One for the Money, Two for the Show

Tonight was Caleb's stage debut. His school had a pageant for all the children. His class "sang" Rudolph while dancing and wearing antlers. They were certainly cute! I wasn't sure what to expect from Caleb in his first on stage appearance. I didn't know if he'd be the child singing in the microphone, the one dancing center stage, or just staring out at the crowd. Instead he surprised me as the wanderer. He came onto stage very determined as though he knew what he was doing. He stopped center stage to turn his back and look the back drop up and down. Then he took his antlers off and wandered off stage right. He was steered back to the center and his antlers were placed back on his head. He then became intrigued with the projection screen stage left that showed snow falling. Finally, he had to explore the Christmas tree on stage. Here are a few photos to give you an idea...

Here he is center stage:

Please look for him on the far left watching the screen and playing with the tree:

You Come from Mozambique

Just because I don't know all the words to a song doesn't stop me from belting out what I think they are at the top of my lungs. Although occasionally I do have to stop and question why something doesn't quite make sense. This was the case with the song 'Everlasting God' by Lincoln Brewster. For a time, I was singing "Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord...You're the defender of the weak, You come from Mozambique". Stop. What? That doesn't make a bit of sense, the Lord doesn't come from Mozambique. That's when I had to google the lyrics and it all made sense "You comfort those in need."

Being the mother of a two year old, I often find myself interpreting what Caleb is saying. One of my favorites as of late is when he says "baby soup" he is referring to his bathing suit. Of course, I do become frustrated when I cannot interpret his words for myself. Every day his speech becomes a little clearer and his vocabulary continues to grow.

As a child of God, I imagine this is how my prayers sound to my Father. Fortunately, I have the Holy Spirit to interpret my mumbles and sentence fragments. Every day my relationship grows with the Lord and as I get to know Him everything becomes a little clearer.

My White Balloon Popped

I've found that repetition is important to toddlers. As of late there are a handful of conversations I have with Caleb every day. He begins by planning his agenda for the day. I'll hear him call me from his room and while I change his morning diaper, here are his questions:

"Ita Papa?" (Are we going to see my Grandma and Grandpa?)
"Ballgame Daddy?" (Is Daddy taking me to a ballgame today?)
"Basketball Hoop?" (Can I play with my basketball hoop this morning?)
"Doya?" (Will I be watching Dora the Explorer this morning?)

Then come my answers..."No, we are not going to see Ita Papa. No, Daddy is not taking you to a ballgame. We are going to have breakfast, get dressed, and go to big school."

"No beakfas, no dress, no big scool...Doya, yellow balloon, Doya, choo choo"

So in an effort for distraction I play the Dora episode about trains and leave him with a plate of food. Thankfully, I leave the room, sighing with relief that I have to finish getting my makeup and hair done for work and don't have to listen to the train episode one more time.

When I return it's time for dressing Caleb for school. Some days it's a battle. He pulls at his shirt and pants, kicks his shoes off and throws his socks on the ground. Eventually I get him dressed and out to the car. This has to all happen within a matter of 30-45 mintues, too.

Along the 15 minute drive to Big School, I hear Caleb point out every basketball hoop on the way. Then, usually somewhere between passing the BiLo and entering daycare I hear, "My white balloon popped." This was an event that happened about 2 weeks ago while his Nana was keeping him. It amazes me that it's still on his brain, must have really impacted his world. He'll tell me his white balloon popped at different times throughout the day.

Eventhough every morning is typically the same, I always feel a renewed sense of joy and love for my little friend. Caleb, you are a dear to my heart and Mommy loves you!

One-tracked Mind

The top of my perfume bottle and a toy snake are just two of the things I found in my car today. My boy doesn't leave home empty handed, ever. On a good weekday morning as we head off to school, I'm lucky if he is carrying only his paci and "Roar Roar", who is his beloved teddy bear. The mornings that are trouble are when he decides this just won't suffice and he has a new fixation. This has only recently begun to be a battle when he decided he wanted to take his new squishy baseball toy to school. Of course, thinking I was looking out for his best interest, I made him leave it in my car for the remainder of the day. I'm just not sure why he couldn't understand other kids would want to play with it and it might get lost. What surprised me the most was that night as soon as I walked through the door he greeted me with, "Ball, Mone's car, ball". It had been on the forefront of his brain the entire day. The next day I caved and let him carry the ball on in to daycare. Needless to say, I have not seen it since.

So Caleb had to find something else to fill his hands. This morning it was a top and a snake. Again, I thought I would try in his best interest to keep them with me and hopefully bypass a two year old tantrum. So I offered a trade. When I ordered breakfast from McDonald's I told him he could have some biscuit for his snake. He was reluctant to hand over his treasure at first, but in the end he ate some biscuit. Of course, as soon as he finished eating, he asked for "Snaye" again. I told him that snake had to stay in my car and nap all day. It seemed to work for the moment. I will be curious to see if he asks for it again tonight!

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

2007 / 2008

Look how much my baby has changed...I suppose he's really no longer a baby.

This weekend I took my second trip to the zoo with Caleb. We met Felicia there for a full day of fun. Since it was Earth Day there were a lot of demonstrations and enrichment activities for the animals. We started with the penguins. They are always so much fun because they are right there in your face and they move around a lot.

We then explored the world of gorillas and bears. Caleb was more concerned about the ball that the bear was playing with than the animal itself. Although, he did begin to say "bear" when I encouraged him a little more. Gorilla was more than a mouthful to try to say. Felicia helped Caleb feed the Lorikeets and the billy goats. I'm not sure Caleb knew what to think about that. He wanted to pet the bird, which would bite if he touched it. And he didn't seem to want to touch the goat, rather the goat wanted to eat his shirt.

Sunday afternoon was so lovely that Caleb spent it helping his Daddy wash my car. I think ended up washing more of the driveway than the car. And, of course, he was completely soaked!

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall...

Spring has sprung and we are learning all kinds of new things in our home. Caleb is taking swim lessons so he'll be ready for the deep end by this summer. His favorite game to play in the pool, which is one of his new words by the way, is Humpty Dumpty. The parents line all the children up on the side of the pool and sing the words and then 1, 2, 3 they fall! I'd like to say he enjoys the rest of his lessons as much as Humpty Dumpty, but most of the half hour in the pool he is obsessed over the ball. I think if I had a ball on one end and threw him in the other he'd swim right to it!



We have also been preparing for the Masters this spring. Caleb has quite the swing with the golf club.








And there's a new addition to our home...Jake, who we are all learning to love, even the cats!
Caleb may also be a carpenter when he grows up. He has been testing out his new tool bench.
I hope he's building a pen for Jake in the back yard :-)

Upside Down and Inside Out

I am beginning to understand the true meaning behind Mothers never get a break. Picture this. Mark, Caleb and I take one of our first family vacations to the beach and where do we end up...the outlet mall. My sister had the pleasure of joining us and her overall opinion to the day was...I don't know how you do this in and out everyday. Let me explain what she is referring to here.

Saturday morning as usual I was up early with Caleb and ready for the day by the time Hope was just waking up. I rode my bike with Caleb down to the park to give her some time. Of course by the time Caleb and I are finished at the park and arrived back to the house, Hope and Mark are ready to get going; however, I see Caleb is nearing a nap.
What do we do - that is the question.

Do we wait around a few hours for Caleb to nap? Do we go for an indoor swim and shop later? Do we shop now and see how far we can get without a nap? We opt for the latter and much to my surprise have a very productive day.

The whole nap thing is overrated anyway, right? Yeah, right. Our family spends 3 hours on the road Friday and Sunday and Caleb fights every second to keep his eyes open. We travel 5 minutes to the local outlet mall and he falls asleep. We arrive needing to eat lunch, baby is asleep, and we forgot the stroller on the trip. My sister insists upon carrying Caleb who looks just as big as she does. Of course, he is awake by now. We stand in line to rent a stroller.

When we approach the counter we are informed there are no single strollers available. Our only choice is to rent a strolling car for our toddler. That's fine. He seems to like it for at least the first five minutes. Then it's off to eat. Since more than half his lunch ends up on the floor, I'm expecting a pretty cranky guy, but he was good.

Mark heads off alone to shop and Hope and I are left to stroll Caleb in this large car buggy in and out the crowd. I try to shop but it is nearly impossible with a toddler demanding all my attention. Plus the buggy is much too large to stroll around the stores. So we hang out in the pet store where there are lots of balls for him to play with. Once I finally feel I can get a break to shop, I realize we need to find the restroom. Stinky diaper time!

At this point, I've decided if I don't find Mark I'll never have an opportunity to shop. We meet up and I hand off the baby and buggy. Hope and I walk into Dressbarn for our own time. I take a deep breath and try to collect my thoughts. Of course, I have a hard time really allowing myself to enjoy the shopping since I know Mark and Caleb are out there doing who knows what. Then as I'm standing at the sale rack I hear this wailing. I turn my head to look out the floor to ceiling windows and see my child crying because Daddy put him in the buggy. Mark comes to the window and pretends to be pulling his hair out. If he only knew-Mommy doesn't catch a break!

But you know what, I'm more than happy with it! Looking back on this day I find it quite comical actually. Humour is full of healing power.

My Little Dancing King

Here's Caleb trying to dance but the balloon is holding him back. I have not been successful at shooting any other footage of him dancing.

So Long and Thanks for all the Fish

Christmas this year was a little different. Our family stayed in downtown Charleston where we enjoyed shopping on King Street, eating at Mellow Mushroom, and seeing all the fish at the aquarium. Caleb was intrigued for about five minutes and then he was ready to move free.

This was the first time Mark and I agreed a harness and leash for our 19 month old would be handy.

Thankfully, there was a nice indoor

play area. Caleb could not understand, though, why the adorable, stuffed creatures attached to the ship wreck could not be removed to his liking.

This year was also the celebration of a milestone birthday for me, the big 3-0! My sister and husband surprised me with a room full of balloons at the hotel. After we came back from an evening out as I approached our room I saw yellow crime tape in an 'X' across our door. I stopped, first, trying to decide if I was at the right room and then to realize the so called crime tape said Birthday Zone. And the large balloon in the center of the room sang a song everytime it was tapped. It claims to have only 50 taps, but to this day it is still providing birthday entertainment. We must have listened to it nearly 50 times just on the ride home since it was packed right beside Caleb's car seat.

It wasn't the same waking up Christmas morning to only a few stockings and a miniature tree, but it was definitely a memorable holiday! I'm looking forward to another big year and making this year last-30 and holding.