From one party to another

This December has been the month of parties! It started with Caleb’s little friend Grady’s 1st birthday party. Then, this past week, we attended 3 holiday parties/celebrations: Ron’s company party, our church Christmas banquet, and a Christmas party at my Hungarian friends’ house. Next week, there’s another party at church. And we haven’t even had our annual Christmas party yet!

Caleb accompanied us to all three parties this week. We observed that he behaved similarly at all three events. I would carry him into the party in the sling carrier, where he would be so very quiet for about the first hour, looking all around, just taking everything in, and snuggling close to me, hiding his face when someone came too close. This “quiet hour” actually was very useful for me, for I could talk & socialize freely and also eat undisturbed.

But then, he would start to warm up. The first sign of this might be a smile cracked at one of the strangers. Or he might start squirming in the carrier, letting me know that he is ready to be let out. I’d take him out and he would start exploring the place: walking, crawling, flirting and playing peek-a-boo with the people there, the same people from whom he had previously hidden his face.

(He is going through a stranger anxiety phase, for lately every now and again he’ll burst into tears at the sight of certain people and he does this shy, face-hiding thing from those who approach him maybe too quickly or too close for his comfort.)

At each party, once he familiarized himself with the new situation, he happily tried foods from my plate, allowed people to hold him, and was in very good spirits, smiling and giggling, but not at all disruptive. Like he knew what was acceptable behavior. At one party, he held out way past his bedtime, being very pleasant and trying to be good even at the very end, though he was utterly exhausted. He passed out in the car even before we left the street. (This was also the party, where he used the toilet like a big boy!) He’s been such a cooperative baby. Really, it’s been no trouble taking him to any of these events.

A couple of weeks ago we also took him to a 2-hour Christmas musical production (once again, past his bedtime). He was in awe of the light show, loving the music (he rocked back and forth in my lap), watching with wide eyes and asking to go back and forth between Mama and Dada every so often, finally falling asleep in my arms listening to the sound of my humming over his head. At times, the music was so loud that I had to hold my hand over his ear. But he slept through the second hour, awakening only when we were leaving the building. As we stepped out into the cold dark night, he revived, and was happy as a lark as we walked to our parked car. Later that night, we summed up our evening with him in two words: DREAM CHILD. We have a dream child.

Dream child, you will have your own party in just a little while.

Potty Talk

Well, I never thought I’d say this, but we’re switching to cloth diapers. It has nothing to do with the environment. It has everything to do with potty training. Let me explain.

I’m in the process of reading a couple of books: "Early-Start Potty Training" by Dr. Linda Sonna and "Diaper Free" by Ingrid Bauer. They deal with the view that babies can and should be potty trained early, much earlier than the average age for completing potty training in Western developed nations, which is 35 months for girls and 39 months for boys. The current view on toilet training in the United States and Western Europe is to wait until the child shows readiness, because of the belief that they lack muscle control before 2.5-3 years of age (and some psychological nonsense). Whereas, in much of Asia, Africa, South America and Eastern Europe, they know that babies can be trained to use the toilet much sooner. In parts of the world where disposable diapers are not big business, babies are successfully potty trained by 12-18 months, and often much earlier. In fact (growing up in Eastern Europe), my own mother started toilet training me as soon as I was able to sit up and I was daytime trained by the time I turned 1.

There are many arguments for early training: it’s more hygienic; it’s harder to train after the age of two when the habit of going in the diaper has become ingrained; it reduces the risk of bladder problems later on; it teaches children to respect their bodies; it reduces baby’s contact with unsafe chemicals in disposable diapers, etc. To me, the most powerful argument is that by leaving children in diapers for 2-3 years, we are in essence training them to use their diapers as a wearable toilet only to have to re-train them later to use the toilet. Why not just train them to go straight to the toilet? This makes perfect sense to me.

