Recently in Kid Updates Category

I blinked. I shouldn't have, but I did. I blinked and all of a sudden, my precious little newborn became 6 months old and acquired a lovely personality.

His Stats From the Doctor
Weight: 15 lbs. 11.7 oz. (19%)
Length: 26.2" (42%)
Head: 16.9" (27%)

He got 3 shots and an oral vaccine while there. He literally cried for 15 seconds and then stopped, and resumed his normal smiling, kicking, and cooing. Caleb used to cry for like an hour afterwards. You'd calm him down only to have him "remember" and start up again. The thing I love about Jack is that I'm always prepared for a "what Caleb was like" response and I get all geared up, only to have him give a "what Jack is like" response. Which is pretty much like, "Ah! Oh, hey mom. I'm cool." *looks around calmly* What is there not to love about that personality? I am abundantly thankful for the peace that this child brings into our home. And I am in awe at how he continues to define his own personhood, one day at a time.

(Compare his stats to Caleb if you wish.)

What He Does Now
Jack eats a lot. He nurses frequently during the day and several times during the night, and is eating solids three times a day. He must have the world's most amazing metabolism because he's still so small despite all the eating. I have introduced him to baby cereals, yellow and green fruits and vegetables, pureed chicken, and yogurt so far. If we eat without him, he screams and hits himself in the face. So, I put him up in his high chair, include him in on the magic, and he's just a happy camper then.

He can roll front-to-back and back-to-front, but is generally content wherever you put him. He loves to grab things that are dangled over him and he loves to bang on things. He especially loves banging on the baby xylophone and the tambourine. He also enjoys blanket time when we are outside and he gets to observe nature.

Jack said his first word, Mama (sounds like "Maho-ma") a week ago. He was in his car seat at Culver's (after the Blue Angels Air Show in Eau Claire, WI with the Lewis clan). I said, "Oh, Hi! It's Mama! Can you say Mama?" And he said it, clear as day, while grinning and kicking. Josh insists on hearing it earlier in the week, but I chalked those up to your standard infant babble. He has repeated it several times since, always to my delight. I think he's working on "Ella" next since he's been doing the "L" sound around her a lot.

He LOVES his Ella dog.

He LOVES swimming and anything to do with water. Kicking water. Splashing water. Destroying the water. You get the idea. We had a blast swimming with him at Breezy Point Resort a couple of weeks ago.

He LOVES his Mama and Daddy. And he LOVES his grandparents (man, I don't have a "with grandparents" picture. how lame am I at documenting this stuff?).

And he really really LOVES that weird kid who lives with us. You know him. The guy.

Jack watches Caleb more than anybody or anything else. And when he nurses, he holds hands with Caleb (I know, isn't that adorable?). Caleb refers to him as "MY Jack." We haven't corrected him because, he is his Jack just as much as he's my Jack or Josh's Jack or whatever. Caleb is always looking out for him. When Jack cries, Caleb will say, "It's okay, baby Jack. Your Caleb is here. And I think you can be happy." Caleb gives him toys and books to play with and always includes him. There has been little, if any, rivalry between the two (but I suppose we'll wait until Jack starts crawling before I finish that sentiment). When I put Caleb to bed he says, "Please, can my Jack stay with me?" The bond. The bond is growing stronger with each passing day. I only hope and pray that they continue to love and support each other all the days they walk this earth. Have peace. Insist upon peace, my boys.

Caleb is 2 1/2 (31 months old) and he has a new haircut. I was inspired by the worship leader at our church, Dan Holst, for this little cut. I think it makes Caleb look like a really hip bully.

I thought I'd take a few moments to note what he's doing these days.

Story 1
I've found that "stay in the yard" means very little to a toddler. So, I've had to make the rules: no going on the road, no going to the neighbor's house, no going in the woods, no going in the water. These boundaries have effectively kept Caleb in our yard. Last week he was walking along the back edge of our property and, when I approached him, I saw that one of his legs was muddy up to the knee. I said, "Caleb, I said no going in the water." He looked sweetly up at me and said, "Oh, I no go in the water Mama." Then he pointed to his 'offending' leg and added, "Just this one."

Story 2
Yesterday, Caleb prayed before we ate lunch. He said, "Dear Jesus, Thank you for this meal. Thank you for real. See? It rhymes. Amen."

Story 3
Recently, we were at Key's Cafe for lunch. Caleb's food came and he said, "Hey, no french fries. Mama, you have any french fries?" I said that no, I didn't have any. He turned to Grandma Whiting, "Grandma, do you have any french fries?" Grandma said that no, she didn't have any. She suggested that he enjoy his hashed browns because they were kind of like french fries. Then, Caleb stands up in the booth and turns to address the entire restaurant, "Hey! Anybody have any french fries?" We explained to him that we couldn't bother other people at the restaurant, which he seemed to think was pretty lame. Hilarious all the same.

Digging the Jazz
We recently took him to a jazz concert at Bethel University. I was pretty impressed that he was able to sit through the whole thing (2 hours!). He would clap along, try to snap, impersonate the strange foot-stamping of the director, and ask questions about the instruments. Aside from a shout of "Good job everybody!" and "Oh! Duke Elliston!" (Duke Ellington), he was actually very well behaved. He also struck up a conversation a few times with a blonde female vocalist. What can we say? Caleb digs his jazz.

Verbosity
Developmentally, I think Caleb is your average kid, except that he is exceptionally verbal. Sometimes I forget that I'm talking to a 2-year-old. Here's an example of our morning conversation:

Caleb: Mama, what are we doing today?
Me: I don't know, what do you think we should do?
Caleb: Hmmm... maybe go to the park. Or maybe we should just stay home and make some waffles and sausage meat. I would like to watch Mary Poppins too because the penguins are so funny, HA HA! Silly penguins.
Me: Waffles sound delicious! We should go outside too.
Caleb: Oh yes. I think... today is the day for the garbage truck.
Me: That's right. The garbage truck is coming today. How did you know that?
Caleb: Oh, I see the cans outside. The truck goes up and down with the garbage cans and then we can bring 'em back.
Me: Oh, will you help me bring the cans back to the house?
Caleb: Yes. And let's bring Ella too. And my drum.

It continued long after that, but this at least gives an idea about the kind of conversations we have. He loves to pick up new words. Lately he has been using "cacophony" to describe when multiple dogs are barking, "amazing" when something cool happens, "delicious" to describe foods he likes, "curious" to describe himself when he wants to know something, and many others. He also tells me that "Ebeneezer Scrooge is a naughty boy!" If I use a new word he will ask me about it then try to use it. Here's an example:

Me: Ha ha, the side of the garbage truck says, "It's rubbish!" That's too funny.
Caleb: What's 'rubbish'?
Me: It's another word for garbage. Garbage is rubbish. Rubbish is garbage.
Later when we go in the house, he picks up a piece of fuzz on the floor and throws it in the garbage can saying, "Go in there you rubbish!"

The Books
We read a ton. We're one of those families that have huge piles of books within reach from pretty much anywhere you might choose to sit. Caleb will sit and "read" books to Ella and Jack. Recently he "read" Jack the entirety of Good Night, Gorilla. Makes a mama so proud. Currently, the most-read books are as follows:

• The Complete Adventures of Curious George
• Best Read-It-Yourself Book Ever!
• The Big Picture Story Bible
• Hairy Maclary's Caterwaul Caper
• Big Thoughts for Little People: ABC's to Help You Grow

The Movies
It's a short list, but these are the ones that matter to Caleb:

• Toy Story
• The Muppet Christmas Carol
• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Other Things
We've started to try to play board games, but they are still pretty complicated for him. He enjoys the lame paired-down version of the rules we play. He loves his marble run and enjoys "engineering" new runs. He loves to count and even does simple math on his own (like adding and subtracting birds as they land in or leave our yard). He really loves music and continues with Musikgarten and has recently been asking to play the violin. His pitch is improving. We paint a lot. He mostly enjoys gluing things, so I gave him a container of things he can glue to paper and he'll do that for awhile. He likes to help feed Jack his baby food. Caleb also enjoys helping around the house as usual. He loves to talk to people. He is getting better at controlling his emotions (meaning that he flings himself on the floor less often). We love seeing his personality develop!

I was at Barnes and Noble with Caleb talking to the Nook sales associate. She looked at Caleb and said, "Oh my goodness! Look at your long, thick eyelashes! You are going to be so pretty when you grow up!"

Caleb furrowed his brow and said, "No! I AM A BOY!"

Hilarious.

Jack went to the doctor today. He got an oral vaccine and two shots. Here are his stats:

Weight: 14 Pounds (29th percentile)
Length: 24.7" (39th percentile)
Head: 16.25" (24th percentile)

If you'd like, you can compare him to Caleb. Caleb was almost two pounds heavier and had almost the exact same length and head circumference at this age.

Honestly, I was reading all the stuff that Caleb did at this age and it seems that Jack is just content to hang out and look around. He has made very few efforts to roll or move in any direction, and has not been successful at either. During tummy time, he will lift his head for long periods of time and do some "baby push-ups." He is able to grasp objects you put in front of him and bang them around. He especially loves rattles and percussion instruments that you shake (various kinds of bells). He will also hit the keys of the xylophone and hit the tambourine if you place it in front of him.

