Remember When...

Remember when I got to change Caleb's diaper for the first time?  He was two days old.  It was poopy!

(Beware: this is not edited.  You will see a baby's bum.  No biggie, right?)

Isn't his cry the most heartbreaking thing you've ever heard?

The nurse said not to lift his legs too high, because in a baby that small it could make the blood rush to his head and cause brain damage.  Scary, huh?!

Can you believe that I actually liked changing his diaper back then?  Two and a half years and hundreds of poopy diapers later I'm a little burned out from the diaper-changing thing.  There should be a quota for the maximum number of poopy diapers a mom can change in one day.  Five...six...that's just too many.

Disney World Vacation!: Day 5

Due to a major lack of sleep the night before, I felt like a zombie all day.  Seriously tired.  And we had to get up early to get to the Magic Kingdom.  It was rough.

But once we were there, it was wonderful!  Russell wasn't even cranky!  Caleb must be a bit of an adrenalin junkie, because he loved every single ride!  After each one he would almost cry, saying, "I wanna do it again!"  But after we told him that we were going to go do another ride, he was ok.  I've never had so much fun spoiling my child!  I wish every day could be as magical.

In line for It's a Small World.  

While we were waiting in line (for like 20 minutes) Russell had what I like to call a diaper incident.  Let's just say I'm lucky he was the only one who needed a change of clothes.  He spent the rest of the day in a sleeper. 

The magical look on Caleb's face as he saw the real-life Mickey Mouse and Minnie for the very first time!  I still tear up when I think about it.  This was most certainly my favorite part of the whole trip!

Caleb was a little hesitant to give them "tight squeezes" at first (that's what he calls hugs), but he gave Mickey a high five.  Then he gave them both tight squeezes.  And you do you know what Minnie did?  She gave him a KISS!  Caleb still talks about it to this day.  I think he's in love.

I don't think it was Russell's favorite part, however...who can appreciate Mickey Mouse when they're hungry?

The highlight of Caleb's life.

It's unreal.

Of course we had to buy him a Mickey Mouse stuffed animal to memorialize the experience.  He's pretty attached to that thing.  And his mouse ears.

He later tried to help his Mickey suck his thumb.  Too cute.

We had to get a picture with the Disney Castle.  Caleb gets so excited every time he sees the Disney Castle at the beginning of movies.  He talked about it all of the time before going there.

Then he conked.

They both did.  Caleb with his Mickey Mouse and his ears on, of course.  They both had a nice 2-hour nap.  It made the rest of the day go sooo smoothly!

Afterwards, he was happy to ride in the teacups.

And the carousel.

And the flying elephants.

And look cute.

Right after this picture was taken, Nate took Caleb to a 3D movie where "Donald Duck fall down!"  Again, Caleb still talks about it.  When they came out of the movie, Caleb no longer had his Mickey Mouse ears!  :(    They went back looking for them, but couldn't find them.  We were all heartbroken.

Then we went to the Tiki Room, where they have fake birds singing.  Russell was getting a bit cranky, so I let him gnaw on my finger.  Lo and behold...I made a great discovery!  A TOOTH!  No wonder the most sleep I got the night before happened while B. Russ was eating.

I will always remember that Russell's first tooth was discovered in the Tiki Room at Disney World.

Just before we said goodbye to the place where all of Caleb's dreams came true, we made a stop at the Lost and Found to see if someone had turned in some mouse ears.  They hadn't, but the wonderful "cast member" (yeah, it's cool but still kinda weird that they call their staff that) was sooo kind and wrote us a ticket to redeem some new mouse ears for free!  So we went to get some more before leaving, and Caleb about had a meltdown because I didn't let him get the Minnie Mouse ears instead!  That boy has a serious crush on that pretty little girly mouse!

All in all, it was a magical day.

Remember When...

Remember when I got to feed Caleb for the first time?

He was one or two days old.  I was pumping breast milk for him, and I was only getting a few drops every two hours.  (That's not unusual.)  But guess what?  Caleb only needed a few drops every three hours!

The nurse had a little syringe with three ml of warm breast milk, which is just about half a teaspoon!

