got to meet his Great-Grandma Euny for the first time!

I think it's fair to say he charmed her.

He enjoyed all of the Great-Grandma loving.

Now we're home, worn out, and ready to snuggle up with Daddy.

January 13 (belatedly...)

Why did no one warn me how exhausting it is to travel with a baby?

Not that it would have changed my mind or anything.

Caleb is actually a world-class traveller. He was mellow and cheerful, and won the heart of every elderly lady in Clare, Iowa (population: 190).

He didn't mind having to wear disposable diapers instead of his lovely cloth ones.

He didn't mind that his routine was woefully disrupted every day.

He didn't mind being passed off to countless strangers.

He DID mind sleeping in his pack n play. Guess we'll have to work on that one - he ended up in bed with me and his (snoring) Granny.

Our trip in review:

Yes. I put my baby on a snowbank taller than I am.

He didn't seem to mind, and Grandma was nearby, spotting him.

However, an hour later he got so overheated in the car (is it just Chicco carseats that get so hot?) that he ended up riding nearly nekkid.

You can tell from the look on his face that he's not quite sure if this is ok.

I'm really not sure how we made it safely - Grandma spent most of the time gazing adoringly at Caleb in the rear-view mirror - but we did.

January 12

Today's post is early - we leave in about an hour for our first car trip.

Here's hoping Caleb handles the drive well!

Did you know that one baby and one mommy require this much stuff for a 48-hour trip?

Yikes.

January 11

Caleb had his well baby check-up today, so I'll give you his 6 month stats.

His favorite things:

food - Mama's milk! Carrots are a distant second.

song - "I Love You, Too" by Ziggy Marley. He even likes it if I sing it!

activity - chewing. It doesn't matter what.

toy - his Baby Einstein bouncer, or the activity ball Maggie gave him.

His size:

weight - 17 lbs, 4 oz (50th percentile)

length -  27.25 in (75th percentile)

head circumference - 43.2 cm (30th percentile)

All of those are right on his growth curve, so we're happy. Also, I've never been a fan of fat babies with big heads. I'm glad I have a normal baby with a little head!

Caleb is such a mellow baby; he hardly fussed at all for the doctor.

Even when they gave him SIX SHOTS!!!!!

His battle wounds:

Instead of being crabby all day due to his SIX SHOTS!, Caleb was cheerful and took fantastic naps.

Who knew?

We're heading on a roadtrip to Iowa with my Mom tomorrow, so you may miss your One Caleb a Day for the next few days. I'll make up for it when we return, I promise.

January 10

Not much to say here, just a fun day full of playing and rolling around on the floor.

(for Caleb, not me)

It may be a different story tomorrow, though; Caleb has his 6-month checkup.

You know what that means.

Shots.

He's a trooper, though, so hopefully he'll still be a happy little man tomorrow.

January 9

That's right - my little man is 6 months old today!

It seems like he's been the center of our world forever, not just for 6 months.

And it amazes me how much he's changed in those 6 months!

For a quick reminder, check out my post on his five-month birthday.

Or for the Cliff's Notes version, you can just look at these photos.

He started out like this:

and today, he looks like this:

Even the horrifying, just-birthed, screaming Caleb makes my heart melt with joy.

However, I really delight in the little person he's  becoming.

Even if sometimes that little person only takes 20-minute naps and wakes up 4 times in the night.

But as a good friend reminded me today, this too shall pass.

And someday, I'll look back and long for these days, when I could squeeze him in my arms and kiss his rosy little cheeks and know know KNOW that I was his favorite person in the world.

God, thank you for such a blessing.

January 8

Caleb was a willing subject for me today as I experimented with aperture and depth of field.

I noticed two things:

1. It's taking me a while, but I might be getting better at these photos!

2. In the process, my child is turning into a ham.

If it always ends up in photos like this, though, I'm going to keep snapping away.

Also, please note Caleb's St. Louis Cardinals pants and socks.

Apparently he's been following the Holliday deal and approves. He's optimistic for the spring.

January 7

My little wiggle worm went down for his nap this morning like this:

and woke up like this:

Yup. He wiggled 90 degrees in his crib.

I heard some strange thumping in his room; it turns out it was him, kicking the sides of his crib.

He seemed pretty pleased with himself.