the "I'm so cool" smirk
the playful smile
the candid picture grin
the "I love my mommy (and daddy)!" smile
the look of terror (okay, so this isn't a smile but it demonstrates equally strong emotion and it makes me laugh)

This sign is posted at our local train station. There does not appear to be anything more to it. We're not really sure what to think about it but it's not exactly "inviting."

Hey Gideon, Caleb wants to play too! He even has the same head dress!
The first picture of the three of us taken outside of the hospital (sad that it's taken this long, I know)
Eat your heart out, ladies!

On Saturday, Amy, Barrett, Scott, Caleb, and I hopped on the tram and went up to Wimbledon for the afternoon. Amy and I were treated to a couple of hours at a spa with pampering such as a facial, back and neck massage, foot massage, and scalp massage. This was the first time I had been away from Caleb since he was born, though he stayed with his daddy for the duration of the event. The pampering was great but I missed my little boy while we were apart.
On Sunday we went up to London (our first journey attempt into the center of town since Caleb was born) with Aunt Amy and Uncle Barrett. We went to church and then to lunch at the Texas Embassy. The plan had been to go to Harrods afterward but the service at Texas Embassy was so ridiculously slow that everything was closed by the time we made it out of there. Caleb was carted around everywhere in his sling (which is much less cumbersome than a pram) and he loved it. By the time we returned home, Caleb and I were so exhausted from the excursions of the past two days that we both fell asleep earlier than normal.

Yesterday we stayed inside to recover from the activities of London and to care for Caleb who had not been feeling well. I am hoping he didn't pick up the plague, rubella, or some other bug from one of the many people at church, in the Underground, or walking around on the street. (Don't worry, I'm not some crazy obsessive new mother and I'm not really freaking out about some random disease, though I have to admit that that it makes me nervous that he hasn't had any immunizations yet.) I was going to take him to get him weighed for his one month-versary but he was in no shape to leave the house. I could hear the poor baby's tummy rumbling all day...yet another thing he gets that from his daddy. We did, however, celebrate Aunt Amy's birthday at home last night - she's OLD now (though compared to Caleb's other aunts she's still just a young whipper-snapper!) :)

It's hard to believe that my baby is already one month old! I didn't make any colorful creative signs to celebrate the event like Daisha, but I thought I'd add a few pictures taken yesterday and today of my little one-month old. However, I'm sad to announce that blogger is once again having issues and will not upload photos. I'll have to try again tomorrow.

In any case, I'm constantly amazed at how much he's grown and developed in just a month. Here's a quick run-down of his biggest "milestones:"

- He loves to chew on his fist. He does not appear to pick any fingers over others and we trade it out for a pacifier quite easily. I have to admit that it's very cute to see him try to shove his whole hand in his mouth. (I saw a baby girl about the same age at church yesterday shoving her fist in her mouth as well. I think it's the new "thing.")

- He's become quite capable of getting his pacifier back in his mouth if it falls out onto his arm or chest. Granted, he doesn't grasp it with his fingers and sometimes he doesn't realize that he's gotten it back in his mouth and it ends up falling right back out. Still, I think it's pretty impressive for a one month old to get his pacifier back his mouth on his own at all!

- Though he doesn't have a huge interest in many toys yet, he LOVES his mobile over his bed. It's very colorful and plays music. He could lay there forever and smile at it while it moves around. Sadly, we didn't have the foresight to think ahead and realize that it wasn't such a good idea to have a mobile that you have to wind up because just a couple minutes later we have to re-crank the thing. It gets a bit tiring for me and I wish I could just lay him there for an extended period of time to enjoy the wonders above him.

- I predict that he is going to start laughing soon. About a week and a half ago, Caleb start making these cute little noises of excitement a lot of the time when he smiles. I wouldn't technically classify it as a laugh yet, but it's definitely going to be there soon. Oh...and it's super cute!

- Though he doesn't look much like me (we've already established that he's a little Scott mini-me), Caleb always rolls on his side and sleeps with his arms out the same way I do. Hooray! Maybe he is my child after all!!

- He continues to wake up only one time a night! He goes to sleep about 10:30p.m., wakes up at 3:00a.m., and then gets up between 6:30 and 7:30a.m. Most days he'll then go back to sleep until about 9a.m. or so, though this doesn't happen every day. Still, I can't complain. It's a great schedule!

- He LOVES to watch people and see the world around him. When I take him out in his pram, he turns his head and body to see as much as he can. I'm hoping this means that he'll be a people person and be adventurous. Time will tell, I suppose.

Okay friends, I apologize for my absence and the shortage of Caleb photo updates. Several of you have expressed your disapproval to me. I have two (in my opinion, very validated) excuses for this: 1) we've had lots of family in town and life has been busy; 2) I tried to update a couple of days ago but blogger was down and wouldn't let me upload photos. Sorry.

