The Growing Caldwell Family

Saturday we headed over to the aquarium.  We all had a great time.  Sarah Graves loves watching the people as much as she does the fish!  Beverly and I had fun taking pictures of all the fish.  Some of these came out pretty good considering there was glass between the camera and the fish! Grandaddy played with Sarah Graves.  I was a little late in capturing it, but this shows him giving her eskimo kisses.  She was completely in awe.  Sarah Graves ate her lunch with the belluga whales.  I think the whales are my favorite thing.  They are so big and so graceful. 

Guess who came to visit this weekend!  We had a good time seeing Grandaddy and Beverly!  Sarah Graves fell in love with the stuffed bear they brought her from London; especially, when Grandaddy made the bear jump up and kiss her. 

We hoped that Lucy and Sarah Graves would become pals.  I think all parents hope that when they bring a new baby into the family all members of the family will love it and I think Lucy does love her.  The affection has been mostly one sided, but Sarah Graves is starting to, well let's just hope that petting Lucy is her intention.  The other day Aaron was witness to the two of them really teaming up.  I gave Sarah Graves any empty canister with a lid to play with.  I guess she decided it would be fun to take the lid off and look inside.  She wasn't able to get the lid off, so she teamed up with big sister Lucy.  Sarah Graves sat holding the container while Lucy used her mouth to take the lid off!  Hopefully, this is the start of many adventures for these two!

Sunday afternoon we went to Piedmont Park to celebrate the 1 year anniversary of the opening of InTown Midwifery .  I am a huge fan of the work that these ladies do and was so excited to be able to celebrate as one of the families that delivered with them.  It was a warm day, but the humidity wasn't as bad as it had been, which made it pleasant to be outside.  There was food, one person wrote a song in honor of their work, there was a silent auction, and a group photo.  The dessert selection was just amazing!  Clearly these people know that nursing moms can enjoy some extra calories and what a yummy way to take advantage of that!  There were some neat baby things in the auction, including some awesome wet bags for the diaper bag, but I didn't win them.  Maybe I will go online and order some.  Sarah Graves was checking out all the other babies.  It was so noisy with the other babies that we didn't have to worry about keeping her quiet! After the birth it was so chaotic that

After much debate we decided to take Sarah Graves for her first haircut.  The debate was over when a baby girl should have her first haircut and we finally decided that the baby mullet was more than we could handle!  I took her to an adult hair salon to see Ms. Lisa who also cuts kids' hair.  Ms. Lisa oohed and aaahed over Sarah Graves and knew just how to work with a baby girl.  Sarah Graves did great and seemed to enjoy all the attention.  I held her on my lap, Mom entertained her with Sophie, and Daddy was paparazzi.  He took some great pictures of her.  Here is her before photo.  She was so good and easy going.  She didn't mind having someone fiddle with her hair at all.  I was proud of her for being such a sweet girl.  Here is her after photo.  Ms. Lisa didn't take off much length.  The baby mullet is gone in the back and the sides that were growing uneven are now fixed.  She also gave Sarah Graves a few wispy bangs so the hair in front is now out of her eyes.  Of cour

This is Sarah Graves' LSU sundress.  I think it's more of her sorority girl look than her cheerleader look!  Aunt Ardie sent her this and it is so cute!  It is like a miniature version of an adult dress!  I just love the way that she props her foot up!  This is her all the time!  She loves to prop her feet on something whether it's the side of her crib, the arm of a chair, or the table. 

Sarah Graves is like a little monkey!  She uses her feet like a second set of hands anytime she wants to reach a toy or steady a toy while she lies on her back.  It really cracks me up to watch her!  I so love those chubby baby feet.

Dear Sarah Graves, This month has been a time for you to work on your skills and even perfect a few things.  From the time you were a few weeks old you have been working on sitting up.  It seems like just last week you were sitting in your bumbo chair for the first time and now you are able to go from lying down to sitting up all by yourself.  All those crunches you did to strengthen your muscles have paid off and you can sit up any time you please.   Eating has been something on our minds this month.  You went on a nursing strike and I was afraid that my heart might break worrying that you were giving it up for good.  Fortunately, you didn't.  Once you got over your cold you decided to nurse again and when you decide you want something, there is no stopping you!  In the last week we have had some of our longest nursing sessions ever.  You continue to enjoy eating solid foods, too.  On your menu you now have apple, avocado, banana, blueberry, carrot, peach, sweet potato, and sq

I started letting her put the straw in her mouth as entertainment while we were eating out and before I knew it, she had sucked some up.  Probably accidentally in the beginning and then she liked it!  It has been nice to offer her some water when we are out and about and I am dying of thirst.  I figure that if I'm thirsty and hot, she probably is too!

