Caleb has starting counting higher and higher! He can now count to ten! We started a fun game in the car today, and I was amazed he caught on so quickly. We take turns saying the numbers from one to ten. (I say one, he says two, I say three, he says four...etc)

Monday we met the Ansiels and Hankins at a park in Upland for some fun playtime, and then we had lunch at Maniac Mike's at the Cable Airport! So fun! Caleb LOVED watching the airplanes take off and land. He got SO excited and a tad impatient in between planes. He kept saying, "another airplane?" He also learned to distinguish between a motorcycle sound and an airplane sound. He was very infatuated with the word motorcycle all day, and had fun pointing them out on the way home.

Tuesday we played at Rosena Park for 2 hours! Caleb did great, and as there was a light crowd, he became a bit more adventurous! He even did the big slide on his own!

He's also become a fan of golf, thanks to Daddy playing a Tiger Woods Golf game on XBox. I finally found a play golf club at the Dollar store, and he adores his new toy...

Wednesday, today, we played at the park again, this time with Hailey. Then we had a Mom's Club Meeting, followed by lunch with Hailey and Carissa (and their moms, of course) at Round Table. Its so nice to spend the morning out and about, and to arrive home just in time for a long nap!

More about Caleb

Just a couple of more cute, and not so cute, things about Caleb...
* Yesterday, when I was brushing his hair as he sat on the bathroom counter, he said, "other Caleb" and pointed in the mirror. Cute!
* A few months ago he started his guitar fascination. He loves them! We had an old one in the house for awhile that he loved to play (until it got way too annoying and we hid it in the garage... but I did get him a kid one to play whenever...). When he sees one somewhere else, in a picture, or a youth group, he goes crazy... And even when he hears one on the radio, he says 'guitar'.
* Lately, with the warmer weather, we've gotten to play outside more often. He LOVES it! Especially his basketball hoop on the patio... And blowing bubbles, and riding on the bicycle with daddy! Now that he is getting older, there is just SO many fun things to do!
* With increasing age also comes increasing independence... yesterday, for the first time, he went up and down the stairs by himself, without permission. We don't allow him to do that, and so far, he'd been really good about obeying... Scary that he decided to "test" this now. It is so hard to discipline your child when they are in the "exploratory" mode, and not seemingly defiant, but it could be so dangerous!!! At what age do we let him come and go upstairs/downstairs as he pleases? I don't know...

Finally, about Aidan...

Okay, I have been feeling increasingly guilty about not blogging much about Aidan. I do love him INTENSELY and am SO thankful he's in my life... I love cuddling with him, and even just watching him sleep. However, a newborn can't really do that much... I recently read an article in a parenting magazine that affirmed my feelings, stating that an almost 2 year old is at such an exciting stage; learning so many new things, beginning to really express affection, and busily exploring the world, that its quite natural to be a little more "infatuated" with the older child if they're this age; esp. as they do demand your attention so often! I am so blessed that God has given Aidan a pretty mellow temperment so that I can continue to interact so much with Caleb. Also, I'm sure there will come stages where the tide shifts.
Anyway... just wanted to journal about how much fun it is now that Aidan is starting to smile more and make cute happy noises! Nothing can melt my heart more! Or his daddy's heart...

cute "Caleb"isms

Just a couple of recent cute things Caleb is doing...
* He loves to watch Star Wars with Daddy. He will ask to watch it, and esp. likes "JarJar". He also called an empty paper towel tube a "light saber" all on his own in his play... Awesome!
* His way of asking to be carried is to say "I carry you?". How can one resist that?

Busy Weekend!

