Bald Baby

Cal Baby was born with a full head of hair....

Where on earth has it all gone??? I have a bald baby now!

I wonder what it will be like when it all grows back. Actually, I didn't even really notice all of his hair was gone until someone today commented on how cute my bald baby was (!!!). haha!

Swimming Lessons

My family is such an aquatic family (odd adjective to use there, but I'll go with it), as we are out on the boat, in the pool, playing on the dock, etc.... so we really want Cal to be comfortable in the water and around it.

My neighbor told me of a swim class for infants that is held at UNC Wellness center. The purpose of the class is to get babies comfortable in the water and also to teach parents how to keep their comfort level high.

The class meets twice a week for 4 weeks. Tonight was the first class and we LOVED it!!! It is at 5:15, so it's kind of an awkward time to meet, but it worked out great. Cal was exhausted after the class/bath/dinner and he is conked out now!

The class is from 5:15 until 5:45- the little ones can only handle 30 minutes before they get cold!--and has babies all around Cal's age (give or take a few weeks--there is one kid a tad older, and one set of twins, who are 2 months older, but about the same size as Cal....).

We started by the instructor teaching us how to get into the pool with the baby if there isn't a ladder or ramp. It was a little tough since that requires the baby being able to sit up on his own....! Then we began doing a few little songs playing in the water to get the kids used to splashing. Then the instructor told us to just play with the kids in the water and she would go around to each of us and play with our babies to show us different ways to hold them in the water. The ways we were holding them promote swimming in the future. We did this one "hold" where I had his back towards my chest, but I was holding him like a football. The purpose was to get his hands splashing in the water (dig dig dig!) and his feet going (kick kick kick!). Well, my little guy was going CRAZY splashing! We was digging and kicking non stop!

I had a feeling he would love it since he loves the bath so much. He was trying to put his face in the water the whole time (okay, maybe he was trying to drink the water....either way, he was getting his face wet!). I was ready to dunk him (is that mean?), but the instructor suggested we wait until he is 100% comfortable in the water so that he doesn't learn to fear it. I guess it makes sense.....

We had a great time and can't wait to go back on Thursday!!!

at the start of class.... all smiles!

getting into the pool....easy does it!

KICK KICK KICK! (please notice Cal sucking on the instructor's shoulder....opps!)

Visiting Daddy at Work

Cal and I had to run to Eddie's office last week and I had the camera on me... these melt my heart :)

"Walking" down the hall with a little help from Dad.

Sitting with Daddy at his desk

Hanging out with Dad in the hallway.... all the walking wore him out!

5 months old!

Mr. Cal is now a whopping 5 months old today! I can't believe it! Time has flown by! It's getting harder and harder to take the pictures with the sign.....

Trying to pose with the sign: 5 months old!

Hmmm....what is this thing?

It might taste good...?

this thing is fun!

I like playing with this thing!

What Cal can do now...

Cal likes to roll over (front to back and back to front)

Cal spends a lot of time on his tummy pushing up

Cal is sleeping much better now--yay!

Cal's doctor wants us to hold off on feeding him anything other than breastmilk-- he is still 100% breastfed.

Cal cracks himself up all the time

Mr. Attentive likes to watch everything going on in the room!

Having Cal around is SO MUCH FUN! We are having the best time with the little man :)

Happy 5 Month Birthday, Cal!

Nursing question

Not sure how many people reading this will be able to help, but I hope someone will!

Now that Cal is sleeping for longer stretches at night (YAY), I am waking up before him in a great deal of pain with my boobs about to explode (sorry for anyone reading this that didn't want to know that). Last night, I woke up at 4:00 and he didn't get up until 5:30. I just laid in bed waiting for him to wake up.

I thought maybe I should just pump before I go to bed, or around 10:00, so that I am not going from 7 until 5... if I do that, will I just train my body to make more milk? Or does it not work like that? OR, should I get up and pump at 4, just to have some relief?

Can anyone offer advice? THANK YOU! :)

Sleep Update: February

Just to give an update on the sleeping situation around here...

I read an article in a magazine that said that if your baby is showing signs of crankiness around 5:30 or 6, you should aim for a bed time of 7-7:30. Well, Cal shows crankiness every night right around 5:30 or 6 and he acts tired, but he wasn't going down for the night until around 8 (he just wasn't ready to go down...or so I thought!). He was going down at 8 and sleeping until around 5, when I would feed him and then he would fall back asleep again until 7 ish.

After reading the article, I am now putting Cal to bed around 7:30 (sometimes a little earlier-- tonight he barely made it to 7! Last night he was still playing at 7:50). Last night he slept until 5:15. I fed him and then we both fell asleep in the chair. I woke up and tried to get up to carry him into the bedroom to sleep more, but he was wide awake then.

I would almost consider that sleeping through the night. He is going for much longer stretches, and I think he's learning to sleep longer-- yay! The article also said that a baby learns early on: the more sleep he gets, the more he needs, and the less sleep he gets, the less he will need....basically, the kid is going to learn to survive with whatever about of sleep to which they are accustomed. If they sleep more during the day, they will sleep more at night. Looks like we are going back to focus on some good day time naps!

Speaking of naps.... Cal was napping from around 9-11 and then again from 1-3. I have started taking him to the gym in the morning and it has totally thrown off his nap schedule. I need to get it figured out, I guess. I need to try to get to the gym around 8, so that I can have him back home by 9 to nap. It's just so hard to get moving that early when I've been up in the night! Once he is sleeping through the night (until 7!), I will get my butt in gear and get to the gym. There is no excuse then...!!!

Cal is sound asleep right now. Here's hoping we don't hear a peep from him until 7 am! (okay, that would be wayyyy too good to be true. Maybe he can hold off until 5???)

A few of my favorites

Cal is such a fun age and he is smiling all the time and cracking himself up constantly. I have been taking pictures all the time (many times with my iPhone!) just to try to capture everything he does. Time is flying and he is growing SO fast. Here are some of my favorite pictures I have taken lately....

he just rolled over and saw me standing there and started cracking up... :)

Tummy time is soooo much fun now!

I LOVE my bath!!!!

Come here, Hank.... let me pet you....

yes, this outfit is a Nascar Racing suit.

Yes, it is white trash.

Yes, it is too adorable not to put on him!

Watching the Super Bowl, determined to get those socks off.

Drive back from SC, Cal discovered he could see Momma if he turned his head really far!

South Carolina

We went this past weekend to South Carolina to visit Eddie's grandparents, Lala and Pop, and his parents flew in from Texas too. We left Friday morning, as another mini storm came in. It was pouring down rain and 32 degrees. When we got to Burlington, the far left lane and the far right lane were both sheets of ice. We just cruised in the middle lane watching cars go flying by us.... and then we saw them wrecked on the side of the road a few miles ahead. Seriously, we saw that happen several times!

We got to Pendleton safely and had a nice weekend with Eddie's family. Cal was a trooper in the car both there and back. As hard as it is to believe, Cal did not cry one time the entire weekend. Not once. I was shocked (and thrilled!).

Here are some pictures of the growing little guy....

4 generations

Mr. Thunder Thighs

Who is this kissing me?

Beep Beep!

Just cruisin' in his Jeep (his feet don't reach the ground yet, but when they do, he will fly!)