Letters: 10 Months and Almost 3

Caleb,

You are a joy! You are very creative and quite the little thinker!

We all go grocery shopping together every 2 weeks and stock up. Usually at Fareway Mommy goes to grab a few items while you, Daddy, and Gunther go to the meat counter and then I meet you back there. This time when I came back you greeted me with a big smile and you YELLED, "I LOVE YOU MOMMY! YOU CAME BACK!!!" There were quite a few people around us smiling and chuckling.

I took a Pilates class at church last month and when I came to pick you up from childcare you asked me, "Did Dunfer have fun morning? Did you have fun with the ladies?"

You love to play with all sorts of non-toy items. Tape measure, stud finder, screw driver, calculator, flyswatter. Recently you told me, "Mommy, fly swatter my best!"

You love to chatter to your stuffed animals, especially in the car. One day as we were headed somewhere I thought you were talking to me and you told me, "Mommy, I not talking to you. I talking to elephant." 

Your favorite TV show right now is Curious George. One morning as you were watching an episode I called you to come do something. You responded by saying, "Mom, I watching this right now. You not 'sposed to call me."

This is a conversation I had with you yesterday: (You had just ordered me to do something in no uncertain terms)
Me: Caleb, you are not the boss. Mommy and Daddy are the bosses. Well, actually God is the big boss and then Mommy and Daddy are boss."
You: I be little boss?
Me: No sweetie.
You: Mommy! We can share!
Me: Share what?
You: We can share boss!

This week when we were grocery shopping we stopped to get baby food for Gunther, which was across from the dog food. You looked over and said, "Lets get dog food for Dunfer!" and then you giggled. I seriously don't know where you come up with this stuff!

You love having little daily rituals. Lately we've been shelling and eating pistachios for an afternoon snack. After several days of doing it you looked at me and said, "This fun Mommy!"

We were driving somewhere the other day and I asked you, "Honey, are you cold or hot? Or just right?" You responded, "I not that Mommy! I Caleb!"

We have a prism hanging in our window. One day you looked at Daddy and said, "Daddy there something on head!" Daddy felt his head and said, "Nope, buddy nothing on my head." "Yes Daddy, red, orange, yellow, green.." Then we realized you were seeing a rainbow!

Not too long ago you turned to me and said, "Mommy, you Wifey. Daddy Sexy." Oh dear!  :)

Your favorite foods are tomatoes, gummy snacks, granola bars, watermelon, grapes, donuts and cookies.

You love to go to the library and get books. We read at least 30 minutes a day. You'll go get all 10 of your library books and want to read them all. You love books about emergency services (firefighters, police officers, ambulances) and also Clifford is a big favorite.

You are learning how to write and draw more carefully. You drew some umbrellas the other day with chalk and can even draw the letter 'c.'

We love you sweet boy!

Telling Aunt Sara good bye. She's off to have new adventures after living close by for the last couple years for school. 

Fourth of July!

Caleb and Daddy singing "Always" (A favorite song) before bed.

 At a parade!

Waiting for the chicken to cook in the smoker. A.K.A"Putting mulch in the cooler"

Off to fight 'partment' and 'cake' fires. (What he tells me when I ask what he's doing)

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Gunther,

You are very busy these days! 

You are waving now. It's so cute. We ask you, "Can you wave?" You think about it for about 10 seconds and then you do it. You are so proud of yourself. You are also pulling up on everything and walking around things.

You are our little carnivore! You LOVE meat! I just introduced it to you a couple weeks ago and you pick that off your plate first. One night you ate almost a whole hamburger!

You love wheels and are constantly flipping scooters, tractors, trucks, and cars over so you can spin the wheels.

You are trying to say Caleb's name. "Eb-eb." You love your big brother and want to be with him all the time. He likes to get down and crawl with you. You'll follow him back to his room and then you guys play together. Caleb is good at making you laugh!

Still just two teeth! You're really working on them though!

We love you cutie pie!

Letters, 9 months and almost 3

Caleb,

It's so fun to hear all the things you say! Your little mind is really learning how to make connections and you have an amazing memory. Usually you "memember" thing at bedtime. "Mommy! I forgot to play with my soccer ball!" "I forgot to have gummy snack!"

You make us laugh so much! Here are a few things you've said recently:

We go to the Bever Park Zoo pretty often and they have a donkey there named "princess." The other day Daddy called me his princess and you interrupt. "No! Mommy not princess! Princess at the zoo!"

One day Daddy noticed a window in the living room was open but we had the air on. "Elyssa!" Daddy called, "Did you turn the air off and decide to open up?" You chime in, "Maybe that was me."

One day out of the blue you look at me and said, "You my best fwend." I wanted to make sure I heard you right so I asked you, "Who is your best friend?" "You is, Mommy!" *heartexplosion* 

You use the word 'might' a lot. If we ask you the color of something, you will say, "It might be green."

One day you weren't eating your dinner very well and we had a bag of cookies for dessert. Daddy told you he was going to start eating the cookies and if you finished your dinner before he finished the cookies you could have one. Finally there was only one cookie left (which daddy had no intention of eating) and Daddy said, should I eat it? You said, "Daddy, if you eat that cookie I might cry."

One day Gunther was going down hard for a nap and you asked me, Mommy, I talk to Jesus for Dunther sleep?" 

We went to a local Farmer's market and you kept calling it "Farmer Pickle." We have no idea why. When we asked you what you thought we'd do there you said, "See tractors?"

The other day we were in the car and I had hopped back between you boys to feed Gunther some solids. I gave you a gummy snack and you said, "Mommy I share wif you! Also, you cute!" :) 

You love being outside! Your favorite thing to do outside is ride the tractor with Daddy and sometimes even Boppa. You could be out there forever! 

You are completely potty trained! You are a rockstar! You caught on very quickly and even have naps and bedtime mastered. 

Trip to Kalona

 potty training treat

helping mommy with yard work

Gunther,

You are crawling everywhere now! It is so cute! Your brother isn't sure what to think! He's realized he can't get away from you now. :) You always like whatever toy he's playing with and you've started yelling when he won't give it to you. You have no interest in baby toys, you only want to play with your brother's toys. It's funny to see you trying to lift his big metal tractors!

Still two teeth but 3 or 4 seem ready to pop. Your gums are swollen and sore. Poor baby!

You said Dada for the first time on Father's Day! Nicely played. It's super cute! You also get excited when Daddy comes home from work now.

You're becoming much more assertive when one of us isn't giving you the attention you want you yell at us. You always will yell or squawk at Caleb when he tries to take something away from you or you want something he has.

You are eating all kinds of new foods. Crackers, puffs, cheerios, cooked veggies, melons, and bread.

You are very "rough and tumble." You take a lot of spills, but they rarely phase you. When you fall I say, "Crash, boom!" and then you look at me and smile and go on to the next thing.

You really like playing with shoe laces, opening drawers, electric cords and climbing up on the toilet. You also like to pull over trash cans. You are very busy!

 So big!

Fun times!