To encourage active participation in our blog and to avoid any accusations of completely boring posts (which I've been told are ones that have no pictures -- Sorry, I'm guilty, Kathleen!), I have decided to make this a multiple choice test. Sorry for those of you still in school who totally dread these things.
1. What is the latest exciting development in our lives:
A.) I'm pregnant
B.) As the epitome of a normal, healthy family, we've been asked to start a settlement on Mars.
C.) Caleb has taken a few steps on his own.
Answer: C.
( When you read just the first two, I know you were like this is easy, obviously it's Mars, who would have two kids while in law school anyway. Then you read C and were like, oh, shoot, which one is it. Well, yes, it's true. Caleb has started walking. No, I'm not pregnant, but I will someday have two kids while in law school. And, well, Patrick's not all that interested in traveling to Africa or Asia, so I'm pretty sure that even if somebody were fooled into thinking we were normal, we would turn down the offer to stay on Planet Earth in the good ol' USA.)
2. My attitude towards books is:
A.) They're lame and I'd rather watch TV.
B.) I'm an addict who has to read boring books so I don't neglect my child.
C.) I think they're useful for some people.
Answer: B
(How is this exciting? Well, I gave up on Williamsburg books which are mostly dissertations, and, hey, I'm not in school; I don't feel the need to drudge through dull writing when there are things that spark my interest and are valuable creatively or intellectually out there for me to read. So I've gone towards biographies for awhile: Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. The library has enough biographies to keep me busy for awhile, but I don't think this phase of interest will last long enough to get me through that. I'm enjoying learning about these important people in our history though. Be my friend on Goodreads to share what you're reading with me and learn about my introduction to important American figures. By the way, John Adams still remains my favorite, but, hey, he had Abigail and they're a hard team to beat.) -- Honestly, I was kind of just making a plug for goodreads because I'm nosy and I like to know what other people are reading. Join it. Be my friend..
3. What is the coolest word that Caleb is working on
A.) hippopatomus (I don't even know how to spell that)
B.) supercalifragilisticexpealidocious (you'll be suprised to know that I don't know how to spell that either)
C.) Jesus
Answer: C.
( I know, it was a toughy. You were like, well, he is a genius. But then he's so far more of a people/face critter than he is an animal critter -- shhh, don't tell my mom. I am working on teaching him animal signs, but I don't even know the sign for hippopatomus, so that's not one he's likely to pick up on anytime soon. No, instead of animals and random meaningless long words he tries to say Jesus while also trying to do the sign. He loves pictures, and we have quite a few pictures of Jesus on our walls so it's nice to be able to point to them while I'm carrying him and say, "Jesus" while doing the sign. It's all a mush of sounds and hand wiggling, but he'll get there. He's also starting to sign baby (though what he says is more like "didi") and he signs daddy while saying it very clearly. He also signs milk and tries to sign drink. We ended up with a pretty verbal kiddo which is interesting since I didn't talk until I was a bit old, maybe even like three-years-old.)
4. What do Mom and Dad have to look forward to on the weekends now
A.) 3 Date nights a month while friends watch the kiddo and 1 weekend where we watch our friends' kiddos.
B.) Weekend flights to BYU to watch the football games.
C.) Broadway moving to Williamsburg and giving tickets to students of William & Mary for free.
Answer: A.
( I know, shocking. To be honest, I'm not really a big football person. I know, you thought I was. Now the cat's out of the bag. Recently a friend explained the game to me and, not surprisingly, that made the BYU/Oklahoma game much more interesting to me. I would love Broadway of course, especially for free. Specifically, I really, really, really would like to see this show I've heard tell of named Wicked which it seems everyone in the world has seen at least once but me. But, while that is not to be any time soon, I do get to go on other dates that involve an exclusive one-on-one period of time with my favorite person in the world. If you have date ideas, by the way, we would love to hear them.)
Okay, I know you were enthralled by that glimpse into our startlingly exciting lives, but that's all for now. And, well, I have to go feed my kid something before he has a conniption, so there are no pictures. Don't hate, Kathleen. It ain't nice.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Happy Birthday, Dear Caleb,
This is late, but here are pictures from around his birthday:
Opening a present with Dad's help.
Introducing . . . a cupcake with candle. (Dad also helped blow out the candle.)
First bite: Mmm . . . good.
Second bite: Can't get enough. Need a bigger mouth.
Third bite: Satisfied and finished.
(In reality, it took a bunch more bites than that.)
Forget the fantastic presents. Let's play with tissue paper.
And phones.
Later on, reading before bed.
Okay, not birthday at all, but doesn't he look so cute. He won't always be able to pull this look off, but for now I thought he looked so happy and dressy that I thought he still qualifies as cute.
Peering at me out of his playpen. "Hello, Mom."
Showing the pillow some love. All pillows get love. Pillows are a happy part of life. Babies don't get pillows, but Caleb makes his own pillow out of his blankie in the crib. He will not be deprived!
