July 31

This morning, while I slept in, Caleb helped Chris clean the house.

Seriously.

Chris got Caleb a book called Barnyard Bath! for his birthday. The best part of the book is that it comes with a special washcloth, and during the course of the book, Baby is asked to to wash different animals. Since we read it every night in the bathtub, Caleb has gotten really good at washing things. He always "helps" me wash his tray after meals, and now he can help Daddy wash the cabinets.

How sweet is that?

Later, Caleb played with Grandma for a few hours while Chris and I painted and helped install flooring in Caleb's soon-to-be born cousin's room.

Caleb took a long, late nap, and woke up at 8:00, which is his normal bedtime.

Hence the later-than-normal post.

Hence the groggy-looking baby in this photo.

He saw Daddy's hat hanging on a hook, though, and that brought him back to his cheerful self.

And now he's asleep in bed.

July 30

I think I have come to a startling conclusion about myself as a mother.

My core philosophy seems to be: Take a photo, then stop the nonsense.

I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be the other way around.

Photographic evidence follows.

Yep. Caleb has found the toilet paper. I'm pretty sure Chris taught him to do this while I wasn't paying attention, because that's the type of thing Chris would do.

But me? I didn't stop Caleb. I grabbed the camera instead. Just like the cat food incident.

Does this make me a bad mom?

I don't think so.

It was really pretty funny, and Caleb was having so much fun.

In fact, he was having so much fun that I might have gotten out a new roll of toilet paper, just to continue the fun.

I probably shouldn't have admitted that, but the photos would have given me away.

Then Chris came home and did this to our child:

DFS can't take our baby just because we're a little odd, right?

(Yes, Caleb is wearing Chris' running shoes.

And a necktie.

And another necktie as a ninja headband.

He doesn't know what to think, either.)

July 29

I'm sorry. Can we just pretend that I have something witty/interesting to say?

No wonder only Emily, Grace, and Chris read this blog anymore.

I promise I'll try harder to come up with both cute pictures and interesting comments in the future.

For now? I'm going to go curl up with my newly-acquired copy of Catching Fire. I hope I remember to go to bed tonight.

July 28

I'm too tired to write anything interesting because I foolishly stayed up way too late last night reading an exciting book.

So instead I'll show you some cute pictures. Is that ok?

Here you get a lovely view of Caleb's delightfully crooked 3 bottom teeth. The fourth is working its way in, which makes life especially challenging right now. Actually, I can't complain. Caleb's "challenging" teething is just a little extra whinyness. I think I can deal.

Also, you can see the little Cabbage Patch baby Grandmother and Grandad found in their basement. Caleb loves it and gives it kisses.

Caleb also loves and gives kisses to his friend Scout. It took 2 weeks, but he has finally figured out how to press the buttons to make Scout sing songs. Now he just sits there and presses the buttons over and over. Luckily, Scout is one of the few non-annoying talking toys, so it's just funny.

Caleb is also a fan of granola bars. Chris is trying to get a bite out for Caleb, while Caleb excitedly signs "more" and Tigerlily glares at me for allowing the baby to be so close to her.

Oh, Tigerlily. Get ready to glare some more.

Something interesting must be happening outside, because Lily is too focused to run off.

And then...

She's actually in motion in this photo, preparing to take flight. But Caleb was really tickled that he got to touch the cat!

P.S. I'm starting to wonder if anyone is actually reading this blog. I haven't gotten many comments lately, and your comments encourage me to keep blogging!

July 27

Today was all about Daddy. And food.

We started the day with a special homemade breakfast, then met Chris for lunch at Bread Company, and finished our day with dinner at our favorite restaurant, Bristol.

In between all of the eating, Caleb and I did lots of driving, got Caleb's hair cut for the second time, picked up a few birthday presents for Chris, and saw Grandma and Aunt Jenny.

We were busy, busy, busy, but I still managed to get a few good photos.

My boys were happy after a delicious meal.

Who am I kidding? I was happy after a delicious meal!

Gotta love the handy-dandy tripod! Caleb loved the blinking light that accompanies my camera's auto-timer.

Happy birthday to my wonderful husband! I chose well to procreate with him. :)

July 26

I slacked again today.

This is right before bathtime; Caleb always gets to play one last time while we fill the tub.

He's so silly!

I'll try to get better photos tomorrow - Daddy's birthday!

July 25

In case you haven't noticed, we've been a little bit busy lately.

We've been especially busy with parties.

So when we realized that Chris' 29th birthday was coming fast on the heels of Caleb's birthday and Emily's baby shower and right before our anniversary and Jenny's birthday, we decided to be a little bit low-key.

So today we had our low-key pre-birthday celebration for Chris.

Caleb did his best to be low-key. 

(He must be working on tooth #6 - that hand has been in that mouth constantly!)

We celebrated with a few family members, cake and ice cream, a few presents, and a swim.

Caleb particularly enjoyed the cake (one of the perks of being a big-boy one-year-old now!).

He also enjoyed the presents.

(This was the ribbon I used to decorate the one gift I had for Chris. And the gift was technically from Caleb. I think I failed at that one.)

He also really enjoyed the swim.

I think Caleb really enjoyed the whole day.

I am now going to enjoy my second piece of cake. Yum.

July 24

More bathtime pictures today, which means that I didn't pick up my camera until bedtime. Again.

I do have an excuse, though. I spent all day with my sister at her childbirth classes, so Caleb spent all day with Daddy and his cousin Ryan. The boys had lots of fun, and did more than I do in most weeks: they rode bikes, they swam, they played baseball, they even played some golf! (OK, so it was Wii golf. But still!)

