Deck the house with strands of lights

My uber-impressive hubby lifted our super-heavy ladder and climbed up and down to hang our icicle lights this year.  I stood on the base with the monitor while Caleb napped indoors.  We had to take advantage of the warmer weather but it was so windy.  Chris worried that a good wind would knock him down.  I didn't get any good pictures when he was up really high but I do have several when I felt more comfortable snapping pictures.

My baby- 7 months

I find it crazy that I am posting this already. How can this be?  

Eating:

Caleb takes 4 oz bottles every three hours. His night feeds have been rather consistent lately:8 pm, 2-2:30 am and 5-6 am.  It's been nice for me too because I haven't had to pump before work.  

Sleeping:

He is such a great sleeper!!  He sleeps about 12 hours each night and gets a short morning nap in most days and a long afternoon nap; usually 2 hours.  He will often take a cat nap on the car ride home from day care too. 

Interests:
His interests haven't changed much from last month.  He is so strong.  He can stand up for long periods of time.  He is really working on crawling but not there yet.  

Other:

He just had his first upper respiratory infection and I absolutely hated that.  It is awful when your little one is sick and there isn't really a thing you can do to help.  He seems to be getting better though.  

Adhesion

Becoming a parent has had many joys and new discoveries.  I love being a mom more than anything. Tuesday night after bathing Caleb I discovered that he had a very red tip of his penis. I cleaned it and put ointment on it and it did not seem better in the morning.  I asked Chris to apply it throughout the day and he did.  When I checked yesterday evening it was still not improved.

This morning the doctor informed Chris that it was "adhesion" and prescribed a mild topical steroid to treat the inflammation.  Let me tell you that it was not a thing I would have previously heard of.

I may have shed several tears this morning at work.  Sometimes I just want to be able to be mommy. I want to stay home and nurse my baby back to health and to be there for his appointments.  I am terribly fortunate though that his daddy's schedule allows him to take him to impromptu appointments.

Happy birthday mom

Birthday Celebration #1:

Mom's birthday is November 18 and we got to celebrate together twice.  Sunday night we had a party at my house.  We had a lot of fun with everyone over and enjoyed some freshly made pizza from Papa Johns! ;-)  It was fun playing with the nephew and enjoying family company!  Everyone sure can get Caleb to giggle!

Birthday Celebration #2:

Birthday dinner at Attie's

Ben, Teresa, Grandma, Dad, Mom, Caleb and I enjoyed some food and conversation at Attie's in Urbana.  Unfortantely, we did not enjoy winning the drawing because they didn't call my name-- but that is another story.  Caleb really likes Grandpa and can just get to giggling with him.  He seemed to enjoy all the big screens too.

Birthday Celebration # 3:

I got these texts today at work.  Mom ate out with her sisters and mom.  Since she was watching Caleb for me today he got to go along.

bananas

The first time I introduced bananas I just sort of mushed it a bit so it was really pretty chunky.  He still doesn't care much for "chunky" food but once I got to to a smooth consistency, he loved them!!

Before

I took this photo the other night because I felt good.  After looking at it critically, I decided that this will be my "before" photo.  While I like it and am happy with me, I plan to exercise to loose some of the face fat and tummy too.

Baby snugs

My boy is a sweet, snuggly boy and let me tell you that I just soak it all in!  Lately, he has been positioning himself so that his head is on the arm rest of our chair.  On this particular night, I couldn't resist taking some photos of my little boy who just keeps insisting on growing bigger.

Family photos

My sister & brother in law and their sweet babies came over today for family photos.  Of course, it is super cold early this year and we had to take them indoor.  This limited me a bit but we still managed to get some really great photos.  Afterward, Gideon was having so much fun and didn't want to go so we kept him around to play with us.  We had fun playing and walking Cooper (we all bundled up) and Gideon even helped push the stroller.

It was a fun day.  I think Caleb will look up to this big guy some day!  (Or perhaps he already does?)

Caleb is Six Months old!

This momma is truly blessed to have such a wonderful baby boy!

He is growing so quickly these days.  This past month, he learned to sit up AND got a tooth!  He has been so fun and easy-going!!

I just love his giggles, comforting pats, his smiles, and sweet baby smells!  I can't believe he is already so big. Wasn't he just born the other day?!



Eating:

He loves nursing still and takes bottles great!  He is happy with 4 oz every 3 hours and I'm sure he gets more than that when he nurses because I pump more. He still gets up every 3-5 hours at night to nurse which translates to 1-3 times per night for me.  He started eating solids.  I was eating peas with our dinner one night and he seemed interested. I mushed them a bit and he loved it.  He was confused about what to do the first night but the rest was history!

Sleeping:

He is such a great sleeper!! He goes back to sleep immediately after nursing.  He can sleep without a swaddle and he sleeps in his crib. (Sometimes he likes to roll to his left side, lol.)   He takes inconsistent naps throughout the day but generally you can count on him sleeping from 3-5 pm and falling asleep in his carseat on the way back home and snoozing for about 20 more minutes.  (I use this time to get dishes done.)

Interests:
Watching Cooper play, singing, dancing, he LOVES "I'm a Little Teapot", he likes tummy time for 5-25 minutes, he loves his new excersaucer (we put a blanket to help him sit up) he loves to pull hair and stick out his tongue, he LOVES his reflection in the mirror!

Other:
Loud noises startle him- big time; he loves church worship and honestly it's the best hour of my week each time we go because I can hold him non-stop for one whole hour with no interruptions. I dread the day I have to take him to nursery but I love our church's children program so I know he'll love that too.

Also, he became a more predictable pooper.  He goes every other day instead of once every 7-10 and that makes this momma feel relieved!

On 10/29/14, (6 m 13 d) he weighed in at the doctor at 17lbs-- 37th percentile and length 26.5 which was 33rd percentile.  He still runs large in head size- 17.75-- 90th percentile!  I was happy to report only good and no worries to the doctor!  He has also eaten butternut squash, carrots, oatmeal, avocado (he may be allergic--he gets a rash around his mouth) and now pumpkin!

Sleepy baby

I was washing dishes when I looked over and saw this... he was one sleepy boy