Fifteen weeks old

Loves his new bath seat. 

Caleb thought he needed a new hat

Calvin might just be one of the happiest babies in the world in the morning.  He is all smiles when he first wakes up.  Now if we could just get his wake up call a little later in the am, that would be wonderful! It's not terrible, but he's been wanting to be up around 6:15 lately...Travis got this video of his morning smile routine.

Fourteen weeks old

Calvin is really starting to want to be around the family more.  He used to be content to lay on the floor while we ate dinner, but now he wants to be at the table with us. He is sitting in the bumbo on the table, but we are a bit nervous that he might tip it over and fall to the ground, so we are going to get out the high chair for him this week.

Likes:
- bright colored toys.  He doesn't hold them yet, but will stare at them for a long time and is starting to reach for them
- music
- being outside when it is cloudy or overcast
- bath time...I wish we would have gotten some video of his bath on Saturday night.  He was kicking like crazy!
- diaper changes -- he loves dry diapers and loves to lay on his changing table
- sitting up
- eating and gaining weight like a crazy man.  He's in 6 month sleepers and shirts.  His 6 month pjs tonight were even a little on the short side!

Dislikes:
- being outside when it is really sunny or windy
- being held like a baby...he wants to look out at the world
- using his legs.  He has no interest in having any weight on his legs at all.  He keeps them folded underneath him instead.


It seems he's ready to be done being swaddled, but for the life of me, I can't remember how we weaned Caleb off of it!  Calvin sleeps with one arm out already and is waking up with his other arm free as well.  I put him down for a nap today with both arms out and he slept an hour.  It did take him longer to fall asleep though.

Three months old!

Not happy about the walk...scowled the entire time. 

7:00 pm nap

Dinner time with the family. 

Thirteen weeks old

Calvin sure is a happy little guy lately.  He loves his sleep, but in between naps, he's happy and smiley.  This week his schedule was three 30-60 minute naps and then one giant 2-4 hour nap each day.  Sometimes this was the first nap of the day, but usually more towards mid day.  He still doesn't like to be up more than about 60-90 minutes at a time. He sometimes ends up being awake for 2-2.5 hours in the evening only because we are trying to not let him take a nap at 7:00 at night.  We try to time it that his last nap is around 5:00, but sometimes that just doesn't happen.

The big news this week is Calvin moved to his own room and we are all sleeping great!  He's been in there four nights. The first night I woke a lot to stare at the monitor, but now I'm feeling refreshed after a better night of sleep.  Calvin grunts and kicks from about 4:30-6:30 every single morning in his sleep.  This meant I was basically awake form 4:30 on each day.  We can't hear this through the monitor so I am able to go back to sleep after his 4 am feeding.  The boys also spoiled us by both sleeping until 7:30 Saturday and Sunday!

We got to be outside a lot this weekend and Calvin is starting to like the outdoors more and more.  He will sit in his stroller and watch big brother play.  He really likes it when the neighbors stop to talk to him.  He is a social little guy and is all smiles when people peek into the stroller and talk to him.

The other big news is that Calvin's allergy tests came back as negative!  The doctor did warn us that false negatives could happen this early, but we are hopeful that isn't the case.  We also have the green light to do the early introduction of foods beginning at four months since allergies are in the family.  The current research in the allergy field is showing that severe allergies can be avoided by introducing common allergens in between 4-6 months.  I'm planning to talk with our doctor at his four month check up and our allergist to get their advice on how to do this.

Getting used to his stroller.  The toys give him something to look at and help block the sun!

Loving the sunshine!

Always watching big brother

Such a smiley little guy

Twelve weeks old

Calvin has been working on it for a little over a week, but he's now mastered the roll over (front to back).  He did it a couple of times when he was ten weeks old, but this week, he's been doing it pretty consistently and isn't scared when he ends up on his back anymore.  Now that he can roll, he will stay on his belly for a nice long time and babble.  He's getting more and more vocal and does a lot of cooing.  He's trying to reach for the toys on his activity mat, but not having much luck yet.  He's also really liking to sit up and look around.  He will sit in the bumbo seat, but he leans his head way back and sometimes arches his back so I'm afraid he's going to tip it backwards.

He's still growing rapidly.  He's up to 14 lb 7 oz and 24 inches long!  He's in size six month sleepers and shirts.  Still in three month pants.  Some of his 3-6 month clothes still fit too.

Brothers talking to each other.

Just hanging out in his six month pjs!

