Monday, March 30, 2009
What's New
The inevitable has happened. Caleb has discovered the question, "Why?" He loves it. Here's a typical conversation:
Caleb: Where's Daddy?
Me: He's in the kitchen. (Which is 10 feet away and Caleb can actually SEE Rudy in there.)
Caleb: Why?
Me: Because he's getting the chicken ready to grill.
Caleb: Why?
Me: Because that's what we're having for dinner.
Caleb: Why?
Me: Because.
Caleb: Why, Mama?
Me: Oooh, look! Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is on. (Gotta' love that ol' distraction trick!)
Caleb: Why?
Yesterday, Rudy decided to turn the tables. I can't remember what the conversation was about, but here is the trick Rudy tried (unsuccessfully) to pull:
Caleb: Daddy, let's play.
Rudy: Why?
Caleb: Because let's play. (complete with a look of exasperation)
You can't outsmart a 2 year old in a battle of the whys. They have the resolve to withstand anything you throw at them and will probably throw a big fat WHY back at you.
Front Seat Driver
Pops is to blame for this one. Over spring break, he let Caleb sit in his lap and "drive" the car from one spot in the driveway to another. Now, Caleb thinks he can sit in my lap while I drive. I've almost got him convinced that it's not going to happen, but he's still asking. Thanks, Pops.
So Tall
Caleb's growing pains continue and it's easy to see why. The kid is growing like a weed (despite his steady diet of fruit snacks, pudding, yogurt, easy mac, hot dogs and chicken nuggets). He has gotten so tall and is getting so much thinner. I took him to Stride Rite on Friday to get his feet measured because he's been complaining about his feet hurting again. Sure enough, he's moved up yet another shoe size. Of course, he has to have wide shoes, so Stride Rite is the only thing that fits. Lucky for me, they were having a BOGO sale! Lucky for Caleb, those new shoes are SUPER-FAST!!!!
Racing Day
Caleb loves the Backyardigans. His new favorite episode is Race Around the World. In the show, the characters say, "I'm gonna win this race!" Caleb has taken that phrase to a whole new level. We can get him to do almost anything by telling him we're gonna win the race. He takes off like a shot to do whatever it is before we win. This applies to toothbrushing, going to the bathroom, going to bed, changing clothes, etc. You name it, he is GOING TO WIN THAT RACE! We're milking it for all it's worth because we know it won't work for long...
Sleep Troubles
Before spring break, Caleb was doing a pretty good job of sleeping in his bed all by himself. The camping trip followed by almost a week in Hot Springs blew that out of the water. When we're at Mom's and Mr.L's, he is scared to sleep by himself b/c the beds are all big and he's in a different place. He slept with Rudy during the camping trip, with Mom the first night in Hot Springs and with me when I got there. Now, we're home and he's still not sleeping by himself. Most nights he has gone to bed by himself, but wakes up crying about shadows or being scared and ends up with either Rudy or me in the guest bed. Last night, I thought we were in luck. He went to bed all by himself. He went to sleep immediately. Just as I laid my head on my pillow at 9:50, he started screaming. This was cry that broke my heart. He was in pain. His legs were hurting so bad that he couldn't stand up. When I went in to find out what was wrong, he had kicked all of his blankets onto the floor and was sobbing. Rudy and I finally figured out what the problem was, gave him some medicine and...put him in the guest bed to sleep with me. Now we're in for a week of intermittent thunderstorms. I'm guessing this pattern will be continuing for a while.
And on another note...
75 days until we leave for our Florida vacation with Pops and LaLa! Not that I'm counting. :)
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Spring Break '09
I spent the week working day and night. Friday brought my much-needed spring break! Stacy came over and we scrapbooked until after midnight. I slept in on Saturday and then Rudy came home around 2:30. We decided to take advantage of our kid-free status and went to dinner and a movie. Wow!
I got up on Sunday and packed my bags for Hot Springs. Rudy stayed here and went back to work this week. It has really been complicated and unfortunate that we had different spring breaks this year. Hopefully, that won't happen again.
By the time I got to Hot Springs, I was beside myself to see my CalebBug! He was just as excited to see me, which was good. I would've been disappointed if I hadn't been greeted with a big grin and a hug. :) Sunday was low-key. Mr. L. came home from camping on Monday and Caleb fell right into step with him. Those two are so funny together. Caleb is absolutely Mr. L's shadow. While they took a short nap, Mom and I went to Belk to get out of the house. We didn't find much of anything, but enjoyed getting out. We also had to make a semi-emergency run to Walgreen's because I realized that I had forgotten my entire makeup bag. Oops! Believe me...nobody wanted me going around without makeup all week. No way! Becca, Jimmy and Maddox got to HS on Monday, so we went over to Aunt Harolyn's to see them. Caleb and Maddox became buddies all over again! They played with cars and blew bubbles and made Jimmy a nervous wreck trying to keep them from falling into the pool.