The authors go through the historical context, which is very interesting. They point out that before the arrival of disposable diapers, early toilet training was the norm in America, too. The debate then was whether parents should start to train at 2 months or wait until the ripe old age of 3 months. In 1946, Dr. Spock shocked the nation when he suggested that parents wait to put their children on the potty until 7-9 months of age. When disposable diapers came out in 1961, Dr. T. Berry Brazelton, a pediatrician, was hired by Procter & Gamble (maker of Pampers) as their spokesperson. He cited the need for “physical, mental, and emotional readiness” and toilet training was pushed back even more. Psychologists jumped on the bandwagon, claiming that early training damages the child’s psyche (it’s actually not early training, but harsh training methods that do this). Well, as you can guess, a booming disposable diaper industry followed! Now we know why America’s children are in diapers until the age of 3 and beyond!

Anyway, to get back to my original thought: the reason we are switching to cloth (in the daytime). Because cloth diapers allow the child to feel wetness unlike disposable diapers and cloth diapered babies finish toilet training on average a whole year earlier than their disposable diapered friends! So I find this a natural next step in training Caleb. He needs to be able to feel when he is wet.

About a month ago, we began preparing Caleb for toilet training. We bought a potty and began getting him used to sitting on it, at first fully clothed; we began using the proper words for elimination when it happened; as well as showing him what it looks like (because, you know, diapered children never actually see their own waste). He also observed us using the toilet.

Then, a week ago, I decided to start putting him on the potty and holding him over the toilet regularly. Well, the day we started, he did not have a wet diaper all morning until that afternoon (because we left the house). He now pees on cue when I make a “pshh” sound, if he has to go. If he doesn’t, we wrap it up quickly. (We don’t have time to sit on the toilet all day!) He always looks into the toilet bowl afterwards to see if there’s anything in there. I can see the little wheels turning in his head. He is making connections. We still have wet diapers, but he hasn’t had a poopy diaper since we’ve started a week ago!

When I began, I didn’t have too many expectations, really. I just knew that I wanted him to start associating the toilet with toileting. I know it might take a while to fully train him, where he lets us know when he needs to go. Or it may only take another couple of weeks. Who knows? I really don’t care much. My focus is not on how long it takes; I’m not doing this because I mind changing his diapers. Frankly, putting him on the potty regularly is much more work for me. But I feel that this is the RIGHT TIME to start teaching him, not 2 years from now, not even 1 year from now. Why train him to be comfortable going in his diaper, only to switch things around at some magical age and re-train him to then go in the toilet? That makes no sense. I feel strongly that it is in his best interest to start learning the proper place for elimination - now.

By the way, I looked into the studies, which actually DO NOT support delaying potty training into the 2nd and 3rd years. This is another one of those things that we always thought was based on extensive research and study. Come to find out, it was all for the good of the disposable diaper industry!

Some additional online resources on the subject:
http://www.azcentral.com/families/articles/1006fam_toilettrained06.html
http://www.parentingscience.com/science-of-toilet-training.html
http://www.dy-dee.com/Benefits_of_Cloth/Skin_Care/Toilet_Training_Brazelton/toilet_training_brazelton.html
http://www.dy-dee.com/Benefits_of_Cloth/Skin_Care/Toilet_Training_The_Complete/toilet_training_the_complete.html

Here comes St. Nicholas

Well, it is that time of year again: St. Nicholas Day! For those of you who haven't heard, St. Nicholas Day is celebrated today, the 6th of December, in Hungary and many other European countries. St. Nicholas comes the night before to visit children everywhere in Europe. Children lay their winter boots out in hopes that St. Nicholas will fill them during the night. On the morning of the 6th, good children find their boots filled with sweets, nuts and fruit; bad children find coal and switches. We were very good!! There were many goodies in our boots this morning. This little amateur version of the classic poem captures what happened at our house last night and this morning. Happy St. Nicholas Day, everyone!

Twas the night before St. Nicholas Day

When all through the house

Not a creature was stirring,

Well... maybe a mouse? Yikes!



The boots were laid out neatly in a straight row

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be through

The Cakes was nestled all snug in his bed

While visions of sweet Mama's milk danced in his head.



