Quiet Weekend

When my friends started having babies I was surprised by how often they mentioned an illness running through their house, or cancelled plans to stay at home and be quiet with a sickly kiddo. Now that I have a kid, in daycare no less, I completely understand. Babies love on other babies and share their snot and bam! You're at home all weekend. When Brian and I got married, our understanding was that church is a non-negotiable: you have to be dead or puking in order to miss church. Caleb's getting over a cold + ear infection + antibiotics = poop = awful diaper rash = random crying & refusing to eat. Also maybe teething? We can't quite tell. Anyway, our visions of Lessons and Carols at our church on Sunday morning went straight out the window and we had a quiet weekend in. We did drag Caleb to Home Depot on Saturday afternoon, but that's it.

It ended up being a fantastic weekend. We had some new friends over for pizza on Friday night, then played with our baby, shopped for Christmas presents and rested up. Here are some snapshots from our quiet weekend at home.

 Teaching Caleb the ways of Saturday Fantasy Football prep. And yes, he's gnawing on a pizza crust there.

 Caleb's Christmas Eve jammies, purchased at Target. Also, turns out Target is SUPER quiet on a Sunday morning- who knew??

 

Brian's favorite time of the week: the countdown to RedZone coverage!

 Daddy, come play with me! Mama's no substitute.

 Daddy, more pizza peeezzzzz

Not Ashamed

Sunday afternoons have their own rhythm in our house. Hanging out in the nursery at church always tires Caleb – so much stimulation – and he often naps immediately after lunch. This usually means he’s up by 3pm, which means we’ve got him for 3 to 4 hours before bedtime. We love playing with Caleb, but on the weekends he’s still a 2 hour awake time baby. He stays awake longer at school, but without all the school stimulation he sleeps more on the weekends. So Sunday afternoons after naptime can become a long hard stretch where he’s tiring by dinnertime. I’m usually trying to make dinner, which leaves Brian to entertain our tired baby boy. Yesterday I pushed to get dinner into the oven for a long roast just as he was getting up from his nap. It’s my new goal- make something in the slow cooker or a long slow roast so I can focus on playing and helping with Caleb. We skyped with Nana and Papaw Whale for an hour, and it was still only 4:45 when we started to feel a little helpless. Caleb was starting to get fussy and we had given him a snack and his sippy cup, read books and pulled out new toys. It was too early to do dinner. I finally said to Brian, “honestly, this is when I would turn on the tv if he were older.” Brian agreed and I said “you don’t think he’d sit though the Charlie Brown Christmas Special…do you?” 

Now look. I read the NYTimes every day, especially the parenting section. I read the blogs. I’m aware that a lot of tv stimulation isn’t good for kids, especially babies. But here’s the thing: If Caleb’s awake, he won’t stop moving. Sometimes I just need him to rest his tiny little body. In my defense, this wasn’t a case of tv babysitter syndrome. I got Caleb’s pacifier and blankie and we all cuddled together on the couch watching a beloved children’s Christmas program. Caleb would bounce up and down to the music, occasionally laughing at something – I don’t know what considering he doesn’t understand more than the word “no” or his own name, but he found something amusing. It was such a nice family time and he sat quietly, resting for another round of play and dinnertime. Dinner was its own struggle- maybe he has a tooth coming in? Or his tummy hurt? All he wanted was his bottle and bed, to be honest. 

But now I’ve got this nice memory of the three of us hanging out together on a Sunday late afternoon, showing Caleb A Charlie Brown Christmas for the very first time, him clutching his blankie with his tiny hands sitting on his Daddy’s lap. And there’s no way I’m ashamed of that.

Giving So Much Thanks

I could write a really long post about our trip back to Wisconsin for Thanksgiving. It was wonderful to spend a few relaxed days with my family. It was emotional to sit in our home church again. I was so glad to see a couple really good friends. Caleb adored hanging out with our family. He ate everything he could get his chubby little hands on, and I mean that - he really prefers to eat with his hands! Turkey, green beans, blueberries, mashed potatoes, cranberry relish. These were all big hits. He took his first steps on Thanksgiving day, and I was so glad we were all there to witness it. My stylist and good friend, who's been cutting my hair since I was 17 and did my hair on my wedding day, gave Caleb his first, much needed, haircut. We had fast, uneventful drives to and from Wisconsin. There was so much to be grateful for.

On the ride, Caleb was a total champ, sleeping most of the trip.

I'm coming for you!

Double fisting french fries. He loves them. We're great parents, obviously.

*Brian and I got new phones on Black Friday, so I'm somehow missing most of my Thanksgiving photos!

Everyone in their right place

I’ve had the pleasure of getting to see Caleb in the midst of play at school over the past couple days. Our usual routine is that I drop him off and Brian picks him up. On Wednesday, we have church dinners, so I pick him up from school and Brian meets us at church. Yesterday when I got to school there were 4 or 5 other kids still there and all of them were standing up talking and playing around a large toy car. Caleb saw me, and grinned, but was having so much fun he didn’t even crawl over for a pick-up! All the babies were making their baby noises and crawling around the car and their climbing toys. There was children’s worship music on in the background. Everyone had just had a snack and was fed and happy.

This morning when I dropped Caleb off, the two other babies who also do long days like Caleb were already there. Caleb starting playing with the other little boy right away, talking and imitating each other’s noises and chasing each other around the room. One would chase the other, the one being chased stopping to look back at the other boy, pausing then grinning and continuing to crawl away. I recognized it immediately as the chasing game he plays with Brian and I at home. It was so cute and fun! 

We’ve had a bit of a rough month with Caleb, the first ear infection not being completely healed therefore bringing on a second. When he’s sick I hate leaving him to go to work, jugging our schedules and sending him back to school before I’d like to. But when he’s not sick it’s obvious that school is a fun place for him to be all day. He eats everything they put in front of him, takes 2 really good naps and smiles at everyone who crosses his path. His teachers celebrate all his milestones with us, yesterday it was eating all his pizza sticks and continued progress in standing on his own. I’m grateful for the care he receives from professionals who have a true love for the babies. Caleb’s such an easygoing baby, I think he’d thrive in most environments, but I’m grateful for this one with his friends and caregivers in such a loving atmosphere. In truth, I’m not sure I’d make such a great stay at home mom. With Brian and I at work and Caleb at school I know that everyone is in their right place.