By way of an update...

Ok, so an update:

Caleb is getting bigger, faster, and even more interactive and adorable every day. He learned to climb a couple months ago, and its now the favorite pastime.

While I used to be paranoid that he would fall, and I would always rush into the living room as soon as he started climbing the couch...he is so good at it now, and he has fallen enough times that we really dont worry about it...such is life with a boy!

 Garrett and I made bets about how old he would be when we make our first trip to get stitches.

Caleb is SO busy that he literally never sits still. He doesn't know the meaning of walking -- he RUNS everywhere! Once I found out that I was going to be taking him to frequent OB appointments, I decided he needed to learn to sit still for at least a short period of time. So we instituted "blanket time". Its a concept I read from a book awhile ago, and I decided to give it a shot. We lay out a blanket, put a few toys and books on it, set a timer (usually about 10-15 min), and he has to stay on the blanket until the timer goes off. He LOVES it.

Anytime we are anywhere and there is a blanket spread out (usually meant for an infant), Caleb walks right into the middle and grins up at me -- SO cute. I was surprised actually at how easy it was for him,
considering how much the kid likes to move!

We also took our first trip to both the Zoo and the Children's Museum! We are yearly members -- Christmas gifts from the Lowe grandparents!:)

Both trips were super fun, and we plan to go alot this year!

Caleb also had his first snow experience:

he LOVED it. He got stuck like this everytime he tried to bend down:

But even so, I think he would have stayed out there all day! He still refuses to wear any shoes except his boots around the house...which would be fine except I got them at clearance from Target because they
are NEXT years size. So he falls down alot, but they are very fun for stomping.

Lastly, we are now offically "encumbered".

I PROMISE, this purchase was 100% Garrett's idea. We learned from the church nursery that he spends most of the 3 hours there on the slide, so Garrett decided he should have one. I found this one on Craigslist for $20 and it is now Calebs favorite piece of furniture. The weekend we bought it he quite literally did nothing else. Most of his toys have taken at least one trip down the slide. Its like a rite of passage for all his stuffed animals. He also loves to build block towers, put them at the bottom of the slide, and giggles like mad as he slides down to knock them to pieces. He is such a boy:)

Well, thats our update for now -- I promise I will try to be more consistent...I'm just starting to feel a little  nauseous, and a little less tired!

Looong Overdue...

Ok SORRY it has been so very long!! I promise I have good reason! Life just gets crazier as the Bubs gets faster and more adept and climbing...and the laptop is his most favorite thing EVER to try and grab...which means that I can only blog or do anything on the computer when he is asleep...and lately all I want to do when he sleeps is sleep myself! There is a good reason for that though, as you know, we are expecting baby #2 in August!

We are super excited about "Skittle" as we have named him/her until we have a name...Caleb is too, he just doesnt know it yet:) SO, by way of a quick update, here are some LONG overdue pics of the
sweet Bubs' First Birthday party!

Here is our adorable birthday boy with Aunt Megan:

His onsie was my Christmas present from Garrett haha. It was rediculously expensive on Etsy, but I kept looking at it, so he finally said to just get it already!

We decided to go as simple as possible with the food, since after we counted we realized that at our "small family party" we were going to be serving 17 people! So we served all of Caleb's favs, which are simple;) Mom made some incredible baked Mac N Cheese, which Caleb ate a super-human amount of, and then we had mixed veggies, sandwich makings, and a fruit plate.

And the cake. was. incredible. My wonderful Grandma, who has made very cool shaped cakes for my brothers and I all our lives, came through with this awesome creation:

It matched his onsie -- how cute is that?! AND she was smart to use carrot cake. This was the first time EVER that Caleb had any kind of dessert, and he was all about the carrot cake, while I'm not sure what
he would have thought about chocolate...plus we did want him to nap at some point.

As far as other decorations, I just put out his baby book (GREAT motivation to make sure I got it finished!), a photo album, and I made a banner of all of the monthly pictures I'd taken with his little ties -- very simple.

Caleb made out like a bandit with gifts, too. He already had been sent a yearly Indianapolis Zoo pass (YAY!!) by Grandma and Grandpa Lowe, who couldnt be there:(


He also got a basketball hoop...not sure who enjoys this more though -- Caleb or Daddy...

