Caleb said his first (understandable) word today. It was "uh oh". I don't think he actually knows what it means but he sure sounds cute saying it.
And after that? He took his first steps. Four steps actually.
I'm proud and happy and a bit nostalgic. My baby's really not a baby anymore. He's a talking, walking, wild man!
Videos to come soon. He wasn't in the mood to preform for the camera this afternoon.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Squirrels, Ears and Ice
We've had a very busy day today! First our new friend the bug man came out to check our house. It seems that something has been nibbling on the fascia boards on our roof. Normally, I'd assume it was Caleb since he enjoys chewing on wood. Take a look at his baby bed. I promise he's not part beaver.
Caleb seems to be a bit too short to reach the roof though so he's out of lineup for now. The bug man says it's squirrels. Squirrels who can't tell the difference between my attic and a bathroom either. Hmph. He put out a thingy to see if they're still residing upstairs and then once we know what's living there we'll move forward with an eviction notice.
Next we went to see the ENT. Caleb's ears look great and so we don't need tubes just yet. He suggested we wait this ear infection out and then see how Caleb does in the next few weeks. If we end up back in Dr Ramirez's office then tubes may be inevitable but for now we're hoping that the meds are working and that Caleb's ears can stay in one piece.
And ice! It's supposed to freeze tonight (don't laugh at me you Yankees!) so we're going to stay home and snuggle. And sleep well - hopefully. We've had a major lapse in Ferberization so the drill sargents are on task now. Now that we know the ears aren't a valid excuse for slumber parties at midnight it's time to get back to normal sleeping around here.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Alone Time
My favorite time of the day is naptime. And no, it's not because I like to watch my precious angel sleep, it's because it's the only time of the day that I'm alone in the house. Well, the baby is still here but it's as close to alone time as it gets on most days so I'll take what I can get. I feel somewhat like a horrible mother for saying this but the peace and quiet is pure bliss. I can get so much done so much faster when Caleb's asleep. My mother had warned me of this before he was born and she's totally right. Doing anything or going anywhere with a baby is really complicated. For example, if I want to fold laundry I have to first make sure Caleb is well occupied with toys and located in a safe spot (ie. middle of the living room rug). Then I have to sprint to the laundry room, grab a basket and pull the clothes out of the dryer before he has time to notice I'm gone and crawl into the laundry room and start playing with Chloe's water or food bowls. Then I have to sprint back into the living room with the basket and make sure that instead of following after me he didn't instead head for his room or the kitchen and find something else to get into. Assuming we're both safely back in the living room I can then fold clothes until he notices the basket. I've found the easier thing to do is to dump the clean clothes on the couch and just give him the basket up front. He loves it and until I do he's going to stand there and "help" me fold all the while trying to pull the basket onto the floor. If I give him the basket up front he'll be occupied for a good 10 minutes in which time I can fold everything and even put some stuff away. All piles of clothes must be placed on the top of the couch though b/c any piles left on the seat will be pulled onto the floor by the baby who by this time is bored with the basket. (You just brush off the dog hair and re-fold - nobody will ever know. Until now at least).
It's not that I don't love being with my child - I do more than everything. But it's also nice to have a little quiet time every now and then. Off to fold laundry...
It's not that I don't love being with my child - I do more than everything. But it's also nice to have a little quiet time every now and then. Off to fold laundry...
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Yummy, Yummy Food For Caleb's Tummy!
Caleb is becoming quite the culinary connoisseur these days! I try and buy one or two new foods each time we go to HEB and so far it has worked. He's still not a huge fruit fan but will eat any veggie you plop down on his tray. It is a bit tricky though because he's decided that he wants to feed himself and doesn't much appreciate help. Thus, no more purees fed with a spoon unless you trick him by putting a pea or carrot on top. Then he'll open up and let you feed him.
Here's the new stuff he's tried:
Here's the new stuff he's tried:
- Blackberries
- Black Beans
- Cheese - Cheddar, Swiss and Mozzarella
- Plums
- Kidney Beans
- Abuelita's Mexican Rice
- Goldfish Crackers
- Rice Cakes (Apple and Cinnamon flavored)
- Brown Rice
- Bubblegum flavored antibiotics
We've yet to try Jello (strawberry) and asparagus but will this week. Lunch today is elbow macaroni with peas and parmesan. We'll see how that goes!
