Caleb is saying this one word over and over again. We have yet to interpret what he’s really saying. Any guesses?

We’ve begun the introduction of fruits and veggies this weekend. Saturday and Sunday we gave him applesauce. At first, I mixed it in his cereal. I don’t think he noticed anything other than a sweeter taste. So last night, I made two bowls: in one was his usual oatmeal and in the other was plain applesauce. His reaction to the applesauce was simply hilarious.  You would think I was giving him lemons or something. By the time I got the camera out, I had mixed in a little cereal to lessen the flavor intensity for his sake. Regardless, he still made faces from every single bite.

This is a hilarious video taken when Caleb was about a month and a half old. He fell asleep on Andy  in such a way that his butt would rise up in the air when Andy breathed in deeply. I had to get it on video to show Andy what it looked like. And now you fine folks get to see it too.

This morning Caleb had his first solid meal. By “solid” I really mean breast milk with a little rice cereal sprinkled in. I don’t think he really knew what we were so excited about, but he enjoyed the attention and change of scenery. And yes, we did this with full knowledge of what horrendously foul substance awaits us in tomorrow’s diaper change.

Happy Easter!  What an awesome day this has been.  A time to reflect upon the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ, a time spent with family and friends in celebration.  We had a fun time with Caleb, as he got the opportunity to spend some quality time with the Grandparents and the Great-Grandparents, as well as his uncle and aunt.

Reflecting upon today, we might ask what was the purpose of the death of Christ?

I thought it might be edifying to go through John Piper’s “The Passion of Jesus Christ” (50 Reasons Why He Came To Die) - one post per reason, one at a time.  Perhaps this 50 days might be a time to grow in understanding of the greatest event in human history - the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Why did he suffer and die?

Appropriatly, post #1 is on Easter Sunday:

#1 - Christ Suffered and Died to Absorb the Wrath of God

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a
curse for us—for it is written,

“Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.” - Galatians 3:13

“God put [Christ] forward as a propitiation by his blood,
to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness,
because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.” - Romans 3:25

“In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us
and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” - 1 John 4:10

If God were not just, there would be no demand for his Son to
suffer and die. And if God were not loving, there would be no willingness
for his Son to suffer and die. But God is both just and loving.
Therefore his love is willing to meet the demands of his justice.
God’s law demanded, “You shall love the LORD your God with
all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might”
(Deuteronomy 6:5). But we have all loved other things more.

This is what sin is—dishonoring God by preferring other things over
him, and acting on those preferences. Therefore, the Bible says,
“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans
3:23). We glorify what we enjoy most. And it isn’t God.

Therefore sin is not small, because it is not against a small
Sovereign. The seriousness of an insult rises with the dignity of the
one insulted. The Creator of the universe is infinitely worthy of
respect and admiration and loyalty. Therefore, failure to love him
is not trivial—it is treason. It defames God and destroys human
happiness.

Since God is just, he does not sweep these crimes under the rug
of the universe. He feels a holy wrath against them. They deserve to
be punished, and he has made this clear: “For the wages of sin is
death” (Romans 6:23). “The soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4).
There is a holy curse hanging over all sin. Not to punish would
be unjust. The demeaning of God would be endorsed. A lie would
reign at the core of reality. Therefore, God says, “Cursed be everyone
who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the
Law, and do them” (Galatians 3:10; Deuteronomy 27:26).

But the love of God does not rest with the curse that hangs over
all sinful humanity. He is not content to show wrath, no matter how
holy it is. Therefore God sends his own Son to absorb his wrath and
bear the curse for all who trust him. “Christ redeemed us from the
curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13).
This is the meaning of the word “propitiation” in the text
quoted above (Romans 3:25). It refers to the removal of God’s
wrath by providing a substitute. The substitute is provided by God
himself. The substitute, Jesus Christ, does not just cancel the
wrath; he absorbs it and diverts it from us to himself. God’s wrath
is just, and it was spent, not withdrawn.

Let us not trifle with God or trivialize his love. We will never
stand in awe of being loved by God until we reckon with the seriousness
of our sin and the justice of his wrath against us. But
when, by grace, we waken to our unworthiness, then we may look
at the suffering and death of Christ and say, “In this is love, not
that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to
be the [wrath-absorbing] propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10).

The above is an excerpt from John Piper’s “The Passion of Jesus Christ” - Download the entire book free of charge here.

Okay, by now, all of you should have realized that the walking post was an April Fools Day joke - albeit, an awesome one. Apart from that, Our little guy loves to practice his walking. Here’s yet another video of his walking progress… and please excuse my fresh-out-of-bed appearance.

