Caleb at 20-ish months

Caleb is finally saying a few actual words. His list is up to five now: Mama, Dada, Byebye, moo, and the latest and greatest: poopoo. He jabbers constantly and does signs for more, milk, eat, and waves byebye. I know it seems like he should be doing more talking but his doc says he's perfectly fine for now, just a typical boy. So here's a video of Caleb saying his words, one of him speaking Calebese, and one of him discovering that spitting is funny.


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a couple more pics of the month:

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I really can't figure out how this happened:

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Baby girl Rice will play sports

Just assuming, since she kicks like a pro already. I feel tons of kicks and bumps and rolls all hours of the day. She wasn't too happy about me getting kneed in belly twice today. Mama wasn't too happy about that either, but the poor toddlers didn't know they were kicking Caleb's little sister!

I have lots of Braxton Hicks contraction too, and I can't remember if I had this many and this early with Caleb. I'm thinking no. Then again, this pregnancy has been a total different ballgame altogether.

If there are any questions, YES we have names. No it isn't a secret but we haven't decided on one yet. We really haven't talked about it much, but we do have a favorite. A fun guessing game: the initials of our top fave are CHR. The R is a given, and some of you know the C, but the H might be a little tougher. Hint: there are none of this H in any of our families that we know of. Same goes for the C.

It's a.......

beautiful little GIRL!!! We got a great ultrasound DVD with 3D pictures. And here they are, with a few of the big brother-to-be.

Pretty little feet:


3D Face profile and elbow:


3D face:


And the big brother:

posing on the fireplace



Big shoes to fill

Laundry Fun



Riding the cow in Southlake


Little Chauffer

20 weeks and counting

Halfway there! It has gone by fast, and BOY has it gone by slow. 6 more days until the big reveal (assuming this kid isn't shy like Caleb wasn't) Anyone want to make bets on the gender? Come on, you have a 51-49 chance!

Leave it in the comments.

16 weeks

I went to see the doctor today for my 16 week checkin. I gained another pound, so that makes a total of TWO! ha! Anyway, the darn nurse wouldn't even look closely to see the sex, saying it was too early. I thought I saw a boy part but she said it was the cord, so have no idea. I will say though, that this baby's profile looks very much like Caleb. I told the screen, "Baby, you look like your brother!"

Greg and I are both recovering, suffering, etc., from a staph infection. His is worse, all up his left forearm. Mine is in a terrible place though, on my hands and wrist and FACE. I also had a battle with Impetigo last week, also on my face. Talk about ugly, and itchy too. No idea where we are getting these gross skin diseases, but I promise we clean our house and bodies regularly!

Aww, Caleb is awake and crying to be let out of his bed.

Jennifer thought I should write about this ;)

Last night Caleb did the cutest thing and made his Daddy so proud! In the bathtub Daddy asked if he was ready to get out and Caleb did not give any indication he was until he started picking up all his bath toys and putting them into the storage bag that hangs on the side of the tub. He picked up EVERY toy in the tub (and there are about 398 of them) and when the tub was empty of toys he gave Greg a serious look and did the sign for all-done. Then he promptly stuck his leg over the side and tried to climb out. Greg was so proud of the communication that Caleb displayed!! He's a smartie!

We have also begun the climbing stage. The other evening we were getting dinner on the table when Caleb sauntered in to the kitchen a climbed into my chair (had never done this before) and very easily got in it and sat there with his hands folded patiently up on the table, sighed, and sat there like a miniature man waiting for his dinner. Greg and I just stood there and laughed for several minutes. Then we decided that the high chair is history and he gets to sit in his big boy booster chair now. It was another unexpected milestone!

I finally gained some weight!

3.5 pounds in two weeks to be exact. Yay me, and yay for Boost High Protein shakes!

What Caleb's been up to lately

It's been an entertaining few months on the couch. Caleb has been steadily learning new tricks while I layed around feeling terrible. He is such a sweet baby, he hated for me to feel bad and was very curious why I was looking in the toilet so much! He even liked to help me feel better by flushing it all by himself. We recently got out his toddler rocker chair and he quickly learned how to climb up in it and lounge. He has gotten interested in Baby Einstein DVDs lately (hint, hint, we only have three) and his attention span is growing.
He loves to wear shoes, and knows that when we put on shoes we're more than likely going outside or to the car. So he knows the drill quite well. He loves to drink out of straws, especially mine. We almost always have to get him his own cup at restaurants so he can act big. He loves books, especially interactive ones like flaps. We don't have any touch and feel books so I don't know if he would get into that.
Today we got some baby signs flash cards (for me) so I can teach him to sign. I resisted for a while but after I instinctivly did the "all done" sign a couple fo times and he caught on quickly we decided signing might be a good thing. Especially if eliminates some of the whining and noise. Before bed tonight Greg and I both said, "NiteNite" and did the sign for sleep and he was already trying to do it himself. It is so crazy how he understands what we are saying but just can't say it back yet. Maybe the signs will help bridge that communication gap.
His appetite has turned toddler in the last two weeks. He eats a few bites for breakfast and lunch and sometimes will eat a full dinner, sometimes not. I'm not too worried because he could stnad to lose some of that belly. He is defintely thinning out and getting a bit taller, because all of a sudden he can reach the ice/water dispenser on the fridge and push things into the kitchen sink. We have to keep the fridge locked so he doesn't douse himself with water constantly.
Our son is NOT a climber, for which I am glad. He can get up on the couch if he wanted to but he refuses to try. I guess he is just not a risk-taker. It's one thing I don't have to worry about, lucky me! Once he is up on the couch though, he likes to bounce and jump and laugh. It's too cute. I also taught him a very bad habit of sticking out his tongue out and he loves to do that now too. It's a constant source of entertainment.
Well, it's past my NiteNite time now.

The coolest thing you've seen all week

Well, it's the coolest thing I've seen all week. Except for my toddler sitting still in a rocking chair. That was pretty cool.

This is a 3D ultrasound of our baby. I was amazed at how much detail there is to see at only 12 weeks. Notice how you can see the backbone, and arms and legs, and even a face profile. The little dark spot in the abdomen is the stomach bubble. The doc said it's bladder was empty at the time of the ultrasound. How she knew that is beyond me, but still very cool. You can even see a little "part" down there. Go ahead, it's okay to look! The doctor says it's undefineable at this point but it will, ahem, define itself in the next couple of weeks. I think with this technology, we might know the sex of this little alien within a month. I don't get 3Ds everytime, but I do get 2Ds which is atypical in itself. I doubt the 2D can pick up the sex until the standard 20ish weeks, though, so it's luck of the draw for me. I can wait until 20 weeks, I guess..

Oh, yeah, and the nurse laughed at the baby's skinny butt. I thought they were all skinny at this point, but apparently this one is skinny enough to be funny. They said it was a cute butt, but I need to eat more. I said, "give me drugs to calm the nausea and I'll be glad to oblige." They did, and I have. Yay!

Is this an alien? Yes, right now it is.

Faux-Toes, but not fake phalanges

Random recent pics of Caleb being Caleb:

This is a very typical funny face.


As is this:




Caleb's Church Dedication:


Talking with Pastor Gregg


And children's pastor Toby. (I have recently come to realize that I more often than not make horrible ugly faces in the general public. Why hasn't someone told me this??)