We’re at the wonderful stage where Caleb discovers a new word everyday. He still talks in his own language most of the time, but his english is getting a little more coherent.
He’s also at the stage where Daddy is his superhero. This child hangs on every word, expression, and movement that comes from his father. He imitates everything he does, and if Andy makes any sign that he’s displeased, Caleb bursts into tears. As soon as Daddy steps in the door, Caleb is off showing him what he did that day. Recently he’s been very good at going “poo poo in the potty”. More times than not he’s gone. At first I’ve had to catch him mid-push and rush him to the bathroom, but now he’s coming to tell me he needs to go. His reward? A call to Daddy to exclaim his great accomplishment. This child LOVES his daddy. So this video seems fitting to show just how much they both adore eachother.
Caleb also got a Guitar of his own the other day. He loves strumming away at it. Since I don’t show many pictures on here (I just horde them all on Facebook) Here are a few of him and his new “gah-gah”:
I’m a part of a playgroup here in the Valley. It’s a wonderful opportunity to meet other moms and to form friendships among our kids. Since we joined about a year ago, Caleb has thrived. He loves all of the great activities and has already made a few little friends. I honestly don’t know what I would do without this great group of people… probably just be really bored all the time… and I pretty much go crazy when I’m bored….not a good thing….
But I digress.
With the help of my friend Brad the Fireman, I set up a tour with one of the Peoria fire stations for a playdate. Even though Caleb is a little too young to fully grasp the awesomeness that is a fire engine, he still had a blast. And the older kids loved romping in and out of the three enormous fire trucks. I also think the staff at the firehouse had just as much fun as the kids. Who does’t like to show off their 1.5 million dollar toys?
One of those big expensive toys.
All of the mommies and their kiddies. (btw, this is about 1/10th of the whole playgroup)
The staff and the kiddies. Caleb is in the upper left being held by Brad.
Me and a tired little boy who refused to wear the cool fireman hat.
Driving the firetruck!
On another note, I finally broke down and bought a little point and shoot camera. Caleb’s childhood just wouldn’t be the same without the slew of average quality pictures. So be prepared for a lot more flashy, amateur shots, because I am never taking this baby off of auto.
This morning, Caleb and I went with our friends Nikki and James to the Children’s Museum of Phoenix. It’s a three story museum located in a renovated school right in the middle of Downtown. It was amazing and full of creative exhibits. What’s even neater is that everything used to create this place was derived from recycled materials. Definitely worth a look for all you local folks. I thought about bringing my beast of a camera but decided against it knowing that if it was stolen, I would have a bunch of unhappy clients for the next few weeks. So I opted for my trusty iPhone instead.
And here’s a cute video of Caleb pushing his little buddy James around in a cart.
It’s actually been a few weeks since it was painted, but here’s a picture of our new paint job! I was dead set against anything brown or tan as living in AZ, you see enough of it. My desperate plea for a splash of color was granted. Now we have a fresh new blue house. I am so happy!
Now we just need some greenery in our red rock yard….
After three months of sawdust, noise and plastic tarps, we’ve finally reached a goal. The interior is finished! Mostly, anyways. there are a few minor items like doorknobs and paint touch-ups, but it feels so good to finally remove the child\doggy barricades and let everyone roam free in our fresh new family room and office. We’ve spent the entire day in the family room and it has been awesome. It came out exactly how I wanted it: bright and roomy. Now Caleb can pull out every one of his toys and still have room to run around without tripping over anything. We pulled out the hardly-used chaise from our bedroom and put it in the corner for a cozy reading nook. The huge closet does a wonderful job storing everything we could possibly need. Here are a few before and afters for some good shock value:
Before, nasty messy garage:
After, sweet tranquility:
Before, a plain old garage door:
After, gorgeous archway:
Before, cramped and cluttered:
After, nice and spacious:
There’s plenty of space to spin around…:
…and lounge around:
Andy’s picked out the perfect colors for his new office:
And Caleb has more storage room than he could ever need:
The next step that will hopefully happen within a few days is the exterior painting. We let our Facebook friends vote for their favorite color and most of them chose the riskier option (hurrah!). We will probably be the first blue stucco house ever… and I thoroughly intend to start a trend. No more tan houses!!
Since we’ve had a lot of projects around the house with the remodeling going on, We’ve gained a little blonde-headed shadow that often imitates whatever we do. Here are a couple of videos showing his busy big-boy activities.
I did the math. It’s been 140 days since I last posted. That’s a long long time. I guess I’ve kind of left all of the family updating to Bri, since she’s the one with the camera and the long days of Caleb’s curiosity and cuteness. This year has definitely felt like another adjustment. I’m still dealing with a number of health issues that are leaving me feeling hard pressed but making it through. Lately I’ve been dealing with pretty painful tendinitis in my right knee, a result of repetitive 45 minute drives to work and winless flag football teams. Health issues aside, we’ve migrated from our “old” company to a brand new “company” at work. We’ve been developing Facebook games for over 6 months now as Broken Bulb Game Studios, and having a lot of success so far. New office, new co-workers, and a new overall environment.
