January 30

All around us, people are anxiously preparing for the "Snowtastrophe" of 2011.
Meanwhile, Caleb is prepared for rain, thanks to his GREAT Aunt Maggie.

Maggie found this adorable raincoat (and coordinating dinosaur that actually roars) for Caleb. It's a little big now, but I think that means it will be perfect for rainy weather this spring, summer, and fall!

Caleb loves the raincoat, especially its pockets, which are hidden behind dinosaurs.

This is my funny bear, roaring like a dinosaur. I'm pretty sure that's even a roaring hand gesture!

What a great gift! Thanks, Maggie!


January 29

I'm pretty sure lots of fun things happened today. I know for a fact that the day involved:
bouncing on the couch
bouncing on the bed
naptime
singing into his dratted microphone (if I hear "May I have an apple" one more time...)
reading (current library favorite is Where's My Sweetie Pie?)
(you're liking all of these parentheses and links, aren't you?)
grocery shopping

But the only thing I managed to photograph happened first thing this morning. I hope Chris forgives me for sharing a photo of him with jammies and bedhead and a shirt from a race in 2006...



I've mentioned before that Caleb is totally into looking at pictures of himself right now. I've been lazy about printing pictures, but somehow we've accumulated an album of 18 months worth of random Caleb pictures. Obviously from the "Ooohh!" in the last photo, Caleb is pretty impressed with his development.

January 28

 We had a full day and a late night tonight, so I'm out of words and itching for bed. Be patient with me?

We're in disposable diapers right now, due to Caleb's hiney issues. Today, we both realized that the one thing disposables offer that cloth diapers don't is the fantastic box. Caleb was all over that.

His climbing skills have gotten really great in the past few days.

He's even mastered a fancy dismount!

This is Caleb "flying". He'll shout "Fy!" and run toward me, arms outspread. It's really funny.

Later, we went to Chris' Aunt Bebe's house to celebrate his Aunt Maggie's 50th birthday.

I can always count on Chris to be the entertainer/reader to the kids. This is Caleb with his (?) first cousin, once removed (?) Bebe's middle son, Charlie, is 2, and so much fun! It was really interesting to see how different his personality is from Caleb's.
(Though I'm pretty sure everyone there thought Caleb was a whiny baby, because he kept bursting into tears at the slightest provocation. Poor kid - the first part of the evening was definitely not one of his finest moments.) 

Bebe, birthday girl Maggie, and Bebe's youngest (for now), Carter. Maggie was breaking in the sling I made as her birthday gift. Can you belive that she's 50? She definitely doesn't look it!

Caleb fell asleep 10 minutes into the drive home. The last thing I heard from him was, "Bingo. Farmer." That's his attempt at singing B-I-N-G-O. When we got home, I had to take a photo despite the terrible lighting because of something really funny and sweet.

Before we left to head home, I gave Caleb my long beaded necklace to play with. When we got home, my sleeping baby was wearing the necklace around his neck! I thought it was too cute that, instead of just playing with the necklace, he decided to wear it. And he even managed to put it on correctly, despite the car seat!


January 27

It was a long day today, with lots of driving and lots of traumatic diaper changes. (I still don't know who is traumatized more by the diaper changes - Caleb, or me.) Luckily, it all ended happily when Chris met us at my favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner. The only thing that could top that would be a margarita, but I only have 3 more months to wait for that. Perhaps as I prepare supplies for my homebirth, I'll also collect some tequila...

So, busy day = no pictures. Luckily, I snuck in just before Chris put Caleb to bed to snap this (mediocre) picture:
Both of my boys are in their jammies; Chris has Mr. Potato Head, Caleb has a moose. (If you ask him what a moose says, he replies, "MOOOOOOSSSSE!" I really can't think of a better response.)

It was half an hour past bedtime, so poor Caleb was too exhausted to smile. All he could do was twirl his hair and stare at the book as Chris read to him. After I finished taking pictures, Caleb smiled at me and said, "Night night!"

I love that kid.
(And my fantastic Daddy of a husband. I really got lucky with that one!)


January 26

Today was a fun day, except that I have a pretty rough headache now. But look at how funny my boy was:
My brownbear sat down to read a new library book all by himself.

He's always so pleased with himself when he gets a hold of the computer mouse. Grandpa gave him his very own mouse for Christmas, but I suppose the fact that the real mouse is red makes it more desirable.

Later, we built a tent with my handy-dandy Snuggie (oh, how I love that thing! Every pregnant woman needs a Snuggie.). I discovered that it's pretty challenging to take a decent picture of a child hiding in a tent.

On the food front, I worked a whole lot less to feed Caleb today. Instead of stressing and trying to force him to eat, I let him tell me when he was hungry. It actually worked really well, except for lunchtime. Today, he ended up eating a bowl of Cheerios with milk, half a cup of honey milk, a tortilla, cheese, half an apple, a freshly baked cookie with milk (I couldn't resist. It's too much fun to share something like that with him!), 1.25 oranges, orange juice, and shrimp.