Caleb saying "No no" when I reached for him and asked if he was done. (I put him in the washer when I was unloading the dryer because my friend said she does that with her son and he loves it. Mine did too.)
Caleb meets our friends' puppy.
More tickling tongue on ticklish feet.
Caleb has a menagerie of animals almost as good as his grandma's. Donkey, sheep, bears, birds, all he needs is a wallaby, some emus, and a zebra and he'll be about equivalent.
Here's our one-year-old. Getting so big and growing up before our eyes!
Opening a present with Dad's help.
Introducing . . . a cupcake with candle. (Dad also helped blow out the candle.)
First bite: Mmm . . . good.
Second bite: Can't get enough. Need a bigger mouth.
Third bite: Satisfied and finished.(In reality, it took a bunch more bites than that.)
Forget the fantastic presents. Let's play with tissue paper.
And phones.
Later on, reading before bed.
Okay, not birthday at all, but doesn't he look so cute. He won't always be able to pull this look off, but for now I thought he looked so happy and dressy that I thought he still qualifies as cute.
Peering at me out of his playpen. "Hello, Mom."
Showing the pillow some love. All pillows get love. Pillows are a happy part of life. Babies don't get pillows, but Caleb makes his own pillow out of his blankie in the crib. He will not be deprived!
Caleb saying "No no" when I reached for him and asked if he was done. (I put him in the washer when I was unloading the dryer because my friend said she does that with her son and he loves it. Mine did too.)
Caleb meets our friends' puppy.
More tickling tongue on ticklish feet.
Caleb has a menagerie of animals almost as good as his grandma's. Donkey, sheep, bears, birds, all he needs is a wallaby, some emus, and a zebra and he'll be about equivalent.
Here's our one-year-old. Getting so big and growing up before our eyes!Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Developing Like a . . . Weed? Er, Flower.
This month my son will turn 12 months old. Yes, that's right, one entire year of his life has passed! I was reflecting on all the good things he's doing lately, and I thought I would share his latest progress here.
1. He is just starting to "walk." I mean, he would walk with other people sometimes a little in the past, but he was never very interested in it for long because he crawls very quickly, and if I tried it he wanted me to hold him. Today, however, he took a bunch of steps while I was holding his hands. Also, he has been experimenting with the "walker" toy Grandma and Grandpa got him as his early birthday present.
2. He's always been pretty musical. He played the drums on Grandma and Grandpa's Wii Guitar Hero; he plays on his little toy xylophone; and he plays the keyboard. The latest dimension to that is that he loves to dance. I will turn on the keyboard's pre-programmed songs and twirl him and dance with him and he breaks out into a big grin. That was even at the beginning of the month when Grandma and Grandpa were here. But now he will push the Lion "walker's" nose (which plays a tune) and he will dance to that by shaking his hands around. (See the video at the end)
3. He loves to "knock, knock." We're friends with our next-door neighbors and when we're playing out on the porch, he'll crawl over to their door and knock lightly on it. Besides that, he knocks on walls and anything solid.
4. He loves to climb and crawl. When I was sixteen, a friend of mine gave me a "toddler chair" as a joke. It's a camping chair for a little kid. I kept it all this time, and Caleb loves to climb up on it and even to try to stand on it (which I discourage HEAVILY). We keep a plastic bin with blankets in it by the couch and he loves to climb on that. We have an Ikea chair in his bedroom that he will climb and wiggle up onto. When he gets up, he turns and claps, so he must know that it's an accomplishment.
5. He is speaking a little. He says, "mama," "daddy," and "ba," although it's not always exactly appropriate. It seems like it used to be more accurate, but he then generalized them in a funny way. Lots of women get called "mama," and Patrick even gets called "mama" a lot. Also, it seems that any item he wants is a "ba." It used to be exclusively for balls, but now it's books, our cell phones, pictures on the walls that he wants to touch, and the light switch (which he loves to flip). It's less clear, but he also says, "all done," "uh oh," "oh no," and "no no." He is signing quite a bit: "more," "eat," "all done," and "milk."
6. He is also showing signs that he's listening. I was cleaning up his books and reshelving them the other day and I thought it would be great if he could start helping as his night time routine, so I said, "Caleb, can you hand me that book," and I would point to a specific book, and he would hand it to me! He did this repeatedly. (Tonight, he only wanted to play with them and get them out so it didn't work, but, hey, at least he's beginning to get it.)
7. He loves to explore and is learning more coordination. I gave him an empty and cleaned yogurt container to play with and he loved it. I put some toy blocks in it and he just sat and was entertained by that for about 10 minutes or more. Also, a few weeks ago, he started trying to build towers. He'd already been interested in knocking them over, but being interested in building himself was a new development.
8. He waves at people all the time. I think he is trying to figure out how it works socially, and he doesn't do it on command in the "right" situations. So when we say to wave good-bye, he won't usually do it, but he'll wave when we go outside or after Dad leaves. He seems to be experimenting with it. But he waves at our bishop every time he sees him up close the whole time he sees him.