On an ear note, we have an appt with the ENT on Tuesday. I'd like to know his thoughts on the fluid buildup and how best to proceed. I'm not opposed to tubes but want to know my options and understand more about what's going on before we make a decision. The medicine is working (his nose has stopped running) although the last three nights have been pretty rough. He woke up around 10:30 pm last night and Juan was up with him until after midnight. Not fun. Hopefully by tonight he'll be feeling better and we'll all sleep well.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
How We Spent Inauguration Day
With Dr Ramirez getting our ears checked. Ugh. Ear infection #4 is upon us. It's the right ear again - never the left, always the right for some reason. He gave us the option of going to an ENT for a consult but said we might want to wait this one out and see what happens once the weather starts to warm up and cold season is over. We're trying a new antibiotic so hopefully that will ease his discomfort. It doesn't come in banana flavor though so I choose bubble gum. That should be interesting!
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Letting Go
So Caleb's new trick this week to is let go of whatever he's holding onto and stand independently. Yup, true walking is right around the corner. This morning he stood for a good 5-6 seconds. That sounds like an incredibly short amount of time until you're the momma and watching your first born teeter on the edge of toddler-hood and leave baby-hood behind. He's letting go. My never-really-that-little darling is a big boy and every day becoming more aware and self-assured. I cried a little watching him stand. He looked a little confused and then proud and then it was almost as if you could see the light bulb go off. Ah ha ha Momma! Watch me go!
March is almost here and with it will come his first birthday. This year has flown by - although there were a few middle of the night moments which never seemed to end. I'm excited to see him continue to grow and learn and become his own little person. I do miss my baby though but I'm ok with letting go. At least when he falls it's still his Momma he wants to kiss it and smear all his snot and slobber on.
Juan recorded a short (obviously) standing video this morning. Pretty cute (including Juan's lovely rendition of La Cucaracha)!
Off to hug my baby really, really, really tight.
March is almost here and with it will come his first birthday. This year has flown by - although there were a few middle of the night moments which never seemed to end. I'm excited to see him continue to grow and learn and become his own little person. I do miss my baby though but I'm ok with letting go. At least when he falls it's still his Momma he wants to kiss it and smear all his snot and slobber on.
Juan recorded a short (obviously) standing video this morning. Pretty cute (including Juan's lovely rendition of La Cucaracha)!
Off to hug my baby really, really, really tight.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Swimming Lessons
Caleb thinks that swimming is fun! Juan is doing a fabulous job with him in the water and I am so proud of them both. I tagged along today and enjoyed watching them play. They kicked, blew bubbles, chased rubber duckies and swished all around. Hooray!
Here are a few pictures as well as a kicking video. Enjoy!
Here are a few pictures as well as a kicking video. Enjoy!
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Binkie Quest 2009
Before I had Caleb I swore I'd never give my kids a pacifier. Ever. No need to plug up those sweet little mouths, no mute button for me! That all changed when Caleb was 2 days old. I held out for a long time, eh? I told everyone that he was a "sucky" baby and needed something to suck on to self soothe. His options were the binkie or me (ouch). Binkie it was then! In our defense, he's only a bedtime binkie addict. He very rarely needs one while he's awake - only when he's super loud or super pissed and I really do want to plug him up. We had originally agreed to pull the plug at 6m but Dr Ramirez said it was fine to keep the binkie longer and so I lobbied strongly to Juan for us to keep it until 12m. And so he's still a binkie baby.
He's a smart cookie. If he's not in the mood to nap he simply stands up in the crib and throws binkie over the side. And then proceeds to scream until someone comes in the room and gives binkie back to him. Cute, huh? I've also made it a habit to check on him before I go to bed and make sure binkie is right in front of his face so that if he wakes during the night he'll see it and not cry for one of us to come and find it for him. It's a cop-out, I know - but we all sleep through the night and unless one of you wants to come and find it for him at 4am then we're going to leave well enough alone.
Until March. When binkie really does need to go bye-bye. I've started researching about some binkie rehab programs - cut slit in binkie so it isn't suckable, replace binkie with a stuffed animal, give bikie to another baby etc. Hmm.
