sneaky little sucker...

i hold caleb on my left hip... probably because that leaves my right hand free and i'm right handed so that makes sense. no matter, the point of saying that is to explain that how caleb is situated makes it very difficult to see his right hand. more specifically, makes it difficult for me to see if there's anything in his right hand.
and lately, there usually is. this is his new thing, just as i'm about to pick him up to go out to the car, he quickly grabs whatever toy he's obsessing over at the moment. and i don't notice. by now, i should know to just look, but i'm usually thinking about things like where i put my keys or how late i'm going to be.
so far he's snuck out of the house with a hanger, bottle of lotion, kitchen wisk, plastic bag, block, silverware, and countless stuffed animals. but the best one was his melissa and doug wooden duck. how did i miss that one!?

weaning?

apparently, i'm weaning some more. i didn't really plan on it, it just sort of happened. once, before putting caleb down for his afternoon nap, we danced together... as usual. but this time, he fell asleep. rather than wake the sleeping baby by trying to nurse, i just put him into his crib and let him nap. the next day, i did the same thing... even though he didn't fall asleep while dancing. we just danced and then he went to bed. again today. after so much disaster the last time i tried weaning him, i was so nervous... but so far so good (knock on wood).

Threes about me

amy did this little thing and i thought it was cute (and am currently trying to be quiet while caleb falls asleep) so thought i would do the same.

Three jobs I have had in my life: Mexican folk dancer, insurance specialist, kindergarten teacher
Three movies I would watch over and over: Ocean's 11, Lord of the Rings, Miracle
Three shows that I watch: Survivor, Amazing Race, The Office
Three places I have been: Illinois, Italy, Oregon
Three of my favorite foods: Italian, french toast, chai
Three places I'd rather be right now: with troy, near a waterfall, reading at a tea/coffee shop
Three things I am looking forward to this year: Caleb learning to talk, a night or two away with troy, meeting hanell's baby
Three jobs I would love to have: hard to know, never having done them... dog walker, speech therapist, professional mentor

caleb's first "pet"

when caleb found out he could pull around his "pet" doggie just by holding on to the leash, he was hooked! he loves it. the first day, he probably pulled that little doggie around for half an hour... course the "leash" he found to use was a USB connection for an ipod that probably wasn't the best choice. we have since switched it to yarn.

this morning, we played a slight variation of the pet game... we played fetch. caleb would throw a ball and the doggie (controlled by me) would go and get it. another half our (at least) of fun! just wait until we get a real dog!!

i'm not really a baker but...

check out this cake i made for community group a few weeks ago. mom sent me the recipe! isn't it beautiful?! it's not hard... but it is time consuming. although, i definitely did make it harder myself by not thinking to borrow a second round cake pan and having to do it in stages!

up

caleb says "up". very intentionally. he says it when he wants to be picked up. or, if he's in someone's arms and wants them to stand up. or if he's in his room and wants to go into his crib. it's a very useful word. also very hard to deny him when he asks so sweetly! "uuuup!"

bombarded

i didn't grow up having a whole lot. if i needed new clothes or shoes, i waited until christmas or my birthday. then i put the important things on my list, and what i got had to last me until the next time i got gifts. this was fine by me and taught me a lot about what is really important in life. my family got along well and welcomed people into our home. friends would stop by and were made to feel a part of the family. i never felt lacking in any way.

that way of living has followed me throughout my life. i've never even had a clothing budget... gasp... it's true. not because troy won't let me but because i wouldn't even know what to do with it. buy clothes, i guess :) even now i will save up a list of things i need and ask for them for christmas or birthday. and i'm really happy.

but sometimes, it feels like i shouldn't be. recently, we went over to the mall (an exceptionally yuppie mall, in my opinion) to get out of the rain and have a place to hang out. i was overwhelmed. everywhere i looked i felt as though i was bombarded by a "look like this", "wear this", "smell like this", "eat this", "have this" attitude. there has to be a balance. i want to look nice and put together. i want to feel good about myself. but i don't want to get sucked into that consumer mindset. i feel like i get pulled from one extreme to the other. i really admire people who are able to find that balance. and it's something i'm working on.

favorite things, part 2

walking. even though a lot of his motion is still sideways, he loves practicing his new skill. he'll carry things from room to room... just because he can.
dogs. the sounds they make, books about them, commercials with them, pictures of them, seeing them on walks, etc. if he's having a bad day, just take him to see some dogs and life is good again.
breakfast with daddy. if caleb wakes up early enough in the morning (which, thanks to the time change, is a regular occurrence now), he gets to eat breakfast with his daddy while i take a shower or whatever. this is the one time during the day that caleb gets to eat sitting on a lap instead of in his seat. and he gets to take bites off of daddy's spoon. and taste new cereals. yum!
getting his way. and if he doesn't, he'll cry, wave his hands around, and/or make a sound like this, "wee-a, wee-a, wee-a", or this, "ehhhhhhhhh".

how is this possible?

here's my sister's 20 week pregnancy picture.

and here's mine (from when i was pregnant with caleb... no news here)

halloween

last year, caleb was only a couple months old at halloween, so we just put him in a pumpkin and called it good.

this year, however, we decided to be a little more proactive and actually get caleb a costume. obviously, we had to choose a dog since they are one of his favorite things and since he makes such a good dog sound. we found a costume at costco and even though it wasn't the best dog costume ever, we were pretty happy with it.

fast forward three weeks... we go to put the costume on caleb for a halloween party and IT DOESN'T FIT! it's too short. a few weeks ago this wouldn't have been an issue, maybe just a little uncomfortable. but now that he's walking, it's miserable (as you can tell by the picture).

thankfully, though, a friend was done using a bee costume and we were able to put caleb in it for a little halloween photo shoot.