Ordinary Days in the Divine Dispensing: Caleb Turns 2.5 Years Old

30 months old!

March was a special month for our big boy Caleb. He turned the big 2.5 years old or you could say 30 months old.With all the craziness that went on during the first 6 months of his 3rd year of life, I'm sure I forgot to write some things down. Plus so much has happened I know it would take a lot of time and effort to go back and find every new thing he did (in pictures I've taken or recorded on Facebook), and I just don't have that kind of time any more. The things I did write down were things that meant a lot to me, and I rushed in his room and wrote them down before I forgot. Trust me..during every moment I enjoyed them, and they hold a very dear place in my heart. Too many sweet memories to count! Here's a little summary of my precious first born's 6 months from Sept 30 until March 30th.

In October Caleb's speech really picked up. As I've said before, he was a little behind verbally but quite advanced in his fine motor skills. It was as if he turned two and decided it was time to talk! He learned how to say the word "horse" instead of just making the horse sound, he was able to tell you that his name is "KK" (which is his nickname given by cousin Oliva), started calling for dad by his first name (Tim) as he heard mommy do so many times when I needed help with something. He could count from 1-10 in English and say and recognize the letters A, E, I, O, C, S, and T. Part of this increase in number and letter recognition started happening when we allowed Caleb to watch a little more TV focusing on education and got a few toys that say the letters and numbers. He also started Mommy's Morning Out at the beginning of the month. This was a tough transition for both of us. The first day I dropped him off I cried. He did too. It took a couple of months, but he started to love going to school and being with his teacher and now he gets so excited to go and see his friends.

Caleb's first day of MMO

I have to tell you a funny story about the first time we heard Caleb count to 10. Tim, Caleb, and I were sitting at the table having dinner, and Caleb began to count. Daddy and I had only taught him to count to 3 before this time, and we were working on 4 and 5. He counted all the way to 10! We were so surprised and had no idea he could do this! It was an exciting moment, and we recorded it. I'm sure some of you saw it on Facebook. We also went to the Pumpkin Patch in October and got some professional pictures taken.

Love this crazy hair! This was us at the Pumpkin Patch

Sweetest curious face (at the Pumpkin Patch)

I sure do love my boy!

Running like a wild man

October was Caleb's first time to the fair too! He was amazed at all the lights and huge machines. He had such a good time. Tim and I always had a great time at the fair every year before we had kids, but going with kids is even more fun! It's a whole new experience!

Caleb won a duck!!

In November he learned his colors red, green, and yellow (from playing a game when we were at the red light), could count to 10 in Chinese and to 12 in English, recognized the letters M and L, and started to say "her-he" instead of hurry. IT WAS TOOO CUTE!!! It was also the first month that he could hold and blow bubbles all by himself, started to understand possession, used fluoride toothpaste, his next to the last tooth came in, and he could ring the doorbell by himself when he wanted the door opened (he learned that from Mommy's friend Callie). ^__^ He was also a whopping 30 lbs on November 11th when he was 2 years and 1.5 months old.

My sweet little Indian

Trampoline fun with cousin Ryleigh

Cousin fun at Thanksgiving time. LOVE my silly family!

Making a Lego train like a pro (birthday present from Uncle Joe)

In December our little sweetie began to say "sir" and "ma'am", told me he pooed for the very first time (a HUGE deal for us! haha), got his first ear infection, went ice skating, tried to trace his letters, peed in the big boy potty, counted his grapes on his plate, and his last tooth came in! Whew! Mommy was excited about the last tooth as Caleb is not a great teether, and I was also happy to start the potty training process.

We sure love Daddy!

Awaiting the arrival of baby brother

Daddy lovin'

Mommy couldn't ice skate, but I could shower him with lots of kisses!

Caleb got tired and a little scared too I think.

First time ice skating was exciting! Caleb had no idea what was going on. It felt so weird!

Our good friends were ice skating too, and two of Caleb's closest buddies in Jackson. (Only 1 buddy shown here)

January was quite an exciting time for us! Caleb became a big brother, spent the night without mommy or daddy for the first time in his little life, had his first bubble bath, got much better at peeing in the potty, and started opening doors! Before Levi was born, Caleb could not open doors. It was amazing. It's like we left to go to the hospital for the weekend, and Caleb realized he needed to be a big boy now so he could open doors for Mommy. :) Such a big boy!

Helping Mommy take the 37 week picture

Too much family fun with this picture frame

Doctor in training

The first time Caleb met baby Levi.

Caleb wanted to hold Levi all the time. He sure loves his brother!

After having Levi and taking care of a newborn, February flew by. I'm sure I posted things on Facebook, but I barely wrote anything down. I only got: put on his coat and zipped it up by himself and had his first nose bleed. He also had to adjust to having a new baby in the house and actually did very well. Caleb is such a good big brother and loves Levi VERY much. Besides getting to know Levi, Caleb also had many fun weeks to spend with Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle Michael from Taiwan at the end of January and most of February. Uncle Joe from Nashville and Nana, my mom, were also able to come for a short time. Our house was booming with visitors and Caleb had plenty of attention. This is what we were hoping our families would do for us more than anything else. Caleb was so happy to have so many people to play with him and love on him!

Playing in the backyard with Grandma, Daddy, and Uncle Michael

More ball kicking fun

This little boy would always ask to rake when leaves were on the ground.

Mommy taking time away from the baby to give some attention to her big boy.

The boys hanging out with Grandpa and Grandma

Such a sweet boy

I didn't get any pictures of Nana or Uncle Joe with Caleb, but here they are lovin' on Levi.

Uncle Joe with Levi

Caleb's speech keeps improving month by month. By March he was saying "Oh man!", "ummm....that one!", and "Where are you _____(object or person)" with the cutest intonations and expressions on his face (which I believe he learned from cousin Olivia), found his pockets and loves to walk around with his hands in them, and pooped in the potty for the first time! He was also 35.5 inches tall!!

Caleb loves his cousin Olivia who is 15 months older than him.

Although I now have two children, Caleb will always be my first born. He will always be my first experiences with everything related to being a parent. Because of that, everything he does is so exciting, so new, and so challenging. There are hard days and days of battle with this kid, but I could not have asked for a more loving, passionate, fun, smart, and affectionate little boy to love on. He's growing so fast these days I can barely keep up with him. He's becoming more and more independent in some ways, but still clinging to us for assurance and security. It's amazing to watch him grow.

And a few more pictures to enjoy...