Walking video

Watch out HEB shoppers, Caleb is on the move... Check out his cute walking video complete with dancing!

A Belated Merry Christmas

Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! We did and so I'm just now getting around to posting..

Santa Claus came to visit Caleb!

Ooo! A cell phone!



That giraffe looks suspiciously similar to the one Daddy was putting together when we came home from our walk yesterday... It has squeaky ears - yippee!


Nana put jingle bells on Caleb's Christmas presents. Who cares what's inside when you have bells!

Needless to say, we had a lovely Christmas. Caleb has learned some fun new tricks. He can shake his head to say "no" although I'm not 100% sure he always means no. He knows it's guaranteed to get a laugh out of his adoring audience and so sometimes he really means no and sometimes he does it just to be cute. Hmm, cute. Let's see if I'm still calling it that in another 12m. We got to see Lily and Homer on their way to and from the Valley and even had a Christmas morning video conference with Bub and Amber. They'll be in town on Thursday and we are very excited to see them again.

We took Caleb into the Dr this morning b/c his ear infection is back. He's in good spirits and not too uncomfortable. I think we'll have a quiet New Years. We're looking forward to celebrating Christmas with Nana, Poppy, Bub and Amber this weekend. We're going to Maggiano's and then to the botanical gardens in San Antonio. YUM!

More Christmas pictures in the slide show. A happy New Year to you and yours...

Feed Me Seymour!

Here's what was written at the bottom of his daycare sheet today:

Caleb seems very interested in eating table food. He likes to assist the other children in eating! :) You might start picking up a menu and circling things that he can eat. He seems VERY interested!

My kid is stealing other children's food! Ugh! I sent him with three bottles, apple/pear sauce, green beans, carrots, yogurt plus the snacks I keep in his cubbie. This was for half a day! And he still wants more!

Not that I should be surprised. Last week I brought him in around 7:30am and several of the babies were getting fussy - breakfast is at 8am and they were already hungry. Ms. Ashley put some Cheerios out on the table and four of them scampered up to partake. Caleb was on the end and promptly ate all his Cheerios and then started elbowing his way down the table eating all the other babies Cheerios. I turned around and Mara was on the ground and Caleb was about to push McKenzie out of the way to steal the rest of her Cheerios! I rescued the girls and plopped Caleb back down with a toy. Mind you he'd already had a 8oz bottle and yogurt at home that morning.

How will I be able to afford to feed him at 16? He might eat me.

Crafty Momma

I am not crafty. As much as I'd like to be crafty, I'm just not. I'd love to knit or sew or crochet but several failed attempts have left me with the realization that my visual perception is too poor and my patience too short. I cook. I clean. That's my contribution to domestic goodness and I'm ok with that.

I had an idea earlier this week though to make Caleb some toys for Christmas. He loves simple things - I suppose all babies do. Tupperware lids, paper towel rolls and an empty wipes box entertain him for hours. I decided to take some empty water bottles and fill them with fun stuff - beads, glitter, other sparkly things (with the cap super glued shut so as not to come open). He can then shake, throw or roll to his heart's content. And it worked! I made something! And he likes it! I am way super proud of myself.

My other big win yesterday was Caleb's dinner. There's a recipe in my baby food cook book for a vegetable custard. I've tried twice before to make it and failed. The first time I thought the problem was that I'd used Enfamil instead of cow's milk. The second time I used cow's milk and the stupid thing still didn't set. Last night I tried again and it worked! I used half the amount and doubled the cooking time. I'm assuming there's a typo because Super Baby Foods has a very similar recipe and it calls for a much longer cooking time. Caleb loved the custard! It was his first time to eat egg and he gobbled it up (veggies were carrots, green beans, broccoli and peas). Hooray!

9m Checkup

Caleb saw Dr Ramirez this morning. He was 23 lbs 1oz and 28.5 inches. That's almost 90% for weight and 50% for height and head. We got the ok to eat all table food as long as it's not on the bad list (nuts, seafood etc). Caleb got two shots and handled it very well. Next checkup is 1 year!

