About Caleb

There are so many things about Caleb that I want to remember when he's older but since I'm already forgetting things from a few months ago I don't have much hope for years from now. So here are the things I want to remember from right now.

Walking
Caleb has nearly perfected his walking and now runs and climbs. He usually does fine until he gets tired and then he starts to fall over and cry a lot. He climbs on the coffee table, boxes, chairs...pretty much anything he can find. His favorite is to climb up onto the couch to see if he can locate a remote. He loves pushing buttons and can turn on both the tv and xbox. More than once we've found him sitting on the couch with the tv on, holding an xbox controller and scrolling through the menus. He's getting more creative at piling up chairs and toys to use to climb higher. Today I've had to pull him off the top of the dining room table twice!

Teeth
Caleb currently has 16 teeth! About a month or two ago he had all 4 molars and 4 canines coming in at the same time so that was a pretty rough few weeks. Whenever he gets new teeth he drools like crazy and he can usually tell when they've broken throught he gums because he keeps sticking his tongue out.

Words
He'll say things for about a week and then act like we're crazy when we try to get him to say them again. Things he has said at some point: gog, oof off (dog, woof woof), day doo (thank you), more, no no no no (always in multiples while shaking his head), ey yoo (hey you), ball, fish, throw and hi. There's probably others I'm missing. He says ma-ma and da-da but still not regularly. He does sign language for more, eat, thank you, and all done. I know he can understand a lot more than he says. Kyle recently told Caleb that his diaper needed to be changed so Caleb walked to the bathroom where the changing table is and waited for Kyle. We can tell him "bring me your shoes" or other short instructions and he'll do it. He also knows throw, spit, come, duck and probably a few others.

Music
Caleb loves music. He's normally not all that interested in TV unless there's music involved. If that's the case it gets his full attention and sometimes he'll dance along. He likes walking around with spoons or drumsticks and banging on anything he doesn't get in trouble for. He has a little keyboard he has fun with and he really likes playing a real piano. At Toddler Time at the library a few weeks ago we sang the itsy bitsy spider. At home I started singing it to him and the third time he started doing the hand motions! I was so surprised. When he was smaller sometimes singing "You are my sunshine" was the only thing that would calm him down.

Sweetness
Caleb will run to to us and give us hugs and if we're really lucky, a kiss. He doesn't really like to give me kisses but he'll do it more often for Kyle or friends. I'm jealous :). If we say "bring me a book" or "bring me the fish book" (his current favorite book is Ten Friendly Fish) he'll bring it to us and sit in our laps for us to read the book. His attention span lasts for about 2 pages but it's still fun. He gives hugs and sometimes will pat our back when he hugs us.

Food
Caleb is a picky eater but not in the traditional sense. He refused to eat baby food for a little while but now he's sometimes willing to eat it again more than actual vegetables (unless it's frozen peas which he loves). If it's not baby food it has to be something really good or he won't touch it, or he touches it long enough to throw off his tray. He has really liked Mexican pizza, pasta alfredo with ham, baked ziti with spicy Italian sausage, and stromboli. He generally distrusts anything on a spoon. We have to touch the food to his lips first, then he'll roll his lips in to taste it and make sure it's okay, then open up for a real bite. He turns up his nose (literally and figuratively) at mac and cheese or hot dogs.

Smartness
Okay, I know this is all biased but of course I think he's so smart! He has this computer keyboard that he drags around and plays with. One afternoon I was working at my computer and he unplugged my mouse. I told him no so he disappeared for a second and returned with his keyboard and tried to plug it into an opening next to where the mouse is plugged in. It was a different size so it didn't fit but I was impressed he figured out that it should be plugged in to a computer! He hasn't tried to plug it in anywhere else.

Activity and Curiosity
Caleb hardly ever sits still. A few weeks ago I was trying to get ready for a weekend trip and doing some laundry, baking and packing. Caleb has his own drawer in the kitchen so for the most part he leaves the other cupboards alone. This particular day he decided that the drawer wasn't enough. He pulled out a set of plastic bowls from one cupboard, food from others, napkins and disposable bowls from another. Then he went into the pantry and got a box of fruit snacks and sprinkled them around the kitchen and mud room, then pulled the rug from pantry into the kitchen and then tried to pry up the trap door under the rug that leads to the crawl space. I was in the kitchen the whole time so I knew what he was up to and tried picking up as he tornadoed through the house but he was just into EVERYTHING! I was ready to bring in his car seat and strap him down for awhile. He loves exploring and figuring things out. He watches us carefully to see how we do things and then tries to imitate and it's so fascinating to watch. One day I had a glass dish of apple crisp on top of the counter that Caleb liked. He tried to reach up to get it but was too short. He went and got his 2 foot long shoe horn that has a handle like a cane. He reached up with that, hooked it over the side of the bowl and pulled it toward himself. He would have been successful had I not stopped him!

Other Stuff
Caleb has also been enjoying some art activies like painting and drawing with crayons and markers. He's starting to get more possessive of his toys and not wanting to share so we're working on that. He's a pretty friendly kid and waves to people at the grocery store and smiles at them. He's also getting better at having fits (or the drama flops as I call them) so that's been a bit of a pain. He just starts crying and goes completely limp like he has no bones. At that point I just set him on the floor till he's done. We're loving being parents to this little guy and it's just so amazing to see him grow and change so quickly.