Caleb's Third Birthday Party

We had Caleb's "friend" birthday party last Thursday. It was early because we shared the day - and the expenses - with his friend Claire who turned 3 at the beginning of March. We did a ladybug and bumble bee party at Monkey Joes (one of those huge places with all kinds of jump houses), and I think it turned out super cute. Most importantly, Caleb had a great time with his friends.

Caleb with all his loot.

Enjoying his gifts!

A video of Caleb blowing out his candles. We were really surprised that he knew just what to do and that he blew all the candles out on the first try. He's a big boy!

Snow!

We received several inches of snow on Friday night. We mostly enjoyed a lazy day staying warm inside, but we did get the kids out for a little while. Clara wasn't very impressed.

Poor thing had to wear blue because it was the warmest thing we had for her. I did adorn it with a pink pacifier. Clara enjoyed watching her brother act silly. Caleb loved sliding down the slick slide.

Here's Caleb playing baseball with a tennis ball and golf club...

Daddy and Caleb having some fun in the snow.

Mea Mea joined us for some outside fun too! Thanks to Mea Mea for making us yummy chili for dinner!

Circus!

We took Caleb to the Big Top on Saturday night with some friends from church. We ate at Spaghetti Factory and then walked over to the Sommet Center. Here's the gang on Broadway outside an ice cream shop.

Ready for the circus! Caleb was super excited to see elephants and tigers.

My smart friend brought in juice boxes and snacks for the kids so we didn't have to buy $20 drinks and cotton candy. Caleb was partial to the blue Ring Pops.

The elephant finale! The show started at 7 and lasted for 2 hours, so Caleb was exhasted by the end of the night, but he loved every minute. Seth and I loved seeing pure joy on his face. Thanks to Meagan for keeping Clara!

Catching Up on Caleb

When did my bright-eyed baby Caleb become a little boy? Caleb is talking up a storm and I wonder daily where he comes up with the things he says. Today he woke up and said to his train table, "Good Morning, train tracks. You my best friend." He LOVES his trains and has decided that he is asking Santa for a Thomas train. Not sure which one since we have several but I guess Santa will have to find another one. Having the train table in his room has been perfect since he gets up most mornings and plays in his room by himself for a little while. The extra minutes of getting Clara settled before Hurricane Caleb comes through have proven to be beneficial on more than one occasion!

We haven't worked on potty training very much lately. I guess we are supposed to be but we aren't and I'm not ashamed. He just hasn't taken much of an interest at all and we don't have the time or energy to constantly nag him about it, so I'm just waiting a little while. Most people I talk to say it didn't truly click for their boys until around 3. I had hoped it would be sooner than that for us, but I'm not going to force the issue because I think it is just more trouble than it's worth. I also don't mind not having to ask him if he has to go potty every 5 minutes.

He still loves trucks and tractors and loves to point them out as we drive by. He says, "Ohh, look at the big tractor, Mama. See it?" He also loves to swing - that is where I find him most days when I pick him up from school. He can see the cars and trucks go by from the school swing, so I think he must be in 2-year-old-boy heaven.

Speaking of school, Caleb is very protective around his sister during drop-off and pick-up. The little girls like to come up and visit with Clara, but Caleb says "my baby sister" and tries to close the canopy on her car seat. I try to make it a teaching moment about sharing but can't help but find his actions endearing. I hope she'll be able to rely on his protection for years to come.

Seth calls Clara "Clara-bean" sometimes. Because of that, Caleb calls Clara "Clara-bean" almost all the time. I think he thinks that Clara is her nickname.

Some Recent Caleb Photos

Having some fun in the rain

Watching some TV with Daddy after his bath

The result of a morning of potty training ... yes, he really is sleeping.

A Visit to the Zoo

Last week Caleb had a date with Mommy at the zoo. Clara went to school for the day while Mommy and Caleb met Emily, Blake and Blair at the Nashville Zoo. Caleb was super excited to see animals, and Mommy was happy to have a little one on one time with little man.

Blake cracked me up with his little zoo guide. He reminded me of when I was a little girl. Like Blake, I always had to have the map and direct everyone where we were going next.

So Long Summer

September starts this week, and I can't believe the summer is over. We've had a great time with Caleb and Clara. Here are some photos of some of our adventures.

We went to a place called Monkey Joe's several times over the summer, especially on really hot or rainy days. Caleb loved it because it has all kinds of jump houses; Mommy loved it because it was clean and kept little man busy until he was exhausted and ready for nap time.

I love this photo from last week at the pool. Caleb would ask several times a week to go to the "big pool."

We spent a lot of time with friends this summer. Here are Caleb, Addison, Claire and Drew at a pizza picnic this evening.

Clara isn't quite old enough to truly enjoy summer, but we had such a wonderful time with her. She's growing so fast - turned 3 months last week!

Sweet Siblings

Caleb likes to hug and kiss on Clara. He also likes to say "it's okay baby" when she cries.

We always sing to Caleb when we put him down for the night. His favorite from Mommy is Ba-Ba Black Sheep because I tickle him and make a big deal out of the "little boy who lives down the lane" part. I always say/sing "little boy, my little boy, my little Caleb" while making him laugh. I know it's probably not very appropriate for bed time, but I don't care; it's our special moment. Anyway, tonight we were singing and he stopped me and said, "how about for little Clara." Too sweet - makes me melt.

