November 2013

Leaves, leaves, and more leaves this month!  I love the colors of the fall leaves.  I know we live in California, and it is nothing compared to some parts of the country, but every year I am reminded again of how amazing our Creator is, and how beautiful it is when our trees' leaves change to deep reds and oranges. These pictures don't do it justice.. The boys loved running around in the backyard before daddy blew down all these leaves.  They were thick, dry, and no worries of messing up someone's tidy leaf pile so they had a grand time.

This pile was an exception - the neat pile had already been ruined by a big truck driving through it, so I let them have at it.

It's a lemon year!  Our orange and lemon trees alternate years with one always producing far more fruit than the other.  I love it when its a lemon year.  :)

Yardwork and leaf collection day - Though Jimmy was able to lace these tight enough for them to stay on Caleb's legs, he could hardly lift his feet they were so heavy for him!

We have neighbors on our block with a beautiful garden and a huge Koi Fish pond in their backyard, and every now and then the boys will go back and look at the fish.  This day Caleb was enjoying finding the fish Barbara pointed out and named for him, and he told me all about it when we left.  Jack and Barbara are in a club for Koi owners and they know a lot about them so its interesting for Caleb when they share things and he can see the fish in the water.

Caleb is playing with something called 'Kinetic Sand' - coolest stuff ever.  It looks like real sand, but it doesn't stick to you, it moves in a really cool way (almost like its alive...), and can be molded and shaped without being damp like real sand.  Its super cool.  A great winter activity inside of a metal casserole dish to contain the sand!

Loved this one of our nephew, Beau!  Go Giants!

Clapping out a beat for the boys as they play their 'instruments'

On a night when I was out to dinner with my girlfriends, Jimmy decided to have some fun with the boys and set up our four-man tent in the living room. The boys loved playing in it, but after Jimmy carried out all their bedding and mattresses, too, they decided they weren't so into sleeping in it.

Landon is working on getting the hang of his balance bike...

Landon had his 2-year checkup.  Its clear he knows where his belly button (ombligo) is :)

Caleb's preschool had a Thanksgiving feast, which the kids helped prepare during school that day, rolling out balls of dough for the bread, grating potatoes for a casserole, and making place mats with something they are thankful for.  Caleb's says he is thankful for "Going to Landon's Birthday Party."  When I asked him why he was happy he got to go to the party, he said "because there was cake."  

Side note:  In general I feel like Caleb has more of Jimmy's features than mine, but is it just my perception or does he look a lot like me here??)

David, Dana, Deacon, and Delanie were in town for the Thanksgiving weekend so we enjoyed lots of time hanging out with them, loving on sweet Lanie (she's filled out so much since we last saw her in August!), and watching how much fun the boys had all playing together.  Looking forward to seeing the rest of the fam at Christmas. :)

Caleb took a moment to try to love on Delanie a little.  He's a busy 3-yr-old who doesn't usually take time to talk to the little ones as much, so it was cute to see him checking her out. 

You can see a cute little smile behind that paci...

Had lots of fun having Deacon, Aunt Dana and Delanie, and Nonni join us at the WOW Science Museum.  It was Deacon's first time and he was so excited he didn't know where to go first.  :)

Sometimes we forget how musical my Grandpa Howard is because we don't often hear him playing, but he can play the accordion, the harmonica, and the piano.  On Thanksgiving the kids got the old harmonicas out and grandpa played a few songs for them.  It was so fun to listen to him play, and Deacon was fascinated watching him.  Afterwards, grandpa, Caleb, and Deacon all played at the same time. :)
<Video below, or click here >

Happy Thanksgiving!!  We are so thankful for our family, even when they wiggle and won't sit still long enough to even get ONE good shot! :)

"I'm Thankful For..."

In an attempt to get Caleb thinking more about others and wanting to contribute more to our prayers, I've asked him to start either choosing one person to pray for each night or one thing he is thankful for.  This is the first thing he came up with:  "Umm, my door."  Me:  "Your door?  Why is it that you're thankful for your door?" Caleb: "I'm thankful that I have a door.  Good start Caleb.  Wouldn't have thought of that one, but that's what makes it special. :)

Here are a few of his recent "thankfullness" statements...

Pray for Papa and Nonni and Gio and Bella and Mommy and Daddy and Landon and Nana Gigi and Grandma Keathley and my yogurt that I eat.

Caleb's favorite part of today, and what he says he says he is thankful for, was playing on the bed with Deacon.  (The cousins are at a fun age where they can play with each other a lot more now and its so fun to watch).

Me: Who should we pray for tonight Caleb?  C: Ummmmmmmm (thinks a while), the sky.

(As we look at the stars reflected from the Twilight Turtle) Caleb says at prayer time he is thankful for "the stars and the moon and the shooting stars."  He also said the prayer giving thanks for these things tonight, too, which he is usually hesitant to do. :)  A few minutes later he added that he is "thankful that he has a home."

Love that sometimes kids help us to remember to be thankful for the little things like just having a door!

Bits and Pieces about Caleb

It has been a while since I've recorded Caleb's likes, habits, and funny little quirks.  Here are some of his recent happenings...

Caleb is doing a lot more singing and reciting things that he hears lately.  He can just about say the whole Lord's Prayer, which we do at bedtime each night.  We've gotten to the point where I say the first word if he is stuck, and he finishes the sentences.  He even corrected me one night when I said it slightly differently.

He also sings some song he knows (or maybe has made up...) of "The Lord is Good" over and over, or other days its combined with the Flag Salute, which they are learning at preschool.  This was the most recent one I overheard him saying:  "The Lord is Good, the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, liberty and justice for all.  Now, today we are going to have snack first.  Potty and wash."

