Up Home

My childhood is filled with many memories of trips "Up Home" - that is to say Ellijay, the place where both my maternal grandparents were born and raised.  I fondly recall family reunions at Fort Mountain, homecoming at the small church down the road from the house where my grandmother grew up, rides on the four wheeler down dirt roads and across the creek, and playing on the tire swing behind my Great Grandma Sales' house.  The drive up was always filled with Papaw singing along with the old gospel songs playing in the old station wagon, and the highlight of the trip home was always the stop at the local Dairy Queen for some ice cream (but only after Papaw received his payment: one kiss on the cheek).  I remember being scared to go to the bathroom at my Aunt Mary Ruth and Uncle Don's house because of the stuffed hawk I had to pass on the way.  I remember exploring old dirt roads for no other purpose than to see what was at the other end and to find some of those beautiful orange lilies that grow so well on the side of the road to dig up and bring home to plant.  And the food.  Oh, the food.  It was always some of the best food I had ever put into my mouth.  Maybe it was that it was all freshly grown in the garden or maybe it was that it was always so lovingly prepared and offered, but either way, I would always fall asleep on the way home with a full belly and a happy heart.  But as good as the food was, it was always outdone by the people who prepared it.  Hard-working, humble, unpretentious, kindhearted, salt-of-the-earth people.  The type of people who squeezed you like they meant it when they hugged you.  The kind of people who would give you the shirt off their back - without you asking and with a smile.  Needless to say, I'm proud to say that this place and these people are where I come from.
Caleb was able to finally make his first trip to Ellijay just a few weeks ago to see the place that holds such a prominent place in my heart.  Here he is playing with his cousin Logan.  These pictures pretty well show Logan's personality:  non-stop energy.

And here are four generations:  Mamaw, my mom, me, and Caleb.

I hope and pray that Caleb will come to appreciate what a special place "Up Home" is and will strive to be like the people who make it so special. 

9 Months Already!

This past week Caleb turned nine months old!  And it seems like in just a short amount of time, he went from being a baby who didn't really do much to a baby who wants to get into everything...and I mean EVERYTHING.  Any trinket within sight, he gets his heart set on holding (and chewing on).  He'll lunge with his entire body until it's in his grasp, and once he has it, he holds on for dear life with his grip of steel.  He's slammed his hand into my bowl of soup, sending soup and my spoon flying.  He's knocked more than one bowl of baby food from my hand.  I've had to pry his little hands from the mailbox door and flag and then pull the mail away from his mouth.  Frankly, all of this sudden burst of activity has me a little nervous.  I have a feeling he's going to hit the ground running when he starts crawling and walking.
Speaking of crawling, we're still working on that.  He can sit up without support now, and he will occasionally go from sitting to his belly in order to grab a toy.  He'll hold himself up on all fours for a few moments, and, when being helped, he'll push off one leg at a time while in tummy time to sort of scoot forward a little.  But no official crawling yet, which I am fine with.

He's still generally very happy and loves to smile and laugh.  He's really started playing with his toys, and he can stay busy for a while figuring out how a toy works.  He knows how to hit the button to open and close the garage door and gets more joy from doing so than I ever even thought possible. When I ask, "Where's Mommy's nose?", he'll reach his hand out and grab my nose. 

And of course, his favorite time is bath time.  He and Daddy have a good time splashing and playing and squealing (as far as I know, it's only Caleb who squeals, not Tony).  Since there is not much that's cuter than a baby in a bath, here are some recent pictures from bath time:

Lather, rinse, repeat.

"You're gonna do what with these pictures?"

All clean and dry.

 At our 9 month check-up at the doctor last week, the doctor told us that Caleb was 80th percentile for weight and 25th percentile for height.  And that's compared to other nine month old babies who were full term.  Considering that he was so early and so tiny, I'd say that he's catching up! 

Tales from the Crib

We have one of those fancy monitors where not only can you hear what's going on
inside baby's room but you can also see what shenanigans baby is up to.  It's nice being able to check in on him without having to open his door and risk waking him, but many times, we also get a laugh at what we see. Here are a few of my favorites:
The "Roller Coaster Ride":

 The "Walk Like an Egyptian":

The "Bear Head" (my personal favorite):

Our baby has morphed into a bear baby!

I know how ridiculous it sounds, but I have come to believe that this monitor not only transmits information for us to see but it somehow also sends sights and sounds from our end back to Caleb's room.  All too often, this is what I see:
The "Mom Stop Taking Pictures of the Monitor and Come Get Me":

Needless to say, I am always now very careful not to be too loud around the  monitor and not to shake it or move it a lot, and I never, never look at it for more than three seconds at a time.  Trust me on this one.  For some reason which I can't explain, doing any of those things always results in waking the baby.  Am I just crazy or has anyone else had this experience, too?

