Caiden 3.5 yr & Caleb 16+mo updates

Hi!

Remember me?

I've kinda sucked at blogging lately- sorry about that!  I've been quite busy with my new small business endeavor Mom E Time Creations.  It's been fun, but definitely a challenge with two small ones who aren't good nappers.

Anyway, I'm way overdue for an update on the boys.

Caiden is 3.5 as of yesterday. He is 3'4" tall and I don't know his weight since we don't have a scale. some random notes about the big guy:

• still loves trains, but is now also into planes thanks to the Disney Planes movie.
• His favorite programs have expanded. He likes Go, Diego, Go!, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Thomas and Friends the best. I really have to be careful about his TV time because if it were up to him, he'd watch it ALL day!
• He is hit-or-miss with naps lately. Goes to bed at 8pm and usually wakes up around 6:30am.
• He absolutely loves his brother. There are occasional times (as expected) that he gets mad at Caleb, but most of the time he want to play with him and loves to give him hugs and kisses.
• Loves to play the "drum" on anything he can bang on.
• Attends YCW preschool on Thursdays. (I just realized I never did a first day of school post)
• Still in swim lessons, doing awesome!

Caleb is 16.5 months. At his 15 mo checkup he was 21lbs and 30.5"

• loves to copy anything big brother is doing
• signs "more", "please", "eat", "cheese", "milk"
• says "mama", "dada", "nana", "gramma", "night-night" and something for Caiden :)
• loves to wave hi and bye
• will tell me (most times) if he needs his diaper changed
• is running
• loves to jump on the trampoline, off the couch onto cushions. He can't quite get air just standing on the floor, but he sure tries.
• Sleeps from about 6 or 6:30pm to 6:30 or 7am.
• naps once a day usually for an hour
• loves to feed himself. can use a spoon and fork (but it's pretty messy)
• climbs stairs, can do down with help
• loves swim class

Both boys LOVE to be outside! Caiden will ask to go outside right after breakfast and Caleb will go and point at the door and grunt :)

Hopefully you'll hear from me again soon, because there is lots of fun being had this fall!

Wedded Bliss

May 31 Eric and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary!  I can't believe how the time flies!  Since we've been married, we have experienced MANY wonderful blessings.

• we moved to another state,
• both got our Masters degrees,
• travelled to 4 countries and many cities in the US
• bought a house
• bought 2 cars (not at the same time)
• grew our family, adding 2 beautiful boys

Those are just the major things, but we thank God daily for all the blessings he has bestowed on us, our marriage and our family!

 

 

 

And of course, Eric just had to surprise me (after saying "no gifts") with an anniversary band.

Caleb- 12 months

 

-Weight: 19 pounds

-Length: 29"

-Diapers: size 3

-Clothes: 12 month clothes

- Sleeping: About the same as before: Daytime sleep- if we are home he will take a good morning nap about 45 min- 1.5 hours.  In the afternoon, most days he will take a nap around 1:00, most days it's 30 min or less, but occasionally I will get an hour our of him. Nighttime sleep is wonderful. From 6:30pm- 6:30 or 7.

-Eating: He's still a good eater. Three full meals and two snacks. At each meal he is eating 8+ ounces of baby food. He's decided he LOVES Goldfish crackers. He's nursing 3 times a day and since we've added cow's milk I'm trying to cut back to nursing only morning and nighttime.

milestones:

• signs for "eat", sometimes "please"and "more/mas"
• is walking... and walking... and walking some more

Other notes:

• still only has 2 teeth! poor kid, needs some chompers soon!
• loves to play in the water and be outside!
• He HATES to get dressed. It's like a wrestling match for me.
• He is so content as long as he is walking on his own. Don't try to hold him down or make him sit still- especially for a picture.
• He took a fall on the eve of his birthday and got a nice gash on the bridge of his nose.  :(

Here's the final picture in his monthly ties

Big Bro vs Little Bro:

Throughout the month:

Caleb's First Haircut

Caleb got his first haircut on May 19th (Yes, I know that was a month ago, but I'm really behind on blogging!)  He did so well- I think he remembered seeing Caiden get his haircut so it was no big deal!

 

 

Cool car, funky hair!

Cape on, snack in hand, ready to go!

Ta Da!  So handsome!

