TWO YEARS OLD!! How is motherhood going?

Caleb turned 2 last week.

Can you believe he ever looked like this!? I can hardly remember those days!

I still can't believe he's 2! When I was pregnant I used to be able to imagine myself the mom of a baby, but I couldn't see myself as the mom of a little boy. I just didn't know what it would be like!

In recent weeks, Caleb's language has come to life. Before, he would say a word at a time, but now he really puts emotion into it and sometimes says full sentences. He has started saying "Yeaaaaaahhh!" or "Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!" when asked a question (instead of a simple "yes"). He says "bye-bye" to things all the time (cars, dogs, people) and waves his hand. There is always lots of commentary about eating and drinking: "Eat eat? Mum? Yum! Juice!? Cookie! Cereal!" etc. And when people sneeze, he says "Bess you!" Or if he or anyone gets hurt, he says "Are you alright? Are you okay?" When I play Trivia Crack on my phone, he insists on spinning the wheel every single time and says "Spin!" There's also lots of repeating everything he hears, so now we really have to watch what we're saying because he copies it. He likes nursery rhymes! He knows the words to Twinkle Twinkle, Row Row Row Your Boat, ABCs, Itsy Bitsy Spider, B-I-N-G-O.. and I think that's all that comes to mind right now. It's cute when he sings them.

Something new he's into lately is climbing. He hasn't been much of a climber until now and all of a sudden he got the concept. He climbs up on the back of the couches and up on chairs a lot. He climbs on the coffee table, and he goes up stairs too.. and of course, he climbs on top of people.. Lol. 

On the food front, things could be better. He is so picky! He loves berries of all kinds. He loves pizza, fries, chicken nuggets, rice, and noodles. And that's most of the time. Sometimes he won't eat the foods that he does like. And some of the foods that he used to love, he doesn't like anymore. He's so unpredictable. He definitely has a texture problem. He can tell that he won't like something if the texture is weird as soon as he puts it in his mouth. 

Naps are going well. He takes 2-3 hours naps everyday. Sometimes he takes 3 1/2 hour naps. In September though, we took a trip to Hawaii and that was the only time he skipped naps and it actually went pretty well. He was definitely tired by the end of the day and knocked right out at bedtime. 

However, bedtime has been a bit tricky. He cries when we try to leave him in his crib alone. My dad says he wakes up in the middle of night when he sleeps over at my parents' house. He's just spoiled, and I admit it's my fault because I like him to fall asleep with me.. and when Mike goes to work at night, I leave Caleb in our bed with me because I either fall asleep with him or I just don't wanna be alone in bed. Sometimes I do leave him in his crib and let him soothe himself down after several minutes of crying himself to sleep, but it's probably not consistent enough for him to get used to it.

Some of the things he likes: baking, coloring, playing cars, play-doh, ice cream, Mickey, Leap Frog, toy tools (mainly screwdrivers & screws), candy.. just to name a few.

Anyway, that's mainly it. I don't have many pictures from his birthday because we didn't throw him a birthday dinner party this year. We took him to see Disney on Ice though! It was amazing and so much fun!

XOXO,

Tiare

ONE YEAR OLD!! How is motherhood going?

Caleb is so much fun these days. I'm excited that walking and talking and playing are all just around the corner.

At 12 months, Caleb says a lot of "ahhhhhs" and "da-das". We think he says "mommy," but he just says the "m-y" part of it. He says "juice" a lot, and "mmmmm!" when he is eating. He can "mum" when he is hungry. He can shake his head no when he doesn't want to do something or when we tell him not to do something.

He has also started to show us that he knows things by pointing. He can point to his nose and other people's noses. He can also kiss babies in books, and kiss people when they ask for a kiss. When I sing "Let's take a bath.." he looks toward the bathroom and gets super excited.

Anyway, we started giving him cow's milk (about 16 oz a day). He drinks a bottle before his nap and a bottle before bed. We've tried giving him milk in a zippy cup, but he doesn't like it. I think it's the fact that he associates milk with a bottle and thinks it's weird coming from a sippy, because he seems to do just fine drinking juice or water from it. He still wakes up for a night feeding from time to time. I think it just depends on how much he ate during the day and how active he was. He doesn't wake up if we feed him more frequently or if we go out somewhere. He's knocked out the whole night after a long day.

He has taken 2-3 steps at a time and is good at standing up on his own in the middle of a room when we let him go. He seems a little lazy though, he sits back down after realizing he's been standing for a minute.. lol. 

Caleb has started to become a picky eater, which I hear is totally normal. He's really into wanting to try adult food these days. He's always wanting to pick at our plates. He has yet to turn down cheese, so I'd say that's his favorite food. He also seems to really like yogurt and bread. We get him to eat veggies and he loves meat. I think he's very diverse in his choice of foods. Sometimes he even offers me food now as well, lol.