Eleven weeks old and start of daycare

Calvin started daycare this week and it went pretty well.  He will be going part time for nine weeks and then will be home with Mom and big brother!  He did great his first week.  I got up at 6:20 and got myself ready for school. At 6:40 I came back to our room, woke Travis up so he could get ready before I left, and then nursed Calvin.  After that, Calvin went back to bed for a while, I left for work, and Travis got the boys dressed, fed, and to daycare.  On Thursday Calvin was too tired to wake up for me, so Travis gave him a bottle when he did wake up.  He woke up around 7:45 both days and they were at daycare by 8:30.  This worked pretty well as Calvin took his first nap at nine each day.  He slept 4-5 hours both days.  I had no idea how full to fill his bottles, but four ounces at a time seems to be enough for him so far. This is great, because I'm pumping 13-14 ounces while I am away from him and he's taking 10-12 ounces.  With Caleb I had a really hard time keeping up.  I would pump 13-15 ounces, but he took 18 ounces!  I'm hoping Calvin will stay content with the four ounce bottles as I don't want to use up everything I have stashed in the freezer.  Our daycare provider said he seems a little overwhelmed with all the kids right now and when he's awake spends his time with wide eyes darting back and forth trying to take it all in.  She said he's fine watching the kids for about ten minutes and then he wants her to pick him up or at least sit right by him.  I'm sure he will get used to the commotion at some point, but for now sleeping is working well for him.  Even though they are in the same room when they are awake at daycare, Caleb doesn't really pay any attention to Calvin at daycare.  Caleb is one of the biggest kids there now so he's usually getting to play with the small toys in an area the little ones can't get to.  I asked him if Calvin enjoyed daycare and he told me "I can't know.  Gayle just keep putting him in his crib for another nap."

I've found that getting Calvin a good morning nap is key to him having a good day.  If he sleeps for 60-90 minutes in the mid morning, he will take good naps the rest of the day.  If he doesn't, it's a day full of 30 minute naps.

Calvin has some eczema going on right now. To me, it looks about identical to what Caleb had beginning at three months.  I sent a picture of our doctor and she agrees it looks like eczema.  She said to give hydrocortisone cream a try for a few days to see if that helps and if not, bring him in.  It has helped some.  It's not as red, but still pretty scaly.  I think I'll give it another week and then take him in if it's not getting better.

He's really starting to coo a lot.  He really likes to lay on his back and have you lay next to him and talk to him. This is when he does the most smiles and coos.  He will do it on his tummy too, but after about 90 seconds, he's had enough and wants to be turned over.  He did roll over three times Friday and once Sunday.

Some things Calvin likes at eleven weeks:
- looking at toys hanging on his play mat
- looking at the truck stickers hanging on the wall by his changing table
- sitting up and looking around
- still likes taking baths either by himself or with his brother.

No more infant insert in his tub.  

I have no idea why he's so scared...maybe it's the older brother jumping on Mom's back. 

Calvin and Liz just hanging out in Liz's gym. 

Ten weeks old

Calvin is now ten weeks old, so that means maternity leave is over for me and I go back to work Tuesday.  I will miss my boys, but I'm looking forward to seeing my students and coworkers and finishing out the year.  It was a very, very difficult decision for me, but I've decided not to return to teaching next year.  I am going to miss teaching like crazy, but know I will regret missing this time with my boys if I don't switch to this.  Working part-time the past two years was the best of both worlds, but with two kids, we've decided that wouldn't be enough time with them.

Calvin is starting to get a somewhat predictable routine during the days.  He likes 3-4 naps a day depending on how long each one is and most nights he's been sleeping 6-7 hours in a row!!!!  We are still struggling to keep him in his own bed after 6:00 AM.  He's not hungry, but just wants to be held until it's time to get up.  We will see how this goes when I've got to get up and get ready for work!

Still happens sometimes during tummy time. 

Finally got a good smile on camera!

Getting so strong!

Nine weeks old

Look at this two month old cutie!

Calvin is settling into being a pretty content baby.  He has a few demands though:  feed him the minute he wakes up, don't make him sit in a wet diaper for longer than 34 seconds, and put him to bed early (7:30 is preferred).

We've been outside a lot this week and it seems he really likes it. He's not too keen on the stroller yet, but loves the Moby.  We went for a long walk on Sunday with him in the Moby, but had to take him out towards the end.  We were both way too sweaty.  I didn't realize it was 80 degrees out or I would have dressed him in just a onesie.

He got his first round of shots this week and he was in rough shape.  He slept nearly all day and screamed when he was awake.  Eating didn't even calm him down!  We ended up giving him some Tylenol and icing his legs a little and that seemed to help.   Everything looked good at the doctor.  She said his neck still feels a little tight and he wouldn't move it to the left for her either. She said to keep doing what we are doing, but if it gets any worse call and she will get us a referral for physical therapy.  He still looks both ways when on his belly, which is a really good sign.

We had a couple of rough nights transitioning Calvin off the boppy lounger at night time and nap time, but he isn't sleeping on it at night now!  He still does for some naps, but that doesn't make me as nervous since we are frequently checking on him.  The first night without it, he did ok.  It took us over an hour to get him to bed, but he did better during night time wakings and went back down without it.  The next night went so poorly we gave him the pillow back, but the past three nights he's been sleeping as well as he did on it.  It takes a bit longer for him to get asleep initially at night without the pillow, but he's doing it!  One of us usually ends up sitting on the floor with our hand on his belly for a little while before he will stay asleep.  It always backfires laying him down completely asleep as he wakes up screaming about 15 minutes later.  He prefers to fall asleep in his bed or at least wake a bit as we lay him down and then go back to sleep.

No pillow!

The zoo sure is scary

Waiting for the doctor

Oopss!