Caleb turns five!

Dear Caleb, My sweet boy, where do I begin?  I can't believe that you are five years old!!  This birthday seems like a huge one.  Five means you'll be starting kindergarten, which is the start of a whole new, big, long chapter of your life.  You're really a big kid now! You have been actually been a little apprehensive about the whole kindergarten thing, but I think it’ll just take a little settling in and you will love it.  You do seem to enjoy learning, and you continue to surprise me with your intelligence.  We haven’t made it a point to push you to excel at academics at the age of five.  But you just seem to soak things up without a whole lot of effort.  You’ve begun to read, and although you usually aren’t interested in trying to read new books (at least with an audience), you’ve been reading words on signs more and more lately.  Half the time I ask you if you knew what the sign said because you’d read it.  I’m not sure how else you would have known it, but I guess it just still surprises me. You say most things properly these days, but there are a few words here and there that you don't pronounce correctly.  My favorite is calipitter (caterpillar).  But even that one I recently heard you say the correct way.  Another sign that you are growing up, and some of those cute little things you do are disappearing as time passes.  The nice thing is that there are many new and fun things to come.  I am so blessed to be able to watch you grow into the man you will one day be. This was the year of superheroes.  It started here... You went to your buddy’s superhero-themed 4th birthday party about a month and a half after yours.  Prior to that you hadn’t known much about superheroes.  But it opened up a whole new world for you.  When you filled out your “All About Me” poster at the beginning of the preschool year, you said that you wanted to be a superhero when you grew up.  For Halloween, you decided to be spiderman.  For Christmas, you put a bunch of superhero stuff on your wish list.  And then you wrapped up your fifth year with a superhero party of your own... You continue to enjoy sports, but haven’t yet joined any teams or focused too much on any particular sport.  You did learn to ride a bike this year though!  Last summer you really weren’t interested in your big boy bike.  Dada had taken the pedals off so that you could use it as a balance bike, but you always chose your tricycle over your bike.  Early this spring, I guess you decided you were ready to give it a shot.  You started learning to balance on it.  Mostly on your own.  A few weeks later, we decided it was time to put the pedals back on.  Dada did, and before long you were pedaling away!  All we needed to do was help you get started for the first few days and then you were on your own.  Pretty impressive. It's also been an interesting year as I've watched you grow into your role as a big brother.   And oh the things your sister learns from you. There are moments when you are super sweet with her.  They are my favorite.    Those times when you laugh out loud together.  Those times when you decide all on your own that you are going to help her put her shoes on her feet or a barrette in her hair.  It's fun to watch how proud you are of yourself because you are the big brother and can do so many things that your baby sister can't do yet. There are other moments when you are a little less accommodating.  But having to share the spotlight has been a big adjustment for you, I'm sure.  And in the moments when I am able to step back a bit, I remember that I need to give you a little more grace.  Okay, a lot more.  This mama gig is not an easy one.  And you have the sometimes unfortunate position of being my firstborn.  I am continually forging my way through new waters with you.  And I make mistakes.  But you are helping me to become a better mama so for that I am thankful.   I love you to the moon and back, my sweet boy.  Here are a few more pictures from your fifth year.  And here's to a fun-filled sixth year!

18 months

Dear Lilah,
 


Oh my sweet girl...18 months old!?!  It's so crazy how time flies.  Sometimes I wish I could just stop it for a while.  But then I realize that I'm enjoying this moment just as much as the last.  You are so much fun right now.  Turning into a little person with a spunky personality.  You continue to fill my heart with so much joy.

You're a full-fledged toddler now.  You've been walking for about three months and are still a little stumbly sometimes.  You have recently begun to insist on walking down the stairs (with help, of course) instead of being carried.  You also just moved out of your infant car seat.  You were no where near the weight limit, but you had just about reached the height limit.

Your vocabulary has been exploding lately.  And the things you say are so adorable.  You have started saying please (peas) and thank you (often "tee too" like your brother said it when he was your age), which is sweet to hear.  Your most popular word lately is okay, which you usually pronounce "otay."  For a while before you started saying that, you had been saying "ohhh" to mean yes.  I think that started because sometimes when I'd be trying to figure out what you wanted and when I did figure it out, I'd say, "Ohhh, you want...".  So you started saying "ohhh" for yes.  Which was really cute.  But I'm loving the otay too.  Even when you say it in an over-dramatic whiny voice (which you often do), it's adorable.  

 I think you are enjoying the fact that you can communicate with us more easily now.  Your other most often used words are still dada, bubba, and hi.  Every day, multiple times a day, you say, "Dada?"  I tell you where he is, and then you say, "Bubba?"  I tell you where he is, and then you say, "Mama?"  I say, "Mama's right here," and you say, "Hi Mama!"  You still love animal noises and can tell us what a dog, cat, monkey, cow, lion (tiger and bear), owl, sheep, duck, rooster, horse, pig, donkey, and snake say.

Your hair is long enough now that I can put it in pigtails.  And I do.  Almost every day.  I'm still not that excited about the thought of having to do your hair all the time.  But I love how cute you look in pigtails.

We recently took a trip to CT and you got to see your MorMor and MorFar and Aunt Carrie and Uncle Mark and your cousins and even second cousins and lots of other relatives and family friends.  It was such a treat for all of us to get to see so many relatives and friends and for you to meet some of them for the first time.  You have this little evil glare you give people sometimes and you pulled that out a lot on our trip.  It was pretty amusing.

Your brother is still a pretty big fan of yours.  He's realized recently that you're old enough now to be able to play with him.  So he's started to try to get you to do that.  Of course, he doesn't really realize that you aren't always able or willing to do whatever it is he is trying to get you to do.  So he gets frustrated sometimes.  Often.  But hopefully he'll keep trying. 

It's amazing the things you get away with that your brother never would have at your age.  Mostly in the realm of treats.  Which you love, of course.  Here's a little snapshot of you enjoying your granddad's homemade ice cream:

 I adore you, sweet Lilah Jane!  It's so much fun being your mama.  I'm looking forward to seeing all that the second half of your second year brings.

Love always,

Mama

15 months

Dear Lilah,

I figured in your second year of life, I'd aim for a post every quarter instead of every month.  So here it is.  You are continuing to grow and change like crazy.  I suppose you've begun the transition into a toddler, although I still totally think of you as my baby. :-)

You still choose crawling over walking these days, but you are taking more and more steps.  You are wobbly and don't make it too far yet, but it's fun to see you on your feet!  I actually missed your first steps.  We all did.  I had just finished changing you and went down the hall to wash my hands.  When I came back around the corner, there you were walking out of your room!  Caleb had been in your room with you, but wasn't paying attention.  And nobody else was around.  It was a little strange to see you just walking out of your room as if it was no thing. :-) But for a while after that, we couldn't really get you to do it again.  It's only been recently that you've been challenging yourself some more and trying out the walking thing here and there.

You may not be too into walking, but you're definitely into climbing!  You love to climb up on things, especially chairs, and sit down.  And you seem pretty proud of yourself when you do.  You also like to stand up on things like chairs.  I have to keep a close eye on you sometimes.  But you're a pretty good little monkey.  You've figured out how to get down off of chairs, couches, etc. properly as well.  So I don't feel like I need to be constantly watching your every move.

This is your new favorite toy:

 Recently you started kissing dada goodbye when he leaves for work in the morning.  As soon as you realize that he's about to leave, you tip your head back, tuck your lips in (kind of the opposite of puckering up), and say, "mmmmm..."  And when you kiss him, you say, "...mwah!"  Then you do it several times more before he makes it out the door.  It's super cute. 

You're slowly building your vocabulary as well.  Hi was your first word and seems to be your favorite.  When we're at the grocery store, you'll sit in the cart and say hi to everyone who passes by.  If they say hi back, you will continue saying hi to them.  Over and over.  Fortunately, you're so adorable that nobody could possibly find you annoying. ;-) Other favorite words are dada and bubba.  You use mama occasionally, but not nearly as often and dada and bubba.

You seem to love animals, especially dogs.  You always perk up when you hear a dog barking and often start barking along.  You get super excited when you see a dog.  The other day we were at home depot and there was a dog in the store.  You got all excited and starting saying, "woof! woof!" at the dog.  We ended up in line behind the dog and you continually barked at him as if you were trying to get him to talk to you.  It was pretty funny.