Technically we own 11 binkies. That's quite a few for one little mouth. But the problem remains that no matter how many we have, you can only find one or two at any given time. And thus Binkie Quest was born.
The inaugural Binkie Quest was held last summer. At the time we owned five binkies and couldn't find any of them. I offered $1 for every recovered binkie and my husband quickly set off to work! He found all of them and I never paid up. (Add it to my tab dear!)
We've had to hold Binkie Quest a few more times since then. Those tricky binkies hide in some crazy places! My purse, the diaper bag, strollers, under couches, behind the crib and so on.
Of the eleven I know I've seen at least five in the last month or so.
As of this morning two are at school, one in the crib, two dirty by the sink. The other six? No clue. But I'm paying $1 for every one you can find...
He's a smart cookie. If he's not in the mood to nap he simply stands up in the crib and throws binkie over the side. And then proceeds to scream until someone comes in the room and gives binkie back to him. Cute, huh? I've also made it a habit to check on him before I go to bed and make sure binkie is right in front of his face so that if he wakes during the night he'll see it and not cry for one of us to come and find it for him. It's a cop-out, I know - but we all sleep through the night and unless one of you wants to come and find it for him at 4am then we're going to leave well enough alone.
Until March. When binkie really does need to go bye-bye. I've started researching about some binkie rehab programs - cut slit in binkie so it isn't suckable, replace binkie with a stuffed animal, give bikie to another baby etc. Hmm.
Technically we own 11 binkies. That's quite a few for one little mouth. But the problem remains that no matter how many we have, you can only find one or two at any given time. And thus Binkie Quest was born.
The inaugural Binkie Quest was held last summer. At the time we owned five binkies and couldn't find any of them. I offered $1 for every recovered binkie and my husband quickly set off to work! He found all of them and I never paid up. (Add it to my tab dear!)
We've had to hold Binkie Quest a few more times since then. Those tricky binkies hide in some crazy places! My purse, the diaper bag, strollers, under couches, behind the crib and so on.
Of the eleven I know I've seen at least five in the last month or so.
As of this morning two are at school, one in the crib, two dirty by the sink. The other six? No clue. But I'm paying $1 for every one you can find...
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Hey There Cute Boy! I'm Coming To Get You...
Yesterday I left work, went and picked Caleb up from school and headed home. I usually talk to him as I drive although his responses are limited to "ba ba ba" or just plain ignoring me. I pulled into the driveway and started to get out of the car. As I stood up I turned and said "Hey there cute boy! I'm coming to get you..." and raised my arms up like a bear does when they get all mad. You know what I mean. Well, just about that time a poor jogger - male, of course - was jogging down the street and was right behind my car. Yeah. The look on his face! I put my arms down and mumbled something about the baby in the back seat. He just stared and kept on running. I got my kid and went inside.
New pictures in the slideshow...
New pictures in the slideshow...
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Lunch
The lunch menu today at Chez Acosta consisted of the following:
Homemade Hummus on Wheat Crackers
Spring Peas
Mixed Berry Yogurt Melts
He ate it all and seemed happy. He's never had hummus before and so we can now add that to the list!
For those wondering why he doesn't have a shirt on it's because I didn't screw the lid on his sippy cup on very well and so when I handed it to him about 5oz of milk went all over his front. He doesn't like clothes anyway.
The pea on his forehead was an artistic touch on my husband's part.
And on a final note, bassets do eat peas, mushy crackers, hummus and yogurt melts.
Family Pictures, Swimming Lessons and More
What a week! Here's a not-so-brief recap...
In honor of Nana and Poppy's 35th wedding anniversary (and because we hadn't had a formal family picture taken in over 10 years) we had our picture (all 7 of us) made on Friday afternoon. The attire was an issue of great debate but in the end we all looked quite nice in our navy sweaters and khaki pants. Caleb was quite stylish in his baby sweater vest - so grown up! The proofs will be ready in a couple of weeks and I'll send an email with a link once I get it.