Caleb- 11 months

 

-Weight: No clue
-Length: ??

-Diapers: size 3

-Clothes: 6-12 month clothes and 12 month clothes, but most are pretty big

- Sleeping: Sleeping has been a bit better. We had to do another short stint of "sleep training" and hopefully got our message across :) Daytime sleep- if we are home he will take a good morning nap about 45 min- 1.5 hours. If we are out and about, he will not take a morning nap (unless he snoozes in the car). In the afternoon, most days he will take a nap around 1:00, most days it's 30 min or less, but occasionally I will get an hour our of him. Nighttime sleep is wonderful. From 6:30pm- 6:30 or 7. I am not feeding him during the night anymore! Yay for good sleep for momma!

 -Eating: He's eating a TON! Three full meals and two snacks. At each meal he is eating 8+ ounces of baby food. New foods were white beans, salmon, tomato, onion, chocolate (since he snagged a bite of my cookie). He is really wanting to eat more finger foods. He's nursing 4 times a day.

New milestones:

• signs for "more/mas"
• Can stand on his own and squat to pick something up and then stand again
• is walking?? Not sure if I should really say this just yet. He will take 6-10 steps on his own and then squat down (or fall).

Other notes:

• still only has 2 teeth! poor kid, needs some chompers soon!
• loves to wave "bye" to people
• had his first swim class, and loved it! 
• Got to meet Thomas the Train in person
• He is going to be my climber. He's started climbing on everything: chairs, ottomans, stairs etc.
• I'm not sure if I've said this before, but he is very determined. When he wants to do something or go somewhere he will do whatever it takes to get there. It's hard to describe.

As he's growing:

 

 

 

Big bro vs little bro:

Caiden's first trip to the dentist

Just before his birthday, I took Caiden to his first dentist appointment.  He was so brave! She counted all his teeth ( He has all 20), cleaned and flossed, and gave a fluoride treatment. She said his teeth look great and now we go every 6 months!

Caiden is THREE!!

I can't believe my firstborn is already three years old. What a ride we have been on!

Here are some of his stats:

• Height: 37.5 inches
• Weight: 30 lbs
• He is potty trained!!! Wears pull-ups at night.
• Knows all his colors in English and Spanish (except gray)
• Can count to 20 in English and Spanish (with a little help in the teens)
• Can recognize most letters of the alphabet
• Has memorized several books
• Can swim 10 feet under water
• He enjoys putting puzzles together, playing matching games and playing "I spy"
• Loves baby Caleb, is so sweet with him and eager to introduce him to people. Has started to get a bit rough at times, but I'm sure Caleb will fight back soon enough
• Loves his stuffed animals, especially "puppy" and "meow"
• Sleeps with about a million things in his bed (including, but not limited to, stuffed animals, books, cars, trains, snack bowl for puppy, pillows and blankets)
• Is so sweet with his friends, especially younger ones. wants to help them, share with them and give hugs
• I'm so thankful he is a decent sleeper. He goes to bed at 8pm and wakes up around 6:30am. He is taking one nap a day usually 1-1 1/2 hours.
• We are still struggling with getting him to eat more. The pediatrician wasn't overly concerned, but I am, so I set up an appointment with a dietitian. He is just very limited with the variety of things he eats and I want to make sure he is getting the nutrition he needs.

I did a short interview with him to see some of his favorite things:

• Favorite sport: baseball
• Favorite color: red
• Favorite book: Thomas
• Favorite TV show: Mickey (I'm surprised he said this over Thomas)
• Favorite food: hot dog
• Favorite toy: trains
• Best friend: Emma, Savannah, Austin (he is quite the ladies man)
• Favorite animal: dolphin

We love you so much Caiden Everett! We can't imagine life without you!

Caleb 10 (and 1/2) months

-Weight: Hopefully about 17 and 1/2 pounds

-Length: ?

 

-Diapers: trying to finish up a box of size 2 so we can move to size 3

-Clothes:  6-9 month and 6-12 month clothes

- Sleeping: We had a rough month with sleep! He basically has stopped napping. Well, not completely, but almost. He will usually go down for a morning nap about 2.5 hours after he wakes up. He may sleep an hour if I'm very very lucky, but usually it's less than 30 minutes. In the afternoon, it's hit or miss. Most days he will take a nap around 1:00, but it's usually pretty short- about 20 minutes. Nighttime sleep is still good. From 6:30pm- 6am. He usually nurses once a night.

