Caleb is 5 Months

Caleb David is 5 months old!

Caleb is getting more fun and interactive by the day. He "talks" all the time and has just started doing these high pitched squeals that are LOUD and make us stop whatever we are doing to check on him. Thankfully they're always accompanied by a big, goofy grin so we know he's just finding his voice and enjoying the attention. He's started playing with his toys and his toes and his pacifier and his brother. He laughs when Levi does anything silly and he really loves it when we wave our fingers over his mouth to make his voice sound funny. He likes to be tickled, he likes to roll around, he likes to sit up in the Bumbo chair or anywhere else that allows him to be part of the action. He's eating about two meals a day now and so far has tried (and liked) sweet potatoes, carrots, prunes and today he had some peas. He's a great eater and seems to be a bottomless pit just like his big brother. (I have a sinking suspicion they're going to eat us out of house and home when they get older!)  Caleb has not slept through the night in about a month. Just about the time he figured out how to roll over he wakes up at least once a night. I can't quite figure out if it's because he's rolling and gets himself turned around, or he just wants his pacifier, or he really is hungry. It usually ends up with me feeding him a full feeding and then he's back to sleep but I'm not sure how to get that sleepy baby back. But he is having more consistent naps and is eating in a 3-3 1/2 hour increments which helps to regulate our days. Some days it works out where both boys take their afternoon nap at the same time and that is a glorious 1-2 hour stretch for this tired Mama! Caleb still has a ton of hair and recently got another Daddy haircut to keep it out of his eyes and off of his shirt collar. He's been drooling a ton and chewing on everything so I wouldn't be surprised if he's getting a couple of teeth, but I said the same thing about Levi at this age and he didn't get them for another four months. I guess it could just be a stage. Caleb also has these great big, blue eyes that are always wide open and watching us. He has a great smile, but it's those expressive eyes that capture my heart. Oh, and I'm not sure if you noticed but, he's still HUGE! :)

Standing up like a big boy :)

We love this sweet, smiley boy!

Ten on Tuesday

We only have time for "Ten on Tuesday"... :)

Our favorite Fresno family came to visit. That means 5 extra people, excitement, noise and fellowship!

We popped up the tent in the backyard for a sunny Sunday afternoon adventure.

Caleb started eating some solid foods. He eats like a champ. Seriously. Kid could probably just feed himself!

We spent lots of time with Auntie Sarah before she started her big, new job in the city. Here we are picking her up at the train station. This was a major win!

We've been doing story time at the library with my cousin Julie and her kids. The big kids love it and the littles seem to enjoy themselves too!

We met up with Grammy for lunch at Taco Bell. Good thing she likes to share because Levi likes to steal sips of lemonade.

We went to the Celtic Faire in Sonora with Grandma & Grandpa Lockridge.
We learned a little, ate a little, people watched a lot and had a great time!

Hanging out with Daddy and watching the bagpipers.
It must have been a serious song. :)

Lots Auntie Sarah cuddles.

And riding in his stroller like a big boy. Our Moose is growing so fast!

February Catch Up

We celebrated Dave's birthday at the end of February and got to do something new (to me). We called up some family and met at the shooting range in Ripon to get in some target practice. I have never held a gun in my hands before, unless you count old school Nintendo Duck Hunt, and I have been putting this off for years. 

{Literally, years. Dave tried to get me to shoot a gun 7 years ago before we were even engaged and I refused. So when it came time to hide my engagement ring, he locked it in the gun case and put it on my lap because he knew there was no way I'd ever open it. Sneaky!} 

{{Dave's birthday is also a special time because he proposed to me the day before his birthday 6 years ago. And then last year we found out SURPRISE! we were pregnant with Caleb. And no we're not pregnant again, just thought I'd include our other fun February memories around his birthday! :)}}

All that to say, I was trying to think of something fun and low key we could do for his birthday and figured I'd probably get a few bonus points for facing my fears. Happy Birthday Dave!

Birthday date night!

My brave face :)

We had fun and I was a pretty good shot but I never got used to all the noise and involuntarily jumped every time a gun went off. Which was a lot. Dave tells me that just means I need more practice. We'll see. But it was a great time and he had fun which was the most important part!

Sarah, Julie & Amy at Dave's b'day dinner.