It’s also been a financial adjustment since we sold off good-ol MagMyPic. I’m thrilled to be relieved of the stress of that side project, but losing half your income means prioritizing the things you really need and learning how to budget properly all over again. It’s easy to feel more responsible with your money when things are going well. It’s another thing when you have to tighten up, and are out of practice a bit. God has been faithful no matter the circumstance, sustaining us physically but more importantly bestowing the grace of endurance through the physical trials and parenting trials, stress and such.
I’ve been teaching the Jr. High class at Desert Hills again lately, and we’re proceeding through a scriptural look inside Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan. I’ve been alternating teaching weeks as I ease back into some of the responsibilities I used to have there. Learning to manage stress and in turn my stomach problems has helped let me add a few more things back in, and I feel edified by the new endeavors. We’re also completing our home remodel, so we are eager to let the stress of a thousand hammers and nails give way to a little more breathing room this summer. I’ll have my office on the other side of the house, so I won’t have to tiptoe at night anymore, and we have room to grow in this home (not saying we are just yet…don’t get ahead of yourself!)
Those that check in with us, I ask you to be in prayer for me to learn better ways to manage stress at work and home, prioritizing what’s important and loosing my grip on what isn’t. It can be hard, but the light and momentary troubles are more than worth it, and I am thankful for the place God has us right now.
To state the obvious, our lives have turned into a frenzied disarray. Dozens of people hammer away at various parts of the house throughout the day, everything is coated in a fine layer of sawdust, and we have a gaping hole in our living room wall. It’s chaotic right now, but the changes are very exciting. Here are some pictures I took this evening right before the sun went down.
The huge hole that will soon be an archway into the new room:
What is soon to be the new living room. That creepy dark doorway will be Andy’s new office/man cave:
The view from the new living room into the house:
Our new enormous new patio roof. It will be insulated and finished with a ceiling fan when all is said and done. The ply board wall on the left is the office addition:
And the view from the backyard. The room on the right is the office addition sans windows
I am amazed how one day, I have a meek little baby toddling around and the next, an independent, self-thinking small child manipulating the world around him.
Caleb has learned how to test the disciplinary waters with me. For example, He loves to color, and sometimes paper is not enough. But he knows that he can only color on the paper I give him. Sometimes, when he’s feeling ambitious, he’ll look at me, lift the paper up, and look at me again, crayon frozen centimeters away from the bare table. I will say, in my stern mommy voice, “no, we color on paper only”. And just like that, he replaces the paper and resumes coloring, with a big smile on his face like he did me a favor. Seconds later, the same scenario starts again. I think he likes to be sure where his boundaries lie; almost like it gives him a sense of comfort.
Another area he’s discovering is helping. It started a few months ago when I was unloading the dishwasher. He was under my feet trying to get to the silverware, when I handed him some tupperware and told him to take it to his play cubbard. To my surprise, he toddled right over to the cubbard, opened it, threw the tupperware inside, closed the door, toddled back over to me and waited for his next assignment. From that moment, he has been the most willing little helper. He finds some way to help me for every chore. Laundry: he helps sort the whites from the darks and puts the clothes into the dryer. Vacuuming and mopping: he loves to “steer”. Emptying the trash: he shakes out the new bag and stuffs it in the trashcan. Dusting: he gets his own dust rag and goes over the spots I miss. He puts away his toys and books before bed, and takes out/puts away his clothes. He loves turning off lights for me, watering my herb garden, throwing trash (and some non-trash items) away, opening doors, and finding missing toys. He even took a spoon from his snack he just finished, and put it back into the silverware drawer without me asking (not the best place to go, but he got the idea). I’m actually enjoying the extra help. He really does a descent job and is quite entertaining to watch. I can actually distract him from potential temper tantrums just by asking, “do you want to help Mommy?” Works like a charm.
Yesterday, I noticed for the first time that Caleb was bored. Immediately upon this observation, all of the following happend within the next 5 seconds:
1) I had an epiphany that my little baby was now a busy, curious toddler.
2) A wave of parental guilt/panic washed over me.
3) My mind raced with fears that my lack of educational activities from the past few weeks have been hindering his blossoming potential.
4) I got on Amazon.com and rush-ordered the thickest, most comprehensive, unabridged toddler activity book I could find.
5) The rational part of my brain finally kicked in and I calmed down.
I bought some finger paints a couple of weeks ago, but I’ve been too reluctant to use them because of the insane amount of mess they cause. However, today I was determined to plant some sort of educational seed in this 15 month old’s mind. So I stripped the boy down to his diaper, flattened out a grocery bag for a placemat, prepared a half of a roll of paper towels for imminent spills, splashes and smears, and let him at it. I would say it was a success. He got a kick out of the colorful slime and, by the end of it, he could even point to each color when I asked him.
Educational toddler lesson accomplished. My overactive parental instinct has been appeased… at least for now.
All of the mommies and their kiddies. (btw, this is about 1/10th of the whole playgroup)
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