Caleb's progress

When I began to write this post, I hadn't focused on Caleb's growth and progress for about 4 months, so I felt like it was a good time to update everyone on how he's grown. That's when I realized I had forgotten to write about his birthday party in MS. I then put this one on hold and wrote the other one. NOW, I can continue on with this one ^__^

If you are on facebook, I pretty much talk about many of Caleb's "new" things every day, but I have left some things out..just so I don't go overboard haha! It's really amazing how much he has grown (in maturity and understanding but not so much in size). It seems as if all of a sudden he went from my little (or not so little HA!) baby boy to a child with eyes wide open and full of wonder and an eagerness to learn. I'll break down some of the highlights from the past 4 months..month by month.

In October Caleb was 12 months old and was 31" long, 24.11 lbs, and 18 1/8" head. We did so many fun Fall festive activities that he'd of course never done before. We experienced a hayride, seeing our first pumpkin patch, and going through a corn maze and flower maze. This was also the first time he began picking up large objects, a ball for instance, and walking around. His balance and coordination improved very quickly once he learned how to walk on his own. He began "blowing" on his food to cool it off (even if it was yogurt hehe!) and wanting to use a spoon when he ate. This was also the first time he willingly took off away from me to play with other children. He's always been so clingy and mama-needy, so in a way I felt lost and in a way I felt so thankful ^__^. If I kept accounts correctly, Caleb had only slept ONE time by himself for 7+ hours before October. He gave me a break and did this 3 nights in  row in Oct. Man, was I happy!! He also started picking food out of a bowl and feeding himself and mommy (he was only eating off the tray).

Running off to play with friends

Using big boy spoon!

In November music stole the show! Caleb began swaying with music, "head banging", and started to love dancing every day. This is still true to this day! It was also the beginning of his enjoyment of climbing (with help) up and down hills and stairs. We went to his first live football game, and the first Egg Bowl game for all 3 of us! It was so much fun and COLD. He really enjoyed all the music, the huge t.v., and all the excitement. Teeth #s 8,9,10, and 11 poked out their heads, and he drank from a real cup all by himself (we stopped doing that when he learned he could turn it over and make everything wet ha!). As Caleb gets older, his love for children and babies grows. He started wanting to comfort and care for babies and when we went to visit our friends who just had a baby girl, Caleb began rocking her carseat and watching her. It was so sweet, and he still does this. This is also when he would point where his hat goes (on top of his head). Lately, we got his first ever riding toy from a dear neighbor and rode it all around the living room. This made him very happy! ^__^

Football game

Rocking baby girl

Doing Zumba with daddy

In December Caleb became more independent. Because he never crawled, he was a little behind or certain milestones, but thankfully he finally figured them out. He learned how to stand up from a seated position by himself.  This was a relief for me because I constantly had to go over and pick him up when he sat down. One day he got tired of needing my help I guess, and he practiced falling down and getting up over and over again. It was SO funny!! He would clap every time he stood up. He used his head a lot for support for a while then learned how to use his knees. Gosh I sure do love him!! He also began climbing up stairs WITHOUT help on his hands and knees. This one still scares me! I always walk close behind him as he can still lose his balance sometimes. For more climbing fun, he learned how to stand up in his crib but never used the bars. He just stood up the same way he learned how to get up off the floor. He also randomly one day stood on TOP of his toy riding train! I turned around for ONE second, and when I looked back he was up there. SCARED ME! I think this stemmed from his beginning to climb up on the furniture. He also caught his big green ball for the first time, got his 12th tooth, and started saying "shhh" and "yeah".

Standing up from the ground :)

January was a fun month. He really started acting and looking like a big boy. I'll probably say this every month hahahah. He didn't grow very much from 12 months to 15 months. He was still 31 lbs, 24.15" long, but with a bigger head at 19". In 3 months he went from 90% and 75% in length and weight to 50% in both. This was definitely a new thing for us!! This month we will call the "helper" month. He began learning how to help and doing role play. He would throw trash (and sometimes not trash ^__^) into the trash can for mommy, take off his jacket (whether or not I wanted him to hahah), put a lid on a pot, tried to blow up his beach ball when he wanted to play, put his dirty clothes in his hamper, tried to "unlock" the door with our keys, and asked for medicine (pointed to it) when his teeth were really hurting (poor baby had 7 teeth growing in at once..the 13th and 14th teeth started coming in!). His signing skills grew quite a bit in Jan. too. He learned to sign please, fish, and diaper. As for words, he said go, no, up, and hi.  We also went to our first story time at the library. He LOVES this time, and I'm so glad we started going!!

Library time!!

Helping mommy take the toilet paper to the bathrooms

Helping clean up with one of his friends ^__^

February has been the month of language skills. He has barely spoken any words yet, and the peds doc had mentioned the possible need for speech therapy. I have been concerned about this, but since we are teaching sign language, English, Chinese, and Spanish I reassured myself it will probably take him longer to speak. That's a lot for ANYONE to put together. During this month (so far), he has said the words ball, shosh, eyes nana (for banana), chip (i think), this, girl, and possibly yes. I can't get him to say these words all the time, but he has been saying this or yes very often the past 3 days. He has also learned the signs for bird and dog. When asked he has started pointing at a lion, giraffe, dog, bear, eyes, belly button, mouth, nose, and head. The most fun and exciting event had to be his first SNOW!!! It was one of the most exciting moments for me as I LOVE snow. It was definitely an awesome day. As his love for music continues, we brought out Tim's childhood keyboard and let Caleb play around. He has the best time pushing the keys and playing the songs on it. He's also learned how to turn it on, off, and how to turn on and off the songs. He turns it on and starts dancing like a wild man ^__^ Lately, he also correctly played with a toy car while making car sounds, stacked 3 blocks on top of each other, began understanding how a puzzle works (although hasn't perfected it yet), and spoon fed mama! Gosh, he's growing up WAY TOO FAST!!! One of my favorite things we have begun to do this month is look out the window together and look for birds. Once he learned the sign for bird he really gets excited about seeing the birds fly by or in the trees outside and points at them then does the sign. He makes sure I see the bird before we look for more. It has been really sweet.

Amazed by the snow

Our little musical boy

Of course not everything has been fun and wonderful. He has also picked up quite a bit of independence, a strong will, and some temper tantrums. Thankfully he started sleeping through the night FINALLY at 15 months, but has been FIGHTING going to sleep for the past couple weeks. I'm beginning to feel he is getting some separation anxiety. Every day is a new day and comes with it's own joys and issues. I have to really depend on the Lord EVERY day and even every moment because I have no idea what Caleb will do or if I need to discipline him or comfort him or what. I'm really learning to trust in the Lord because He is the perfect Father. I'm learning to take Him as my life and life supply in everything. It's been a crazy 16.5 months, and I'm looking forward to many many more!! ^__^