Oh, my sweet Caleb-love. I don't know if it's possible to have a better year than the one we've just had together. You are the sweetest, best behaved, best sleeping, most independent, best hugging, most loved baby. I know that sounds like a lot to live up to, but man, it's just true. We love you so much, and couldn't have asked for a more perfect addition to our family. I can't believe that your one. I truly wish I could just capture the moments that I have with you right now so that I can come back and relive them over and over because it's just so a good time of life for us right now.
Official Stats:
Weight - 22 lbs 11 oz (71%)
Length - 30.5 in (75%)
Head Circ. - 47.6 cm (88%)
Unofficial Stats:
12-18 month clothes, 18 month jammies, size 3 or 4 diapers, three teeth (two on bottom, one on top).
Other things to remember from this month:
-He won't stand without help. He can hold onto something in the front or lean against something in the back but if you try to get him to stand on his own he will drop to his bum instantly - he won't even try. He's not cruising around furniture, but he is starting to crawl more (and more confidently) than he was last month.
-He wasn't really even pulling himself up to standing, until he realized that he could get his fingers around the lip of the toilet bowl and now that's his favorite place to pull himself up (so gross!), It's funny that the toilet is the place where he learned how to pul himself up - but it's not funny when we leave the door open and he immediately makes for the bathroom every. single. time.
-He loves his mom and he really loves his dad and if I'm holding him, he'll reach out to go to David, give him the biggest sweetest hug, then want to come back to me.
-Gives the sweetest snuggliest hugs. He'll reach his arms up on your shoulders and pull himself in until his head is laying on your shoulder. . He'll stay that way for a while and pat your back with his little hands, then pop back up with a big smile. He also gives kisses unprompted (which mostly looks like he's trying to eat your face) and it's melt-your-heart sweet.
-Laughs if you tickle him, where he used to hold his breath instead. Has such a great sense of humor. He's a social laugher, so if you/a group of people are laughing he will laugh, too. Also, he laughs at himself if he thinks something is funny. The other day, he was playing with a little train toy in the family room while I was working on the dishes and he kept doing something then laughing about it. I couldn't see exactly what he was doing, but it was clear that he thought that it was so funny!
-(Hanging out with Grandpa Peaden.) He's such a happy baby and is pretty content to smile and interact with anyone. I wouldn't say that he's overly social - but he's definitely friendly. Also, he's a social laugher and if the people around him are laughing, he laughs too and it's so cute.
-He's started trying to climb up the stairs. He crawls to the bottom, and then works really, really hard to get his legs up onto the bottom step. He can even do a few steps at a time, although as soon as he starts trying, he gets an audience and gets distracted because he's too busy smiling at Austin and Lydia cheering him on.
-He could crawl before, but now he's really independently mobile and will crawl from one side of the room to the other just because he sees something interesting. Then after playing with it for a while, he'll crawl back to the other side. You can see how much he enjoys really adventuring with his newfound freedom. (Frequently he gets stuck in small spaces and I have to come help him get out.)
Also, a funny note - when I'm vacuuming, he crawls towards the vacuum and is thrilled when he catches it and can touch it while I'm trying to clean.
-With his newfound crawling freedom, he's also gotten so independent. He's happy to crawl around on his own and find things to do. Most of the time it's pulling all the things out of the tupperware cupboard or dishcloth drawer or toy basket. Sometimes it's putting things he finds on the floor into random places. (If I can't find my contact case or a makeup brush, I've learned that it probably dropped onto the floor and if I check in the bottom drawer of my vanity I'll find it because he picked it up and put it in there.
-Stands by the dishwasher and pulls out the silverware while I try to load/unload.
- I don't have a picture of this, but it's SO funny - he talks to Google Home. We must lean toward the area in the kitchen we we ask it to do something i.e. "Okay Google - play Toddler Radio on Pandora" because if anyone says "Okay Google" he leans his whole body in the direction of the Google Mini and yells "eh! uh! yeh!". (especially when he's sitting in the high chair because it's right behind him on the counter by the fishbowl). He's always very pleased when it responds. It makes me laugh, and man, what a different life this baby will have filled to the brim with technology from the very beginning.
-He has very expressive hands and feet. When he's excited about something he stretches his arms and legs out and rotates his hands and feet. You can tell how much he likes the food that you're bringing him by the way he moves his feet and toes. It's such a unique thing, but you can definitely tell his mood by watching his feet. Ha!
-He eats pretty well, but his favorites are: bananas, frozen peas and carrots, yogurt on top of chex (he won't eat chex without the yogurt anymore), and pancakes.
-Starting to sign "all done" even saying "duh" while he does it. But mostly he just throws food over the edge when he's done.
Austin and Caleb crawl all over each other and Lydia loves to pick him up and play with him. If he's crying, Lydia will bark like a dog until he stops. Austin mostly just lays on top of him until I make him get off, but it's all out of love.
-He started sleeping through the night this month!!! This is cause for celebration at our house. In theory, I'm a believer in sleep training. In practice, I just do a few small things to help and then I just cross my fingers and hope that it happens on it's own. I've been trying to put him down at night when he's sleepy but not asleep so he can learn to fall asleep on his own. Most of the time it's been great. But sometimes he starts crying and it takes him a minute to settle down. The other night he was crying so pitifully that I set a timer and said if he was still crying in x minutes I was going to go into him. (Like 5 minutes or something). As soon as time was up, he was still whimpering so I walked in, but by the time I got to his bed he was completely asleep. It was so sad and so sweet. You can tell he had just fallen asleep sitting up! (For the longest time, he'd never even try to sit up in his bed. I'd lay him down and even when he woke up he'd just lay there any wait for me to come get him - him realizing that he can sit up in bed has been a hard adjustment).
He goes to bed at 7:00, almost on the dot, has started sleeping mostly through the night although occasionally he'll wake up once in the middle of the night. Usually wakes up about 6:30 and I cuddle/nurse him until the other kids get up at 7, OR he wakes up at 6 and I nurse him then bring him into my closet so I can read my scriptures while he plays with some toys. He takes two naps: 9 & 2. He still sleeps in his sleeper (Zippity-Zip), and we all love it. Also, he's still nursing and I'm happy with that.
He wants to be a big kid so bad. He follows Lydia and Austin around and tries to do what they do. If he finds a comb- he tries to comb his hair, if he finds sunglasses - he tries to put them on. He's a master at mimicking. Austin plays a game with me where he lays on my tummy when I'm laying on the ground on my back and I slowly tickle his sides then rub my hands super fast up and down his back. As soon as Austin is done with his turn Caleb crawls right over and on top for his turn. He's just the sweetest boy.
And just like that - he's one. He's so special to us. I am already missing his baby-ness. Truly, I've enjoyed this first year more than I ever knew was possible. But we're excited to see his personality emerge even more and to see what the future holds for this strong, happy spirit!
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