It was nice today to not do much, except the grocery store... We had a very busy last week and weekend!
On Saturday, Caleb and I met our friends Donna and Paul at California Adventure. (Weston spent the day with Aidan!) Donna's husband had to work and couldn't use the second part of his "twofer" pass, so I got to take advantage of it! Who's going to turn down Disneyland for free? Caleb had never done rides before, except a carousel... It was rainy as we entered the park, but thankfully cleared up for the rest of the day. We did the "kiddie" rides, and Caleb was pretty wary, but did okay. He even said "again" after the ladybug teacup ride, and "more" after the caterpillar train. We also did the big ferris wheel and their "Under the Sea" carousel, which he has learned to love. After lunch we watched the "Aladdin" play in an incredible theater; he was mesmerized!
We got home around 4:15, and then headed to Kristin Hartley's 3rd Birthday party. It was fun finally going to one of their parties and having a kid old enough to play on all their fun toys.
Sunday was Easter. My boys looked very handsome in their coordinating outfits! After church, we headed to Grandma Joy's for a fun afternoon of fellowship and food, plus the Laker Game. Caleb did really well in the egg hunt Grandma set up for him.
We still haven't found time to color our Easter Eggs... Good thing Caleb doesn't really know the difference...

Another Egg Hunt?

Today we enjoyed another Spring Party, this time with the Mom's Club. I joined this club for stay-at-home moms in North Fontana when Caleb was about 4 months old. We haven't attended many events, but I am so grateful for the playgroup we got going, and the babysitting coop. I have developed some neat relationships and am so thrilled that Caleb has friends his age. Anyway, today we had a potluck/egg hunt at one of the member's house (a beautiful house). Caleb especially loved playing in the backyard (with their basketball hoop, of course), until the storm rolled in.
The extra-fun part about the get-together was that Brandy and Hailey joined us, and will be joining the club also. Now that our kids are old enough to enjoy the activities offered, it will be fun to get more involved.
Tonight we are attending the 5:00 Good Friday service, and then I'm serving in the nursery for the 7:30 one.
Tomorrow, I get to take Caleb to California Disney!!! Donna Becker had a free pass, so we will get to experience it with her and Paul!!! How fun!

Oregon is too far away...

Last August, our friends; Scott and Sherrie Laffin, moved to Oregon to attend seminary... It's a good thing, but it's been hard to have them gone. Their daughter Kelsea is only 10 days older than Caleb, and they spent the first year of their life hanging out a lot... Plus, Sherrie just had another baby, Rusty, who was born just 5 days after Aidan. So our families mesh wonderfully, and we totally "get" what each other is going through... Plus, their parenting style is very similar, so it's been wonderful to bounce issues off each other...
All this to say that today we got to visit with them, and got to meet Rusty Josiah Laffin for the first time! What a cutie, with beautiful blue eyes! Caleb had a lot of fun playing with his "first love", although they definitely spur one another on to misbehave, esp. with silliness. We went out to lunch, and the kids played here while we made one year picture frames for the new babies, just as we did together for our firstborn...
My favorite moment with Caleb today came when we were pulling into the driveway, and Caleb was saying something that sounded an awful lot like "Shamu", and I'm thinking, "what is he talking about?" But sure enough, I finally spot a wooden wind decoration our neighbor has (I'd never really noticed it before) of a killer whale. Where did he learn about Shamu? Later I did remember that Garrett has a big stuffed Shamu that he saw on Monday, so that must be where it came from, but still, my kid is brillant...

Okay, later that night I told this story to Daddy. I guess he has pointed out this "Shamu" to Caleb before when they take out the trash together... so its not as amazing as I first thought. Oh well...

Kids Club at Ontario Mills

Every second Tuesday of the month, we try to make it to the Ontario Mills Free Kids Club. Today the performer, Mario, played native instruments such as drums, rattles, and flutes. He was good with the kids, and had a lot of audience participation. Caleb and I even got to shake a cool rattle during one song. After that, Caleb cracked me up by raising his hand when he asked for kids to do other things later during other songs. (He's never done that before, but I guess he got the idea today!) Aidan just slept or watched contentedly from his infant seat. What a trooper! I will comment thought, that travelling with two is a much bigger chore...

Friends are fun!

