It was a Merry Christmas Morning!

This is how Caleb spent basically ALL of last Christmas:

But with a little bit of this:
And a little bit of this: (getting gifted in his sleep)

But let me tell you, Christmas 2010 was SO MUCH BETTER!

Caleb met Santa:
He explored Grandma and Grandpa's impressive tree:
And our not-as-impressive-but-equally-magical-and-special tree:
Played with Dada:
Played with Bullseye:
And his mini soccer ball:
Met his little cousin, Seth, and had a little chat with him:


Played with Grandpa's IPad:


Wouldn't let go of his mini soccer ball, not even to inspect his AWESOME new John Deere blanket:


Played with his moving ball:


Played with a new favorite:


Discovered something new and exciting while exploring at Grandma and Grandpa's:



I was very impressed that Caleb enjoyed his presents more than the wrapping paper and boxes. In all, it was a wonderful, busy (what day isn't) day. Probably the best Christmas ever.

Three Years (and one day) Ago

In three years, Nate and I have:

• lived in four places
  
• owned four vehicles (five including our horse trailer)
  
• graduated college
  
• had a combination of seven jobs (not including parenthood)
• had seven pets (three fish, one crab, one dog, and two horses)
• uncovered our true weaknesses, revealed our real strengths, and discovered our incredible ability to love
• made countless mistakes
• made a lot of tough decisions
• come out on top

And we look forward to many more years of money earned, money spent, cars, homes, pets, jobs, decisions, mistakes, children, and love beyond measure.
I love you, my Dear, and I look forward to spending the rest of forever with you!

Sharing

My boy is so sweet. He thinks about his momma and his doggy before he thinks about himself. (And he thinks it's funny when he feeds me. I love it.)

I think I can...I think I can...I think I can...I think I can....

Today Caleb took only 9 ounces from the bottle. That is clearly not enough (see here). It's not even close to enough. I tried giving him a few ounces of soy formula yesterday and a bit more today. Hopefully that's the problem, and once we get rid of the soy he'll be back to taking his usual 12-16 ounces a day. But that's still not enough.

I held him swaddled in my arms struggling for a good 45 minutes (not out of the ordinary), trying to get him to eat. (The trick is giving him something soft to hold. He can't resist sucking his thumb every time he touches something soft, and I can usually swap out his thumb for the bottle.) But he cried the whole time. With no tears. He's dehydrated.

So, since he absolutely refuses to take a sippy cup, I gave him juice in a bottle. I know, it's wrong. But I'd rather have his teeth rot out than have him die of dehydration. Even though neither of those will happen. But still, he only took about an ounce of the juice.

I made an appointment last week with the pediatric GI specialist to get to the bottom of this, but the soonest we could get in is February tenth. I don't know if I can make it until then. At least he eats a ton of solids (2.5 stage two jars of baby food, and 1/2 a cup of oatmeal).

And although he's basically stopped eating finger foods other than graham crackers and saltines, he was happy eating his cheerios today:
P.S.--I am now recording everything he eats and how every feeding goes. I need evidence so the GI specialist has something to go off of, especially since he has baffled everyone else.

Diving...of sorts.

You've heard of "Dumpster Diving." Ever heard of "Laundry Basket Diving?" It's like Dumpster Diving, only cleaner, and baby-style!

1) Laundry baskets make somewhat effective barriers.
2) Hangers make very fun (and potentially dangerous) toys.
3) My son never stops entertaining me.

Ummm...

I think a beaver sleeps in my son's bed.

PS--He is now very good at pulling himself up on his knees. The above took place the very night that he learned this new trick. We have since lowered his crib mattress.