Lately

It's been awhile since I posted an update on what we've been up to. Bryan has been working a ton! He finished his first month in the ER and is now working in Internal Medicine for a month. We have quickly learned that we like the ER much better since the hours are so predictable and set. From day to day in Internal Medicine I don't know if he'll be home at 5pm or 8pm or later. He's exhausted right now - sometimes working 14+ hours every day - and only gets 4 days off for the month. We are so very thankful that tomorrow is his first day off. We look forward to spending the day as a family and resting.

Caleb and I have been staying busy with our little daily routine around the house and various activities around town. My favorite part of our routine is waiting outside for Bryan to come home. Caleb watches for Daddy's truck and points to all the other trucks in the cul-de-sac. When Bryan finally turns the corner Caleb goes NUTS yelling out "Dada!" over and over. He immediately wants to go over to Bryan to be held and also to touch Daddy's truck. He is 100% boy for sure!

I signed up for an online group that teaches you how to keep your house organized, clean and efficient. The group sends out daily e-mail reminders with your daily tasks and other suggestions of how to stay organized. So far it has not required a huge time commitment but I am feeling so much more productive! I'm finding new challenges and rewards as a stay at home mom versus as a working mom. :)

The biggest reward of staying at home is how much progress Caleb is making. We can tell his vocabulary is really growing. He is able to point out so many things in books now, even if they are words he can't say yet: dog, cat, cow, ball, tree, duck, fish, baby, shoes, car, truck, train, snake, monkey, and the list goes on. He is able to point out where the eyes are on pictures of animals or people. He can answer 'what does a monkey say?' and 'what does a duck say'?. He also has his own version of saying 'vroom vroom' when we ask him what a truck says or when he is pushing around a toy truck. Caleb also loves our dog & cat; Sophie definitely loves him back but Ginger is still afraid of him. Caleb calls Sophie "Pho-Phie" and mimics our tone of voice when we call Sophie or when she gets into trouble. He loves to play with her and will throw her toys and put them by her mouth to try to get her interested in playing. It's a lot of fun to watch them enjoy each other's company!

Caleb's biggest obsessions are balls, trucks and ceiling fans. He can say "fan" clear as a bell and loves to point them out and ask for them to be turned on. He refers to every light fixture as a fan so I have been trying to teach him the difference between the two. I told him lights are still but fans go 'round and round and round' and gesture with my arms. He will now mimic this motion and say 'ra ra ra ra ra' when you ask him what a fan does.

Caleb is also into everything! He has discovered our trash can that opens automatically, loves to mess with Sophie's dog food, enjoys turning over the dog bed and rolling around on it, wants to touch our nice TV in the living room, climb on the fireplace, unroll toilet paper, push little wastebaskets around like they are a ball, and stand up and try to turn door knobs. He definitely keeps me busy all day!

Here are some pictures of what our sweet Caleb has been up to:

Reading about fire trucks while wearing his fire truck pj's

Partners in crime: Caleb was trying to open the (locked) door right before I took this picture!

Playing with the trash can ... YUCK

A wasted roll of toilet paper

I walked into the study to find him using Sophie's dog bed like a body pillow...

Apparently men read on the toilet from a young age. Here is Caleb reading during a diaper change.

And of course, we couldn't leave out the upside down reading.