He likes sharing his cheerios and germs.

Exactly one year ago, we met this little guy for the first time. That same little baby  has blossomed into a playful, spirited little man who is constantly winning the hearts of everyone he meets.

Yesterday was his birthday party and everyone who has been a part of his life came to celebrate his first year. There were lots of cake, piles of gifts, and about half of the graduating class of 2027. At the beginning, Caleb loved greeting his friends at the door (especially little Jason and Jersey girl). But then as the day wore on, he busied himself by defending his toys from baby invaders and watching the grown-ups play ping pong and basketball. He was kind of a grouch toward the end but this was due to a new birthday molar coming in (we didn’t find this out until today).

He loved opening his gifts (well, mostly just playing in the gift wrap):

The cake smash took a little getting used to:

He even showed off his new walking tricks:

I would defintely say the party was a fun success. By the end, Caleb was tuckered out and thankful for bed. This morning, we had our own little family birthday party and opened a his gifts from Mama and Dada.

Many people have asked Andy and me what it feels like to have a one year old. I don’t really know how to reply to that. I think Andy put it best: It feels like forever since I’ve been pregnant, but just yesterday since Caleb was born. This year has been full of  anticipation, miracles, utter exhaustion, smiles, little giggles, terror-filled hospital visits, sweet moments, exciting milestones, learning curves, baby boogies, and furry friends. I couldn’t have imagined when I was in the hospital about to deliver this little miracle, that my life would be full of so much joy, that Andy would come home and immediately run to his little boy and give him a big hug, that family gatherings would now consist of everyone in a circle around the living room watching two cousins play on the floor, or that my heart could even contain all of these emotions all at once. I don’t know what I did in my life to deserve such a wonderful little person. This is just a taste of God’s magnificent grace.

Happy birthday Caleb. You are a much-loved little boy.

I didn’t think we’d be able to see Santa this year. I wasn’t going within 50 feet of those atrocious, germ-infested lines at the mall. But fortunately, Andy’s mom had a Christmas party at her school where Mr. Kringle paid a visit. When we got to the party, Caleb wanted nothing to do with any non-famly member. Any stranger got the evil eye right away. Visions of a screaming, petrified child in santa’s lap were forming in my mind. I don’t know why, but I was so nervous to put him in that bearded man’s lap. I really didn’t want a scene. But I swallowed my apprehension and handed my wide-eyed son over to Santa.

At first, he stared at this man intently, I’m sure, looking for some sort of human under all that hair.

“He has a present, so he can’t be all that bad.”

Then, something amazing happend:

Santa got Caleb’s seal of approval!

Looks like this little boy is on Santa’s good list this year.

Here are a few other’s with cousin Kaiden, who wasn’t as fond of Santa

Afterwards, Caleb hung around the set trying to get Santa’s attention. He was really taken with him. All my worrying was in vain. Let’s hope next year is the same.

Photography by Chris Kwant, a very talented local wedding photographer.

On the way home from church on Sunday, Caleb fell asleep in his car seat. I can count on one hand the amount of times he’s fallen asleep outside of his crib or our arms so each time is a momentous occasion. In this instance, we noticed he drifted off with some toy keys dangling from his bottom lip. We had to take a video of it because it was so darn funny.

For the past week, Caleb has discovered all of his toys have a specific purpose. Before this epiphany, He would play with his sorting shapes by dropping them over the playpen and shake his stacking rings just to hear their noises. One day I heard him whining in the living room, obviously frustrated with something. I looked over and saw him trying to stack the rings but couldn’t place them right. I went over to show him how they stacked and how they came off. He was enthralled and immediately followed my pattern. A few minutes later, I heard him whining again. This time he wanted to screw on the lid to his wooden blocks. He has probably seen me do this before and wanted to do it on his own. I showed him, he copied., I went back to work. Then again, a few minutes later, more frustrated whines. He was trying to put his sorting shapes in the designated slots. I probably spent a good hour or two showing him how all of his toys were meant to work. Now he stacks his rings instead of shaking them, and puts the shapes in their own slots all by himself. It’s amazing how quickly he learns new skills when he puts his mind to it.

Of course I have to include a picture of my little puzzle-solver:

Here’s a video that’s a few weeks old. I think it’s so funny that I’m putting it up now regardless. Don’t mind the paint cans and clutter. We were in the midst of redecorating the living room:

I have to be honest, this month really snuck up on me. And on top of that, as soon as I realized today was Caleb’s 11 month birthday, I realized his 1 year birthday was less than a month away. Begin panic mode.

I have a ton of ideas for his first birthday party, I just don’t have enough time to see them all through. I was able to create and order his birthday invitations, so that’s one check off my list. I’m also going to be working on a few other secret ideas this month.

