so much fun!

It has been so much fun to watch Caleb learn to walk. He took his "first steps" about a month and a half ago. It took him awhile to perfect his waddle, but now he's practically running. His favorite places right now are wide open spaces where he can just GO, and he usually shouts "go, go, go" while he's at it!

It's also really fun to put his pictures in collages like the one above. A friend of mine inspired me with collages of her daughter, so I have since spent much of my last week playing with Caleb's pictures.

In other fun news, my hubby got me a camera with a faster flash for my birthday last week. Unfortunately we had to send it back because it wouldn't turn on, but a replacement is on its way which means that there is more photo fun in my future!

yummy.

i ate some ice cream for my mi-mi's birthday.























it was yummy. i'm so glad she had a birthday.























happy birthday mi-mi! oh, & don't worry - i'll be glad to eat some more next time i see you!

Happy Birthday, Baby!

Our sweet boy turned one yesterday! We had a fun day celebrating as a little family of 3. We tried to keep it simple and stick with a few activities we know he enjoys. Daddy took a little extra time off work so he could accompany us to the discovery center - Caleb's favorite place to explore. He also got to swing at the park and practice the candle/cupcake thing with a cornbread muffin at dinner time. Based on last night's performance, we don't think he'll be timid at all when he gets to dive in to the real thing at his parties - 1 this coming Saturday with a few of his buds and 1 the following Sunday with his "fan club" (extended family).

Thank you, God, for our precious son. And thanks to all who have been so supportive of us as we've embarked on this wild ride called parenting. And Caleb - thank you for delighting our hearts and changing our lives forever. We love you!!!!!

Oh, and a quick note about where we've been. Joseph's long awaited trip to Uganda finally happened which meant that Caleb and I were daddy-less for 2 weeks. At some points we SURVIVED (like when Caleb had his worst teething episodes yet and when he decided he was no longer willing to SIT in the bathtub despite his ineptitude at stabilizing himself on the slippery surface) and at some points we had tons of FUN, because the grandparents took awfully good care of us (I don't like to use the term "spoiled," but some would probably describe it that way). Caleb certainly embraced the attention and opportunities afforded to him while staying at MiMi & PaPa's house. He learned to climb their stairs, played their piano (loud & proud!), & swam, swam, swam.

Joseph had an amazing trip and says that he intends to write a post about it in the near future. That's right, folks - stay tuned for a chance to hear 'bout them burdicks from someone's perspective other than yours truly!

I'm sorry that I never posted video of Caleb crawling. The truth is that I don't know how to do it, so if any of my bloggin' friends care to give me a lesson, I'm all ears.

We'll post more pictures after Caleb's parties, but here are a few of our birthday fun yesterday.

AlL oVeR tHe PlAcE!

We've had a pretty eventful last week and a half. Hope you enjoy this account (with lots of pictures!) of our adventures from Caleb's perspective:

My daddy was supposed to go to Africa so my mommy and I planned a trip to visit family. Daddy's trip got postponed because some pirates (or something) made his shipping container more than a month late. But, since my fan club didn't want me to get ANY bigger before they saw me, we went anyway.

First we visited my MiMi and PaPa (my mom's parents) where I got lots of fun surprises!

Then it was off to my GiGi & Umpa's (great grandparents) house where I was the center of attention among lots of relatives.

Don't my GiGi's flowers look pretty? The last time we visited my mom said I wasn't ready for table food, so I was excited to get to try GiGi's famous pancakes (without syrup of course, because I'm learning to enjoy foods without added salt and sugar)!

My other Great Grandma lives on the opposite side of town and we made two mini-trips to visit her. We accompanied her to a Catholic mass where I was 99% reverent and we enjoyed a few meals and some fun play times together.

I'm pretty sure she had as much fun with me as I had with her!

Then we headed back to MiMi and PaPa's where I got to . . .

Go for a ride in PaPa's Corvette

Play inside my Uncle Jeff's old toy chest

And go for my first swim!

We also visited some of my mom's good friends from high school, which meant that I got to play with their kiddos.

I'm the one on the right with the round face. In case you were wondering, this little pal is 2.5 YEARS old and weighs 23 pounds. That's just one pound more than my 22 pound weigh-in at 10.5 MONTHS. That's right folks, I'm a BIG little guy!