Jack is a squealer. He will smile and squeal at you. He loves the poems from the book Let's Count It Out, Jesse Bear and a variety of other books that we read. He reacts to his favorite parts by squealing and squirming around, and it is usually the same places in books we read regularly. He does the same with his favorite songs.

It is difficult to get Jack to laugh. But when he does laugh it makes my whole day. It's a good, hearty, baby belly laugh.

Jack is just content with pretty much everything. I'd say he's your typical "good baby." He falls asleep on his own. Doesn't cry much and stops immediately once his need has been met. He still wakes twice a night to feed, but hardly cries when he wakes up and falls right back asleep after he eats. He loves to be carried in one of my many slings. I'd still say that he prefers me to others at this point, but will take pretty quickly to anyone who talks to him.

I have started feeding him rice cereal diluted with breast milk once a day. He loves eating and is very eager. I will start introducing a second daily meal of yellow vegetables in the coming days and weeks followed by green vegetables.

I just absolutely adore this little boy and am really enjoying being his mama!

(Add to this post --> I forgot to say that Jack is very tactile. He loves holding things in his hands and grasping them repeatedly. Caleb was very visual and liked things to look at over things to hold. Jack wants to hold things and will cry if there is nothing in his hands sometimes.)

Caleb approached a girl at the library and said, "Hi, my name is Caleb, who are you?" Her mom said that her name was Micayla. Caleb said, "Oh, hi Micayla. I like books. I like the big horned owl. He goes hoo! hoo! Hoo-hoo-hoo hoo!" She looked at him strangely. Then he said, "Bye! See you later!" and went back to his book hunt.

Caleb approached a lady at church and said, "Oh, hi, Mrs. Lady. I see you have a baby. My has a baby too, his name is baby Jack. Your baby has 2 eyes, 1 nose, and 1 mouth, just like my baby!" They engaged in a short conversation afterwards that was quite adorable.

Caleb went with us to the International Culture Fair held at the local High School. One of the booths had Chinese arts and crafts, including a gifted teacher who was teaching kids how to drum. Caleb was the youngest kid there (with probably the worst rhythm), but he was so happy to be able to drum. He went back anytime there was a drum open and no line of kids. And then the teacher let him dance inside of the Chinese dragon. Caleb laid down on the floor part way through. I looked into the dragon and he said, "RAWR! The dragon is sleeping!" He had a blast.

Caleb went with me to visit Jenna in the hospital. We talked beforehand about some things you can do with someone in the hospital. I told him you can tell them that you love them, that you hope they feel better, and you can pray for them. When we went in Caleb said to Jenna, "Oh, hi Jenna! You have a tube in your nose. Looks like an owie. I see you have lots of friends with you..." as he gestured to her many stuffed animals. "Oh, yes, you have an audience of friends. The dog is a good friend. He is pink. I loves you. I hope you feel better from your owies and your sick. Now I will pray for you." He clasped his hands and clenched his eyes shut (as though closing your eyes more tightly makes God more apt to answer your prayer). "Dear Jesus. Thank you for Jenna. Thank you for her audience of friends. Help her feel better. Help her to love you. We loves you Jesus. In Jesus name, amen!"

Caleb came with me to a wedding shower recently. After spending some time in the playroom, he came to me and said, "There are five girls playing. That is too many of the girls."

Caleb is probably going to be a math nerd. A few weeks ago he was looking out of our window adding and subtracting birds. "There is one bird. Here comes another one! Now there are two birds. Here comes another one! Now there are three birds. One is flying back to the woods! Now there are two birds. Here come two birds! Now there are four birds...." And he was right every time.

Josh is trying to get me to give Jack a haircut. I am resisting because Jack's just a little peanut with wispy baby hair. He does have VERY short hair on the top, and these lovely "wings" on the sides. Some kind of baby mullet? Not sure. Anyway, in my trying to convince Josh that we should leave Jack's hair until his "real" hair comes in, I told him we could style his hair like this in the mean time. Jack is totally rocking the mullet horns.

Here is Caleb (2 1/2 years) and Jack (3 months) together:

Caleb dressed himself. He is one snazzy dresser!

Jack is 3 1/2 months old here, pictures taken on 3/28/2010 in my living room. He is so sweet.

Jack has learned to stick out his tongue when I ask him to and loves listening to the La La La Song. He's 2 1/2 months old here. And, I think, very very sweet. (February 24, 2010)

Jack had his 2 month checkup at the doctor today. It went very well and he is doing excellently. There were only two issues that we discussed. First, I had some concerns about Jack's digestive abilities. But, the doctor told me that his issues are common in little dudes and gave me some tips to improve them. Second, the doctor commented that Jack only seems to look to his right side, so I'm supposed to do things to encourage him to look left as well. (I'm thinking of doing my impersonation of Chevy Chase's character in Three Amigos, "Lookup 'ere! Lookup 'ere!") If I don't do this, Jack may end up with a lopsided head into adulthood! Yeah, you read that right. (How many adults have lopsided heads because their mothers were negligent at getting them to look both directions? It's okay, you can raise your hand, we're all friends here...) That's not exactly the kind of thing I want to be held responsible for years from now, so I'll do what I can.

Jack is growing well:
Weight: 11 pounds, 6.2 ounces (44th percentile)
Length: 23.4 inches (69th percentile)
Head: 15.4 inches (30th percentile)

It's fun to compare him to Caleb (in this post, a week older than Jack here). Caleb was a pound heavier, about 1/2" shorter, and head size was about the same. I'm pretty sure that Jack will be much taller than Caleb someday, but we'll see.

Today, Jack was also given the basic 2-month-old shots: DTAP/HBV/IPV, Pneumonia, HIB/PRP-T, and one oral vaccine (Rotavirus). I asked the doctor what Rotavirus is and he said it's basically "a lot of diarrhea." He also said, "I'm so glad we have the shot now, I treat fewer patients in the hospital with the diarrhea than I did before." Isn't the thought of a little baby with insane diarrhea very troubling? Praise God for the don't-get-diarrhea-shot. (This would be a good time for me to say that I personally think death by diarrhea would be a horrible way to go. But let me make it public that if I do indeed die of diarrhea, I want to be buried in this shirt. I'm not kidding.)

Jack has started cooing in the past few days. Making the traditional adorable "Oooo" and "Ahhhh" sounds that babies are known for. Caleb impersonates him and they lie next to each other, Caleb giggling, as they impersonate each other's simplified sounds. Heartwarming.

Caleb and Jack get along very well. Today I had Jack laying on my bed and Caleb flipped on the overhead fan and laid next to him singing the "Round and around and around and around!" song. He has introduced Jack to his favorite books (and recited Owl Moon and Good Night, Gorillain their entirety.) Caleb loves to help give Jack baths, change diapers, and get dressed. He comforts Jack when he cries, "It's okay, baby Jack. Caleb is here. It's okay, baby Jack." The most helpful thing Caleb does is give Jack his pacifier when he needs it. How awesome is that?

I really really like Jack. I tell Josh that several times a day. I like him. I love him. He is the sweetest little guy. When he sees me his eyes light up and he does this gurgle, grunt, breathing thing and his legs run. They don't kick, they literally run in the air. Sometimes when I am nursing him he will start to "run" and will catch on my body and go shooting up. So, when I say run, I mean run. So endearing. So sweet.

Thank you, God, for Jack. Wonderful are Your works, my soul knows it very well.

Love when I get similar pictures to compare. They definitely are different looking boys, but this picture is the most similar of pictures I have of both boys so it's easiest to compare here. You can tell they're brothers though!

Here's Caleb at 6 days old (September 11, 2007):

Here's Jack at 8 weeks old (February 4, 2010):

Jack at 8 weeks old (February 3, 2010).

Jack doesn't smile much. But when he does, it makes for a happy Mama!

So, I'm officially 37 weeks now & that means I may be cuddling a new baby anytime now! For those of you who aren't aware of how this works, once a woman hits 37 weeks gestation they consider her to be "full term" and then allow her to go into labor after then. However, some women will go as late as 42 weeks. This means that I could go into labor anytime in the next 5 weeks. That's a pretty big expanse of anticipation.

To help me stay positive about this and for a bit of fun, let's try to guess! So, in the comments (either on my blog or on my Facebook comments) under this post, please guess the DATE and TIME OF DAY you think this baby will come.

Rules

1. In the comments, list the DATE (ex. December 12th) and the TIME OF DAY (ex. 7:42 a.m.) along with a.m./p.m. you think the baby will be born. I recommend choosing a date sometime between now and January 6th. If I go over my due date, they would induce me on January 5th.


2. Make sure an identifying name is attached so I know who to give the prize to.


3. Whoever has the closest date to the baby's actual birth date/time will win a prize.


4. I'm not sure what the prize is at this point. Maybe a giftcard. Maybe some of my awesome salsa. Maybe a... hmmmm. Working on it.


5. The winner will be the closest date/time, it doesn't matter if the guesser "goes over" like on the Price is Right. I don't care if you "go over" as long as you're closest.


6. Each person may guess once. Once your date/time has passed you're done playing. You can wait to enter later at your own risk of missing a sooner due date.

To help you make a decision, here's some info that I know that may help you decide:

Why I May Go Sooner

1. I've had a few scares of my blood pressure getting too high and my liver has been slowly getting worse. If it gets much worse they will need to induce me. As of today, it has been stable, but the doctor said I could literally wake up tomorrow and have it in failure mode. This would be called preeclampsia, a condition I also had with Caleb.