9 months in, 9 months out

Caleb turned 9m old yesterday. Crazy, isn't it? The last 18 months of my life have been devoted to growing a healthy, happy baby. It's actually hard to remember life before him. I know that I spent a good 30 years without him but I honestly don't remember much of it. He is our whole world - as it should be.

He goes for his checkup tomorrow. We did see the pediatrician on Friday though. He has another ear infection. They weighed him then and he was 23 lbs even. I'm curious to see how tall he is tomorrow. I think that the %'s will go down for his weight and height now that he's mobile. Although we still have baby thighs to rival no others. That's where all the good tickle spots are though.

I have more pictures to post. Will try and do that later.

Christmas Pictures

Merry Christmas 2008!



The incarcerated Christmas tree



Mantle - also with baby gate

My Family Rocks!

Check us out...

The Acosta Family Dancers

Love,
Jan

2 for 2

Caleb woke up at 5:32am -- we're getting there!

Detective Mom and the Case of the 4 AM Screamer

We have a mystery at our house. For the last 15 days a certain little person has woken up between 4 and 4:30 AM and not wanted to go back to sleep. Eight months ago I would have told myself to shut up and be grateful but alas in the succeeding months Juan and I have grown accustomed to Caleb sleeping 12 hrs at night and the peaceful evenings and good nights of sleep it means for us.

At first I chalked it up to the ear infection. And then to being away from home. And then to being back home. And then to teeth. And then to being un-Ferberized. But by the beginning of this week I began to wonder if something else was a foot. We've tried several things to get back to normal - Tylenol, Ferberizing, letting him cry, rocking, getting up, feeding him. Nothing has seemed to work though and I was starting to wonder if this was the new normal. That would not make for a happy Mommy and Daddy for sure.

He's gone from four naps a day down to two naps in the last month. Thus, by 6pm the kid is dead tired. If you try and gently suggest a third nap though he wails. And a screeching wail at that - the dog goes outside to escape the noise! So, moving bedtime really isn't an option. I might be able to push him to 6:30 PM but certainly no later.

So there I was. Tired, confused and really at a loss for what Caleb's problem was. I spent a good part of Tuesday reading up on normal schedules and meal plans for 9m old babies. The hard thing though is that an average 12m old weighs 21 lbs. Mine is 9m (this weekend!) and over 23 lbs. He's not normal - he isn't yet ready for the big people food that one year olds eat but yet needs more calories than a typical baby his age. Hmm.

I finally decided to rework his daily schedule some and see if that helped. Here's the new plan:

6am Wake up - 8oz bottle
8am Breakfast - Yo Baby or Fruit (1 jar or 4 cubes)
9am Morning nap
10am Bottle - 8oz
12pm Lunch - Veggie and Fruit (2 jars or 8 cubes); Puffs or diced fruit
1pm Afternoon nap
3pm Bottle - 8oz
5:30pm Dinner - Protein and Veggie (2 jars or 8 cubes); Wagon wheels or diced veggie
6pm Bath
6:15pm Bottle - 8oz
6:30pm Bedtime

Sounds great, right? Works for me. Worked for him on Tuesday and guess what? This morning he slept until 5:22am! Woo hoo! Now, one night isn't proof that the new schedule will fix our problems but I'm hopeful. Ideally, he'd sleep until at least 5:45am but I'm not going to bicker over twenty minutes.

Stay tuned tomorrow - I'll let you know how tonight goes...

Caleb's New Favorite Things

1. The Dishwasher. He loves to roll the racks in and out and bang on the door when it's closed.



2. Standing up. He can move from the window to the Exersaucer and back. He even went from the saucer to the house the other day!



3. Shredding paper. Any paper, all paper.

Christmas Pictures - Round One

Tricky, very tricky. Getting a teething 9m old baby and an unimpressed basset to sit still and smile. Here are the first attempts at a Christmas picture. I find them pretty amusing. Knowing Caleb and Chloe you can easily see what all went on. Ho, ho ho...

Parents Night Out!