 It wasn't a nutritionally balanced day, but I think we'll get there. I hope we'll get there. More importantly, I didn't come anywhere near being AngryMom today, and really, isn't my child's emotional well-being just as important as his nutritional well-being at this point?


January 25

So, these pictures probably won't be that thrilling to you, but they are super-exciting to me. My great eater has suddenly entered into a picky-eating phase that has me ready to morph back into AngryMom. (I was AngryMom when Caleb wasn't napping when he was 6-9 months old. It was not a pretty time, or a happy time, for our family.)

I'm really hoping that maybe he's just not feeling well, and that's why he doesn't want to eat? I'm hoping and praying against the toddler assertion-of-independence thing that I've read about with eating.

Regardless, this was the scene at our dinner table tonight:

That would be Caleb, sitting in a booster seat instead of his high chair, eating black bean enchiladas and Spanish rice.

Yum! He gobbled it up, then asked for applesauce (which he calls "hoss").

It was a happy mealtime!

Perhaps he was so hungry because all he ate today was a cup of honey milk, a cup of hot chocolate (he specifically asked for it after we played in the snow today. This kid has a dangerous memory!), yogurt, half a banana, two pieces of fish sticks, 1 bite of orange, some whole-grain goldfish crackers, and three bites of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

I know that I should present him with healthful options, and if he doesn't eat them, assume that he's not hungry. But because he's in the 15th percentile for weight, and because I've been working really hard to push back his nap and move up lunch so that he can eat lunch before naptime, I've found myself running around like a frantic short-order cook for the past few days. It's really frustrating, because I'm trying everything I can to get him to eat, and he's still content to JUST NOT EAT. In the end, I'm worn out and Caleb has only picked at some food. It's no good, and I'm the one who suffers. Maybe I should just stop this foolishness? I'll try that approach tomorrow. We'll see how it goes.

Also, Caleb really likes sitting at the table, but I'm suddenly aware that our house has no child-friendly placemats. Any suggestions?

January 23

We are so blessed to have such a funny, loving little BrownBear. Today was another really good day.

I bought this hat for Caleb on clearance at The Children's Place last winter, but when he was big enough for it, I decided I didn't like the way it fit. Caleb loves the hat, though, and brought it to me today, saying, "Wear! Wear!" So I put it on him, and he began posing for pictures - no prompting.
 
Caleb was whispering a secret to Daddy - perhaps "You're out!", which is one of his favorite things to whisper. Or maybe he was trying to give Chris a kiss.

Yep - looks like it was a kiss.

Aren't they sweet? Caleb and Chris love each other so much, my heart gets gooey just thinking about it.

Then Caleb demonstrated his mad dusting skills. This "feather duster" was part of the cleaning set we got him for Christmas.

Later, my boys decided to play in the snow.
Caleb was really excited to go sledding down the driveway all by himself! (BTW - he says "excited" now, and waves his arms frantically as he says it. It's pretty funny.)

What a good sledder!

Then Caleb decided that because the roads are covered in snow, the "no playing in the road" rule ceases to apply. He took off on a trek through the snow, and Chris followed after him.

It's too bad Daddy has to go to work tomorrow!

January 22

Today was a fun, fun day.
Today was what Saturdays are supposed to be.
Today was exhausting!

In between breakfast and bouncing on the couch and swimming and Grandma's house, Caleb and I played with the camera. I love that he enjoys being my subject now, though it just popped into my head that I should be worried when NewBaby comes and the camera is pointed at someone other than Caleb....

But in the meantime, we had fun playing with the camera. He's such a willing subject, and follows my instructions so well!

This is his Old McDonald finger puppet. He calls it "Donal", and has recently mastered the ability to place it on his finger by himself. We're still working on the words to the song.

I promise that I did not ask him to show me Old McDonald. But it sure looks like he's thinking, "Jeez, Mom! The stinking puppet is right here! Can't you see?"

Then we looked at the photos of Caleb with Old McDonald, and his bored face went away immediately. 
He really likes to look at pictures of himself.
  
OK, I might have prompted him to do this. But it's so funny that I just don't care!

January 20

It started snowing last night, and didn't let up until around 11:00 this morning. The result was about 8 inches of lovely, fluffy snow. When the sun finally came out this afternoon, Caleb and I went out to play in the winter wonderland.

Picture Caleb in his too-big snowsuit that causes him to waddle instead of walk, and me in my dad's late-'70s snowbibs, with prominent baby bump. We were a funny sight, I'm sure.

I am now going to bombard you with way too many snow photos, because I couldn't narrow it down.

The first thing Caleb did when I set him down in the snow was try to eat it.

I'm not sure if that face indicates he was pleased with his snow-eating efforts, or displeased.

