Caleb Samuel - 2 years!

Oh Caleb, you wonderful two year old, you. You're funny, kind, handsome, independent, social, and patient. We are so glad to have you in our family and we have taken full advantage of celebrating your first two years with us. 

Official Stats: 

Weight - 30.4 lbs (77%)

Height - 33.4 in (39%)

Unofficial stats: 2T clothes, with the occasional 3T item (and the also occasional 4T item that is actually Austin's that I accidentally dressed Caleb in and then let him wear it through the day because it looked fine.) 12 teeth - the four on top/bottom in the very front and then one molar in the back on each side top/bottom.  Sometimes when it smiles it looks like he's chewing on marshmallows because you can see the molars peeking out. 

(I feel like I wrote a VERY detailed post for his 23 month post, and not a whole lot of things have changed since then, so for the best details about this age - check out last month's post.) 

A few things from this age: 

-I'm 25 weeks pregnant and although I've been feeling much better morning sickness wise, sometimes I just don't feel well. This Caleb-boy has been such a blessing to me. He's easy going and independent but he doesn't get into much trouble or make excessive messes. Sometimes when I'm exhausted I'll just lay down and he'll happily crawl all over me without demanding much. This picture I took when I was so tired I could barely handle anything - but he played happily in the bathtub while I lay on the floor watching him. I'm just so grateful for him and his happy nature and the fact that he has made this pregnancy so much more doable than it might otherwise be. 

-I love bedtime with this boy. I love reading books with him, I love the way he has his favorite books: Where's Spot?, "How do Diggers Say Goodnight", and "Chicka-Chicka Boom Boom (on super speed)". I love snuggling with him in our oversized chair. I love the way he tries to sneak in extra books after we are done with our three "this one!" or "Jes Kist???" (in reference to a Jesus Christ loves Me book that he knows I can't refuse). After reading three books, I stand up and sing a song to him - usually "Skidamaree-a-dink-a-dink, I love you" but sometimes Sunbeam, Teach Me to Walk in the Light, or "I love you so much." I love that I can lay him in his bed, give him his bear, his water bottle, tuck his blanket and dragon next to him, and then leave and he'll go right to sleep. (Only occasionally does he need a rendition of the itsy-bitsy-spider to help him calm down enough to lay and go to sleep.) It doesn't take long, but I really enjoy the process with him. On that note, he naps once a day around 1:00. Naps aren't quite as easy as bedtime, although the process looks exactly the same - it's slightly more of a battle to get him into his sleeper. Once we start reading he's all good, though.

-We went on a train ride on the FrontRunner for Free Fare Day and Caleb hated it. He loves watching the train from the window, so I thought that he'd really enjoy it, and he did like it while we were watching it pull up but I didn't realize that he was nervous as we were walking onto the train. I was focused on getting all the kids on and up to a seat, but when the train started moving and we were still walking in the aisle - he started whimpering. I looked down at him and could see uncertainty and fear in his eyes and his lip started to tremble before he started wailing. We rushed to a seat and I sat with him on my lap trying to calm him down. He finally calmed down but kept his head buried in my shoulder for the entire trip. Each time we started moving after a stop, he'd start to whimper and we'd have to calm him down again. The return ride wasn't quite as bad, but he still cried when we started moving and held on to me the whole way home. I felt bad that it was such a traumatic experience for him! But I feel much better because afterwards he would tell everyone "Train ride? Fun!" If you asked him if he liked it, he would say "good" or "liked it". He talks about "mine train ride" all the time, and it just makes me laugh.

In general, he doesn't like loud things or things that move fast or in a way that he's not used to. He loves looking at tractors and talking about tractors but not riding in them, same as the Ranger at my grandpa's house. He just doesn't like them.

-He's super affectionate. He gives open mouth kisses, which are both SO endearing and also giggle-inducingly slobbery. He will come up to you and say "Hug? Kiss?" on repeat until he gets both a hug and a kiss. His hugs are just the best. And whenever we are MarcoPoloing (a video chat app) any family members, he always wants to say goodbye with a kiss and he leans forward to kiss the screen. "Kiss???" Such a sweet boy.

-I love him. Have I mentioned that?

-I'm not the only one. We all pretty much love him more than anything. 

-He's so funny. He's learning to do all sorts of things with his body. It's so fun to watch him learn and grow, and it's especially wonderful to watch his face after he does something new and he is SO proud of himself. 

-He loves tractors and construction trucks. We have a couple of books that have construction trucks and tractors in them and he loves them. So for his birthday cake, I made him a simple tractor/truck cake and it was perfect for him. (A note: he does NOT like tractors in real life. He cried and cried when my dad tried to take him for a ride in one on the ranch. Too big and noisy!) 

He's so happy and handsome and so so very loved. 

Caleb. We love you. We are SO glad that you are in our family. 

Happy TWO years!