Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Thanksgiving Recap in Pictures

Thanksgiving 2011...



Thanksgiving 2012...(Oh how life has changed!)

Pedicures...baby in lap

Twilight...sister-in-law fun 

Visit...to hardworking Cherish 

Flying...with Grandad  

iPhone anyone? 

Turkey Trotting...had a 5K PR 

Turkey day outfit!

Keith cousins meet their 2nd cousin for the first time!

Shopping...at midnight.  NEVER again.  We waited in this line for an hour and still had a ways to go...we bailed and went home.

Naps...in the laps

Turkey coma?

First sink bath...I wish we had this big of a sink!

Sweet Potatoes...the pureed version



I can honestly say that although there have been hard things this year, I'm so thankful for all the changes!  We are immensely blessed by what God has done in our lives and in our hearts the last year.  




Monday, December 10, 2012

Monday Meal Plan

So its been a while since I posted my weekly meal plan.  Here we go...

Breakfast:

Ben - Skinnytaste oatmeal muffins
Lynn - Baked oatmeal

Lynn's lunches:

This delicious salad and leftovers.  I've never had a pomegranate seed...pretty excited!

Dinner:

Monday - Grilled Chicken, green beans, and red baked potatoes
Tuesday - Turkey burgers and fruit
Wednesday - Pot roast from sugarfree mom
Thursday - Whatever the HEB lady is making.  I never get those deals but they always sound good and I couldn't think of one more thing!
Friday - Cooper Christmas dinner out

Caleb (yay for him joining the meal plan!):

New foods we're trying this week - zucchini, butternut squash, and mango
Old foods we're having again - pears, green beans, sweet potatoes, and bananas

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Happy 7 months Caleb!

Happy 7 months to our sweet boy!



At 7 months, Caleb is...

Size: Caleb is around 19 pounds now and is wearing 3-6 months, 6 months, and 6-12 month clothes.



I am loving some of his new expressions!  We see the one below a lot...under lip tucked in.  Precious!


Likes: Caleb likes eating for sure (more on that below) and is trying new foods every week.  
He likes the cats a lot and his new found crawling enables him to crawl to them.  
They don't quite return the love but they are civil at least.  
He likes sitting in the cart at the grocery store and loves to smile at everyone.



Dislikes: When I take away something he was playing with...usually because he shouldn't have it.  Late afternoon naps.  That's about it right now.



Working on/Milestones: This month, Caleb started for real crawling.  
Right before he turned 6 months, he was scooting and getting around but in the last month, he has learned to crawl...hands and knees coordinated crawling.  
I'm so proud!
  


Yesterday for the first time, he got himself from crawling to sitting.  
It happened in his bed and I just looked on the monitor and he was sitting!  
Then he did it two more times.  
And by the way, he never went to sleep.  
Also, he's able to fully sit up without help although he still tips over at times.




This month, he'll be working on those 3 skills and getting better at them.  
And I guess the next skill will be pulling up...yikes!  He can get up on his knees but hasn't pulled up to standing yet.
I've only had to baby proof the floor at this point, I'm not sure if I'm ready to have to baby proof tables and other low surfaces.




Sleeping: Caleb is doing awesome on night time sleep.  
He usually sleeps 12-13 hours at night, sometimes waking up around 5 to eat.  
He goes down at 7 and is up between 7 and 8.  


Naps are different story...he's in transition from 3 naps to 2.  
He takes a great morning nap around 9:30 and a midday nap around noon but that's all I can count on.  Sometimes there's a tiny car nap or cat nap somewhere in the later afternoon, but not at home in the crib.  
We put him down a little early when this happens and that seems to work fine.  
I'm sure as he gets used to staying up longer between the two naps, it will get better.  



Eating: Caleb is still nursing 5 times a day and I offer food 3 times a day.  
Sometimes in the morning, he doesn't want any solids but sometimes he does...I guess sometimes he's just not hungry for them.  
At this point, he's tried sweet potatoes, avocado, bananas, pears, carrots, apples, acorn squash, and green beans.
I would say his favorite combo is sweet potatoes and bananas...and least favorite is avocado by itself.




Thursday, November 15, 2012

First Halloween

 So this is a little late but I want to document it...Caleb's first Halloween! 


Caleb was a sweet little monster this year.  


It wasn't his favorite thing to wear at first...


But he finally came around...






We had a fun time walking around the neighborhood with our neighbors but I on purpose didn't get any candy!  

