Today I sat and marveled at the incredible person our little man is becoming. Rarely do I have the time to sit and reflect (let alone record) these days but since it is Christmas vacation, what better time is there to reminisce the past year??
The last time I blogged, Caleb was weighing in at just 22 lbs. and was only 30 in tall. Gosh, he has grown!! While he hasn't had an "official" doctor's appointment since 18 months, we did strip him down yesterday and had him stand on the scale and up against the wall-- (Poppa actually used a sharpie to make the notch on his molding!!) Wow!! 26 lbs. and 34 inches tall!!! Crazy!!!
At this time in his life, every day- no, every moment- brings a new, exciting discovery. For a while now, this usually comes in the form of language. I cannot possibly count the number of words Caleb now says. Over the past week, he's actually started stringing these words together into simple sentences. I told Chad yesterday, all of a sudden, as if overnight, Caleb has truly become a real person.
Rather than just being cute, he's actually fun to spend time with! In the car, we have conversations- sure they're somewhat repetitive but the fact that I am able to talk with my child instead of just to him is more deeply rewarding than anything I have ever experienced. When we're hanging out together, he'll run to us, grab our hands, and say: "Mommy, play!" or "Daddy, play!". Last night, when I was putting him to bed, I sang him his bedtime song as usual and he sang along with me! Then, as I left the room, he called out, "Mommmmy!!" I popped my head back in the room and responded, "Yes, Caleb?" With a great big smile on his face he said, "I love you" and laid back down. Tears filled my eyes and my heart melted for the gazillionth time. Caleb says "I love you" all the time...he's said it for months now. Until last night, however, it was always in response to people saying it to him. Last night, he wanted to tell his Mommy "I love you"...all on his own. OMG....I'm crying again!!
So before I give the list of fun facts I've been typically blogging...there is one story that I want to record for the books:
A couple of weeks ago, someone asked me if I thought that Caleb understood Christmas this year. I asked what this meant and the person responded "Oh ya know...like Santa, Baby Jesus, Christmas trees, presents...all the stuff that older kids get excited about..." Hmmm. Good question.
I actually put a lot of thought into this and pretty much concluded-- No. Sure, we put our tree up and Caleb "helped" decorate it but he didn't really seem to care much about it once it was there. And yeah, we read Christmas books to him and played with his Little People Nativity set together and listened to Christmas music every time we were in the car.... But did he really seem affected by the season?? Not really...
It wasn't until Christmas night-- after all the magic was done that I realized how mistaken I'd been. That night, Caleb cried for 3 hours trying to get to sleep. Finally, while laying in bed next to him, I asked him, "Baby, what is making you so sad??!" He looked up at Chad and I with puffy tear-stained eyes and sobbed, "Ball down! Ball down! Want Santa! Santa Milk!" My son was devastated that Christmas was over. Every night in the month of December, we took a ball down from our Christmas ribbon. The night before, the last ball had been removed & carefully and joyfully, we created Santa's scene: Cookies, milk, & a carrot for Rudolph.
Caleb did understand that Christmas had come and there was no mistaking his disappointment with it ending! Over his sad little head, Chad and I just smiled at each other. Our little baby has become a real person- with real emotions- over real (and yes, magical) events!
Stats:
- 26 lbs. 34 inches tall
- Full mouth of teeth (except 2 year old molars which I think he's starting to work on)
- Skills: Running, Jumping, Drawing, Painting, Coloring, Counting, Simple Sentences
- Favorite things to do: Play with his "Choo Choo Train" (our favorite word he says!) Color, paint, pretty much anything artistic, Watch Jack's Big Music Show (and dance along with the music), Dance, Play "Backet Ball" :) "Brush Teeth!"
- Best Friend: Payton "P!"
- Things he still can't live without: His thumb, milk, and of course, "La La"- the name he has given to his lion! :)
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