We are down to napping pretty much once a day, but that changes every now and then. He kind of just goes with the flow. Some days he takes two 2-hour naps and other days he takes one 30 min nap and sometimes he takes one 3-hour nap. I never really get to be home with him during the day, but Mike keeps me updating on day to day things. I miss them when I'm at work all the time! The only real time I get to spend with Caleb is after I come home from work, but even then it's not much time. I get home around 6pm and he's asleep by 8:30pm most nights.

Anyway, if you couldn't tell by the pictures.. we cut his hair again! It was right before Christmas. I miss his curly hair. He still looks cute without it though! Looks much older without the curls. Dada cut it and he did a great job.

Running out of things to say, so I'll leave with some pictures from his birthday... 

XOXO,

Tiare

9 MONTHS OLD!! How is motherhood going?

Caleb is 9 months. He's been outside as long as he was inside. (Well, almost) As much as this time has just flown by, I actually feel like the 9 months with Caleb has been forever compared to the 9 months of pregnancy. Funny how time warps!

On the motherhood front: weight loss has been easier these past few weeks. I'm finally down to pre-pregnancy weight! I still want to tone areas, build muscle, and lose body fat.

Life with a 9 month old is a LITTLE BIT EASIER than life with a 3 month old. I don't want to jinx it though. We do have our moments when our patience runs low, but everyone keeps saying "It gets easier!" and I'm hoping they're right.

I'm sleeping okay. A lot better than before. I usually get around 6 hours until he wakes up for a night feeding. He was sleeping through the whole night for a few months, but I think because his teeth are poking through, he wakes up sometimes now. Mike usually does his night feedings now because I started a new job last month. I have to be up at 4am to be at work by 6am.

Caleb can hold his own bottle, but hasn't learned to feed himself solids yet. (Except finger foods) but as far as holding a spoon, hopefully he learns soon.. 

He eats baby food -- either purees or finger foods and pouches, along with formula in between if he's still hungry. This little guy has quite the appetite!

We usually have 2 naps at 11 and 4 and most of the time they are 2 hours long. I'm actually kind of shocked if he goes longer than 2 hours. I know people say it'll usually go down to 1 nap a day, not sure when that will start.. but let's hope not soon. Lol! I like when it's quiet and I know he's sleeping.

We have entered the world of mobility which so far I kind of prefer to non-mobility, but not really. While I have to keep a closer eye, I love that he is so much more in control of his body and entertainment. He can crawl over to the toy he wants instead of just crying of boredom when the ones around him get old. He crawls fast and long gone are the days where I could leave him playing in the middle of the room and trust he wouldn't move until I got back. Now I have to keep the eye in the back of my head on him at all times. It's fun just to see him explore though. He is pulling up on everything imaginable and is really good at it. There have been less head bonks and tumbles this month than ever before. I'm sure walking is a whole new ball game, but for now we're good. 

He impresses me everyday with his understanding and communication. He understands things like "kiss" and "come here" and he can wave hi or bye-bye (not sure which one it is since they're the same, lol.) He understands "no!" and knows to look for DA-DA after his bath every night at bedtime. He recognizes himself in mirrors and videos. We are working on teaching him to dance, clap, and learning some of his body parts.

He has a hilarious laugh.

He's so fun to be with! This kid is a smile machine. My friends say he is such a sweet boy, and of course I agree :) Most of the time.. lol.

He's the best! Obviously I am biased, but he just gets cuter everyday! 

Love,

Tiare

6 MONTHS OLD!! How is motherhood going?

I really no longer feel like I just had a baby. In fact, it all seems like a distant blur that happened years ago! Okay well maybe not years ago. Still not ready to have another one though, lol. Maybe when Caleb's about a year & a half, we can try for another one. Just the thought crossing my mind, omg. That's next July!

Updates on the mom front...

I'm tired all the time it seems. There are a few nights when I've gotten some really good chunks of sleep. We dropped a night feeding, so Caleb will sleep for 9-10 hours. It's rare if he wakes up for a night feeding now. If he does, it's usually between 1-3am. Anyway, I don't go to bed right when Caleb falls asleep (although I should), so I find myself getting 5-6 hours of decent sleep. I still wake up tired and will nap whenever Caleb naps.

I'm doing pretty well with weight loss. For a while, I kept yo-yo-ing from 136-139 lbs.. but just recently I went grocery shopping for nothing but healthy foods, and right now I'm at 135 lbs. Eating healthy definitely works. I've been running and going to the gym as well. I feel like that gives me more energy whenever I do. I don't always get an exercise in though, but I make sure to compensate for it on my next workout. I have abs again! Not saying that they're abs of steel, but you can feel them and see the outline of it starting to come in. I'm slimming down a little, and I've definitely gotten stronger. I'm lifting more at the gym! And I can definitely give credit to this guy below! He's super heavy.

Anyway, I can't believe this boy is 6 months! (and he's about to be 7, since I'm updating this blog so late.. he's been 6 months for 2 weeks now, lol) He's growing too fast!! I feel like we're hitting that age where they just learn at lightning speed.

New developments include...