Juan and I went to dinner last night. Alone! Angelica graciously agreed to baby-sit the little beaver. We got to see her new car, visit some and then we were off. Dinner was very good (Truluck's - I absolutely adore good tomatoes and bleu cheese. Wow.) We got home and Angelica seemed unscathed. She said that our little darling was a good boy - ate his dinner and went right to sleep. Hooray for good friends and a nice evening out!

Speaking of Caleb... He's doing this new thing where he rubs his bottom teeth over his top gums. I guess they itch or hurt since the big top teeth are coming in. Both are through the gums and just starting to descend. Anyways, it makes a creepy noise (like teeth grinding) and he gets a odd look on his face when he does it. Freaked us out at first until Nana assured us it was normal. I'm still a bit annoyed that after all this drama all these baby teeth are just going to fall out. And then I have to pay him for them! Who came us with this plan, seriously?

Yesterday morning we tried to take Christmas pictures. The aforementioned teeth were an issue and so our Santa Claus (Caleb) was whiny and uncooperative. The reindeer (Chloe) actually did a better job of following directions. Perhaps I should try bribing Caleb with a doggie treat and see if that helps. I'm going to upload the reject pictures into an album. They may not be Christmas card worthy but they're pretty funny to look at. Caleb kept grabbing Chloe's antlers and pulling them off.

This morning Caleb and I went to the grocery store. He was good as usual. Juan's running a half-marathon and should be home in a bit. Caleb's napping now and I'm going to have breakfast and then do some laundry. This is my last week before Christmas vacation! Yeah!

Super Cool Baby Shoes

I love Stride Rite!

Caleb was soooo good at the mall. He let the sales guy measure both feet, stood up to let him feel his toes and put up with Mommy trying to decide which shoes were the cutest. We actually only had four pairs to choose from. It seems that Caleb has super extra wide baby feet and not a lot of shoes come in that width. Jonathan and I both had super wide feet as babies so he comes by it honestly. He seems to like his shoes and hasn't fussed or tried to pull them off. Success!

Merry Thanksmas

I'm excited that Christmas is almost here! Although, if you came to my house you'd think that it was already over! Caleb got to open his Christmas presents from Abuelita, Abuelito, Tia Adriana and Tia Lily over Thanksgiving. Then he came home and Nana let him have his big boy bibs. Juan already knows what he's getting from me. And to top it off, my present from Juan came in the mail yesterday (and I promptly opened it). What are we going to do on Christmas morning? Luckily, my baby has no concept of time and so my plan is to re-wrap everything and then act excited. The paper and boxes will be the highlight of his morning anyway.

Today my goal is to take Caleb to get measured for REAL shoes. It's getting cooler and he's standing more and starting to cruise a little. Thus, we need shoes. With traction. And preferably no laces. This should be interesting.

We've already made a quick trip to HEB and now Caleb is down for his morning nap. I'm making baby food (zucchini and yellow squash) and hoping to pick up the house a little before he wakes up.

If we find shoes I'll post a picture!

Thanksgiving Pictures in the Slideshow

I'm still missing some from the Valley - will add them soon!

Warm Fuzzies

Hope this makes you smile!

Each of the babies in Caleb's room at school has a "family board". It's a poster that their Mom and Dad put together with pictures of them and their families. Caleb's has pictures of Juan and I as well as his grandparents, aunts, uncle and Chloe.

When I drop him off at school in the morning I fill out his daily sheet. I have to put when he woke up, when he had breakfast and how much he ate, last diaper change, who will pick him up and when. Then as the day progresses Sarah fills in his nap times, meals, diapers etc. There's also a spot at the bottom to denote his mood throughout the day as well as a comment section at the bottom. The comments are usually along the lines of "Caleb ate leaves outside today while chasing his shadow" or "Caleb enjoyed chewing on the toy phone while chatting with Mara and Zoe". Here's what Monday's comment from Sarah said:

Caleb ventured off and found his family board this afternoon. He sat and touched all his family members pictures and chatted with them. Very cute!

So sweet!

Big Boy Pajamas

Caleb has some big boy pajamas thanks to his Nana. He looks like a toddler and not like a baby!
I have tons of Thanksgiving pictures - will try and upload them tonight.