A ride-on dump truck from Grandma and Grandpa Biehl

A super cool boat from his submarine-designing Uncle Andrew

And a hilarious Korean hat from Uncle Justin and Aunt Megan

It was such a great day...so wonderful to see all these people who
love our son in the same room -- we just felt so blessed!

ONE YEAR!!

As I am writing this...at exactly this time last year (7:13pm) we heard the first cry of our
sweet new baby boy, Caleb James Lowe. He came into the world
screaming, which, because he was meconium positive, made us both cry
in relief right away.

 I remember thinking that the whole thing wasn't real until that
moment and I could not believe he was really HERE!

Garrett couldn't stand waiting til they brought him over, so he went
to meet Caleb himself -- and when he came back to me he just kept
saying "He's so CUTE!" I know he's biased, but all the nurses kept
saying it too, and since he "baptized" them all thouroughly as soon as
he came out, I know they weren't biased!

 

From the moment he was born, our precious boy was sooo loved...he was
even famous all the way in Washington -- his name was on the reader board at Groccery Outlet the night he was born!

Everyone told us that we wouldn't know just how much we could love a
child until he was born and wow were they right. I remember him waking
us up in the middle of the night, and Garrett going to go get him from
the bassinet (because of my C-section). He would just stand there a
second and look at Caleb, even in his super-tired state, and say "he's
just so CUTE!"

As much as I'm going to love this Christmas and the Christmases after,
as Caleb gets older and can appreciate everything more, that first
Christmas was so special. It was just the three of us and we were
soooo tired but sooo happy -- I'll never forget it.

 

Well, I totally wouldn't have believed it, but 12 months later Caleb
is that much cuter, and we love him that much more! The more of his
adorable, precotious, hilarious, sweet, curious personality comes out,
the more we love him!

 

 

Garrett calls him a pinball, because he just bounces off
everything...the couch, the floor, the dog...and just keeps running!
Exhausing, but so so much fun! He laughs constantly, cries almost
never, eats constantly, sleeps almost never (during the day). He wakes
up smiling and giving hugs, spends the say bouncing around the house
smiling, laughing, eating, playing peek a boo and "all fall down",
eating, chasing the dog, climbing, talking in his own personal
language, eating, and painting himself with his food. After an
exhausting (or at least you would think so) day, he falls asleep
smiling with his thumb in his mouth. Seriously, could we ask for a
more precious, sweet boy?!?

 

To clarify, we are certain he has a sin nature, because he does
occasionally throw the tiny temper tantrum, or keep on and ON trying
to climb in the fireplace or on the Christmas tree even after multiple
"no-nos" and hand spanks. But, always at the end of these episodes, he
cries and gives hugs....and it is a little hard not to laugh.

 

 

Well, I can't believe its been a year -- its gone SO fast, and yet I
don't really remember life before the Bubster. Seriously, it must have
been REALLY boring. We are having a small birthday party on Saturday,
so more pictures to come, but for now, heres a sweet face:

 

Never understood this passage completely until Caleb:
"I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are
Your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from
you when I was being made in secret, intricately woven together in the
depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book
were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them." -- Ps. 139

11 Months!!

Well...sorry this post is so late -- I think I'm in denial that Caleb is 11 months!

OK seriously what happened to the last year?! Caleb is 11 months, and as much as I hate to admit it, he is now a TODDLER. Scary word, that is. Garrett has been saying it for a few months (since he started walking) but I've been insisting that he must be walking AND be 1 yr old to be considered a toddler.

However, he was officially mobved to the OTHER side of the nursery at church last week-- the toddler side. He's actually been over there for awhile now -- the nursery workers say he cries on the other side, probably because it only has the lame, not-walking-yet toys, and the little babies who are SO not as fun. Sooo I think I need to admit that he is a toddler. He toddles. However, he does not walk any more -- he runs. He runs full-tilt through the house all day, looking for the most fun (usually meaning most off-limits) things to pull out, or down, or just bang on:

He always runs with his arms out, so he looks a little like "Franken-baby"...just kidding.

