Baby Massage

We celebrated Caleb’s 3 month ‘birthday’ today by taking him to a baby massage class. It was held at the local Parenting Center and taught by my doula (it’s a small town). There were two other babies there: an almost 3 month old and a 7 month old. We learned how to do the massage, starting from the head all the way down to the soles of the feet, we learned what type of oils are best to use, and practiced on the little ones. Up until now, Caleb couldn’t tolerate too much touch, but now that his nervous system has matured somewhat, he seems to enjoy it. So this was the perfect time to take the class, and I was able to fine-tune my massage techniques. Massage promotes relaxation, boosts alertness, increases the body’s immune response, and even relieves pain. Well, baby massage does the same sort of thing for babies: it mellows them out, helps them sleep better, and have a greater sense of well-being. It seemed to have a calming effect on Caleb, because after the massage, he slept for much longer and deeper than usual.

It’ s hard to believe that our baby is already 3 months old! A year ago at this time, we weren’t even pregnant yet! (We were on our last pre-pregnancy trip, in Myrtle Beach.) And now we have a 3 month old! At 3 months, he is now past the ‘newborn’ period. And it really shows. Caleb has matured so much in the past months. Gone is the helpless infant, whose desperate cry is the only way of communicating his needs. He now has various ways of letting us know what he needs. These days when he needs something, he quietly whimpers, having learned that mommy or daddy will be along shortly. Instead of needing an immediate response every time (or it’s the end of the world), he now waits for us. He knows we are coming. He hardly cries anymore; he has really mellowed out.

Another thing that’s changed is that he is now able to entertain himself for long periods of time. He enjoys spending time in his swing, bouncy seat, and playpen. He is much less dependent on mom than he used to be. (Mom can actually take a shower without worrying about how he will react to being put down.) He can be very serious, studying faces and objects at length. When something amuses him, first his eyes start laughing. Then he flashes a smile, and his whole face lights up. He smiles, giggles, coos and looks at himself quizzically in the mirror. He has a quiet voice; his giggles and coos are still gentle (I’m sure we will hear louder shrieks in the future). He has all kinds of interesting little quirks and mannerisms, from holding onto his hair to folding his arms up in an orderly fashion, as if hugging himself. I notice something new all the time. One of my favorite pastimes is to watch him sleep. When he’s in a REM sleep, a hundred emotions run through his face, accompanied by all the sounds (smiling, crying, laughing, sucking, whimpering). It is fascinating to watch. His brain must be working overtime.

He’s such a sweet baby and Ron and I can’t get enough of him. We are so in love with our little boy! We couldn’t have asked for a sweeter, smarter, more beautiful baby in all the world. Each day is a new adventure with him and we are enjoying every moment!

Caleb's first trip - DC

We are getting ready to take our first trip with Caleb! In a couple of weeks, we are planning to spend the weekend in Washington DC for the kick-off of the National Cherry Blossom Festival. The 2-week festival showcases 3,000 cherry trees that Tokyo gave to DC back in 1912, and it is kind of a rite of spring in DC. What a fun way to welcome Spring! I'm so excited! I’ve wanted to see the cherry blossoms for a couple of years now, but we always ended up going somewhere else. I think it will be a good first trip for Caleb – the drive is not too long, it involves a lot of walking, which he likes to do, many interesting things to see at the museums, laid-back scheduling, allowing for downtimes (for nursing). I told Ron to bring along a book, so he’s not bored when Little One is feeding, and we should be fine. I hope to see some of the cultural performances, a couple of favorite museums, maybe a river blossom tour, and the trees, of course. The trees will be in bloom on time according to the National Park Service’s chief horticulturist “barring the advent of an ice age or rapid acceleration of global warming.” Well, we won’t have to worry about the global warming, at least. :) Trees get ready... Washington, here we come!

Mother's Tea (which leads to musings on Caleb's hair)

On Saturday, Caleb and I went to a Mother’s Tea, where we met several moms and their babies. I had a good time meeting other moms (which was the main reason I went) and I think Caleb enjoyed seeing other babies of similar age. All of the babies were boys and were very close in age (6, 9,10,11, and 12 weeks). The guest speaker was a professional photographer, who gave tips on how to take good pictures at home. She also took several pictures of each mom/baby (for free!) and will be sending those pictures to us. She does take beautiful pictures and I may even hire her at some point for a special sitting (it’s a bit difficult to take a picture of the whole family at an arms’ length).

Boy, after seeing all of those bald babies, I have to say, I didn’t realize just how much hair Caleb had! All of the other babies were almost completely bald, except for the 6 week old, who had just a little bit of hair. Now I understand why people always exclaim over Caleb’s full head of hair. It is quite beautiful and I hope it doesn’t fall out (or he doesn’t PULL it out, since one of his newest quirks is to grab his hair and hold onto it!). I also noticed that his hair color is lightening up a bit. It was really dark at birth, but the new growth is lighter with reddish brown highlights. I am in a quandary as to how to style it, though. I’ve tried brushing it this way and that, but it’s getting long and it tends to stand straight up on top, impossible to smooth down. I guess I could use mousse or gel, but I don’t really want to apply adult haircare products to his sensitive little baby scalp. Hmmm...I wonder if they make these products for infants? They must. Maybe I’ll try that for special occasions. I don’t plan to cut his hair anytime soon, so we may need to use something from time to time to tame his pretty mane.

My son, the Classical Music Enthusiast

Caleb had an amazing response to classical music the other day. He was cranky, so I put him down and turned on Beethoven on the computer. He was captivated! He stared wide-eyed, open mouthed at the ceiling, smiling, listening, cooing, and moving his legs. I have never seen him so enthralled! It was amazing. I was out of the way and he couldn't see me, so it was clearly the music that captured his attention. This went on for a full 60 minutes! That's like eons in baby time!

So it appears that he likes classical music. Well, Beethoven at least...Moonlight Sonata, Ode to Joy (they are favorites of mine too). Since he likes Beethoven, I went out yesterday and bought him a Baby Beethoven DVD from Baby Einstein. We'll see how he likes that. And maybe we'll listen to classical music every afternoon from now on.

2 and a half month measurements

We had a pediatrician visit yesterday. Here's Caleb's growth progress:

Weight: 13 pounds 6 ounces
Length: 24 inches (yeah, he grew 2 inches in 6 weeks!)
Head: 16.25 inches (not much growth there; it was big to begin with) :)

He is in the 75th percentile for all of his measurements.

Caleb is rolling over!

Just want to report that Caleb rolled over for the first time this past week. I had him on the ottoman and was busy taking pictures/videos of him holding himself up by his arms. Then, all of a sudden, he rolled onto his back!

He did it again last night when we had him on the floor. He showed his daddy too what he can do! There was more room on the floor, so this was a more complete roll (I wasn't trying to stop him from rolling OFF anything!). I don't know which one of us was more surprised by his accomplishment - Caleb, his daddy, or I.