Sitting! Caleb is able to sit without support for long periods of time now, but we like to keep pillows around him because he still falls over on occasion. 

Eating! Although we started solids at 4 months, he has gotten better since then! He loves to eat real food :)

Caleb's 6 month check up isn't 'til next Tuesday. Can't wait to see how he's growing. He's been in 6-9 month clothes for a while now. Everyone says he's a big boy, so we'll see just how big he really is!

Love,

Tiare

3 MONTHS OLD!! How is motherhood going?

Caleb is three months old today!

Sometimes Caleb makes a face that reminds me of his newborn self. His face has changed SO much though. And as you can see, he is bald! We shaved his head a few weeks ago.

Look at the difference in his face, lol. He looks like a totally different baby. This is 3 weeks...

And this is 3 months...

Crazy!

I'm really enjoying reading to him. We only bought him two books from Target. Dr. Seuss' ABC's and DC Comics Super Heroes. I haven't read the Super Hero book to him though because it's way too long, lol. "Ain't nobody got time for that." 

We have been putting Caleb down to bed around 9:30/10 and on a good night he sleeps 4-5 hours and on a not so good night he sleeps 3. When I hear him start to wake up, the first thing I do is look at the clock since I never have any idea how long I have actually been asleep. I'm always hoping for a 2 or 3 but occasionally I see a 12 and I know it's going to be a long night. 

He is soooo cute when he cries, although I never want it to last. But that little face!

It amazes me that baby breath always smells good. It's probably because they're not eating bacteria filled people food, but you'd still think after sleeping...they'd have morning breath, but no! My sweet Caleb's smells like babies, lol.

Caleb has really started to talk more and lets out long "ohhhhhs" or "ahhhhhs".

In the movies, parents are always going into their children's bedrooms to pat them on the head or kiss them while they're sleeping. While I would LOVE to do this, I wouldn't wanna risk waking up my sleeping baby! Lol.

Caleb loves playing with his activity gym! & of course I love taking pictures of him! Lol, he stopped to take the picture.

Love,

Tiare

3 WEEKS OLD!! How is motherhood going?

Caleb is three weeks old, as of yesterday! How on earth has time flown by that fast!? I feel like he is such a big boy now -- and getting bigger everyday! 

I can hardly believe it's been three weeks since I was walking around with my big baby belly!

Maybe because I've been keeping busy and staying up all night, hoping for a shower, busy feeding and catering to our precious little buddy!

I look forward to seeing what happens in the next few weeks and when he starts sleeping longer at night. Hopefully! He's unpredictable, but sort of predictable at the same time... I can count on him eating every 2-3 hours during the day, sleeping anywhere from 3-4 hours at night, napping all day, and being super cute all the time!

Breastfeeding didn't work out. It started off being really good, then got painful. It wasn't comfortable at all, but when I got the hang of it... he just wasn't satisfied. I would feed him for about 30 minutes and he would still be hungry, so I would feed him some more, and the next thing I knew I was nursing him for an hour... and he would still be looking for milk afterwards. It was hard not knowing if he was getting enough milk, I wasn't sure, so I just chalked it up as a loss and now we're formula feeding him. I had a breakdown about it, crying as I was making a bottle for him, he and I were both crying at the same time. Mike heard me crying and came to comfort me, and Caleb calmed down as well. It's hard, it was so important to me as a mother to breastfeed, and I kind of feel like I failed in a way. Mike assured me that there's lots of other ways I can be a great mother and that it wasn't the end of the world.

I'm surprised how you can forget to eat sometimes, as a new mother! Also, there's not enough hours in the day to do everything. I can't shower whenever I want to. It's the best feeling in the world when I finally do get to shower! I can't cook whenever I want, I can't clean whenever I want, I can't even write in my blog whenever I want. Even when Caleb is napping, I just don't even feel like doing anything but napping too. It's hard taking care of him at night because Mike has to wake up early in the morning for work, then take care of him all day while Mike is at work. Even when Mike comes home, he's so tired, he takes a nap, so I'm still taking care of Caleb even then. I suppose it's okay though, since I don't work. 

Gosh, he's soooo cute!!

I would love to get back into the gym, but I have a feeling it's going to be a bit harder than expected. I don't want to take him to the daycare at the gym. (I just don't trust it! Plus I've heard that other parents' kids get sick from other sick kids!) So right now we're just walking when we can. We just started yesterday and we plan on going later on today. I'm trying to make walking a priority everyday, if the weather calls for it. When I'm comfortable enough for weight training, I'll leave him with Mike after he comes home from work and I'll hit the gym. I can already see how 'me time' is going to be awesome.

When he cries, I try to remain calm. Most of the time his crying just means he is ready to eat, or a light cry means he wants to take a nap. I'm definitely still trying to learn his cries, but his hunger cry is definitely "neh" like I learned from the Dunsten Baby Language!

I can't even begin to describe the intense protection and love I feel for Caleb. And the kissing is nonstop!

Love,

Tiare