You love books with animals in them as well.  

 And you've learned some animal noises.  So far, you know the sounds for: dog, cat, cow, monkey, lion, owl, bear, and sometimes duck.

You definitely know how to bring on the tears, but fortunately for us you also get over things pretty easily.

 It's so much fun to watch you grow and change.  I love you so much, my sweet baby girl.  

Love, Mama

one year old!!!

Sweet Lilah Jane,

 The first year of your life has been so much fun.  I've really enjoyed watching you grow and develop into the one-year-old you now are.   It has truly been a gift.  It's a couple of weeks after your birthday that I'm writing this post, but I feel like you've changed so much even in the past couple of weeks that I'm just going to cheat and include that stuff.

 You have such an adventurous spirit.  You love the wind in your face, whether swinging on a swing, riding on a boat, or even having your brother blow in your face.  You love being swung around and spun in circles.  You like to hang upside down.  All of these things make you smile and giggle.  It is so sweet.  You also don't seem to have much fear, which could make for an interesting childhood. 

Here are some 1-year-old stats:

 

Weight: 17.5 lbs; Height: 28 1/4 inches (you're a peanut)

Number of teeth: 4

Words: hi, uh-oh, yay, yeah, read, more, no

Signed words: more, milk, bye

You have started waving.  You do this cute thing where you scrunch up your nose and breath in and out of it audibly.  Whenever you're excited about something, you kick your feet.  Even when you're not excited about things, you like to move your feet around in little circles.  I think you might have gotten that from me because I do that sometimes too.

When your daddy gets home from work, your brother and I have started saying, "Yay!!"  You have picked that up and now say yay often too.  You say it when Dada gets home from work, but also when other people come over or even just enter a room sometimes.  The other day I went to pick you up from the nursery at church.  It was a quiet morning in the nursery so it was really quiet when I walked up.  You looked up and saw me and broke the silence with a loud, "Yay!!"  Not sure a person can get a much better welcome than that.

You have definitely turned a corner with your social skills.  You let others hold you much more readily.  You even choose to go to others instead of me.  You'll stay in the nursery at church without crying.  It's a welcome change.  Especially since you still light up when you see me.

You really like to read books.  However, you definitely prefer certain ones over others and will often not make it through even a short book if you don't like it enough.  You're still picky when it comes to eating as well.  You're a great eater...as long as we're feeding you things that you like.  If you don't like something, getting you to eat more than a bite or two is usually a hopeless endeavor.

You learned how to climb the stairs this month.  The first time, your brother was right beside you showing you the ropes, egging you on.  Our stairs are split into two sets with a turn in the middle so that you can't see the top of the stairs from the bottom.  You made it all the way up both flights!  

A day or two later, I was in the kitchen and all of a sudden realized that you'd been quiet for a while.  I hurried toward the playroom, noticing that the gate at the bottom of the stairs was open.  I peeked around the corner into the playroom...no Lilah.  I immediately dashed up the stairs, turned the corner, and there you were all the way at the top of the stairs, standing at the railing and looking down into the play room.  Yikes!  I quickly learned that closing the gate is a must now.

It's so fun to watch you interact with your brother more and more.  He still loves to make you laugh and if he finds something that works, he'll do it over and over until you lose interest. 

 We've started this little family ritual in the evenings.  After dinner, when it's time for you and Caleb to get ready for bed, we all race upstairs to his room and dive onto his bed.  Then he jumps around and you join in on the fun.  You can't jump yet, so instead you get up on your knees and throw yourself forward onto your hands and giggle.  I think that's one of your (and Caleb's) favorite things to do. 

 
Here are a few pics from your 1st birthday party.  We kept it pretty low-key.  Brunch at our house with family and a few close friends.  It was fun to celebrate you!

 I made you some cupcakes and kept them as healthy as I could.  You weren't a big fan, but you humored us.

 You bring such joy to my life, Lilah Jane.  I wasn't super excited about having a baby girl at first, but now I wouldn't change it for the world.  God knew just what he was doing when he gave you to us.  I can't believe a year has gone by already.  In some ways, it makes me a little sad.  But I'm also looking forward to seeing all the exciting things that your second year will bring!   I love you with all my heart, baby girl.

Love,

Mama