Jenny and Sam came to town!

Aunt Jenny already setting Caleb straight.

Playtime with Aunt Jenny.

Lovin on the boy

A happy Aunt and Uncle.

The hat

Although his little hat doesn't quite fit, we still like to play dress up with it.

Caleb has found a love for two things...looking at himself in the mirror and staring at the camera. Here is a little of both in a game we call "get the baby".

Great times

With Caleb being almost two months old, a lot has changed. We are becoming more confident each day and have learned quite a few of his many faces. We have worked hard to keep a steady routine for him and it is paying off. Evenings are still a little difficult sometimes as that seems to be when he gets fussy. He takes after his Aunt Jenny in that he will fight going to sleep at night for as long as possible. He wakes up every morning with huge smiles and is trying to talk more and more each day.
The first several weeks were certainly difficult. Learning how to take care of him has been very challenging and has required so much patience. There have been many stressful moments, many sleepless nights and many headaches. Through it all I have been completely amazed. The other day I made a sound at him and he made one back. We went back and forth for quite a while. It was so incredible. To communicate back and forth for the first time in even the strangest little sounds felt so great. I wanted to pick him up and squeeze him but I didn't want him to stop talking. This has truly been the most amazing past few weeks. To watch him learn, to see him smile and to hear him talk just melts our hearts everyday. I can't wait to see what happens next.

Our cute little man

Bathtime Fun!

We have found that bath time is daddy time. It is also about the only time that he sits completely still.

Brother and Sister

Georgia has really enjoyed having Caleb around. At this point Caleb really doesn't even care.

Playtime!

Caleb enjoys playing on his Baby Einstein mat. There is one toy on there that he has already learned to kick (he's advanced). As you'll see, Georgia likes to play by the mat everytime Caleb is on it.

6 Week Stats

So, Caleb and I loaded up in the car yesterday for his(supposed to be 4 week) 6 week check up. He's a super healthy and super happy baby. Kinda....Since the mastitis incident I have been put on antibiotics which have been making him a not-so-happy littly boy. Little did I know that it was momma's milk that was making him so fussy. Between not being able to breastfeed this week and going back to work where I won't be able to pump comfortably, the doctor suggested I go ahead and allow my milk to dry up since I was going to do so anyway. This is a painful experience and am not looking forward to the next week or so(however long it takes to dry). I am glad to have been able to provide the nourishment for Caleb for the past six weeks and while I do feel a little guilty about not being able to provide this any longer, I am comfortable with the formula selection he has been on the past few weeks(luckily Chris and I had all ready begun adding a few formula feedings to his evening routine so this is not that big of an adjustment).

He is growing stronger and happier by the bottle:)

As of yesterday he weighs a solid 10 pounds and 14 ounces with a length of 22 inches!!! I can definately tell he is getting bigger when he curls up in my arms. While I do oh so miss my little 7 pounder, Chris and I are SO excited to see what type of little boy Caleb is going to be:)

Anywho, I start work Monday!! Part of me is literally counting down the hours to a normal schedule and the other part of me is also counting down those hours but for a completely different reason. I have been so focused on me(hate to admit) that I missed out on the reality that Caleb is not going to be the center of attention. How could this have escaped my attention? While visiting the daycare, I was taken into the infant room(duh) and saw the other "prisoners". Luckily, there are only 3 babies in there and Florida law states 4 babies to 1 adult. He won't be ignored, but it hit me then that he won't be doddled over all day like his momma does. Maybe if I slip them a few extra dollars they will throw a little extra love his way. Maybe.

Ok. Enough for now. Have a wonderful weekend and we will be sure to post a few pics of our little man soon:)

I like dad's pillow!

This is typically the sight most mornings when I get out of the shower. Caleb loves to kick back on my pillow and watch me get ready in the mornings. I think he is just trying to be cute and happy so that I will stay home.

Daddy time!

Last night Allison had the opportunity to go with her mom to a performance of "Wicked" downtown. This meant an opportunity for me to go solo taking care of Caleb for the evening. Since evenings are not his favorite time of day, I was very nervous about the task ahead of me.

Leaving all of our "reserve" milk at Mimi's house on Saturday night; the first task was taking a trip in the car to pick up his dinner. This is always a good time since Caleb loves riding in the car. The down side is that everytime you stop the car the crying starts...I hit every single light. I'm used to scaling the three flights of stairs to Mimi's house with pretty great ease. The problem was I now had a sleeping baby in the car. I was faced with the decision of quickly running up them and recovering the food while letting Caleb sleep in the car or taking him with me and surely waking him. Of course I didn't leave him in the car and of course he awoke crying.

We made it home. He was awake and he was hungry...more crying. I was pretty hungry by this time too though nothing seems more important than keeping Caleb from crying. While feeding him I thought about what I could quickly prepare for myself. I decided upon reheating some leftover pizza and attempted it with one arm while trying to keep Caleb happy with the other...not easy but successful. I moved with grace through the kitchen and even stopped to fill Georgia's food dish. I was proud.

The next task would be taking Georgia out for her walk. Being the able dad that I was becoming, this meant carrying Caleb with one arm and holding the leash with the other. Since my recent success with dinner, I had a confidence that this would be easy. It actually wasn't too bad. Caleb enjoyed the fresh air and Georgia was quick about her business.

We returned and my confidence continued to grow. It was getting close to bedtime and I knew that at any minute Caleb would start his evening ritual of fighting his sleep. This comes accompanied with fussiness and, of course, more crying. He took pitty on me. With only a half an hour of serious crying, he was finally asleep.

I relaxed in my success and watched tv until Allison got home. I thought about how the simplist task has now become so much more difficult. While I had a lot of fun with Caleb, it was certainly a challenge. Not having someone there to switch off with was much more difficult than imagined. Every little task took so much planning and a large amount of patience and time. Allison returned home to a proud father. Caleb was sound asleep, Georgia had been walked and I even had time for my dinner. When telling her about the evening I let my confidence overtake my evening's insecurity. We made it through the evening and I fell asleep with a new found pride.

Many uses for the Boppy

Anyone that has used one of these kidney shaped contraptions knows how much help they can provide. Great place to rest your baby, practice sitting up, nursing support and dog bed?!? Georgia, being the snuggler that she is, decided yesterday that what's good for baby must be good for her. Don't worry, we won't be posting pictures of Caleb in the kennel anytime soon.

Welcome Home Daddy!!

Allison and Caleb were waiting for me outside when I came home yesterday. What a nice welcome home!