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

First Foods

Last week, we started solid foods!  
I decided to forgo rice cereal and skip right on ahead to fruits and vegetables.  
We started with sweet potatoes.  
I made it a little too thick at first and Caleb was gagging and didn't eat much of it at all.  
The next couple days, I thinned it out a lot and he loved it.  
Then we tried avocado and it wasn't his favorite but I'll keep trying and with different combinations.  Today, we tried bananas which he enjoyed.  
But what he loved the most was tonight when I mixed bananas and sweet potatoes.  
It was like sweet potato casserole!  I had a taste...it really was delicious.  


I started putting him in the high chair to get used to it a couple weeks ago.  


I used the Beaba Babycook to cook the food and then puree it.  


He wasn't too sure about the solid food.


He still is making this confused face when he eats like "What is this?!"


I tried giving him pieces of avocado.  He couldn't pick them up so I just mashed them in my fingers and put it on his tongue.  He liked it like that better than pureed.


As always, our happy boy!

Friday, November 9, 2012

Happy half birthday Caleb!

Half a year.  I've had this sweet boy in my life for half a YEAR.  
What a 6 months it has been.  
Caleb and I have changed and grown at just about the same rate since he was born.  Caleb has grown physically and mentally, and me, I've grown emotionally and spiritually (and shrunk physically!!!).
  Thank you Lord for all that You have done in the both of us to mold us into the people you want us to be in order to glorify You.  

Here's what sweet Caleb is up to these days.

Size: Caleb is fully into 6 months clothes.  He's wearing some 6-12 month and some 9 month clothes as well.  We went to the doctor this week and he is 18.5 lbs (70th percentile), 27.5 inches (85th percentile), and his cute little head is 17.5 inches around (50th percentile).  
He's in between size 2 and 3 in shoes.  
I bought him some Toms in size 3 and I am torn - I want them to fit so he can wear them but I am in no hurry for him to grow!!




Likes: Caleb loves people, any fabric toy, and we are having a love affair with tags.  
He can find the tag on any toy.  I might try to sew him a taggy blanket if I get really adventurous.  
He loves floor time where he can move around but also loves to sit with you and interact.  
He's loving sitting in his high chair and still is content to sit in the bouncer while I get ready in the bathroom.  


Dislikes: A new dislike is when we take something away from him that he was intent on having whether it be an appropriate toy or something he shouldn't have.  
Crying is involved here.  The will is coming out!
He's not a fan of loud noises such as the food processor although the hair dryer is acceptable.


Oh my heart!  Those eyelashes, lips, and cheeks!


Working on/Milestones: This month, Caleb started on the road to crawling.  
About 2 weeks ago, he pushed up on all fours and a week later he was inch worming it across the floor.
  Now he's starting to put one hand in front of the other.  
I'm guessing that by the 7 month post, we're fully crawling!
Still no teeth, but LOTS of drool!



Eating: This week, we started solids!  Caleb's first food was sweet potatoes.  
I made them in my beaba babycook.  
At first they were way too thick, but I added more liquid and he's enjoying them now.  The first day he was gagging and giving us disgusted faces.  Now he opens his mouth for it and actually eats some.  
Tomorrow, we're trying avocado and next week bananas or pears.  
Its so fun to watch him try something new.  
Later I'll dedicate an entire post to his first food experiences.  
He's still nursing 5-6 times a day.  
 I asked the pediatrician, and she said to maintain just that for a while and not to cut out any nursing just because we're adding solids.  


Crunches!  I wish I had his dedication to working on my abs.  I've tried this exercise - legs off the floor straight out and head up...its hard!!



Sleeping: Caleb slept through the night for the first time this month!  
It was a glorious day.  
He is doing it more and more...I'd say every 3rd night or so.  
When he does wake up (as long as we're not out of town), its not usually until 5 or 6 so I still get a nice stretch of sleep and he goes right back to sleep.  
He's goes down still around 7:30 and wakes up for good around 8.  
As I had hoped, I have great news about his naps - they are much less trouble!  
His first nap, around 9:30 is almost always painless and he goes to sleep for at least an hour with no crying.  
Then there's a nap around noon and then 3:30. 
 Of course the last two naps vary a bit and sometimes there's crying, sometimes not but there has been definite improvement with much less crying!  What a relief its been.  


This is his making raspberries face.  LOVE.


Ok, so here's the progression of his "crawl".  
Up on all fours, rocking.

There's something I want!  Launch forward!!

Launch again and lunge forward with face.  

We are so in love!  So thankful for this baby boy in our life.  Each stage is such a delight and its so amazing to watch his mental and physical development.