Since I have been teaching some preschool Spanish classes on the side it has resparked Caleb's interest in Spanish.  We listen to my Spanish class cd in the car often, and his favorite song has been 'Saco una manito', a cute song about hiding your hands behind your back, taking one out at a time, making it dance, closing it, opening it, and hiding it behind you again.  He has down most of the lyrics of the first part:  "Saco la manito la hago bailar, la cierro, la abro, la vuelvo a guardar." 

Along with his singing is also coming more dancing.  This is "The Caleb Dance," as daddy has dubbed it <Video below or click here>

Many days Caleb will insist on sleeping in his 'running hat'.  He loves that hat. This day he also insisted on sleeping on the floor of his room.  And now that the weather is getting colder he has started wearing his 49ers beanie during naptime instead.

Other days (most days) when he sleeps in his bed he will sometimes call it his 'kayak' (something daddy started I think?) and his asks us occasionally to sleep in his kayak with him.  I don't do it very often because I definitely don't want to start a habit of it, but every now and then Jimmy or I will lay there with him until he falls asleep.  I try to remind myself that this is something we will look back on fondly when he is older. :)

This past few weeks he is getting into playing make-believe games - his favorite of which is playing "bomberos" (fire fighters).  We were at the park and he was running around with his boots on one day...  He said "I have to put my gear on! (as he pretends to get dressed), then "mommy put your gear on!  Put your phone down! (as I'm trying to take a video of his imaginative play)".  The video I thought I was taking turns out to not have been recording :(

Loves playing with his buddy, "Jake man", as he likes to call him.

Loving riding his bike...

Realized today that he can correctly identify twenty letters of the alphabet!  Still needing help with r, w, y, k, n, and q.

As I said each letter for his name he found them and we spelled his name together:

Says he likes "meat", but not chicken (referring to red meat, which he calls 'brown' meat).  Not very into veggies right now.  Still doesn't like potatoes in any form except for fries - not mashed, not red potatoes in stew, not sugary sweet potato pie on Thanksgiving even!  Has never been crazy about tortillas, which are such a versatile food from a mom's perspective, but I have started calling quesadillas "Mexican Pizzas" and he loves it.  Funny the games you have to play sometimes.

Caleb is getting sillier all the time...

Part of his silliness includes swapping out letters in words to make new words and silly sounding names for things.  He thinks he is pretty hilarious.  I like hearing him experiment with language and rhyming.

Jimmy called him a white "Urkel" when he saw this picture.  Totally made it up himself when I told him to pose for a picture with his new boots on.  Cracked me up.

Landon is 2 years old!

Landon is TWO!  What a joy he is with his silly personality, he makes us laugh every day with his wiggles, dance moves, and silly faces.  

Just started saying his own name as "Nan-Nan."

At his appointment today he weighed in at 33 lbs (93%), was 36 3/4 in. tall (95%).

He is getting very good at singing Happy Birthday (from a few friends' recent parties we went to...), and just in time.

On Halloween, Landon quickly learned how to say "Trick or Treat" when he went up to a house.

When he wants us to play or read, or wants to show us something, he says "Come, Come," and waves us toward him with a downward facing hand.

Sometimes at bedtime he says "Byyyyye!" as we leave the room.  

He has learned his first color: BLUE.  I was holding something blue in my hand the other day and he walked up, pointed, and said, "Bwoo".   My guess is he learned this one from Caleb, whose favorite color is undoubtedly blue, since Caleb asks for the blue _____ (spoon, plate, bowl, socks, etc) all the time.

We have been listening to a cd of Spanish kids songs in the car that I use for my Spanish classes.  One of the boys' favorite songs is an Alphabet march song, to which I sign the letters as we sing.  Landon loves to try to say some of the letters, especially "L" (ele) and "LL" (ay-yay) as he waves his hand around with fingers up like an L.

Starting to learn his numbers.  When I count, after saying 'one' he will say 'two' and 'three'.  He has also done this a couple of times in spanish, me saying 'uno' and he says 'dos, tres'. 

Until a week ago, Landon refused to drink milk from a sippy cup, straw cup or any other cup, cold or hot, except his bottle.  Then someone gave us some of those bowls with a straw connected to them. He LOVES to drink milk through it from his cereal!  He keeps saying "Mo muk peese!" Problem solved. :)

I was gone one day and Jimmy sent me this picture.  When he went in to get Landon after his nap Landon had tucked Elmo in under his baby blanket, and put the paci in Elmo's mouth, and told Jimmy "Melmo Nite Nite" with this proud smirk on his face.  I was impressed that he did that all by himself!

Still likes to give this look, made famous on our trip to Lago Vichuquen in Chile.

Here is one example of why I call Landon my little monkey.  He was sitting on the recliner and slid down with his legs on Nana Dee (just for a moment!) as he drove his car around his lap like he was sitting in a chair!  

Loves to say 'cheese' and smile for the camera and loves to get dirty!  What two year old doesn't love that you ask?  Well, Landon enjoys it a whole lot more than Caleb!

(Notice the layer of fine white powder all over him from the Bocci Ball court....)

Having fun playing Harmonicas (Video here or below):

Finally starting to understand that this car run is only for driving cars, not for little boys to run and climb on. We are at the science museum about once a week and our most recent visit was the first time he tried driving a car on it instead of climbing up like a ramp.

Landon's preferred sleeping position:

Still loves to read, loves to cuddle, with his animals, his blankie, and with us :)