22 Months

Caleb turned 22 months a couple of days ago. Things have been kind of busy lately as I am trying to learn all that I can about photography. I recently got a new camera and lens and I'm super excited to learn more and more- so I've been trying to soak up as much as I can in as many forums as I can, while still maintaining my responsibilities as a wife and mother- which mostly means that I've been staying up late at night reading and practicing... but this post isn't really about me, is it? It is about the C-man. 

Let's see, there really isn't much that happened this past month that I didn't already blog about. 

I'm not sure how much he weighs or how tall he is right now, but I am thinking that he recently had a little bit of a growth spurt because he's fitting into some of his clothes better. 

Caleb got his first haircut this past month. He did a GREAT job while the stylist cut his hair. Now he looks like a little boy. It took some getting used to, but I'm loving it now and I think he likes it better, too... it definitely knots up less in the back now. 

He talks all of the time now and repeats everything, and I mean everything. It's so fun! He really is learning a ton. He still uses mostly one-word phrases, but sometimes two words. The other day, we came home and Jeff was already home so when he got home, he said, "Hi Daddy!" It was the first time he independently said that. Too cute! 

He is labeling things in books all of the time now. He loves to read books and will sit there and "read" to himself. He will ask Jeff or me to read to him and he'll label what he sees. 

He's learning colors. He likes to name colors, though he's not always correct. He gets "green" and "blue" right a lot. 

He is awesome at singing and can sing several songs including: Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, I've Been Working on the Railroad, You are my Sunshine, Amazing Grace, When I am Baptized, ABCs, and Overture/Work Song from Les Miserables. It's pretty much adorable listening to him sing along. One night, I was singing "You are My Sunshine" and he just started singing along and then I realized that he knew a lot more songs. I think he's gonna be an awesome singer. 

Caleb likes to point to things around the house and name them. When he learns/hears a new word, he likes to say it over and over again. 

When he does something that he thinks is awesome, he wants to make sure you see it. So he'll call my name and then do what he wanted to do. Like, he'll get my attention before covering his mouth when he coughs or before kissing Adelaide on the head.

He only uses the "please" sign anymore. 

He's super excited that the weather has been warmer and loves to ask to go for walks. 

He knows lots of animal sounds: cat, dog, horse, cow, rooster, frog, owl.

He can label animals: cat, dog, mouse, horse, cow, sheep, fish, horse, owl.

He labels (and asks for) common items/people/body parts: t.v., computer, phone, chair, swing, door, sofa, book, ball, wagon, vacuum, Jesus, mouth, nose, eye, ear, knee, toes, hand, car, truck, bus, cookie, orange, banana, apple, potato, shoes, pacifier, peas, oatmeal, potty, bathroom, shower, outside, green beans, applesauce, apple juice, nem (milk), fork,  etc. (though admittedly, unfamiliar people may not be able to recognize all of these words).

He can label his aunts and uncles when looking at pictures of them (on both sides of the family). 

If he sees something that belongs to Jeff or me, he will point to it and say, "Daddy's" or "Mommy's". 

He loves his friends and his cousins and loves playing with them. 

I don't know if I mentioned this before or not, but if you can get him to "take a deep breath" when he's upset, he'll calm right down. 

He is so sweet and has been super, super affectionate lately, giving lots of unsolicited, but very welcome hugs and kisses. He loves to read to Adelaide and give her kisses. 

Life is pretty good these days. Caleb is an awesome boy, just growing and learning so much all of the time. He's such a fun and delightful toddler. We just love him to pieces. 

I love his giggle fits.

Playing ball with his friend Tabetha.

Sometimes life is just so tiring. 

I love it when they talk to each other and Adelaide smiles at her big brother.

He's always trying to give her her pacifier even when she doesn't want it.

Pinching her cheeks, maybe?

Napping with his cousin. 

First haircut in a salon. 2nd haircut ever.

Wearing the same outfit that his daddy wore when he was a toddler.

Wearing another same outfit that his daddy wore.

"Vacation" to Williamsburg

We had a mini vacation to Williamsburg this past weekend. It didn't turn out how I had hoped at all, but overall, we still had fun. I am learning that it takes twice as long to do anything with kids. We didn't really worry about naps or anything, we just let the kids sleep when they fell asleep, but it takes longer to get both kids ready and we have to make sure they eat.

 For some reason, Caleb was pretty fussy this weekend, especially on Friday and he gave us a run for our money. We couldn't decide if we were going to purchase a ticket at Williamsburg so that we could go into Revolutionary City and check out all of the museums/homes. We wanted to see all of those things but we weren't sure how Caleb would do. Also, there was a 70 percent chance of rain and so we thought maybe it would be a good idea to purchase tickets so we could go inside while it rained. However, it rained just before we got there and that was pretty much it- it wasn't too muddy or anything either. And Caleb just wanted to run around and so in the end, we decided not to purchase any tickets.  It was a beautiful and hot day, but there was a nice breeze that helped us to stay cool. We lathered Caleb up with sunscreen and covered up Adelaide and headed out.  We put Adelaide in the double stroller for the first time and she seemed to like it. Okay, well she slept pretty much all day. I didn't want her to get overheated or sunburned- so that was tricky. I had to keep track of the time to make sure she ate every couple of hours so she wouldn't get deydrated because she really did just sleep a lot and I mean a lot, like the entire time. I was grateful for the double stroller, because though I do like to "wear" her, it was really hot and I think we both would have just been too hot and sweaty. :) 

It proved to be a good decision not to purchase the tickets as Caleb just wanted to run around. He really enjoyed being able to run around in the grass, the sidewalk, the street. He thought it was funny to have Jeff chase after him. He had a fabulous time and got to burn tons of energy (you know, after being cooped up in the car for a whole hour!)

