Sunday, July 8, 2007

Week 31 was full of swimming



I'd like to pretend I'll be able to keep this short since I did post on the 4th, but you know how I tend to ramble :)

Wednesday evening we cooked out with some of our good friends then went to see fireworks at Cedar Ridge. It was a good show and Caleb wasn't bothered by the noise in the least but the mosquitoes were out in droves (and of course we had no repellent) and the parking lot was full so we had to take a shuttle back to the overflow parking lot at the end. Overall a good day.


Caleb has started snacking on Cheerios. It is great because it keeps him occupied and contained in the high chair while I am working on dinner, unloading groceries, etc. I would say about 1/4 of them actually make it in his mouth and the dogs have learned to hang out under Caleb's chair to see what gets dropped.


Also new on the scene this week are some wooden blocks. I was reading a book that said this is a great age to start with blocks because he can get his hands around them but not choke on them. We mostly do this in the highchair so he has a flat surface to work with (like he's going to be building skyscrapers next week!!) but this actually means mommy just gets to keep bending over and picking them up after they've been thrown overboard.


It's a good thing that we've found these new entertaining things because also new is the fact that Caleb is no longer interested in nursing. For a week now, he totally freaks out when he even sees me in the rocker or if I hold him horizontally. I don't know if it's because of his teeth coming in (his top left is in so that's 4 teeth for him) or if he's just 'done' but he won't nurse so now I spend what seems like forever each day pumping then turning around and putting it in a bottle to feed him. When I called the St. Francis milk hot line (yes, I called it even though when they gave it to us at the hospital, I thought "Who would ever need to call the milk hot line?") they said just keep trying, so I do but it's not doing any good at this point. It is frustrating that for the first 7 months of his life, it was smooth sailing and now he's just called it quits. GRRRR! I have convinced myself that at least this will make the weaning process a lot easier when I don't have to deal with telling him that we can't or won't nurse anymore. And who knows, maybe he'll change his mind this week (though I doubt it because I've probably further traumatized him by continuing to try to get him to eat).

Swimming was a big thing this week. My friend Kimberly and her son Owen, who just turned 1, came over to swim in our backyard on Thursday. Owen is crawling all over the place and has just begun taking his first steps. It was fun to watch Caleb just stare at him moving around the living room, like "How's he doing that?" I do think Caleb is getting closer to crawling. He is beginning to pull up on things and if he is sitting up and is trying to get something out of his reach, he'll lunge forward for it, catch himself and the item, the roll back onto his back (spending as little time on the belly as possible, as has been his motto since birth).


This funny picture was taken while we waited for Owen to arrive. I put his hat on and, surprisingly enough, Caleb didn't mess with it. However, it must have been a fairly rambunctious time in the Exersaucer because when I came back in the room from changing into my swimsuit, the hat was turned totally around with the floppy part that is supposed to cover his neck and back now across his forehead.


We did a little swimming on our own on Friday afternoon. We have yet to get the Swim Diapers (honestly, I wasn't sure what was so great about them to make them so expensive) so Caleb was swimming in his regular diaper. Well, the diaper got a little full and the gel stuff that absorbs the fluid started coming out the top as it busted open. I set Caleb on the side of the pool, pulled off the diaper and threw it in the yard. Caleb watched me toss it, torqued his body around and promptly started urinating in the yard. Of course I started laughing so he looked back at me but was smart enough to keep his "stream" pointed in the grass. I had to call Aaron at work...what a proud moment for a dad :)

Saturday was Aaron's work cookout and pool party. It was a fun and relaxing time. Caleb enjoyed playing in his boat but got sleepy so Aaron took him out. The next thing we knew, Caleb was passed out on Aaron's shoulder, despite the noise of people talking, kids splashing, etc. He slept for quite awhile and we even transferred him to our friend Danielle who was sitting under some shade so we could hang out and talk with the adults!!


Then we swam again today at a friend's neighborhood pool in Jenks. Caleb was already sleepy and seemed more interested in chewing on the string from his trunks than enjoying the water. We didn't stay too long because we had to get home and get ready to head to the airport to welcome my mom back from Tanzania. The flight was delayed from DFW several times so Caleb wasn't his usual perky self by the time she arrived but you can see that didn't stop him from giving her the international greeting for "Yummm, Grandma!" by biting her nose.


The other fun news is that Caleb has started to say dadadadada. Aaron is totally convinced that he is saying "Dad" though it doesn't matter if Aaron is anywhere around. I think I'd think the same thing if he were saying "mamamamamama". We tried to get it on video but of course he stopped once we turned on the camera. Hopefully we'll catch it this week and post it.

Have a great week!!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh, he is so cute! I think he had a busy week. I can't believe he is already thinking about crawling. He is growing up so fast. Give him a big hug for me!

Kristi W.

Anonymous said...

Ok so I've totally not been keeping up with these b/c I couldn't remember the web address. But finally after typing in like, 6 different tries, I got it right and saved it to my favorites.
I'm actually kind of glad I hadn't seen it in a while b/c WOW- I noticed how much little Caleb is changing and growing! Emily he looks like such a handsome little man and definitely a good combo. of you and Aaron. And of course he has your eyes :) I wish so badly I could see him in person and see all his little mannerisms and smiles and hear daaadadadadaaaa. I love that you are so good about posting these updates, it makes me feel like I know him even though I haven't met him yet.
HOW ARE YOU DOING? You never post enough about YOU on here- and I know the site is for Caleb and once you have a baby, everything revolves around that pretty much, but I want to hear about Emily and Aaron too :)
AOE!!
LOVE GLGL

Kimberly said...

I soo wish I could have met up with you and Caleb!! HE has changed SO much since I saw him last and is such a funny little guy! Looks like he is quite a Pool boy!

Anonymous said...

Hey, Em. What a fun and busy week you had. It seems as though Caleb takes everything in stride - from fireworks to swimming pools to hotels to new friends. He is such a great little fellow.

Just wanted to let you know Kelsey bailed on nursing too. She tried to nurse standing up for a while but I wasn't too fond of that. She needed to see what was going on, plus she liked to eat standing up. Your mom used to say, "Kelsey, would you like to sit down and join us?" anytime we ate together. Meg would have nursed until she started school. Babies are people too. They form opinions and likes and dislikes very early on.

Hugs and blessings to all three of you.

Jed & Carrie Sowell said...

Hey Emily! Don't fret about the nursing. Haile did the same thing around 9 months. There was so much to see and do and nursing wasn't one of them. McKinley stopped at about 4 months. I think she was teething too, but it got really frustrating and that's not what nursing is suppose to be! So enjoy the boy and go with the flow!! :-)