Then he tried to crawl out of the snow.

It didn't work; the snow was too deep.

It turned out Caleb doesn't like super-deep snow. Perhaps it's something about the fact that he's 32.5 inches tall, and the snow was 8 inches deep... I'd be concerned, too, if I was in snow that covered 1/4 of my body! Instead, we stuck to the driveway. Chris shoveled it at 6 a.m., so it was only covered with an inch or so of snow. Caleb liked that much better.

We got out the shovel that Grandmother and Grandad gave Caleb for Christmas. Caleb was excited, but unsure what to do with it.

Luckily, the kindergartener across the street came out with his dad and started shoving with his little shovel. Caleb watched him intently for a while until he understood what a big boy does with a shovel.

Once he knew what to do, Caleb was a champ with the shovel! He was especially happy when he could switch between the big shovel and the little shovel he uses in my garden.

Doesn't he have the look of an Arctic explorer? What, they don't have puppy dog ears on their hats? Or little plastic shovels? Or bare hands because their mittens render their hands useless? Oh.

Well, don't tell Caleb that. He's off to explore uncharted territories - like the neighbor's yard.


January 19

It looks like today is another food-related post. Caleb is just so funny and compliant when there's food involved!
Nearly every morning, Caleb requests "toffee". I think I've written about it before: the kid thinks that warm milk with a little bit of honey, whisked to a froth, is coffee. And he LOVES it. He is passionate about it. He asks for coffee at least 4 times a day. (I wish I was kidding.) He only gets it once a day, though.

This is Caleb's serious, "I'm-drinking-my-coffee" face.

We've been having some poo issues of late. In fact, they're major poo issues, and Caleb's poor hiney is paying the consequences. At the Magic House the other day, I am sure that every person in the restroom, and within 50 feet of the restroom, thought I was abusing Caleb as I tried to change his diaper. (Again, I wish I was kidding. Chris was waiting on a bench outside the restroom, and he clearly heard Caleb's shrieks of agony.)

Part of our multi-faceted hiney-restoration plan involves as much diaperless time each day as possible. Since it's winter, I worry about Caleb's lower half getting cold. Hence the BabyLegs. I really think it's the cutest, funniest thing in the world. Which is why I'm posting this photo, and accompanying TMI, knowing that some day Caleb will hate me for it. But seriously - how funny is that picture?

I think I've mentioned in previous posts how much Caleb likes to pose for pictures, then look at the results. This is what happens when I get out my camera while Caleb is eating:

He thought these photos were so funny! After he saw a few of them, he started making progressively funnier faces, with accompanying random noises. It was a lot of fun.

He was a happy boy.

January 17

Ok, my pictures today are terrible.

We had a great time at the pool this afternoon, but our little point-and-shoot just doesn't cut it. But it was either that, or take the big camera and get its lens all foggy. So it's crummy pictures or no pictures at all!

Caleb was so excited to swim that he could focus on nothing else. For the whole 20-minute drive to the gym, all he said was, "Pool! Swim! Pool! Pool! Swim!"
So when we finally arrived, and got changed, and got into the pool area, Caleb had no patience for photos. He was fixated on the pool!

He loves the pool fountains! Really, he loves everything about the pool. For the first 20 minutes of swimming, he had a perma-grin on his face. As he splashed and kicked, he giggled and squealed with delight. He LOVES to swim! He was so happy, all Chris and I could do was look at each other and laugh. It has to be one of the best feelings in the world to see your child as happy as Caleb was at the pool.

But then. 
Caleb got cold. His little teeth chattered, and his little arms turned blue. A big kid jumped in front of him to turn the steering wheel on the left side of this photo. Then, all he wanted to do was snuggle. We were done. Boy, was it fun!


January 16

Our little man was in such a good mood today! (For the most part, at least. You know how toddlers can be.)

 I think he may have his first girlfriend - when Chris went to pick Caleb up from the nursery at church, Caleb had to say goodbye, and blow kisses to, his little friend Harper. My child is many things, but one would not call him social. So his budding romance with Harper (who, by the way, returned Caleb's kisses with blown kisses of her own) makes me quite pleased. 

Perhaps Harper was impressed by how handsome Caleb looked today.
His little sweater vest gets me every time.

Caleb is a big fan of smiling for the camera, then running around to see the result. I'm a big fan of the adorable shots it gets me.

Caleb was thrilled when Chris brought his car up from the basement. He spent all afternoon saying, "Ride! Ride!"
(Side note: striped sweater vest + argyle BabyLegs + cloth diaper = swooning Mommy. How sweet and ridiculous does he look?)

Later, we ended up at the Magic House for a little while. I have to say, we weren't as impressed as we expected to be. Maybe it will be more fantastic when Caleb is older?

The sand table was definitely Caleb's favorite part.

Watching Caleb explore was my favorite part.