Oops! Too close!

sunscreening it up!

So Friday, we just walked around Williamsburg, took in all of the scenery and fresh air.

Caleb loved all of the rain puddles everywhere!

Cool kid!

Governor's palace.

Caleb running from Jeff and Jeff running to catch him.

My sleepy girl.

Running again.

Checking out the sheep.

Caleb's kind of throwing a fit here- this house is the most haunted of the homes in Williamsburg. 

I took a break to nurse here- and Caleb almost got trampled by this horse while Jeff grabbed a photo.

So Jeff and Caleb went to pet the horse. 

I got my feet stuck in here. I couldn't get the thing opened by myself. Jeff laughed and video recorded me trying for awhile before coming to my rescue. :)

This was one of Caleb's favorite spots. He really enjoyed running around and around. 

Running away again.

Caleb couldn't keep his eyes off of her. I don't know what it was. 

Still sleeping.

My handsome man looks so good in that fancy hat! :)

Then when Jeff and Caleb just couldn't take it anymore- Caleb was overtired and pretty cranky, we headed to the hotel. We decided to go for a little swim. Caleb hadn't been in a pool since last summer. The water was maybe a bit too cold and he seemed to be a little frightened (or maybe it really was that it was too cold). Adelaide and I just sat on the side of the pool. I stuck my feet in which felt really good. I stuck Adelaide's feet in. She did not appreciate that.

Jeff and Caleb also tried out the hot tub. We didn't stay too long because Caleb wasn't super interested. It was a nice little break from the heat though.

Testing out the waters.

I love these two.

Experimenting with the echo.

Did not appreciate having her feet in the water. 

Bubble bum!

A big yawn after a long day of... sleeping. 

 

Then we headed back out to Williamsburg for a ghost tour. I didn't bring my camera because I thought, "What pictures would I be able to get in the dark?" But, I sure wish I did have it with me. Oh well. When we first started, Adelaide was awake in the stroller, so was Caleb. Adelaide was so cute, because this was her first time awake in the stroller. I wish I had had my camera to take a picture of her looking up. It was adorable. Anyway, she soon got fussy, so we took her out and Jeff held her for a bit, while I pushed the stroller. Caleb fell asleep at our first stop on William and Mary's college campus. Adelaide fell asleep and we put her back into the stroller. She was okay for a bit, but then woke up again. So we took her out and I carried her in my wrap. She was content there and fell asleep and then woke up and I nursed her and then Jeff carried her again and she fell asleep in his arms.


The tour was supposed to be an hour and a half long, but it ended up being about 2 hours and 15 minutes long. It was really fun. The tour guide gave us a bit of history and shared with us the ghost stories of L.B. Taylor. Most of it really was filled with historical information, rather than ghost stories, but I really enjoyed it still and thought that our tour guide did a great job. There were a couple of ghost stories that left me a little unrattled, but nothing really scary. The history was the best part. There was also some heat lightening which added to the affect.


Saturday, we headed to Jamestown. We had wanted to go to the Jamestown Settlement, but without realizing it, went to Historical Jamestown. We spent the day there and realized that we didn't get to see the ships or the teepees or anything like what you see in the brochures. We headed to the glass house, which was pretty cool. Then, after asking someone, realized that we passed Jamestown settlement (which is where the ships are) on the way in. So we stopped there, only to realize that they close at 5- it was already 4- and that it would take about 3 hours to see everything. We didn't want to pay $16 per person to not get to see everything, so we opted out of that. We had also wanted to go to Yorktown, but that, too, closed at 5. So, instead we headed back to Colonial Williamsburg and walked around a bit and had dinner at the DOG- I really wanted a burger and then ended our "vacation".

It was fun. I do want to go back to Jamestown and Yorktown though. So hopefully, we'll make that happen soon! :)

 

John Rolfe- he was sooo good! :)

Keeping Caleb entertained while we learned from John Rolfe. 

The James River.

John Rolfe explaining how the colonists survived (and didn't survive) in the year 1621.

Jeff wearing Caleb's sunglasses.

Caleb got out of the stroller and ran around.

Adelaide and I sat down after awhile while listening to John Rolfe. She was sleeping so I lay her down on my lap. 

I LOVE that squishy face. 

Caleb brought me this "flower".

Here he is running to bring me another flower.

Caleb insisted on holding Adelaide- I don't think she liked it too much. 

My babies love their daddy.  :)

Caleb enjoying a peanut butter sandwich.

Adelaide sleeping during lunch.

I love his peanut butter mustache.

We went to the Archaeaum and both kiddos slept. 

I really love sleeping faces and I love Caleb's eyelashes!

So when we were leaving Jamestown, we saw a bunch of people looking up and saw this- an eagle's nest. 

Then we saw this eagle! So cool!!

The glass house.

Back at Williamsburg- Can you see the images? (There are three).

Church steeple

Waiting for dinner. 

Haha- our faces in this one!

Caleb's in this new phase where he likes to pull people along- usually with by their hands, but sometimes he'll go for whatever he can, in this case, Jeff's pants leg. 

Adelaide enjoying a little dinner right before I meal came out. 

Caleb coloring. 

While we were waiting for our dinner, they brought out bread. Jeff buttered Caleb's bread and I guess he didn't want to touch it, so this is how he ate it. 

Well, that concludes our trip!! :)