And Mama in her red pajamas all snuggly,

Thinking of her BabyCakes and her late-working hubby,

Hurriedly pulled out the hidden goodies

And quickly stuffed them into 3 pairs of booties.



Content that St. Nick had arrived

Photos and blog posts she then contrived

Admiring her work and eating a truffle,

She went promptly to bed with a whoosh and a hustle.



When she awoke the next morning and came down the stairs

Her sleep-laden eyes focused on what appeared to be

MORE GOODIES than what she remembered

St. Nicholas putting in the booties!



There were little glass bottles of Coca-Cola

In additional shoes strewn about

And more chocolate and more candy

In HER boots: she really lucked out!



Then Dada came downstairs, with twinkly eyes and dimples merry,

And all became clear regarding this great mystery:

(There were 2 Santas in the house!)

They shook as they laughed and opened their pleasures

This first St. Nicholas Day as a family, they always will treasure!

Happy 8 months to you!!!

We interrupt our coverage of Hungary to wish Caleb a Happy 8 months!

This is how he celebrated his big day.

A Hungarian holiday - I

~ Where Caleb flies on an airplane ~

So, let’s start with the beginning (and the end). The flight(s).

There: Our little traveler slept through almost the whole 8-hour transatlantic flight to Hungary. I nursed him on take-off and landing, so he didn’t have an earache from the pressure change. (Note to self: Next time, do not start nursing baby when plane begins to taxi down the runway until you are certain that take-off is imminent. Otherwise, 20 minutes later when the plane is finally cleared for take-off, you will be cajoling your already full baby to eat just a little bit more.)

This flight was wonderful. After Daddy played with him for an hour and exhausted him, Caleb was ready to settle down for a good night’s sleep. Mommy brought the Boppy pillow on the plane, so little BabyCakes knew no difference. He could have been sleeping on that pillow at home in front of the computer for all he knew, not 40,000 feet up in the air. He was so quiet that upon landing, people told us they didn’t even know there was a baby there. We just smiled and told them we had our secret.

Back: The flight back was a little different, because it was not an overnight flight, so Caleb did not sleep through. He did sleep for the first 3 hours though, including the lunch, so Mom could eat in peace (which meant a lot to her). After that, it was “pass the baby” for the next 6 hours. Caleb was in good spirits; he was boisterous, screeching with joy at the top of his lungs and laughing loudly. I think he enjoyed having both of our attentions. That flight was exhausting! But at least, he wasn't hurting and he was happy. But sheesh, was he loud! When we landed that flight, people said: “She (!) was very good.” Hey BabyCakes, there are worse things than being called a girl.

Firsts

We are back from vacation! Caleb has had many first experiences on our vacation in Hungary. He took his first ride in an airplane. He rode on the Metro, the bus, and the long-distance HEV train. He got a stroller and rode in it for the first time. He pulled himself to standing and was crazy happy at his success (at 2 in the morning, thanks to jet lag!). He swam in thermal waters, got his first haircut, and met the Hungarian side of his family. He had a lick of Ischler pastry and a lick of ice cream. He tried carbonated mineral water and liked it. He got his first mosquito bite (actually, a few) and got his first (slight) sunburn in 15 minutes on top of a castle. Oh yeah, he saw castle ruins for the first time. His grandfather took him camping for the first time, where he slept in a tent with Mom and Dad. He swam in Lake Balaton. He made his first friend (with 9 month old Domonkos) by first putting a hand on his back, and then putting his arm around his shoulder.

He’s been a very busy boy. He did so well on the trip, adjusting to all the travel and craziness we subjected him to. His routine was definitely shaken up, but he took it like a champ. He had a very good disposition throughout the vacation, despite being jet lagged and everything. He is such a happy baby and he brought so much joy to everyone who met him.

We took 1800 pictures, so I need a few days to organize them a bit. Then, I will be posting several Photo Blogs of our travels. Stay tuned!

