March 11

Finally - sunshine!

I worked Caleb hard today. We met friends at an indoor playground for a playdate in the morning, came home, ate lunch, napped, went to the grocery store (he says "Dierbergs" really well, and gets excited when we get to go there), played at the park for an hour, came home, and bounced on the couch for another hour before Daddy got home. Who knew playing could be such hard work?

This sidewalk overlooks our favorite park. Caleb loved running along the fence, watching all of the kids play.

I guess other kids are much less intimidating from afar?

My brave little man was preparing to take a BIG (2 inches?) step down. It was so funny to watch him navigate it; like always, he was very cautious. He actually turned around, put his hands on the ground, and stepped down like he would on an actual stair (if he were brave enough to tackle an actual stair).

Such a big boy!



March 10

I'm going to give you fair warning now:

I am about to post way too many pictures for today. If that will annoy you, you can go play on Facebook or something.

Caleb and I were playing on the couch this afternoon, and he was so funny and cooperative that I just kept taking pictures. (By the way, I often thank him for being so cooperative, and he tries to say it back. It sounds like "top-a-tif", and I love it.)

He started our photo shoot with some deep thinking.

But the deep thinking turned into face-squishing, which cracked me up!

Then, since March IS hat month, after all, Caleb turned my super-cute new scarf (Thanks, Grace!) into a hat.

He loves to play with this scarf, especially because it has fringe. And sparkly sequins. And it's kind of see-through, so he can cover his head with it and run around without bumping into things. (Sorry, I didn't get a photo of that. I was too busy laughing.)

How cute is he? Whenever he wears this shirt (a gift from my Aunt Deb), he pets the doggie's face and says, "Doggie. Soft. Scarf."

What a funny little man!

Now that he's in the bigger-kid classrooms at church and MOPS, Caleb has started learning songs about Jesus. Lately, when we pray before a meal or at bedtime, he'll ask for a "Jesus Song". We've started singing "Jesus Loves Me" a lot, and Caleb sometimes tries to sing, too. At this point, he can only muster, "Yes, Jesus! Yes, Jesus! Yes, Jesus!", but it melts my heart. Today I realized that as much as it melts my heart, it must make God even happier to hear a sweet little baby singing those words.

Also today, we were singing "Jesus Loves Me" in the car. I got to the line where "they are weak, but He is strong." In my rearview mirror, I saw Caleb's little arms shoot straight up in the air as he shouted, "Muscles!" And then I died laughing. The end.

March 9

Caleb is 20 months old today!

Is it just me, or is that number scarily close to 2 years old? Not that I mind him growing up - I'm all for that. But with 2 years old comes the prospect of potty training and a big boy bed, both of which involve work for me, and I'm not all for more work for me.

As he gets older and gets more words, it's becoming even more apparent that this kid has a terrifyingly good memory. I'm thinking I can either let him use his power for evil, or harness it for my good. Maybe I can combat New Mom Brain when Baby comes by training Caleb to help me remember things? I should start that training soon, though...

Jenny came over today to play with us. She knocked on the front door, and I said to Caleb, "Someone's at the door! Who is it? Go see who it is!" and sent him running.

As he ran, he asked, "Daddy?"

No, Caleb, it's not Daddy.

"Maggie?"

No, Caleb, it's not Aunt Maggie.

Then Jenny walked through the door, and he shouted, "DENNY!"

Apparently, Jenny's main attraction is her fancy phone, which she is more than willing to share with Caleb.

"Geez, Mom. Why don't you have a cool phone like this? You're so 20th-century."

Oohhh!

This was when Jenny showed him her fart app. She's such a good influence.

March 8

This football goes everywhere with him.

I'm not looking forward to the day I have to tell him that I won't let him play real football.

Or hockey.

Or anything that could cause damage to his precious head or brain or face.

But I guess I shouldn't really do that, unless I want to be "that crazy mom". I guess I should let him make his own choices.

But I can always steer him toward running.

Or baseball.

Or chess.

Also, here are some random funny things he's said lately:

• The grouchy cat tried to bat him with her paw, and he looked up at me, giggled, and said, "High five! High five!"
• We were at Barnes and Noble today, where he discovered a box set of The Very Hungry Caterpillar with a stuffed caterpillar. He picked it up, carried it toward me, and said, "Hello! Happy meet you!" (Nearly a direct quote from his stupid Elmo book, which we haven't read for several days.)
• He looked at the clock the other day, and the time was 6:55. He said, "S! S!"

This kid... I think he'll be smarter than me in a few months!



March 7

Hat Month continues!

Caleb and I came home from the library today to find a delightful surprise in the mailbox.

GREAT Aunt Maggie sent this darling little hat for Caleb. As soon as I saw it, visions of us splashing at the pool filled my head. As soon as Caleb saw it, he said, "Hat! Hat! Wear!"

Making sure it's on just right...

Perfect!

Caleb spent the rest of the afternoon saying, "Maggie! Maggie! Maggie!" It was really pretty funny. Thanks, Maggie!

This one is just funny. Our laundry room leads directly into our garage, with three steps down to the garage floor. When Caleb and I go somewhere, I get him all ready in the laundry room, then tell him to stay put while I put his diaper bag and my stuff in the car. Then I come back for him, and put him in the car.

