Eighteen-Nineteen Months Old

From Cleb eighteen-nineteen months

Well, Caleb is PRECIOUS!! Let me describe the current moment in time. Jakob is away to the park with Grandma. So Caleb has a rare moment of free reign of the house and toys. He's gone into Jakob's room, found all of Jakob's favorite army toys and is working on burying them under the loose corner of our living room carpet. He lifts up the carpet and while making all sorts of cute little boy noises he maneuvers them under and over the carpet in true military style, with complete precision (right?;) Now he's caught my eye and was on his way toward me until he tripped, which is true Caleb style!;) Poor little guy is never without a bump and bruise right smack in the middle of his forehead.

So now I have a mountain under my carpet that I will need to dig out. But I don't mind. I absolutely LOVE to watch Caleb play. I love to witness with my eyes and ears all that's going through his toddler mind. Crash! Boom! Bang! clap clap clap, AAA! That's the most common AAA! He actually isn't saying any clear words yet. But we're starting to understand his attempts.

Caleb is also a little snuggler. He doesn't necessarily like to be held. But he loves soft blankets. His favorite lately has been my fleece robe. Unfortunately it is big and pink, and I still use it. So I haven't turned it over to the little guy yet. But it is not uncommon to see Caleb walking around with something soft and cuddly. He also loves his white blanket that has a satin side and a soft downy side to it. Thanks Patricia for that one when Jakob was born. It's Caleb's snugly.

No more teeth yet. I check often to see if I've missed any. But, nope! Only four little teeth trying to work overtime. It's so nice not having to buy baby food!!! And I've stopped the Pedia Sure drinks too. He's growing just fine now that he's eating more. He eats more then Jakob!

I gave Caleb his first hair cut. It was a constant mess of tangles. So I finally trimmed up the back. Now it's just a short mess of tangles;)

Caleb's our little tough guy. He has always been a wrestler. Most of the time he doesn't have a problem wrestling with Lady Bug. As long as it's not just as he's waking up from a nap.

As I am writing this I am reminded to mention that Caleb is more and more mischievous these days. He especially loves to throw things in the garbage or any random box that might be lying around. Leif dumped the garbage can that sits my my bedside, only to find several items that belong in the diaper bag that sits next to the diaper changing station. Lovely. Sure glad I didn't loose them...

Shelves. Shelves are for emptying, right??

One of the harder differences between Caleb and Jakob are their requirements for sleep. Jakob takes after me and requires a lot of sleep. He still takes a two hour nap almost every day. Caleb, he'll only sleep for two hours in the day. Jakob stopped taking two naps a day when he went to preschool. Caleb will only take one. So I miss all of that baby nap time. Luckily though, he'll take a nap. I just plan naps so we all take one together. I know, I shouldn't complain...

One more cute Caleb Fetish is shoes. Caleb loves trying on shoes. The shoe pile by the door is one of his common play places.

I love this stage. They are still so cute and cuddly!! We Love our Caleb!!!

Seventeen Months Old

My sweet baby is seventeen months old and will be eighteen months old soon. Time is flying by. This month has been full of progress for Caleb. He started walking! He is now steady on his feet. Unless he gets bumped or knocked over. Which frequently happens with all of us running around and Lady added to the mix. But he recovers and gets back up again.

The other wonderful thing is the amount of food that Caleb is eating these days. As long as he's not in his week of fever then he will eat as much, or more then Jakob. His favorite food right now is french toast. We cut it up and sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on it and he loves it. Leif and I loved to watch him eat his fill. It's comforting to know that he's finally getting as much food as his growing body needs. Life's a lot easier with those four little teeth.:)

Caleb has found a new love for reading. We frequently catch him sitting at the book shelves looking through books. He also loves to bring us the books and sit with us as we read. I LOVE to see my kids reading!

