What has two thumbs and is 7 months old?

This guy! (He can't believe he is 7 months already either!)

I guess the holidays made his 6th month really fly by, I really can't believe he is already 7 months old!!

Here's our schedule that Caleb has [thankfully] adapted to:

6am: nurse
8am: wake up! (I love this wake up time, although I am starting to feel guilty that I should really be getting up earlier..)
8:15: oatmeal with mixed fruit breakfast...yum!
9am: 2nd breakfast, nurse
9:30: go down for first nap
11am: nurse
12:30-1ish: formula bottle (I've started to supplement once a day with a formula bottle, this boy hasn't been putting on the weight all that much, but good news! After one 3 weeks of adding one bottle he is now 16 lbs, that is a 1lb weight gain! It took him 2 months, between his 4-6 mo check-up) for him to gain a pound, so this is progress!)
1:30: go down for afternoon nap
3:30: nurse
Caleb plays while I make dinner during this downtime
5:30: Caleb's dinner, he is a fantastic eater, he has loved everything we've given him. And he eats, and eats and eats....and if you stop feeding him (for even a few seconds) he gets mad!
6:30: mommy's milk bottle
7:00: lay down to sleep!

I love that he has such a predictable schedule. I try to abide by it most all the time but sometimes we just have to get out but he does great napping in his carseat. Here are some other recent highlights from our sweet boy...

He got a Baby Einstein dvd for Christmas. This was his reaction the first time we played it...totally mesmerized. He didn't even blink I don't think.


He is also standing now. He is pretty good at keeping his body in a plank so it becomes impossible to put him in a sitting position!


Speaking of sitting... he is doing great at that too! He is still wobbly but his balance is improving each day.



He also has rolled over (back to stomach) three times now! Which I have missed every time! I don't know how he does it but I will turn around for a second and he has turned over! He also LOVES his bounce-a-bout. It entertains him easily for 15ish minutes (or until he gets tired).


He is so curious and wants to explore everything with his hands. He especially loves mouths, so if you are holding him there is a good chance he will get those chubby hands into your mouth. He has also discovered his washcloth during bathtime. Once he sees it, his hands get a firm grasp on it, it goes straight to his mouth, where it stay (being sucked on) for the rest of the bath. Mom is not allowed to have it back.

Caleb is now fascinated with the camera...so it was tricky getting a picture where his fingers weren't in the lens!

He keeps our lives exciting and brings so much love and happiness into our little family!

Christmas, part 3

And the final Christmas celebration, that actually took place over December 25th, was our trip to Chicago to spend Christmas with the Blackhams. We had a wonderful trip!! We relaxed, went downtown Chicago, downtown Naperville, had an amazing celebratory dinner in honor of Justin completing his MBA and, of course, shopped! [I am shopped out for a while, does this happen to other people after the holidays? I feel like going to the mall is now a chore!]

We left on Dec 23rd and returned on Dec 31st. It was great being able to spend Christmas with so many loved ones. We had a family home evening Christmas Eve, complete with a re-enactment of the Nativity Story. Christmas was spent opening presents, having a delicious breakfast, attending Sacrament meeting and spending the rest of the day relaxing with family. I love when Christmas falls on Sunday. The next day we went downtown Chicago. We went up the Willis (formerly known as the Sears) Tower, even out on the Ledge! Then we went over to the Water Tower Mall. We though downtown seemed pretty uncrowded until we went to Michigan Ave. where all the shopping is, that is where everyone in the state of Illinois was!

Tuesday night Mom and Dad B. treated us all to an amazing dinner at Morton's Steakhouse. YUM! I'm not sure if the restaurant wanted to protect Caleb from the other people dining or if they wanted to protect the other people dining from Caleb but in any case we lucked out with our own private room at the restaurant. It was wonderful to be able to celebrate all of Justin's hard work and accomplishing his goal of getting an MBA!

The rest of the trip was a blur of relaxing, eating, shopping, eating, shopping, and shopping. Caleb enjoyed another set of 'firsts'....his first trip to Gma and Gpa Blackhams, his first time in a big city, his first Christmas!, and his first time, sorry for the graphic nature of this!, projectile vomiting. (Which so conveniently happened at the top of the Willis tower, albeit in the ladies restroom, but what a huge mess it was!)

It is great to be able to travel to see family but I think that might be our last Christmas away. Now that we have a true little family of our own I think its time we start making our own holiday traditions :-) The last few Christmas's sure have made some wonderful memories, I hope our children have such great memories from the holidays as Justin and I have from growing up.

Caleb, pre-sickness

Caleb after sickness, change of outfit needed for mom too!

Christmas, part 2

On to our next celebration! Since Justin, Caleb and I were headed to Chicago for Christmas, we decided to open the majority of our presents to each other while we were still home in Pleasant Grove. So our little family's Christmas celebration was on December 20th. We had a little family home evening first then we had Caleb open his presents (with much help) then go to bed. Then Justin and I opened our presents.

We were all definitely spoiled this Christmas! Caleb racked up on toys, which he was desperately in need of. He also got a bounce-a-bout that he loved, from Gma & Gpa Blackham and an awesome Chicco high chair from Nana and Pawpaw Froneberger.

I love our little family! Oh and as a side note, Caleb also had his 6 month check up on December 20th. He is a little guy, weight-wise at least, weighing in at 15 lbs and 26.5" tall. He was a trooper once again with the shots. He is now eating mixed fruit oatmeal for breakfast and a fruit or veggie for dinner (with rice cereal afterwards if still hungry). Because he doesn't seem to be packing on the chub from my low-fat milk, I have started supplementing a bottle of formula at noon in between naps. I have also increased the times I nurse. We are hoping to see a big gain by his 9 month check up! He is still only moving around on his back and doesn't enjoy tummy time for very long. He babbles/silently yells (I know it sounds weird but that is the best way to describe it) constantly. He loves to touch everything in sight, which means everything in sight gets lovely slobber marks on it since his hands stay in his mouth 99.9% of the time still. Doc said he was teething but I can't feel any teeth buds just yet. He still smiles very easily and is such a joy to have around! And I should note that our sweet boy has developed the most mellow personality. He is very easy-going and rarely cries anymore except for things he really needs (nursing, sleep). But for the most part he is even very patient when needing those things. I am grateful that he seems to inherited Justin's easy-going personality!

A sad Caleb after his 6 month immunizations:

Christmas, part 1

We were unbelievably blessed this past December to have not one, not two, but three Christmas celebrations! And yes, Christmas three times does take up ALL of December. Here is the recount of Christmas, part 1.

For the first two weeks in December, Mom and Dad Froneberger (a.k.a Nana and Pawpaw) came all the way from their warm Virginia abode to chilly Utah. We loved having them out here. Caleb and I spent most of the time in South Jordan at Heather's house. We shopped like no one's business. And then shopped even more. We enjoyed a great evening at Temple Square, with dinner at the Garden and looking at Christmas lights afterwards. The grandkids, Caleb included, sure loved playing with Nana and Pawpaw!

The creme de la creme of their stay was celebrating Christmas on December 16th, a few days before they left. We had a feast of delicious food, enjoyed a fire, laughed as the kids played and opened presents.