9. He is trying to figure out how to go down stairs. It scares him a little (which is very healthy), so he is pretty timid about it, but he's made some efforts. I am happy that he has a sense of preservation, so I am content to wait and let him take some time to figure this out.
10. He has started to use tools. I didn't give him a spoon much until recently; I would just feed him to minimize the mess. However, during the last couple weeks he feeds himself oatmeal and things like that, and he does a good job and is very proud of himself. I also introduced him to crayons. He is very interested in them, but he does like to eat them after a second of trying to color, so our coloring sessions never last really long. Also he copies our behavior with the cell phone. He holds it up to his ear as though he is talking to someone. And he is so interested when his grandparents on either side call and talk to him, calling him by name. He doesn't say or do much, but he sits still and listens.
So those are a few of his latest developments. To think that just about a year ago, we were waiting for our little fetus and then he was born and he didn't do much, and now he does a million things and is so interactive. We can't wait to see what the next year holds for our now toddler kiddo.
1. He is just starting to "walk." I mean, he would walk with other people sometimes a little in the past, but he was never very interested in it for long because he crawls very quickly, and if I tried it he wanted me to hold him. Today, however, he took a bunch of steps while I was holding his hands. Also, he has been experimenting with the "walker" toy Grandma and Grandpa got him as his early birthday present.
2. He's always been pretty musical. He played the drums on Grandma and Grandpa's Wii Guitar Hero; he plays on his little toy xylophone; and he plays the keyboard. The latest dimension to that is that he loves to dance. I will turn on the keyboard's pre-programmed songs and twirl him and dance with him and he breaks out into a big grin. That was even at the beginning of the month when Grandma and Grandpa were here. But now he will push the Lion "walker's" nose (which plays a tune) and he will dance to that by shaking his hands around. (See the video at the end)
3. He loves to "knock, knock." We're friends with our next-door neighbors and when we're playing out on the porch, he'll crawl over to their door and knock lightly on it. Besides that, he knocks on walls and anything solid.
4. He loves to climb and crawl. When I was sixteen, a friend of mine gave me a "toddler chair" as a joke. It's a camping chair for a little kid. I kept it all this time, and Caleb loves to climb up on it and even to try to stand on it (which I discourage HEAVILY). We keep a plastic bin with blankets in it by the couch and he loves to climb on that. We have an Ikea chair in his bedroom that he will climb and wiggle up onto. When he gets up, he turns and claps, so he must know that it's an accomplishment.
5. He is speaking a little. He says, "mama," "daddy," and "ba," although it's not always exactly appropriate. It seems like it used to be more accurate, but he then generalized them in a funny way. Lots of women get called "mama," and Patrick even gets called "mama" a lot. Also, it seems that any item he wants is a "ba." It used to be exclusively for balls, but now it's books, our cell phones, pictures on the walls that he wants to touch, and the light switch (which he loves to flip). It's less clear, but he also says, "all done," "uh oh," "oh no," and "no no." He is signing quite a bit: "more," "eat," "all done," and "milk."
6. He is also showing signs that he's listening. I was cleaning up his books and reshelving them the other day and I thought it would be great if he could start helping as his night time routine, so I said, "Caleb, can you hand me that book," and I would point to a specific book, and he would hand it to me! He did this repeatedly. (Tonight, he only wanted to play with them and get them out so it didn't work, but, hey, at least he's beginning to get it.)
7. He loves to explore and is learning more coordination. I gave him an empty and cleaned yogurt container to play with and he loved it. I put some toy blocks in it and he just sat and was entertained by that for about 10 minutes or more. Also, a few weeks ago, he started trying to build towers. He'd already been interested in knocking them over, but being interested in building himself was a new development.
8. He waves at people all the time. I think he is trying to figure out how it works socially, and he doesn't do it on command in the "right" situations. So when we say to wave good-bye, he won't usually do it, but he'll wave when we go outside or after Dad leaves. He seems to be experimenting with it. But he waves at our bishop every time he sees him up close the whole time he sees him.
9. He is trying to figure out how to go down stairs. It scares him a little (which is very healthy), so he is pretty timid about it, but he's made some efforts. I am happy that he has a sense of preservation, so I am content to wait and let him take some time to figure this out.
10. He has started to use tools. I didn't give him a spoon much until recently; I would just feed him to minimize the mess. However, during the last couple weeks he feeds himself oatmeal and things like that, and he does a good job and is very proud of himself. I also introduced him to crayons. He is very interested in them, but he does like to eat them after a second of trying to color, so our coloring sessions never last really long. Also he copies our behavior with the cell phone. He holds it up to his ear as though he is talking to someone. And he is so interested when his grandparents on either side call and talk to him, calling him by name. He doesn't say or do much, but he sits still and listens.
So those are a few of his latest developments. To think that just about a year ago, we were waiting for our little fetus and then he was born and he didn't do much, and now he does a million things and is so interactive. We can't wait to see what the next year holds for our now toddler kiddo.
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