Has It Been 3 Months Already?

Caleb is 15 weeks now and is such a joy to have in the family. He is full of joy, always blessing us with his many smiles. He is content to play and giggles while he works on grasping at his toys. He is so patient with me while I often need to put him down to help Zach with something. Such a good second child! He has been rolling over from back to tummy since he was 12 weeks and I am sure tummy to back is coming any day now.

He is a great little sleeper too! Much like his brother he does so well when we swaddle him up. He goes to bed at 6:30 and usually wakes up around 2:00 and 5:00 to eat and then goes right down. He has been an early riser so daddy gets up with him and they have a little bonding and play time until Zach and I roll out of bed a while later. He is working on sleeping in a little bit later now though which I know Andy appreciates. He has developed a consistent 9:00 nap so hopefully the afternoon nap times will start to become more consistent as well.

He has the most beautiful blue eyes that light up a room and right now it looks like he may be a red head. Too cute! He is still our little guy. He only weighs 11 lbs and 14 oz which puts him around the 5th percentile. His Dr. is not concerned though. He told us that he likes to look at babies from a Gestalt perspective (I love this use of the Gestalt concept) and he sees him as being very healthy. We know that the low weight is mostly due to the reflux. We certainly don't expect him to be a big baby, but we are trying to help him keep more down in the hopes that he will put on a bit more weight.

Caleb, you make our lives so special. Your precious personality melts our hearts and you are truly a joy to be around. Daddy, Zach and I are so thankful to have you in our family. We love watching you grow and learn about the world around you. We look forward to each day with you, and learning more about who you are.

The Big Three

No, I am not referring to the number of times I have actually made it to the gym since Caleb has been born, or even the number of hours of sleep I got last night. The Big Three are what I have named the three major milestones that I wanted to help Zach accomplish before he turned three-years-old this coming April. Those milestones were: getting rid of the pacifiers that he slept with at night, moving out of his crib and into a big boy bed, and potty-training.

I decided that the pacifiers had the be the first to go. It was way past time! I had been putting this off because he is such an incredible sleeper. I was afraid that taking these away would make it harder for him to fall asleep and take the great naps that he and I have both come to depend on to get through our day.

On January 1st we did it! We started talking about it a few days earlier. We told him that since he was such a big boy now he really didn't need those pacis anymore so it would be great if we could pass them on to a baby that really needs them. Since this is my blog I get to brag about my kids so I can say that he is such a caring little guy so we decided to appeal to his heart on this one. Even though he looks a little skeptical in this picture he was quite excited to put his pacis in the box and send them on.

Zach and mommy walking to the mailbox.

Proudly walking back home after doing such a brave thing.

Once we realized he was willing to continue being a great sleeper, even without those little plastic crutches, it was time for the big boy bed.

Wearing his hard hat and showing his screwdriver after he helped daddy put the bed together.

That was a lot of work! He is ready for a nap!

The transition went great. He loves his new bed and he is still a wonderful sleeper. Victory!

Potty training is the final step. So far Zach is doing well and his parents are being totally inconsistent. Stay tuned...

Snowmaggedon!!!!

This is what they are calling the blizzard that hit the East Coast this weekend. In case you haven't heard, we have gotten a little bit of snow out here in Maryland. I think the last time we checked we measured around 26 inches in our backyard. Lets just say we are all going a little bit stir crazy! More snow is expected for later in the week so we are planning on breaking out of the house for a few hours today just for a change of scene. Andy was able to get the car out to go to work this morning. This is when the 4-wheel drive seriously comes in handy. Andy also did an incredible job keeping us shoveled out as the snow continued to fall. He is our hero! I think I will attempt to sneak out tonight and have a glass of wine with some friends. Must regain my strength for the next storm!

In anticipation of the storm we needed to get some groceries. Zach was sick and Andy and I both had a very busy week so we decided to give Giant's online grocery delivery service a try. It was great! I picked out everything online. Told them what time I wanted them to be delivered and waited. The next morning, as the kids played inside our toasty warm home, the door bell rang and all of our groceries appeared in our hallway. Amazing! That great part with this new system is that Zach still gets to do his favorite job which is putting the groceries away. He definitely has his mama's love for straightening and organizing!

Here is Zach, half-way through the storm. Already up to his waist in snow.

Underneath all of those clothes we heard his little voice saying, "Someone help me, I can't move!"

Beautiful snow in our backyard.

This is the church across the street from our house. Our church was canceled on sunday morning so we walked across the street to this church and had a nice little service with the other 6 people that were also able to make it.

Trying out the new trail that daddy shoveled.

We also had lots of fun together being cozy and warm inside. We made forts out of cardboard boxes, made soft pretzels from scratch, read lots of books, watched a few movies, and took lots of naps. I even managed to get a little bit of studying done!