Happy 7 months to you!!!

Dear Caleb,

You are 7 months old today! I cannot believe that you are now closer to your 1st birthday than to being a newborn. You're such a big boy!

Your latest achievements are sitting on your own and beginning to crawl. You've discovered how to rock yourself in the sitting position. This makes you very happy. You have also mastered the commando crawl, and now are working on making your body into a bridge, so you can crawl on your knees soon. You get up in that position and rock back and forth, not knowing what to do next. Keep working at it and you'll get it in no time. I promise to keep cheering you on.

You are also eating all kinds of foods now in addition to nursing. You love everything! Even greens. You are not finicky at all. This is so good, because you know, good nutrition is so important for one's health. You are doing a fantastic job of priming your palate for a variety of wholesome foods to come.

You have really come to adore water! You love to splash, you love to float, and you don’t even mind water in your face. I could not be happier, because I have many-many water adventures planned for you. You just wait and see!

We love taking you everywhere. You are the best little traveler. This week, we will take you to my home country. I think that you will like it. You will get to experience many fun things for the first time, like flying on an airplane, riding on a Metro and yellow streetcar, meeting your grandparents and great-grandparents (did you know you have hair like your great-grandfather, who has a full head of hair at 92?), going to the thermal strands, and visiting castles. Don’t worry though; it won’t all be foreign to you. You will be familiar with the language.

I could go on and on and talk about your great sense of humor, your infectious open-mouthed laughter, how you bat your long eyelashes at me when I speak sweetly to you, or how you understand certain words, like "gyere" (come). But I must wrap it up now, because there's still much to do for the trip. So let me just say that you have been a great joy to your Daddy and I in the past 7 months. You've far exceeded our expectations. We are so thrilled that you are with us. Happy, happy 7 months to you! We love you so very much!!!

Mommy

Splish, splash he was taking a bath

I emerge from the upstairs bathroom looking like a wet duck. My hair is dripping, my makeup is ruined, and water is running down my arms and legs. I fling the wet hair out of my eyes and carry Little Duckling on my arm: a soft bundle of squeaky-cleanness, sporting a fresh face with eyelashes still dripping. His hair smells of Johnson & Johnson bubbles. A smile of contentment rests on his lips as if he had just done a job, and done it well. Why the smile? He just finished BATHING in the BIG TUB. And no, I did not bathe with him. Not this time. Although, looking down at my soppy clothes, I now wish I had.

This bath in the big tub in no way resembled the peaceful, quiet bath time we had shared during Caleb’s early months - back when he was using the baby tub and was a bit apprehensive of the water.

All apprehension officially flew out the window with this bath. I watched him splish and splash, and splish and splash some more. The child’s left arm never did stop. With forceful, sweeping motions, he repeatedly dropped his arm into the water about a hundred times a minute. Not that I had time to count. The right arm did not rest either: it joined in on the fun with almost the same forcefulness as the left. Did water get in his eyes (and nose and mouth)? Oh, yes! Did he seem to care? Not one bit.

I guess, in the past few weeks, he has gotten very familiar with water. He’s been in a lake; he’s been in a pool. He has taken big bathtub baths with Mommy and has even taken showers with each of us. He figures, he KNOWS WATER.

(And while he was thinking he knew water, I did all I could to steady him, and foil his attempts at plunging headfirst INTO the water.)

So... you wonder where the pictures are. My friend, if you had seen what went on in there, you wouldn’t be asking me about the pictures.

Honey, honey, honey...

His new favorite. It’s a puppet book.
(I'm sure the PUPPET part had a lot to do with it!)

Méz, méz, méz...

Micimackó nagyon szereti a mézet.
Micimackó a pocakját dörzsöli.
Ideje enni egy pár falatot! – mondja.
Egy medvének a méz a legjobb eledel.
Micimackó kuncogva habzsolja a mézet. A pocakját rázza a nevetés.
Ajaj! Micimackó arca csupa méz lett!
Nézzenek oda! – dörmögi Mackó. Azzal letörli az arcáról a mézet.
Mmm... nagyon finom volt! Micimackó elálmosodott.
Micimackó nagyot ásit. Majd lehunyja a szemét és mézrõl álmodik.

