Caleb, 4 Months

Caleb is 4 months old now. Four month check up stats:

16 lbs 3 ounces,

25 inches long,

75% percentile on everything.

At four months, Caleb is a seriously happy baby. He wakes up cooing and giggling for us. We get big smiles upon recognition. There's nothing better than walking in the door from work to a kid who looks at you and grins a huge toothless smile. He's working at blowing raspberries like we're paying him- last night he was trying so hard he went red in the face. We died laughing, after reminding him to breathe, kid! He seems to have lost interest in rolling over. He can roll over from his front to his back, but now when we put him on his belly, he just makes swimming motions, like he's trying to crawl. He has the absolute best temperament we could ask for - he giggled his way through his last doctor's appointment. He doesn't fuss until he's getting tired and then he goes to sleep right away. He still likes to lay on the floor on his play mat and kick his legs and babble. We're so in love with him.

We started him on rice cereal about a week ago and it's going swimmingly. The handout from our doctor's office warned that eating is a learned skill that we need to teach Caleb, and to start most of the food we give him will end up anywhere but his tummy. I can't say that it's not a messy process, but Caleb LOVES his food. He eats all the cereal we'll feed him and it's not just smearing it on his face- it ends up in his tummy. 

Not surprisingly, a couple days after we started solid food, Caleb started sleeping through the night. I'm convinced they are related. After a night where Brian was at a lock-in church, and I got up to give Caleb his pacifer every hour or so, we decided to cut that behavior out. The next night, when Caleb cried for his pacifer the second time in twenty minutes, we let him cry it out. It lasted all of 10 minutes and we didn't hear a peep from him for another 6 hours. And since then he's slept through the night without needing anything. I'm not under the illusion we're officially into great sleeping land, but we definitely made it over a hump. I haven't slept without getting up once in the night for a year now. I feel invincible. 

He loves laughing with Daddy. Any variation of "peekaboo" will usually make him giggle. 

He loves his blue puppy dog. More specifically, he loves to CHEW on his blue puppy dog.  

Bath time is especially fun for such a wiggly little boy. 

He's super adorable in his little baby towel with the hood. 

Brian explained to him that "today, I bought you a present, Caleb. You can have it in 50 years or so."(For those you unfamiliar with the item in the picture, it's a handplane. It's what Brian decided to buy with his birthday money.) 

"Say WHAT, Mom? 50 years??" 

And finally, I'll leave you with a cocktail. Brian bought me this beautiful Mason Jar Cocktail Shaker for Mother's Day, because what's better than the recognition that Mama needs a drink? I titled this gorgeous pink drink the "Fancy Azalea." 

Fancy Azalea

4 ounces lime juice

1 ounce Cointreau 

2 ounces tequila

Frozen strawberries 

Shake up with the frozen strawberries acting as ice cubes. Strain and pour over more strawberries if you've got them.  

Ch-ch-ch-changes

I have so much to catch up on, blog-wise. I had a post on Easter ready to go that I never published. I never took Caleb's 3 month pictures. He's 4 months today. We had our first bout of sick baby - a round of Hand Foot and Mouth Disease. We made it to North Carolina for a Sigmon family fish fry. But, of course, the biggest news is our impending move! Brian took a job in Nashville, TN and we're two weeks out from loading up the cars and heading south!

Now life is jam packed with finishing up work, seeing friends, going through the house to pull items for a yard sale and thinking about packing. The last two weekends have been travel. I went to Nashville with my sister-in-law to scout apartments, a trying experience, but we consoled ourselves with fancy popsicles. Then just a few days later we were back at the airport heading to North Carolina.

The idea of actually leaving my job makes me want to throw up and cry at the same time. I've never been so happy in a job, happy with my boss, my coworkers, my work. I'm scheduling meetings that I won't attend. I'm looking forward to spending time with Caleb for a while, but job hunting is has historically been a frustrating experience. In this round, comforted by the knowledge that we can pay our rent and put food on the table with Brian's paycheck, I'm going to try to enjoy being home with my little boy and know that God will put me in my right place.

Security

Six years ago today, Molly posted this recipe for pasta with onions and butter on her blog, Orangette. At that time I was 23, living in my first apartment of my own and desperately needed recipes that required nothing more than onions and butter because I was so broke. I had a kitchen with a dishwasher, lots of counter space and an orange wall. I kept prosecco in the fridge and vodka in the freezer and almost always had a handful of dried pasta available. I was trying to learn how to be alone.

It's storming here tonight. The baby is sleeping and my husband is out. I've got onions simmering lots of butter and I'm remembering cooking through the  first stormy nights on my own. To me, the smell of onions and butter is its own sense of security. Maybe because it was some of the only security I had in those early, single years. I had a meal coming and Netflix on my laptop to keep out the rain, thunder and lightening. Now I have so much more security- a pantry full of groceries (but no snacks, hence the late night meal) and a husband coming home. But onions and butter still make me happy. And an hour alone, in my kitchen, listening to the rain, is all I need.