Cute things from a 2 1/2 year old

This post is way overdue. In fact, I have wanted to do this for months and now I am sure I will leave tons of cute Adam-isms out. But the fact is, my little Adam is quickly approaching 3! It is hard to believe. He is so fun, that I'd like to be able to remember every little thing that comes out of his mouth; he is at an age where he is so much more vocal, learning new words and phrases and asking questions like crazy. I have a little notebook on my bedside table where I try to write down some of the cute things he says so I won't forget them. He reasons with us, perhaps even more than we would like, and says some of the cutest, funniest things. He is a sweet, sweet boy.

He is a playful, fun boy, who loves to be outside, and loves to pretend play.

He is a loving, protective big brother.

He is lovable, squeezable, and kind.

More big brother role...

He is funny, and I love when he thinks things are silly, or says, "You're silly, Mommy!"

He's a big helper, and will work hard (at least for a few minutes!) on anything you want him to if he thinks he is helping. If you say, "You're a good helper, Adam", he says, "Um-hmmm, I AM!".

Workin' hard

He loves to play, and plays hard. It helps a lot to have a new playmate now that

Caleb is mobile.

Look out! He is a spy in training!

I know it won't be long that we will be talking about planning a birthday, but I love this age, even though he's 2. Sure, he tests us and pushes his limits, but he is a wonderful 2 year old, and we are very thankful to be part of this special boy's life.

Happy first birthday Caleb!

Happy Birthday Baby! This morning made me think back to one year ago today, when we woke up extra early and went to the hospital to meet our second baby boy. Now, it's difficult to remember what our life was like without him. He has blessed our family so much!

This morning, Caleb waiting patiently for breakfast. I think he looks so tall here!

This afternoon we took the boys to Monkey Joe's and they had a blast!

Caleb had a great time exploring all the jumps!

Bouncy bouncy bounce!

Time out for a carousel ride

Adam got a sticky eyeball toy and thought it was hilarious! Boys will be boys, I guess!

Adam was brave on the big slides!

They were so tired by the time we got in the car - they should sleep great tonight!

It's great to be one!

Father's Day 2011

We had a great Father's Day!

Adam gave Daddy the surprise that he made for him at daycare -

it's a colorful rock that says, "Our Dad Rocks". They had more surprises for him, too.

These two baby boys are blessed with a wonderful daddy!

Our plan was to go play putt putt, but we had bit of rain so when we got there, the course was closed. Instead, we had some fun on the huge playground nearby.

Slip-sliding!

Here we are with my dad, or "E-dad" as Adam calls him. (No idea how that happened!)

Here's Pop Pop with his 3 boys.

We are thankful for great fathers and grandfathers in our family!

Day at the Lake

Here's some pictures I've been wanting to share. Back in June, we had a fun trip to the lake! This was the boys' first time on a boat, and it was a beautiful day to be out and about on the water.

Don't be jealous of my hair.

This is David's great aunt who we visited. She is a firecracker! She is a fisher-woman, and lives right on the lake, so it was her boat we were able to ride. A few months ago, she visited us in Lex and invited us down, so we took her up on her offer and had a great day. She can cook up a good, country meal too!

We did some swimming as well, and Adam really liked climbing up the ladder, so he would be brave getting in just to be able to climb out again. He is so funny!

Here are the boys with Lan and Pop Pop on the boat. They don't look ready to swim, do they? We wondered how Caleb would tolerate the infant life vest since it had the big contraption behind his head, etc. Well, he kicked back and went right to sleep. He loved the hum of the boat and the wind on his face, apparently!

Back at the dock, Adam tried out his new Snoopy fishing pole. It had a plastic, orange fish attached, so he was successful every time!

Here's the little monster once he woke up. How cool is he?

Caleb: 11 months

One more month to go! Caleb turned 11 months at the end of June. Look at this little face, isn't it irresistible? Caleb is so fun these days! He is interacting more with everyone, and especially loves chasing Adam around the loop inside our house. He has a great laugh, and thinks that anything Adam does is interesting and funny! He now has two top teeth (not the front ones, but the ones on each side of those), as well as two bottom teeth coming in. He's weighs ~25 lbs, and is wearing 12 month clothes, size 4 diapers, and size 4/5 shoes. His hair continues to become a little lighter brown, and his eyes are becoming an interesting brown. He is a cuddle bug! He loves to play with the same favorite toys, but since he is now really mobile, he loves to explore and try out other toys in the toy room too. He still eats baby food, but his preferences have changed some as he likes to eat finger food now.

Caleb is "always happy" per Adam! Here he is smiling after a good day on Norris Lake.

