Lesson Learned

I often tell the boys to hurry and put your seatbelt on because if the police officer sees you without a belt then he'll be upset with me.  Today when I reminded Caleb of this he said, "that would be sad if they took you away.  Because, did you know that police officers always take away the beautiful girls and moms and the handsome boys and dads?"  "Are the police officers going to take me away?"  "No."

Never fish for a compliment from your 4-year-old.

Also...

My babies are dang cute!!!  And Paul takes great pictures!

The Rick and Kari grand-babies.

Luke (6), Perry (2 mo), Henry (1), Greta (1), and Caleb (4)

The Rick and Kari Family (December 2010)

10 happy and very eventful years!  Still love him lots!

Little Jerk!

I said, "Caleb, get down here now or you're gonna be on the naughty list."

Caleb said, "Well M-ahhhhh-m, Luke and me are already on the naughty list so..." (I'll come down when I want to come down.)

Little jerk!

Blue Cheese

At the grocery store the other day I said to Caleb, "We just need to get some blue cheese and then we're done."  In shock and with huge eyes he says, "There's BLUE cheese in the this REAL LIVE WORLD?!"  Which reminds me...when we were moving so often during grad school Luke used to ask, "What's THIS world called?"  Referring to Pennsylvania, or Utah, or Mexico.  I guess Mexico does seem like a different world.

To Post or Not to Post

Our blog is not private so sometimes I worry about the thoughts of people who don't know us and our values.  But whatever!  Here's the story.

When we moved in I hung some curtains in the kitchen to cover the sliding glass door.  I was worried the boys would get chasing each other around the table (or whatever riotous behavior) and yank the curtain rod out of the wall.  Ben told them that if they touched the curtain he would cut their finger off.  Then he showed them the detached thumb trick (ya know the one?) and told them when he was little he pulled on Grandma Rollins curtains.

Now every time they swish past the curtain they begin to whimper in a sort of "I don't think mom or dad would do that...or would they?"  Yea, they're adequately confused and we're bad parents.

The Passionate One

Thanks to Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, Caleb now sings...

"All the single ladies, all the single ladies,

All the single ladies, all the single ladies"

It's quite funny! If only we could get him to do the Beyonce rump shake!

Caleb is so far my most passionate child, giving me spontaeous hugs and kisses while telling me how much he loves me and then hours later yelling, "I hate you!" because I told him he couldn't have a third donut.

Now...how do I channel that passion toward the right things???

And He Said...

Yesterday Caleb was given a CTR (Choose The Right) ring in church.  He came out of his class and told Ben, "today we got rings but we didn't get married."

I'm glad to hear primary teachers aren't betrothing sunbeams to each other.

Dang you, Caleb!

Recently, Caleb has had a poop problem. He's had a little rash (what the pediatrician diagnosed yesterday as a strep A infection) around his bum hole which makes pooping pretty painful and bloody. (sorry) And so, he will hold his poop for as long as it will hold and then unload in his pants, and sometimes in the potty. (Sorry again, I have to set up the story.) Although I feel bad it hurts him to poop it's got to come out one way or another so can he please put it in the potty!?!

A week or so ago I was at lunch with my grandma who was visiting, my aunt, my mom, her friend, and Caleb. Before getting there my grandma had bought Caleb some little figure guys and he took them into the restaurant to play with. At the end of the meal Caleb began doing his poop dance which I've come to recognize and loathe. I took him to the potty where he peed and then refused to poop saying, "see mom, there's no poop." He was even holding his little legs together in order to keep his cheeks together and keep the poop in. I told him that I was going to have to take his new toys until he could put his poop in the potty. The stink said while sitting on the potty and squeezing, "I want you to. I want you to take my toys!" Fine.

We went back to the table where he immediately took his toys and threw them across the table at me. He didn't poop until later that day.

Last week on an especially frustrating day on and off the potty. He says to me from the couch, "the quickest way to stop poop is to sit on a pillow." What?? He sits on a pillow and sort of bounces up and down until the 'pains' stop and then he'll go play again until finally...the poop has no choice but to...

We finally got some medicated cream and an antibiotic to clear all this up and hopefully resume a normal bowel movement. Geez, I thought I was done cleaning up his rear.

Caleb Quotes of the week

While holding a Newberry Award Winning library book, you know, the ones with the gold sticker on them...

Caleb: Mom, can you get this chocwit penny out for me?



Church Nursery Leader: What's your name?
Caleb: Caweb

A little later...

Church Nursery Leader: What's your name again?
Caleb: Caweb

A little later...

Church Nursery Leader: What's your name again?
Caleb: (yelling & irritated) Caweb! James! Wowins!!!

Thanks to the Nursery Leader for telling me that one.

Lion Head

Caleb's mane of hair, intensity, and stubbornness has earned him the name "Lion Head" in our house.

In PA we only had 3 binkis, so imagine Caleb's excitement when he came home to NY and found 10!!! It was simple when we decided to snatch Luke's binki. We were moving (surprise, surprise) and we told him they were all packed up in the boxes. He said, "Oh." And that was it.

Things will not go so smoothly when we finally decide to take Caleb's. He is absolutely more stubborn than Luke. Caleb pulls the baby BS tantrum...let me explain.

Luke seems to understand logic, or at least accept it (even when he was younger). He asks for a drink in the car, we tell him we don't have one and that we'll get one when we stop. He might whine for a minute, but then says "okay." Caleb will ask for a drink, we tell him the same thing, and he screams as if you'd just told him there was no water left on the planet. As if to say, "that's a bunch of bs and I know there is a sippy cup in your bag that you're to lazy to search for and pass back to a thirsty boy."

Also, we've always been able to get Luke to eat things that are good for him by promising him treats afterwards. Caleb will pitch a screaming fit and then, after determining I'm serious about not giving him the treats without bites of healthy food (sometimes up to 30 minutes later), he will simply walk away from all of it. Treats and all. Little stinker!! This would explain his slender frame. I swear we feed him, or at least provide food...

Lastly, so that you can all have a vivid picture of this determined little boy, one funny story. When my parents were visiting we toured an old mansion with actual artifacts that shouldn't be touched. Torture to any 2 year old. I was holding him because he was getting a little too friendly with some of the artifacts and he wasn't happy. He wanted "DOWN." I finally let him down because I was exhausted from carrying a struggling boy and as he was walking away from me he turned around and sort of squatted. He extended one arm with a fist at me and with a mean face he gave a big throaty growl. This happened a few more times just to make sure I really knew he was ticked with me. So funny, only because he's still 2!


The kid has spunk!! That's a good thing, right??