Today we went to Garrett and Danielle Ansiel's house for an Easter Party. We celebrated Christ's resurrection with a craft, an egg hunt, a yummy lunch, and the story of Easter. There were 10 kids (under 3) and 5 mommies there. It was a little chaotic, but fun! Caleb loved playing with the kids, and esp. eating the pizza lunch, and the cake afterwards. I was very proud of his behavior/attitude while we were there! Fun day!

Much better night...

Just so I don't remember it as being always as challenging as Friday night (see previous blog), let me write a quick note describing Saturday night:
- Aidan woke up once to eat at 4:30 and then we all got up for church at 7:30... So it wasn't that bad at all! We were so glad Caleb slept thru the night, we don't know what's been causing him (our Super Sleeper) to wake up so much recently...

Sleeping In...

Wanted to record a detailed night's sleep with Caleb and Aidan...
I slept in until 10:00, kind of... We went to bed at 12:30; Caleb woke up crying at 1:30, I got up to comfort him... Aidan woke up hungry at 3:00, I got up and fed him. Aidan woke up at 6:00, and Weston got up to feed him... Next Caleb woke up at 7:15 am, we let him in our bed to "snuggle", hoping he'd go back to sleep (which he didn't), Aidan woke up hungry again at 7:30, so I fed him and then pumped. Caleb watched Baby Einstein in our bed while Daddy still kinda slept. I climbed back in around 8:15 and enjoy a few more minutes of coziness, then I took Caleb downstairs for breakfast. After I turned another movie on for him (awful, i know, but I was so sleepy), I went back upstairs and fell back asleep from 9-10. Just a typical night/morning with 2 young kids (actually, its usually not this bad)...

Headed to Harvard?

Nothing too exciting today, except a fun trip to the park, and it was a beautiful day! There were many families flying kites and having picnics!
-Caleb is starting to sing some songs and it melts my heart! He has been able to sing part of "The Alphabet Song" for awhile now, and lately has added part of "Old MacDonald" and part of "Jesus Loves Me". He amazed me this morning when a song came on the CD we were listening to, and before it even started he said "shine" and pointed to the radio. It took me awhile to figure out what he meant, but then, sure enough, the song "This Little Light of Mine" came on. What a genius! I love when I figure out something he's saying (usually not too clearly) and am rewarded with this undescribable grin, since he's thrilled we're communicating! (or maybe he's just thinking, "duh, it's about time mom")
- He also has been learning some things from our bible stories... Yesterday when we were downstairs, I told him it was time to head up for a bible story and a nap, and he said, "David? Giant?" Wowzers! So far he can answer these questions pretty consistently... (they correspond to the toddler Bible we have been going through) - Who made you? God. What else did God make? Everything. Who built the boat? Noah. What did Noah put on the boat? Animals. Who was the baby God saved in the basket on the river? Moses. Who did David fight? Giant.

Caleb's First Easter Egg Hunt

Okay, one of the main reasons I finally conformed to the Myspace delirium is so that I would be more motivated/disciplined to journal about my amazing kids, and the experiences we have day in and day out. So here goes!

Today Caleb and I went to Heritage Park to participate in an Easter Egg Hunt and Potluck put on by my God's Moms Bible Study. It is pretty crazy how, as a parent, you get SO excited about the "firsts" in your kids' lives. He really wasn't old enough to do much more than stick a plastic egg in his mouth last year, or maybe throw it (he always has had quite the arm), but this year, he could hunt! There were 5 toddlers just about his age searching for 60 eggs (we each brought 12, so it was easy to do the math, I didn't actually count them), and yeah, I guess "searching" isn't really the right word... it was more like "stumbling upon". They were all pretty adorable, and Caleb did get the idea to pick up the egg... but he quickly also got the idea that there was candy in the egg... therefore it was much more fun to open the egg and dump the candy everywhere, than to put it in the basket and search for the next egg. Oh well, it's a start... All in all, it was a fun morning, even with several toddler meltdowns when he couldn't do exactly what he wanted in exactly his own way...