10 month pictures

i love that little face....

He's almost 11 months old now but here are Caleb's 10 month pictures. I can't believe how fast this year had flown by! He's going to be ONE soon!!!! Oh my gosh.

Follow up Appointment

Caleb had his follow up doctor's appointment today to check on his ears. good news... he is ear infection free! he still has a little bit of fluid in his right ear but it looks pretty good for now. the doctor said that we need to do our best to prevent him from getting sick this winter since it's likely that he will get another ear infection if he catches another cold. they gave him the flu shot and he handled it like a real man. he screamed for a split second and then acted like nothing happened at all. he is such a good boy.

i guess i didn't do a very good job of measuring him because i was off by an inch. he is 30 1/8" tall and exactly 22 lbs. he is in the 90th percentile for height and 50th for weight. he made a complete mess of the table paper in the doctor's office. it was everywhere and in a million pieces. he tried eating it too but i was able to fish out a few pieces from his mouth. he is definitely back to his normal self and by that i mean he is sooooo ACTIVE! i can barely keep up!

3 steps!

Caleb took his first 3 steps on his own this weekend. it wasn't intentional, i was setting him down because i needed to do something and he stood there reaching up for me and as i backed away he took 3 steps on his own!! john and i were both there to witness it for ourselves and i tell ya, it was exciting! Caleb has been using the push-walker-toy-thingy for a while now, and he's been walking around holding onto furniture, but this was the first time he's done it without holding on to something. he loves it. he squeals and flaps his arms and is just as pleased with himself as he could be. he's still got a lot of practicing to do before he's really walking but it won't be long now. i'm so happy for him but at the same time i wish it wasn't happening yet! i'm not ready for my baby to be walking. where did the time go??

i thought i'd also mention that he has humongous feet. we tried to buy him new shoes and the guy at the store measured him and he is a size 4 1/2. john is a big guy (6' 3", size 13 shoe) so i guess Caleb is taking after his daddy! he's about 29" tall and weighs almost 22 lbs. his new thing is to shake his head at me to tell me no, and he does it with attitude! already, really?

Double Ear Infection

this is going to be a quick post since i only have a couple minutes to write....

yes, the ear infection is back, only this time it's in BOTH ears. my poor baby. he has been sleeping horribly, waking up every 1 1/2 hours and endlessly crying. at first i though that it was just him teething or being fussy. i didn't think that his ear infection was still bothering him since he just finished a round of antibiotics and seemed fine at times other than when he was supposed to be sleeping. it got so bad the other day that i actually climbed INTO his crib with him. it worked. he fell asleep within 30 seconds of laying his head on my chest. anyway, i finally figured out that something else must be going on so i took him back to the doctor yesterday. poor baby. BOTH EARS. he's on a stronger antibiotic now so hopefully it works this time. john had to have tubes in his ears twice and my mom says i had multiple ear infections as a kid. Caleb's doctor said that with the family history, the only thing that has probably kept him from getting ear infections up until this point is the fact that i'm still nursing. so i'm giving him "boom-boom" (Caleb's word for my boobs - he's already a boob man) whenever he wants. my poor little man. i hope he feels better ASAP!!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Brixie Lee!

Yesterday was Brixie Lee's 2nd birthday and we had a blast at her birthday party! it was held at this place that had rooms full of inflatable slides and bounce houses. at first Caleb was a little overwhelmed but he soon got over it once he dicovered how much FUN it is to bounce!! we all joined in the fun as you can see in this picture. Caleb climbed all over everything and didn't run out of energy until we got in the car to head home -- he needed a 3 hour nap afterwards (i have to admit that i needed a nap too)! it was a great party, Brixie Lee! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Cone Head

lilo has a sore paw so my dad, caleb, and i took her to the vet today. $106 later... she probably got bit by a spider or something so they gave her a shot and put her on antibiotics (so now the baby AND the dog are on antibiotics!). she also has to wear this cone on her head so she can't lick her paw. she's not a fan of her new head gear because she bumps into stuff and can't get under blankets with it on. it didn't stop her from watching Caleb's every move to see if he would drop a crumb from his cracker. doesn't he look like he is watching her every move too?

Happier Moments

ok, that video was too sad so i had to post some pictures of my normally happy boy. he's still teething and no, that tooth hasn't popped through yet but today has been much better than yesterday. come on, tooth!!!

Somebody's teething...

Caleb has been working on getting tooth #8 to come in for weeks. he'll have a few days of major drooling/fussiness and i always think that the tooth has got to be on its way out by the next day. but so far there's nothing but swollen gums and a very upset baby. we've tried teething tablets and ty.len.ol but they're not helping enough. the rest of his teeth came in with some fussiness, but this one is especially hard on him. it's the tooth on his bottom right side, next to the two middle teeth. i'm sure that his having an ear infection and cold isn't helping matters (his cold is almost gone now and he's been on meds since friday for the ear infection). today he drooled like crazy, was very clingy and woke up from his nap in a verrrry grumpy mood. it took about 45 minutes for him to snap out of it. he usually loves to practice walking and it will always put him in a good mood but today, not even that was working. here's a video that was taken this afternoon of my poor baby. at least i'm able to comfort him a little... even if it doesn't last for very long.

10 months old!

Caleb loves the new chair he got for Christmas. Thanks, Papa-Nema!

Caleb turned 10 months old on new year's day! Here he is on the stairs at the top of Mt. Rubidoux on his 10 month birthday. He is getting so big and is into everything! Just when I think my house couldn't be more baby proofed, he proves me wrong! I have to be on top of my game at all times with this little guy. I know I'll be really in for it when he starts walking. He's already so FAST and he's only crawling! The other day he pushed his toy train to the edge of the couch and used it to climb up ONTO the couch! One day he's going to crack his head open and that thought scares me to death.... He's been saying "mama" and "dada" for a while (just babbling and stuff) but I think he's now saying it appropriately to me and John! I LOVE IT!! He will usually say MAMA when he's sad or wants me to hold him and he'll say DADA when he sees John or hears him on the speakerphone. I tell ya, all this baby has to do is look at me and say "mama" and my heart is melted in a pool on the floor.... He's also waving hello (but only when he wants to) and he cruises around the furniture all the time.... He pretty much hates baby food now (except for baby oatmeal which he LOVES) and he only wants table food. This is a bit of a challenge because I am definitely not a cook and to try and think ahead and PLAN inexpensive, healthy meals is not easy for me. He'll let me feed him his oatmeal but after that he refuses to let me feed him and wants to do it all by himself. Can you say independent? Uh, yeah.....

Anyway, for the past few days Caleb has had a really bad cold. Two nights ago we had to take him to urgent care because his fever all of a sudden went to 101.4. Turns out that he has an ear infection in his right ear. He's on antibiotics and Ty.len.ol for the pain and to keep his fever down. He's feeling much better now but he was not a happy camper. This was the worst he has ever felt, even worse than when he had the stomach flu. He slept with us the last couple of nights but tonight he's back in his crib. The humidifier is on and I'm hoping it's going to do the job to help my baby with his congestion. Well, it's time to give him his medicine so I gotta go now but I'll be back soon with more Caleb updates. :)

HAPPY (belated) 10 MONTH BIRTHDAY, CALEB! I LOVE YOU!!!