2. If my hips and pelvic bone spread too far they will also need to induce me to avoid a big surgery on me after the child is born. I have been going to the chiropractor for the last two months and, as of this moment, they have stabilized and have been causing me no pain or problems. I personally don't think they will be a problem anymore, but who knows.


3. At my doctor's visit today I was dilated to a 3, the baby's head is in station -2, and I have lost 2 cm off of my belly size, which says he's really mashed down in my hips. The doctor said that when he does start coming, he will most likely come very fast with stats like that.


4. I chase Caleb around all day, which puts extra pressure on everything to get moving along.


5. Caleb was induced at 38 weeks, 2 days.


6. This is my 2nd full-term pregnancy. They tend to go sooner.


7. I've been having contractions for well over a month. This is apparently normal for some pregnancies, but I never had them with Caleb's pregnancy.


8. Last week my cervix wasn't even pointing downward. One week later, I'm dilated to a 3, that's some serious progress.

Why I May Go Later

1. The doctor said that, even given the above conditions, a woman can still carry her baby well past her due date. My debated due dates have been either December 18th or December 22nd, depending on how you're counting.


2. Because it would really tick off Josh to have this child born in a new tax year.


3. Because Josh is going to be in Eddie's wedding on January 2nd, complete with the festivities of bachelor party and grooms dinner during the days before then. Wouldn't it be fun to throw the birth of a child in there?


4. Because having this baby born around Christmas would really make things interesting and confuse Caleb about the difference between our new baby and Jesus.


5. Because all of our bags our packed and literally everything to prepare for the baby's arrival is ready. That means there's nothing left to do so of course the baby is going to thwart us in every way and take forever to come.


6. Because I walk funny. And it just gets funnier the longer this baby takes.


7. Statistically, the average pregnancy goes to 40 weeks, followed by 41 weeks, followed by 39 weeks. So, if you like math, go with these dates.

To leave a comment, go to my direct link to this article on my blog. Scroll down & post your guess in there. Remember, you need your NAME, the DATE you think the baby will be born, and the TIME along with AM/PM you think the baby will be born. Happy guessing!

Scene 1 - At Menards!

Caleb has quite the vocabulary and has to vocalize everything he's thinking pretty much all day long. Today we were at Menards and it went like this:

Caleb: Mama, where all the pretty ladies go?

Me: What???

Caleb: Hmmmmm... [points to a man] Is that a pretty lady??? ...No.

Me: [thinking my kid is so clever]

Caleb: [points to a woman] Is that a pretty lady??? [woman ignores us] ...NO! Hmmm... [points to another woman] Is that a pretty lady??? [she looks at us] ...NO! Hmmm... where all the pretty lady go? Hmmm...

Me: [backs away from the scene of the crime]

Scene 2 - No Poot.

A couple weeks ago I took Caleb with me to the ladies restroom at a busy restaurant. (Please note, he pronounces "poop" as "poot.") While we were in the stall, Caleb loudly gave a play-by-play to everyone in the room.

Caleb: Mama, you go potty! Yay, mama! You did it! Yay! Mama, did you go poot? Oh no! Mama, how come no poot? You can do it! You can do it! Go again Mama, go poot! Yay! You can do it!

Me: [whispering] No, Caleb, I don't have to go poop right now.

Caleb: Oh no! No poot? Oh no, Mama. You can do it! Go again, go more, you can do it!

Me: No, Caleb, I'm all done going potty, let's go wash our hands.

Caleb: But no poot! Washa da hands with no poot? Oh no, Mama!

When we came out of the stall there were several women laughing. All of them were looking at us, so I said, "In case any of you were wondering, I did not go poop just now." They burst out laughing. One of them thanked me for making her day. Another woman spoke for awhile about, "Oh, I remember those days! Just priceless!"

Yay, motherhood.

My boy officially turned two years old on September 5th. Can't believe it. It's totally awesome. His personality is so magnetic, he's one of my favorite people to be around!

Stats from 2 Year Doctor Visit
Weight: 24.4 lbs. (10th percentile)
Height: 33" (16th percentile)
Head: 18.75" (23rd percentile)

Favorite Activities

• Monsters - He loves his stuffed Ugly Doll Babo, Shrek, Monsters Inc., his monster pajamas, and Where the Wild Things Are.


• Music time - Caleb loves singing and playing the piano, guitar, banjo, harmonica, ukulele, jingle bells, and his favorite time of the week is still Musikgarten. He often requests certain songs be played for him, especially "baby song" (Lullaby and Good Night), "rainbow song" (Rainbow Song from Signing Time), and "Ninigarten" (the whole CD from Musikgarten).


• Being Outside - He needs at least one daily fix of going outside. He loves to dig in dirt, splash in puddles, walk the dog, ride in his car, and just explore everything.


• Puzzles - Man is he good at puzzles. I gave him a wooden alphabet puzzle the other day and he put all 26 pieces in the right place within like 5 minutes. That totally baffled me. When he gets stuck he puts a finger on his chin and says, "Hmmmmmmm..."


• Running (especially with Ella) - He insists on doing a nighttime "diaper run" before we put on his pajamas. This is about 15 minutes of him running all around the house in his diaper.


• Helping - He loves to help me with cleaning, cooking (while standing on the big stool), gardening, fixing things, bathing Ella, doing laundry, vacuuming, and pretty much anything that I'm doing. His favorite person to help though is Grandpa Whiting, especially being outside and carrying big buckets to feed the animals or to use the "big drill" when fixing things. He loves power tools.


• Play! - his favorite playtime toys are his toy horses & trucks, little people, and musical instruments, balls, play-doh, and painting on his easel or coloring at his table.


• Swimming - We try to go swimming once a week when the local pool is open. Unfortunately we didn't make it to the beach much this year because of my wonderful pregnancy complications. He laughs and kicks and plays the whole time in the water, and then sleeps very nicely afterwards! He loves going underwater too, especially to dive after a toy! He still can't swim and needs me there with him at all times.


• Cuddling - He loves blankets and cuddling up to share a snack or story.


• Eating - Caleb is not a picky toddler eater. He eats everything and sometimes eats more than me. If I could bottle his metabolism and sell it, we'd be rich! At dinner the other night he ate 2 eggs, a handful of french fries, hashed browns (maybe 3/4 cup), 2 pieces of bacon, 1 pancake with syrup, a half glass of milk, and part of my ham & cheese omelette. How can someone who eats more than a pregnant woman be so small?


• TVDVD - this is what he calls anything watched on the TV or computer. He especially loves Yo Gabba Gabba, Sesame Street, Shrek, and Signing Time.

Favorite Books

• Little House on the Prairie - we've read three books so far. I got them to read myself but he asked me one day to read it to him and we've been reading it together ever since.


• Puff the Magic Dragon


• We're Going on a Bear Hunt


• The Beginner's Bible: Timeless Children's Stories


• The Big Picture Story Bible


• This Little Chick


• You Can Do Anything, Daddy


• Where the Wild Things Are


• Big Board First 100 Machines (basically... pictures of big trucks & equipment)


• and pretty much anything else... I've seen him looking through my copy of Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine several times, muttering to himself. Also, trips to the library usually end with him screaming something about Elmo and a duck book.

His Personality

• Hilarious! - I asked Josh what we would do if Caleb wasn't the funny child. I think if our next kid is funnier than Caleb, my entire house may spontaneously turn into a circus tent. He wears his cowboy hat and sunglasses when brushing his teeth. He'll make up songs about random things and insist on singing them to us while he plays his ukulele (and they're funny and frequently reveal to us that he understands more about what's going on around here than we think he does). He recently tried singing really high notes to birds outside to see if they would explode (like he saw happen in the movie Shrek).


• Energetic - He runs so far. He'll run from my parent's house to my brother's house (which is next door... but in a country-dirt-road-long-driveway sort of next door) and back again. Clearly he has endurance. He can also successfully do excellent somersaults and has also figured out how to do headstands on the couch. And the climbing... the climbing....


• Outgoing - He says hi to everyone, participates exuberantly in Musikgarten, and participates actively in conversation. I love how Josh and I will be talking at dinner and he'll put his hands on the table and say, "Ah-dee! Grandpa work work work at Home Depot! And Jesus loves me!" He has to get his two cents in.


• Sensitive & Sweet - If he does something wrong he feels so bad and instantly is apologetic. Like hitting the dog. He'll hit the dog, then get a super sad face, then say, "Sorry Ella!"


• Caring - A boy in the nursery at church took the truck he was playing with in an overbearing sort of way. I watched and thought, "Take it back, Caleb! Don't let him take advantage of you!" But, my boy ministered to me even as a little two year old. His response? He went over to the toy shelf, picked up another truck, and gave that to the boy as well! The boy looked at him like, "Um.... okay.... um.... thanks for another truck." Caleb then went and played with something else until he noticed the boy was done playing with the trucks, then he went over and played with them.


• Fearless - Can't think of anything he's afraid of. He loves monsters and dragons and things that make loud noises. He loves to be scared when he comes around a corner and loves hiding in dark places. As his cousin Maia says, "Let's bring Caleb with because he's bwave!"


• Talkative - What can I say? He is our kid. And that means he never shuts up. Even when he's sleeping I can hear him saying, "I did it! Yay you!"

So, technically this baby's due date is December 22nd, 2009. But, today we got to meet him, yes HIM, via ultrasound. These are the things we learned about him.