Andy found one of his old childhood toys in a box that was stored away in the garage. “Freckles” was a hand puppet he’s had since he was a wee one and grew up with him as one of his favorite toys. When first excavated from the box, the puppet was in rough condition and needed some eyeballs reapplied after a trip to the washing machine. But with a little love and some hot glue, Freckles has been resurrected to entertain the next generation of Holloways.

How a baby can have this deep a voice, I have no clue. It cracks me up every time he talks.

Here’s Andy and Caleb jamming out before bath time.

Here is one of our dear friends meeting Caleb for the first time. You can always count on Eric to make an entertaining video.

This Golden Oldie takes place the day after Caleb’s debut. Andy’s grandparents came to visit the little guy for the first time in the hospital (which would make them his great grandparents). Andy’s mom and sister were also hanging out with us. You can hear Andy say something to Grandpa about the Cardinals game that was playing in the background (at that point they were doing pretty bad). I must have been on some kind of pain medication based on the dumb look I have on my face.

This Golden Oldie was taken the same night as the previous one. A little background: when Toby was a puppy, I was a Dog Whisperer fanatic. Whenever I watched the show, Toby would be engrossed with the dogs on the TV. Whenever I said “look at the puppy” he would go to the TV, wagging his tail, looking for the dogs. It was cute - at the time. But over the course of a few months, our dog began to get increasingly excited when he saw dogs on TV. Now, we can’t even watch the Dog Whisperer anymore and have to cover his eyes when a dog appears on the TV for even a instant. If he sees one, he flips out. It’s not like he’s aggressive toward others animals in real life, I think he just feels like his territory is being encroached upon by the TV dogs.

The night we got the camera, Andy thought it would be fun to hook up the camera to the TV so Toby could see himself. This, of course, led to Toby barking at himself who, in turn, barked back.Thats me egging him on in the background. It was hilarious watching him rile himself up; it made for great television.

I’ve realized that we have taken many videos and just left them on our camera. Instead of leaving them on there or our computer, I’m going to post one of them every now and then. Granted, they aren’t that old since we got the camera just a few months shy of Caleb’s birth but nonetheless, they sure are fun to watch.

In an attempt to stay somewhat organized, I’m going to go through them in chronological order. This Golden Oldie was taken around 30 something weeks I think. Not too interesting, just Andy trying to figure out the camera while my pregnant self tried to entertain him. The original video is much longer and much less interesting, filled with a disobedient Toby and embarrassing remarks from myself. Only 19 seconds were worth salvaging.

Thanks to my wicked fast camera-acquiring skills, we were able to capture Caleb’s first real laugh on camera. Enjoy!

Make sure to click the HD button to enjoy this video to the fullest

After pressing play, mouse over the arrow and click “HD” to watch the video in higher quality

Our baby is two whole months. I can’t believe it. I’m already feeling that parental anxiety just seeing how fast he’s growing. As of now, he’s smiling all the time, laughing when he gets really worked up, and “talking” so much, as seen in the video above. He’s also holding his head up really well and can easily turn his head from side to side when he’s upright. He’s sleeping great at night but has his good and bad days concerning naps. He’s such a happy and interactive baby. He’s apparently got a lot to say because he’ll talk the ears off whoever’s listening when he gets going. Currently, he loves being held and has kind of become a “mama’s boy” in a sense. Probably because he’s with me 24/7. When he’s tired, he gets really clingy to the point where he’ll throw a fit if I set him down. There is lots of rocking and singing to sleep during the day, which I don’t mind at all. I know for a fact that when he’s older and can’t be held anymore, these days will become cherished memories. I want to create as many as I can.

Caleb had his two month check-up today. He’s weighing in at 12 pounds 4 ounces and is 23 inches long; right in the middle percentile. He had to get his first round of vaccinations. Of course he screamed and cried. I felt even worse because he was really hungry and tired as well. Needless to say, he didn’t even finish eating afterward and fell asleep the minute he was placed in his carseat. I’m expecting some really good naps from him today.

Every milestone, from the first time he looked at us, to the first laugh, has been such a reward. It’s a tireing job to care for someone every waking (and sleeping) minute. But the fruits of our labor far outshine the sacrifice. We get to experience the learning and development of this little person. It’s so crazy to think when we brought him home in December, he couldn’t even make sense of the world around him. Now he enjoys our company and finds humor in our facial expressions. He knows what he likes and dislikes and will tell us when he’s content and when he needs something. I am simply amazed how a child can evolve and adapt to this point in just two months. I greatly look foward to watching him grow in the months to come.

Here are his “formal” two month pictures in his favorite chair: