January 10

Apparently I only took pictures of Caleb eating today. I promise that

1. these photos were not all taken in one sitting and

2. we did things other than eat today.

Breakfast.

Thisis what happens when I hold up the camera and ask Caleb to smile. I think it's pretty cute.

Post-doctor visit snack time.

Again, I asked him to smile and he obliged.

Caleb ran around with a clementine while I talked to Sara on the phone. He has a funny way of eating a clementine - first, he bites into the unpeeled clementine like an apple. Then he makes a disgusted face, and allows me to peel it for him. Once it's peeled, he again bites into it like an apple, chews it up to get the juicy goodness, then spits out the remaining membranes. The warm, smushy mess he leaves is decidedly disgusting, but I'm happy that he's getting some vitamin C.

Another snack.

OK, I might be a bad mom for this one. The other day, we were looking through old photos to find pictures of Chris' parents, because Caleb was asking for them. The best pictures of Grandmother and Grandad were from Caleb's birthday, so we looked at all of the birthday photos. And then we came across photos of Caleb eating a cupcake.

And he asked for a cupcake.

Repeatedly.

So the other night, I whipped up a half-batch of this really odd but delicious cupcake recipe (I made buttercream icing instead of the recommended caramel), and I've been waiting for a chance to give one to Caleb. Today was my day.

He ate the majority of the cupcake (icing first), then spotted a fork on the table and asked for the fork. This was his first successful independent fork-using attempt, and I attribute it to the extreme moistness and denseness of the unusual cupcake recipe.

He did a really good job with the fork!

I think this may be a classic photo. Just saying.

Also, I have some doctor stats. At 18 months, Caleb is:

23 pounds (15th percentile)

32.5 inches tall (55th percentile)

47 centimeter head (30th percentile)

Those are all pretty typical for Caleb. He was so cooperative for the nurses and doctor, which made me proud. He stood still on the scale, he waited patiently, he allowed the nurse to take all of his vitals without my intervention at all, and he even opened his mouth to show the doctor his teeth! The kid definitely earned his Elmo sticker, and as an added benefit, got a reprieve from shots this time around. It feels weird that we don't have to go back for another 6 months; it's even weirder to think that I'll see the pediatrician with New Baby before I'll take Caleb back (barring any illness). I'm so thankful to have such a smart, healthy boy!