The Growing Caldwell Family

This is how he feels when he drops his broccoli!  This was a lot how it looked when that same broccoli gave him gas!

Friday morning, Sarah Graves woke up saying that her bee bo (bellybutton) hurt, but asked for breakfast.  She promptly threw up and I figured we had the stomach virus that so many others have had.  I made arrangements to stay home with her and let her school know she was sick.  Shortly after, she asked for something to eat and I gave her 1 cracker.  I made her wait a little while before she could have more crackers and before I knew it a couple of hours had gone by and she wasn't sick any more and was eating me out of house and home.  I'm still not sure what to make of this strange occurrence and the throwing up came back again Sunday night after we were all in bed... We did have a fun day together just the two of us at home.  In this picture she decided to make her new car seat into her pirate ship!  She was excited by the two cup holders on it and when I told her that one was to hold snacks she replied, "I think I need a snack.  Pirate get hu...

This cutie enjoys his jumper!

Friday night bath time!  Charlie is getting so strong that he can sit up pretty well in his little tub.  I am nervous to sit him in the big bathtub, but he is getting there!  Sarah Graves loves to take long baths with bubbles and use the jets to make even more bubbles.  We make soup, play with her bathtub doll, Bevie, and occasionally bathe!  Who could want more on a Friday night!

Valentine's day was very low key at our house.  SG made valentines for her teachers and friends at school, Aaron and I had a few little incidentals for her and Charlie to celebrate, and she and I baked cupcakes.  We didn't even attempt taking the kids for a dinner out on such a big day.  She loved going through all the valentines she received.  She received them from friends at school and her grandparents.  Her favorite of all might have been the big sucker that Momma and Daddy picked out for her!

We had a wonderful weekend!  We didn't have much planned, but it turned out great.  Saturday morning we had Music Together and Ms. Jennifer brought a parachute and SG LOVED it!  She had so much fun running around under it and shaking it to the rhythm of the music.   Saturday afternoon we brought the kids to Lovie and Pops'.  Some friends of theirs came over with SG's friend Mia and the grandparents let them have a play date.  SG was thrilled and even more excited that she got to spend the night!  Aaron and I were excited to go out for dinner just the two of us and had a fun time enjoying tapas at Spice.   We picked Charlie up Saturday night and he got to feel what it would be like to be an only child on Sunday.  Aaron was even brave enough to go with me to the mall on Sunday afternoon and watch Charlie while I shopped!  That was a real treat!  Dinner with Lovie and Pops on Sunday evening rounded out the weekend and made ...

Charlie has been so interested in food that we decided to start him on some solids.  I wanted to go about it in a different way than we did with Sarah Graves.  This time we are using a baby led weaning approach that I have read about several places, but found the information on Wholesome Baby Food helpful.   For starters, the title is misleading in that we are not actively beginning to wean him from milk.  However, the start of solids is in a way the start of the weaning process.  This approach lets the baby lead the way in terms of how interested and how much they desire to eat solid foods.  The focus is more on feeding them actual solids from the start rather than feeding them runny cereal or purees.   We started with some cut up banana for him to mostly grab in his fist and suck on a little.   We also put some banana in his mushy for him to suck and chew on.  The mushy is a net that holds the food and lets him suck, but not get any big c...

We went out for dinner on Mardi Gras night and Charlie tried sitting in the high chair!  He sat and played with toys for about 20 minutes and then he had enough!  No toy or amount of attention would make him content to sit there.  We will continue trying him in the high chair in hopes that eventually we can take them out to sit down restaurants with more confidence!

At her three-year-old well-check they did a quick eye scan using a machine that provided information suggesting that SG's eyes should be checked.  I made an appointment with my eye doctor, Dr. Elwell, and we brought her in.  I was nervous whether she would cooperate and how much he would be able to tell.  She was nervous, but did pretty well.  He determined that she definitely is farsighted in her left eye.  The good news is that this could correct itself as she grows.  In the meantime, we need to watch that her eyes do not cross when she strains to focus on things close up.  If it doesn't correct itself, she will probably need glasses to help her focus doing close up activities like read and work at the computer.  He will see her again in a year to see if it is getting better.  

SG loves to be with her grandmothers!  She was thrilled to have them with us last weekend and would prefer if all of her grandparents would move in with us!  Although I don't think it is feasible for us to all live together, I do think children were meant to have all of their family close by.  We have to enjoy the times when we are all able to visit. SG stayed home from school that Friday so that she could have some special time to be with everyone. They had an adventure shopping and meeting Daddy for lunch.  After her nap, she went on an adventure with Grancy and Gramma to find some more kids' tattoos!  It was quite an adventure as the GPS kept taking them in the wrong direction and SG pointed out all the stores we frequent to them!  She tried to direct them as best she could by telling them to go right on Atlanta Road! SG was so excited to sit down and do "art" with Mamma.  Mamma was excited that SG talked to her and called her Mamma like she h...

