Another month has flown by and I can barely keep up with everything that has happened and all of the ways that Caleb is developing. He continues to be such a joy in our daily lives with his sweet personality and adorable smiles. Caleb has continued to grow like a weed and is now 26 inches long (in other words, he has grown 2 inches in the past month and 5 inches total since being born). Our problem now is that he's just about filling out the 3-6 months clothes and sleepers in length but they swim on him around the stomach so it's difficult to find trousers that aren't highwaters but won't slip right off him. I don't know what we'll do if he continues to grow at this rate. We might have to special order clothes for long and skinny babies! :)

In the past month his list of first experiences has continued to grow, including (but not limited to): attending his first postnatal group; celebrating his first Halloween; attending his first Rhymetime at the library; visiting his first nursery (that he will be attending when I return to work); meeting Jenny, Geoff, Melinda, Mandi, Dustin, Kyle, and Shannon; drinking his first bottle; celebrating his first Thanksgiving; and seeing his first Christmas lights.

He's also learned to do so many things on his own, including: splashing in the bathtub; sleeping through the night (which he has been doing consistently for four weeks now); raising one eyebrow (so funny!); making spit bubbles; drooling; playing on his own without fussing; rolling his lips; grabbing toys; laughing at himself in the mirror; eating his hands; napping for up to 3 hours at a time in his crib on his own; and giving official cute little baby kisses (which may have started last month but I can't remember). He has received his second set of immunizations (and didn't cry this time!) and has been dressed up as a pumpkin, duck, thug, and Indian.

Today we will put up Caleb's first Christmas tree (he LOVES Christmas lights so this will be fun!) and his first stocking arrived today. What a three month celebration!

The holidays are upon us and I am SO EXCITED! I love this time of year where people are festive and happy. I can't wait to start teaching Caleb Christmas carols, but I am being good and waiting until the day after Thanksgiving. This is a challenging task here in England because they don't have Thanksgiving to mark the official start of Christmas season. In fact, last night was the kick off of Christmas here in Croydon. On our high street (aka: main street) there was a big celebration for the first lighting of the Christmas lights, hosted by Nikitta and Ashley, two X-Factor contestants from this season. Santa, Snow White, the mascots of a football team here, and some of Santa's reindeer were also here! The kicker of all this: I missed it all except for the mascots and reindeer! Scott had gone out for some groceries and we had no clue that this was happening (it was not advertised AT ALL!). As soon as he phoned to let us know, Stephanie and I loaded up Caleb as quickly as we could and headed up to the high street. However, those of you who have ever had a baby know that it's not a quick process to get out of the house - it takes a few minutes to put on the coat, hat, and mittens and to get the baby into a stroller or sling. Therefore, by the time we got to the high street, Nikitta and Ashley (who I was most excited about because I never see people from tv in real life) were gone, as was Snow White and Santa. I can't say that I cared about the football mascots, but the reindeer were exciting! In the end, though, the reality is that Christmas has officially started here in England and it's taking all of my might to not put my Christmas tree up until next weekend.

I am also extra excited this year for three reasons:
1. We are have a Thanksgiving extravaganza this year! Last year I think I cried on Thanksgiving because it was the first year to not have a bunch of family around, or a bunch of people at all for that matter. I couldn't find half the ingredients I needed for Thanksgiving dinner and therefore could not have the majority of traditional foods that I love. We did end up celebrating with our friends, Jeff, Andrea, and Mia, which officially saved this holiday for us, but overall it didn't feel like Thanksgiving usually feels. This year we are celebrating with about 10-12 other friends from the States. Five people went to Harding with us, two people I know from church in CA, and the others are friends/spouses of Harding people. The house is going to be overflowing with people (because houses here are much smaller than in the States) and we are going to eat a feast! I can't wait - good food and good company!

2. I have a child this year! No, I'm not just realizing that I'll have a child for the holidays, but did just realize that I have a child who can sit on Santa's lap!!! That's right, I'm going to do the official Christmas drudgery of waiting in line with lots of anticipating children so that I can enter Santa's workshop and take a picture of my baby on his lap. I don't even care if Caleb doesn't understand or remember this event. I am excited and it will be cute!

3. Okay, number three has a lot of exciting components: my PARENTS and BROTHER are coming in town for Christmas and we're going SKIING in ITALY and it'll be Caleb's first INTERNATIONAL trip!!! I can't wait!! Last year Christmas ended up being a lot more fun than I had anticipated, despite the fact that it was just Scott and me. This year we have family and Stephanie joining us for the holiday celebrations! That means we can play games and cook a real Christmas meal! (I think last year we ate macaroni and cheese on Christmas Day.) Plus, on the 19th we're all flying to Milan to spend a day skiing/snowboarding (my mom is watching Caleb while the rest of us enjoy the slopes) and to spend a day exploring Milan (seeing the original Last Supper by DaVinci, going to the Duomo, and enjoying Italian shops, markets, and food.) We are registering Caleb with the US Embassy on 6 December and they assured us they would provide us with an emergency passport that day if we had a flight booked within the next 15 days. WOOHOO!!! We're set!

Seriously, how could the holidays get any more exciting?!

Since he was born, I've been a little sad that Caleb looks just like Scott. Not that I don't like the way that my husband looks (because I do) and not because I don't think my son is adorable (because he is), but I was hoping that my baby would be a bit more of a mixture of the two of us...especially since I was the one cooking him for 9 months! I've been grasping at straws, such as the fact that he has a dimple, in order to evidence that he is my child. However, as the weeks have been passing (rather quickly, I might add) we have found that Caleb's personality has been emerging to mimic mine. That's right folks, he might look like Daddy on the outside, but he's like Mommy on the inside.

Caleb loves to laugh and smile. He plays games and teases me. He's a flirt. He gets bored easily staying at home all day. He is social and loves going out. He likes making new friends. He loves reading. He loves singing. He loves nursery rhymes. He likes to be in the middle of all the excitement. And, most importantly - he loves adventure! His new favourite thing is now hanging upside down. He smiles, he laughes, he loves it!

Now, as he gets older I will probably hate this about him because it will make me worry (like my parents worry every time I do something crazy like sky diving, hang gliding, taking off for random countries, etc...). But I love that kind of excitement and it's just another way that my little boy is like me. Hooray!! He really is my child!

Well, we did it. We gave in to the new fad and joined the masses of parents purchasing Bumbo chairs for their wee ones, and I do believe that it was a good purchase. Sure, Caleb can sit in his bouncy chair, but it's much more difficult to lift that up to higher places. Since the day he was born, Caleb has been very alert and observant of the world around him. He is a curious little boy and likes to be able to see everything, whether we're inside or outside. Now he enjoys being able to watch us cook, do laundry, or just sit at the same level as us. As you can see, he finds the experience very entertaining and enjoys being able to sit around like a big boy. They say that these chairs aren't supposed to be used until kids are 3 months old, but I figure he's always been advanced for his age.

Seriously, they're my favourite part of Caleb's outfits! The hat above is the new hat that Jenny brought when she visited.

And this one was from Christie. I'm so glad that my friends agree that hats are a crucial part of Caleb's daily outfits!

Everybody knows that British people are known for their poor hygiene and decaying teeth. Since I first arrived in this country, I have read many articles in the paper and heard loads of general complaints about it being difficult to register with a dentist in many parts of the country because of the high demand for dental care and low supply of dentists. I figured this was one of the contributing factors to the rotting mouths. So when I walked into the local dentist office two weeks ago to ask about scheduling an appointment for a check up and cleaning, I was shocked when they offered me an appointment the following Monday.

I attended my dental appointment this past week - my first in England. The dental office is about a five minute walk from our house, I sat in the waiting room for about 5 minutes. Jenny stayed at home with Caleb. I kissed Caleb goodbye a few times (this was my first time to leave him with a "babysitter" to go do anything else) and I went to my appointment. I returned home from my appointment 20-25 minutes later. I'm not even kidding.

My dental appointment lasted only 5-10 minutes! I sat in the chair and the dentist took his little mirror and looked at my teeth for about 2 minutes. He informed me that I had no cavities or problems and then ASKED me if I wanted them cleaned! What?! Of course I want them cleaned! He then proceeded to take a high pressure water cleaner and clean some plaque at the gum line of a FEW of my teeth. Then he polished a FEW of my teeth (missing one side of my mouth completely!). He had my swish and told me he was done! There was no flossing, no scraping, no lecture about how I should floss every day, no mention of needing to get x-rays of my teeth since I had never been there before, and only about 40% of my teeth were touched during the cleaning! (And not even the whole teeth of those being touched were actually cleaned).

It was the biggest joke of a dental appointment ever. But I've definitely found the reason behind the bad English teeth. I'm thankful that I've been blessed with good teeth so that I don't have to worry about getting further dental care in England (because quite frankly that thought is pretty scary to me now). I can always get a more thorough cleaning when I return to the States. I'm hoping that Scott receives an equally positive report, as he has had to have his share of dental work since we've been married.

There are things to blog about, but I have not had the time because Jenny is currently in town visiting. However, I realize that some of the masses are once again getting antsy so here are a few pictures to feed the hunger until I have a chance to update for real.

Caleb experiencing what the world will look like when he's tall (He makes Scott's head look giant!)


Hooray! Jenny's visiting us from California!


Oh happy day!

Don't you just wonder what babies dream about? Maybe it's "Ooh! That was a good poop!" or " Hooray! Another meal of milk!" Seriously, I want to be inside his head sometimes to know what he is thinking!

David Hasselhoff - Hooked on a Feeling



Thanks to Jenny for the tip!

Now in 8 GB



Thanks for Felker for the tip.

First I have to brag on my little boy. For the past week and a half, he has been sleeping 7-7.5 hours straight at night, waking up at 5:00a.m. to eat and then going back to sleep for about 3 hours. Last night, however, he slept 9.5 hours and did not wake up until 7:00a.m.!!! This was the first time he slept entirely through the night so I was definitely excited. When he woke up, he just looked around and smiled. He didn't even grunt like normal to make sure that I also woke up.

Then, when I put him down for his morning nap in his crib, Caleb slept just under TWO HOURS by himself!! This was a new record because he will usually only sleep in his crib for about 45 minutes, after which he decides that he will sleep happily in my arms for another couple of hours but no longer in the crib.

After he woke up, we went to Rhymetime at the library for the first time. There were probably 60-70 mothers and babies/toddlers there. Now, I was very excited because I love nursery rhymes and little kiddie songs and I think I definitely know my fair share. I was not prepared, however, for the fact that they have a whole different selection of these rhymes in England. Granted, a few may have come around since I was little, but most of them were definitely British ditties, such as songs about the Duke of York. I think I only knew about 25% of the little songs! Caleb enjoyed the event, however, so we will definitely make this a weekly outing. He was especially excited when all the toddlers started playing tamborines and marracas!