 

-Eating: He's eating a TON! Three full meals and two snacks. New foods were corn, spinach, pumpkin, turkey, black beans, plums and cheese. He's nursing about 4 times a day.

New milestones:

 

• Cruising
• Can stand on his own for close to 20 seconds
• Says da-da, ma-ma, ba-ba, na-na (just the sounds, not the meaning)
• Is starting to show frustration when he wants something and I take it away.

Other notes:

• Celebrated first St. Patrick's Day and first Easter 
• Always wants to stand
• Is very clingy to me (mama).
• Still tries to eat everything! loves to eat paper!

 

As he's growing:

 

Big bro vs little bro:

(with this picture we realize how raggedy Caiden's hair was!)

Throughout the month

 

Caleb- 9 months

-Weight: 16 lbs, 8oz (5th percentile)

 

-Length: 27.5" (about 25th percentile)

-Diapers: size 2

-Clothes: (same as last month)mainly 6-9 month clothes although the pants are too long. I've tried some of the 6-12 month size from GAP and Old Navy but they are super big!

- Sleeping:

Daytime: same as last month, morning naps are pretty irregular. If we are home, he will nap an hour to hour and a half. If we go out in the morning to Stroller Strides or to take Caiden to school, he will usually fall asleep in the car and take a shorter nap. He will usually take a decent nap in the afternoon, but I have yet to get him and Caiden on the same schedule :( Caleb is usually waking up just after Caiden goes down.

Nighttime sleep is still the same 6:30pm- 6am. He usually nurses once a night, but have had some rough nights lately.

-Eating: He's eating cereal with a fruit for breakfast, a fruit or vegetable for lunch and cereal with a vegetable and now a protein for dinner. New foods this month were yogurt, beets, cantaloupe, raspberry, lentils and wheat cereal. He is still nursing about 6 times a day as well.

New milestones:

• Two teeth!
• Crawling on hands and knees, usually carrying a toy
• Can pull up on something with a toy in his hand
• Can bend down to pick up the toy if he drops it
• Says da-da (not necessarily for Eric)
• First ear infection. Didn't know he had one, just found out at his 9 month check up today :(

Other notes:

 

• Always wants to stand
• Is not really showing stranger anxiety yet, but he is very stingy with his smiles for other people.
• he wants to be so independent! And is already very determined. He'll just crawl into Caiden's room, pull up on his table or workbench and start banging away.

As he's growing:

Big bro vs little bro:

 

 

Throughout the month

 

Caleb- 8 months

-Weight: not sure

-Length: about 27"

-Diapers: size 2

 

-Clothes: mainly 6-9 month clothes although the pants are too long. I've tried some of the 6-12 month size from GAP and Old Navy but they are super big!

 

- Sleeping:

Daytime: morning naps are pretty irregular. If we are home, he will nap an hour to hour and a half. If we go out in the morning to Stroller Strides or to take Caiden to school, he will usually fall asleep in the car and take a shorter nap. He will usually take a decent nap in the afternoon, but I have yet to get him and Caiden on the same schedule :( Caleb is usually waking up just after Caiden goes down.

Nighttime sleep is still the same 6:30pm- 6am. About half the nights he will wake up once to nurse, and half the nights he will sleep through.

 

-Eating: He's eating cereal with a fruit for breakfast, a fruit or vegetable for lunch and cereal with a vegetable and now a protein for dinner. New foods this month were: apricot, papaya, blueberry, zucchini, white potato, cauliflower, chicken and beef.  He is still nursing about 6 times a day as well.

 

New milestones:

• Still army crawling- but he's really fast now
• He's taking baths in the big bathtub!

• He's eating morefinger foods: puffs, yogurt melts, freeze-dried fruit

• He is pulling up!  Way too soon for this- please slow down little guy, you're supposed to be my BABY!

Other notes:

 

• We lowered his crib since he started pulling up.
• He went to the nursery at church for the first time during my ladies Bible study.
• He's getting really interested in toys! It's interesting to see him try to play with Caiden's toys.
• He is such a happy baby! He loves being able to crawl and play and explore. He wants to be wherever Caiden is, and play with his toys of course. We have to be careful because he wants to put everything in his mouth, so we really have to watch what is on the floor.
• He was dedicated at our church on January 9.