This is the Hungarian version of Pooh Bear. Sorry, that I did not include the English version. (The very ambitious should be able to find it online.) This book reminds me of one of my favorites from my childhood: the Hungarian Pooh theme song. You can listen to it here:

http://www.zeneszam.hu/html/zenek.htm
(It's the second one down, titled “Micimackó.”) I still love that song!
I think I will have a lot of shopping to do in Hungary.

Sitting (fairly well) and crawling (sort of)

Mom, are you talking about me?

I just wanted to report on a couple of developmental milestones Caleb has reached lately. As you’ve seen from my exciting photos, he is now able to sit by himself fairly well. He can’t sit up on his own yet, but when I put him in the sitting position, he can hold that position for a good while. He also puts his arm out to steady himself or to keep from falling over. He eventually does fall over, but for the most part, he has learned how to fall without hurting himself. Though I still hear a head knock here and there... (Sometimes, I put the Boppy behind him, so he won’t fall straight back.)
He is also practicing the beginnings of a crawl! He scoots himself across the floor, putting one bent elbow in front of the other, drawing up the knees and pushing off with the feet. He gets himself to where he wants to be, so for all intents and purposes, it is sort of a crawl, but it is not the classic version of it. It is more like the beginnings of an army crawl. He still gets tired fast and tends to get frustrated if the object he wants is more than a foot away. I try to encourage him to crawl farther by putting his toys out of reach. If he really wants something, he goes and gets it. I’ve turned around to find him at the other end of a small room, so I know that he can do it.

As I understand, some babies never do the classic (normal) crawl, others graduate from the army crawl to the normal crawl, and others skip crawling altogether. When our pediatrician saw how Caleb could stand on his own two legs, holding on only for balance, she thought that he might skip crawling and be an early walker. I’m glad though that he is doing this army crawl. It prepares me for the next stage: the normal (where did he go?) crawl and/or THE WALKING! Yikes!! We SERIOUSLY need to babyproof our house! NOW!

My very first time at the LAKE (swimmin' with the fishies)

Hi Everyone! This is Caleb. I wanna tell you somethin’. I went to this thing called a LAKE! This is what happened:

All morning, Mommy was tellin’ me: “Calebke, you get to go to the LAKE today! We are taking you!”
I thought to myself: “OK fine, I like to be taken. But what is a LAKE?”

She sounded so happy and excited, I figured out that it must be a good thing. Still, I wondered what it actually WAS. So, I waited it and waited it. All day. And we finally went there in the afternoon and the LAKE turned out to be really nice.

When we got there, Mommy put this whitish stuff all over me. They called it: Sunscreen. But (just between you and I) I don’t think it worked, because the Sun was still shining on me. (??) The Sun was also shining in my eyes. And I didn’t like that. Luckily, Mommy brought me sunglasses.

Daddy took me into the LAKE first. We went real slow. At first, just my toes were touching the LAKE. “Not as warm as my bath,” I thought. Then we went a little deeper. Then MORE deeper. Daddy said my jaw dropped and I looked very serious and surprised. I know! I was experiencing the LAKE! Which was not as warm as my bath! This was all so new to me! Then, the LAKE was up to my waist, then my chest. We were in all the way. By now, it felt warm to me, and I decided that I liked it. I liked it a LOT! I especially liked putting my feet up on my Daddy’s chest and shoveling the LAKE into my mouth with my fist. I would make a splashy and quickly bring my fist up to my mouth and suck on it. Over and over. This was a lot of fun!

Then, Mommy came in with the camera (and a hat). And I had to pose for some LAKE pictures, so that you all could see me having my very first time at the LAKE! And THIS hat, I actually liked. It was a little wet and it kept me nice and cool. Then, Mommy took me and we twirled and floated and swam around together. I like to float!

