Caleb's first bath

Caleb's belly button finally healed (i.e. his umbilical cord stump fell off) on his three week birthday. I didn't see it fall off, we were at Brent's parents and Caleb's Meemaw went to change his diaper and it was missing. I was so excited to see it go, because that meant we could give him his first bath! I had some errands to run the next afternoon and while away from the house I get a call from Brent. Evidently, Caleb had a diaper blow out so epic it required a bath :( :( :( I missed it, I wasn't there for his first bath. *sob* So I decided to create his first 'official' bath later that afternoon. The diaper blow out cleanup was more of a rinse off than a bath anyway, and it didn't even include the special hooded baby bath towel I'd been saving, nor was any baby wash or lotion involved.

Brent and I gathered Caleb's bath supplies and gave him his first bath together. It was a ton of fun, Caleb seemed to really enjoy the feeling of the water. I'm excited to give him another one soon! And because I love my son and pictures on the internet could last forever, I won't be sharing any 'revealing' photos. However, these pictures of a clean happy baby are too cute not to share.

The Ultimate Caesar Salad Dressing

A few years ago, my friend Leslie discovered an amazing Italian restaurant in a town about twenty minutes from us. Her parents were frequent diners also, and the three of them developed a close friendship with the proprietors. Unfortunately the restaurant didn't make it, my opinion is that it was too upscale, ingredient and menu wise, for the town it was located in.

Thanks to their friendship, Leslie was able to land the keys to their super great Caesar salad recipe. She serves it as an appetizer, on toated crostinis, with shaved parmesan cheese as a garnish, and it's a big hit at parties.

Caesar Salad Dressing
Source: Leslie, aka West 95

Ingredients:

1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
1 cup canola oil
2 T, heaping, grated parmesan cheese
2 inches anchovy paste
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 1/2 T water
1 1/2 t worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 t red wine vinegar
1 t dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, rough chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a blender or a food processor, pulse the eggs a few times to beat them. With the blender on, slowly add the canola oil. Next, add the rest of the ingredients and blend for 30 seconds. Allow to rest in the refrigerator at least 30 minutes so it can thicken.

He's awake!

The first two pictures were taken when Caleb was ten days old. The third I just took this morning and today he is 20 days old.

It seems like most of my pictures of Caleb are of him asleep. Probably because that's when I have a chance to grab the camera and snap a few shots. Also, when he's wide awake and making cute faces *at four a.m.* I'm not really in the mood to grab the camera and document my sleep deprivation in action.

I love our playtime, when his eyes are open and he is examining me, or the window, or the television. I have to admit, there's nothing more gratifying than seeing my baby turn his eyes to me when he hears my voice. He's always done it just for me (which I secretly love), but I noticed him turn towards his Daddy the other day which is okay too :)

Every once in awhile Caleb gets ahold of one of his fingers or his thumb with his mouth and tries to suck on it. Usually he finds a reason to move his hand away before he really gets down to business. That's his Papa holding him when he was ten days old.

To explain my absence...

Baby Caleb made his arrival on May 19, 2009. Obviously, it's been a busy almost three weeks for me, I haven't cooked a single dish, let alone have time to blog about one. However, I did mean to be better about posting baby pictures!

Caleb was born at 2:20 in the afternoon. This photo was taken later that evening, after all our visitors had left. That was our first opportunity to really have a chance to play with him and get to know him.We took this picture the day we came home. I'm so glad my mom, Caleb's GG, was able to stay with us for several days, she was a wonderful help and I loved watching her hold my baby boy. Also, everyone please notice the perfect little hand that escaped the blanket. He likes to have one arm free of the swaddle.

Caleb with his Daddy, I believe this was taken the day after he was born. We were still in the hospital.I took this one of him in his yellow outfit when he was about a week old. Forgive the poor lighting around his face, technically he was supposed to be sleeping, but I thought he looked too cute to not take his picture.