Caleb. Is. STOKED!!!

We finally decided it was time to update Caleb's room and give him a BOY room instead of a baby room.  What did he pick?  What else?  We still have a few details to take care of, but it is officially a Star Wars room!  He absolutely loves it.

Halloween

Holy moley!  I got so caught up in posting old videos of Caleb, that I just realized I never put up Halloween pics.  Caleb was Obi Wan Kenobi (surprise, surprise).  This Jedi had a special Halloween Lightsaber and everything!  We had tons of fun Trick-or-Treating in our neighborhood - it was REALLY busy around here, too.

Smiling for the camera before going out.

A little Jedi battle before Trick-or-Treating.

By the end of the evening Caleb got cold, so I put a blanket over his lap.  Between that and the wheelchair, we decided it was a quick wardrobe change into a Retired Jedi :)

Caleb Learning How to Roll His Head

This was a huge milestone for Caleb - learning how to roll his head from one side to the other.  It was the beginning to him being at least semi-mobile independently.  I didn't realize how cute this video was until I watched it back after filming it.  His smile just melts your heart.  Caleb was 7 months old in this video.

Remember to pause the music on the right if you want to hear the video better.

Caleb Learning how to Shake a Toy, and Perfecting the Bobble-head

When Caleb was an infant we had no idea what we were facing and, therefore, no idea what to expect.  We took each milestone as a huge victory and learned to appreciate the smallest movements, strides and accomplishments.  We watched him carefully, along with many specialists, trying to piece together what was going on with him.  We quickly learned that for infants many of the cognitive milestones are directly tied to motor skills - shaking a toy, putting toys in their mouths, etc.  Since Caleb's motor skills were so delayed, it became hard to tease out if he wasn't meeting the cognitive milestones because of purely motor delays, or if cognition was involved, too.  Our "gut instinct" told us it was purely motor skills - there always seemed to be a curiosity and awareness in his eyes.  As he started to meet more motor milestones it soon became apparent that we were right, and it was simply that his body could not keep up with his active mind.

Here is some video of Caleb reaching some more milestones at his own pace.  The first part of the video is from when Caleb was 6 months old, and the latter part is when he was 9 months.  Remember to pause the music on the right if you want to hear the video better.

Caleb Kickin' It at 4 months old

Jeff and I have often said that we have watched Caleb's progress literally muscle by muscle at times.  Below is a video that demonstrates that.  On Christmas morning when Caleb was 4 months old exactly, he gave us one of the best Christmas gifts we could have ever asked for - a new muscle.  We watched as he began to kick his left leg with a muscle that had never worked before, his left quad.  It took a full month for his right quad to start working, but seeing him kick his left leg opened up a world of possibilities for us.  

Enjoy!  Remember to pause the music on the right to hear the video better.

Caleb As an Infant

We recently had all of our old home movies from when Caleb was an infant transferred to DVD, so I get to start posting some of his progress and milestones!  It's pretty amazing to see how far he's come.  We would literally watch him progress one muscle at a time.  It's amazing to take a step back and see everything that we were doing, and how in tune with his every move we were.  Caleb was about 4 months old in the video below.  WARNING:  There is an upset child in the following video!

Remember to pause the music on the right if you want to hear the video better.  Enjoy!

Gold Wellness Center is Open for Business!!!

Check out Jeff's new office!  We can't get over how gorgeous and spacious it is.  The transition is going smoothly, and we couldn't be happier.  Check it out!

Here's a new type of scalp massage we're considering bringing into the office.

Pretend City

A couple of weeks ago we got to celebrate Cousin Danny turning 2 at Pretend City, which is (according to our family) the New Happiest place on Earth (Disneyland totally freaked Caleb out, and he was miserable the entire time we were there).  Pretend City was SOOOOOO cool.  It was exactly how it sounds - a miniature city where the kids (and maybe the adults) get to pretend to do all sorts of different things.  Caleb's favorite was the grocery store... Papa Mickey said it must be in his genes :)

A Warm Return

On Monday when Caleb woke up he immediately complained of a tummy ache, lost coloration in his face and started acting like he needed to throw up. I made the rapid decision to keep him home from school in case this was the flu. It turned out to be a low blood-sugar episode and he was completely fine the rest of the day (it's really not the point of this story).


Wednesdays are my day off, and my chance to be a Kindergarten mom. I volunteer in his classroom, and then after school we started going to the public library with some of his classmates and other moms. One of the moms told me how truly loved Caleb already was by telling me 2 stories:

1. She told me that her son said to her on Monday, "Mommy, I was trying really hard to concentrate on my work at school, but it was REALLY hard cuz I was so busy praying that Caleb was OK."
2. Apparently when he arrived to class on Tuesday morning, one of the students exclaimed, "Caleb, you're back!" Then the entire class started chanting his name.

I am continually amazed at how quickly he touches people's hearts so deeply. I am so blessed to be his mom.

Coming November 1st!

Jeff's practice is moving and we are happy to introduce you to Gold Wellness Center!  Enjoy the tour.

Remember to pause the music on the right to hear the video better.