• Everything that could be healthy is healthy (heart, brain, spine, etc.)
• He has Josh's detached earlobes
• He is a night owl, he was wide awake kicking me at 4 a.m but slept during the entire ultrasound. He was on his stomach so it was hard to get a good face shot.
• He sleeps with one foot on top of the other, just like I do.
• Pretty much everything about his size is average, except he has long legs. The ultrasound tech said he'd probably be tall and skinny.
• He sleeps with his mouth open.
• If he continues at his current growth rate, he'll be between 7 and 8 pounds if he's born full term.
• He has a very round head shape.
• Whenever we got a face shot of him it looked like he was chewing gum. Who knows why.

Caleb thinks we should name him "Ming." Other than that, he doesn't really care about what's going on. If you ask him where the baby is, he will point to my belly.

Josh wanted to add that Caleb was the only son of an only son of an only son. He is excited that, by having two sons, the family name can branch out from here.

And, of course, if you know me, you know that I've always wanted a small herd of boys. The thought of a herd of girls makes me shudder a bit. So, while I would love to have a girl someday, I'm pretty darn excited to have two boys.

Josh and I feel blessed to have not one, but two boys come December!

I did an unofficial weight & measurement of Caleb when I went to the doctor today. Here are his current stats:

Weight: 24.3 lbs.
Height: 33.5"

I'm also glad I scored on his "next size of shoes" last week. I came home and he wanted to wear a pair and I put them on him, thinking they were too big. But, he was just fine in them and was running and climbing with no problems. Then, when I went to put his smaller size shoes on him he said, "No!" and went to get the other pair. So, he's wearing his size 6 shoes now. He's also wearing size 24 month pants & shorts, but I have to take in the waist on them because he's so skinny. His 18 month pants look like high waters on him, but the waist fits correctly.

So, that's where Caleb is at size-wise these days!

P.S. We had a rockin' time painting pictures outside today. Today was the first time he actually tried to follow the lines of drawn shapes with his paintbrush. (I do still encourage him to experiment with the paint rather than do the anal-retentive paint-by-numbers method. Sorry, the art teacher emerges and encourages process over product at this age.)

So, Josh's new iPhone has this recording device on it that's pretty good. So, here are some recordings we've done with Caleb. Caleb is 21-22 months in all of these.

Caleb is playing the piano while I talk to and sing with him. I try to get him to sing too. (actually, this first recording is done with the old iPhone)
Caleb on the Piano - Steph Interviews.m4a

Josh and Caleb were home for the night and were acting silly as usual.
CalGiggles.m4a

Caleb was going on and on about something he saw outside in our back yard, but Josh and I couldn't understand anything he said. So, we tried to figure it out and learned that he is either an excellent storyteller, or is seeing things.
SomethingOutside.m4a

Today Caleb and I were eating pancakes. He kept asking for more pancakes and more syrup and was very delighted as he ate them. When we were done, I cleaned him up and we went off to do some errands. Somehow, though, I kept getting sticky or I noticed that he was sticky somewhere I had already cleaned. I finally stopped to do a full search to see where the problem was.

Turns out that as we were eating, Caleb had been stuffing syrup and pancakes in the pocket of his shorts. As I emptied it and did my best to clean him off, I asked, "Caleb, WHY did you put pancakes and syrup in your pocket?"

In his best toddler-English, he replied (using spoken language & sign language), "Wait.... Eat!"

I think he was saving that sticky goodness for later.

This is the official announcement that Josh and I are expecting baby #2 in mid-December!

So far the pregnancy has gone very well and we have finally been over the many positive markers that make us feel open to tell others (especially the fact that people have started looking quizzically at my growing belly). At this point we are very excited, and feeling tired in advance of all the extra hoopla that a second child will bring. I am glad that I feel much more confident this time around.

As many of you know, I have a history of miscarriage - 4 to be exact. With Caleb I was doped up on progesterone supplements (just a random dosage) until I was 20 weeks along and was also put on several bed rests. I was eventually induced with him after being diagnosed with preeclampsia and HELPP Syndrome. After a lonely 6 day hospital stay, we finally brought Caleb home along with blood pressure equipment and regular calls to our nurse. (Really makes you want to try for another child, doesn't it?)

I will say that my tumultuous pregnancy history has left me both smarter and more skeptical about medical processes and my body in general. It has increased my faith in God immensely. That being said, I think this pregnancy is going much better in part due to much more informed medical care and a very good doctor. I have been getting progesterone weekly, this time it is regularly adjusted to make up for what my body is (or is not... usually the case) producing. (Caleb likes to go into the clinic and loudly announce, "Mama SHOT!!!" to the receptionist.) I have also had regular ultrasounds to show that my cervix has developed correctly (unlike 2 of my miscarriages where it just fell apart while the baby was still alive). My doctor has also been doing more regular physical check-ups as well as monitoring both my nutrition, my activity, and my hormone levels.

After nearly blacking out at a car show a couple of weeks ago, I noticed a pattern of ringing in my ears, dizziness, nausea, clamming up, and near fainting whenever I am "up and about" for awhile. My doctor looked into this and said that my body basically cannot handle activities that rely on the large blood vessels, so I am not to do them anymore. The obsessive workaholic in me feels like a slacker, but I do treasure the health of this child over my fantastic work ability, so I sit and make lists for other people when I need help with something.

During my last doctor visit my doctor said, "Would you listen to that baby move? I haven't heard a baby move like that for a long time." She paused, looked at Caleb, and asked, "Did he move a lot?"

I replied, "Oh, yes. I actually had bruises down the left side of my rib cage from his moving."

She said, "Well, I think you're really going to have your hands full with these two."

I have recently been nick-naming this child Hyper-Hypo since I'm a little over 15 weeks and his/her movement sometimes makes me stop and consciously refocus my breathing & balance. I don't think I felt Caleb moving until I was maybe 19 weeks or so. So, perhaps little Hyper-Hypo Lewis is just living it up in there right now. Like a little hummingbird swimming in nectar.

Also, I am not bringing anything to any Christmas gatherings, so be forewarned. I've actually started mapping out my Christmas gifts (crazy, I know) already so I can have them ready well in advance of the "launch date." We are also working on reorganizing Caleb's room to accommodate two little monsters instead of just one. I am in the market for a toddler bed, but am really eyeing this one. Last, I am working out a plan to get back in shape & lose some weight after I've healed from this baby. I didn't lose all of my baby weight with Caleb and I don't want to keep tacking on a few pounds with every child. I'm so serious about this I wish I could start now, but you know, the whole high-risk, passing out, still nursing the toddler thing is keeping me from that. But, I can put together a plan and imagine myself in my favorite jeans again.

So, there's the news. Hooray and hooray! We pray that, Lord willing, we will add this fourth member to our family come December. Thank you in advance for all of your love and prayers.

(Here's Josh's post on this news.)

Caleb is officially 21 months. I had to go to the doctor today and he was my little sidekick while I went. Beginning yesterday he has started taking off if I'm talking to someone (he used to stand and wait nicely... what happened?). Today the receptionists at the check-in desk got quite a kick out of him as he took off and I had to chase him down. "Look at him go! Man, he's quick for his size!" They thanked me for "making their day" and said I brought back lots of memories for them. Can I start charging for these "services"? I'm sure I'd make some serious cash if I could. The ad would read, "Watch an exhausted mother chase down her active toddler boy! It'll get more whoops and hollers than you've had all week!"

When the doctor came in to the check-up room, I told Caleb that it was the doctor. He went right up to him and said (shouted? He's really loud when he talks.), "Hi, Dah Tah!"

The doctor said hello back and then asked, "What is your name?"

Caleb pointed to himself and said, "You." (He always refers to himself as "you." We're pretty sure that he thinks it is his given name. You Lewis.)

The doctor said, "Hello there, you! Can you give me five!" Caleb slapped the doctor's hand and then said, "YEAH!"

During the visit Caleb had some great fun with the mirror and also with drumming on different things in the room. One of the metal cabinets was very rattly when he hit it, so he spent some time banging on it. He of course danced the whole time.

When we left the doctor said, "And I'm pretty sure that you have the cutest kid ever." Awwwww, warms a mama's heart. And then Caleb took off down the hall. Also, the doctor gave him a sticker with a car on it that Caleb put on his shoe. He likes to see his stickers when he walks.

Other updates: he repeats everything you say and is saying several new words each day. My favorite word mispronunciations are bumblebee ("Gmm Gmm Bee!") and one version of yes ("Ahh-Dee!" usually said with much gusto.). He likes counting things, "Unnn, Dooo!" He is very good at running and kicking different balls while running. His is interested in potty training and will poop & pee in toilet 3-4 times a day (but he still has no problem going in his diaper). We give him an M&M when he goes, which he loves. I think he would stay outside all day long if I let him, especially if he's around Grandpa's horses and pigeons. He adores dirt and anything that digs, sifts, and transports dirt. His favorite songs are "Mahna Mahna" by Cake and "The Yeah Yeah Yeah" song by The Flaming Lips. He also loves jazz piano so I bought him some Meade "lux" Lewis and Marian McPartland albums. He claps at the end of every song. He is still my helper and is in charge of feeding Ella in the morning, helps to wash the table, takes laundry out of the washer, and several other tasks we do together. He loves helping me give Ella baths. He is super awesome at climbing and is not afraid to go down any slide at the playgrounds, even the high super fast ones. He loves putting on hats & mittens and dancing around. Actually, he pretty much dances all the time. He also will risk his life to acquire any piece of technology and has successfully paused shows playing on our T.V. (while saying "All Done!"), updated my sister-in-law's Firefox, hooked up his vTech game on the T.V., and can work my mom's CD player until he finds the song he wants. We've started playing Memory games (as in Memory, The Game - the one with cards to match) and he loves it and will even play by himself (in his own weird way). And did I mention his love for balls and dirt?

