I Love Caleb...

I love Caleb.  He's my little man. 

His big, bright eyes say a thousand things.  His little hands and knees slap and slide his way towards adventure.  His round little belly let's you know he's a foodie.  His rosy, puckered lips burst out lilting melodies and mouth those first fuzzy words in his tiny baby vocabulary. His chunky little potato legs brace themselves against collapse as he laughs in astonished bliss that he can stand on his own.

Signs that an active almost one-year-old lives in our house are quite prevalent ... rice cake crumbs scattered on the kitchen floor, a trail of towels and clothes from bathroom to bedroom ... books, blocks, and random kitchen utensils tucked in corners and under chairs... baby bike helmets and jogging strollers stashed by the garage door... dirty diapers left on the stairs to be thrown away when time allows...

I cherish the way he looks over at me in the morning with bright expectancy after sleeping the wee hours of the morning in our bed with us.  He blinks his puffy little lids, smiles, and wriggles into a big stretch from head to toe.  Then he begins rolling and climbing over Papa and Mama until we decide to arise and shine with just a little less enthusiasm then when we were his age.

Perhaps he'll chew on a few cheerios as we eat breakfast.  Perhaps he'll wave or even say "bye-bye" as Papa heads off to work.  Sometimes we go right outside to do some gardening while it's still a bit cool.  He's such a little boy, and I try to let him be one... crawling through the dirt in his pjs, drinking from the hose, squishing mud between his fingers, eating a dandelion "bwow" (flower).  He'll give me a muddy little grin, laugh in triumph, and wave the sticks and weeds he's gathered in his chubby little fist.  We take a shower after those adventures.  Then it's naptime.

He's thrilled with the new bike seat we found him.  He hums along the gravel trail so he can hear his voice vibrate.  He loves whizzing down hills.  It's been great bonding time for Caleb and Daniel.  Not so many miserable wails come from the back seat now that I got Caleb a forward-facing carseat.  He unfortunately ended up hating the car as much as I did as a baby.  Must be carsickness.  He now likes to see out the front window and it's much easier to hand him snacks and toys as we go... Those forty-minute drives to Victoria are getting easier.  Only ten minutes of crying versus forty minutes is much more manageable. 

He loves animals.  He's fascinated with any cat, dog or bird we see.  Nana Holden's new kitten, Lily, is getting used to being chased all over the house and sharing her cat toys with a baby.  Caleb devours books with eyes and gums, and his favorite ones have something to do with animals and lift-the-flaps.  He also loves babies and other children.  He gets giddy whenever he sees the neighbor boys riding up on their bikes to say hi or when cousin Bree is at Nana's for a visit.  A friend recently had a little baby girl, and when he saw her picture on my phone, he gasped and said, "Baayyy-beeeee!"

He has begun to climb everything... He screams with glee when he's made it half way up the stairs and we're racing in a panic to get him. Up go the baby gates.  He even managed to climb up on his musical table the other day.  I was shocked.

He likes green foods, including sautéed zucchini from our garden, puréed peas, avocado.  Other favorite foods include, potato, applesauce, bananas, rice cakes, and chicken.   He also enjoys any little "treat" he can find on the floor.  I've become much more relaxed about what things bother me going into his mouth.  If it's not a chocking hazard, poisonous, or sharp... meh... He'll be all right.  His immune system has been very good.  He's only been really sick once back in the early spring.  God is good, and we've been careful not to hang out with sniffling tots, but perhaps letting him build up some antibodies with the floor grime is doing its bit?  It's what I comfort myself with when cloth and broom haven't made it out of the closet in awhile.

His first clear word was "ball," and he likes other B words, too, like bird, bath, bubble, balloon, book, baby... and tries very hard to copy us saying them.  He adores wheels, balls, and anything metal.  Caleb loves the water and the great outdoors.  He is fascinated with cords and toilets, which have become increasingly intriguing now that we are trying to make them off limits.  Ah...human nature at work.

I love the way he calls Dan "Pa Pa" and me "Maaaam."  Daniel was the receiver of his very first kiss the other day.  He does put his soggy little mouth against my cheek once in awhile, but this was the first little kiss with a smoochy sound.  He looked quite proud of himself after the fact.  I cherish the way he holds onto my legs while I do the dishes and lets out a big, happy sigh of joy when I come home from being away on errands.

Being Caleb's mother is a joyful challenge.  He never stops moving, thinking, doing...  Every day...and night... I have the opportunity to watch this little human being discover the world.  His world grows bigger every day... the words he understands, the humor he gets, the ideas he has, the places he remembers, and the people he loves.