Caleb and Mommy Time

Caleb and I had a fun day hanging out together. We started with breakfast and cartoons, his new favorites are Diego and Dora the Explorer. I even persuaded him to let me catch up on the news through the Today show for a while. I am excited that Caleb is taking an early interest in politics. Every time he sees Obama on TV he yells, "there's the president" and acts as if he is really interested in what Obama has to say. I guess he remembers him from when we watched the inauguration together.Then after an early lunch, we went for popcorn and a movie. We watched "Bolt" the super dog, which Caleb seemed to enjoy. Then after a nap, we picked up a smoothie from Fat Straws and headed for the park. Caleb is a big fan of the "balls" in the Fat Straw drinks. Last he helped me with some shopping for a few groceries. That took the longest since he felt the need to help me push the basket. He was very loud as he yelled "watch out for the people mommy." As if I have ever ran over someone with a shopping cart.

Here our some pics from last Tuesday off with Caleb. We went to the local library for Story Time, then he hung out with some of the local kids to enjoy the numerous toys and puzzles available.

Sunday we went for a hike along the trail at the nature preserve. He was so excited to find the different hidden trails through the "woods". When we came to the bridge he asked "where is the troll."

Party animal!

Caleb had two back to back birthday parties to attend yesterday. And with Greg out of town, preparing for the parties was much more difficult than usual. Caleb "helped" pick out presents and run a few other errands, which made us late for naptime, which meant rushing to get to the parties. The first party was to celebrate Dakota's first birthday, the son of some of our best friends. Caleb was very hyperactive at this party. He was all over the place, and convinced several sweet people to follow him through the house searching for trolls. He loves reading Three Billy Goats Gruff because of the troll in the story. There were several children his age to help him reak havic. Emma, Jody Team's little girl, was present too. She and Caleb were very excited about their mutual friend, Trae Trae, arriving at the party. They stood staring out the window yelling "Trae Trae's here". Dakota had plenty of help opening his birthday presents.Shortly after gifts were opened, we set off for the next party for Caleb's friend Teresa, the daughter of a friend I used to work with. Caleb continuously worried where Teresa was, and tried multiple times to get her attention to play with him. He didn't understand she had lots of friends to entertain since it was her birthday party. They eventually landed in the balls together where things were going great until she noticed he was wearing his socks, which apparently was against the rules. She pulled his sock off as he tried to get away which ended with him in tears. When I could finally get to Caleb through the other kids, Teresa handed me Caleb's elongated sock and said "she said no socks". I think Caleb's infatuation may be over. He had a great time at both parties, but I think two parties took their toll. Before we could leave Teresa's party Caleb's melt down began. It continued into the parking lot where it took me several minutes to get him into the car, and ended about 30min after we got home. I was exhausted! Greg owes me a girl's weekend big time!

Bad Mommy!

It's been a long week. I have been fighting off illness most of the week. On top of that, I felt like the most awful mother. 3 nights ago Caleb woke in the night whining, which in itself is not unusual. When I went to check on him he said his ear hurt, but after patting his back he went back to sleep. At first I thought it possible he was coming down with something, but the next day he was fine and never mentioned any pain; and I didn't see any drainage from his ear. Since he had tubes in I should know if he had an infection, so I thought he must have just wanted to get into bed with us. In my defense, you may remember how he likes to say "I throw up" without really being ill. The next night he was a little moody, and kept waking in the night with an occassional cough. We put him in bed with us thinking again he might be getting a cold. On my way to work the next morning, Greg called to let me know Caleb's ear was draining when he woke and he was complaining of ear pain again. Horrible mother! I could have just looked in his ear. I have learned my lesson rest assure.

I was asked today what my plans for the weekend were. I realized I have no plans, but Caleb has 2 birthday parties to attend. It is pathetic that my 2 y.o. has more of a social life than I. Greg left us this weekend for a guy's weekend of hunting and other manly stuff I guess. Luckily Caleb and I are both starting to recover now, so I hope to have a fun weekend hanging out together.

My poor child obviously doesn't get candy often. He brought some valentine candy home after their party, so we've been letting him try some occasionally. Last week he tried a sucker and said " i don't like this mommy, it's hard". I tried to explain how he should lick the sucker, but he traded it in for some plain m&m's instead. Tonight he tried a sucker again. "I don't bite mommy, I lick it". He finally got the concept and really enjoyed the very blue sucker.

Happy Belated Valentines Day!

Greg took off Friday to do some handy work around the house, so he was able to go to Caleb's Valentine party. They called me from the party, and Caleb left me a very sweet voice message wishing me a happy valentine's day. Greg said they had lots of yummy fruits and sweets. He showed me all is fun treats and valentines from his friends once I got home.