Favorite books that we read way too much:
Kitten Red, Yellow, Blue
Goodnight Gorilla
Good Morning, Sweetie Pie! (a collection of poems)
Time for Bed
This Little Chick
How Much is that Doggie in the Window?

On Monday, Caleb and are were hanging out eating breakfast. He started showing symptoms of a cold on Sunday afternoon, but nothing past your runny nose and being tired. At night he started coughing. And, by our Monday morning breakfast time, he started showing signs of being worse. He started coughing a "barky" cough while clutching his neck and crying. Then, he started wheezing and I wondered if he had something lodged in his throat. I checked and he didn't. He kept asking to nurse, but when I would try to nurse him he'd grab his throat and cry and say, "No, no." So, I'd stop, and he'd ask to nurse again. The wheezing got worse, so I called the doctor.

There were no regular appointments left, so I took him to urgent care. The triage nurse checked his vitals and he had a slight temperature, but his oxygen levels were too low. He was still wheezing and coughing the "barky" cough. The nurse decided to send us to emergency, so we went there. His oxygen levels were checked again and they were still too low.

The doctor came in and ran some tests, then heard his cough and diagnosed Caleb with croup. The wheezing and low oxygen was due to narrowed airways. He was given a steroid, and within a couple of minutes was breathing normally and his oxygen levels returned to normal. They discharged us with some home care instructions.

Since then, he hasn't shown a scare like that one, although he is still fighting this cold. He seems much better this evening. I think I caught his cold too, but it's not effecting me as much as it has him. Also, I turn into obsessive hand-washing home-disinfecting lady when stuff like this goes down. So, hopefully Josh won't get sick.

I also learned fascinating things about how Tylenol Cold is like cocaine for babies, and that I should never give it to my children unless directed by a doctor. The doctor gave me a nice lesson on it's use (and seemed pretty bitter that it is still being sold over-the-counter). So, at least I had some mommy-building knowledge going on while in the ER. Pondering the profit-making of over-the-counter drugs helped me to stay strong so I could better support Caleb while there (instead of turning into a crazy, worried, emotional basketcase of a woman).

Pics of Caleb 6, originally uploaded by StephLewis.

This past week, Caleb hit his 18 month mark. I'm not going to go into lists of words, because there are getting to be too many to list. Let's just say, if you say it, he repeats it. He has also been putting two words together frequently to express what he wants. He also uses sign language frequently. I think our favorite word that he is currently saying is "bubble," which he says "bau-baooo" with adorably puckered lips and a high pitch voice.

His favorite thing to do is anything outside (especially at Grandpa Whiting's farm), and anything that involves helping. He helps me empty and load the dishwasher, change laundry loads, sort socks, feed the dog, fill the bird feeder, restock diapers in his dresser, cook (especially EGGS!), vacuum, dust, and anything else! He also loves to write in the snow with sticks and climb on anything he isn't supposed to climb on. Caleb is still going to Musikgarten and loves everything we do there. He is an energetic little boy who is just delighting in exploring his world!

Here are his stats from his 18 month doctor's visit:
Weight: 22 lbs., 5.4 oz. (9%)
Height: 31.1 inches (18%)
Head: 18.5 inches (28%)

He is healthy and growing and so much fun! And I LOVE being his mama.

Let's see, what is Caleb doing these days? Well, besides being funny, he's been really talking and moving! Here's the list for all who are interested (I may add more when I think of more):

Words He's Saying

• Ella
• Grandma ("Ramma!") & Grandpa ("Ram-PA!")
• Mama & Dada
• Names of some people (Jenna as "Enna", Elise as "Eesh", Kristin as "Tih-tih", Marcus as "Arkuh")
• All Done (Ah-Duh!)
• Baby ("Bah-Bee")
• Night-Night ("Nigh-nigh")
• Kitty ("Tee-Tee")
• Light ("Aight-ah!")
• Foods: Banana ("Nah-Nah")
• Art ("Art-ah!")
• Rock Rock (i.e. sway. "rah-rah")
• Clean ("Gn-gn", impersonating a song we sing)
• Yes ("Yeah yeah yeah") and No
• Hi & Bye Bye
• Tree ("Ree")
• Wiggle ("Giguh")
• High ("Aiiiiiiii" while he puts his arms up)
• Animal/Object Sounds: Dog, Cat, Bird, Airplane, Lion, Bear, Crocodile, Bug, Firetruck, Car/Truck, Sheep, Frog, Duck, Lizard, Snake, Tiger, Monkey/Gorilla, Chicken, Baby Chick, Alarm clock, Tick-tock clock, Sizzle

Words He's Signing

• More/Again
• All Done
• Art
• Sizzle (from all of our cooking)
• Shake
• Drink & Eat
• Deer/Horse
• Grandma, Grandma, Mama, Daddy (some confusion of signs)
• Dog
• Fish
• Cat
• Bird
• Round & Round (like a fan, a wheel, or a circle)
• Car
• Ball
• Nurse (milk)
• Sleep
• Phone
• Airplane
• Water
• Pointing to body parts - eyes, ears, head, mouth, teeth, tongue, hair, belly button, chest, hand, feet, nipples (he's fascinated by his nipples)

Great Feats of Movement and Strength

• Up and down the stairs for long periods of time, has several different methods
• Loves to stand on his step stool for helping in the kitchen & brushing teeth
• Climbing, sometimes I look up and he's standing on an end table! Gasp!
• Enjoys homemade obstacle courses through chairs, cushions, step stools, etc.
• Carries around the 8 lb. bag of potatoes and loves it (who knows...)
• Empties out the pan corner cupboard so he can sit in there with the door shut
• I don't think he knows how to walk anymore. It's run, run, run!
• Loves to dance & hop. He can get both feet off the ground sometimes.
• Loves balls - he throws them & kicks them
• Playing with Ella - this involves tug-o-war, throwing her toy for her, and just running around crazily

Big Helper

• Helps load/unload washing machine, helps sort laundry into piles
• Throws away garbage (and sometimes things that aren't garbage)
• Open/close cabinets when asked and retrieve some items (crackers, towel, etc.)
• "Sweeps" the floor & uses his popper vacuum when dad vacuums
• Helps let the dog outside, put dog in/out of kennel, change towels in her kennel
• Loves cleaning with his sponge (sometimes cleans after himself without being asked!)
• He puts things away when asked & on his own (I keep finding Little People & Duplo blocks in neat rows in the cabinets or in my drawers)
• Knows how to make popcorn and "helps" me do it, he even knows which pan to get out of the cabinet & where all of the ingredients are located

More Silliness

• Burped the other day and has been trying so hard to reproduce this
• Will make zerberts on other people, they are great ones of high quality that produce much laughter
• Has running gags like the other day when I hurt myself and exclaimed "Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!" He's been hopping around impersonating me ever since. Also has a "Blug! Blug! Blug! Blug!" running gag with Josh referring to some experience blowing bubbles in the tub
• He puts things on his head that don't belong on heads and belly laughs and hits the floor he thinks it's so funny (like a monkey doll, a measuring cup, towel)
• Shuts himself in Ella's kennel and shouts "Woof! Woof! Ella! Ella! Woof!"

Budding Creativity

• Loves to color several times a day, when you ask him what's in his picture it is always, "Ella!"
• Goes in the tub for painting time
• Carries around his paintbrush and pretends to paint the whole house
• Paints with water on paper sitting at his "big kid" chair & table
• Carries around his drum and loves to drum to music. Sometimes he even keeps a beat!
• Sings all the time. When we sing the "Lewis Family Night Night" song he will sing "Ahhhh daddee, Ahhhhhh mama, Ahhhhhh Rampa!, Ahhhhhh Rammma!" It's so sweet. He also loves "My God is So Big" and "Jesus Loves the Little Ones Like Me" and knows the actions
• Choreographs his own dances when you turn on music. Yesterday he spun around, put both hands on his forehead, palms out, and wiggled his fingers while hopping. It was hilarious.
• Reading all the time. He carries books around and asks to be read to. He also will sit and look at magazines or catalogs, muttering to himself the whole time.

I love seeing Caleb's sense of humor develop. Though he's always loved to laugh, I can see him starting to find humor in more things and he is even trying to make his own jokes. His early humor was physical, he loved being tickled, kicking his legs, swinging around, and anything else that was very motor oriented.

Toward the end of summer, he started finding humor in things like hiding under a blanket or in the closet and laughing like crazy when we finally found him. He also put a hat on Ella and thought that was very funny.

About a week ago, I was reading him The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats (a fantastic book). There is a part where the boy hits a snow-covered tree with a stick, causing snow to fall on his head. I signed to Caleb and pointed to the picture, "SNOW fell on his HEAD!" He burst out laughing. He kept turning back to the page and signing that snow fell on his head, and then he'd fall over and laugh and laugh. Later in the day, I would say, "Snow fell on his head!" Caleb would sign "head" and laugh some more.

