4 months

Berkley Grace,

It seems as though you'd rather be around mama and daddy than sleep. We've made some huge improvements this month, but you are still not sleeping well. Really around the time I wrote your 3 month post you were beginning to take some naps in your pack-n-play. You take all of your naps there now - so no more sling! Yay what a huge improvement! I don't have to carry you around all day anymore! Naps are hit or miss with you though. You typically take 3 naps a day and they can range from 30 minutes to an hour or so - one day you took a 3 hour nap, but that's probably because you were up the whole night before. 

I've been off dairy for several weeks now and there has been a huge improvement in your digestive system. You now have a bowel movement at least every other day whereas before you were going once a week! So sorry that it took me almost 4 months to realize you were sensitive to milk! But I'm just glad you're not as gassy and seem somewhat more comfortable these days.

This past week there were 3 consecutive nights you slept for about 6 hours - the longest you've ever done. We were hoping that meant your sleeping was finally getting better, but unfortunately, the past 2 nights have not been good. Really baby girl, you've GOT TO SLEEP. Our family needs rest - oh how we desperately need rest. 

We took you to the doctor for your 4 month check-up early because we needed some answers from your doctor. You are still a very long girl - in the 97th percentile for height, but you've slowed down on your weight gain.

You found your voice this month and love to squeal. You also love to hear your brother's voice and your daddy's. You always light up when one of them are around you. You like to sit up in the Bumbo and still tolerate tummy time. You are so close to rolling from your back to your stomach, I'm sure it's only a couple more weeks until you get the hang of it.

Berkley Grace, you definitely are a sweet girl and we cannot wait to see more of your personality come out in the next couple of months. But please baby girl, sleep better for your dad and I this month!

Love,
 Mama

Happy Halloween

Halloween pics....better late than never, right?

 A dragon and a train conductor

A dragon, bunny?, and train conductor

2 years

Caleb,

What a sweet boy you have grown up to be this past year. You are one gentle, tenderhearted, and happy little boy.

You have changed so much in these last 12 months that I don't even know where to begin. In this last year you've learned how to walk, run, climb on anything, say sentences (albeit they are short sentences), remember things that have happened days/weeks beforehand, summarize various Bible stories, use a fork and spoon, have gotten all of your teeth (who knew that was almost a 2 year process?!) and so much more! It's amazing to see how much and how fast you mature in just 2 years.

You are such a good listener. Even though you are a sinful child and do have temper tantrums and disobey, you are overall a very good listener when we tell you no. Disciplining you was a whole new world for your dad and I - we didn't really know what we were doing at first (and will continue to question our disciplining tactics I'm sure), but you've made it fairly easy on us so far. And I think it's really because of your temperament. You are just so tenderhearted, gentle, and sweet that when you know you've done wrong, you feel bad about it! For instance, just today I had your sister laying on a blanket outside and you were playing with your dump truck. I stepped away to go get your sister's pacifier when I saw you trip on the blanket that Berkley Grace was on and fall with your dump truck  right on her face. She was covered in dirt and was obviously startled and began to cry. You also started crying - not because you were hurt - but because you know you had hurt your sister. In the midst of your tears you said "Bear gave Booker Dace bo-bo" and then later you wanted to kiss her bo-bo to make it all better.  It's moments like those that I see your true self and I can't help but hope you continue to be a sweet big brother.

You have friends! It's so fun to hear you ask about or talk about your friends from church or Uncle David (really he's your cousin but you like to call him Uncle and we just think it's too cute to correct you). Speaking of Uncle David, you two had a bonding moment this year at the lake. Now that David's older and interacts with you, you guys LOVE to play with one another. Y'all aren't carrying on conversations or building forts together just yet, but seeing y'all play with your separate toys beside one another is really cute. Oh and if one of you starts chasing the other, that's really cute too. We cannot wait to see you two become best buds soon.

Your love for Blue has only deepened this past year. You still have him in your crib (yes, you still sleep in your crib because you love it so much) for nap time and nighttime. However, I sometimes let you have him outside of the crib - if we go on rides where I know your sister is going to scream the whole time or if you're not feeling well I'll let you have him outside of your crib at home. I bought another Blue - you know, just in case something were to ever happen to the real Blue - but unfortunately you are too smart for Mama to trick you into thinking 'Blue Two' is the 'Real Blue'. And so instead, you often allow Berkley Grace to play with 'Blue Two' if you're in the sharing mode.

You are a true boy. You love trains, trucks, bulldozers, dirt, planes, lawnmowers, and football. Your favorite thing to do every day now is to play in one of our raised garden beds and cover yourself with as much dirt as possible. You also love Thomas the Train Engine and Bob the Builder. Again - you are such a boy!