In any case, I'm going to try to update briefly on the events of the last few days. Aunt Amy and Uncle Barrett (Scott's sister and her hubby) arrived on Tuesday! As a result, there was lots of family activity booked the last couple of days as sightseeing was being done. Tuesday afternoon we went to afternoon tea at The Savoy again. This time was a family event, however, and I was not a giant blob having difficulty getting comfortable the whole time. Caleb was perfect during the entire two and a half hours that we were there and laid on my lap like this during the entire event. Caleb also did a photo shoot with Flat Stanley for Nana's kindergarten class, though he seemed a little worried about what he was being asked to do. Nana and Papa left this morning but Amy and Barrett will be with us for another week. Caleb is excited to get to spend more time with his aunt and uncle. (And he can't wait to meet his other aunts, uncles, and his cousins when he returns to the States!)

Its been a long time since I have posted. Its even harder to find the time to collect my thoughts and the time since Caleb was born and pictures of the cutest boy ever are also craved by the masses (rightfully so). Anyway, I wanted to post regarding a smorgasbord of things.

I had heard of a piece of software for Mac, called Delicious Library but never looked at it because I don't need to spend money on more software. Free software is a whole another story. This. Is. The. Coolest. Software. Ever. When I say coolest, I mean nerdiest, but still. Delicious Library turns any iSight camera into a barcode scanner for your DVDs, Books, Games, and even CDs (for those who still purchase these).

Simply place the barcode of a DVD at the iSight and Delicious Library automatically collect all the information from Amazon (even the UK plus other countries) and places the cover image on a shelf. You really need to click on the link to check it out. This is the best thing for me, plus you can also use the software when your friends and family want to borrow from your expansive collection. This is only $40, the unfortunate thing is 99% of our DVD cases are in storage in TX, but oh wait until we return. There is also a version of this for you Windows users out there. Google iMedia Man for the webite.

Before we moved to the UK, I was concerned I would not be able to use the US iTunes Store as a lot of websites know where you are. I was relieved when Cheryl successfully downloaded a song prior to my arrival here. Since then, I have been curious about purchasing music from the UK store. I didn't know how this would work since I have to use a separate username et al.

My answer came through the wonderful beverage company Coca-Cola. They have a promo here; purchase a Coke, get an iTunes song. This was the perfect time to perform a test. I setup an account, searched for UK only songs (some Jack, a soundtrack) and clicked "Buy Song". Seemlessly, the songs are stored in my Purchased playlist as it I had bought them from the US store. I didn't have to authorise the computer or anything. Very cool. Unfortunately, they cap you at 5 songs.

Speaking of music, I really wanted to shrare some music I have downloaded recently. I have been really into some laid back, almost folksy tunes lately. I am always in the mood for acoustic laid back tracks, but its been amplified recently. I have created an iMix for anyone to check it out. There are a few standout tracks listed from Ray Lamontagne's debut album Trouble, but the whole thing is good. When I can, I will buy his new album, Till The Sun Turns Black.

The last couple of tracks don't really fit, but are ones that I thought Dave and Jack fans might enjoy.

At the age of 3 weeks, Caleb has already started doing impersonations. The other day it was Tigger. Today it was Elvis.

I can't explain why, but for some reason this became my catch phrase when I was pregnant (said only to Scott...don't worry, I wasn't threatening to pee on everybody's faces). I know, it's completely random and, quite frankly, the concept is pretty gross. I don't know where it came from, but it was so random that after I said it the first time we were both highly amused and the phrase stuck. It then became even more amusing as I became larger and could barely do things such as tie my own shoes or get off the couch.

In any case, the other day, Caleb gave new light to this phrase. As I was wiping his dirty bum, Caleb decided that it was time to pee. I was very oblivious to this decision until my very peaceful and happy baby suddenly started yelling with anger. I looked at him and saw that Caleb had successfully peed all over his own face! Somehow he had managed not to get pee anywhere else except on himself. And he was mad! If it wasn't for that, I would have gotten a picture because I found the whole experience completely hilarious (maybe I'm a bad mom but all I could do at first was laugh). However, I quickly cleaned him up and called Scott to share the story instead.

Oh to be a boy! I believe that women can do most things that men can, but I will concede that this is something that women will never be able to do. How sad.

But, for good measure, I'll leave you with a couple of photos of my clean and happy boy (no pee on the face)

Nana and Papa arrived yesterday to see their first grandchild. Notice his frown and wrinkled brow as he looks at these strange people. He constantly gave Grandma Wright the same look while she was here. Interesting...
Of course, he gives Daddy some questionable looks as well
At the end of the day, though, he's just mama's cute little Tigger. He's even trying to roar to complete his ensemble.

That's right, folks, David Hasselhoff is coming to Woolworths in Croydon this Thursday for a book signing! How geeked am I?! (please note the sarcasm) This could be Caleb's first "celebrity" siting, however.

No doubt that Woolworths in Croydon is a far cry from prime time television, driving a car with the voice of the principal from Boy Meets World. "Turbo Boost!"

Is London Hasselhoff's new Germany? Seriously, he's so popular over here!

Rumor has it that babies don't smile until they're a couple of months old. People say that "smiles" identified before then are the result of gas. I don't believe it. This is how our little guy consistently responds when I kiss him, tickle his feet, or when he wakes up from a good nap.

