What's New

Why? Why? Why?
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. :)