Let me see that thing up close, Mommy!

This may be his favorite thing - swinging! It always causes great smiles!

Watching Daddy mow the grass before bedtime.

We love our baby boy!

Caleb 10 months

Caleb at 10 months

Doesn't this look grown up?

Here he is just learning to pull up. He's much better at it now!

Action shot of Caleb getting into his crawl mode!

My little boy became a whole new baby this month! Within a short period of time, Caleb learned to crawl, pull up, eat a little table food, and got his first tooth! I am amazed by how much it seems he has grown up!

This month, Caleb weighs 23 lbs and 9 oz.  He wears size 4 diapers, size 4 shoes, and 12 month clothes. His hair is now a medium brown, though much lighter than it was before, and his eyes are a dark gray-brown now. He has an adorable tooth-less grin, but we know there's one razor-sharp tooth in there and more on their way.

He sleeps pretty good, usually waking once unless he is fussy over teething, and most of the time if you let him know you're still around he'll fall back to sleep. He is a big eater - often putting away two containers of #2 foods with some cereal or oatmeal. He still has 3-4 bottles each day. He loves the Exersaucer these days, but also loves the ball popper and musical table, puzzle pieces, and anything Adam is playing with (sorry Adam).

Caleb says "Ma-ma", "Da-da" and can mimic a few other noises, but he is pretty vocal on his own. He loves to clap (new trick), and will do this if you say, "Yeeaaaa Caleb!" (I confess to using this a lot for pictures, but whatever works...) He likes to clap and sometimes "dances" to music, usually the music from Adam's cartoons.

This month he also took his first airplane ride on his way to his first beach trip.

Caleb, we love you so much!

Beach, Sand, Planes, and Fun!! Part 3 - the Pool!

So after a two-week teaser, I may have finished our vacation posts. Maybe. At least until I realize that I left something out that I wanted to share.

You know what would be a good solution for that? Lists. There are days I really like lists, especially in the mornings. I get out my notepad and pen (aren't new ones the best...inspiring!) and write out what I want to work on for the day. Not too much, or I feel bad later when I can't get it all done, but a realistic list. It feels good to stay on track and get stuff done.

But there are some times when the thought of a list wears me out. I am sure this says something about my personality, but I'm not sure what. Maybe it coincides with me liking organization but having trouble keeping up with my own organization rules. Life is just busy, these days. Anyway, I think I started off all that because what I really wanted to say was that if I'd made a list of the major things I wanted to talk about, then I'd know for sure if this is the last vacation post. Or what exactly I wanted to say in this one (perhaps a little more to the point - haha!) But I didn't. It just wasn't a list day.

My little Adam ended up loving the pool as well as the beach, and this was wonderful to me. Last year he kinda liked the pool, but we didn't get to go that much, and he was a handful for me at 8 months and 9 months pregnant, so I really was anxious for pool time this year.



My little peanut was pretty playful

Thank goodness for this ball Mr. Tim let us have. It really made for a fun game of throwing the ball in, then getting Mommy or Daddy to take him to go get it.

My three boys

I love new experiences!

Again, vacation was so fun. Can we go back already?

Beach, Sand, Planes, and Fun! Part 2 - the Beach

Adam was a bit unsure about the beach and the ocean. The first day, after traveling most of the day, getting to our villa, and changing to beach clothes, we get all four of us out to the beach, play in the sand for a few minutes, and then Adam says, "I want to go home." Ahhhhhhh!!!! It took him awhile to get used to all the sand....rather, to figure out how to get the sane off his hands when it bothered him. As for the ocean, well, it's by far the biggest thing he has ever seen, so it is pretty scary. I want him to have a healthy fear of these things, but it took a few days before Adam would go far enough to get his feet wet.

Naturally, he felt safe when Daddy was with him.

Playing in sand...

Caleb, despite mastering his crawling skills during the week of vacation, was pretty content to sit inside the beach tent. A sandy beach is pretty tough place for a crawling, thumb-sucker!

Our friends the Andersons went on the trip with us, so there were actually FOUR little boys on our trip! Dustin and Adam were good buddies, and they had a lot of fun tackling new adventures together.

This is on the last day, when Adam decided the shallow water was okay. Who can resist building towers that the waves will knock down?

I am quite proud of us for preventing sunburn on our fair skin babies!

One of the favorite beach games was scooping sand into buckets of water.

Sometimes, a boy's gotta take a break to re-energize. You just have to make sure no one steals your sippy cup or your sunglasses.

Caleb is like his Mama - he likes to take a good nap on the beach!

Sleeping with the breeze!