Today, Josh and I finishing dinner, Caleb decided to start a little sideshow to entertain us. He was attempting to throw a can in the garbage can for awhile. Then, he made the sign for "eat" and then pointed to the wall. He immediately started snickering so hard he had to cover his mouth. Josh said, "Eat the wall??? That's silly!" And that unleashed Caleb's laughter. Eat the wall indeed.

I can't wait to hear more of his jokes. What a happy little boy!

I literally spat cereal out of my mouth today because Caleb was so funny. I tried getting it on video (he did repeat himself), but I can't find where my Flip ended up after our trip to Branson. Hmmmm...

Anyway, this is what happened. We were looking at the Noah's Ark snow globe and making all of the animal sounds. I have been trying to teach him that a bunny wiggles it's nose instead of making a noise (the only rabbit noise I've ever heard is it's death cry and I'm not about to teach that one to my kid).

So, I said, "Caleb, what does a bunny rabbit say?"

He looked at me, shoved his finger far up into his left nostril, then exhaled through his nose, causing a HUGE snot bubble to form from his right nostril (we're talking golf ball here). He held the pose and grinned.

And then I spat out the cereal, which I think he took as encouragement... Oh, the wonderful joys of parenthood!

Caleb had his 15 month checkup today and, despite his current cold, is a very healthy little boy. We were able to look in his mouth and he has his 4 upper and 4 lower teeth fully grown in (that he's had for awhile) and is currently sprouting 2 bottom teeth on each side and one on his upper left. That's 5 teeth coming in at once! The doctor said it's rare that they get that many in at once. Poor little guy! His gums are all swollen, but since the teeth have all broken through, Caleb has enjoyed grinding his teeth while walking around the house. Such a pleasant sound!

And get this, since his 12 month checkup he's gained less than a pound, but he's grown a little over 2.5 inches! So, we have a tall, skinny kid here.

Here are the 12 month & current 15 month stats for comparison.

Last Checkup (12 month):
Weight: 20 pounds, 5.5 ounces (15th percentile)
Length: 28.7 inches (16th percentile)
Head Circumference: 18 inches (30th percentile)

This Checkup (15 month):
Weight: 21 pounds, 2.2 oz. (10 percentile)
Length: 31.25 inches (61 percentile)
Head Circumference: 18.31 inches (33 percentile)

Caleb's Lion Costume 19, originally uploaded by StephLewis.

Caleb was a Lion for Halloween this year. I made this costume for him out of fleece and ribbon. I made it a little big (with room to let out) so that he can still play in it over the next couple of years. He loved being a lion and even got the hang of roar-ing towards the end.

First we went to Grandpa & Grandma Whiting's house and trick-or-treated there. They loved how cute he was with his little tail. Then we went to visit the Peterson & Lewis families in White Bear Lake. We trick-or-treated with Elise (a clown) and Maia (Robin Hood). Andrew & Karina (superman & wonderwoman) joined us for the first house, but then stayed back because we party to hard for them. So, Jon & Emily and Grandpa & Grandma Lewis all came with us trick-or-treating.

Caleb was confused at first until one of the houses had a dog. He was excited and stood at the door looking at their dog. I think after that he thought trick-or-treating was so we could look for dogs in other peoples' houses. Once he realized a house didn't have a dog, he seemed disinterested. If a house had a dog, he would get excited and stand at the door bouncing up and down. (Note: I think I would actually prefer Halloween if we went from house to house admiring other peoples' pets. It would be way better than candy.)

When we were finished trick-or-treating, we went to Trinity Baptist where we played some games. Caleb enjoyed jumping in the giant inflatable dog, and also spent quite a bit of time pointing at the giant inflatable dog making "woof" sounds.

All in all, we had a fun night out!

Caleb Gives a High-Five from Steph Lewis on Vimeo.

Watching the Garbage Truck 1, originally uploaded by StephLewis.

Caleb loves the garbage truck. I usually take him outside when I hear it rumbling up the road so we can sit on the front steps and watch it take ours + 2 neighbors' trash away. We point and I make comments about what a "big blue truck!" it is.

This day, I did not take him outside. I told him, "Caleb, the garbage truck is coming! Do you hear it?" He pointed to the window then scurried up the couch to peer out the window at it. Ella joined him.

I loved how Norman Rockwell-esque the scene was. A boy and his trusty dog, experiencing the world together.

Another healthy checkup. We got the okay to do forward-facing car seat, but I think we'll keep him rear-facing for awhile longer. Still breastfeeding, but we've also started giving him whole milk. I gave him peanut butter for the first time and he was unimpressed.

Caleb is also pretty small for his age. The doctor asked if me or my husband was a "bottomless pit" growing up. Clearly, that was not me. I've always been big and strong for my age. But Josh? Yeah, he could eat whatever he wanted in huge amounts until his metabolism "shut off" in his early twenties. The doctor confirmed that Caleb was also a "bottomless pit" and that I should let him eat as often as he wants in whatever quantities he wants as long as they are healthy selections.

We also got a prescription for fluoride supplements since we have well water.

Here are the stats:
Weight: 20 pounds, 5.5 ounces (15th percentile)
Length: 28.7 inches (16th percentile)
Head Circumference: 18 inches (30th percentile)

Age 1: Journey Through the Yard 56, originally uploaded by StephLewis.

Happy Birthday, little guy.

May you shout for joy to the Lord!
May you worship the Lord with gladness!
May you come before him with joyful songs!
May you know that the Lord is God.
May you believe that it is He who made you, know that you are His.
May you someday be a part of His people, the sheep of His pasture.

I pray that someday you will enter His gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise.
I give thanks to God for giving us you, I praise His name!
The Lord is so good.
His love endures forever.
Thank you God for showing your faithfulness through all generations.

(adapted from Psalm 100)

Age 1: Journey Through the Yard 53, originally uploaded by StephLewis.

One thing that is interesting about parenting is that your child is always growing. And as a parent you have to anticipate these changes, this moving forward. I've been looking for good motor skill opportunities for Caleb since his new thing is climbing. He climbs onto chairs and the couch, up the slide (both sides), up hills, up steps (then down, then back up again). What will be next?

The beauty of this is that eventually, this progress will bring him to a place where he stands firmly on his own two feet, taller than me, looking me in the eye, engaging in adult conversation. But for now, I get to look down on the top of his little head, pursed lips, and diaper-bunched little jeans while he explores and finds his own forward momentum.

Age 1: Journey Through the Yard 36, originally uploaded by StephLewis.

Have I mentioned how cool it is to watch motor development? He's walking, shakily, but walking nonetheless. I love when he stands up and reaches his little hand out to me so he can grasp it. I find it to be a beautiful metaphor for God's relationship with us. He hold us up, helps us to balance, sends us on our way, picks us up when we fall... wonderful.

I call this picture "Umbilical".

Age 1: Journey Through the Yard 31, originally uploaded by StephLewis.

But, with independence and exploring, comes the question of discipline. I like to think of discipline as guiding your child through the world and teaching using positive methods as often as possible. So, I redirect his attention, teach him how to do things gently, practice being safe, and so on. But, then there came the day where he bit me in the back of the leg. I let out a yelp of pain, not ready for this kind of behavior from him. He thought it was funny and did it again. Introduce the firm, stern mother who says "NO!" He didn't like that.

And then the other day when he decided to investigate power plugs. Not just look at them, but to unplug and attempt to chew on them. After redirecting multiple times, I ended up having to come back down to the firm, stern mother who says, "NO!"

He crawled toward the plugs today and I told him no and he retreated and focused his attention on something else. That made me feel good that he's at least beginning to listen when I need him to. I know it won't always work as slick as I want, but hey, we're giving it a good concerted effort. It's interesting to work out a parenting style when it comes to these kinds of things.

Age 1: Journey Through the Yard 30, originally uploaded by StephLewis.

I spend a lot of time on the floor. We draw & paint, cook, read stories, bang on pots & pans, crawl around, make animal sounds, sort through the dirt, weed the garden, sort the mail, brush the dog, rock & dance to music, play our instruments, explore toys, try out new foods, and pretty much investigate everything. This is, I think, one of the best parts of being the mama of a one-year-old.

Age 1: Journey Through the Yard 13, originally uploaded by StephLewis.

Caleb has also become quite independent. We had his first day of Musikgarten today. All of the kids in the class seemed to cling to their parents, but Caleb pushed off of me right away and wanted to sit right in front of the teacher. When she'd set out a basket of jingle bells or blocks, Caleb was the first one in there to play with the percussion instruments. He even handed a jingle bell to another little girl, which made everyone say, "Awwww!" It was adorable.

I felt so proud that my little guy feels confident to explore and engage.

Caleb's cousin, Maia, explained something to me the other day. She said that there was a statue of a bear on top of the waterslide at the community center and that it was "Ver-wy Sca-wee." After thinking about it she said that she could just bring Caleb with her next time because, "He's a boy and boys are bwave!"

Indeed he is. He is ver-we bwave.

Age 1: Journey Through the Yard 4, originally uploaded by StephLewis.

Here is Caleb with his best buddy in the world, Ella. He calls her and she comes to him. He throws her toy for her. He calls her and looks for her when we are away from home, especially if he is doing something exciting he wants to share with her. She is a great little dog to have around and loves so much. This may be related to the fact that he sneaks her cheetos when I'm not looking...