We also got to spend some time with my bestie and her precious little girl. She's off work for a couple more weeks so we're trying to get to spend some time together before she goes back. This time, Dave was working in the home office, so I put Levi down for his afternoon nap and Caleb and I snuck over to see the girls. Great conversations, sweet sleepy babies, what more could you ask for?!

Caleb checking her out. We've hoped and prayed that our kids would be as good of friends as we are.
{I also wouldn't oppose an arranged marriage!}

And just as I posted that Caleb is not rolling very often, he proved me wrong. We officially cannot leave him anywhere!  He's a rolly poly boy and can manage to get himself a pretty good distance. And he smiles the entire time :)

And we've had some great, unseasonably warm and sunny weather so we've been taking many trips to the park and walks around the block and playtime in the back yard. I hope it sticks around for a while!

My boys and their wagon.

Those were my last February pictures so I thought I'd play catch up. Now on to March!

Levi is 19 months

Levi is officially a year and a half old! (Ok, he's officially 19 months but I'm a little behind.) So, it's time for a quick update and some cute pictures of my little big guy. He's weighing in at 30lbs 7oz and he's definitely thinning out and loosing some of that baby chub. He seems taller and more grown up every day. Without the pacifier in his mouth, his language has quadrupled over night. I can try to list all the things he "says" but I'd probably forget a few and, to be honest, a lot of them are only intelligible to me. But as long as I'm paying attention to the context  of his play and conversation I can usually understand him. He even woke up from his nap the other day and said "I cold toes" which is the first sentence that I could completely understand. Go Levi! He is still a good eater, he likes chicken and corn and fruit and milk. He loves fruit snacks and could eat 8 packs if we let him (which we don't) so they come in handy as treats. He likes anything that has wheels or flies and points our every car, truck, plane, train he sees or hears. He also LOVES 'Cars' the movie and the special set of 'Cars' cars that he carries around with him everywhere he goes. We tease him a little about his hoarding though: he carries 4 cars at a time and then will drop one, try to pick it up, drop another, etc. or he'll cry out from the top of the stairs because it's hard to climb down with your hands full of toys. I thought this was semi strange behavior but after talking with some other mommies I realized that it's very normal and I don't need to call TLC to do an intervention or anything. :) He likes to perform for us, whether it's making all the animal sounds he knows or dancing his biscuits off, and he enjoys the attention and applause that usually follows. He's a very sweet boy and likes to give kisses and cuddles and he waves at everyone he sees. He's a good listener and follows directions very well and we think we're pretty lucky to be his parents. Can't believe my little big boy is getting so big!

CARS!

Fishies at the library.

He is fearless. Seriously. I've never seen park/slide/stairs/couches/etc that he can't climb over.

Playing the chef with his BBQ set.

Caleb is 4 Months

Caleb David is 4 months old! 

19lbs 14oz

25inches

Caleb is registering off the charts! We know he's a big guy, but we get lots of surprised comments from strangers and even the doctors and nurses in the pediatricians office and it makes us laugh. We've started to lovingly refer to him as Moose. :) Caleb is a smiley, happy kid and he loves to coo and "talk" to people. He's loves his big brother and if we can sit Caleb next to Levi as he plays then Caleb will be content for a very long time. Caleb is rolling both ways but chooses not to do it very often. He is getting pretty good at holding himself upright in your arms and he likes his jumper and the bumbo seat because he can sit/stand up straight. He's interacting with us more and more and even Levi has noticed and enjoys making Caleb smile and laugh. Caleb is still eating every 3 hours during the day and we're thinking its about time to start some solid food soon. He's a pretty good napper and is still sleeping well but the last few weeks he's been up more at night. I feel like I can't really complain when he's still giving us 8-9 hour stretches (that would have been heavenly with Levi at 4 months!) but after weeks of 10-12 hour stretches I'm feeling a little greedy. Last night was another 12 hour night so hopefully we're back to the long night sleeps. Fingers crossed! There's not much more to say than Caleb is just an easy going, good natured, go anywhere with us sort of kid. He's been such a great addition to our family and I already cannot imagine life without him!

He is getting more active on his play mat and recently "found" himself in the hanging mirror.
What a good looking kid he must have seen!

One easy way for us to keep track of Caleb's size? Comparing the clothes he's wearing to when Levi wore them. Case in point: Levi wore this shirt/vest combo at his church dedication on Jan 16th at 5 1/2 months. Caleb is going to be able to wear it this one time because the shirt is too short. He was 3 3/4 months. And just in case you forgot, Levi was a really big kid too. :)

Smiley guy!