He's such a compliant (and cautious) little boy that I can always count on him to oblige, and we've yet to have a mishap with the stairs. Today, though, he was testing the waters. This photo is him putting his foot over the edge of the door frame, the whole time saying, "Stay put! Stay put!"

I guess I'd better be on guard!

March 6

We love Sundays.

It was a rough night last night - I stayed up late watching a dumb movie that never got better, then when I finally got to bed, Caleb woke up twice, then Chris woke me up, then Caleb woke up again, then the smoke detector in our room woke me with its "low-battery" chirp, which woke Caleb up.... it was a bad night.

Luckily, Chris made the executive decision to let me sleep in and skip church. I awoke to the smell of bacon and the sight of my two boys writing on the window with the special markers Grandma bought.

Caleb was really focused on his task. He seems to write and draw a lot more on the window than he will on paper or on the ground.

I'm not sure if you can see the picture Caleb is reaching to color in this photo - maybe if you look reeeeaaaallly closely, you can see it. Chris drew a sailboat, then drew himself and Caleb sailing the boat on the right side. On the left side of the boat is me, with Baby in my belly, lounging on the boat. I love the fact that even illustrated versions of me involve lounging. It made me laugh really hard.

March 5

I think Chris and I both breathed a big sigh of relief when Saturday finally rolled around. It's rough going back to work after a vacation, no matter how brief! Our "lazy Saturday" involved Chris getting up at 6 to run, and lots of other busy-ness. Luckily, there was plenty of time to play, too! (And maybe a nap for me...)

Caleb's new favorite game involves throwing balls up the stairs, then watching them bounce back down. I wish I had gotten a better shot of this - he gets so excited, and laughs so hard! All you can see in this photo is his (out-of-focus) impish grin as Daddy throws the balls.

This bouncy football was part of a 3-pack of balls that I found for Caleb yesterday. I'm pretty sure Caleb thinks it was the best purchase ever. The ball has rarely left his hands, unless Daddy is throwing it up the stairs or spiking it, yelling "Touchdown!"

(Caleb clearly appreciates Chris' attention!)

Another fun (?) game is hiding the football under a scarf or blanket, then pretending it's lost. Luckily, Caleb knows exactly where it is, and gleefully saves the day by uncovering it. Apparently, this is hilarious. In this photo, Caleb is actually throwing himself back in delight.

Grandma says Caleb was a great eater while we were gone, but that must have been due to the fact that I was praying mightily for him to be as easy as possible for her. Now that we're home, the eating issues have begun again. Tonight's dinner involved mostly yogurt and strawberries. But Caleb's getting really good with the spoon! (Not that you can tell from this photo...)

Yum!



March 3

My child is ridiculous. I'm just going to throw that out there now.

Today was warm enough that we could play outside, and Caleb came up with a new game.

It involved a whiffle ball bat, a badminton racquet, a deflated kick ball, and my dried-out basil plant.

I'm still not sure what the object of the game was.

Some part of it involved patting the basil (he says "Basil" really well) with the badminton racquet. Regardless, he enjoyed himself.

Later, we continued the hat month festivities with a green turban. I swear I didn't do this just for a photo - Caleb and I were playing with this scarf, and we decided it would make a good hat. He was pretty tickled when I showed him in the mirror how funny he looked.

I'm not sure why he was laughing; all I know is that when he squeals with laughter, my heart gets all melty. It has to be one of the best sounds ever.

This is Caleb snuggled up in my lap.

This also makes my heart melty.



March 2

Is two days in a row enough to delcare March "Hat Month"? I don't think we have quite enough hats to make it the whole month with a different hat each day, but with some creativity, we could probably last the first two weeks...

Caleb and I went for a walk this afternoon, and he needed his trusty Cardinals cap to keep the sun out of his eyes.

 

Doesn't he look like such a big boy?

"Airplane!"

I'm not sure what he was yelling here, but if it's like every other patio/chalk session, it was probably, "Mommy! WRITE!"

This one makes me laugh because:

1. It's his cheesy smile, which I find hilarious.

2. His cap squishes his ears, making them fold over that funny way.

3. Does he have a double chin? While looking up? That just confounds me.



heart.

He's growing up so fast!

(Thank goodness. I need him to be as grown-up as a toddler can be when this baby comes!)

March 1

...aaaannnnd we're back in our routine.

I have to confess, it was a bit of a challenge to shake myself out of the vacation mindset. You know, the mindset where it's acceptable to do nothing but lay around and eat food that someone else prepared.

But.

Life must go on, and so on it went.

At least I have this little bundle of energy to keep me going!

Caleb loves this $1.50 hat from Target. It sheds glitter all over the place, but he feels pretty snazzy when he wears it.

I confess: I'm addicted to buying cheap little things at Target.

This funny little guy only fuels my addiction. Maybe I need help?

Also, my husband just brought me a Blizzard from Dairy Queen (brownie bits, if you must know), and this child is now doing a jig in my womb. Hopefully Baby's sugar high wears off in the next 15 minutes, or I'll never get to bed. We saw our midwife tonight, and talked about the details of our birth. Then we scheduled our next appointment, and I realized that it's March. And this baby is coming in April. And then it became real.

I should probably do something to get ready for that, huh?