Conversations with Caleb

The other day in the car...

Caleb: "Mommy, I make the directions. You follow the directions!"

No matter how much discussion we had about this, he still thought he was right. He can think that, but in practice he is not right. :)

No Comprendo

Last night at dinner, Caleb kept messing with me. I finally said "Stop it!" to which he kept on messing with me. So finally I said "Do you not know what 'Stop it!' means?" (like any good parent would). Caleb's response was to look at me as serious as he can be and say..."No comprendo."

I laughed.

I was shocked that he knew these words. I was shocked even more that he knew how to use them in correct context.

Man, I love that kid!

Silly Pictures

Caleb had the flu, so on Monday we had to stay home from school. Caleb has some kind of fascination with his tuxedo (and his suit, for that matter) even though it is 12 mo. size and he is 3 years old!!! He saw his tuxedo hanging in the laundry room and kept asking if he could wear it. Being the meany that his Mommy is, she kept saying "No, you really don't need to wear your tuxedo. We're not going to wear it today." You would have thought I was the meanest Mom alive. Caleb boo-hoo'd and griped and complained and wanted his Daddy. But Daddy was out of town, so we wound up having to call Daddy to tell him how mean Mommy is.

He finally talked me into at least putting on the jacket...then the bow tie...then the vest...then the pants. So, he won the battle. But then it was so darn cute! So I had to take a picture!
My softball game got cancelled last night. My grandmother was going to come watch Caleb for me, so she just came over anyway so we could eat and play! We had a fun time! This is Caleb's funny face at dinner. Such a silly boy!

Caleb Stories: The Tour de France

Chris is a HUGE Tour de France/cycling fan. I've always thought it was funny because we have never owned a bike. But that was remedied a few weeks ago when we all got bikes.

So, Chris kept Caleb home the last few weeks to potty train. Over this time, they watched quite a bit of the Tour de France. So, now when Caleb sees bikes on the road (or even just one biker), he says "Look, it's the Tour de France!" And he even pronounces it correctly!

We were in a running shop this last weekend that had a tv on, and Caleb immediately declares that it was the Tour de France on tv. And he was right!

We figure he's one of very few three year olds that are so tuned into the Tour de France!

Caleb Stories: Huh & Shrugging Shoulders

My next observation is that Caleb now sometimes says "huh" or shrugs his shoulders after we say something to him.

Examples of his usage of "huh":
Mommy, Daddy likes to ride his bike, huh?
After being told something, he also says "huh" to show he was listening.

He also now likes to shrug his shoulders either when answering a question with a verbal response or without.

Example:
Mommy: "Caleb, where have you seen a Vege Tales movie before?
Caleb: shrugs shoulders "I don't know. Church?"

Too funny!

Caleb Stories: Helping Out

My third observation about Caleb was that he is now finally getting ready to really help out around the house. He is always perfectly willing to help any way he can. So, one night as I was getting ready for dinner, I decided that Caleb could set the table. And he did! He did a wonderful job at it and it made me start thinking of new ways he can help out.

Caleb Stories: Imagination

My second observation about Caleb over the course of last week was that he has a very active imagination. He can play very well on his own these days and make up games or fun things to do.

His favorite thing to do was to play with his golf clubs in the trailer. He would hit the ball and then run around to hit it again.

The interesting part about this little game was that his golf ball's name was "Wolfie". And man did Wolfie have a personality!! Wolfie would be funny sometimes and get in trouble the next. A few times, Wolfie hit me while I was either washing dishes or moving around the trailer. Caleb made the situation right, though, by telling Wolfie, "Wolfie, we don't hit Mommy! That's not nice!"

It was so great to see Caleb's mind at work!!

Caleb Stories: Look At Me

Over our vacation last week, there were many things that struck me about Caleb that I needed to blog about.

The first observation is that he is in a stage right now where he loves to say "Look at me!" It doesn't matter what he is doing, he wants us to look at him.

Sometimes, he'll even change it up and say "Mommy, look at me! This is a funny one!" or if he thinks it is extra funny he'll say "Mommy, look at me! This is a REALLY funny one!"

Batman

I love my conversations with Caleb. He comes up with the funniest lines that make me crack up. Here are a few from the other night at bed time:

(after putting Caleb in his new Batman pajamas complete with a cool cape)
Mommy: Ok, Batman! Fly off to bed!
Caleb: Well, not in the house!!
(he's learned his indoor rules very well!)

(then when I was telling him goodnight)
Mommy: Goodnight, Batman!
Caleb: Goodnight, Batgirl!

I just had to post this because I know I'll forget this very soon, and I'll want to have a record of it someday. Too cute!