When it comes to talking, there's not a lot to say. Not that he doesn't have anything to say.:) HE just points, shakes his head, screams, or says na na na na. Very occasionally he'll say Mama. But it's usually more like MA -MA! Leif said that Caleb walked into grandma's house today and said grand - ma! So not much progress there. But I'm not worried. We've ordered the Baby Einsteins First Signs DVD. So that should be fun.

So, that's my baby. He's growing up. I still try to catch a snuggle as often as I can. That's usually just after he wakes up. I Love My Little Bright Eyes!!

Sixteen Months Old

I just realized that Caleb's 16 months old today. I need to take a minute to update. Besides the fact that he LOVES to climb on everything and everyone Caleb...

Is an Absolute Joy! He is not always Joyful, but 90% of his day is filled with smiles, jabbering, and Joy. Oh and his Laugh. Caleb has a barrel laugh that comes from deep within. I believe it reflects the age of his spirit.

Caleb has made the choice not to walk yet. We know that he can walk, or he could if he wanted to. He's taken a few steps here and there without thinking about it. But when it comes down to it, he just doesn't want to. I'm not sure why, but honestly I'm not complaining. He gets around fast enough as it is. I like my little ones to stay little for as long as they're willing.

Caleb has four teeth visible at this point. Two on the bottom and two on the top. All big and healthy looking. This is a big deal because I have hereditary teeth problems. So far, so good with my kids.

Caleb pays close attention to life around him. Jakob of course is his hero. How do you teach a 4.5 year old that his every word and action is being memorized and processed. Caleb now tries to brush his teeth and get dressed in the morning. He's also mastered the art of throwing a fit and being a bit of a bully. Ahhh the joys!

Caleb is still a very picky eater. I try not to talk about it out lound because I don't want him to be tagged as "the picky one." But it is very wearisome! He did eat a lot of french toast today as well as his baby food peas. But I won't mention the food he rejected due to taste or texture. GGGRRR!

So he isn't saying any words but he has his own little language that is priceless. He'll shake his head yes vigorously if it applies to the question asked, Do you want to go... is his favorite:) Caleb also loves to talk on the phone. to someone or no one it doesn't matter as long as he gets the phone.

Just today we caught Caleb reading books to himself. He hadn't shown a lot of interest up to this point. So I hope it continues. We try to read to him and he'll sprawl himself over the pages and jabber up at us. Guess he hasn't quite grasped where the story comes from.:) It's still ALL ABOUT HIM!

Caleb and Jakob have become good playmates. I say good because they aren't great playmates yet. It is not unusual to hear Jakob whining to Caleb constantly, "Caaallleeebb Mooovvve...Caalleeeb, Dooonn'tt...Caaalleebb." I have finally had to literally bite my tongue so I don't intervene. They Must figure out how to play together or I might Go Insane! Most of the time they enjoy each other's company.

Ahhh, my Caleb. How grateful I am for you! I am sad that you're not really a little baby anymore. But oh you are fun!!

Our Little Monkey!

We were outside this evening enjoying the pleasant weather. The Fall season is right around the corner and I Love it. But that is not my point in this post. We were gardening and the kid's were under-foot, until Caleb wasn't... I was shocked to suddenly hear Leif call out to Caleb with an edge of fear. Caleb had managed to climb the whole flight of stairs up to our front door without us noticing. Normally, this wouldn't be very frightening. But you have to realize that these stairs are wooden stairs with open slots that leave a gap big enough for Caleb to fall to the cement slab below the high flight of stairs. Not to mention that Caleb doesn't even stand on his own or walk. So he's not a master balancer yet. But he IS a CLIMBER! I think I'll call him Monkey!

Teeth, FINALLY!

I feel bad that it's taken me so long to announce the big news! Caleb finally has two teeth. They broke through last month just after he had his tubes appointment. The first tooth didn't cause too much fuss. The second gave him a bad fever for a few days. They're still little, his two bottom front. He face planted yesterday and clamped his mouth shut. The bottom teeth cut the top of his gums and lip. OUCH!!

