We made it TWO YEARS!!!!

Today my baby boy is no longer a baby. Caleb has taken the big step from the singular to the plural. He is two years old!

It is amazing how much he has changed.

Enjoy Caleb's 2 year (24 month) picture...

We made it twenty-three months...

We JUST got home from our trip to my folks in East Texas and Caleb was fresh from his nap. This is the kind of picture that can only be obtained after a 2 hour car nap. Isn't he just too cute!?

Enjoy Caleb's 23 month picture...

Reptiles

Recently during one of our many walks around the neighborhood, my son was bitten by a small (we thought harmless) reptile. The bite didn’t overly swell and Caleb wasn’t scratching at it, so we thought it really was harmless. It wasn’t until this afternoon that we discovered there were unforeseen consequences to this run-in with the reptile.

As a result, Caleb was transformed into what can only be described as a ferocious, sugar eating, trick-or-treating dinosaur!!!!







Thankfully, the sugar high and the side effects to the reptile bite are temporary. Maybe he will be back to normal in the morning.

Caleb LOVED the candy. If you look closely at where Caleb is looking in the following picture, it is not at his mommy taking the picture but at the bowl of candy.


Below is a picture of the cutest family in the entire universe...


Earlier in the day, our little family carved a pumpkin and Caleb really wanted to help. We took too many pictures to post individually, but I’ve made a little slide show for your enjoyment.

We made it twenty-two months...

This milestone picture was one of the hardest pictures to get. Caleb was NOT in the mood to get his picture made, so he and I took turns taking pictures. I would take a picture of him, then he would take a picture of me, I would take a picture of him, then he would take a picture of me...I think you get the idea. We took 44 pictures like this.

I've posted, what I think, is the best picture for your enjoyment.

Enjoy Caleb's 22 month picture...

We made it twenty-one months...

My baby boy is finally getting the hang of this monthly picture thing. After the torture of last months picture, I was sort of dreading this months milestone. When he saw the bear and blanket on the chair, he ran and jumped up in the chair like he knew what he was doing!

Enjoy Caleb's 21 month picture...

First Trip to the Emergency Room

Well...it is official...we are horrible parents. Today we took Caleb for his first trip to the Emergency Room (ER).

We were leaving the restaurant after having a lovely Sunday lunch and the unthinkable happened. An out of control car came speeding through the parking lot and was headed straight for us. It appeared to have flames shooting from underneath the hood. It all happened SO fast. It was as if the driver was hopped up on speed or something. All we could hear was the sound of the engine revving and the driver screaming at us to get out of the way. I, of course, reacted by yanking Caleb away from the oncoming car and as I did so, accidently dislocated his elbow. The car ran directly into the restaurant and exploded.

Ok…So that is NOT what happened.

What did happen is much less exciting when you read it, but it felt the same to us. We were leaving the restaurant after having a lovely Sunday lunch. However, the walk to our vehicle consisted of Allison on the right, me on the left and Caleb in the middle. As we walked, we would count, “one...two…three” and then swing Caleb between us. We were evidently not doing this enough and Caleb decided to drop and make us lift him. We think it was in this maneuver (or possibly when I lifted him up to put him on my shoulders) that dislocated his elbow (also called Nursemaid’s elbow). He immediately grabbed his wrist and “self splinted” his left arm and screamed in pain. It was the saddest thing I have ever heard.

We drove him to the ER and after only an hour waiting the doctor simply twisted his arm and said, “be careful, don’t do that again” and sent us on our way. It could have been SO much worse and SO much more traumatic, but Caleb was definitely a trouper.

Below are a few pictures of our afternoon in the ER.

Before the doctor fixed it...



After the doctor fixed it, the only side-effect was Caleb now paralyzed on his right side.


Just kidding...that is just Caleb's "cheese face".

Here is a better "after" picture...

"Animal" Labor Day Weekend

Our Holiday weekend has been relatively uneventful...uneventful except for discovering “Caleb’s” new passion. “Caleb” is now completely fixated with a line of toy animals made by Schleich.

He loves them so much that he has spent the majority of this weekend playing with his Schleich menagerie.



“Caleb” ONLY has 17 so far, but he has plans of scraping together whatever pennies he can find to complete his collection. It is almost as if “Caleb” is obsessed.

“Caleb” has gone so far as to make a notebook to keep track of his animals. He has made one page so that he and his daddy can play a matching game and on back, he has fun facts about the animals.




After “Caleb” made his book, he thought that wouldn’t be sufficient to keep track of his animals. Therefore, “Caleb” created a database to keep track of when and where he bought his animals.


In an attempt to curb his obsession, Caleb’s mother forbade him from getting anymore (for the time being). When she was at work on Sunday, “Caleb” was very concerned that his little baby elephant would not be happy until he found his mommy.

Doesn’t the baby elephant look so sad?


“Caleb” forced his daddy to take the trip to the store so that the baby elephant could be reunited with his mother (Don't tell Allison).

Doesn’t the baby elephant and Caleb look much happier in these pictures?



Since the baby elephant was so happy, Caleb was then able to enjoy playing with his animals.











The only problem arose when Neighbor Cindy and Neighbor Skeeter came over to admire his animals. Caleb did not want to share with Neighbor Cindy AT ALL! Every time Neighbor Cindy would pick up an animal he would take it from her and give the animal to Neighbor Skeeter. Neighbor Cindy must not have known how to play with the animals…


Caleb showed the neighbors the correct way to play with the animals.
He taught them how to growl…


He taught them how to attack…



He even taught them that if the baby elephant were left unguarded the lion could come and eat him.
Poor baby elephant…


Playing with the animals is hard work. That must be why it is called Labor day!?


Keep in mind that Caleb’s birthday and Christmas is coming up. There are a ton of animals that need to find a good home. We all want to keep “Caleb” happy don’t we?

We made it twenty months...

Caleb was not at all in a mood to take his milestone picture, but I will not be stopped. However, the quality of the picture goes down when Caleb's lack of cooperation goes up.

Oh well...what can one do?

Enjoy Caleb's 20 month picture...

Caleb's "New" Desk

I can remember learning to read and write on a desk very similar to the one that Papaw Travis gave Caleb this weekend. The desk needed some attention, but nothing that Stephen "The Great" Handy Man can't handle!

Below are the before and after pictures...