Unfortunately, they didn't take any pictures. Instead, you get to see a typical post-bath scene.

Caleb always pulls one toy out of the bathtub with him. Tonight, he coordinated: ducky towel and rubber ducky.

We dry him off in the sink, and he gazes lovingly at that other baby.

He loves bathtime!

(I like to call this his "Bathing Beauty" pose.)

July 23

Today is a five-photo day, so bear with me?

We stopped by my Mom's house today, and Caleb was pumped to play with her phone.

This is him "answering" her phone.

It's tucked behind his head.

Ryan saw that Caleb was wearing his new Pujols t-shirt, so he changed into his Pujols jersey so he would match.

I'm pretty sure that was the sweetest thing a 12-year-old has ever done.

Caleb adores Ryan.

See?

The boys, representin'.

When we drove home, nasty traffic snarls meant that an 18-minute drive became a 45-minute drive.This is what I see in my rearview mirror. (Relax, I didn't take this photo while driving. Though I could have; for a good 10 minutes we sat without moving at all. Curse you, Highway 70!)

July 22

Caleb really likes to brush his teeth.

He likes it so much that he wants to share the joy with everyone else.

He's so thoughtful.

July 21

Apparently, some part of babies' brains isn't fully developed, making them highly mercurial. It's a cortex of some sort: prefrontal, cerebral, I can't quite remember.

Regardless, this immature brain-part means that any baby can go from distraught to delighted in a matter of seconds. Caleb is a perfect example:

This is what happens when Caleb wants to read a book and you don't do it rightthissecond.

(I kind of feel bad for taking this photo instead of comforting him, but I think his sad face is so adorable, especially when he gets THIS upset over something so minor.)

Pick the child up, put him outside, and this is what you get:

I tell you, it's that darned cortex. I'm wondering when it will fully mature. Based on my work with teenagers, I'm thinking maybe around the time he's 26.

July 20

I really can't think of anything interesting to say, so here are some photos.

This was when Caleb discovered the joy of the Kleenex box, and all it contains. I have to admit, it was pretty funny to watch him happily pull tissue after tissue out of the box. I suppose it was wasteful to let him do that, then throw the tissues away. But who wants to interrupt a happy baby? And who wants to use a crumpled, loose tissue? Not me.

Later, Caleb took some time to chill out at the pool. He loves this jumper - he'll contentedly bounce in it and watch all of the kids play for a really long time. If we're feeling frisky, I'll pull him back and let him swing through the water. That produces a huge grin, rather than this mellow face.

I'm boring. Good night.

July 19

Things Caleb did today:

Started shaking his head "no" when he actually means no

Made monkey noises for the first time

Figured out how to press the button on his friend Scout

Went to the doctor for his 12-month checkup

- weighed 20 pounds, 4 oz (25th percentile)

- head 46.5 cm (50th percentile)

- length 30.5" (75th percentile)

Got 3 shots

Cried

Was placated by a sticker

and this

Problem: Cheerios on his tray.

Solution: spoon.

Caleb carefully placed one Cheerio in the bowl of his spoon,

then brought the spoon to his mouth. (The spoon needed a little help.)

Yum!

But then he realized there was a more efficient solution.

Problem solved!

July 18

Right now I'm so tired I can hardly string words together in a sentence, much less an interesting one. Today was my sister's baby shower, which went really well, thanks to my wonderful support team (Sara, Chris, and Mom).

Unfortunately, in all of the showering, I didn't see much of Caleb today! Chris played with him all day, which was so helpful. The part I did witness was Caleb's second swim of the day.

Definitely thinking, "Gosh, I miss Mommy."

"Mommy? Who's Mommy? Why should I miss her? I'm swimming!"

This is the advantage the pool on our patio has over the neighborhood pool. We don't frown upon skinny dipping here!

Side note: Caleb went one full year without ever pooping in the bathtub. Unfortunately, his streak is now broken.

Now I am going to sleep for 8 years.

July 17

Despite the heat today, we had a great morning outside. While I ran with friends, Chris and Caleb took a little bike ride. It was so much fun!

This is his awesome bicycle contraption.

 (By the way, I'm getting tired of people offering their opinions that it's unsafe. I've done my research, and we've tried it out. With an extra-vigilant bike rider, we are totally comfortable with it. Case closed. Thank you.)

Caleb was so excited about the swings!

His new thing? My sunglasses.

Doesn't he look like a rockstar?

He was pretty proud of himself.

We all laughed really hard.

I promised my running buddies that I wouldn't turn my camera on them. Sorry.

July 16

Today, I am going to show you several deceptive photos of Caleb.

Off the top of my head, I can come up with two reasons why they are deceptive.

1. The top two are deceptive because Caleb looks like the Gerber baby. The third photo shows it like it really is, all gappy teeth and double chins. I almost didn't post this photo because it shows the least-flattering aspects of Caleb. You know, when he looks like Kevin from "The Office". But I did post it, because I've gotta keep it real.

2. All three photos are deceptive because they make it seem like Caleb is cheerful and smiley all of the time. In reality, he was laughing because I made hiccuping noises. The rest of the day, he fussed, whined, and threw tantrums. I don't know what it is, but now that he's one he has suddenly developed his own opinions about things. When he doesn't get what he wants, he makes it clear that he is not pleased. Having dealt with a mellow, happy-go-lucky, laid-back baby for the past 12 months, I'm not sure what to do with this new baby who's.... a little too much like me.

Up until now, I've been the kind of mom who hasn't feared her baby getting older. When people asked if I was having a tough time with the fact that he was turning one, my line was, "Not at all! I've enjoyed every stage of babyhood. I can't wait to see what happens next."

Fool.

I'd like to go back to last month, please.