Age 1: Journey Through the Yard 3, originally uploaded by StephLewis.

Well, the day has arrived, my little guy has turned one year old. So, I'm going to spend a few posts sharing my favorite pics that I took of him yesterday as he journeyed around our yard.

At one year old, Caleb is excited about art. He points to art hanging on the walls and wants to look at every picture in our house. He makes the sign for art.

I can't believe Caleb will be one year old in just two weeks!

He said his first sentence today. He looked at the cat, who was sleeping on the couch, extended his hand (his version of waving looks more like giving the power or faith healing) and said "Ha titi!" Which was putting together "hi" and "kitty." I was like, "Dude, that's a sentence!" A couple of weeks ago, if I shut off a light, he'd say "Aight ffffffffff." That means that the light is off. But, he never said the light is off, so it doesn't count as his first sentence.

Today he learned how to whistle. He puckers up his lips and this low tone comes whistling out. When I whistle back to him, he laughs and claps, then tries to whistle again but can't because he's laughing. So, things have to be very calm for him to share it with you!

We read lots of stories and he has his favorites. He will get a book from his shelf and bring it to me, patting it. He'll sit in my lap and rock back and forth while I read. He will respond to me now too. I'll say, "Where's the ducky?" and he'll hit the page really hard where the ducky is. Then I say "Yay! That's the ducky!" while he claps for himself. He especially loves the books I sing to him like Wheels on the Bus and Row Row Row Your Boat.

Man can Caleb crawl. I get stopped at church a lot by people telling me how fast my kid can crawl. Usually the words "wiggly," "curious," and "speedy" come up as well. That's Caleb. Man he's fast and he gets into everything.

He is starting to "help" with jobs around the house. He helps unload the dishwasher (emptying the silverware onto the floor), and he helps with the laundry. He will sit with me and either put clothes in or take clothes out of the washer. He will also "wash" his tray or the table if I give him a washcloth and say "Clean, clean, clean!" He grins and wipes it back and forth. He also pushes the laundry basket from the top of the stairs to my bedroom and then hands me things while I fold them. I think he enjoys making himself useful.

He has started walking, and has probably done about six steps in his peak performance. I think the biggest problem slowing down his walking, besides being awesome at crawling, is that he gets distracted half way through. It's like, "I'm going to go to mommy! I'm almost there! Just go a little further... hey! What's that over there! It's shiny!" Then he plops down to go explore whatever it is that he saw.

Caleb LOVES the beach. We go there once a week and he especially loves patting down dirt that I shovel into a pile and "bear walking" back and forth in and out of the water. I'm looking for a good water activity we can do once it's too cold to be on the public beeches. On a related note, I have learned that, when babies eat sand, the body does not digest it as we would hope.

Caleb also really enjoys being outside. He crawls around our whole backyard. He likes to go to the tree and pat it, then go to the flower bed and explore the plants, then go to the playground to play on everything (with my help), then crawl over to the back step and explore the garden hose hung on the wall. I'm looking forward to getting our back patio poured so it won't be so dirty back there. But, I've had an attitude of "clothes can be washed" so I don't care if he gets dirty.

Josh and I were removing some patio block and Caleb was "helping" us. There were lots of worms under the blocks and he was fascinated by them. He'd pick them up and they'd squirm and he'd get all excited. At one point, he started sucking on one and Josh and I said "EWWWWWWWWW!!!" while I took it out of his mouth. Ewwww, indeed.

Caleb's buddy is Ella. He will call to her and she will come to him maybe 1/2 of the time he calls. He pets her nicely by stroking her back and rubbing her neck. Sometimes he pets her not-nicely by hitting her head, but we're working on that. One time I was sitting on the couch with Caleb and Ella sat by us, he proceeded to pet her with his feet and laugh. I also caught Caleb trying to feed Ella a piece of fuzz. She turned her head away from it so he lifted up her lip and stuck it in there. I intervened just in time so poor Ella didn't have to eat fuzz.

I have lots of pictures of loved ones that I've clothes-pinned around the lower levels of Caleb's room. He takes them off and carries them around the house. Once he was looking at some pictures upside-down, I turned them the correct direction and then he turned his head sideways to look at them because he apparently wanted to look at them that way. Who knows.

He also loves music. He will point to our iPod dock and do the sign for music and I will turn on music for him. He rocks back and forth and claps. He also will "play" the piano, guitar, and banjo whenever I let him. We signed him up for Musikgarten for fall and I'm sure he'll love it.

Caleb uses the following signs: Finished/All Done, Round-and-Round (sign for "spin," we use for fans & wheels), Music, Dog (hard to tell if he's doing the sign for dog or just patting in excitement), Art (which I'm teaching him is to be used for things framed and hung on a wall... for now), and Light. He also understands other signs I use with him, but has not signed them back, including Cat, Dad, Milk, Drink, Where, and More.

He has four teeth on top and two on the bottom. Based on his fussiness tonight and some gum swelling, I think more will be here soon. He likes to chew things.

I have been preparing most of his foods from the Petit Appetit Cookbook, which is the best baby cookbook I've found. Heck, I love the recipes from there! He eats mini muffins, baby biscotti (usually I dip it in peach juice for him), cooked vegetables, various beans & rices, pasta, egg yolks (hard boiled), cheeses (especially loves cottage cheese & ricotta & cheddar), fruits (especially loves berries), YoBaby yogurt, meats (especially turkey lunch meat and hamburger), corn puffs, and cereal puffs. I have been giving him ice cream cones too and he loves them. I just put a tiny bit of ice cream in those kid cones and he just laughs the whole time he eats it like he's in some kind of fantasy world or something. It's pretty funny... and messy!

Those are the basics of what he's doing right now. What a little joy he is!

Caleb Watches His Dogs 6, originally uploaded by StephLewis.

Today, Caleb and I were hanging out in the yard with the dogs. Though he had been saying "Ella" for quite some time now, the dogs never paid any attention to him. Today, that changed. He looked at Ella, raised his hand, and said, "Ella! Ella! Ella-ella-ella-ella!" And she actually came to him! She looked up and ran right over. Boy did Caleb freak out.

Later, today, when we were inside, he picked up Henson's toy, looked at him, raised the toy in the air, and tried his "Ella" call again. Henson ignored him, but Ella came out from under a blanket and came up to him. She licked him and he handed her the toy. (Henson came over and snatched the toy from her because that's just the way he is.)

My boy sure does love his doggies.

Day at the Beach 27, originally uploaded by StephLewis.

We finished unpacking last week. Yes. Finished. Even pictures are hung. There is not one box left (except some of Josh's boxes that are mashed with cords, old software, and Mission Control tapes... but those are his problem and not mine). It feels fantastic to be unpacked and I feel like I can finally stretch my arms and enjoy it a bit.

One joy of being unpacked is that my house is not a deathtrap to babies anymore. This is good, considering that I have a baby. Just in time too. In the last two weeks, Caleb has started cruising quite well. He can open cabinets and drawers (and dump their contents everywhere). He can go up stairs very quickly. He can "walk" by pushing one of those baby-pushy-help-you-walk things. On a good day, I've seen him scramble onto the couch (not crawl, scramble, it's more like a strange baby dance). So, I need a baby-proofed house. And now I have one.

Caleb's language has also been making great strides, which I am loving. He now consistently uses "Ahh-Duh" (all done) to announce when he is done eating or done taking a bath. Sometimes he will use the sign for "finished" instead. He says "da da" in reference to Josh. He says "Ella" very clearly to Ella, but doesn't call every dog in the world "Ella" anymore. They are now "Duh" (dog). His favorite word right now is "Aight!" (light), which he says to pretty much anything that has a light coming out of it. He emphasizes the "t" sound so much that it sometimes sounds more like "aight-TA!" I sat him in the hatchback of my car while I took off his swim trunks and he kept banging the light in there going, "Aight! Aight! Aight!" It was pretty funny.

Caleb loves swimming. We go to the beach pretty regularly and he really enjoys the water. We do all of the little things we learned in swim class, and he just squeals. I love the beach because Caleb loves it, and it's really relaxing for us both.

Oh, and Caleb got his first haircut yesterday. I took him to the hair salon and sat him in my lap and read him stories while the girl tried to cut his hair. His hair basically looks the same, only it's evened up now. He had some patches of super long hairs here and there, and now it all flows much better. Still looks like a baby though. I got my hair cut into a bob with long layers. We'll see how long that lasts.

I'm working on redesigning my blog. It is currently a horrid design disaster that is a result of (1) my designing it before I knew anything about good design, and (2) trying to get stuff up so my family could use it without actually paying attention to how it looked, and (3) being so busy that I just didn't care. Actually, the layout is all done, but I just have to transfer the stuff to Photoshop so my hottie of a developer can make it work for me. I'm also working on getting fighterverse.com up and running and have some cool ideas for it. I have also decided to let go of hydeart.com because I don't work there anymore. It's such a pretty site, I hate to see it die.

Well, that's the quick catch up on what's going on with Caleb and me. Life is good right now and I'm just enjoying the many sweet moments that have come my way.

Caleb's First Kiss, originally uploaded by StephLewis.

My mom has this doll that sings "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." Caleb has always loved her Austrialian-sounding voice and the spunk with which she sings the song. He also loves to chew on her hair. That being said, when she sang to him today, he got so excited he waved his hands in the air and then kissed her! Or was he biting her face? I'm not sure, but it looks pretty kissy to me! Caleb is 9 months, 1 week here.

