CALEB: ELEVEN MONTHS

Caleb turned 11 months old yesterday! I can’t believe that the next time I do one of these updates, he’ll be a year! That’ll be my last monthly update of the munchkin (but of course he’ll still be around the blog all the time… he’s kind of the center of our world!).

Caleb’s around 23-24 pounds and 30 inches long. He’s still in size 5 diapers and 18 month clothing, though his footie pajamas are getting tight. It’s time to start stocking up on 24 month clothing, which we’ve discovered is harder to find. A lot of places go straight to 2T, but there IS a difference; I’ve read that 24 months is for babies and is shorter and wider, whereas 2T is for toddlers and is longer and thinner.

Caleb had some fun moments in the last month! He went on his first carousel ride at the mall on November 28th. We thought he would love it but… we were wrong. He started crying about 15 seconds into it. Oh well… we’ll try again!

He finished the Baby Bugs reading program at my library! He (ahem: I) read 100 books! He got a prize, a certificate, and his photo on the wall. Now, we’ve moved onto 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten. It’ll be a couple of years on this one…

He also celebrated his first Thanksgiving since his last update! He was kind of crabby that day and didn’t eat any of our meal, so it wasn’t particularly exciting or special for him, but it was for us. Family came over and he got to spend some time playing with his cousins. We had my dad take a couple of family photos outside that day, too. I’ll share those at some point once I get them off of his computer!

He’s been getting more playful and funny this month. He now laughs at fart noises, plays on his floor mat, is starting to like more toys, loves “Paw Patrol,” and is learning to give high fives (though he only does it about 1 in every 10 times I ask). He’s spending less time in his jumper and more time on the floor, as recommended by the Early Intervention team. He’s starting to engage more in our reading, too. Twice in the last week, he laughed at two books when I had to make animal noises in them; I’m glad to know he’s actually paying attention now!

We’ve been having a blast celebrating his first Christmas season too! He dressed up as an elf to meet Santa (and cried), went to see a holiday music light show (he was mesmerized), and attended a bakeathon with my best friends. He ate a couple tiny bites of cut-out cookie, but we’re still struggling with getting him to eat anything other than his baby food. He absolutely hates “real” food and textures, but we’re working on it. We got him to eat yogurt and a tiny bit of soup (but those are the right texture for him). He also had a couple tiny bites of carrot and pasta from soup another night. He sucked on a soft pretzel but freaked out when he bit some off on accident. Slowly but surely, I think we’re making some progress here!

On a not so fun note, we struggled with Caleb’s first major illness this month. I had a cold and then he caught it. He wound up with a 103 degree fever and was so miserable for about a week. It was a pitiful sight. He wouldn’t eat or sleep and just moped around. I’m so glad we’re thorough that now!

It’s hard to believe that our next update will be his one year update! I’ve started to get a little emotional lately whenever I think about the fact that my once tiny baby is about to turn one. That’s a topic for another day, though. For now, we’re looking forward to celebrating Caleb’s first Christmas and New Year! We hope you all have a wonderful holiday season