We love babysitters

I love Caleb. I also really enjoy getting away from him from time to time. And I really enjoy it when either set of his wonderful grandparents watch him while I am gone. There's just something about knowing he's in good hands, and knowing those hands are pretty excited to be watching him. It allows me to fully enjoy my time away.

This weekend Grandpa and Grandma Van Zanten came up to watch Caleb Friday and Saturday. On Friday night we had a Rook card party with 13 other couples. There was lots of good food, laughter, competition, and hands of Rook. We were no where in the running for first place, but we had a great time socializing with some couples we don't see very often.

Saturday was Super Saturday, which is quite the big deal around these parts. Why people get so excited about watching four games in a row of high school boys basketball in one day is a little beyond my understanding, but I have learned that I am the only one who finds it slightly strange. Because of this, I go and thoroughly enjoy the company, Cold Stone ice cream that the concession stand sells (thanks Dad Top for buying me some), and getting to go out to eat at Perkins after. I guess we all enjoy different things about basketball season:) I also very much enjoyed not having to worry about feeding Caleb who refuses to eat if there is any noise, interesting thing to look at, something close enough for him to kick his feet against, or another person in the same room. The other day he stopped eating for a good give minutes because he realized that when he pulls my strap on my tank top it snaps and makes a funny noise. He's a curious one, but so stinkin cute it's hard not to just laugh. :)

It was a great weekend for Caleb to see his grandparents and for us to enjoy some time out. Thanks Mom and Dad VZ!

7 months

Our little chubby boy is 7 months old already. It's crazy how much he has changed from 6 to 7 months, not only in appearance but in physical capabilities. He is as sweet and chunky as ever, and we are loving this stage. We both said the other night that it is so fun to see that he loves us. I mean, we are his parents and take care of his every basic need so we know he loves us, but to see it in his smile and his bright eyes is truly amazing.

 7 month pictures turned out to be a little more difficult than before with his new ability to move all over the place, but we thankfully still got a few cute shots that help to capture his fun-loving personality. :)

As I said in my last blog post, Caleb is on the move. He can army crawl all over the floor and we enjoy watching the look of determination on his face when he is going for something he wants. He can also sit up for long amounts of time on his own, but hasn't quite figured out how to transition from sitting to moving without doing a belly flop. Good thing his belly is so big to flop on. :)

Here are some other stats for Caleb:
-He generally sleeps from 7:45ish-7:30ish
-takes 3 naps a day (9:45-10:30, 12:30-2:00, 4:30-5:15)
-still doing eat, awake sleep, so he eats anywhere from 7-9 ounces after he wakes up from naps and then one more feeding right before bed
-he got sick and threw up a couple times a day for a week straight, so we stopped the oatmeal and haven't gone back since
-he no longer stays sleeping when he is transferred from the car seat to the house and has a really hard time going down for a nap anywhere besides home and daycare (he goes down amazing at home!)
-he chews on everything and is drooling all the time, but still no teeth
-he likes to stand up for a few seconds by himself next to a toy
-he has recently started giving kisses (aka sucking and chewing on my chin), but I think it is the cutest thing
-after being sick he went through a little mom/dad phase, but is still pretty good at going to other people (although it's better if neither of us are around)
-he does great with a bottle and will even take one from me now
-he has the cutest giggle when we say "achoo" like we are sneezing
-he loves to be naked and just roll around on the floor with us at night
-he loves his tongue, is starting to almost clap for himself
-he has started a new noise which sounds something like "da-da" and John is positive he is saying dad as his first word :)
-he is still a very happy baby and his smile can light up a room

Growing up

Caleb seems to be growing up a lot the last week. He can sit up by himself, roll all over the floor, and is very close to crawling. He gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth, but can't quite figure out how to put one hand in front of the other. This often results in him doing a belly flop as he army crawls across the floor. Needless to say, our gate has gone up and I have begun to baby proof the house. :) We have had a lot of fun seeing his changes and watching him move and grab for toys. But, it's also hard to believe that he is already old enough to crawl!

Sitting up and playing the piano-hopefully he gets his musical talent from one of his great grandmas. 