As he's growing:

Big bro vs little bro:

 

Throughout the month

  

Caleb- 7 months

-Weight: 15lbs 11 oz (with clothes on)
-Length: ?
-Diapers: size 2

-Clothes: 3-6 month size, and I'm starting to put him in some 9 month clothes although they are pretty big

- Sleeping:
Daytime: He's still taking 3-4 naps throughout the day. We not on a set schedule yet, but they are typically around 9am, 11am, 1-2pm and hopefully around 4pm. He naps in the car seat, stroller, pack-n-play, and sometimes in his crib.
Nighttime sleep is about the same as last month except he is getting up earlier :( usuallly he'll sleep from about 6:30pm-3am, eat, and then goes back to sleep until 6am. He is sleeping in his crib on his tummy.

-Eating: He's eating cereal with a fruit for breakfast, a fruit or vegetable for lunch and cereal with a vegetable for dinner. New foods this month were: peaches, bananas, mango, and rutabaga. For dinner he eats cereal and a vegetable. I am still making most of his food, but we do give him store-bought food at times. He is still nursing about 6 times a day as well.

New milestones:

• He is army crawling!  He will rock back and forth on his hands and knees, but then goes back to his belly and pulls with his arms and pushes with his toes to move.
• He's "kissed" me a few times. You know, those sloppy open-mouth suck on your cheek kisses.  They're the best :)

Other notes:

• I introducted his first finger food- Mum-Mums. It's like a rice cracker that melts in his mouth.  He seems to really like them!
• He took his first road trip this month (to KC for Christmas)
• He's getting really interested in toys! It will be interesting to see him try to play with Caiden's toys.
• Like most babies, he loves to chew- but even more than I remember it with Caiden.
• It's interesting to hear peoples' opinions on whether the boys look alike. One person will say they look exactly alike and then another person will say they look nothing alike!

As he's growing:

Big bro vs little bro:

Throughout the month:

On the move

Watch out! He's on the move!

Caleb- 6 months

-Weight: 14lbs 12 oz
-Length: 26.5"
-Diapers: size 2

-Clothes: 3-6 month size

- Sleeping:
Daytime: He's still taking 3-4 naps throughout the day. We not on a set schedule yet, but they are typically around 9am, 11am, 1-2pm and hopefully around 4pm. He naps in the car seat, stroller, pack-n-play, and sometimes in his crib.
Nighttime sleep has been wonderful! He has started going to bed much earlier, around 6:30, especially if he doesn't take a late afternoon nap. Usually he's sleeps until about 3am, eats, and then goes back to sleep until 7am. He is sleeping in his crib on his tummy.

-Eating: Caleb eats cereal and fruit for breakfast. We've introduced rice and oatmeal, and apples, pears and prunes. For dinner he eats cereal and a vegetable. For the vegetables he's had carrots, sweet potato, squash, peas and green beans. He definitely has a preference for the orange veggies, but he does pretty good with them all. I am making most of his food, but we do give him store-bought food at times. I plan to start giving him a solid lunch this week at well. He is still nursing about 6 times a day as well.

New milestones:

• He's a roly poly now. Easily rolls from his back to his belly. He can go from his belly to his back, but I think he forgets he can do it. This was a wonderful milestone, because he started sleeping much better when he rolled to his tummy.
• He's pretty much sitting up on his own, although I try to stay close because he still topples over.
• He's started clapping a little. Not really on command, but you'll see him doing it from time to time.
• He's getting close to crawling. He can move a bit by scooching (sp?) because when I put him on his blanket to play, I find him a few feet away when I come back. Here's a video of him moving just a bit. It's not great, but I didn't want him to hit his head on the table :)

Other notes:

• He loves the jumperroo and loves to jump while someone is holding him.
• He can't keep his eyes off Caiden, loves to laugh at him playing.
• He does not like to sit still. Always wants to be moving, wiggling etc.
• I've introduced water in a sippy cup, but he's just playing with it right now.
• He always pulls his socks off and chews on them- yum!
• He's discovered the iPad- Yikes! see the pics in the collage below.
• He's very ticklish. Whenever I change him out of his jammies, I tickle his belly and he just laughs and laughs! Here's a video of him laughing. Please ignore the other noise in the background :)

Here's Caleb as he's growing:

And the comparison to Caiden

Here's a look at what he's been up to this month:

Caiden- 2.5 years

I feel like I haven't posted anything about Caiden developmentally in forever, so since October was his "half- birthday" I thought I might record some things. It might be kinda random, but oh well.

