fresh photo shoot

In November, we had the chance to get some professional family photos taken, in part inspired by the plan to send out Christmas cards, and in part just because it had been so long.  We were only expecting to get 10 photos out of the deal, but we ended up with a whole cd full!  Thanks Fresh Photography!  Here are some of our favorites:

breck

We got to spend part of a weekend up in Breckenridge (a mountain town in CO) in early November with Jodie (my childhood friend) and Dan (her husband).  Of course, I don't have any pictures with them, but here are a few that I did get...
 

Caleb will hardly ever fall asleep in the car...especially when we're really hoping he does.  But as we drove home from Breck he just couldn't fight it...

family resemblences

When Caleb was born, almost everyone said he looked like Jason. These days, the usual comment is that he's a good combination of both of us. When we were visiting my parents back in September, we were looking at some pictures of me when I was a kid and couldn't help but notice how much Caleb looks like me in some of them. Here are a couple of favorites. I'll let you be the judge...

children's museum

This was our second visit to the Children's museum.  So fun.  Check out my little bubble scientist...

And a few other random pics...

 

fall fun

Just a few photos from the pumpkin festival that we went to, and one of Caleb in his Halloween costume.
 

trip to NC

In September, we got to take a trip to NC to visit my parents for a week. My sister and her family also came to spend a few days with us. Time with my family is extra special because it doesn't happen that often these days.  It was such a fun trip! (Note: you can click on the photos below to see them bigger.)

Caleb got to play in the ocean for the first time and loved it! He had fun jumping and splashing in the waves and playing in the sand...

We also got to go to the pool where Caleb got more comfortable in the water and tried out swimmies for the first time... 

On one day, we took a ferry to a small island where we went to a cool aquarium...

We also just spent time hanging around my parents' house and entertaining ourselves there. Caleb enjoyed playing golf with the new golf set that MorMor and MorFar got him. He also managed to break two of the three golf clubs in the set by the time we left. He's not the gentlest of golfers...

After my sister's family arrived, Caleb had a blast with his cousin Nathaniel. It's so much fun to get the two of them together!

And we finished off the trip with dinner out on my parents' anniversary. It was nice of them to share their celebration with all of us and a fun way to spend our last night there...

birthday gifts: a video review

Caleb got this cool dump truck from his relatives in Las Vegas. It was the very first present that he got to open on the morning of his birthday.

After nap on his birthday, we did a webcam with my parents (MorMor and MorFar to Caleb). He opened the presents that they got him, a football that makes sounds upon impact, and a tricycle. Here's a video of just how excited he got about the football. To this day, whenever he brings out the football, he makes it play music and runs around in circles. It's pretty funny. Here's a glimpse of his craziness during the webcam when he got the football:

And finally, Jason's parents got him a car racing toy that was the hit of his birthday party. Here's a video of some after-party car racing fun. He was laughing a lot, but by the time I got the camera on him, his laugh had become a little fake and exaggerated. Still funny though...

open gym

Oftentimes after Jason gets home from work, Caleb will tell him about his day. It's really fun to listen to. I've been wanting to get a good video of it, but I rarely think to grab the camera. Here's one time I did get. It's not the best, but better than nothing. He's telling Jason about his time at the open gymnastics hour he went to at a nearby rec center.

talking on the phone

In case you can't understand, he says, "Hi! How's it going?" "How's it going, Mama?" "I went to a bookstore." "Maybe next time."

lollipop!

Caleb got his first ever lollipop after getting his hair cut a few weeks ago. He didn't even know what to do with it at first and I was tempted not to tell him. But then I decided that was a little cruel...that some day soon he'd see his friends sucking on lollipops and think, "Ohhhh, that's what you do with those...Mama didn't tell me!" So I gave in and told him. It was pretty adorable watching him taste it for the first time. He put in it his mouth and then had the cutest look of surprise and excitement on his face. I didn't think to video it at first, but I did get a little video while he was still enjoying the lollipop...

ABC's

Caleb likes to sing. His latest favorites are Mary Had a Little Lamb and Happy Birthday. Ever since his birthday, he's been singing Happy Birthday (usually, but not always, to himself). We don't have either of those on video though. Instead, here he is singing his ABC's...

party time!

The morning after Caleb's birthday, we had a little party for him at our place. It was a great time complete with fun friends, cool presents, sports ball cupcakes and lots of balloons! Here's a little taste of the fun:

caleb turns two

Last Friday was Caleb's birthday. In the morning I took him to the Children's Museum of Denver. We hadn't been there before and it was great! First, Caleb got in for free since it was his birthday. And then he had tons of fun exploring the museum. He doesn't look that happy in a lot of the pictures, but he was having a great time. He was just serious about playing.

He got to be a chef...

a firefighter...

a veterinarian...

an artist...

and a bubble scientist!

And of course, he had lots of fun playing with the trains.


In the afternoon, we did a webcam with MorMor and MorFar and Caleb got some presents from them. He loved his new football that makes sounds upon impact...


and was pretty excited about his new tricycle too!


When Jason got home from work, we gave Caleb the kiddie pool we got him. The water was ice cold, but he just giggled whenever he sat down in it. It was pretty cute.


Who knew your kid's birthday could be just as fun as your own?

*For more pictures of the day, go to caleb's 2nd birthday*

caleb's first two years

Happy 2nd birthday, my sweet boy! It has been so much fun watching you grow and develop. You continually amaze me and fill my heart with so much joy. Here's a little photo review of your first two years of life:



p.s. Sorry I let your hair get a little out of control at times.

month twenty four photos

bedtime story w/ caleb and nathaniel

from atlanta to colorado

A week ago, my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew reached their final destination on the westward portion of their road trip...Colorado!! They arrived Thurs night and stayed until Tues morning. It had been over a year since we'd seen them last!! It was so great to get the cousins together again...especially now that they can actually play with each other. Here's a taste of the fun times we had:

We went to the Denver Zoo,


played in the fountains at the park,


had dinner with friends,


played by the river in Breckenridge,


and even made ice cream!


The boys also got to do everyday things together like taking baths and reading bedtime stories...


It was a wonderful weekend and we all had a really great time. The next two pictures show that well. This is Caleb with his Aunt Carrie in the middle of their visit:


This is Caleb with his Aunt Carrie the night before they left:


Granted, he was exhausted. But he definitely seemed to understand that they were leaving. Thankfully it won't be quite so long until we see them again. We love you guys!

**For more pics, go to Carrie's visit July 2010

month twenty three photos

month twenty two photos

mormor and morfar's visit

Recently, my parents came to spend about a week and a half with us. It had been way too long since we saw them and it was a great opportunity for them to see our new house and spend lots of time with their grandson. We didn't plan too many exciting outings since they primarily wanted to play with Caleb and help us get settled in our new home. But here are a few things we did fit in:

Caleb's first haircut in a salon (instead of at home or at a friend's house):


A trip to Boulder


Several trips to the nearby playground


A morning on the golf course


Lots of fun playing with the basketball hoop MorMor and MorFar bought for Caleb:


A Mother's Day brunch with both of Caleb's grandmothers


And a hike at the nearby state park with Jason's family


It was great seeing them and so nice for Caleb to get to spend some quality time with his MorMor and MorFar. For more photos feel free to check out this photo album.

caleb these days

Lately I've been thinking about how much Caleb has changed in the past few months and how little I've blogged about him. I've been so caught up in the move and now in making our new house "home" that I just haven't taken the time to blog. Back in January, I began a post entitled "chatterbox" that I never finished. Here's how it started:

"Caleb's vocabulary seems to be exploding these days. Lately he'll just try to repeat whatever random things we say. I think my favorite thing he says though is "tee too" (translation: thank you)."

That was the beginning of January when he was 17 months old. He's now almost 22 months old and talks like crazy. He still says "tee too" for thank you most of the time though and it's still my favorite thing he says. But he can say much more than that now. He can also put together sentences. And even if he doesn't know all the words in a sentence, he seems to realize that he's supposed to speak in complete sentences and babbles the parts he doesn't know while interspersing the words he does. It can be pretty funny sometimes.

In the midst of all of that, I have learned that it's important to be careful about the words I choose. One day a while back, Caleb and I were coloring. He grabbed a crayon out of my hand and I said, "Hey, I need that!" Ever since then, what has he said? "I need the...." "I need it!" This morning I was laying in bed listening to him babble because he woke up way too early and I refused to get him up that early. At one point he was saying over and over, "I need the tennis ball!"

Not only is he a chatterbox, but he also likes numbers and letters. When he was around 18 months old, we were staying with Jason's parents for a few days and one day I was sitting at the dining room table while Caleb was eating lunch. The grandfather clock began to chime and Caleb started counting with it. I looked at Jason's dad and said, "Those actually sounded like the numbers!" His dad said, "Yep," as though it wasn't a big deal (he'd been counting the chimes with Caleb prior to that). When Jason got home from work that day and Caleb was taking his bath, I asked him if he wanted to show Dada how he could count. He proceeded to count to 10 with me. Now he's gotten better at 1-10 and is even nearing 20. He isn't quite there with the alphabet, but he's getting pretty close!

He's not all nerd though. :-) He still loves balls like crazy and gets more excited about balls than anything else. Food, however, is probably a close second. He has slowly gained quite the collection of balls during the second year of his life. And recently, his MorMor and MorFar bought him a basketball hoop! More on that in a future post.

He loves to read books as well and often surprises me with how much of his books he knows by heart. He knows a few songs by heart too and likes to sing and be sung to. Some of his favorites are "Up Above" (Twinkle Twinkle Little Star), "Itsy" (The Itsy Bitsy Spider), and "Bible Song" (Jesus Loves Me).

He is definitely a character. He likes to show off and usually wants to be the center of attention. On days like today, he'll have me about to completely lose my mind one minute and then the next he'll be singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" into a bucket in the back seat of the car and I can't help but smile at how cute he is. It's amazing how frustrated I can get with him at times and then how much my heart overflows with love for him just a moment later. I guess that's what being a parent is all about...

month twenty one photos

Yikes am I behind!! Here are some long overdue photos:

living on a house farm

So at least part of the reason I've been blog-silent these past few months is that I've been caught up in our preparations to move and then the moving itself. There are still boxes to unpack and lots of settling in to do, but yesterday I was thinking I should at least give the blog a small taste of our new life "down south." (It's just an hour south of Boulder, but to some Boulderites it might as well be New Mexico.)

Here are a couple of pics of Caleb playing with his dada in our first ever backyard!


And here's a pic of the two of them napping in Caleb's new giraffe room.


Caleb hasn't been sleeping as well as usual and the middle-of-the-night wake-ups and early mornings have made him one tired (and grumpy) guy.


But he enjoyed our short walk to a neighborhood playground yesterday! You can't really see it too well in this picture, but it's at the other side of the lake. Not too shabby.


So how's life in suburbia? So far, so good. I'm looking forward to being more settled, to Caleb's sleep getting back to normal and his grumpiness lessening, and to my parents being our first official house guests at the end of the month!

(stay tuned for more photos of the house...)