2 Month Old Caleb

Mr. Caleb Mark is 10 weeks old today!  What a joy he is to our family!  He’s a pretty good baby, other than when he’s hungry or tired.  He seems to go from a whimper to a full-on scream with breath holding in 6 seconds flat.  But, he’s easily appeased by some food or being cuddled with a blanket and his binky.

The kids are crazy about him.  Especially Adam.  At first I saw Adam in him a lot, but when I went through baby pictures of both Adam and Abby, I decided that although he definitely looks like a Gardner, he has his own little look about him.  I’m pretty sure he’ll have blue eyes like Adam though.

His 2 month accomplishments include smiling!  He just barely started to smile and coo a little in the past few days.  His pediatrician said the average time for first smiles and coos is 6 weeks, but with being 4 weeks premature, he’s still right on target.

His stats are:

Weight: 9 lbs. 15 oz. (25th percentile)
Height: 21.5 inches (7th percentile)

I love looking back and comparing the sizes of my other babies.  At 2 months, Abby was 9 lbs. 6 oz. and 21.5 inches and Adam was a whopping 11 lbs. 14 oz. and 23 inches!!

Although he’s only in the 25th percentile for his weight, compared to his short stature, he’s starting to look FAT!  It’s mostly in his cheeks and neck.

And here are just a whole bunch of random pictures of our cute little dude.

Nana (my mom) and Caleb

Deep in thought

I usually nap him on his tummy because he sleeps SO much better!

Smiling at Big Brother!

“Help me Mommy!”

Life is cah-ray-zee with 3 little kids but I love it despite my grumblings!  I blame that on the sleep deprivation.

Adam’s Tumbling Show

Adam has been taking a tumbling class for the past 9 months and absolutely loves it!  He had his very first performance last week and was so excited for us to watch.  My mom also came and he was just brimming with pride the whole evening!

SO excited to get a medal!

His poor teacher tried so hard to teach them a routine and well, you can’t really expect much from 3-5 year olds!

Fun with Papa

I tend to think my kids have a really awesome grandpa.  Their Papa loves them to death and they think he is just the coolest guy around (except for Daddy of course)!

After Caleb’s blessing on Sunday, we were out back watching some of the planes fly over head for the air show at Hill Air Force Base that is just a few miles from our house.

My Dad started swinging them in their little plastic chairs and they were squealing with delight!

We hung out at their house on Memorial Day and here’s a picture of Adam, Abby, and Harrison playing with Papa.  Harrison is almost 1 and he thinks my kids are so funny.  Adam, especially loves to get him to laugh and blow raspberries with his finger on his lips.

I hope they always know how lucky they are to have a grandpa as fun and loving as their Papa!  Now if he were just in town more often….

Caleb’s Blessing Day

Caleb was blessed in our ward by his Daddy on Sunday, May 27th.  It was a beautiful spring day and he was surrounded by many loving family members.

He wore a tiny white knit jumper and looked so cute and fresh from heaven.

My Handsome Boy!

He has lost virtually all his hair on top.  He totally looks like an old man!


Our family of FIVE!

After the blessing, we crammed everyone into our little townhouse for some goodies.

There was the obligatory, “Pass the Baby”.  Here Caleb is snuggling with his Aunt Annie.

Cousin Samantha is the only girl with 3 brothers and she is just a sweet little mommy in the making.

Nana, Uncle Tom, and Papa

I couldn’t resist posting a picture of this little dude, Cousin Harrison.  I can’t get enough of those chubby cheeks!  (and chunky thighs, and rubber band-looking wrists!)

Gardner Family

Nutty Gardner Family

Shurtleff Family

I feel so blessed to have brought little Caleb into such wonderful families.  He sure is loved by all of them!

The Past Few Weeks in Pictures

Caleb is nearly 4 weeks old and the past few weeks have flown by!  Here are some random pictures since Caleb has joined our family.

I love how tiny he is!

“Why are you making me wear this stupid hat Mom?”

Making the most of all his 19 inches at 2 weeks old!

The Shurtleff Grandkids
Harrison, Abigail, Adam, and Caleb

Rare picture with Abby and the baby together
This is about the extent of her interest in her brother.
She likes to use his diapers on her “friends”.

Adam LOVES his baby brother!  He loves to hold him, kiss him, talk to him, and he calls him Buddy Boy most of the time.

Second-cousin Charlie was due 1 week after Caleb and came 11 days after Caleb was born, 4 weeks early.  The difference, Charlie was 8 lbs. 10 oz.!  Nearly 3 full lbs. more than Caleb!

Enjoying some light therapy.  I’m starting to get worried that his skin tone is still quite yellow, so he’s spending a few minutes in the sunlight every day.

Caleb Mark Gardner

Born April 19, 2012
5 lb. 15 oz. and 18 in.

At the end of the post is an explanation of the crazy name changes that have been going on with this little guy.

A little about his name drama….
We have officially, (as in applied for the legal name change), chosen Caleb as this baby boy’s name.  I don’t know why it was so hard for us to decide.  Ok, it was hard for ME to decide!  We went through several names and every time I would decide on a name, it would feel wrong.  Blame it on the stress of pregnancy complications, hospital bed rest, a c-section, and constant severe tension headaches since his birth, and you get a mom who just can’t decide on what name is right for her baby.  One name was too trendy, one was too similar to Adam and Abby, one was Nat’s favorite that kind of grew on me, but then just seemed wrong.  Caleb is a name that I have liked from the beginning but that Nat didn’t.  After lots of discussion and tears, he assured me that he was ok with the name Caleb.  I am finally at peace!  We went to the local Health Department building and changed his birth certificate.  It will take up to a month for the change and then we’ll just have to get a new social security card, notify the health insurance and doctor and we’ll be good to go.

So….Caleb Mark Gardner is finally here to stay!