I kept switching from Mommy to Daddy and back. Sometimes, one of them would go off to the DEEP LAKE to do some DEEP LAKE swimming. When I looked at the DEEP LAKE wistfully, they said I might get to go to that part next time. I sure hope so!

People stopped to talk to us and they said many nice things about me. And we told everyone that this was my first time! At the LAKE! And they were happy for us.

Mommy took me out for a little while, so I could rest from the LAKE and have some applesauce. I appreciated the applesauce, but I told Mommy I didn’t need the rest! I wanted back in! So we got back in the LAKE and we stayed in until we were ready to go. Before we left, Daddy showed me some fishies and said we were swimmin’ with the fishies. He also called Mommy a FISH! And he said that I’m gonna be a fish too!! Eek!

Fish or no fish, one thing’s for sure: I wanna do this again.

Kindermusik

Research proves that integrating music and movement during the first years of life
helps your child's brain reach its full potential.

It’s official. We have secured a spot for Caleb in Kindermusik classes for the fall semester. Yes, they call it a SEMESTER. Like college. Except that he will be attending with his mommy (or daddy).

I came across Kindermusik last winter when I was looking for a music class for my future baby. I was glad to see it offered in our area and thought about signing up for the spring, but he was much too young for it then. He definitely wouldn’t have gotten very much out of it. Since it’s a little pricey, I wouldn’t have wanted to waste my money. Caleb is much more ready for something like this now that he’s older. I think he will get a kick out of the interactive singing, dancing, and playing that will take place, and will enjoy being around all the other babies too. I can't wait to see his reaction to the class!

The Kindermusik philosophy closely matches my own. Their philosophy, as advertised on their website:

Every parent is the child's most important teacher.
Every child is musical.
The home is the most important learning environment.
Music nurtures a child's cognitive, emotional, social, language, and physical development.
Every child should experience the joy, fun, and learning which music brings to life.

The fall semester will run from August 20 to December 14. We will meet once a week for 45 minutes. The youngest class is called Village; it’s for newborn to 1 ½ year olds. Caleb will be 8 months old when it starts and 10 days shy of his 1st birthday when it ends. Wow, that’s a big developmental difference! I will take a crawler into the class in August and probably leave with a walker in December!

We are EATING now!

As you all know, Caleb is now 6 months old, which means we are now EATING!

He has gobbled up everything so far:
Organic bananas, avocados, sweet potatoes, green beans, squashes, peaches, apple sauce, prunes.

He EATS heartily from a spoon, opening his mouth wide as the spoon nears and chomping down on it, similar to how he used to chomp down when he was first learning to nurse. It is very cute. The very first bite is usually tentative, and he has a funny expression on his face, as he tastes the food for the first time. By the second bite, he is fully into the experience. He has been convinced. This stuff is GOOD!

He also feeds himself sometimes from a mesh feeder, which allows him to take an active part in EATING. He gets to experience what it’s like to feed himself and practice his motor skills. The food goes behind the mesh cover, so it keeps him from choking on small pieces. So far, I’ve only put peaches and bananas in it, but as he grows you can pretty much put any adult food in there (age appropriate) for baby to chew on without any hazard to him.

I did a lot of research on first foods and I’ve opted to skip the rice cereal and go straight to whole foods. Rice cereal is a highly processed food with little nutritional value (that’s why it’s fortified with synthetic vitamins after the natural vitamins have been processed OUT). It’s also a simple, refined carbohydrate, which is NOT the best food for baby (or anyone). They recommend it as a first food mostly in Western countries. Other regions of the world have other first foods, as varied as coconut, bananas, fish, egg yolks, artichokes, meats (liver!), tomatoes, etc. It seems that the recommendation of rice cereal is mostly cultural, not scientific. It is touted as an easily digestible food (but so are simple vegetables and mild fruits) and rich in added iron (but sweet potatoes are high in naturally occurring iron – shockingly, a fact that the nurse at my pediatrician’s DID NOT KNOW!). There is also some evidence that rice and other highly processed grain cereals actually could be among the worst foods for infants. Everything I’ve learned about nutrition in the last years tells me that this is indeed true. These foods digest very rapidly in the body into sugar, raising blood sugar and insulin levels, which could contribute to later health problems. Since we try to reduce our own intake of highly processed foods, why would we want to give that nutritionally deficient stuff to our baby? Caleb will have plenty of opportunities to try these foods as he grows. It's best in my opinion to start with the best foods that nature has to offer for his little tummy - naturally vitamin-rich organic vegetables and fruits. Rice cereal is also very constipating, and since babies tend to be constipated anyway when they first start solids, we don't need any added help with that!

