15 Months Old!

November 5, 2012 - December 4, 2012

A little late to posting, but I've been super busy this past week, with it being my first week of work. Here are some pictures for now, and I'll update later with stats and updates on Cael.

My Little Man is getting so big!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas!!

Finally! We have our own place to decorate. We didn't have much room for holiday decorations in our apartment in PA, but now we do. I was so excited, and didn't waste any time! We had to buy a new tree because we left our other one back in PA. However, it would have too big for the only spot we could fit a tree. Since we have a balcony door and a fireplace in our living room, we are limited in where we can put a tree. So we bought a new one at Target after Black Friday for only $50! It's a slim, 6.5 ft pre-lit tree, and I am in love with it!

We also started a new tradition this year with Cael. I was able to buy an Elf on the Shelf from a friend for $15, which is an awesome steal, since they are regularly $30. We named him Flick, after a character in The Christmas Story. Flick has been visiting with us since December 1st, and will go back to the North Pole on Christmas Eve.

Christmas lights! We can hang Christmas lights!!

The view of our balcony from outside.

Meet Flick

Welcome Home!!

We finally made it to Virginia, and are settling in nicely. The moving company came on Sunday November 18th, and loaded everything up. Since we had no furniture to sleep on that night, and we weren't planning on leaving for VA until Monday morning, we slept upstairs on Matt's parents' couch. We loaded everything left over into our cars Sunday night, and were on the road Monday morning at around 9:30.

Long story short, we checked into the hotel for Monday night. The driver of the truck told us on Sunday that he would be able to deliver our belongings on Tuesday morning, from 8-9. We were thrilled, because originally, the estimate was anywhere from Tuesday to Friday, and Thanksgiving was on Thursday. So we changed our hotel reservation to only Monday night, checked out Tuesday, and drove to our hotel to wait for our delivery. Well, 9:15 rolled around, and there was no sign of the movers. So I called the company, and the dispatcher informed me that we were on the schedule for Wednesday morning. Say what?! Uh, well, that's not what we were told, and we already checked out of the hotel with our 2 dogs, and nothing to sleep on. That's not going to work at all. Unfortunately, there was nothing they could do. They were picking up a 15,000 pound shipment as we were talking. So we decided we would try to see if we could get an air mattress to sleep on for the night, and sleep in our apartment.

We ended up sleeping on the floor with just a blanket. Definitely not the most comfortable sleep we've had. It was horrible. Oh well, there was nothing we could have done. We were told the movers would be coming between 8-11. They showed up around 9:15, and were done unloading everything by 1 I think. So not too bad. But they did have 4 movers, which was awesome.

So at this point, we've been officially in our apartment (with furniture) for a week now. And I would say we're about 98% unpacked, and settled, which is amazing! Our friend stayed with us for a few days starting Wednesday night, and he helped a lot with the unpacking. He was hopped up on RedBull, and helped me unpack and put away my entire kitchen in 2 hours. I was so happy, because I was afraid we'd be living out of boxes. Much more unpacking soon followed in the following days, and at this point, we have only about 3 or so boxes left to find homes for. The boxes have crap in them that we threw in at the last minute, so it's just left over junk. We'll find a home for that stuff, but for now, I'm just happy we're mostly unpacked. It feels like home, and I love it.

All loaded up in the car Monday morning for our drive to VA

We made it to the hotel! Sharing some cuddles with Tyson

Tuesday! Checking out his bedroom.

What a view!

This is what you do when you have no furniture for a whole day.

You do what you gotta do to get a sick baby to sleep. Yes, I curled up in the PnP with Cael

Five Guys for dinner? Hell yes! Now if only we had a kitchen table.

It's moving day! For real this time!

Enjoying some Kix while the moving guys unload all of our belongings.

Boys will be boys. At least we finally have our stuff!

We finally have furniture, and Cael decides to sit on Tyson.

It didn't take long to find the Tupperware drawer.

Cael's room is looking put together!

Reading some books in his new room.

Cael LOVES the balcony!

14 Months Old!!

October 5 - November 4

So here we are, 14 months old. I'm a little late to writing this post, as I have been lately. But you'll have to understand that. We've been packing up what we can, and preparing to move on the 19th. Not to mention the tons of phone calls I've had to make between HR, moving companies, apartments, etc.

So anyway, back to Cael. I feel like he's started doing so much the last month. Here are some key achievements/accomplishments/milestones from over the last month:

• Cael has cut both top 1 year molars, and finally his bottom left lateral incisor. This brings the total teeth count to 10!
• Starting to run. Or at least gain speed while walking. The boy is quick.
• Dancing! More like alternating which foot he stomps, but he will do it if you tell him to dance.
• Clapping! FINALLY! I couldn't wait for him to start doing this. And he understands when you tell him to clap too, so he knows what it means.
• Temper tantrums. Oi veh. Consisting of throwing himself on the floor and screaming.
• Learning how to use a spoon. He knows what he has to do, and the concept of how a spoon works, but hasn't mastered how to scoop the food onto the spoon.
• Walks backwards.
• Further breast weaning. He's down to 2 times a day - once when he wakes up, and again right before he goes to sleep.
• Gives "high-fives" and "low-fives".
• Shakes his head side to side, which Matt taught him. However, he doesn't yet know that also means "no". Which is good for me.

Cael babbles A LOT, and talks his own language, which mostly consists of similar syllables, but he hasn't really started saying anymore words. I guess I'm a little concerned, because I hear of lots of babies close to his age talking sentences, and Cael isn't anywhere near that. But at the same time, there are also babies that are doing what Cael is doing. So I know I shouldn't be too worried. He will constantly babble "dada", even when Matt isn't around. He still doesn't really say "mama" or "mom", but he will say "yum" whenever he eats or drinks something. I just have to keep reminding myself that babies all develop at different rates. AND once he starts talking, I'll probably wish he didn't talk..Haha.

Using a spoon

Milk dribble!

Helping mommy pack!

Big belly!!

Little Man fell off the couch, and onto a roll of parchment paper he was playing with earlier

November 6th - Election day!