She put the end of the syring into his feeding tube (it went through his mouth, down his throat and into his stomach) and said to me, "Would you like to do the honors?"  I said, "Really?!"

She handed me the syringe and I pushed the breast milk down into his tummy.

And that was the first time I fed my baby.

It felt really good to be able to do that.

Disney World Vacation!: Day 4

Wedding day!  Caleb looked so dashing in his tux.  He and his cousin, Danny, were a little bit confused in their roles as ring bearers...they kind of thought they were flower boys.

Those petals are so irresistible for 2-year-old boys!  Thankfully the 6-year-old angel of a flower girl was patient and helpful in keeping them in line.

They made it all of the way down the aisle and climbed the stairs to the top, just like everyone else.  Only, everyone else doesn't have to climb with their arms.  Give the kid a break.  He's short.

And then he came back like a good little boy to sit with us so as not to be a distraction during the ceremony.  This was a relief.  I was worried that I'd have to go chase him down in my heals in front of all of the guests.  But something about wearing a tux made him behave like a little gentleman.

The ceremony was beautiful.  The vows were the most beautiful that I have ever heard.  They made me cry! And I'm a heartless, emotionless, stone of a person, so that's saying something!

My brother looked like Prince Charming and my new sister-in-law looked like a princess!  Perfect for a Disney Wedding.  I can now say that all of the most beautiful women in the world are my sisters!

The reception was amazing in so many ways.  Although there was the delicious food and the fancy venue, I'd have to say that my favorite part was the performing!  My brother and his new wife are both ballet dancers, so their first dance looked like this:

Yep, ballet.  So impressive and fun and unique and entertaining!  

They even took a bow after cutting and eating their cake, which looked like this:

Caleb certainly approved.  He loves WALL-E and EVE.  And thankfully the cake topper didn't break when the table with the cake on it collapsed.  It was all Disney's fault, so they replaced the cake (very quickly, I might add) and gave it to them for free.  How nice!  And how memorable!

They also had choreographed dances for the mother/son dance and the father/daughter dance.  It was quite the production!  So fun!

My sister-in-law changed into her Kimono for the reception.  She grew up in Japan!  They're gonna have some attractive kids, that's for sure!

Russel, the little beau, got to dance with the bride.

Caleb got his dance on, too.

He's come a long way compared to before our trip, when "dancing" was bending at the waist.

 Nate declared that the reception was his most favorite part of the whole trip.  He loved following Caleb around, watching him act like a 2-year-old little man, exploring and having fun.  

Yes, even 2T is too big on my little 2.5-year-old.

At one point he was dancing and he turned around to see the beautiful bridesmaids sitting together at the table.  He stopped dancing, raised his hand next to his face, and waved at them while smiling the most flirtatious smile.

He discovered something new and wonderful: ice.  And the server was kind enough to bring him some grapes, since that was the only thing they had that Caleb could eat and by that point we were running out of food that we had brought for him.

After the typical reception at The Boardwalk, the guests were bused to Epcot where we watched the amazing fireworks from a private patio.  By that point we had two sleeping boys in our arms so we didn't get any pictures.  We tried and tried to wake Caleb up to see the fireworks, but he didn't wake up until they were over half-way through.  He enjoyed the half that he saw, though!  Then we were brought to a private area for a "dessert reception."  It was delish!  Then we were bused back to The Boardwalk where our cars were.    Caleb entertained everyone within earshot on the bus by first pointing out all of the cars he saw ("I see a white car!  I see a red car!  I see another white car!) and second by telling all of his aunts and uncles how smart they are.  "Uncle Wade fart.  Auntie Becca fart."  How can I not be proud of my little boy?  So classy.  So fart.  I mean smart.

We didn't get to bed until 1AM that night.  It was a long, fun, tiring day.  And that night....

...I have one word for you...

TEETHING!

Remember When...

Remember when Caleb opened his eyes for the first time at seven days old?