Greg and I were a little under the weather this weekend, so we didn't do anything exciting. We did venture out late Saturday to watch aunt Sammie play volleyball in Arlington. Caleb was very excited to see G-ma Teri and Sammie. Since we wanted to just veg out at home that night, we picked up a yummy fajita dinner from a nice restaurant on the way home. We enjoyed good food while wearing our PJ's and watching a good movie. Not such a bad Valentine's date after all.

I thought I'd share our couple's pic we had done at church last week. The photographer wanted to take pictures for couples as a tribute to his late wife. It was a wonderful idea and we couldn't pass it up. He was very generous because there were so many couples lined up.

He did a good job hiding my black eye! That is just beginning to fade this week by the way.

Cowboy Caleb

Last Thursday we took Caleb to the Ft Worth Rodeo. He was so excited when we told him where we were going. He got his boots and cowboy hat on and was ready to see the "horsies". On the way he said "I ride horsies and watch bulls." When we finally made it to the rodeo, Caleb sat in awe for several minutes observing all the activity going on in the arena. We had a really good time, though I continued to get concerned looks at my black eye, and Greg received a few bad ones. Friday night I made the mistake of telling Caleb about Asher's birthday party we would be attending the next day. Saturday morning Caleb woke at 6a.m.! When Greg went to get him, I could hear Caleb saying " I awake daddy, I want to go to the birthday party." We convinced him to lay down with us and wait for the sun to wake up first, we actually got to sleep in until after 8a.m. When we finally did get up and going, Caleb continued to insist it was time to go to the party. Good thing the party started at 11a.m. or I would have gone crazy. He had a great time playing at Asher's party, and was especially excited to see his friend Teresa was present. They waited patiently for the cake to be brought out.

Finally the wait was over, and time to dig in! They both carefully scraped the icing away to be consumed, the cake is apparently just for decoration.

It was a successful party, and Caleb was very excited to receive a goodie bag on his way out. When I asked him what he got, he said "stuff". "It's all my stuff mommy".

Mommy's Shiner

Yesterday was my 1/2 day, so I picked Caleb up from daycare where he was just getting up from his nap. I was closely interrogated by his classmates. "Where is Caleb going?, He is over there! Caleb's mom's here. Can I go?" I didn't want to upset them so I didn't mention we were going to the park. Caleb was very excited once I told him our plan. I brought along his baseball bat as well. Unfortunately I'm not the best pitcher, so he resorted to golf again. At least he was a good swing. We had a good time hanging out together the rest of the afternoon. Just before Greg got home, sat down on the floor while Caleb was watching cartoons. I guess Caleb decided to jump into my arms as we sometimes do over and over when I am prepared. I wasn't prepared this time, so by the time I realized his intention, I had a very hard chin in the eye. I don't think I moved from the floor for a full minute, it was sooooo painful. Poor Caleb ran away thinking he was in trouble. When I was finally able to check if he was hurt, he ran back to me saying " it an accident mommy". I reassured him I knew it was, and though he pointed to his chin as the area of pain, he seemed unharmed. Unfortunately I already had a knot forming under my eye, and by today it was nice and purple. It continued to get worse as the day progressed, and I had to explain over and over why I had a black eye to all my patients and coworkers. I warned Greg he may have some explaining to do. He just thought the whole thing was funny.

Fun Times with Caleb

We tried to have a leisure weekend, but we had 4 showings, so we had to make our selves scarce most of the time. At least we got our grocery shopping done, a trip to the park in, and lunch out. It wasn't that bad, but I sure wish we would get an offer soon. Caleb and dad took some time to rake up the leaves in the front yard and improve the appearance of the house. Then Caleb came and chatted with me out on the patio. He came and sat down by me and said "let's talk mommy". I couldn't help but laugh, then we chatted about silly topics. Sunday afternoon we went to the Ft Worth Zoo since the weather was so nice. Caleb has the zoo's layout memorized now and knew just where to go to find the elephants right away. Then he said " i see the hippos" and ran straight ahead to the hippos. We had a good family outing. Today was my day off with Caleb. We met up with Andrew and Mrs. Donna at Bonkers for a couple of hours. Andrew kept going off to play, content to be on his own; while Caleb was concerned about finding Andrew most of the time. I guess it's the first child syndrome, he doesn't seem to enjoy playing on his own as much as playing with someone. Andrew I think finally felt sorry for him, and they eventually traveled through all the tunnels and slides together. We ended with lunch at McDonald's, where the boys played for a little while longer. On the way home Caleb volunteered he didn't need a nap. "I throw up in my bed if I nap". I'm not sure if that was a threat or what. He wasn't sick, and he actually hasn't thrown up in a while (knock on wood) , so I'm not sure where that came from. Though he didn't fight too hard once I put him in bed, and had a nice long nap.