Calem can stand up!!! Using the bars of his crib, he can pull himself up. Admittedly, he does look like he's standing on bowl of jello given how wobbly his little legs are, but he's standing!! Of course, now with the new milestone comes a new challenge--he doesn't know how to get back down and in the middle of the night when we're trying to let him cry it out (so of course I end up going in there much earlier than intended).
He is finally feeling better too and his appetite has returned. He eats fairly well, but now refuses the bottle altogether. He prefers a cup with a straw or plain cup. We try to get him to drink milk while eating, but otherwise, he drinks very little (and only comfort nurses at the end of the day) so we try to get him to eat as much cheese and yogurt as possible (to get fat and calcium in his diet). One way I've learned to get him to drink a little more milk is to give him tiny pieces of dark chocolate for dessert and it makes him drink more milk than he would have otherwise. His favorite drink is water, but we try to offer milk first.
As aluded to earlier, Calem is not sleeping through the night, on good nights waking up twice and going right back to sleep, on bad nights (like last night) being up more twice, and taking at least a half hour to get back to bed. The only good thing about those rough nights is he usually likes to "sleep in" til 8:30. He still naps twice a day, usually quite briefly for an hour or so each and gets ready for bed starting around 6:45 PM and but stays awake til 9 PM or later (typically until whenever his sister is also asleep).
To keep Calem entertained when he first wakes up, we have a few toys in his crib. These include two mini-pianos (both birthday gifts), a cloth book, a glowworm, and a baby doll (Clara is lending this one to him, she doesn't have room for one more toy in her crib!). He often will play both pianos at the same time. He seems to enjoy making music. He also enjoys drawing--perhaps because he sees his sister doing this on a regular basis. Even when she is not around he is eager to use the markers to make a new picture. (Or maybe, especially when she's not around because otherwise they'd have to share the markers ;)
His favorite books are "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" by Bill Martin Jr. and the board books about "Skippyjon Jones," by Judy Schachner. His favorite activities still include stacking blocks (he does this without any encouragement from us) anywhere from 4 to 6 blocks at a time, rolling a ball back and forth, "cleaning" (loves to use the swiffer and little broom), "cooking" (using a spoon to stir in a measuring cup) and playing with empty boxes (we hide random things inside to keep him busy putting things in and out of boxes.
I'm not sure if he actually uses any words yet. It sounds like he says "uh-oh, mama and dada" but he doesn't use these consistently, often he says them only if we encourage him to. He has used sounds like "duh" (which in context seems to mean "done" like when he is finished eating and doesn't want any more food) and "bluh" (seems to be blanket, but maybe I'm imagining this too). In terms of non-verbal communication he typically pulls on the bottom of our pant leg to get our attention in order to pick him up off the floor.
He is becoming increasingly independent (wants to play on his own, does not like being interrupted from an activity), I can't believe how quickly time flies!
