Thursday, November 1, 2012

September 2012

Fall is family season here. As the weather cools down and the leaves begin to turn, we find our Florida family members migrate north to escape the heat for a while and visit. This month was no different. We were blessed to be visited by both David's brother Brian, his wife Amy and their son Zachary and my Mom. There were way too many photos from each trip to do them justice here, but these two are my favorites from each visit:
Caleb giving his cousin a ride on the train.

Granny kisses!

Fall also brings extra yard work to prepare for winter. Over Labor day weekend, we weeded a large flower bed that had gotten out of control. Caleb filled up his big sandbox bucket and took load after load to our yard debris pile for us. I think he may be ready for his own small garden patch next year!






Caleb's language has really been developing hand in hand with his play times. It's inspiring to see first hand why play is such an important part of child development. One day, Caleb said "green block" as he chose one to "cut" my hair with. He likes to make the "Bzzz" sound of clippers. Then, later when I was swinging him in the tree he wanted to swing high enough to touch the leaves. He kept trying and asking "touch, touch". When I said I couldn't push him high enough he kept asking for "daddy, daddy". So precious.

Curls!

He also began "reading" books to himself this month. He did an especially great job reading the Pat the Bunny book! The minibook inside was the most amazing part. He opened it up said "tock, tock, tock" on the clock page, "BIG" (for the soooo big part), "nummy" for the food, and "shhh" for the sleep. I can't believe we're already at an age where we can both sit on the couch and be reading different books.

Caleb has been learning to share mommy this month with an adorable little boy, also named Caleb who I'm watching 2 days per week. It's definitely been an adjustment for him.We've seen a few new-sibling-on-the-scene type regressions like wanting to chew on everything or be fed with a spoon. Still, I think he also secretly likes having a baby to take care of. He loves to bring Baby Caleb puzzles and toys to play with. After a few days of having little Caleb over, my Caleb looked at him, pointed, and said, "Buddy!" It was priceless.

This isn't actually him acting like a baby. That's a "banana" he's eating as he sits around the lego table he asked mommy to build. He's using the single duplos as "people". I love his imagination!

Two Calebs. Buds.
For my part, I have really enjoyed having two little ones to snuggle with. I was definitely intimidated by watching two, but for the most part, it's been easier than expected. It's amazing how much confidence two years of parenting experience has given me and Baby Caleb is one very happy, chilled out little guy. It's made me even more excited for the day we add a second Gainey, either via birth or adoption.

Caleb said his first prayer this month. He always asks the two of us to pray at each meal and at night before bed, but one day, he wanted to pray too. So, in repeat-after-me style we helped him pray, "Jesus. Thank you. Amen." Simple and from the heart.

Like any house with a toddler in it, we have our ups and downs. Like most toddlers, Caleb thrives on routine. He loooves to know what's coming and know what is expected of him. He tends to stick to routines very rigidly, which is typically nice for us as parents. For instance, we recently started putting him to sleep with a blanket. We told him he needed to stay under it to keep warm. He loooves his blanket, and once he's under you'd think it was a lead-weight immobilization device. He doesn't stand up again until we come and get him. He falls asleep faster and we're going to save on the heat bill this year! Score for Mom and Dad.


On the other hand, that same rigidity can create some challenges. Not all the routines he sticks to are ones we create. For instance, he got into a night time routine of running away when David said it was time to get undressed for bath time. Being the first time rookie parents we are, we thought it was cute at first. A little game of chase before tub time (all the seasoned parents are snickering). Now, it's a full blown battle to make the transition from dressed to naked. Our usually compliant guy got in the routine of disobeying and now he's having trouble breaking out, even though it's clear he doesn't like how things are going either. We've been working on it and it's slowly getting better, thankfully for us all!

At the very end of September we celebrated David's birthday with funfetti, wonderful friends and minigolf. I still want to pinch myself every time I really stop and think about the wonderful man God has blessed me with. It's easy to take each other forgranted. I'm so thankful for birthdays, anniversaries, and all the other times that make us stop and really think about the joy the other person brings to our lives.




Best Buds