Ta-Da!!

Having some tummy time:

Wee!! Over he went!

Mmm, Soy

Caleb is 4 months old! Here's what's new: (to understand the title of this post, just read on)

• He weighs 15 pounds and 9 ounces, and he is 25 inches long (I have his growth tracking charts, but they don't include percentages so I don't have a clue what percentile he's in)


• He has lost the majority of his hair, but it's not completely gone, which is good!


• He LOVES his puppy toy that hangs above his changing table.


• He grasps things and is starting to find his toes.


• If he doesn't have a pacifier, he's chewing/sucking on 2 of his fingers or sometimes his thumb.


• He is teasing us with this rolling over business. He can roll onto his side from his back and then he just stops. He hasn't rolled all the way over yet. And he could probably roll from tummy to back if we had more tummy time like we should! :-{


• His congestion has improved a good deal since a month ago. We're all breathing easier now! Haha!


• He has a bad case of cradle cap (rash/dry skin on scalp) and a really bad case of eczema. Here's the scoop on that: The doctor said that most of the time when eczema is as bad as Caleb's, it's an allergic reaction to something. Since Caleb has not yet started eating solids yet, I'm his only source of food, which means that it's possibly something that I'm eating that's he's having a reaction to. So in order to figure out what it could be, we have to do trial and error. First thing--milk. The doctor said that milk is the most common baby allergy. So I have to switch to soy milk and skip all milk products for a little while and see if his rash improves. If you know me at all, you know that this is not good news. My daughter gets her love of cheese honestly. I don't know what I'm going to do without cheese and milk and butter!!

Caleb is a wonderful little baby, happy and laughing. Hopefully we can figure out what's causing his eczema soon, and not just for my sake! ;o)

Irresistibly Cute

Boo Boo Mouth

This is what Laura Anne's mouth looked like the day after her fall. The bruising is gone now. Her left front tooth is just a little longer than the other front tooth and is still loose. But she's doing really well overall. Today she found the band-aids in the bathroom and said, "Mommy, can I have a band-aid? I hurt my teeth."

Sleepover!

The night before Laura Anne fell two weeks ago, her friend Jessie spent the night at our house. The girls had a great time watching a movie, playing in the sprinkler and making ice cream sundaes. Laura Anne had such a good time, she was sad to see Jessie go home that afternoon, but was asleep ten minutes after Jessie left!

Why The Delay?

Well, we experienced some computer problems last week and had to buy a new computer. Chris has been super busy at work so he just hooked up the new computer. We just haven't loaded the Kodak software on it yet. So I can't post any pictures, but they will come soon. I promise!

In the meantime, an update on Laura Anne: the bruising on her gums is almost completely gone, but they're still a little tender. I know at least one of her two front teeth is still loose. I checked it the other night. She doesn't complain about the pain anymore, but it's not too promising that she'll keep that front tooth.
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Last night Laura Anne had a sleepover with Sofie while we took Caleb to see Peter Pan at the theatre. It was awesome. Caleb actually sat in either my lap or Chris' lap for the whole first half of the show and just watched the show. Right after the intermission was over, he fell asleep and stayed asleep for the rest of the show!! What an angel! We were so excited to get to see Peter Pan because one of the young ladies from our youth group at church played the character of Wendy. She did an awesome job. And Laura Anne had a great time at Sofie's house, too! :o)

I'll have more updates and pictures soon!!

Laura Anne's First Visit To The ER

Her first visit for her, that is. So Monday evening we were relaxing at home. Laura Anne was getting ready to take a bath. She was sitting on the stool in the bathroom and got up to get into the tub when she tripped and fell. She hit the edge of the bathtub right on her mouth. I was sitting right there when it happened and it scared me to death. Blood was pouring out of her mouth and I thought for sure she had broken a tooth. We decided to get her dressed and take her to the ER. Thankfully, we have an emergency room 5 minutes from our house. And thankfully again, it was not very crowded. By the time we got there, Laura Anne had stopped crying for the most part, but she was still bleeding some.

We were only at the ER for a total of an hour and a half. The doctor told us that she didn't need stitches. Her gums just had really bad bruising, but we needed to follow up with her dentist as soon as possible. So we gave Laura Anne ibuprofen and prayed it would help her sleep.

Tuesday morning I called her dentist first thing and got her an appointment for 10:30 that morning. While there, when the dental hygenist called Laura Anne's name, Laura Anne went right up to her and told her, "I got a boo-boo on my mouth from the bathtub." She's such a sweetheart. Anyway, they took two x-rays of her teeth. Here's the diagnosis: 4 of her top teeth are loose. The dentist is giving them a 50% chance of staying. One of her permanent teeth was shifted a little bit. Her gums are bruised really bad, and the dentist said it looks like the kind of bruising that goes along with a hairline fracture. So basically, Laura Anne has to be on a soft food diet for 2 weeks. Hopefully, during that time the gums will tighten up her teeth. We'll find out soon enough whether or not she will end up losing any of her teeth.

Through all of this, Laura Anne has been such a trooper. She has hardly complained at all. She freely tells anyone who will listen that she got a boo-boo on her mouth from the bathtub. Her gums are looking a little more pink every day which is good. They were dark purple for a couple days.

I can't tell you how hard this experience was. In the first hours after the accident, I had a pain in my gut similar to the one I had when Chris went into the hospital 2 years ago. The thought kept running through my head, "this isn't right. Why couldn't it have been me? She's so little and doesn't understand what's going on." I had to hold back my tears that night and be strong for Laura Anne. I didn't want her to be scared about what was happening, even though I was terrified myself. Laura Anne is recovering wonderfully and I marvel at what a strong and brave little girl she is. It was definitely a learning experience and I know it won't be the last accident we have, especially now that we have a little boy!

4th of July

I hope you all had a great Independence Day! Jerry and Ellen came over. We had a cookout with burgers, dogs, potato salad, orange-pineapple salad and baked beans. We made smores on the grill, and we finished off the menu with a watermelon. We played a game of Disney Scene It and tried to get a glimpse of the fireworks outside. It was a very nice day.

Playdate Fun

I took the kids to Arelys' house last Wednesday for a playdate. Our friend, Cindy met us there with her two little boys also. Laura Anne had a really fun time, but I couldn't catch a smile on camera!