Busy October

October seemed super busy for some reason, but it also seemed to drag on for a long time. We pretty much celebrate Caleb's birthday for about two weeks. He had a party with his friends on the 14th, a family party on the 20th, and of course our own little celebration at home on his actual birthday, the 26th. It's hard to believe my first born is five! He has grown up so much in the last year.

I took him in for his annual well check earlier this week. He weighs 31 pounds and is 37 inches tall, so that means he gained about three pounds and grew about three inches this year. He's still at the bottom of typical growth charts, and he's at the 11th percentile for both weight and height on a Down syndrome growth chart. He wears 3T shirts and 2T pants. Depending on the brand, he wears anywhere from a 7 to a 9 in shoes.

H still loves dinosaurs, "The Lion Guard" and "The Lion King".

Caleb's Four

Happy fourth birthday to Caleb!

He has had a full month of birthday celebrations! It started off with a weekend trip to Texas to spend time with my parents and brothers and to see the animals at the Fort Worth Zoo.

The following weekend, we celebrated his birthday with some friends. The plan was to have his party at a brand-new play gym that a friend was opening, but construction delays pushed back their grand opening and forced the party to be cancelled. So instead, we texted everyone and moved the party to our backyard. The kids had a blast on the inflatables that we rented/borrowed.

And then this past weekend, Brad's extended family came up for a little family party (we love entertaining at our new house!). Caleb had the best time being the center of attention and surrounded by so many people he loves. 

He has his annual well-check next week, but I tried to get some "unofficial" growth stats at home a couple days ago. He weighs about 28 pounds and is 34 inches tall. I think he grew about two pounds over the last year and grew a couple inches. 

Happy Birthday, Daddy

Happy birthday, Brad! The boys and I love you so much!

All photos by Anna Bryan Photography

Tyler - Twelve Months

Weight: 19 lbs, 6 oz

Length: 30.5"

Clothing size: 12-18 month shirts, 12 month pants

Shoe size: Size 3

Diaper size: Size 3

Eating: For the past month, Tyler was still nursing when he was with me and taking bottles at MDO, but we're starting the weaning process now that he's one. He nurses a few times each day and drinks whole milk at other times. He refuses to eat any homemade baby foods now, except for his favorite avocado/banana. He loves yogurt and baby food pouches. His favorite bite-sized foods are peanut butter Cheerios, raisins, and cheese.

Sleeping: Tyler goes to bed at about 8:30pm and wakes up around 7:30am. He often wakes around 10:00pm and quickly falls back asleep if we rock him for a little bit. He also usually wakes up around 2:00-3:00am. (Brad and I are hoping that the night-waking comes to an end soon!) He usually takes a nap around around 11:00 and sleeps for 1-3 hours. Occasionally, he takes a short afternoon nap.

Highlights of the month: Tyler has switched from army crawler to hands/knees crawler. He pulls up to anything he can find, and he loves walking while holding our hands. He hasn't built up the courage to take independent steps yet, but I bet he will soon. 

Caleb's Three!

Caleb turned three on Monday, October 26th!  Some good friends of ours have a daughter who also turned three this month. We have lots of mutual friends, so we joined forces and had a birthday party for both of them at a local play gym on the 17th. The kids had a great time playing on the equipment and eating cupcakes.

On Caleb's actual birthday, he woke up to a bed full of balloons. That's a birthday tradition I started on his first birthday. He loved it the first two years, but he wasn't too thrilled about it this time!

After breakfast and playing with some new toys, we headed off to his first day of preschool! His teacher said he had a great first day!

The day after his birthday, he had his three-year well visit. Our pediatrician is retiring at the end of the year, so this was his last well visit with her. We have been through so much with her, and she actually got a little teary-eyed as we said our "goodbyes". Caleb gained two pounds over the last year, so he now weighs 24.5lbs. He grew 2.25" inches and is now at 32.75" tall.

Caleb's Second Birthday

We celebrated Caleb's second birthday with family and friends on Saturday, October 25th. 

Before his party, we attended a NICU reunion and Halloween party at the hospital where Caleb spent his first ten days. We saw our favorite nurse and also one of Caleb's NICU buddies. He and his family live about 1.5 hours from OKC, so we haven't seen them since Caleb was discharged. It was great to visit with his parents and see our boys together two years later.

On his actual birthday (Sunday, October 26th), he woke to a crib full of balloons (we did this for his first birthday too). We went to church that morning and spent the afternoon/evening at home playing with his new toys and reading his new books.

Caleb's First Birthday

I just realized that I never posted anything about Caleb's birthday. We invited family and a few close friends over to the house to celebrate Caleb's big day. Most of my party photos are on our old computer, but here are a couple that I have on my new computer.

Rather than gifts, we asked Caleb's birthday party guests to bring donations for the Ronald McDonald House Charities of OKC. The house needed cleaning supplies, paper goods, snack foods, bedding, etc, and our family/friends were so generous! The cargo area of my Jeep was packed with donations! When Brad, Caleb and I delivered the donations to the house, we had the opportunity to meet with the executive director. She took us on a tour, and we discussed some volunteer opportunities. Brad and I are still discussing how we want volunteer, fund raise, and collect donations for the local house. We'll be sure to share more as we recruit our family and friends for help!

After the party guests left and Caleb went to bed, Brad and I spent some time reminiscing about the last year. As we were talking about all the wonderful nurses Caleb had, I received a call on my cell phone from an unknown number. I usually ignore those calls, but I went ahead and answered. It was Caleb's first nurse! She was in the delivery room with us and took amazing care of Caleb during his first few hours before he was transferred to a different hospital's NICU. She also went out of her way to make Brad and I feel at ease during a very uneasy time. Her call on Caleb's birthday was so unexpected but so appreciated! I still cry every time I think about it!

The day after his birthday, we took cookies to the NICU where he spent his first ten days. We got to see a couple of his nurses and doctors while we were there. It was a great way to end a wonderful first birthday weekend!

Caleb's One Year Photos

Here are some of Caleb's one year photos, as well as a few family photos we had taken during the same session.

 





 

 

 

 

Happy Birthday!

What a wonderful day of celebrating Caleb's first birthday! I plan to write a longer birthday recap post in a few days, but I just had to share a couple iPhone pics from his big day.