My baby is growing up!! He'll be walking within the next month...:)/:(

He FINALLY Has Tubes!

We were FINALLY able to get Caleb in for tubes this morning. The whole process and procedure went quickly and very smooth. It was great! He only fussed a tiny bit coming awake and we haven't had any trouble the rest of the day!

So here's hoping that we're on the road to fewer ear infections!! YIPPEEE!

Almost 14 Months Old

It seems that the average postings on this blog seem to be monthly. Actually, I think that I have a couple of drafts started that I wasn't able to finish. But I'll just give an update.

Caleb is our angel! Jakob was an angel baby too. KNOCK ON WOOD!!! I do not want to jinx myself. But what a blessing! We were able to go on a little trip that required a lot of in and out of the car, driving, heat, rain, cat naps in the car, and hiking on my back, and Caleb didn't cry once. Maybe a slight fuss here and there to say "hey, I'm still here and I need a bottle!" But other then that he was an absolute joy! If he is feeling well, that is his every day nature.

On the other hand, in the last month Caleb has had two ear infection episodes and another trip to the Ear Nose and Throat doctor. We are trying to get with the doctors scheduling person to set up an appointment for tubes.

When it comes to his growth he has Dr. Bowman concerned. But I decided to really sit down and think about where he is at compared to Jakob, myself as a baby, and my sister's kids. We were always in the Less then 5% bracket on the charts. So I decided to relax and follow Caleb's cues. However, I did introduce him to PediaSure (a pediatric nutritional drink) and he Loves the vanilla! He drinks one to two of those every day and he's gained at least 1 pound in the last little while. So that will be good progress.

Close Calls and Owies
Caleb loves to follow people out the door if we'll let him. We had a lot of traffic in and out of our door. One of the times Caleb secretly crawled out of the door. I had no idea until I came around the corner to work in the kitchen and the door was open. I was frazzled when I saw Caleb sitting at the top of our long flight of stairs down. He was smiling at me, but his forehead had several good dark bruises on it. He must have toppled out of our door that has a little step down to the landing. But honestly, he could have been killed if he rolled down our long hard flight of stair to the cement landing. It was a scary moment. One that I prayed profusely with gratitude about!

Last night I was holding Caleb as I was putting Jakob to bed. I went to plug Jakob's fan in and Caleb reached over and touched the baby chicks heat lamp that was in arms reach from him (Duh Mom!) and it blistered his little finger. He had a really hard time settling down to go to sleep. I felt really bad!

Eating
Nursing: 4-6 snacks in 24 hours

Pedia Sure: 2 a day

Baby Food: 1-2 jars a day

Snacks: breads, crackers, peas, carrots, cheese, eggs, chicken sticks, etc. Throughout the day

Teeth
None

Motor Skills

Cruises along furniture and crawls, walks while holding hands.

Communication Skills

Waves good night when going to bed.

Occasionally does the "finished" sign when he's ready to get out of his high chair

Possibly says Mama and Papa when he REALLY wants us and we're not sure if he really knows what he's saying. He says ma ma ma ma when he wants food.

He will SCREAM very loud if he sees food that he wants and it is passing him up (especially a bottle.)

Caleb's laugh is genuine and very hearty. He will break out laughing for no apparent reason until you figure out his humor.

Caleb smiles with his eyes as well as his smile.

Pass Times

Following Jakob. Sometimes driving Jakob crazy as he messes up Jakob's projects AND sometimes to Jakob's pleasure.

Coloring (we're working on coloring ON PAPER)

Pushing cars around

Playing with dinosaurs

Ball popper

Looking at books

Playing in his toy corner

Pushing computer buttons

Dumping garbage cans over and playing with the contents

Clearing off Mama and Papa's nightstand

Sitting in the grass, high chair, or outside swing

Sleeping
Wake up at 8:30A

Around 3 good naps a day

Bed at 8:00P

Wakes at night at least once