Kaleb's First Christmas

Christmas 2007

We celebrated Kaleb's first Christmas last week and it was exactly what one might expect from a 10 month old. First of all he didn't really get it and just ended up getting frustrated with the whole thing. I think he didn't like how crowded it was in his normal play area and on top of that every time he got a hold of wrapping paper we took it away from him. He seems to look at paper these days in the same way that Jennifer and I look at chocolate. Today he even managed to get some paper from an emery board. Anyway once the morning of present opening was over he had a very difficult time falling asleep, which only compounded the problem. Eventually he did fall asleep in his bouncy seat, which ave us a chance to prepare for the party. Once everybody arrived for the party he was wide awake and glad to see all of the guests. It didn't take long for him to run out of gas though and a couple hours in we tried to get him to take a nap with no luck. He was pretty exhausted, but still behaved so well. Finally once everybody cleared out we were able to get him to take a nap and upon waking up he was in good spirits.

Fast forward to Friday and Kaleb came down with a cold and has had a runny nose and a dry throat ever since. He is still happy, but is very squeaky and slimy. Besides that he is doing well and has really become super mobile over the last couple weeks. We are finally to the point where you can't leave the room without him tearing across the room and getting in to something he shouldn't be touching. Standing up is no big deal now and once he is up ends up cruising all over the place. I can say with almost complete confidence right now that in only a few weeks he will be walking on his own.

A snow storm has already started and depending on the network you listen to we are getting anywhere from 1 to 10 inches. This coupled with my mom's New Year's Eve party tomorrow afternoon probably measn we won't be going in to Boston to see the ice sculptures and other First Night displays. Oh well maybe next year.

Keegan

A little something before Christmas

A little video I put together from various clips.


And some photos

Kaleb: Day 307

White Christmas Guarantee?

Kaleb: Day 298

Kaleb: Day 300

The snowstorms continue to hit us up here in Merrimac. On Thursday we were hammered with a quick daytime storm that dumped about 8 inches on us in a short five hour time span. Luckily I left work around 12:40 and my commute was only an extra ten minutes compared to some people in Boston who sat in traffic for up to six hours. Some students at Jennifer's school didn't get home until 8 pm.

Today we were hit again with another 8 inch storm, but this one dragged out for a much longer period of time and fell short of its true potential when it turned to rain about halfway through the day. I ended up shoveling at the perfect time while the snow was still dry and light.

Besides the snow it was a very busy weekend. Yesterday we went out for a late breakfast at Me and Ollie's and had our photos taken for the locals board. I stayed around and worked while Jennifer and Kaleb went back home to prepare for our holiday party. Once I was home I started making pizza sauce for the pizzas I planned on making at the party. It turned out to be a good idea because the pizza was a big hit. The party was also a hit, we ended up with about 15 people at the house and it went very well. Its always fun when we have a party, because it is such a hodge-podge of our friends. Everybody usually has fun, well at least it seems that way plus they drive all the way up from Boston, we must be doing something right.

Kaleb had a great weekend although he was mostly stuck in the house, which I am sure at this point is getting old. Jennifer and I both recognized how much he has changed over the last couple weeks, not only is he standing up and moving around (not crawling or walking yet) with great ease, but his personality has really come out as of late. He now reacts to more things and is much more animated. He also has been talking a lot more adding several new sounds to his repertoire. He had another first yesterday, the first time he reacted to me taking something away from him. He was chomping on some bread and I grabbed the bread and he immediately started growling at me until I gave him the bread back. Before that he would normally just move on to something else and forget about the bread, but not this time.

Keeg

Cardboard Sledding

Kaleb: Day 296

I watched Kaleb today and while I cleaned off the car I had him sit on a piece of cardboard in his snowsuit. He was a great kid and just played around with the snow. Once my car was cleaned off I dragged him around the yard a little bit. We eventually made it to the back yard where there is a little bit of a hill. You know what comes next, I helped pack down a little trail for him and he took several short trips sledding down the hill. He loved it and even tried to scootch forward to get the ride started. Unfortunately he did do one face plant before one of the rides down, but recovered quickly.

Keeg

Quiet Weekend

Kaleb: Day 295

As strange as it may seem so close to Christmas we had a very quiet weekend. Saturday we met up with some friends for lunch, but before we did we took the opportunity to get a little shopping in. Oh I almost forgot on Friday night we went out to dinner and we ordered Kaleb his own meal for the first time. It was a grilled cheese sandwich at a Mexican restaurant, but he loved it and did very well. Ever since Jamison showed us that baby's can eat more than just canned baby food we have stepped up the difficulty level a bit. Of course sometimes that makes for nervous instances of coughing and spitting up. Kaleb also has progressed with movement. He sits up from lying down without a problem now and even crawled a couple paces forward. He is as daring as ever when it comes to standing next to things, often times going from one object to another.

Today we didn't have anything planned, so I decided to go out and do some work at a local cafe called Me and Ollies. It takes about fifteen minutes to get there, but is the best place around for just sitting, sipping a coffee and working. I was able to get a lot done so I only have to work for a few hours tomorrow evening. My mom is working tomorrow so I will be watching Kaleb, as long as the weather is okay we will be going into the new CaseNET office tomorrow to unpack my stuff. Unfortunately, we are supposed to get a few inches of snow tonight followed by sleet and freezing rain in the morning.

Keeg

Christmas Tree is Up

Kaleb: Day 290

Here are some new photos of recent events at our house. First we went out and got a Christmas tree and set up all of our Christmas decorations. We also received our first snowstorm and I learned the joys of shoveling a crushed stone driveway.

Keegan

Snow is on the Way

Kaleb: Day 285

It was another busy week, especially due to the extra time I had to put in working. It all paid off on Friday when I went with the sales team to a demo of our software in Boston. Now I know its further from coding than what I am currently doing, but it still more fun than what I am currently doing. Unfortunately getting to Boston for 9AM isn't exactly easy so I left around 6:30 and met Kate for breakfast, just in case traffic was crazy. We met at True Grounds, the same place we used to meet all the time. The scones were just as good as I remember them.

As for Kaleb's week, he slept a lot more than me and didn't have nearly as many meetings. He did have his first bubble bath (you can see how he felt about that in the photos). He is standing up while holding on to things all the time now and it really seems like only a short while before he will take those first steps. He has also been eating level 3 baby food without trouble, when he first started he had a little trouble with the big chunks.

Bedtime has changed slightly since last month, our doctor told us to try and feed him as much as possible and to push his bedtime back an hour. He suggested this because we told him how we always have to rock him to sleep before putting him down. Now we put him down and he cries for a couple minutes but then goes right off to sleep from pure exhaustion. Unfortunately he continues to wake up between 9:30 and 10:00, which is tough because he won't just go back to sleep easily and letting him cry to sleep has failed to work so far even after 20 minutes of sobbing. Now we are determined to break this awful habit, so we can enjoy our bed without a little person stuck in between us.

Yesterday Jamison and Megan came up to visit. We played at the house for a couple hours and then we went downtown to Flatbread for lunch. Jamison is such a cutie and is such a great kid, Kaleb is lucky to have her for a girlfriend.

Today we are hoping to find a nice Christmas tree and will try and attend the Merrimac Santa parade. It sounds like a busy day ahead, I am sure Kaleb is up for it though considering he just slept for quite a while in his high chair. Oh yeah and one more thing it sounds like snow is on the way for tonight and tomorrow, although it is not really clear how much we will receive in Merrimac. Being this close to the ocean always messes things up and makes each storm a complete mystery.

Keeg