When Caleb was born, his eyes were still fused shut, like a brand new kitten's.  The doctors told us that 99 percent of 27-weekers are born with their eyes open, so maybe Caleb was actually earlier than 27 weeks.  But I had had an ultrasound at 8 weeks 4 days that determined my exact due date, so I knew he was exactly 27 weeks and 1 day when he was born.  He was also a good size for a 27-weeker.  I grow 'em big.  ;)  I guess he was just in the 1% that have their eyes closed.  Just like Caleb!  Defying the [bad] odds!

From the beginning, Caleb would try and try to open his eyes.  The nurses would put saline drops on his eyelids to keep them moist and hope that it would help them come apart.

He tried!

And tried!

And tried!

I would hover over him for hours (when I knew that he was awake), just hoping that he would open those eyes!

When Caleb was exactly one week old, the neonatologist was by his bedside doing his daily rounds.  He looked down at him and said to the nurse, "Are his eyes still closed?!"  The nurse said, "Yes, he's been trying and trying to open them, but just can't!"  As the nurse looked away for a moment, the doctor bent down close to Caleb.  When the nurse looked back, the doctor said, "LOOK!  They're open!"

[The very first picture of his open eyes, just moments after they opened!]

Sometimes Caleb just needs a little bit of [unofficial] help.

I made it to the NICU about ten minutes after he opened his eyes.  I had really been hoping that I could be there the moment they opened.  How wonderful would it have been if I had been the first thing he saw?

 It took a long time to be able to figure out this open-eyes thing.

 He wasn't coordinated, but that's ok!  He had plenty of time to practice.

Of course he figured it out and now I get to look into his big, beautiful eyes every day!

We've Still Got It!

 We showed.  We won.  Not bad for an old couple!  (Hank is 23 and I feel old having just had a baby 4 months ago!)  It's been about five years (maybe more) since showing.  I was disappointed in Hank's performance in a few of the events (ummm...hello...it's totally basic to be able to trot without dropping down into a walk.  Lazy horse) but there were a few events where he was PERFECT!  I couldn't have asked for more.

 [Baby pudge.  Ugh.  At least my old show clothes all still fit!]

[Hank was a good sport, putting up with our silly shenanigans.]

[High point!]

It was good practice.  The competition wasn't too fantastic, so next time I expect to do better.  I'm excited to be showing again (and I'm not talkin' about a prego belly)!

Disney World Vacation!: Day 3

Wedding rehearsal!  I finally got to meet my new sister-in-law!  She's probably the sweetest person I've ever met.  Caleb was a ring bearer in the wedding, so he got to practice walking down the aisle holding Olivia's (the flower girl) hand.  Olivia was probably the sweetest little girl I've ever met.  I hope I can raise my children to be as respectful and thoughtful as her.  My nephew, Danny, was the other ring bearer, so the three of them practiced walking down the aisle together, and they did such a great job!

After the rehearsal we got ready for the rehearsal dinner at my brother's house.  It was the first time in eight years that all of my siblings were together, so we had family pictures taken!  Since the last time we were together, there have been four spouses added to the family and four nephews born!  Crazy, huh?

Look at this big wonderful family!  (Don't pay attention to how Russell is the only one who isn't matching.  He had little diaper incident just before this.  Well...a big diaper incident.  A really big diaper incident.)

After the pictures we had the dinner.  I didn't eat.  I spent the whole time in the back bedroom trying, with my mom, to assemble a vest and bow tie for Caleb.  It turns out Men's Warehouse doesn't have tuxedo rentals smaller than size 3T.  Caleb wears size 18 months.  But they do SELL tuxedos that are size 2T, and they cost $20 less than a rental!  But it only comes with a black vest and tie.  So we had to make a vest and tie in the right color.  It would have been a simple task if we hadn't had problems with the fabric fraying...and the thread breaking...and the sewing machine tension going all weird....  So it was quite the ordeal.  But I'm happy to say that we ended up making a PERFECT vest and bow tie!  Well...perfect if you don't look too close.  But as long as Caleb had his tuxedo coat on no one could tell!  It worked out quite well.  :)

And if you ever want to rent a 2T tuxedo, I've got one!  I'll rent it out for $5, if you dry clean it afterwards!  ;)