Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Sippy Cup Wars


"The battle of wits has begun. It ends when you decide and
we both drink, and find out who is right..."

Presently we are working on weaning Caleb from the bottle and using a big boy sippy cup. He's advanced in using sign language (flailing his arms, screaming, turning his head in disgust) to unmistakably say..."only a great fool would reach for what he was given. I am not a great fool, so I can clearly not choose the [sippy cup] in front of you. But you must have known I was not a great fool, you would have counted on it, so I can clearly not choose the [sippy cup] in front of me."

In many ways he has displayed to me that he has a do-it-myself kind of attitude. While playing with him and his Jack-in-the-box he wants to turn the knob himself. So when his grandmother tries to guide his hand and show him how, he just pushes her away. In his highchair when he eats his dinner he won't allow me to use the fork to feed him, he'd rather use his hands to feed himself. I am pleased as punch that he has this strong will and desire to learn. I think this is why I am so heart broken when I try to help him learn to use the sippy cup and he just doesn't want to. The tears well up in his eyes and as he starts to cry, I just want to hold him tight and say 'Here baby, take this bottle instead.'

But (sigh) my baby turns ONE this week and he moves to his new classroom at daycare, so he needs to learn how to drink from the atrocious sippy cup. I'm certain with such a strong minded child this is only the beginning of many battle of wits.

"You only think I guessed wrong! That's what's so funny! I switched [sippy cups] when your back was turned! Ha ha! You fool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders! The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia, but only slightly less well-known is this: never go in against a Sicilian when [a sippy cup] is on the line!
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha..."


Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Cherish the Joy You Keep Bringing Into my Life

This morning I've been watching brand new ducklings become acclimated to the pond outside my office window. It's amazing how fast they've gone from the walking the water's edge with trepidation to falling in line with mommy. In this month of May I have done a lot of reflecting on this first year of Caleb's life. I'm sure my next few blogs will be very retrospective.

I've found out recently that Caleb will be 'graduating' on May 29 to his next classroom at daycare. There will be no more cribs or high chairs, no more bottles or jar foods. He'll be taking one nap a day on a mat, sitting at a small table with his classmates for lunch, drinking from a sippee cup, playing on the playground.

Mark and I are so anxious for him to walk that we have not been taking the time to enjoy his present stage. Last night Caleb had the sweetest laugh as I 'chased' him. He got the biggest kick out of our game. He'd crawl as fast as he could, laughing and giggling. Then, he'd take a moment to stop and I'd tickle him and he'd take off again. I tried to get video footage but it didn't do justice of such a precious moment.

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

idk my bff, Jill

Don't you think everyone needs a Spam ball? Nana and Pappy brought Caleb this souvenier from the Monster Truck Jam in Las Vegas. What more could you ask for from your Grandparents? He loves playing with anything that rolls. This morning he emptied my bathroom bottom drawer and rolled the lipstick tubes and perfume bottles across the floor. Fortunately, he hasn't figured out how to open these yet! I especially like the part in this video where he is contemplating which ball to follow and wags his bottom like he has a tail!



This video was recorded on Easter and I can't believe how much Caleb has changed since then. I'm hoping to record some more video of him this weekend. He will have his first swimming in a pool experience, well, more like floating. And he's become quite the expert at the 'Monkey Crawl'. This is where he crawls on his hands and feet with his bottom in the air. This video begins with me using some strange voice talking to Caleb. Then, his Nana narrates and it wraps up with me cackling! Yikes!