Caleb gets more and more fun every new stage! He is starting to say a few "for sure" words now. (We are pretty sure he was talking before, but didnt want to be THOSE parents). He says "Dada" and "Mama" (never on command of course), and "Do-Dee" for Doggie, and he can Moo like a cow when he sees one in his books, or growl like a tiger (umm guess who taught him that...). His very first word was "No-no" though...and it was quite hilarious. Caleb's most favorite off-limits place is the fireplace, and every time he tries to open the doors he gets a "No-no" and a spank on the hand. Usually it just takes once, but he likes to test his limits around bedtime. A couple weeks ago, he had gotten spank after spank and just kept going for the fireplace. About the 4th time, before Garrett could walk over, he looked right at him and said "No NO" and spanked his own hand! I wanted to be excited that we were sure he said his first word...but seriously?! Did that have to be the first?! Oh well, I guess that means he understands what No means!

(Getting un-stuck from inside the corner cupboard)

Caleb is also getting alot more intentionally playful, which is super fun. If we make a pile of pillows he likes to "fall" on them -- totally thinks he is hilarious. Then, if he's not getting enough attention with his stunts, he tries to stand on his head:

Yea, he did this a couple weeks ago out of the blue, and I could not stop laughing -- I mean, where did he learn that?! I couldn't get a great picture, but he looks at me from upside down and just laughs and laughs! He is just a nut -- he spends the day tearing around the house with one toy or another just talking and laughing to himself. Meals are even more fun:

He also learned to "throw" (more like drop) a ball the other day, and both he and Maya are very proud of that accomplishment.

Caleb also had his first Thanksgiving, and though he didn't do great with the Illinois time-change, he was definately the cutest member at the table:)

Oh, and he voted this month:

Well, we sure are enjoying our little boy. He is such an incredible little person -- what a blessing and privilage it is to be entrusted with him and get to watch him grow up!

10 Months!

Well the big news this month is Caleb is WALKING!

Actually, I almost forgot to put it in this month because it happened right after he turned 9 months! He took his first steps on October 1:

and by the next week he was taking 6-7 steps on his own...

and now he's pretty much running! He rarely crawls anywhere anymore, and can get from a sitting to standing position without pulling up on something -- its crazy what a difference a month can make! Of course, walking brings up a whole new bunch of things we havent had to deal with before: like shoes. I only really thought of shoes to say "oh look how cute the tiny shoes are" ...and then Garrett would reply "Um definately don't need them...no matter how cute or tiny" -- he is dead inside. But anyway, now we DO need shoes (haha Garrett;), especially because its getting cold, and Caleb can't even walk around inside with no socks...and walking on tile with socks = slipping and falling even more than usual. But even though baby shoes are probably the most adorable thing ever invented, they are expensive, especially because of how quickly short stuff grows! Enter one of my most favorite places: consignment stores! I just went to one of our local ones "Once Upon a Child" a couple weeks ago, and scored some adorablenesses for $2.50 each!

I also found Caleb a winter coat and a "church coat" for $8 -- coats are another annoying thing to spend money on...but also very cute in miniature form:)

Caleb has also recently discovered that he is, in fact, a total ham. I knew this day was coming...being the only granchild/nephew, he has quite the adoring fan base, and I knew that as soon as he realized just how cute and funny everyone thinks he is, his tiny ego would explode out of his little bald head. Case in point: the Bubs has learned how to give hugs (we call them "loves") -- which is definately the cutest thing I have ever experienced in my life. "Loves" come with a sweet blonde head on your shoulder, a big smile, and an "ahh". The thing is, he has figured out how adorable we think this is, so, if he thinks he is not getting enough attention, he will start giving loves to anyone and anyTHING at random...the dog, the couch, the ottoman...and then looking up at us for a "awww yayyy Caleb -- so sweet!". So, to those of you in the fan club WARNING: Caleb now knows he is the cutest baby on earth...

We thought about "doing" Halloween this year, complete with an adorable costume, but I worked the 30th, and it was freeeezing, and we didnt really get around to the costume thing...however, we were at my parents the weekend before, and we watched "The Incredibles". Seriously, Caleb reminded us SO much of "Jack-Jack". Look:

 Sooo we just went with that "costume". And before you get nervous, NO we did not actually take him trick or treating in that! It was just for the purpose of Caleb's "first halloween":)

Well we are closing in on a year with our sweet boy-- simply can't believe it! He is such an amazing blessing. I am continually in awe of the little idividual he is, complete with his own (quite) unique personality!