Mickey Mouse and Minnie

Although this is technically Caleb's second Halloween, it was the first one that he was somewhat aware of what was going on around him.  This year Caleb went as Mickey Mouse (a character he is familiar with from watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse in the mornings) and his cousin Tessa was Minnie.  The kids looked so cute, even if Caleb's hat (ears) were only on his head maybe a total of 1 minute during the entire evening.  Aunt Aly found some really cute crocheted mouse ear beanies on Etsy that we ordered for Caleb, Tessa, and Baby W #2 (He got to join the dress up festivities, too!... Look at my belly...)

First stop was Nonni and Papa's house where Nana Gigi joined us to see the grandkids all dressed up...

Second stop was Tameem and Deanna Mardini's for a little Halloween gathering.  We didn't get any pictures there on our camera, but they live in a neighborhood with lots of young families and kids, so there were flocks of Trick-or-Treaters roaming around and coming to the door all evening.  Jimmy took Caleb out to check out the action, and he had SO much fun chasing around the costumed kids, running on lawns, laughing when other kids laughed, and walking up to people's doors with some of the groups of kids.  He came back into their house so wound up that you would think he had eaten a whole bag full candy (though he had none).  I think he will sleep well tonight...

Ironman Kona

Many of you have heard that Jimmy's brother Joey recently competed in the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii a few weekends ago.  He was fortunate to be selected to participate through the lottery, which only accepts 200 applicants from all over the world.  This is something that people often try for their whole competitive careers and sometimes never get chosen, so Joey felt that there was definitely a reason that he was meant to be there (known only to the Big Guy upstairs...!).  After 6 months of training and probably the longest day of his life, he was able to complete the 2.4 mile ocean swim, 112 bike,  26.2 mile run (a full marathon) in 14 hours and 3 minutes.

I have to share the ridiculous story of how the day of the competition began for Jimmy and I.  I had planned to wake up at 4:15 to give me time to shower and get ready to leave the house at 5 (we had a 40 minute drive into Kona where the race started and Joey had to be there with time to spare for the 7am start).  So I set the alarm on my cell phone, and Jimmy set his for 4:30.  When my alarm went off, I got out of bed, showered and got completely ready to leave.  In the meantime I woke Jimmy (thinking 'why didn't his alarm go off to wake him??') and he, too, got ready then headed upstairs to meet everyone else.  When he got there he looked at the clock and saw that it was actually now 2 AM, not 5am like we thought it was.  I had made the mistake of setting my phone alarm to 4:15am California time, not Hawaii time, which is three hours behind CA!  We both hopped back into bed to try and get a bit more sleep but didn't get much before the real wake up time had come.  Made a very long day unnecessarily longer! :S

Jimmy and I were lucky enough to go to Kona to support him (and get in a mini 'babymoon' before number two arrives), along with his wife Aly, baby Tessa, and Aly's parents.  It was a busy few days, but we did get in a few hours at the beach and got to do a little snorkeling, too.  Big baby belly = good buoyancy!

Here are a few highlights from the weekend.  You can see a lot more of Joey's Ironman details on the Facebook page Jimmy kept during the race (more videos and pictures posted there) - search "Go Joe! Ironman" and you should find it:

The crowd trying to catch a glimpse of the swimmers at the start, around 6:30am as the sun was still coming up

Joey and Aly just before he got in the water to warm up

At the beginning of the biking, and right after he left the water from the swim

Beginning of the run.  Jimmy jogged alongside to catch some video footage and encourage his brother

The home stretch of the 26 mile run, with about 2 miles left to go.

Joey's suprise dance after he came across the finish line.  We (and the crowd) all loved it!!

"Joey Williams, YOU are an Ironman!!"

The cove that we had access to through the house we had rented

The 34 week belly :)

15 month update

Caleb hit 15 months on October 8.  Here are some of the things he is up to these days:

- 15 mo. appointment stats:  Height: 33 inches (96%), Weight: 27lbs 14 oz (88%), Head: 51cm (120%!!)
- The walking quickly turned to running, and one of Caleb's favorite things to do right now is be chased.  He loves stop to look back and see if you are coming to get him, and the more anticipation the better...  Most of the chasing occurs in laps around the loop of our kitchen and living room
- He shocked Jimmy and I the other night when he pointed at the green beans I was making for dinner and said 'green bean' (or bean bean... not sure which because I didn't see his lips moving, but it totally sounded correct).  I don't think I had even mentioned the name of what I was making, but apparently he remembered from previous meals.  This was his first time using more than one word.
- Still LOVES bananas, blueberries, and raviolis (his little baby ones)
- Getting much better at using a spoon and actually getting the food in his mouth.
- In the past 3 weeks has started to be very interested in books.  I'm so glad, because until then, he would never sit still long enough for me to show him any.  Now he goes and finds books and brings them over for us to look at with him.  His favorites are the colors book that has tons of things to look at on each page (he points, we say what things are), and the book on trucks.
- Has started to become more interested in TV.  In the mornings he will walk up to it and point, asking me to turn it on so he can watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.
- Will point to my belly when asked where mommy's baby is, and lifts bottom part of my shirts to try and look at it.  Will also kiss my belly when I tell him to give baby kisses.
- As we come around the corner onto our street, Caleb points to the left hand side of our street at the end if I ask him where our house is
- Is getting interested in baseball and football as Jimmy watches games with him and explains the throwing and hitting parts.  When he sees a game on he'll move his arm like a throwing motion and grunt  to get our attention to see what he is doing.

Lots on the outside, but at least some on the inside!

Playing and wrestling on papa and nonni's bed

Playing football with the guys at our front yard tailgate party (its hard to catch a good shot of a moving baby!!)

Running around at daddy's softball game

See how his arm looks like he just finished doing a throwing motion?

Wrestling with daddy

Bananas!!!

Aren't my slippers cute??