Oh Springtime!!

Well it is officially spring here in the Midwest and we (mainly Caleb) are loving it! He has been outside at least once every day, usually all morning, and then a walk after his afternoon nap. His first words when he wakes up are "bye-bye?" -- his word for outside:)

Really doesn't take much to keep this kid entertained outside -- just a broom thank you very much.  He drags the broom all around the neighborhood...wonder what our neighbors think...and is very thorough with his "sweeping".

Really he likes to just RUN. Maya loves to have a running partner, although she gets a little too excited and knocks Caleb down alot. He just says "uh oh" and moves on.

As evidenced by his bruised and scraped legs (pretty sure this is how his knees will look all summer), he does not mind falling down at all. However, for some reason he doesn't think he can get up on his own when outside? He falls on his face, doesn't cry, folds his hands in front of him and says "eh-mee" (help me) very calmly until we go pick him up.

So cute.

We introduced Caleb to the wonders of the neighborhood park this spring and he is totally addicted. The problem is, he is by FAR the youngest kid on the playground, which was really built for much older kids...and he has no idea. I'm pretty sure he thinks he is at LEAST 5 or 6 -- and he tells the other kids so.

He has to be friends with everyone, so he runs all over the playground (with Garrett or I running behind him grasping the back of his shirt...he is also sure that if he jumps OFF the playground platform several feet off the ground, nothing scary at all with happen) finding other kids to "talk" to. He runs up to them, insistantly babbling in jibberish with a giant smile on his face. The other kids usually smile hesitantly and run or back away...

Caleb does love to play with his friends -- his most frequent playmates being Kherington

and Nora

FYI there is a giant bin of toys on that deck and the two of them spent most of the morning painting...with water. This is why if I ever ever buy toys they are from a yard sale!

Caleb was sick for the very first time in his short little life a couple weeks ago:( We feel extremely blessed that he has been so very healthy, but for this paranoid PICU mom, it was a long week or so

(yes, I listened to his lungs enough that he now knows how to work a stethescope...this is the life of a child with a nurse-mommmy!)

...he got a little bit of croup and his cough kept him from sleeping well at night or from napping. Finally, he fell asleep while Grandma rocked him to one of our old kids music cassette tapes!

In other news, the reason we were in Upland while Caleb was sick was that my brother Andrew got engaged!

We are so excited for Caleb (and Emma:) to gain another Aunt -- Keren White! Unfortunately (for us), they will be moving to Connecticut after they are married on September 21st for at least a few years for Andrew to finish his Masters. However, we are praying that they will be moving back to the Indy (aka the Promised Land;) as SOON as he is done!

And now, just a few more pictures:)

Oh the emotional trauma of accidentally dumping your best friend out of the wagon!

Caleb can now (most of the time) eat with a fork! Its great because he hasn't yet figured out how to take food OFF the fork except to eat it...so if he's not eating enough veggies, I just spear some on his fork, and he HAS to eat them if he wants to stab anything else...I know this is short-lived, but I'll take it for now!

We have officially entered the stage of "pretend" -- his favorite "pretend" is to cook "soup", which he does nearly every night while I make real dinner. Caleb carefully picks out spices/herbs, puts them in my stockpot, and stirs and stirs. He always offers me at least one bite, then "tastes" it himself and says "mmm". Tonight, apparently, we are having nutmeg and cummin soup with red and pink sprinkles.  Should be good. ;)