Tennis and Teeth

Every family has its own culture. Every parent has his or her particular hobbies. As my dad recently told me, "Of course all the kids had to learn to play tennis. That's where I was going to be, so it was how we would spend time together." Not everyone in the family took to tennis as intensely as I did. Of course, most everyone else is a little bit less intense than I am in general. 

But I love the game. Still to this day. I'm not competing anymore (although I've vowed to play a 30+ tournament this year in honor of my big birthday), but I still love to pound the ball. It's my therapy, and getting to hang out with my dad while I exercise is an added bonus.

Caleb stopped by the courts the other day (he and Paul were out for a stroll). 

 

He was mostly interested in eating the ball, but he sat and watched for a little bit. What he really enjoys is pressing his face up against his junior racket and making goofy noises. Here he is with the racket, trying to get Grandma and Grandpa DeHaan to pack him in their suitcase and take him to London with them (they're at Wimbledon!).

He looks so serious in this picture, I almost don't recognize him. Most of the time he looks like this:

Yes, the shoving something in his mouth feature is an important part of his usual look. He has four teeth on top now in addition to the two guys on the bottom. I don't have a good picture of them yet, but honestly, they freak me out. First of all, they're huge. Secondly, they have prominent gaps between each tooth. You know how couples imagine their future kids as a combination of their best features? Well we were hard pressed to pick whose teeth we wanted Caleb to have since we both did our time with the orthodontist as kids. So I guess we shouldn't be surprised by this new development, but it still makes me a little sad. Oh, vanity, vanity, vanity. I still think he's the cutest kid I've ever seen - scary teeth and all.

Nine Months Old

Dear Caleb,

You won't remember this, but your Dad and I will. The nine month well child doctor's appointment is the best. No shots. We took you in last Friday together. There are a lot of unique stresses that accompany owning your own business. The upside is your Dad has been at every single one of your doctor's appointments. He is also the one who holds you when you get your shots. He can calm you as quickly as I can and, let's face it, you have a special bond.

Maybe you bonded to Dad so quickly because you look so much alike. Maybe it's just an answer to one of my prayers. Either way, you are like two peas in a pod. That means I'm in big trouble once you're big enough to help him pull off the practical joke he enjoys so much.

Back to the nine month stats:

Weight = 23.4 lbs (90%)
Length = 30.25 in. (95%)
Head Circumference = 18.5 in. (90%)


You're still topping the charts in length, increasing in head circumference, and thinning out in weight. Your weight drop is attributed to your big milestone - crawling! We learned, via the pediatrician, that the army crawl is technically crawling. Up on your hands and knees is creeping. Who knew? According to those terms, you've been crawling for the last month and a half.

There's a single step down into the living room at Grandma & Grandpa DeHaan's house. You can crawl right over it now. Every now and then you like to pause and chew on it for a few minutes. This picture is a good demonstration of the ongoing debate over your eye color. I vote hazel. Some days it looks brown. Some days it looks blue or gray or green. The reason it changes so frequently is that you have a blue patch in the upper corner of each eye, the biggest patch is on your right eye. The rest of the eye looks light brown. I'm not sure what the end result will be, but it looks neat right now.

 
Your Great Grandma Horn (who's trying to claim the "Nana" title) came to visit you in May, along with her sweetheart. We don't get to see her as often as we'd like, so it turned into a family party. The Alling family came, mostly from Indiana - Kristy drove down from GVSU, your Great Uncle Doug came from Ohio and brought his fun friend Connie (who took this picture) and Uncle Chris and Aunt Stacey were in town from Tennessee. We had so much fun. You're a little young to fully appreciate karaoke night with Uncle Doug, especially since you go to bed at 7:30, but we were rocking it out all night long.

You're changing daily, little one. It amazes me. God is growing me too. I hope that you see Christ's love in me. There's no greater joy than knowing the One who made you. This past Sunday was your baby dedication at church. As soon as I get the photos and video back, we'll put it up here.

I'll love you forever. 

Dogs & Babies

I love my dogs. I did everything I could to prepare them for the arrival of my baby - brought the blanket home with his smell on it, took them on a long walk before they met him, gave them extra attention, kept the baby at a distance so they could adjust to his sounds and smells. Being the animal lover that I am and having been the "mom" of my two dogs for seven years, I told myself that things wouldn't change that much, that I would love and care for my dogs the same way I always had.

                             I was wrong.

 Here's the thing. A baby changes everything about your life, even things that you vowed wouldn't change. Now I'm not an advocate of a parent's life revolving around their child to the point where the parent loses sight of his or her own identity and the child is smothered, but babies have a universal quality called dependency. That quality forces you to adjust your thinking, modify your schedule, put down personal pleasures, tune in to another life. If you could step outside your body and watch the process, you would see adaptation at work. Here's the thing:

Dogs adapt too.

My dogs have been great with the baby. For the most part, they keep their distance and watch him out of the corners of their eyes. They don't cuddle with him, knowing he is great at pulling all things dog: ears, hair, tail, paw (all pictures appearing to the contrary were staged). So what has changed? I don't walk them as often as I did or spend significant amounts of time petting or playing with them. They know that when I have the baby in my arms, they must steer clear of my feet. They've learned to avoid new temptations (deliciously stinky diaper pail) and wait patiently for new treats (eyes tracking baby's waiving arm with a cracker soon to fall on the floor). Every now and then, they know they will be forced to interact with the newest member of the family, especially because he loves to hold leashes.

So dog lovers and new parents, know that things won't ever be the same. In fact, they will be constantly changing from now on. You will love your child more than your dogs, but your dogs won't love you any less for it. Plus, it won't be long before that baby turns into a little person who loves dogs and all that adapting your dog had to do when baby arrived prepared your pup to be loved by one more person.

Good Morning

Dear Caleb,

Your Grandpa DeHaan has a song he likes to sing to you from the musical "Singin' in the Rain." It's an appropriate song for your Grandpa D. because he wakes up as cheerful as robin in Spring. This video isn't the greatest quality because I was trying to figure out why it was steaming up, but it has Grandpa's song in it - and you grooving to it like nobody's business. Plus, your dad keeps pestering me to post it so he can watch it at the office. So here it is:





In addition to surrounding you with music, we're
also getting you used to the tools of the family trade
- tennis rackets.

Of course, it's important that you get outside and get some fresh air too!

I hear you shakin' your music shaker in the other room, so I'm going to leave this post and join your band. Love you, kid!

Hello

Lots of Laughs

There are few sounds as beautiful as a child's laugh. Think how much richer our lives would be if we delighted in every simple pleasure. 




p.s. Don't worry, honey. I was aware that he had a drumstick in his mouth, and I could feel where it was and knew that my movement wouldn't send it flying into the back of his throat. It only looks scary from the video. Breathe, breathe. See? Everything is ok;)

First Foods

The irony of life. So much thought goes into what baby eats, while the adults sit around munching on hot dogs and chips! Here's Caleb's first taste of anything other than breast milk:

The first feeding session didn't last very long. But we stopped the video camera too soon, and the progression looked a little something like this:

                                  
Thank you Becky, Kevin, Clayton and Brooke for the high chair! It's perfect for our space, and we are going to put it to good use.

Here are some recent highlights in the life of a six month old:


Caleb got a visit from his Grandma Haske when she had a lay-over at O'Hare airport.

 A Curious George monkey sweatshirt arrived in the mail from Aunt Stacey and Uncle Chris.

Still spending lots of time doing his favorite activity - jumping!