He is 30 lbs and 36". He wears mainly 2T clothes although some brands are huge on him.

He is talking SO much! I amazed everyday by something he says. He's talking in full sentences with 6-7 words. Most of these sentences are in English (boo), but there are usually Spanish words thrown in. The first few months after Caleb was born I really dropped the ball on speaking Spanish, so I'm upping my game now! He understands everything I say, but I want him to respond in Spanish rather than English. Still a work in progress of course. Some of his favorite/common things to say:
-"that's right"
-"me or my do" when he wants to do something himself
-Thomas, he's the cheeky one (see below)
-"I need..."
-"We can.." if asked "do you want to ...."
-"I love you to the moon, mommy" also "to the estrellas (stars)" and "to the avion (airplane)" :)

He LOVES Thomas the Train right now. He knows the name of almost every train and can even sing the theme song. He's still somewhat a fan of Mickey Mouse, and is beginning to like Handy Manny.

He loves baseball. He would ask to watch Rangers baseball every night and now that the season is over, he doesn't know what to do! He doesn't seem to be getting into football as much.

He is still doing great in his swim class. He is getting close to being able to take an independent breath and rolling to his back from a forward swim. They are also learning to dive from sitting.

He enjoys his preschool. His favorite friends there are Emma, Abby & Austin. And he adores Ms. Pam and Ms. Jill. I can tell he's learning so much already.

He can put his shoes on (not always on the right feet), and is working on getting dressed himself.

We haven't started potty training yet. I'm thinking maybe after the holidays.

He can count to 10 in English and 20 in Spanish. He knows all the colors, mostly in Spanish. He is starting to recognize letters of the alphabet.

He has the best vision and is extremely observant. He is unbelievably good at spotting a Target sign/logo, a plane in the sky or Thomas the train.

He is OBSESSED with the moon! He wants to go out and see it every night.

He's the sweetest boy. He loves to hug, give fist bumps and high fives.  He says he loves so many different things. You can even show him something new and he'll say "I love it!"

He adores his baby brother. He is so kind and gentle with him. He cheered him on when Caleb was learning to roll and always wants to help stir Caleb's oatmeal.

I'm sure there is much more I'm forgetting, but this post has been sitting around forever and needs to get published. 

Caleb 5 months

-Weight: not sure- will update
-Length: not sure- will update
-Diapers: size 2

-Clothes: 3-6 month size

- Sleeping:

• He's still taking 3-4 naps throughout the day. with about 2-3 hours of awake time in between. I'm still having issues getting him to nap on his own, so he usually naps in the carseat or stroller, sometimes in the swing or being held.
• At night, he is doing much better. Usually going to bed by 7 or 7:30pm and then waking once around 2 or 3 to eat. There have been a couple of nights that he has slept straight through for 10-11 hours! We tried to transistion him to his crib but he wanted nothing to do it it (he's still sleeping in the Rock N Sleep).

-Eating: He's still nursing every 3 hours. Last night we gave him his first taste of cereal. Normally I would have started with rice cereal, but I don't know if you've heard or not, they have found arsenic in rice. So I decided to start with oat cereal. He seemed to like it ok, but really just wanted to chew on the spoon.

 

-Brotherhood: They are so sweet! Caleb likes to laugh at Caiden. See the video below. And Caiden wants to do whatever he can to help out!

 

-New Milestones:

• found his feet, and has even tried to get them in his mouth already.
• He is pretty close to rolling over. Can get to his belly but his arm gets stuck underneath

-Other notes:

• He likes playing in the exersaucer and can turn himself to play with each of the toys, but mostly likes to hit the part that plays the music. 
• He went on his first plane ride to KC this month.

Here's Caleb as he's growing:

And the comparison to Caiden (notice the both have open mouth smiles):

Here's a look at what he's been up to this month: