Two Statistics

I always thought that the first year flew by but the second was even faster if that is possible.  My little man is at such a fun stage (and exhausting).  He is running around on playgrounds pretty confidently these days. He has zero fear of slides and he loves anything that he can turn including steering wheels and mechanical things.  He loves animals especially: cows, sheep, cats and dogs.  He is learning his colors (yellow/purpler are solid) and using more sentences each day. He loves to 'pretend call' people and is obsessed with video chatting with daddy.  He loves when I sing songs with him.  He loves playing with his friends: Matthew, Henry, & Elli.  He has made several friends at daycare but I don't know their names.  He is pretty decisive. We go out to eat frequently with my parents & siblings; he wants to tell everyone where to sit.  He doesn't like high chairs any more but he doesn't sit still in a booster.  He loves to color and play with playdough.  He loves to hug and say "hug" while doing it. He has become a food critic.  He knows upon sight whether or not he'll like a food and will snub his nose at most meats.  He wants his food to be room temp.  Anything slightly above is "hot" and he won't eat it til it cools.  He wears cloth diapers and tells us when he pooped.  He is always up for making mommy/dad laugh by tickling us.  He is generally very good and caring for Cooper.  He helps give him snacks and the other day just started brushing his hair. He loves to play a toddler app on my phone that he named (fittingly) Pop.  He has to pop things like bubbles, vegetables, animals to win.  It's like a toddler Tetris. He really does help me with the laundry and loves to pick up things on the floor and ask me if they are "trash?" and put them in the trash if I say okay.  He loves to walk and be outside.  He loves wearing hats too.  He is obsessed with shoes and gets upset if you don't put the right ones on.  He favors his boots and gray shoes currently.  He points out shoes and brings them to me and Chris if we aren't wearing ours.  He likes to make me brush my teeth and he likes to suck the toothpaste off his brush. (I am still trying to teach him how to brush his teeth.) All in all, my little red-head is a fun little man.  He has his moments and meltdowns but he sure loves hard.  He is very shy and introverted.  He likes to sit back and take things in. Once he has figured out his surroundings though, he usually jumps right in on the action! See below for recent photos:

Favorites

Food: Mac N Cheese, Grapes, Cheerios, Oatmeal, Yogurt, Raisins, Bread, Milk, Juice boxes, Blueberries, Plum Organic Pouches, Apple sauce, Cheese sticks, "dip", chips, bananas,

Songs: "Stuck Like Glue" "Itsy Bitsy Spider" "Jesus Loves Me"

Shows/Movies: Bubble Guppies; "Cow videos for toddlers on YouTube; Monsters University; How to Train Your Dragon

Toys/Games: "Pop"- Toddler app, ball pit, baby, balls, blocks, play kitchen, firetruck/walker/lawn mower parades; water table, boats, Toot & Otto (Connect 4), train table-choo choos, playdough, sorting shapes, trucks, outdoor truck, water table

Places: Leonhard center, Ambucs Park, Meijer horse, walking in a stroller with Cooper, Meadowbrook

Things he knows

Most frequent words he says: mama, dada, no, Cooper, poop, show, fun, Caleb (yay-ub), yellow (lello), blue (boo), cow, sheep, basically all animals and their sounds, fun, awesome, hooray, gross, "I did it!", hot, up high, please (peas), thank you, help, go, funny, blanket, two, sip, juice, green, orange, red, pink, yucky (ucky), milk, grandma/pa/mom, Papa, Josh, Matthew, Teresa, Ben, slide, bear, doggie, book, diaper, baby, one, two, three, four, cold, bath (baff), towel, phone, "Wake Up", "Night night", Amen, Where'd (insert name) go?, *he never says yes* Q: Caleb do you want Cheerios? A: Cheerios

Colors he knows: purple, pink, red; he can say the rest but gets them confused

Counts to 3

All About Caleb
Wears size 2T shirts and 18-24 month pants
Weight: 26 lbs 26 percentile
Cutting his two year molars
Shoe size: 6-7
Height: 48%

"What happened?"