Okay, now on to Caleb. He’s currently recovering from an odd virus that flared up on Saturday. He had a fever of around 101 from Saturday night to Tuesday night but no other symptoms. I really didn’t even know he was sick until Sunday afternoon. Up until then I just thought he was hot and kept taking off his clothes and wondering why he wasn’t cooling down (bad Mommy!). Then on Wednesday, a strange rash broke out on his chest and back. The doctor had a look at it today and said that it was just a result of the virus and will clear up on it’s own.

Caleb’s on the verge of walking. He does the classic “walk a few steps to Daddy/Mommy” bit like a pro and can stand pretty steadily by himself. But he’s kind of a chicken when it comes to actually walking more than three or four steps. If he’s walking towards me, he’ll take a couple of steps then lunge the rest of the way where I have to catch him or he’ll do a face plant into the carpet. I’m pretty sure once he musters up enough courage though, he’ll be walking all over the place.

He’s pretty much completely on table foods. He’s a little fruit bat just like his Mom. He loves any and all kinds of fruits. I even gave him an unripe kiwi once (you know how sour those can be) and he downed it without a pucker. Other foods he likes are cheese sticks, multi-grain Cheerios, avocados, peas and Boca Burgers.

His vocabulary is steadily growing. He now says the word “dada” to only Dada. He wont say it all day long but once Andy comes home, That’s all he says. It’s cute. He can’t quite make the “Mmm” sound yet so my name is currently “Bava”. He also likes to whisper to his stuffed animals. He has this little dog that I’ll animate. When the dog talkes to him, he’ll put his head down and make this tiny little voice in baby talk to it. He’s also become a bashful little guy. Often in the supermarket, A stranger will come up to him or the cashier will talk to him. He used to just stare at them, analyzing what they do until he decides if he’ll smile or not. Now, he gives them this impish grin and look away, or if I’m holding him, bury his head into my shoulder.

Anyways, I’ve written more than a month’s worth of Caleb-isms so I’ll leave you with this charming picture:

Caleb took his first steps on Saturday. He took one or two wobbly ones that morning, then three good solid ones at his Grandma and Grandpa’s house that afternoon. Finally, he decided to impress everyone and took three good ones at a family birthday party. I think he was just showing off by that point.

I’ve been meaning to post this for a while now. Things have been super busy over here with getting the photography business set up and Andy has more than his fair share of side projects at the moment. This is Caleb’s new “thing” he likes to do. Not sure why or what he’s doing, but it’s hilarious. Oh, and at the end you can hear him going “bababa” I’m pretty sure that’s his version of “mama”. He just can’t get the “m” sound down. Enjoy:

A few days ago, the temperature outside plummeted overnight from boiling to “ahhhh”. Before it crept back up to boiling again,  Caleb and I went to the park for a fun photoshoot.

I finally had enough motivation to paint the bathroom when I ordered my first prints for the house. Here they are displayed in our “new” bathroom.

And here’s the other side of the bathroom, complete with toilet-drumming baby:

It’s so cute that I made him do it six times:

I took the first picture of Toby a few days ago and thought a picture of caleb would go great with it. I’m getting these printed for the bathroom

I can’t believe we only have two more months until our little man is a one year old.

This past month, Caleb has attempted to climb everything in the house. Once he figured out he could pull up to standing on most surfaces, he wanted to take it one step further and become a monkey. Every morning, when Andy is at the dining room table eating breakfast, Caleb will crawl over, reach up as far as he can and grab the edge of the table, and attempt to hoist himself up. He’s even come close to hanging by his fingertips. He loves opening cabinets and swinging doors, and still loves playing with Toby. He’s becoming more of a cuddle bug every day and loves giving big open-mouthed juicy kisses:

Caleb has gone from knocking down block towers to building them. He’s gone from receiving hugs to giving them whenever we hold him; from laughing at silly noises to making his own just to see if we laugh; from watching us throw the ball around to playing catch with us. I am forever amazed how much he changes from day to day… and I’m so proud of him.

I wanted to share this clip from the book The Pilgrim’s Progress. This four minutes is an incredibly powerful exchange between “Christian” and a man whom he finds in an iron cage of despair and misery. It speaks of one who once was an no longer is. The bewilderment of “Christian” by the man’s condition, a man whose heart is entirely hardened in rejection of the living God for the sake of the fleshly lusts of this world. It gripped me as I have begun to pour through the book again. Without question The Pilgrim’s Progress is one of my favorite books ever. If anyone wants a copy, let me know! John Bunyan is an amazing author. Check out the clip below:

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For those that haven’t read it or heard of it, Pilgrim’s progress is a Christian allegory written by John Bunyan way back in 1678…has never been out of print and is one of the most heralded pieces of literature in history.