But, I'll likely be slowing down my weight gain because . . . drumroll . . . I officially became a crawler while on vacation! I am now AlL oVeR tHe PlAcE . . . ALL THE TIME! Mom & dad knew I'd get around to it when I was good and ready. They're so proud of me, but are also grieving the end of their extended "golden window" of parenting (the beloved time when I could sit and play but not move around). Mom says she'll try to post some video of my new skills once she's recooped from our 20+ hours of drive time and week of single mom-hood.

Since I'm not much of a napper (YET, says mom in faith!) and don't enjoy long car rides in the backseat by myself, my Grammie and Pop (my dad's mom & step-dad) helped drive us back home so that my mom could hang out with me in the backseat.

It was fun to have them at my house for a few days, and they also planted some beautiful flowers on our front porch. Mom has been wanting to get around to that for several months, but I've kept her kind of busy.

Then last night I got to go out to dinner with mom and dad to celebrate their 7th wedding anniversary. Don't worry, they did recently go on a date and leave me at home with my cool bud, Heather, so they decided to take me with them this time. I was a very well-behaved boy and made sure to chime in with lots of oohs & aaahs as they talked about happy memories!

Here I am entertaining myself with some spooons

And here's the happy couple!

Now I get to look forward to a second round of fun with mommy when my daddy actually goes to Africa - hopefully June 29th :)

Thanks for reading our blog!

Wordless Wednesday

10 Months Old Today!!!!!!!!!!

Back from the Big Apple

We recently returned from a week-long trip to the East Coast. (We've been back for a week and a half now, but I've just finally recovered enough to blog about it). Some of our sweet friends let us stay in their apartment (4 adults, 3 kids in a tiny Brooklyn apartment . . . it was wild!) so we could vacation affordably. Caleb proved himself to be quite the adaptable little traveler. He was more than willing to skip a few naps so that we could see the sites, including his favorite: FAO Schwarz. For Joseph & I the highlights were probably the late-night chats with our friends after the kids went to bed and simply the chance to be in a new place and reflect on our lives. Oh, and we ate some good food too - although I guess not as much as usual because Joseph lost a few pounds (lots of walking probably had something to do with it) and I didn't gain any although I didn't work out for 8 days (pretty unusual for me).

We also took a side trip to Virginia (we thought it would be a side trip, but it actually took 9 hours both ways) to visit Joseph's dad and his family. To make the occasion really special, Caleb decided to start saying "daddy" while we were there!

All in all, we had a great time but it was very fast-paced. I have since volunteered to plan our next vacation and indicated that it will probably be in Texas. I'm thinking: little travel, just a few sites, and lots of relaxing!

A few of my favorite things

At 8.5 months, Caleb's personality is emerging more and more every day. It's so fun to watch him discover and enjoy the simplest things! Here are a few of his faves:

1. People - maybe it's still going to happen, but he has yet to experience stranger anxiety. He LOVES being the center of attention. In fact, he seems to have a knack for making sure that he is! It takes us forever to make it through Wal-Mart because he knows how to ham it up so that everyone stops to talk to us and comment about how cute and friendly he is. Although he enjoys his ever-growing toy collection, he is not the type to sit and play by himself for long. He wants you to watch him and give him constant feedback. (Mommy's note: I can't say that I mind - I'm glad he likes having me around. He's also helping me refine my multi-tasking skills. I can now sing nursery rhymes with tons of animation while completing just about any chore. I also think God may be using his friendly little personality to help me slow down and enjoy people more).


2. Bouncing - whether on your lap or in his rainforest bouncer, he loves it! But, you guessed it . . . you have to watch him do it. If you leave the room when he's in his bouncer he waits until you come back to get going again. Then he giggles as you give him lots of feedback about what a skilled little bouncer he is. His favorite is when mommy bounces too (he likes me to jump up and down while he bounces).


3. Water - he's picked up at least one good habit from mom. I always carry a water bottle with me and he frequently indicates that he'd like to share. Thankfully he's pretty good with a sippy cup now so my daily water intake has a lot less drool in it. Regretfully, he likes water in any form, including bath water. We may have to lock up the toilet after all when he really gets mobile!


4. Daddy - by far his favorite toy! He lights up when he comes home from work and is mesmorized with everything he says and does. They enjoy wrestling, playing ball, and growling at each other. Caleb even has a keyboard (not wired, of course) that he gets to "type" on while dad works on the computer. Like father, like son.


5. Forbidden Fruit - Yep, it's starting to happen. He's starting to whine when we take away things he's not supposed to play with or enforce boundaries. Yesterday he had a pretty significant melt-down when I took my keys away because I needed them to drive. Please pray for us as our job as parents transitions from just caregiving to shepherding his little heart and teaching him "right from wrong."