Caleb started swimming lessons yesterday! He loves to splash in the bathtub so I was hoping that swimming would be even more fun. Juan said he had a good time and especially enjoyed the game they played while singing The Wheels on the Bus - his favorite song in the entire world. Since we now know that visitors can come and watch I'll go and take some pictures next week. Abuelita and Abuelito will be here and I know will enjoy coming along as well. Juan said Caleb was quite buoyant - guess all that baby fluff pays off! :)
While the boys were at the pool yesterday Nana and Poppy (thank you!!!) helped me clean house. I'm bound and determined to KILL whatever bacteria is living around here and put and end to the sinus and ear infections once and for all. Caleb's completely healed and I'm getting there.
We had a nice visit with my family this week. We got to spend a little time with Bubba and Amber. Hopefully we'll be able to plan a trip to Pittsburgh this summer or fall. Juan, Caleb, Chloe and I are enjoying a quite Sunday and it just being "us" again. Caleb was a super star and slept until 6:30am. He's down for his morning nap now and so Juan and I are relaxing and reading the paper. Chloe is catching up on much needed beauty rest.
I have some new pictures to post. I'll try and get to it this afternoon.
In honor of Nana and Poppy's 35th wedding anniversary (and because we hadn't had a formal family picture taken in over 10 years) we had our picture (all 7 of us) made on Friday afternoon. The attire was an issue of great debate but in the end we all looked quite nice in our navy sweaters and khaki pants. Caleb was quite stylish in his baby sweater vest - so grown up! The proofs will be ready in a couple of weeks and I'll send an email with a link once I get it.
Caleb started swimming lessons yesterday! He loves to splash in the bathtub so I was hoping that swimming would be even more fun. Juan said he had a good time and especially enjoyed the game they played while singing The Wheels on the Bus - his favorite song in the entire world. Since we now know that visitors can come and watch I'll go and take some pictures next week. Abuelita and Abuelito will be here and I know will enjoy coming along as well. Juan said Caleb was quite buoyant - guess all that baby fluff pays off! :)
While the boys were at the pool yesterday Nana and Poppy (thank you!!!) helped me clean house. I'm bound and determined to KILL whatever bacteria is living around here and put and end to the sinus and ear infections once and for all. Caleb's completely healed and I'm getting there.
We had a nice visit with my family this week. We got to spend a little time with Bubba and Amber. Hopefully we'll be able to plan a trip to Pittsburgh this summer or fall. Juan, Caleb, Chloe and I are enjoying a quite Sunday and it just being "us" again. Caleb was a super star and slept until 6:30am. He's down for his morning nap now and so Juan and I are relaxing and reading the paper. Chloe is catching up on much needed beauty rest.
I have some new pictures to post. I'll try and get to it this afternoon.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Germs
Caleb and I both came down with a cold in October. It's now January and he's on ear infection #3 and I'm on cold #4. We wash hands. Really. But, we also go to daycare and HEB and Target and other places where germs live. There's more of them than us I suppose. I switched doctors today and am hopeful that I'll be on the mend soon. My old doctor was a jerk and I had been too lazy to switch before now. The new doctor is really old and rambled on for about 20 min about his new puppies. Then he told me point blank that I had the daycare bacterial infection and Augmentin would cure it. Makes total sense to me since this is what Caleb has. So, antibiotics for Mommy! He offered me the liquid form (I told him about the grape flavoring) but I opted for pills.
P.S. He says banana flavoring is the way to go 100%
P.S. He says banana flavoring is the way to go 100%
Friday, January 2, 2009
Thursday, January 1, 2009
The Grape Flavoring Debacle
So Caleb has another ear infection. It's his right ear - same as the second infection. I think that the 2nd round of meds didn't clear it up all the way and that it just came back. Dr Ramirez put us on a milder antibiotic the second time and even by day 10 he still had green snot and was a bit fussy. We're back on the 90 proof stuff now so it'll kill the germs for sure. And that's where my post for today begins...
The antibiotic is actually called Augmentin and it tastes bad. Really bad. Really, really bad. Think yellow Triamenic people. Yup, that bad. Caleb tolerated it the first time around and so when we went to Walgreen's this time to fill the prescription I told Juan that we should ask for flavoring. They'll add a flavor to liquid medication for a mere $4.00. 25 flavors to choose from! What parent could say no? We agreed that if it saved us from battling a very strong 9.5m old then it was worth it. Which flavor to choose though! I know he doesn't like cherry b/c the baby Tylenol is cherry flavored and he always makes a horrible face when I give it to him. He doesn't seem to mind the grape baby Tylenol so we went that route. All kids like grape right?
