The Grant Gang Adventures: Caleb Asher Grant is ONE!

Happy First Birthday to our snuggle bear, Caleb!!!

**First Birthday Party Post to Come**

Weight, Height and Head: Official stats to be posted next week after his well visit

Diaper Size: 4 during the day and 5 at night, although the fives are leaking...I need to try a new brand I suppose.

Clothing: 18-24 month.

Disposition: Never in my life have I ever seen a baby want to hug and snuggle people and stuffed animals so much! He may LOVE to hug but he is also very vocal when he is unhappy, frustrated, discontent, hurt, etc. hence his nick name snuggle BEAR :) It is so hard to discipline him because he flashes those big eyes and reaches for a hug!

Mobility: He is a speed crawler, but will NOT walk or cruise; he does pull up on everything. I will be surprised if he is walking by 13 months

Teeth: He has four teeth completely in but six more breaking/broken through. He does not handle teething well...At. All.

Eating: Caleb is still balking at foods that require chewing off an on. Since he went from only wanting finger foods and eating anything in site to only wanting purees literally overnight, we chalk it up to teething. In fact just in the past few days he has eaten nearly any finger food in front of him. He still gets about 6-8 oz of breast milk a day---YAY!

Liquid Feedings: We were on track to have all except the bedtime feeding dropped until he got the stomach bug and then I got scared. He takes a breakfast and bedtime feeding and the breakfast one will be dropped before November is over. Bedtime will likely hang around until 14 to 15 months...he loves it.

Talking: Not surprisingly, there is little to report here. He has only added A (for Addy) and Du (for duck) to his vocabulary this month. I understand boys are generally much slower to develop verbally and poor Caleb cannot get a word in with Addison constantly talking. He understands most of what we say, which is amazing He understands what we say, but cannot repeat it. So different than Addison.

Sign Language: He learns pretty quickly and knows a lot of signs but I am not as diligent as I was with Addison. I need to step up my game because he NEEDS sign language more than Addison ever did!

Schedule:

8:00-8:30 am: Wake up, liquid feeding, get dressed
8:30-9:00 am: Breakfast (takes a while to get him and Addison up and dressed and ready for breakfast)
9:00-10:00 am: Mon & Wed Sibling time; Tuesdays Baby Play at the library (Aj at school) ; Thursday Mommy time (AJ at school)
10:00-11:30/12:00 pm: Nap
12:15-1:00 pm: Lunch
1:00-1:30 pm: Independent Play time
1:30-2:10 pm: Structured Play time with Mommy
2:10-4:30 pm: Nap
5:00-5:30: Daddy Time
5:30-6:00 pm: Dinner
6:00-7:15 pm: Family time (play ground, errands, walk, etc)
7:15-7:50 pm: Bath, Bible time, prayers
7:50-8:00 pm: Bedtime liquid feeding

Dairy: Caleb still has NO dairy or dairy derivatives The plan now is to introduce dairy slowly around 15-18 months, however we will confirm this with the new Pediatrician next week at his well visit.

Misc:

Caleb was diagnosed with keratosis pilaris, basically little bumps on his skin that are really just unsightly and do not bother him.
Caleb got a stomach bug this last month; it was THE saddest thing EVER.
He learned how to sit himself down from standing FINALLY

My dearest Little Asher: Words will never describe how much joy fills my heart every morning I am privileged to start my day with you. When your Daddy and I learned we would have a second baby so soon, I wondered how I would ever find a way to divide my love---but I didn't have to divide it, God grew my capacity to love. Caleb, I am so thankful for the things you teach me everyday, most notably how to just simply and purely love. You love to love and you love to show that love, so thank you. Our (Daddy and I) favorite thing to do is watch you and your big sister giggle together, there is no sweeter sound. I adore your goober giggle, little jig whenever you hear music, hugs, mischievous ways, beautiful big eyes, big ole chubby cheeks and so much more. The first seven months were so challenging before we knew you were in so much pain, but each day since then has been sweeter than the one before. I look forward to watching you grow and learn and love; you remind me so much of your Daddy and that is probably the biggest compliment because you my love have the most wonderful Daddy out there. We love you and thank the Lord every day he gave us the HONOR to parent you. Happy First Birthday, son!

What a difference a year makes....