Last weekend we were fortunate enough to have Grancy, Mamma, and Gramma visiting us from Shreveport.  Gramma and Mamma had not met Charlie in person before and I think he lived up to their expectations.  Grancy hadn't seen him in a while and he has a lot more personality than he did the first time she saw him! It was a low key weekend with a lot of time at home for everyone to enjoy the little ones at their best. Saturday night, Mom and Aunt Nay came over to visit as well, so we got a shot of Charlie with both of his grandmothers.  My grandmothers always got along well and did things with us jointly and I am glad for my kids that their grandmothers seem to be on the same path.

I had visions of taking pictures of them together in their darling Valentine shirts that Lovie made for them and it just didn't happen.  So, we have individual pictures of them! She was so excited to bring valentines to her friends at school today!  We worked hard to make them last night, so I hope it is as fun as she imagines it will be.

Aunt Lexie and Uncle Tim sent the kids ears from Disney World.  Charlie wears his a bit like a drunken Mickey, but they are super cute!

Today is Lucy's 6th birthday!   Lucy keeps us all alerted to any squirrels, leaves, or people passing by!  She is curious about the tiny humans that inhabit our home and enjoys kissing them when possible!  SG is not fond of these kisses and Charlie doesn't seem to notice them.  SG would prefer to pet Lucy with her foot and have no other contact than that!  She likes to give Lucy treats, but doesn't want Lucy to touch her!  Charlie is just now starting to notice Lucy and so far seems in different to her.   Aside from bothering our neighbor with her barking during the day, Lucy really doesn't bother anyone and the older she gets, the more she prefers to keep to herself.  She used to enjoy cuddling up next to me while I watched TV, but she doesn't come anywhere near the sofa while I am watching TV these days.  She prefers to lay on her bed and snooze or patrol her yard.   Lucy does very much enjoy her weekly trip to doggie daycare ...

This time of year we are a little homesick knowing everyone is celebrating Mardi Gras and it is a day like any other here.  We try to make it more festive, but without a parade, it just isn't the same.   This little guy is a funny monkey! To make today a little special, this Mardi Gras Princess had breakfast with momma before going to school today.  While we were eating she was so sweet to tell me that she likes me a lot.  A little later she said, "I like this a lot, but I miss Char Char."  She melted my heart with that.   To add to it, last night after she and I got out of the shower, we put on our pink bath robes and she was so proud that she tied the belt in a knot herself just like I had taught her.  Then, she told me, "Momma, you my best friend."  I would have given everything I own just to hear such sweet words.  It won't stay lie that, but memories of that sweetness will get me through the hard days.

When I started cloth diapering, I started with pockets and have been a little intimidated to try any other setup.  I read about other ways of cloth diapering, but it feels overwhelming and our ockets work prety well.  Everyone says pockets are the easiest, so I just stuck with that. Then, Charlie came along.  Nursing all night and sleeping mostly on his side poses a challenge for diapers.  He has a lot of milk going in, making for a lot of wetness coming out.  Then, he is on his side making gravity work against us.  For several weeks he woke up wet, sometimes just damp and other times he was soaked.  I tried adding extra inserts, making sure the diaper was good and snug, etc., but it didn't really matter. I checked with my favorite cloth diaper blogger, Autumn, at  All About Cloth Diapers  to get her thoughts on a solution.  She suggested using a fitted with a PUL cover.  Fitteds?  I didn't know about fitteds.  This solu...

For her birthday Sarah Graves received a lot of presents and we will get pictures of her with more of them, but I had to take pictures the first time she tried out her Easy Bake Oven from Grandaddy and Meme. Of course, she loved it and has asked to make something in it just about every day since she got it.  I never had one as a kid, but I had friends who did and this one is dramatically different than what I remembered.  I don't think it even uses a light bulb! Mixing up the batter. Preparing the pan. Waiting for the "cupcakes" to bake. Moving the pan from the baking area to the cooling area.   While it was baking, I took her up to put on her pjs and she grabbed her shark hat and said, "I need my shark hat because I'm a shark!" as we headed back down to remove the cupcakes.  Notice her hat ison upside down!  That is typical Sarah Graves. We didn't get pictures of the final product, but we ended up with 6 doll size red ve...

Last week we went outside to find it raining and Sarah Graves was so bummed that she didn't wear her rain jacket to school that day that I promised her if it was still raining when we got home, she could put on her rain jackets, boots, and get an umbrella to go outside.  When we got home, it was raining and she was thrilled! Next time I'm disappointed that it is raining I am going to remember how excited a little girl may be to play with her umbrella in it!  Thanks to Grancy for the cute umbrella!

Dear Charlie, You are a five month old little pumpkin.  You bring us so much joy and we just adore you.  Any time someone catches your eye you have a smile for them.  You also laugh out loud, which is an absolute delight.  Sometimes I’m not even sure what tickled you, but I love hearing your giggle.  You are also a talker.  You love to make ah and guh sounds and will even try to copy the rhythm or pitch of sounds I make.   You are quite strong.  You can now roll in both directions and happily go from your back to your tummy and sometimes back again!  You are also pushing yourself up on your arms, which gives you a better view.  You have also been working on grasping things and seem to love to get my hair and my earrings in your grasp!  You are a loving little guy.  One of your favorite things is to grab my face and give me a slobbery kiss.  It probably wouldn’t be so great coming from any other baby, b...