As you can see in the video, he is moving towards his diaper. Caleb's favorite toys include spoons, diapers, my glasses, and the tubes of lotion I put on him for his dry skin. Want to see Caleb move across the entire living room floor? Don't give him one of the many bright colored, noise making, baby friendly, chewable toys that we have in the house....no, he prefers adult items that are potentially hazardous to his health if eaten. :) We are learning to be more careful where we set our things and get a good laugh out of his persistence to get into things he shouldn't. Hopefully we don't have a trouble maker on our hands. :)

Valentine's Weekend

This is the first Valentine's Day we have spent together since we started dating. This is also the first Saturday John has had off from basketball since before Christmas break. So, the day was pretty special, and we got to celebrate it with some great friends!

On Friday night, my best friend from high school and her husband came up to visit us. It was so great to see them! I spent a ton of time with her in high school and it is really hard living so far away from each other now. We got to relax with them on Saturday morning and even gave them a grand tour of Edgerton. Caleb loved them and enjoyed getting to roll around on the floor with them for the day. Thanks again for making the trip up Katie!

 Me, Caleb, and Katie.

Then we all headed down to Orange City in the afternoon. Katie's brother-in-law plays basketball at NW so they watched the basketball game, and we went to visit one of John's college roommates. John and Blake lived together for three years at NW and have stayed good friends since. They are life long fishing buddies and have plenty of fishing/college stories to tell when they get together. Blake and his wife Carrie had a baby boy just 6 months before we had Caleb. They came to visit Caleb when he was just a few weeks old, but we haven't seen them since. It was great to catch up and for the boys to be able to play together. Caleb couldn't quite keep up with their little boy who is walking around, but the two still had fun talking to each other and playing with toys. 

 Caleb (6 1/2 mo.) & Owen (12 1/2 mo.)

Playing toys together.

The guys made us a fantastic Valentine's supper, and we had a great time swapping parenting and marriage stories over the meal. It was a wonderful Saturday to be able to catch up with friends and be together as family.

Sick

Whew. It's been a long week. A week filled with way too much vomit for only three people in one house. I have lost count of how many loads of laundry I have done and how many times I have vomited/gotten vomited on. All that being said, we are surviving and we know it could be much much worse! A little vomit is nothing compared to some of the sickness/disease that many others are struggling with.

On Saturday night after supper I started feeling quite sick. I was feeding Caleb before bed with a bucket next to me on the couch in case I threw up. Well, instead of me throwing up, Caleb leaned back and threw up all over me. It was one of those comical mother moments now looking back, but at the time I just wanted to cry. I managed to strip us both of our clothes and put Caleb in bed before I vomited. We woke up on Sunday to find out that John had vomited that morning. Both being sick and taking care of a baby is not ideal. I seriously don't know how people with a lot of kids do it! I could barely muster up the strength to feed and change Caleb through out the day. Thankfully John's parents came to save us that night and had their own Super Bowl party in our basement while John and I slept. :) Thanks mom and dad Top!

Caleb actually acted decent on Sunday and only threw up once on Monday. On Tuesday we were all feeling pretty good and back to work and daycare. Then Tuesday night I went in to check on Caleb before going to bed and found him laying in a pool of vomit. He had never even cried, but was sopping wet from his vomit and had diarrhea that had come out of his diaper. IT WAS AWFUL. The poor kid didn't even cry as I stripped him of all his clothes. He was so out of it and tired. Then he proceeded to dry heave and vomit a few more times in the next hour. IT WAS AWFUL. I didn't know a little body could throw up like that. I desperately wished I could have been throwing up again instead of him.

Since Tuesday he has thrown up at least a couple times every day. The crazy thing is that Thursday and today he acted fine most of the day, except for when he throws up. He is his smiling and happy self until he vomits everything he has eaten. He is quite a kid!

With all this sickness, Caleb and I have gotten a lot of cuddle time in our pajamas. It about breaks my mother heart to see him sick, but I am very thankful I can be home to hopefully make him feel a little more comfortable. And with being sick, there has been A LOT of just laying in the middle of the living room floor. Sometimes Caleb gets a little bored and just starts talking to himself...

We are hoping that he can kick this bug this weekend and everyone can be back to normal by Monday. Through this week we have become very thankful for our own parents, washing machines, our health, and each other. Cleaning up vomit is way more fun together. :)