Birthday Boy!

Caleb had his birthday on Sunday and has been celebrating since Saturday. Grandma and Papa came to visit on Saturday. We played at the park for a couple of hours while the big kids played Bocce Ball:

And Caleb played with the umbrella stroller (seriously, pushing things around is how he wants to spend his time at the park).

Then we tried to go to a carnival, but it wouldn't open for a couple more hours.

Then Caleb man got spoiled--I mean LOVED--by many birthday presents (thank you Grandma and Papa Wright). And THEN he seriously needed a nap!

When he woke up he got to open his presents:



Tasting his gifts. "Not bad. Needs cheese."

He looks like he's playing silent football with his new little Caleb-sized ball.
He had a super fun Saturday.

Then on Sunday, I had made rice krispie treats for his nursery class, so he was very popular. After church, we had friends over and Caleb got to play and open even MORE presents. Then he blew out his birthday candle and had brownies and ice cream with buddies (thanks again for coming over, guys!).

I can't believe how much our little man has grown in the past year. Jonathan's mom did this for him and I just loved the idea, so each year I'm writing a snapshot letter to Caleb (and future children as they come) of what they were like this last year and what things make them special. Here's a look at Caleb at age 2.

Sunday, May 3, 2009
Dear Caleb,
It's a bit difficult to imagine that it's been two years since you joined our family. You have had your share of trials and more in your second year of life, but when you smile, or laugh, or sing, or skip, your joy is infectious. You've had recurring acid reflux, you've sprained your left knee, you've been to the ER for dehydration after you got your first terrible stomach flue, and, most recently, we've discovered that you're probably lactose intolerant. Nope; it hasn't been an easy year. But you know what, Caleb? You are a special son of God and He is always aware of you. He allows the Adversary to test you and try you because you are strong and He is preparing you for good and great things.

Caleb, you are so smart! You amaze me every week with the new words and phrases you come up with. You had a little delay in speech. You seemed to start catching on to what we were saying at about 15 months old and we took you to specialists who said you were 30% behind. You were just a late bloomer, but my have you blossomed! We get comments from everyone on how impressive you are. You have probably over 100 words. You're starting to really put together words. Your favorite phrase is, "Hold you?" meaning that you want me to hold YOU. Perhaps most impressive, you know the entire alphabet. You often sing the Alphabet Song to yourself. It's your favorite song because you know all the words. At the end you sing, "Now my know my ABC's..." You also can say and correctly identify all numbers from 1-10 and know most of the numbers from 11-20. You regularly count objects and we clap for you because you make us so proud.

You are so funny and make us laugh all the time. Another phrase you say all the time is, "I GOT you, Mommy (or Daddy)" and then you'll tickle us or tackle us. You love to tickle anyone or anything. You even want to tickle Grandma Wright's horse!

You LOVE babies! We tend baby Marshall and you still get excited to see him every day. Whenever we see babies anywhere, you want to hug, kiss and tickle the babies. You LIGHT UP and get super excited whenever you see a baby. We've asked you if you want to have a baby of your own in our family and you nod your head and grin. In fact, when we've asked, you've gotten excited and said, "Sis-dah" which we can only figure means "sister." We don't know how you even learned this word. You've made your prediction, so we'll see if your prediction (or wish) comes true.

You still LOVE music. You go to sleep listening to primary songs on CD and ask us to "SING!" all the time. You love to listen to songs in the car, or other times at home you'll ask for songs. You'll even dance (the wiggle dance...while saying "Wiggo-wiggo-wiggo"), you like to play ring around the rosies, and you'll sing your version of "Skip to my Lou" as you high step around the living room.

You LOVE Elmo and the movie "Cars." Anything that is like the "Mater-truck" you just adore. You love buses, trains, semi and pick-up trucks and planes. You also really love dogs.

You're still a Mama's boy, but you get excited when Daddy comes home. You love both sets of grandparents and love playing with "buddies" (when you see kids anywhere you say, "Hi buddies!"). You give great "squeeze-hugs" and kisses and love to read books while you sit on our lap.

We love you, Caleb. You are such a fun, sweet boy. You get more and more fun the older you get and we can't wait to see the boy and man you will become.

Love,
Your mother

Mischief

Note to self: never EVER leave Caleb unattended with crayons. Even for a minute! Note to everyone else: Magic Erasers are a life saver!