This title is fitting because not only am I wondering, "Where did the time go? How is my baby turning 23 months?" But also because that seems to be Caleb's favorite phrase this month. Everything is, "What happened?" with this sweet little concerned look on his face when he just doesn't understand something.  It's cute!

I am still amazed at how much more coordinated he is physically.  Today, at 23 months, 6 days, we went to the FCC indoor playground with his cousin, aunt and uncles.  I just loved watching Caleb confidently run up the playground equipment and down the slide and back for more.  He had this happy dance/run all the way back from the slide to the steps.  It was adorable and heart-warming.  Just the last time we went there, he was far more interested in the "little kid" houses and such that are on the outer edges of the playground.

This past month has gone by so fast!  We have had several fun play dates with family/friends.  We did an outing just the other day with Jessi & Elli to Ambucs park and they loved playing on the musical instruments and train!  The slides were a hit too.  We also took Grandpa and Teresa there a week prior and had a blast with them too.  Recently, I had P-T conferences that went til 8 pm and Caleb got to be picked up by grandmom and they played around our house and had a great time. We've enjoyed warmer temps and checked out new parks- we're big fans of Colbert park.  Mostly, because I like that I can swing with him and not have to push!  But Caleb loved all their slides.

We started a new daycare last week.  Caleb had rough mornings but was ready to be with his new friends and eat by lunchtime.  It was refreshing when I picked him up that he greeted me with a smile and told Vicki "bye bye" right away.  No fight to put on shoes or anything.  This has been a huge problem recently when he doesn't want to leave Janice's.  But he seems to be transitioning well so that makes me relieved.

We also just did my annual Ducks N Bunny and boy do I have some cute photos to show from that. Those will have to wait until after Easter though!

Also he is getting really good at shapes and knows the color purple!  He is saying more and more but one of my favorites is how he says "Teresa".  See clip... Teresa Speaking of which, she took him to an egg hunt when I was doing pictures and I could tell they had a good time!

Some phone photo highlights:

22 months

Caleb is learning so many words- he has a new one daily!

Today he came up and handed me a yellow ball and proudly told me it was yellow!  I was impressed! He is a great sharer and generally an awesome listener! He loves kitties, balls, especially tiny ones and readily gives out high fives.  He is not a fan of cold weather, hot food, or leaving places until he is ready.  He has a great throwing arm and is very sensitive to other kids' feelings around him.  He is a huge fan of his cousin Matthew and his friend Henry.  He loves to sing and pray (especially the holding hands part).  He loves doing 'follow the leader' things- especially when he is the leader of the group.  His favorite shows are Daniel Tiger and How to Train Your Dragon.  He loves getting shoes on but hates diaper changes.  He is quite good at magnet blocks and Mega Bloks.  He likes playing drums and eating food!  He eats nearly everything we eat.  The other day I had made him a separate meal because he tends not to eat too many meat and veggies.  He insisted that he wanted what we had (chicken fajitas) so I made him a small one, inserted a toothpick, and lo', he ate practically the whole thing.  He loves his "baby" and carries it everywhere.  He does even like watching me give her diaper "changes" which helps him to lay better for his own.  We recently got some Hexbug nanos and aquabot fish and he loves them.   He carried them all over the house.  When it is bath time, I ask him what "fishy" is doing and he runs up the stairs to check it out.

He has learned many body parts including: head, shoulders, knees and feet! ;-)  He can name the eyes, ears, nose, mouth, hair, head, cheeks, belly button and teeth too!

This month he got his first haircut.  I thought I would cry missing his cute little curls but he looks so handsome and grown up that I wasn't sad at all.  He cried the whole time but sat perfectly still so I was happy.

Other fun things that happened earlier this month were celebrating grandpa's birthday at a his house and he got to play with Garfield and Sylvester- their cats- We also got to party at a Mexican restaurant for Aunt Christina's birthday.  Caleb & Matthew ran around and Aunt Christina got a sombrero!

Other notes: Caleb loves shopping at Meijer cuz he gets to ride Sandy.  He is fearless when it comes to slides.