On Tuesday, I got my hair cut and colored by the same person who used to do my hair in jr. high and high school. I completely trust her and needed her help to fix the mess that was made about a month ago. Kim did a great job and I'm feeling much better about my hair these days. When I got home from the salon, it was go time for the family cookout. All of the Hot Springs family came over for burgers and entertainment by the 2 year old boys. And, boy, did they get their money's worth. Caleb showed out from the very beginning - screaming and running around like I've never seen him do before. Maddox warmed up after a while and put on a show as well. By the time it was all done, they were throwing themselves on the floor while the whole family sat around and watched them. Becca and I just sat there in amazement that our boys were behaving like clowns. We were also hoping they would wear each other out so they would get a good night's sleep! Before they were born and when they were babies, we all talked about how much fun it would be to have two little boys running around at family get-togethers. Well, the time has come...and it was fun. Crazy, but fun! As soon as everyone left, Caleb told us that he was ready for bed and tried to crawl into Mom and Mr.L's bed with his clothes on. He was exhausted!
On Wednesday, Mom and I took Caleb over to Pepapa and Anna Joyce's. He stayed with them while we went shopping. They took him to lunch at McDonald's and played with him at their house until we got back. (Thanks, Pepapa and Anna Joyce!) Mom treated me to some new spring clothes and lunch. We had a good girls' day!
Last night, we ordered dinner in and enjoyed just being home together. Caleb was sitting in his booster seat at the bar, eating his mac & cheese. I noticed that he was dropping a lot of it, but figured he just wasn't paying attention. Then I noticed that he was literally falling asleep while he was eating his dinner. He was dropping food because he was falling asleep. He finally said, "I all done. I get down now?" Mom got him out of his chair and put him in Mr.L's lap in the recliner. He was sound asleep within minutes. Mom changed him into a pull-up and we tried to put him to bed, but he got really upset. He wanted to sleep with me, so I put him in my bed and never heard another peep out of him until he woke up from a bad dream at midnight. He slept from 6:00 last night until 6:00 this morning. Spring break is exhausting! I don't think he's taken a nap more than 45 minutes since last Tuesday at school and maybe only one or two naps at the most. The boy is worn out!
This morning, Mom, Caleb and I met Becca, Maddox and Harolyn at Little Bitty City for a playdate before Caleb and I left for home. "The Boys" had a great time playing with blocks, "exercising," playing with cars and trucks and bringing us play food to enjoy. They had a great time and Caleb asked if Maddox could come home with us.
After playtime and lunch, I packed my car to the max and Caleb and I headed for home. Caleb was my shadow the whole time. He kept asking if he could go in my car. I promised him I wasn't leaving without him, but I'm not sure he believed me. Even though we had an awesome time in HS, we were so glad to see our house. I got the car unloaded and unpacked our many many many bags. Caleb and Rudy were ecstatic to see each other after being apart for 5 days. When Caleb heard the garage door go up, he went running and yelling, "Daddy! My Daddy!" I was pretty glad to see his Daddy too. With all of the running we've been doing, we've seen each other one day out of the past nine.
We're now home for the duration of the break. We may have some bad weather this weekend - even snow?!? Rudy may go to Springfield to see Summit's guard and drumline. That depends on the weather. Caleb and I aren't going. We've had enough time in the car and enough time away from home for a while.
One last photo that I can't resist posting. How great is this?
And my favorite Spring Break Calebisms:
LaLa: Did it snow at your house?
Caleb: Yeah. I nearly froze to death.
And this morning, I woke up to the revelation that my child is learning to count in Spanish. I assume he's learned this at school, because I habla Espanol muy poquito. (I have no idea if I spelled that right!)
LaLa: Uno, dos, tres
Caleb: CINCO!
LaLa: How many are there?
Caleb: Uno, toast, cinco!
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Home Alone
Mine is in Ft. Smith. That's right - my house is empty except for me. It is ridiculously quiet. The boys left this morning for their Spring Break '09 adventure! They went to Ft. Smith/Spiro today and they are off to fish with Pops tomorrow. When I talked to Rudy tonight, Caleb was too busy playing to say hi to me. I understand - but by tomorrow that little stinker better be ready to at least tell me goodnight. I've gotten so much work done tonight. I wrote all of my progress notes in one night. I've never been able to do that before. Now I just have to enter the data in SEAS, print 'em out and send 'em home. That sounds easy enough, but who's betting I'm sitting right here in this chair again tomorrow night?
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Fibro Flare-up, Crawfish and Rudy Meets John Daly
To make matters even worse, my optometrist told me that the shape of my eyes has changed and I may not be able to wear my beloved night & day contacts anymore. He is making me wear daily contacts only until I go back to see him on Tuesday. He only gave me 5 pairs of contacts and told me to wear my glasses as much as possible. He's trying to see if my eyes will "bounce back" to normal. I hate these contacts and I super-hate my glasses. (Yes, I just made up a word.) I wore the contacts to work on Thursday and Friday and by the time I got home, I was ready to scratch my eyes out. Then I had to make the choice between bad and worse: glasses or contacts. I went with glasses - just because I could take them off and rub my eyes from time to time. Today, I had to wear my glasses all day so that I'll have enough contacts to get me through until I go back on Tuesday. I can promise you that I will beg, steal, grovel, cry and/or wail if it means I get to keep my night & day contacts.