This is already gotten so long and I haven't even covered half of what I wanted to write about you. Trying to summarize this past year into one blog post is just impossible.

Caleb know that you are a special boy to your dad and I. You make us laugh so much. You give us joy even in the hardest of times. Our hearts overflow with love for you. It's hard to imagine that God loves you even MORE than your dad and I do. But believe me, that is the best news for you. Your dad and I pray for you, your heart, your future every day. Our prayer for you is this:

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.   
Ephesians 3:14-19

We love you,
Mama

3 months

Berkley Grace,

This has been the longest month of my life. It started off great with a week-long Krieger vacation at Smith Mountain Lake. For three nights you slept 6 consecutive hours. Your dad and I thought that perhaps you were going to start giving us some much needed rest at nights from then on.

I laugh at that now because I was COMPLETELY wrong.

Baby girl you are really wearing us out. Why don't you like to sleep? The longest you go now is 4 hours and then after that you are up almost every hour. Do you know what this does to your dad and I? We can hardly function some days...

You would be a great napper too (you usually take at least an hour nap three times a day) but you have to be held for most of those naps. As soon as I lay you down you instantly wake up. And so, even though I would love to hold you all day, I can't. Your brother needs diaper changes, the house needs cleaning, errands have to be run, and we have to eat. And so baby girl you live in your sling, which you are growing out of now and I have no idea what's going to happen when you physically can't fit in it anymore.

Even though you are a horrible sleeper, your smile is what makes your dad and I fall in love with you all over again. You sure know how to put on the charm. I have a feeling you will get anything you want from your dad when you get older.

You rolled over for the first time a couple of days ago. You tolerate tummy time a lot more than your brother ever did when he was your age. You love the activity gym we put you under every morning and love swinging with mama on the porch.

You are losing your hair slowly. I'm eager to see if you will be a blondie like your brother and whether you'll get your dads curly hair.

Berkley Grace, even though you are making us completely and utterly exhausted, know that your dad and I love you very much. Your big blue eyes and little dimple are all that it takes for us to forgive you for not letting us sleep.

We can't wait to see what this next month holds (hopefully a lot more sleep)!

Love,
Mama

2 months

Berkley Grace,

This month was a doozy. After the horrible stomach bug that went through all of us, we had another week of sickness. I got a clogged milk duct that almost turned into mastitis, which may or may not have contributed to your nursing strike, which made us go to the pediatrician and found out that you have acid reflux! It was another long week for you and I to say the least.

You weren't sleeping well last month either. We typically put you down between 9 and 10pm and you wake up on the dot at 1am, 4am, and again around 6 or 7am. It wouldn't be so bad if you would go back to sleep right after eating, but normally we would have to soothe you back to sleep with the pacifier.

The best thing about you is your smile. You are such a smiley baby when you are not hungry or tired! You've begun to coo at us as well, which also makes the sleepless nights worth it. You definitely smiled and cooed earlier than your big brother, but for some reason you just seem much more like a newborn than he did at this age.

Yesterday I took you to the pediatrician for your 2-month check-up (which is why this post is 11 days late). Ever since that clogged milk duct, I've been worried about your weight gain because I can tell that my milk supply has decreased. However all my worries were for nothing because you weighed in at 12 pounds 10 ounces, which didn't seem big to me, but apparently that puts you in the 90th percentile!

Not only are you in the 90th percentile for weight, but you are off the charts for height (she seriously wrote 100 percentile) and you are in the 90th percentile for head circumference too. What is it with me having big babies??!! I honestly don't get where you and your brother get it from...

Berkley Grace, even though this month has been physically taxing on all of us, we love you so much. I am trying to cherish the more precious moments of this phase as much as possible because I know it will pass. Seeing your face light up when you see me, snuggling with you, and smelling your sweet baby smell are things I'm trying to take in and be thankful for.

We love you sweet girl.

Mama

twelve is the new ten

Hopefully you can hear him counting to "ten" even though he has Blue's tail in his mouth. Holding Blue was the only way he would sit still long enough for me to try to videotape him...

river rats.

After a couple of rough weeks health-wise (hence the lack of recent blog posts), the Kriegers are doing much better. Before the stomach bug that got all 4 of us, acid reflux, a week long clogged milk duct, and nursing strikes, we had a long weekend at the bay with my parents.

This year Caleb had even more fun swimming in the water and playing in the sand. Berkley Grace even enjoyed the beach, being only a month old. With the waves as white noise and a nice breeze to keep her cool, she took several naps under the umbrella.

The weekend consisted of swimming, getting some sun, making puzzles, watching the Olympics, eating popsicles, going on boat rides, fishing, etc. Here are some pics to show all the fun we had!