Wrong! We gave him the first dose on Tuesday night and he gagged. Worse that the avocado gagging. He actually threw up. All his dinner and 3/4 of the medicine. And completely refused to eat or drink anything at all after that. So we put a very infected baby to bed on an empty stomach without any meds. You can see where this is going.
He went down (without a peep!) at 6pm. Woke up at 11pm, 12am, 1am, 2am and 3am. At 3am I made a pallet on the floor and tried to sleep with him. We've never co-slept before and now I know why. He wanted to lay next to me with BOTH baby arms wrapped around my neck and his baby face pressed up to mine and breathe down my neck. Really sweet for about 30 seconds. Then it was just amusingly uncomfortable.
At 5:30 I called it quits and woke Juan up. He took Caleb and I got to sleep. I love my husband a lot.
I'm getting ahead of myself though and forgetting the real point of this post.
So once he went to bed at 6pm I called Walgreen's and asked the pharmacist if it was possible to de-grape our antibiotic. She said unfortunately no, no de-graping. Sigh. She also said that we should think twice before calling the Dr's office for a new prescription b/c insurance won't pay for the same prescription twice. This puppy costs $80 so guess what? Grape is it! She did suggest mixing the medication with 1 Tsp of food and seeing if he'd take it that way. I rummaged through the pantry looking for the strongest flavored baby food I could find. Prunes! Yup, prunes it was.
So, yesterday morning we stealthily mixed the Augmentin with a spoonful of pureed prunes and said Yumma Yumma! Caleb ate it without a second thought! Hooray! It's worked three times since then. I'm thrilled. Caleb is feeling better and we all slept very well last night.
Next time we'll try a different flavor though...
The antibiotic is actually called Augmentin and it tastes bad. Really bad. Really, really bad. Think yellow Triamenic people. Yup, that bad. Caleb tolerated it the first time around and so when we went to Walgreen's this time to fill the prescription I told Juan that we should ask for flavoring. They'll add a flavor to liquid medication for a mere $4.00. 25 flavors to choose from! What parent could say no? We agreed that if it saved us from battling a very strong 9.5m old then it was worth it. Which flavor to choose though! I know he doesn't like cherry b/c the baby Tylenol is cherry flavored and he always makes a horrible face when I give it to him. He doesn't seem to mind the grape baby Tylenol so we went that route. All kids like grape right?
Wrong! We gave him the first dose on Tuesday night and he gagged. Worse that the avocado gagging. He actually threw up. All his dinner and 3/4 of the medicine. And completely refused to eat or drink anything at all after that. So we put a very infected baby to bed on an empty stomach without any meds. You can see where this is going.
He went down (without a peep!) at 6pm. Woke up at 11pm, 12am, 1am, 2am and 3am. At 3am I made a pallet on the floor and tried to sleep with him. We've never co-slept before and now I know why. He wanted to lay next to me with BOTH baby arms wrapped around my neck and his baby face pressed up to mine and breathe down my neck. Really sweet for about 30 seconds. Then it was just amusingly uncomfortable.
At 5:30 I called it quits and woke Juan up. He took Caleb and I got to sleep. I love my husband a lot.
I'm getting ahead of myself though and forgetting the real point of this post.
So once he went to bed at 6pm I called Walgreen's and asked the pharmacist if it was possible to de-grape our antibiotic. She said unfortunately no, no de-graping. Sigh. She also said that we should think twice before calling the Dr's office for a new prescription b/c insurance won't pay for the same prescription twice. This puppy costs $80 so guess what? Grape is it! She did suggest mixing the medication with 1 Tsp of food and seeing if he'd take it that way. I rummaged through the pantry looking for the strongest flavored baby food I could find. Prunes! Yup, prunes it was.
So, yesterday morning we stealthily mixed the Augmentin with a spoonful of pureed prunes and said Yumma Yumma! Caleb ate it without a second thought! Hooray! It's worked three times since then. I'm thrilled. Caleb is feeling better and we all slept very well last night.
Next time we'll try a different flavor though...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