So we are happily EATING avocados, bananas, sweet potatoes, etc. I fix homemade food for him most times. I bought a little food mill, but many foods can just be mashed up with a fork and diluted with a little water or breastmilk. It makes me happy to know where his food is coming from and to be able to give him the freshest foods by making my own. Occasionally, I will use Organic Gerber or Earth's Best baby food for those times when I don't have time to fix it myself (or those items that are more bothersome to fix at home, such as prunes, apple sauce). In a couple of months, I will also attempt to make my own brown rice cereal by grinding up the unprocessed grains myself, which is much more nutritious than commercial rice cereal. We'll see how that goes and if it's too much trouble. (Otherwise, I may use Earth's Best whole brown rice cereal, which is not refined and processed.)

At this point, Caleb usually eats solids once a day. He really does love it. He often sits at his highchair when we have dinner and takes part in our meal. I know he feels like such a big boy! Of course, we are still nursing, since solids are not supposed to replace breastmilk, only complement it. Breastmilk will remain the most important food in his diet until his first birthday. He hasn't been sick at all yet (though he's been around sick people) and I'm sure that the immunity he receives through me has a lot to do with it!

Many more goodies are on the repertoire of foods to come. Mommy is preparing a feast for you, BabyCakes! You have many more adventuresome, fun EATING experiences in your future! La'Haim!!!

Washed out Lake Day

We were supposed to have a Lake Day today.
It was to be Caleb’s first time at the beach.
Everyone was excited. Mom was ready. Dad was ready.

The BabyCakes was ready!!!

It was not to be. Yes, we knew that we were taking a chance when they said: “isolated thunderstorms late in the afternoon.”
But the sky looked beautiful when we left the house.
Not so when we were nearing the lake.
For once, the meteorologists were right: we had an isolated thunderstorm.

It was isolated right over our beach.

With beautiful weather on the way there and back.
So he got to SEE the lake, but didn't get to go in.
We are sorry. We will try again soon!

P.S. Does anyone know how to fold this thing?

A visit to colonial Williamsburg

We took a trip to Colonial Williamsburg to celebrate this week. I took 296 photos in 2 days.

I will now attempt to restrain myself and not show you all 296 of them.

Travel Buddy in the car

The Family arrives in Williamsburg

Snug as a bug

Our Transportation

Travel Buddy in the Carriage

Don't make me get out!

Mom and Dad need a break! Let's go get a drink!

or

Lessons in how to manage a squirmy baby

He was quite happy playing and rolling around on that table!

We were quite happy to sit and look at the view

Dinner at King's Arms (a repeat of the same, except this time we had Music!)

Playing the "pochet" (?)

Caleb listening with his Daddy

We opted to sit outside under the trellis

We also opted to put BabyCakes on the table

and that was Mom's best save (of the wine, that is)

Looks like we scared them all away

(nah... we were just the last ones to leave)

Let's walk back to our hotel.

Night-night!

The next day starts as it should on a 10th anniversary: Breakfast in Bed

And he is ready to go!

We go see Jamestown 1607

Such a happy baby

The ships and the water

Caleb passed out in the heat

Does he look like he had a good time?

so did we - Happy 10th!

(and Mom managed to use only 65 pictures for this Photo Blog!)