Eating Fun 9, originally uploaded by StephLewis.

We went in for Caleb's nine month well-baby checkup today. They said he is overall a very healthy and "advanced" baby in terms of his abilities. He is, however, below average when it comes to the regular baby stats. Here they are:

Weight: 18 lbs., 13.9 oz. (24th percentile)
Length: 27.50 inches (26th percentile)
Head: 17.17 inches (46th percentile)

He's also an eating machine. The doctor said that babies run a spectrum from being very eager eaters to being very finicky (in terms of eating "real" food vs. baby food). Caleb eats pretty much everything (except the "baby no-no" foods), and most of these are things from my plate that I just chop up for him. He will refuse baby food unless it is chunky, so I'll usually mix something in with it (usually rice or cereal puffs). His favorite foods now are cheetos, garlic cheesy toast, green beans (whole, cooked), meat, cottage cheese, and garlic mashed potatoes. I find that a dash of garlic or cinnamon can make the difference between lips clamped shut or mouth wide open. So, he's definitely a connoisseur.

Oh, and he also has a tooth! It broke through on May 22nd. It's the top-left tooth. I think the top-right is going to come next because it looks like it's ready to break through any day now. He's handled teething pretty well. We relieve the pain with my home remedy. I take one ice cube, put it in a baby washcloth, then twist it up with one of my hair ties. I dip it in water and hand it to him and he just sucks away. He is not even interested in store-purchased teething rings and I personally think they're a wasted effort. Sometimes we'll split a fruit popsicle too. I don't mind splitting popsicles! It's one of the honors of motherhood! (Mmmm... popsicle... garaglaaallllhhhhhahahahaha...)

He's growing, he's fantastic, and I'm loving every minute of it.

Caleb has been growing like a weed lately and he's almost 9 months old. He crawls really fast (watch out!) and pulls himself up on whatever he can grab. He has been trying to cruise and has been successful at it a couple of times. Since his motor skills started developing rapidly, he has relied less on speech. The only words I hear from him anymore are "Ella" in response to pretty much any dog he sees, and "Mama" when he's really upset (although he does sorta sing, LOL). That's about it.

But, yesterday he returned his first sign! Josh and I were at the Village Inn eating after the terrible hail storm. There were ceiling fans above us that Caleb was fascinated with (as usual). We gave him the "round-and-round" sign several times. He was very serious and eventually returned the sign. I was so stoked. He has repeated it this morning already with the ceiling fan in our bedroom and in his bedroom. It's so cool and I am so stoked. Oh, and did I mention that I'm stoked? I am.

Caleb and his Shoes 2, originally uploaded by StephLewis.

Caleb went over by our front door and was playing with all of the shoes there. He especially likes my camo slip-ons because they have gold sparkly stars on them. Well, he started crawling away and I saw that he had taken off his own shoes and placed them with ours! Coincidence? Who knows. Notice he left the sock in one of the shoes. :-)

Caleb is quite verbal for his age. He says Mama, Dada, Ella, and All Done. His favorite word is Ella. He calls Henson Ella, he called my cousins puppy Ella, the neighbor's dog is Ella, and when we go for a walk and hear dogs barking in the distance, he looks at me and proclaims, "Ella!" And I say yes, it's a dog, just like Ella. And he grins.

Today he had Ella in his sights as he crawled quickly toward her. "Ella! Ella! Ellllll-ahhhhhhhh!" he shouted. Ella looked at him, nearing her at a faster-than-usual pace, and bolted out of the room onto the safety of the couch. Caleb stopped in defeat, knowing he couldn't keep up with her let alone get onto the couch. He started to cry in frustration, but luckily there was a vent nearby for him to look at and hit. He loves vents.

Boy does he crawl around. Today for the first time he grabbed onto a lower-rung of a dining room chair and pulled himself up to a kneeling, then a-frame position. He wants to stand so bad.

I'm loving my talkative, fast-paced little guy. My favorite part of the day is on our daily walk. We walk down to the lake, go to the end of the public dock and sing a hymn. Well, I sing the hymn. Caleb points to stuff and babbles. The dogs enjoy the sunshine on their brace leash. Does it get any better? I savor those moments and try to press them into my mind so I never forget the wonder, the feeling of completeness, the uber-contentedness.

Hanging Around the House 43, originally uploaded by StephLewis.

Caleb's 6-Month check up was on March 5th. Here are his stats:

Weight: 16 lbs. 7.3 oz. (31.64%)
Length: 26.5" (54.81%)
Head: 16.75" (18.08%)

Apparently, i have a tall, skinny kid with a little head.

I did several photo sessions of Caleb this month. These are some of my favorites:

Today Caleb had his 10 week check-up at Kaiser. I spent almost three hours at the doctor's office, most of it in the waiting room of the pediatrics vaccination clinic, but I'll get to that later.

Here are his current stats:
Weight: 12 lbs., 9 oz. (61.68% of weight percentile for age)
Length: 23" (42.42% of length percentile for age)
Head Circumference: 15.25" (16.03% of head circ. for age)

Josh is concerned that Caleb's head circumference is a bit small for his age, especially considering that he's a Lewis. To combat this, Josh has started a three-times-a-day regimen of telling Caleb how beautiful and smart he is. At this rate, we figure Caleb's head will get big in no time.

Caleb also received three shots (DTAP/HBV/IPV, Pneumonia, and HIB/PRP-T) and one oral vaccine (Rotavirus). He cried, I cried. He has little band-aids on his chubby thighs. I hate seeing babies get shots. (P.S. What kind of person wants the job of stabbing babies with needles? I mean, someone's gotta do it, but seriously, that job would stink. Although, I suppose I'd rather have that job than the circumcision job, but I digress...)

On with the torture of today. I checked in for our doctor's appointment (with Dr. Griffin), waited about 5 minutes, went in, and had a great check up. Caleb was in an awesome mood and smiled and cooed the entire time. The doctor kept commenting on what a happy guy he was, and that just made me feel fantastic. Of course, I know that had she seen Caleb at certain other times of the day, he wouldn't have been as grinny, but I'll take what I can get!

After a nice visit with the doctor, we went over to the pediatrics vaccination clinic to get his shots. We waited for TWO HOURS. Those of you who have had small children know that sitting in a waiting room with lots of bored toddlers and their parents is not a fun thing to do. To make matters worse, the rooms where kids were given vaccinations were on each side of the waiting room. Unfortunately, the genius who designed the place didn't think to make those rooms soundproof. Through the closed doors we heard the frantic screams, wails, and "Mommy! Mom-mom-MOMMY!" of poor children who had just been poked. Seriously, some kids sounded like there was an exorcism going on. "MA!! MA!!! MA!!! AHHHHHH!!! AHHHHHHHH! NO! NO! NO! MAAAA!!!!" The toddlers in the waiting room would go to their parents, looking concerned for the sweet little girl that was just carried out of the room, tears and snot streaming down her face. The parents would tell their toddlers, "It's okay, Sweetie, you'll be fine." Yeah, right. They knew they were being lied to. They knew it was only a matter of time before they had to face whatever was on the other side of the door. And some of them tried to make a break for it, only to be dragged back to the waiting room kicking and crying. They knew that something awful was behind those doors, perhaps something related to whatever made those sounds in their closets or under their beds at night.

I listened to those wails for TWO HOURS. It really starts to get to you. I tried reading a book, but would get to the end of the page and have no idea what I just read. I tried reading the same page about four times, but none of what I had read would stick to my brain. So, I spent a lot of the time staring at the ceiling or watching the parent-child dynamics in the waiting room. (Caleb pretty much just nursed and slept the whole time there, so he was pretty easy. I ended up having to dance around with him a bit at the end just to keep him occupied, but that was fine).

The neat thing about watching parent-child dynamics is that you get to see all different kinds of parenting styles. There was (1) the parent who loudly announced everything her child did, "OH! LOOK AT HER SMILE! YOU'RE SO BEAUTIFUL, HONEY! YES YOU ARE!! YES YOU ARE!!!" There was (2) the parent who hated her life (at least today) because her kid was going, "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" while she ignored him and played on her cell phone. Then, you had (3) the overstimulating parent who insisted on airplaning her 9-week-old through the place, "Rarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!! Zooooooooom!!!" I also enjoyed watching (4) the father of the only teenager there. His 16-year-old sat next to him listening to his iPod, seeming really annoyed that he had to sit in the same room as airplane lady and loud-talking lady. And of course there was (5) the mother of a four-year-old boy who kept trying to teach him colors. "This is red. RED." Her son was so hyped up he kept trying to run down the halls or steal toys from other kids. I wondered what the point was of trying to show colors to spazz-out-boy, but who knows. There were many other parent-child sets there, several of whom were very good with their kids. It's interesting to people watch and see all the differences out there.

So, yeah, two hours later, my beautiful son got stabbed three times and we got to go home. I was exhausted by that point, amazed at how much energy I had drained from three hours out of the house. Luckily, Caleb was also sleepy, so I was able to come home and enjoy some quality chill time in the rocking chair with him. He's such a trooper.

Well, after many attempts to get a photo of my super happy little guy, I finally nabbed one! He usually squeals and grins at me until I hold up a camera or bring in another person. This time I really had him going and luckily had the camera in tow. This is the face I wake up to!