Watching big brother play and learning about his new toys.

And to close, kisses from big brother.
These boys are very affectionate with each other and it melts my mommy heart!

Proud Week in Lockridge Land

Levi has gone a whole week without a pacifier and I think we've kicked the habit for good. He hasn't asked for it or whined about it or stolen his brother's. I'm a little shocked that it was really this easy. Not that the whole week has been a breeze, it hasn't, we had our share of fussy afternoons and moments when Dave or I would usually plug him up but we refrained and redirected and we're all feeling very proud of ourselves over here. Yay Levi!

We got to see lots more of this handsome face this week.
Here we are watching for the garbage truck to drive by--
Levi LOVES trucks!

 Two weekends ago we headed up to the family cabin to visit with the cousins. Usually the car ride is a fussy time for Levi but he didn't make a peep the entire drive up there. We were also apprehensive about the boys sleeping in pack 'n plays in a strange place but both slept through the night and woke up happy. We were feeling pretty good about the trip and our stellar parenting skills. :) Sunday was a different story though. Levi was not in a good place. Who knows if it was the lack of pacifier, the remnants of his cold, tiredness, or what; but he was cranky. We took a trip with all 5 kiddos to Big Trees State Park, something that Levi would normally love, but he mostly fussed the entire walk. Oh well. Sometimes that's just life with kids, right? Thank goodness the cousins love him anyways and tried hard to distract him with sticks and trees and snow!

Jack and Levi trying to catch up with Ashley!

Climbing in the trees and carrying big sticks.
What's not to love?

We had a moment when we broke down and were about to pull out the back up, hidden pacifier but Dave held strong and we made it through the trip without it. Way to be strong Dave!


We've had another accomplishment going on in our house this week too. Levi has been telling us when he's gone potty or when he needs to go potty for a couple of weeks now. I was sort of not paying too much attention because I thought he was way too young, but with some encouragement from Grammy and Auntie Alison we've been putting him on the potty. He was very interested in it but not too keen on sitting on it. So we bought him his own little one. This is one of those parenting moments where I had to eat my words. I swore I would never be that parent that had little potties in the house; that kids needed to learn how to use the big potty only. Haha! I'm sure this is one of many times that my children will teach me not to speak when I have no experience! We haven't pushed it too hard; only sitting on it when he asks to or tells us he needs to go potty. We were kind of warming up to the idea of potty training. Until last night when he decided it was time and flew up the stairs, grabbed his book, sat down and actually went in his potty. You would have thought he cured cancer with the amount of whooping and hollering and dancing that went on in that bathroom! And here's another moment where I'm eating my words: I swore I'd never talk about my child's bathroom habits in public. But the pride is overwhelming and here I am. :)

Silly boys!

And Caleb has had the chance to be in on some excitement the last few months too: wedding planning! At 3 weeks old he went wedding dress shopping with the girls, he's helped pick out bridesmaid dresses and this last week he got to meet the florist. I'm sure he'll be so proud of being included someday (NOT) but he's such an easy going little guy that it's been easy to bring him along. What sweet memories!

Caleb getting cuddles with Auntie Claire at the florist shop!

Thanks for letting this proud mommy brag on her boys a little. It's been a fun and proud week in Lockridge land!

Day Without a Pacifier

Day One:
Enough is enough. Too many pictures with that silly pacifier, too many words mumbled in his mouth, too many nights of running up and down the stairs to plug him back up. Levi is officially 18 months old and we've been complaining about it since month 5. It's totally our bad and become a parenting crutch. He's whiny? Give him the pacifier. He's tired of being in the car? Give him the pacifier. It's Friday? Give him the pacifier. (Ok, maybe not the last one, but you get the point.) He has started hiding them away like a little squirrel and has been known to carry around three at a time and switch them in and out. We officially have a problem!

Last night was it. We took out the pacifier at 7pm and it's now 1pm the following day. 18 hours without the thing which will no longer be mentioned in this house. He slept through the night, made it without too much crankiness this morning, and is down for his nap all without a fuss. We were sure he couldn't live without it, but guess he proved us wrong! It just goes to show you that it was as much, if not more, our problem as it was his.

Now, I know we're not out of the woods yet {one day does not a habit break!!} but it looks like we're headed in the right direction. Fingers crossed that I found them all! :)