There has never been any doubt that things work differently over here in England than they do in the States, especially when it comes to babies. This was obvious in the hospital when there was no nursery for the babies to be held. This was not a problem for me, as I preferred to have Caleb with me at all times. However, I couldn't help but think of former (and future) clients, who are being monitored by social services before their babies are born with plans to remove the child immediately, and yet they are left alone 24 hours a day with their infant and no monitoring by the midwives or nursing staff. Shady! But I digress.

The most common question that I have been asked by professionals since having Caleb is whether or not I have registered his birth. Unlike in the States, I did not complete any paperwork at the hospital with regard to the birth of my son. Instead, I have to schedule an appointment with the registrar to go to the main office to complete the paperwork and be issued his birth certificate. While this did not seem such a big deal at first, I have since changed my mind.

Last week I phoned to book an appointment to register Caleb's birth. They cannot give me an appointment until 13 OCTOBER! Until that time, there is no official record of Caleb's birth and he does not officially have a name. Therefore, all medical personnel (health visitors, doctors, midwives, etc...) who visit simply refer to him as "baby." I cannot tell you how much this annoys me. Most of them don't even bother asking his name! I essentially had to make the health visitor write "Caleb" on his red book (a book to track his development, weight, length, etc...) because it just had Baby McFaddin. And the saddest part was that she almost seemed surprised that he had a name already. He was a week and a half old!

In addition to the annoyance of my child being referred to as "baby," I am also unable to register him with the US Embassy, apply for his passport, apply for his visa, or apply for his SS# until I have a birth certificate. This also effectively means that we're grounded to England until all other paperwork can be completed. While we didn't have any immediate international travel planned, it makes me slightly anxious that I do not have the option to leave the country if I so desired or needed to, in the case of an emergency.

So that's my rant for the day. Apparently Caleb doesn't really exist until he is registered with the Council here. Therefore, I guess he is a figment of our imagination until mid-October, despite any photos you may see or any lack of sleep I am getting.

It has been brought to my attention that posts on an every other day basis is not frequent enough. I am doing my best, though I worry that some people will get tired of the incessently non-stop blogging of Caleb. (Really, I don't know how that's possible but I'm sure that some people will grow tired of the pics.)

In any case, Caleb and I have been attempting to get out of the house on a more regular basis. Though I can't make long trips at a time, we have managed to get out and walk a couple of miles every day on various errands. Caleb loves riding in the pram, though he often ends up sleeping at least half of the time that we are out and about (which is pretty par for his life at this point in time). We have successfully registered Caleb with a GP (doctor) and had one visit with the Health Visitor. I am amazed at the number of health appointments I have already had to book for this tiny boy! These appointments alone will keep me plenty busy for quite a while!

When we're at home, Caleb has been trying new things and growing daily. He now is much more calm during bathtime:


And he has found that he enjoys his bouncer (thank you RaDora!) and will sit contently while I clean or do other things around the house. However, I've been noticing recently that Bumbo chairs are the new craze?

No matter what, though, Caleb spends half his days quiet and peaceful, as he is below:

Grandma has been here helping us since before Caleb was born. She was a tremendous help with cooking, cleaning, and the whole hospital ordeal. Scott, Caleb and I will miss her now that she is gone and, undoubtedly, she will miss holding her favourite grandchild! :) Hopefully she will be able to return for Christmas with Grandpa and Uncle Al.
The first week and a half of motherhood has been wonderful. Caleb is an angel who rarely cries and only wakes up once a night. Even when he does wake up, he doesn't cry but instead just make little cute noises to let me know that he is awake! Though I recognize that this could change at any time, we are striving to maintain this pattern of behaviour because I have to say that I'm definitely a fan of it. Our poor neighbour has a child who will be one year old in a week and a half and she wakes up 4-5 times a night!
I love the little sleepers on babies, but I have quickly learned that Caleb is just about too long for his. We have put him in a couple of sleepers for the first time in the past few days, only to find that he cannot fully stretch out his legs and his feet are almost cramped. Just more proof that this child is going to outgrow me by age 8!
Over the weekend, we had lots of visitors who wanted to see Caleb. Mia, age 3, may have been the most excited visitor of all, though she was also hesitant at times, especially when Caleb would stretch or move unexpectedly. She enjoyed helping to hold him and even brought him a toy!
It's amazing to me how quickly babies grow and learn new things and new faces. Even as I have been working on this, Caleb has somehow managed to turn himself around a different direction in his sleep. What a strong boy!

It's crazy to think that Caleb is already over a week old! Time has been flying by and I understand that some of the masses are anxious for more photos of the tyke. I apologize if regular photo posts get old for anybody, but one of the duties when having a baby overseas is making regular photos available for family. So get used to it! :) We will try to mix things up every now and then for reading and "intellectual" pleasure, however. For now, here are a few pictures taken in the last couple of days.

Like Father Like Son. Seriously, could they be any cuter?!

Tuckered Out

He might not be sleepy but he sure is adorable!