Shop Til You Drop

I've heard all the horror stories.  Other moms have relayed to me the screaming, the tantrums, the meltdowns, the hissy fits.  I've listened with rapt attention as moms have told their harrowing experiences at the grocery store with their little ones.  Most stories involved leaving your full grocery cart in the middle of the frozen foods section while you ran from the store, hoping that the store employees will forgive you both for disturbing their peaceful work environment and for leaving a cart full of groceries for them to put back.  After these stories, I would always resolve NEVER to bring my child to the grocery store.  At least not until he can behave appropriately in public.  Actually seeing such episodes while shopping myself only strengthened my resolve.
That is until last Thursday morning.  Don't ask me why.  It just seemed like a good idea.  Caleb awoke from his morning nap, and I needed to make my weekly run to Publix.  Why not?  So I broke out the never-been-used shopping cart cover and headed to the store, baby in tow. 
As soon as I slid Caleb's legs into the two holes in the cart and the sliding glass doors invited us in, all of the stories came rushing back to me, and I almost turned back around.  But Caleb was in a good mood, and we needed some more bananas.  So off we went. 
I can proudly report that not once did Caleb fuss or whine or cry while at the store.  In fact, he was all smiles because his mom was smiling and talking to him the whole time. 

So it looks like we'll be making more trips to the store together...that is until I test fate one too many times, and I become the mom running from the store in tears.  If you see me then, please tell the nice Publix workers sorry for me. 

My Snow Angel

The snow arrived today!  So we found the warmest thing Caleb owned (which just so happened to make him look like a cute little snow monster), and we headed out for some fun in the snow.

Caleb wasn't quite sure what to make of it all.  He just quietly observed everything while periodically sticking his tongue out to catch some falling snow flakes.

 And we had to make snow angels, of course!

Meanwhile, Tony found a fallen tree in the backyard.  What do you do with a fallen tree in your backyard?  Engage in a Rocky-style workout, naturally!

 Lunges across the yard!  Caleb, I hope you're taking notes on how this is done...

 

Mommy's got it, too!  All those times I make Caleb fly overhead are paying off.  (Seriously, the tree was long dead and probably weighed no more than 20 pounds - light weight in comparison to our big boy!)

By the time we were ready to go inside, Caleb's cheeks were all rosy and he had snow flakes resting on his sweet eye lashes. 

One more family photo with the backyard gnome before we went inside to get warm by the fire...

Does this helmet make my cheeks look big?

No, Caleb has not joined the baby football league.  Nor is he practicing to be the next Evel Knievel-type motorcycle dare devil.  He's not even wearing this helmet to protect his head in the event that his newbie parents accidentally drop him. 
No, Caleb is sporting this new accessory for purely cosmetic reasons.  He had developed a bit of a flat spot on the back of his head because of his tendency to turn his head to the right (and I'm sure as a result of spending too much time on his back due to his distaste for tummy time).  They tell me that this helmet should even it out over the next few months.  So he'll be wearing it for 23 hours a day for the next three months. 

While we were in shock over the price tag for this piece of Styrofoam-type material (I'm pretty sure that a helmet for an NFL player is significantly cheaper than this thing), we ultimately decided to go ahead with it.  We didn't want him to be mad at us when he's 13 and has a misshapen head.  Plus, it may come in handy to protect his sweet little noggin from all the bumps that have started happening since he's moving around more nowadays. 
And it sure does accentuate those chubby cheeks! 

Caleb at 7 Months

Our baby is already more than 7 months old!  He's closer to a one year old than to a newborn!  He likes to roll over (mostly to get out of the dreaded Tummy Time), sit (with a little help), stand while someone holds him, play with his feet, and squeal (and sometimes scream) when he's excited.  Each morning, we wake up wondering what new things Caleb will be able to do that day.  He's still trying to "talk" by making all kinds of interesting noises - everything from screaming to making juicy raspberries.  If you're around when he's attempting to engage in conversation, watch out - your ears are likely to ring and whatever was in his mouth (be it formula, food, spit, or spit-up) is probably now on your face and/or your shirt.  Typical boy!  And he will of course chew on everything he can get his hands on.  His favorite toy is the exersaucer, which he has pretty much mastered at this point.  He loves it when Mommy tickles him and when Daddy makes him "fly," and he responds to both with his infectious laugh.  The sweetest thing about him is still his precious smile.  Often I will be feeding him while also reading a book, when I realize that someone is staring at me as if to get my attention.  I'll look down and, with the bottle still in his mouth, Caleb will give me the biggest smile (with formula running down his chin, of course).  It's enough to melt this mom's heart...each and every time. 
Here he is playing with his feet and practicing for his first trip on a roller coaster (with his screams):

Our little snow monster: