Michelle's Fandango Bucks

Thanks to some Fandago bucks that Michelle got from one of her medical conferences, we were able to take Caleb to the movies (for only $2 for all three of us after the fandago bucks were applied) and I think that it was a success.....in that we got to stay and watch the entire film. :) He got a little distracted about halfway through but he made it. The chairs were a distraction for him....and spilling popcorn all over the floor. The drink was almost bigger than he was!

I'm excited because we have the $1.50 theatres that shows movies that are already on DVDs and they often run kids movies for a long time....so now, when Daddy's at work, we can go to the movies for $3!!

Building the Raised Flower Bed

We got our raised flower bed built this past weekend!!! Without the help of Stan & Kristen, we would never have been able to do this!! The plan it to have this bed be a learning tool for Caleb. We've already planted some squash, cucumber and bush beans in the garden. (I'll take some more photos later) and Caleb had a hand in holding the nails and was diligently giving them out one by one.

We found this great place to get 'cheap' compost mixed dirt and now that we know a truckload costs about $20, I have many more projects in mind (not so sure if Jay knows this yet or not ;) )...

Caleb also helped me put some seed down in our existing bed....we've just dropped the seeds down for some forget-me-nots, marigolds, poppies and some sunflowers....hopefully we won't have another cold spell. If so, we'll just have to put even more seeds down. The lawn is just coming out of dormancy. We'll just have to pray for rain this summer season.

Update on the Giftwars

This past weekend was one of the first where Caleb was able to actually 'drive' his truck (part of the giftwars between Toon & Michelle since she bought him his first tricycle, he decided to one up her and got her this truck). He doesn't know how to steer it or put it into reverse yet but he can step on the gas and we just have the wheels turned so that he goes around in a big circle around the yard. Aren't kids spoiled nowadays?

By the way, Michelle....Toon's already plotting for the next birthday so that he can 'win' in giftwars....

Another GF?

While we at Dana's party, Caleb was sitting in this little toddler camp chair playing with his toy and our other neighbor's daughter just toddled over there on her cute unsteady but firm steps and plunked herself down right next to Caleb.

He took a quick look at her as if to say "whoa!....ok....you're cool" and they continued to sit there together for quite awhile.

Quietly Eating Cake

We were at our neighbor Dana's birthday and as they were handing out cupcakes, I noticed that Caleb had already gotten one from somebody. He had seated himself on the little step ladder and proceeded to dive into this cupcake....not once making eye contact with me and not even cracking a smile....he was so intent on devouring this cupcake before I could tell him no...

And of course I wouldn't have told him no anyways....

Enjoying a Warm Day

One day last week it was unseasonably warm so we sat outside and we have been excitedly starting to work on our garden. We have planted two evergreen type shrubs and two butterfly bushes which the nursery says are drought tolerant and easy to grow. Caleb has a ball playing in the dirt.

In that first picture, Caleb always tells on Max if he sees the kitty trying to sneak outside.

http://www.maniacworld.com/frozen-in-grand-central-station.html

I thought this was really cool....check out the link above if you have a minute. It's a prank where they have 200 people freeze (in time) in the middle of Grand Central Station for 5 minutes...

Elmo....again

Like I had mentioned before, as soon as Caleb gets home he wants his Elmo and/or his sesame street tape (which we let him watch one time through before he goes and takes a bath and eats his dinner)....well, I caught him and Elmo inside one of his toy bins filled with blocks and mega legos watching his tape and just thought it was so funny. What is it about small spaces that attracts little kids?

Has anybody else noticed this Elmo pattern? Seems like Elmo shoes up in every picture! He's also got an Ernie and a Big Bird but there's something about Elmo that he just loves.

Shanghai Circus

Caleb, Kristen and I all went to the Shanghai Circus last weekend and the performers there were amazing! Caleb loved it and whenever people were clapping, he'd look around and then start excitedly clapping himself. We got to take a picture with one of the performers and Caleb had the little drum thing that we bought signed by another performer.

I am SOOOO excited that he's gotten old enough to get excited about doing stuff like this. Our next outing will probably be the Universoul circus that the walnut creek amphitheatre.

Caleb and Zachary

We went to visit Zachary last week and we can't believe how big he is! Also....he's a very very GOOD baby! He's got such a nice sweet spirit about him and he just seems as content and happy as can be....which is very probably a direct reflection on the parenting skills of Heather and Brandon.

Pretty soon, Caleb will be wearing Zachary's hand me downs!

More Pictures at the Park

Here are some more pictures of Caleb at the park.

Caleb & Elmo on the Swings

Caleb takes his Elmo everywhere we go now. The first thing he says when he gets home is "Elmo?" which I take to mean either "Where's my Elmo?" or "Why isn't my Elmo tape playing?"

We purchased this particular Elmo at the kids exchange at the State Fair grounds in January and they've been inseparable ever since.

Gung Hei Fat Choi

Happy Chinese New Year to everybody! Gung Hei Fat Choi!!! May the coming year bless us all with lots of luck, laughter, joy and prosperity.

We're going to splurge and pick up some Chinese food on the way home from work and have our little New Year's celebration at home tonight.

River

We went to the park last weekend (just Caleb and me since Daddy was at work) and we found this river that Caleb just loved to sit and stare at. I think that this may become our new favourite place to be. We're thinking of hitting it again this weekend if it's not too cold. I took LOTS of pics here but I haven't had a chance to load them yet so I'll post them at a later date..

Caleb had a ball looking at everything, playing on the huge playground but I really think that the river was his favourite part.....or maybe it was just MY favourite part.

We're working on being able to take him camping later on this year when it warms up. NC's such a beautiful place and we really haven't explored it much. Now that Caleb is older (and Daddy's had a few years to forget the army field days), they are much more amendable to camping outdoors and having a chance to get Caleb really see the stars. Neither of us camped as a family when we were young. I had Girl Guides camp for a week every year....I really think that camping would be fun as a family. So....we need what?....some sleeping bags, a tent....and a ton of bug spray right?

Toon and Team Sports

Here are some pictures taken with Uncle Toon on Caleb's birthday. Since the running joke between him and Earnest is that Earnest isn't really much of a team player when it comes to sports (preferring running and swimming over football and basketball), Toon has decided that he'll try to remedy that for Caleb.

I on the other hand also wasn't much of a team sports player although I wish I was. My sister was and look how she turned out! ;) My 'sports' of choice were ballet, ice-skating, swimming....and, during high school/college, Tae Kwon Do....Not sure that cheerleading counted much as a team sport for me but that was as close as I got. I didn't do volleyball, basketball, running (ick), soccer, field hockey or even ultimate frisbee (which I kind of liked but never fully understood what exactly was going on other than throwing the frisbee around).

Hopefully Caleb will take his cues from both us AND the Godfather (Toon) & Godmother (my sister) and have a happy combination of team sports and solitary sports. Not sure if I'm ready to do the soccer mom thing but it would be SOOOO cute to see Caleb play on a team of some kind a few years from now. We shall see.

Caleb Talking....How Are You?

Favourite Foods

Caleb has gotten so good with speaking. Everyday I can see him learning and repeating a few words here and there. He makes us laugh every day and is starting to imitate anything he sees on TV that catches his interest. His favourite things are still anything to do with Sesame Street. Since he's been scratching up the DVDs, we have hauled out our VHS player and got him a dozen or so VHS tapes from a thrift store and he happily yanks them in and out and knows how to turn it on and then press play.

Potty training and come seemingly to a standstill. He still loves to flush the toilet whenever we let him and will sit on the potty before his bath but we still have not seen any 'action' apart from the first day we got the potty which was almost 3 months ago. We bought the Elmo goes Potty DVD and it's the only Sesame Street thing that doesn't hold his interest.

He's still very much a 'Daddy's Boy' which means that whenever Daddy's home I could disappear for hours without him noticing. If Daddy were to close the door for a few minutes, there would be the inevitable howling of Caleb right outside the door begging Daddy to "open door!!"....

He's still very much the cuddler and loves to jump around and he still LOVES his milk. Slowly, (very slowly), he's been eating a bit more here and there and has definately started examining the approaching bowl or forkful very carefully before deciding whether it meets the Caleb standard and allows it into his mouth. After the first bite, if he doesn't like it, there's no way of coercing him to open his mouth again. If he DOES like it, he'll whine if we pretend to take it away. Favourite foods (still) include: white rice, canned peaches & pears, macaroni and cheese (only certain brands), oatmeal (sometimes), and pound cake. Yogurt, grapes and fresh sliced apples occasionly make the hit list as well as peanut butter sandwiches, graham crackers and surprisingly my chicken & shrimp jambalaya.....oh....and sometimes some plain boiled (home-made) wontons that have been cut up into bite size peices.

Monster Truck Jam

We went to Monster Truck Jam at the RBC center this past weekend with Nicki and her kids and Tina and her family. Caleb was mesmerized by all the trucks and could hardly tear his eyes away long enough for us to get a picture.

I'm excited because it means that he's finally old enough to go to things like this!

Welcome Baby Wyatt

Here's some pics from our visit to the Spears family. Wyatt is a beautiful new addition to their family and I feel very lucky to have been able to be there to meet him!

For more pics (and I mean many many more), see the link to Sandy & Justin's website.