Just Can't Help It

Chris's mom (a.k.a. Grammy) gave us a couple awesome cds for Christmas. Caleb enjoys one of them in particular. He just can't help it--when I turn on the cd, he comes running from anywhere in the house to dance to it.

So fun. I just can't help it--I can't get enough of it.

Don't tell Caleb...but it's also my secret trick. If he is upstairs and I need him to come downstairs, I just push play on the music and he comes running! Thanks for the great cd, Grammy!


And then there is Carson...he just can't help it either. Anytime he can get your attention now, he will flash you one of these smiles:



And talk with you like this:

Again--so fun. I just can't help it--I can't get enough of it.


P.S. Sorry for the grainy dark video. I didn't think to un-dim (is that a word? I'm sure it is.) the lights before taking video. I'm not a photographer (or videographer?). I don't think of such things. I just can't help it.

Blissful Sleep

Caleb has always slept at least 12 hours at night--which usually means until 8:00 or 8:30am. Naps though...they have been hit and miss for a LONG time. He definitely still needs a nap, so that was never really the issue.

All along, I knew I should take all the toys out of his room. But I was hesitant because I liked him to play independently when we were upstairs too--which he definitely does! He wouldn't usually play with them at nap time, so I thought they weren't much of a distraction.

But some days he would play with them. Our rule is that he has to stay in his bed for a certain amount of time whether he goes to sleep or not. So here he is "keeping" the rule:


Minus the time it took him to go grab all those buckets of toys, I guess he was technically keeping the rule of staying in his bed.

Before Carson was born, I was rearranging all the rooms and closets upstairs. Caleb's closet ended up being virtually empty. It dawned on me one day a few weeks ago, that I should move all the shelves with his toys from his room to his closet and put a child lock on it. Now his room looks like this:

Can anyone say heaven? I wish I had done it a year ago! He has taken at least a two hour nap almost every day since!! And has been sleeping until 9am every day. Ahhh...such a welcome relief and the timing couldn't be better. He is so much happier in the evenings as well. And in the mornings, I can just open his closet door and he can play with them all he wants. Why, oh why, did I not think of this soooooo long ago?!? Please, just let it never end. :)

On those days that he still decided not to take a nap, I have always wondered how he managed to entertain himself.


He definitely manages.

Now the only thing he has to play with when getting ready for bed...



...is Carson!

P.S. I KNEW I shouldn't have posted this one. I jinxed myself...Caleb didn't take a nap today. Sigh.

The Rollie Pollies

Bug lovers, animal rights activists, those that believe in reincarnation...please skip this post.

This picture has nothing to do with the post. For some reason, I just feel this need to have a picture when blogging. So here is Caleb smiling, thinking about what he did. :)



And here is Carson, smiling, thinking about what Caleb did.



The other day we were outside playing in the front yard. Caleb was riding his bike up and down the sidewalk. All of the sudden, he stopped, got off his bike and ran inside the house. He came out with a shoe. He ran over to his bike and starts repeatedly beating the sidewalk. Over and over and over. When I asked him what he was doing, he simply replied, "Bugs, mom!" in a tone that said, "Duh, mom. This is what we do when we see a bug!"

Now normally I would definitely be amused by this. That day, though, I thought it was hilarious. You see, across the street was a group of religious people who had been going door to door in our neighborhood. They all had just regrouped across the street from our house where their cars were parked. So Caleb had quite the audience. Among them, the two nice little old ladies who, just a half an hour earlier, had been oohing and ahhing over how cute my two boys are.

I looked up as Caleb started beating the sidewalk with his shoe to see the shocked and appalled faces of most of the group. Do you still think my boys are cute? Hope you don't believe in reincarnation. That may have been your sister! I had to try really really hard not to burst out in laughter. Caleb finished his business and simply walked up to the porch, opened the front door, returned the shoe to it's proper place, and returned to his bike riding.

Secretly, I was proud. Some parents are proud when their kid does well in school...or learns to share.... Me? I'm proud that my son knows how to take care of bugs the proper way. If only his dad would learn the same thing. I've had only three years to teach Caleb, and he gets it. I've had ten years to train Chris and somehow I've failed. He's better than he used to be...but I think he still doesn't quite get it. Chris will sometimes walk by a bug in our house and keep on walking. Huh? No. That's not how that is handled. Let Caleb show you how it is done. Caleb knows how to take care of business.


Caleb has also been very busy instructing Carson on the fine art of the play mat.

Let's hope Caleb teaches Carson as vigilantly about the fine art of taking care of the bugs too.