Celebrate Good Times!

After the longest and shortest year of our life we've successfully celebrated our guys first birthday!! Thank you to all who came to the party or sent gifts. He (we) loved all the presents and had a great time on his special day. The party, games, and ice cream sundae bar were a huge hit! Caleb had so much fun that he took a time-out to nap in the middle of the party. The big cake was delicious and we even managed to eat most all of it (thanks to daddy), however Caleb wasn't really interested in destroying or making a mess with his mini-cake.

He did play in it a little (mostly attempting to get the sticky icing off his hands) and even took one bite, but after a couple minutes he was over it and ready to go play with his toys. So far his new car from his Aunt Amber is the favorite gift. He even got a personalized licence plate from his Great Grandma Dewitt that fits the car perfectly! After checking the air pressure of the tires and shining up his rims, he was ready for the road. He still has a hard time keeping his 'finger' on the gas because he gets excited and starts clapping or stands up, but once he gets some practice and builds up his finger muscles we are sure he is going to be zipping all over the place.

So, one successful birthday down! Hopefully next year brings us just as many laughs, tears, and wonderful milestones to blog about!

Exercise Gone Awry

Our son is talented. Really he is. We are not the only people who think this either. Lots of other people comment on how smart Caleb is.* We mention this because recently, Caleb has picked up this habit of spinning around in a circle. Yep, like a dog chasing his tail. The first time he did it we laughed at how cute it was. The second time he did it, although still cute, we started to wonder where he picked it up. The next three plus times, we started to wonder....

So, while picking up Caleb from Geby's house (our nanny), mommy decided to ask her if she'd noticed Caleb doing this new trick. The following is what transpired.**

Mommy: Hey, have you noticed Caleb doing this new thing where he spins around in a circle.

Geby: Oh yeah, funny story… You know, I do my exercise video in front of the kids and I think they picked up some of the moves.

Mommy: (thinking - exercise videos??)

Geby: At first, Caleb, he just swings his arms side-to-side for warm up, but then one day he started turning in a circle! He likes that move. Matthew's favorite is the squat up and down, up and down move.

I think it’s cute. Those boys are so funny! It's amazing how qucikly they learn and pick things up.



Yep, really. So...now that we know the source of the spinning it’s clear to us why he only seems to do it when there’s music on. He’s dancing!! Poor Caleb, he’s never going to be cool with this as his signature dance move; and Matthew, we apologize for criticizing your dance moves before.
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* Yes, all of these people are related to us. So? It still counts!

** We LOVE Geby by the way.  Caleb loves her too. She’s the greatest.

Hercules! Hercules!*

With school starting up again we thought we'd post a picture of Caleb carrying his books in his penguin backpack. Actually, the bag is really full of his toys that we do-not-leave-home-without. Penguin comes with us everywhere, in case we need distractions / reinforcements / something that makes a loud noise and will momentarily hold his attention. The bag comes out a lot at restaurants....

Anywoo, we try to encourage Caleb to carry his own stuff whenever possible to free mommy and daddy up to hold other things (diaper bag, car seat, stroller, jacket, food, bottles, etc). It may sound a little harsh to make him carry his stuff, but honestly, kid = TON OF CRAP!** Not to worry though, the boy is freakishly strong so he can handle it. We're not sure if it's the homemade baby food or the breast feeding that made him this way; maybe he just takes after his father, but our mini-Hercules (Hurc for short) is one strong little dude. Just yesterday he picked up mom's 2lb weight (one-handed) and walked across the room 'pumping' it up and down. True story!!
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* To be said while clapping and talking like the mom in The Nutty Professor movie. C'mon, it's fun!

** This not only applies to Caleb's 'crap' that we lug around, but Caleb's other crap as well.

The Caleb Matthew Band

Move over Dave Matthews Band...there's a new band coming to get ya...

For a while mommy and daddy were convinced Cae was destined to be one of the great basketball phenoms (refer to basketball highlights for proof). However, after seeing this "video shoot" of Caleb and his little friend, Matthew, at the nanny's house we are starting to see more music in Caleb's future.

Cae rocks the drums while Matthew busts-a-move! Caleb seems fairly comfortable on the drums but his song could use a little work! Matthew could definitely use a few more dance lessons.

We especially love how Caleb looks back to see if Matthew is still feeling the beat before he continues with his solo, and how he just throws down the drumstick once he realizes Matthew stopped dancing. He's like, "Peace, we're out of here". This may just be funny enough to submit to America's Funniest Home Video!