Caleb's 3 Current Favorite Words

3. Mine!

2. No!

1. Daddy (often said with a whine) - He's going through MAJOR Daddy days. Not sure if it is because of the arrival and the continuous stay of Clara or because I discipline him more (since I'm with him a lot more), but Caleb has lots of love for Daddy right now.

Truck in Time Out

Pictures coming soon ... I promise. For now, here's a cute story.

Caleb took his truck to the bottom of our stairs tonight and told it to "go to time out." I asked him what the truck had done to deserve time out and he informed me that the truck had pushed his race car. He then turned to the truck and said, "not nice. Go to time out."

Hope you enjoyed that as much as we did. :)

"I Cookin"

I took these pictures to document Caleb's first tent made of blankets and sheets - a childhood favorite of mine, but I got pictures of a much cuter scene. Caleb likes to pretend to cook. Here is our conversation:

Caleb: I Cookin'
Mommy: What are you cooking?
Caleb (as he stirs plastic food): I cookin' strawberries.
Mommy: What are you to put on the strawberries?
Caleb (looking confused): I cookin'
Caleb (a little while later): Strawberries and chocolate!
Mommy: Chocolate is a very good thing to add to strawberries. One of mommy's favorites.
Caleb: I hear beepin! (He is referring to our stove/microwave timer that tells us the food is done. He didn't really hear beeping.)
Mommy: Are the strawberries done?
Caleb: Yeah (as he stirs and then puts a strawberry to his mouth). Yummy.
Caleb (as he puts one to my mouth): Like it?
Mommy: Yes, yummy!

I think it is so cute that he likes to cook. I guess it shows that mommy and daddy really do cook around here. We went to a friend's house this past Saturday night and Caleb was playing with 2 two-year-old little girls, which meant a house full of girl toys. Caleb managed to find the only cars in the whole toy room. When he wasn't playing with those, he was in the toy kitchen - "I Cookin'!"

Caleb "cookin" strawberries.

Caleb under his tent.

Summer Adventures of Caleb

Caleb had gone through several changes during the first few weeks of summer - a new sister and a new school being the biggest two. The new sister has also meant that he has to be at home and inside a little more than usual, but he has been a trooper.

He likes playing with Clara's "toys." Here he is pretending to be a baby. I think he was trying to figure out a way to get a paci. He hasn't had one at all since February, but I think he has his eye on Clara's.

Pretending to talk to someone on the phone

He's a rotten little fella. Here he is after eating the ultimate summer treat - ice cream.

When you try to take his picture, he either runs or gets as close as possible to the camera.

He often asks to "play water," which means he wants to play outside in his pool. On this particular day he couldn't wait long enough for one of us to get his bathing suit.

As I said above, he's rotten.

Caleb & Clara

Watching Imagination Movers or "Movers" as Caleb calls it.

Caleb shares his wisdom.

Going for a walk in our cool new stroller. Caleb loved being able to look back at his baby.

Momma and her babies

New School for Caleb

Caleb started a new school today. It's our church's program, and we're excited for him to be there, but it was hard for us to leave his last school. It was a really good program - just more money than we can spend right now.

I've been feeling a lot of mommy guilt about this for the past couple of days. He's had enough change with Clara coming and then having to leave the friends and teachers he loved on top of that just made me sad for him. This morning, we talked to him about how church would be his new school. When Seth passed the turn off to Caleb's old school, Caleb said, "No, that way. School. Jacob." I'm glad I was in a separate car, because I think I would have lost it.

When we got to church/school, Caleb wasn't happy ... not that we expected him to be. But we left him in good hands - his teachers are super nice. He stopped crying about 1 minute after we left the room - about the time that I started crying. When I picked him up this afternoon, he looked super tired, which I hope is a sign that he had a good time. He told me "church - new school" so I guess he got the picture. Hopefully the drop off tears will stop soon ... for both of us. :)

Caleb meets his little sister

Caleb came to the hospital with Grandma, Grandaddy and Mea Mea on Sunday afternoon - the day Clara was born. He was tired already and it was pretty late in the day, so we probably started the introductions at a bad time. He didn't like the hospital elevators at all. Then he walked in my birthing room, but didn't like seeing me hooked up to all the machines at all. I'm really not sure he even noticed Clara because he just didn't like being in the hospital room.

He came back the next day in a much better mood. It helped that I was in my room without all the machines and tubes hooked up to me. He brought a balloon and a baby doll for Clara and got a kick out of giving the baby to Clara. He was very happy to see Mommy and Daddy too.

Here's a little video of Caleb meeting Clara:

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Caleb giving Clara a kiss

Caleb hasn't done bad at all with Clara so far. At first he really didn't pay her any attention. He just wasn't too sure about me nursing her. I think he thought that it hurt me, but we've been trying to tell him that the baby is eating. For the past day or so Caleb has taken a little more interest. This morning he gave Clara her pacifier when she was fussy and wanted to hug and kiss her multiple times throughout the day. He also asks to "hold it."

Caleb loves to point out Clara's facial features. He also thinks it is funny when she sneezes.


Seth and I walked in from the hospital thinking that Caleb had surely gained 10 pounds while we were gone, and we realized more than ever how he is now a little boy rather than a baby. It's been fun to watch him go through this change with us, and we feel so blessed to be a family of four.

Caleb's 2nd Birthday

We planned a casual party with friends, pizza and cupcakes. We actually had a tornado warning right before the party started, so the three of us were ready to jump in our "safe space." Thankfully, the storms blew over and Caleb's friends got to come over.



Caleb ate the cookies and icing off the first cupcake and then asked for more cupcake. Smart boy.

Caleb and his buddies.