Jan came to our house yesterday (Saturday) to play with Caleb so that Rudy and I could have a date night. We met our friends Jeremy and Lauren at Cafe Rue Orleans. Rudy, Jeremy and I devoured 7 pounds of crawfish and all admitted that we could've eaten more. I was disappointed that there weren't any potatoes or corn in the boil, but took full advantage of the fact that there were mudbugs in their absence. Oh, there's nothing better than a big platter of crawfish! We were planning to go to a movie after we ate, but ended up coming home earlier than planned. We couldn't find a movie that we wanted to see that would get us home before midnight. That is just too far past my bedtime.
This morning, Rudy got up early and met Chad in Dardanelle to play golf. I got a text message from him this afternoon saying that he was on his way home and he had met John Daly. He was so excited to get to meet a professional golfer...even one with the reputation of Big John. Rudy went in the pro shop and bought a copy of his book and got his autograph. And on top of that, he was pleased with how he played, considering that he hadn't swung a club since November. He's playing again on Tuesday. He's taking full advantage of his spring break this week.
My spring break isn't until next week, so I'll be keeping my normal routine. Things around here will be pretty quiet starting on Wednesday, though. Rudy and Caleb are going to Ft. Smith on Wednesday, then heading down to Hot Springs on Thursday to camp and fish with Mr. L. Rudy's coming back here on Saturday and leaving Caleb for an overnight stay with LaLa and Pops. I'm headed down there Sunday to spend the majority of my spring break. I'll be itching to see my Caleb-Bug after being away from him for 4 days!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
A Week of Calebisms
Last night, Caleb and Rudy were wrestling and tickling. Rudy told Caleb he was going to "eat his cheeks" which is where he pretends that he is gobbling on Caleb's face - a game that usually brings lots and lots of laughter. Caleb got serious all of a sudden and said, "No, Daddy. We don't eat people."
On Tuesday, it was warm. On Wednesday, we got out of the car to go into Caleb's school and it was in the 30's. Caleb looked at me so earnestly and said, "Mama, where'd the warm go? It in timeout?"
This week is "pet week" in Caleb's class. Last night at dinner:
Caleb: Why we can't have a doggy at our home?"
Rudy and I looked at each other for a long time, thinking OH, NO!
Haley: Because we don't have one.
Caleb: Okay.
And we continued eating dinner until a few minutes later...
Caleb: We gonna' go to the dinosaur store and pick out a baby dinosaur?
Haley: Nope.
Caleb: Okay.
I know it won't always be that easy, but I'll take it for now.
Last night, I was putting Caleb to bed. We were sitting on the floor in his room, snuggling and singing songs:
Haley: It's time to say your prayer.
Caleb: I do it all by myself. (We hear this 100 times a day!)
Haley: Okay.
Caleb jumps into his bed and closes his eyes so tight. He sits there for a few seconds without saying anything.
Haley: Now...
Caleb: Now I know my ABC's. Amen. Yeah!!!
Haley: Not quite. Now I lay...
Caleb: Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. Amen. Yeah!!!
Haley: Let's say it together this time. (and we did...)
Now, here's the strangest one of all. Rudy and I had a conversation a couple of weeks ago about the timing for having our second child. That got us thinking, so we were trying to go to sleep one night and bouncing names around to see what we liked. The next morning, Caleb told me he played with his sister the night before. I didn't even know he knew the word "sister." I guess he had a dream about it??? He has used the word a couple more times since then. Last night, he said, "My baby sister came to my house." Through a convoluted conversation, we figured out he was trying to say "babysitter" not "baby sister." However...tonight, he was playing with my old cell phone and kept asking me to call people. We went through a few people before we got to this exchange:
Caleb: You talk to my sister?
Haley: You don't have a sister.
Caleb: Yes I do. You talk to her.
Haley: What's her name?
Caleb: Fella. (This is what he calls his friend Bella.)
He then proceeded to "talk" to her on the phone...about what I was doing. Then he said, "Her not want to talk to me." Sounds like a sister to me! Later, he did the same thing with Rudy, except he decided he didn't want to talk to her and he hung up on her. Does Caleb know something we don't know???
Saturday, March 7, 2009
A Little Boy's Almost-Perfect Saturday
Caleb got his first fishing pole today. Rudy took him to "the huntin' store" to pick it out in preparation for their fishing trip with Pops in a couple of weeks. Caleb chose the one with Lightning McQueen on it...and it lights up - just like the pros, right?
Rudy also took a short video...
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Just Testing You
Monday, March 2, 2009
The Last Half of February
Sunday, March 1, 2009
A Weekend Calebism
Haley: Daddy's watch.
Caleb: Oh, that makes sense.
That child never ceases to amaze me.
I promise to write a "real" blog entry soon. It's been a while since I've had the time and energy at the same time. :)