The Growing Caldwell Family

Sarah Graves has definitely been experiencing some toddler tantrums.  She gets very upset sometimes when she can't have her way.  She does this mostly at our house or Lovie and Pops'.  I try to let her just feel as angry and frustrated as she wants, but it is difficult to watch her go on for 20 minutes carrying on.  Even though her behavior is not what I want and it is so frustrating to watch her bo so upset over something small, my heart breaks to see her so upset and know she has to mature in order to understand.

Sarah Graves has not been her happiest self lately.  For a while I thought it was because she was cutting the two upper cuspids or eye teeth.  She was uncomfortable, at times she ran a very low fever, and she had a runny nose.  Those teeth have been peeking through for a week or so and she still seems grumpy.  . When we attended our parenting class one of the books that she suggested was  Your One-Year-Old, The Fun Loving and Fussy 12 - 24 Month Old , so I ordered it and started reading it right away.  I was a little dismayed when the book described how your baby would be at their most balanced around the time of their birthday and that from 15 - 21 months they would be in a state of disequilibrium.  The book explains that their abilities become out of sync as they move closer to the mid-year mark and gradually they begin to sync up again as they move closer to their second birthday.  In other words, she becomes frustrated that she isn't able to ...

Sarah Graves has been pulling up for a couple of weeks now and she is getting so good at it.  She can pull up on almost anything now, including your pant legs.  

Tonight was one of those nights where Sarah Graves is in a delightful mood!  I was tickled pink when I heard her laugh out loud for the first time.  That sound combined with her broad smile made my heart feel like it might burst with love for her.  The first time she did it I was blowing raspberries on her tummy while Aaron held her, then she did it several other times while we were playing with her activity gym.  Here she is outside on the patio playing in her bouncy seat.  She has definitely learned to reach for things and can grab objects she wants.  Simply amazing to watch her grow each day!

The first three months of a baby's life he/she is considered a newborn and this time is referred to as the fourth trimester.  It's the time needed for the baby to gain the maturity to be able to handle living outside the womb.  No, the idea isn't that she is now mature enough to live on her own, but that she is mature enough to do things like soothe herself, handle the stimulation in the world, and her senses are now more well-developed.  The colicky type behaviors are supposed to end at this time and most babies begin to enjoy the world more.  In other words, the end of the fourth trimester is what all the books encourage parents to hold on for when their newborns are inconsolable.  When Sarah Graves was first born we used the techniques taught in Happiest Baby on the Block to soothe her.  This meant bouncing her so that her head jiggled, swaddling her, making a loud "sshhh" noise in her ear, and giving her lots of opportunities to suck.  At the time, it felt l...

I don't have a belly shot for the week yet, but we will work on it tonight. I was too slow getting ready this morning to get Aaron to take one before he left for work. Here is an update on what is going on for sweet pea this week. Listen up: Tiny bones in your fetus's ears are in place this week, making it likely that the baby can hear your voice when you're speaking (or singing in the shower)at 16 weeks pregnant . In fact, studies have found that babies who are sung to while they're in the womb recognize the same tune when it's sung to them after they are born (so choose your baby Muzak with that in mind…). And baby's busily boning up in other ways. For one, the backbone (along with the back muscles) is stronger now — strong enough, in fact, to enable your baby to work on straightening his or her head and neck even more. Baby's crown-to-rump measurement is between four and five inches in length, and weight is hovering around three ounces. This little one...

Aaron and I did some reading last night to get caught up on the 5 weeks of development that took place without us being aware. We transitioned from an embryo to a fetus without even knowing it! I thought I would update you on how things are for baby at 13 weeks. Your fetus is about three inches long and the size of a peach at 13 weeks pregnant . But don't compare your fetus with the fetus next door. Starting about now, babies begin growing at different paces, some faster than others, some more slowly, though they all follow the same developmental path. Growing at a universally breakneck speed now is your baby's body as it tries to catch up to the head in terms of size. Though your baby's head is about half the size of its body now, by the time your baby is ready to make his or her entrance into the world, the head will be only one-fourth as large as the body. Your baby's intestines are also in for some big changes right now. Up till this point, they've been grow...