On Monday we got a glimpse of Sarah Graves' sense of humor.  The cold that we had has left us with a cough.  Sarah Graves coughed first, then Mom had to cough, then Sarah Graves coughed on purpose, then Mom coughed again on purpose, then Sarah Graves started to giggle realizing the game that she started.  She was quite eager to show us just how funny this was that evening and would throw her head back and give a deep belly laugh after a couple of times doing it.   I guess we have worn the game out now because she will do it once, then she looks at you and grins as if to say that was funny yesterday and now I am into something new.  Yesterday that new something was sitting up all by herself!  I'm not sure that she totaly realized how she did it because one minute she was on her side and the next minute she was sitting up, but her expression didn't really change.  She has been so close for a few weeks and I guess she finally figured out how to move her arm and make it happe

When I mention to people that we cloth diaper, I usually get a response to the effect of, "you're a better person than I am."  For me cloth diapering isn't about being a better person compared to others.  I do think that if other people realized how easy it is, they would be more likely to try it.  So, I thought I would show some pictures of the diapers to show how they work.  In this picture you can see the opening for the pocket.  This particular style of diaper has an opening for the pocket at the front and the back and I think this makes it easier to "stuff" the insert.  This picture shows the front of the diaper.  Because the diaper is meant to fit a baby from birth to potty training, the snaps go all across the front to adjust the waist and there are 2 sets of 3 snaps up the front to adjust the height.  Sarah Graves is on the middle setting for the height (as shown in the picture) and I usually leave 2 snaps open when I snap it around her waist.  I lea

The toy in her hand is the mallet to her xylaphone.  She likes the xylaphone as much as any other toy, but she loves this mallet.  If we could buy extra mallets, I would keep them hanging around like burp cloths.

Friday kicked off my friend Sarah's wedding weekend.  We had a delicious lunch at Swan Coach House.  After the rehearsal at the Botanical Gardens we went to Carpe Diem for the rehearsal dinner.  The dinner was absolutely delicious.  I am still thinking about the calamari, pork confit, and white chocolate, amaretto cheesecake.  It was simply sinful.  I had my first glass of wine in over year and remembeed how very amusing everyone can be with a wee bit of wine.  Sarah's brother's gave a toast to their big sister that was so sweet and heartfelt that I was a little teary eyed.   Saturday we all went to  Studio Oliver  to have our hair done.  It's a small salon, so we were all made over and made to feel very special.  After we felt glamorous with updos, it was time for the bridesmaids to get dressed.  Sarah was extremely disappointed that the bad weather changed her plan for an outdoor ceremony in the garden to an indoor one.  The crew did a fabulous job setting everything

Thursday evening Sarah Graves was irritable and had a little runny nose.  My Mom suspected that she was coming down with a cold, but she ate and went to sleep like normal...for a few minutes.  She quickly woke up and was fussy.  She and I spent many hours walking and she would sleep for an hour or two only to wake up crying.  I can only imagine that if you have never had a sore throat and stuffy nose it is hard to believe that this awful thing has happened to you.  How upsetting to find that nursing and sucking on your paci make you feel like you are going to suffocate.  The next morning we gave her a little Tylenol and that helped her sleep for a few hours.  She didn't feel too good on Saturday, but yesterday she started feeling better.  We bought a humidifier, my Mom gave her a bath with the baby vapor bath stuff, and a saline nasal mist helped us to suction out her little nose.  (Aunt Lexie, we made sure to tell her who to thank for her baby torture device :) )  All of that seem

I wanted to show just how simple the Beaba babycook is to use.  The bowl piece has marks showing how much water to add.  The instruction book tells you whether the food you are making requires 1, 2, or 3 measures of water.  Most fruits require 2 and veggies and meats seem to need 3, but I check the book just to be sure.   You pour the water into the steam reservoir. You put the food into the steamer basket, which fits onto the bowl.  We are making peaches! Put the lid on and turn the dial to the steam setting.  The bowl collects the water from the steam and you can save this water with all the nutrients to use to thin out the puree. When the light goes off, it is done steaming.  Take the lid off, use the tool provided to lift the steamer basket off and dump the food into the bowl.  You put the lid on, turn the knob to the grind setting, and just let it pulse until you have the consistency you want.  We have found it convenient to freeze the puree in an ice cube tray.  Sarah Graves will

Over the weekend Aaron and I were looking for something to eat for dinner and he pointed out that we have hotdogs in the freezer. We didn't have any bread and in my mind a hotdog needs some semblance of a bun in order to be enjoyable. We moved on and found something else, but I kept thinking about wanting to eat a hotdog. The other day I was looking at the menu for the restaurant we are going to for my friend Sarah's bridal luncheon on Friday and while I was looking I kept thinking about hotdogs. The place we are going for lunch is the Swan Coach House  in Buckhead. I have never been there, but it is steeped in tradition as the place where ladies go to do lunch. Needless to say, it's the kind of place that doesn't serve anything like a hotdog. I perused their menu checking out the fruit plate and their signature chicken salad, all the while thinking about wanting a hotdog.  I sat there thinking, I can't go to this elegant luncheon drooling for a hotdog!   So, I

I have read and heard from a number of sources that keeping babies from wheat gluten can really help them avoid an allergy to it.  The only problem is that wheat gluten is in so many products, even for babies!  At first I thought I would just avoid giving her crackers and cereals, but then I kept reading in the milestone section about babies being able to rake a small object or use a pincer grasp to pick up a small object.  The likely thing to give a baby to practice picking up is something that you don't mind her eating.  Let's face it, if she makes contact with it, it's going in her mouth.  So in an effort to give her a chance to practice these skills, we found this puffed kamut, which has no wheat gluten and it has no added sugar or really anything else.  Puffed kamut comes in a bag because the cardboard is inside the packaging :) Now baby girl has a gluten free food that she can practice picking up off her tray and Lucy has an opportunity to get some extra fiber in her

This is a typical look from Sarah Graves!  Always excited about something