Hey all! We hope that this finds each of you well. We are all doing well here and finally enjoying some nice weather - we hope it stays around for a while!
It's hard to believe it, but Caleb is 10 months old already! He's changing every day and it is so fun to watch him learn and grow. Every day there seems to be something new.
The other day we were crawling around on the floor together playing with a red soccer ball he got for Christmas and it was as if he actually understood that he was playing with a ball. In fact, at one point after we had been playing with another toy I asked "Where's the ball?" Caleb looked at me, then looked around, looked at me again with this sort of "Ya, where is the ball?" look on his face. He sat down on the floor and crawled around until he found the ball. He took the ball in his hands after I clapped for his successful mission and he lifted it in the air and said, "Ba." It was amazing.
So, that's officially his first word that we think he actually understands. He says "mama" and "dada," but he doesn't know who's who or what's what with those words yet.
He's crawling everywhere of course and becoming more and more sturdy. It is so fun to watch his personality starting to come out a little. It is easy to tell when his mind is working and he's really trying to figure something out.
He's become more and more emotional in the last couple of weeks now that he is starting to better understand what he wants - such as when he's hungry, or tired, or when he wants us to pick him up or give him some thing. Ahh the joys of parenting, eh? I know, I know, some of you are saying - just wait till he becomes a teenager. Believe me, we will!
He still puts everything in his mouth. Now that he's crawling and getting into everything, it is amazing to see what he finds on the floor - things not visible to the human eye!
We keep thinking
that the next time he smiles we're going to see a little tooth, but we're still waiting for that day. Yup, 10 months old and not one tooth yet!
The latest "milestone" in our lives is Caleb standing!
Like I said, he's becoming more and more sturdy and he can balance himself standing when he's up to it. He probably stood for close to 10 seconds today! He kind of hunkers down, gets a really focused look on his face, and really tries! It's pretty cute. We tried to capture it on camera, but couldn't quite get the timing down. When he realizes that he's actually standing by himself his eyes get really big and he smiles and then once he moves his head around it's all over - he plops to the ground, but wants to grab our hands to try again.
Last weekend was a good weekend for us. On Friday night Joye and I got a babysitter for the first time. We've had family watch Caleb a bunch (and we love them for that!), but this was the first time we've actually had a babysitter come to our house and watch Caleb.
We got to go to a play (Aladdin) put on by one of the local high schools and had a great time. On Saturday morning Johnny got to go golfing with some buddies and that afternoon and evening Joye went shopping and had dinner with some girlfriends. Caleb got to spend some time with Grandma and Papa Deakins and then spent some time with his good friend Miles.
All in all our life is a real adventure still. Caleb keeps us busy all the time, and we are growing as a family every day.
Sorry for not updating this blog very often as of late, but this should catch you up at least a little. We love you all!
Peace,
JJC
He cruises up the stairs. It's the getting down part we're worried about!
One of his new favorite things to do is to take the magnet off, and put it back on, off, on, off, on...simple things amuse simple minds.
Caleb helped put the flag up on Memorial Day.
All smiles at the door.