A Boy and His Bike

Caleb got a cool Spider Man bike for his birthday. While I was out of town this weekend, Chris taught Caleb how to ride his bike. He never did all that well on his tricycle, but he caught on to the bike very quickly! He is loving being able to ride! Chris is determined that he will practice at least once everyday to get ready for camping this weekend where he'll get to ride bikes with our friends Korlyn & Colton.

One Way Caleb is Not Like Me...and Sweetness

Caleb can remember people's names like nothing else! They can say it once, and he's got it for a lifetime. The other day, we were at a restaurant. The waitress said her name when we first sat down. I wasn't really paying attention (so typical!). But halfway through the meal Caleb said "Thank you, Mary!" Chris and I were shocked that he knew her name! This isn't just a one-time occurance either. He really remembers names easily. I heard another story last night from a teacher at his school that she had been gone for at least a semester, but when she came back Caleb still remembered her name...and she hadn't even been his teacher. I need to take a lesson from him. When someone tells me their name, most of the time I'm not even listening. I'm probably thinking about what we can talk about since I am not great with small talk. Or who knows what I'm thinking...I just don't take the second to really listen to the person's name and commit it to memory. I am very ashamed of this, but Caleb is making me realize just how important it is to know names.

My grandmother came over last night to watch Caleb while we were at our softball game (we won the game! So exciting! - well the rest of the team did...I was on the injured reserve list for this game.) Since we were getting home really late, she wound up spending the night at our house. So as I'm getting Caleb ready this morning, we put some shorts on him that grandmother just gave him for his birthday. He immediately said "We need to go downstairs and tell Grandmother Thank You!" without any prompting from me. What a sweet, thoughtful boy!

Father's Day/Caleb's Birthday - 3

Caleb and I LOVE Daddy! Daddy does so much for both of us and loves us even when we both get fussy! :) Daddy got a new grill this weekend that we christened by grilling lots of meat on Saturday night. Caleb made Daddy a card and also a homemade tie at school. Daddy wore Caleb's tie to church and even wore it on stage while he was on praise team! It was so great and very sweet! We love our Daddy!

Caleb took this picture of Daddy.
Then more birthday fun! Mimi & Poppy brought over a new car for Caleb to ride around in.

Caleb's 3rd Birthday - 2

We had a family birthday party on Saturday. It was a fire truck party. It was so nice to have so many of our family together and Caleb got all kinds of fun stuff!

Caleb's 3rd Birthday

Caleb had quite the birthday celebration this weekend! It started off with Mommy & Caleb's lunch date on Friday. Then he had baseball cupcakes with his friends at school.

My Little 3 Year Old

Happy Birthday Caleb!

Each year for Caleb's birthday, I take him for a special birthday lunch. Just him and Mommy! He wanted a quesadilla today, so that's what he got!

An attempt to take a picture together. Why am I so bad at taking my own pictures?
Caleb took this picture. He wanted to take one on his own, so I taught him how and ta-da!

Caleb's birthday is tomorrow, and since I will be busy with his party and family in town I thought I would go ahead and post about my little boy.

Caleb has grown so much over this last year. He is learning his alphabet, his numbers and has pretty much mastered the English language! He is so smart and also has such a sweet heart. He surprises me everyday by what he knows and how caring he really is. He makes me laugh and I am so proud of the boy that he is!

Happy Birthday, Caleb!

Cooking Class

Caleb and I are in Cooking Class in H.O.W. each Wednesday night at church right now. The first week we made crepes, and this week we made the best pizza! We made tomato & chese pizza, veggie pizza and dessert pizza with fruit on it! The picture above is the pizza that Caleb and I made together. It was delicious! (Caleb even said so!) I can't wait to get the dough recipe so I can start making my own yummy pizza at home!

take me out to the ballgame

When we took Caleb to his first Ranger's game, I sang "Take me out to the ballgame" to him a million times. Ever since then, he has LOVED that song.

So tonight on the way home from church (after eating a crepe AND ice cream), he began in on his own rendition of the song. Here's how it goes:

Take me out to the ballgame
Take me out to the crowd
Buy me peanut butter and crackers
(Skip the the next line of the song)
Root, root, root for Home Depot

And really, that is where the song trails off. But hey, it ends with a bang!

Pictures from Lately (or not so lately)

Where Do I Live?

Caleb: Mimi lives in Mesquite.

Mommy: You're right!

Caleb: Grammy lives in Ennis.

Mommy: Very good!

Caleb: Where does Caleb live?

Mommy: Caleb, Mommy & Daddy live in Sachse.

Caleb: Is that like the Saxy-phone? (aka. saxophone) Daddy plays the saxophone!

Mommy: (laughing) You're right! He sure does!

Crazy Hat Day

Caleb's school had crazy hat day a few weeks ago. We didn't really have a very crazy hat, so we had to spice it up a bit.