Also, Caleb has taken to caring for his own needs lately (for better or for worse). While I was finishing getting ready one morning, Caleb came into the bathroom and asked me for some milk. I told him I'd be happy to get him some when I was finished getting ready in just a few minutes. This was, apparently, unsatisfactory for Caleb who took matters into his own hands. He opened the fridge and from the top shelf pulled out a completely full, brand new gallon of milk (is anyone else thinking of Bam Bam?). Trouble was, once he pulled it off the shelf, he couldn't hold it anymore and it fell to the ground creating waves of 1% milk through the kitchen.

I love the look on his face. "What?!"

After several towels, removal of the refrigerator, and hands on knees scrubbing, I think I finally got it all. What a stinker!

Learning Emotions

Caleb LOVES books! They often discuss deep topics such as dogs throwing a party at the top of a tree, or peer pressuring/annoying someone until they eat funny colored breakfast foods, saying good night to anything visible or Baby Goofy catching and losing the fish he and all his Disney pals were going to eat for lunch. However, on occasion, one book or another will mention concepts like "happy," "sad," or "surprised." We've been working with Caleb so he understands just what his favorite characters are FEELING. This is what he gets out of our mini-lectures:

Happy. He's wearing Dad's shoes, duh. What's not to be happy about?


Is it bad to say that my son's "sad face" is one of my favorite things?

And, of course, love. Though you can't see their faces, I assure you, Caleb LOVES baby Andlie (and all babies, but we won't tell Andlie that!). :)

Happiness

My Funny Little Buddy

Caleb is getting more and more hilarious all the time! I do not know where he comes up with these things, but he is a sponge right now! All of a sudden, he knows several shapes, numbers and letters and will frequently point them out. He likes to count the number of items he has. How many sticks? "One...two!" He likes to collect sticks and pine cones on our trips to the park. I just love how big and fun he is getting. Some moms are Baby Moms. They love the baby phase of sleeping all the time, cuddling, dressing them up in their teeny things. Maybe it's because Caleb never slept or liked cuddling. Maybe it's because Caleb's teeny tiny baby-dom was sort of trumped by Jonathan being in the hospital and then post-hospital recovery. But, I'm pretty sure I like Caleb more and more as he gets older. He understands so much. He can communicate fairly effectively and he can be so sweet, helpful and affectionate. He gives the best hugs, the sloppiest zerberts (on your cheeks...or anywhere else he can find skin---your hands, arms, wherever), and he is super helpful. He puts things away, throws things in the trash, gets me a diaper when we need a clean one, helps me unload the dishwasher and generally just loves helping out. And though he CERTAINLY has a mind and certain habits of his own that we don't always love, he is really a pretty obedient child. I can ask him to come back toward me when he's getting too close to the road and he comes back. He folds his arms for prayer (for the most part), sits down and behaves. He still shrieks and isn't perfect. All I'm saying is that I'm grateful for my boy and how much more fun he is getting to be as he gets older and bigger. Babies just cry all the time! For no reason! They don't have any cool tricks. They can't give "high fives" or "rocks". They don't give hugs or kisses. They don't splash around all silly in the tub and have inside jokes with their daddies. The long and the short of it is: toddlers rule and babies drool. Am I alone in this? Does anyone else out there like toddlers more than babies??

Christmas #2

The beautiful Christmas tree. We had to keep ornaments (especially candy canes) about 4 feet or higher due to the 9 children six or younger who were at my parents' house on Christmas day. Caleb was not too fond of the unavailable candy canes.

Caleb really got the handle on unwrapping things this year. "What next, Mom?"


This is our nephew Caden who is the cutest little construction worker we ever saw. The best part of this story is that everyone else was opening presents and no one could find anything with Caden's name on it. He kept asking where his present was and trying to remain calm I told him I was sure he had something under the tree. Most of the other kids had their presents unwrapped when we finally found his present (unnoticed before because it was actually humongous!). It was this huge black and decker set with something like 72 different pieces he can put together when he's building. He's definitely a little manly man.

Christmas #1

Thanks, Mom and Dad Wright for the wonderful Christmas gifts and time together. Caleb loves his "kruck!"



Our amazing gingerbread house complete with sugar windows, icicles, awnings and a functioning door. Thanks, Marita!



Then, on the way from Hiko to Reno (on our way to California) there was a TON of snow! We had to drive slowly because apparently snow plows don't make the stretch of highway between Hiko and Rachel, NV a priority! :) Jonathan thought I was a dork for taking pictures of the cows, but literally we had to slow down to wait for the cows crossing. Could this be why the plows aren't busy here? There are more cows than cars?