Happy Birthday Joshua!

Saturday was Joshua's birthday. He would have been two years old and it is so hard to believe that it has already been two years since saying goodbye to him. In some ways it does feel like a lifetime ago. I think back on all that has happened in those two years and realize that time has gone by. But when I visit places that have strong memories attached to them, (the zoo, grossmont center (the last place I felt him kick), bates nut farm, and the memorial park) the emotion and memory floods back in and it feels like it just happened. It was more difficult to visit Joshua's tree this year. Each time there is a little anxiety that builds up before we visit. I know I will have to stare reality in the face and I try to focus on the promise of seeing Joshua again in heaven, but still...it's hard. This time, reality hit in a new way. We picked out a nice bouquet of flowers. I loved this beautiful orange dahlia they had. I always try to pick the happy looking flowers and that one looked bright and cheerful. Eddie was showing the flowers to Caleb as we walked over to Joshua's tree and Caleb took his little hand and grabbed the stems and a picture flashed in my mind of Caleb as a little boy, holding flowers that he picked out for his brother's birthday, walking over to place them beneath the tree. And there it was. A new level of reality. Caleb visiting his brother's tree. Eddie and I thought the same thing because when I looked up, our eyes met and we both had tears rolling down our faces. When we got over to the tree, I placed the flowers and Eddie brought Caleb over to look at the wind chime. Caleb loves to play with the giraffe wind chime and I took a video of him playing with it. While videoing I told Caleb, "say happy birthday Joshua" and he mimicked what sounds like the end of happy birthday. You can tell in the video, it made me choke up because it was so unexpected and so sweet to hear his little voice saying, "happy birthday" to his brother. Fortunately he provided a bit of comedic relief at the end when he tried tasting the giraffe. Overall, it was a sweet family time to think of Joshua and celebrate his life. We love and miss him so much and look forward to heaven that much more!

Joshua's happy birthday flowers

Video of Caleb with the windchimes

Oak Glen and Bates Nut Farm

A few weeks ago we took Caleb to Oak Glen where we fed some deer. Caleb loved the deer and kept saying, "ooo" the whole time. We also, this past weekend, went to Bates Nut Farm where Caleb pet some animals and posed with some pumpkins! He was so busy inspecting the pumpkins it was hard to get him to look up for the camera, but eventually he warmed up to smiling for me.

Excited to feed some deer!

 Sweet deer

 Mama and Caleb

 Caleb and Dada

 Big boy playing with Dada's hat

Coming to get Mama

 Feeding a pig at Bates Nut Farm

 Petting the goat

 Pumpkin inspector

 Checking out the stem

 This one has a spot right here...

Smirker

 Practicing walking to Dada

 There's a little smile!

 Our pumpkin with a pumpkin

 Mama with Caleb, who is checking out his hand

Sleeping on the way home

11 Months Old!

Sweet boy bundled up for our rainy weather day. Showing off his bottom two teeth!

Caleb boy is almost two weeks shy of being a big one year old! So crazy. Caleb has become my little parrot. He mimics sounds and words and it is so cute to hear his little voice. He says mama, dada, "ba" for ball, makes a noise like "bum bum" when he pushes his toy cars, and will make the sound of an elephant, sheep, dog, and cow. He also opens and closes his mouth to show what a fishy says. Just yesterday he started saying "bye" and began clapping! I was so excited for him to clap. I've clapped with him so many times, but he has just not seemed interested in doing it. However, yesterday Grandpa was clapping with him and Caleb just started doing it. It's so cute to watch him learn. He will jabber for long periods of time as if telling a story and loves to point at things. He also throws his hands up when prompted with saying "touchdown!". Daddy is teaching him early to be a football fan. He can stand without holding onto anything for awhile and will take up to two or three steps before falling down. He is so much fun and brings a lot of joy.

Cutie!

Pictures

 I forgot to put this on him as a newborn so it turned into a hat and cape

 Lizzie reading to Caleb and Benjer

 Caleb loves hair

 Caleb with his pumpkin and favorite book. He cries every time we get to the end of the book, but stops and gets happy once you start reading it again. 

 Little pumpkin boy!

 Big boy at 11 months old!

 So cute!

 Can we go outside yet?

 I would like to ride the horsey.

 Cheese!

 Horsey time yet?

 So content...

And so happy!

10 Months Old!

I have been so behind in my blogging, but things have been so busy being in escrow. Caleb is now 10 months old! He is such a happy boy and his little personality is so fun. He is very curious and loves to explore, but he is also shy in new environments and around new people. He is quick to giggle and "talks" up a storm. He loves to outstretch his arm with his hand open and jabber away like he's making a very important point. He also sticks his tongue out when he is really focused and it makes me laugh every time. He loves his Winnie the Pooh book and loves to do the ABC's on starfall.com His favorite letter is "C" because it has a cat that runs around the screen when you click on it. He laughs and smiles at the cat running and says "t" "t" "t" over and over. I keep trying to get him to say the "c" sound, but he loves the "t". I have not been as good about pictures lately so I only have a few, but I will post more soon!

 Riding the horsey at Amma and Grandpa's house

 Sick little baby, but still managed a smirk

Our little Pooh Bear in his Halloween outfit

9 Months!

Caleb is nine months old! Time is flying by! He has officially hit the separation anxiety stage. He just woke up one morning and no longer found it ok for me to be out of his sight. I must be in range at all times. If I, for any reason, disappear into another room he bursts into tears. He has also become an expert "puller upper". He pulls himself to standing on anything and everything. He overall has a very sweet temperament. He is quick to giggle or smile, but dislikes diaper changes and changing clothes. He wants to be free to move and doesn't like to sit still for either of those activities. He loves feeding himself and playing with his food. Recently, while Ben and Sonya were visiting with the girls, we all went to the beach. It was Caleb's first time in the sand and while he played with it a little bit, he mostly made faces and shuddered when he touched it. Here are some of the latest pictures:

 Staring contest with Piper

 Cute boy!

  At the beach!

 Getting ready to feel the water

 It was cold!

 Feeling the sand

 Hanging with Uncle Ben while McKinley feeds him puffs

 Checking out Uncle Ben

 Eggs all over the place!

 Riding around in boxes is my favorite...

...so is chewing on them!

We have a crawler!

Caleb is crawling! About a week ago he just decided that it was the right time and he is now crawling everywhere. He loves to try to get into cupboards and his favorite spot is the bottom of the stairs. He crawls over to them and pulls himself up on the bottom step. Caleb is also starting to wave to people. It is a cute thing to watch. He has also been trying to copy inflections of people's speech. So fun to see him try to talk. This past weekend, Caleb tried out the pool for the first time. He was not sure what to think at first, he whimpered a little and shivered. After a little bit, he got used to the water and was splashing and kicking his feet. He even rode around in a yellow duck floaty for a little while. It was hard to get pictures of him looking at the camera since he was so busy looking at the water and his cousins swimming and harder still to catch a smile, but there were a few cute ones.

 Hanging out in the kitchen

 Cutie!

 A favorite hangout: the bottom of the stairs

 Standing up!

 Checking out the toes

 Pool time!

 Dada and Caleb!

 Mid-yawn, swimming makes you sleepy

 Saying hi to cousin Haven

He loved playing with the ball!

 Riding in the duck!

 Splashing fun...

...gets in the eyes