Caleb is Almost 2!

Wow. I knew I was really behind in doing an update post for Caleb, but I didn't realize I hadn't done one since JANUARY. Yikes! He has changed a LOT since then. Here are some updates (at least, the ones I can think of right now!):

-He's talking up a storm. Definitely in that "parrot" stage where he'll say (or try to say) just about anything to ask him, too. He can't always make all the sounds properly, so sometimes it sounds like he's sort of talking in syllables. Here are some of my favorite recent phrases:

• "Mommy, OK?" or "OK, Mommy?" - he says this if he thinks someone is hurt or if they say "oops" or something like that...he's very concerned. :-)
• "Get me out! Get me out!" - (sounds like "geh mih ouT!") he picked this up from a Thomas the Tank Engine movie we've been watching where Gordon gets stuck in a ditch and will say it if he's stuck somewhere.
• "How 'booouuuut....." - he says this when he's making a suggestion, like which song we should sing next when I'm putting him to bed.
• "Awww mannnnn." - this is something he says when he gets frustrated - cracks us up.
• "uss youuu" (love you)
• "I do it." - pretty self-explanatory :-)
• "Ah wan..." (I don't want____)
• "Eye keem come!" (ice cream truck is coming)
• "Adieu" - (hold you....not "farewell in another language :-))
• "W' happen'?" (what happened?)
• "Nah wuhking" (not working)
• "Waya AHH uuuuu?" (where are you?)
• "Ah n knoW!" (i don't know - his response when we ask him where something is)
• "I did't!" (I did it!)

-Gabe taught him how to pray before meals. He says something like this: "Desus wu me Desus Amen." (Jesus loves me Jesus Amen.) It's super sweet. I also love watching Gabe teach him things.

-Loves kicking a ball and is really good at it! I should look for some tot soccer classes.

-He ADORES his big brother and imitates him on a daily basis. If Gabe dances, Caleb dances. If Gabe is riding his bike, Caleb is riding his bike (and if Gabe stops, he stops). If Gabe is jumping on the cushoins, Caleb is jumping on the cushoins. I really love this.

-He has this super whiny voice sometimes, like "mOmmmmmYYYYYY!"

- Speaking of imitation, Caleb also tries to "pee" when he sees Gabe going sometime. Gabe has tried to teach him a couple times while we've been getting ready for a bath. Caleb will walk up to the toilet and hold his shirt up, stick his belly out and pretend he's going. One night Gabe got him all set up at the toilet and shut the bathroom door, telling us that Caleb "needs privacy." To humor him, we all stood in the upstairs hall in silence, and then slowly opened the door to find a little dribble on the floor! If only he was a little taller.....

- Still loves his "day day" (blankie) and sleeps with it for naps and nigh-nigh.

- Ummmm....still having the bottle. I'm all set to cut him off at 2, though (next Tuesday!). Ironically, just this week, he'll finish his bottle at bedtime and say "mo' ba ba, mommy" and then totally down another. And, twice this week he's woken up in the middle of the night and asked for a baba. Oops. Go figure.

-He has moved from hats (though he still loves wearing them) to shoes. Particularly Gabe's Buzz Lightyear light-up shoes. There have been times where he has literally taken them off Gabe's feet to put them on. They are huge on him, but he loves putting them on and taking them off. Same can be said for any shoes he finds, really.

-His naps are about 3 hours now, which is leading to a later bedtime of around 8:30, sometimes 9 before he falls asleep. I have mixed feelings about that. I'm not ready for him to give up the nap, but when he does, I'll be glad for the earlier bedtime again.

-Still doesn't have his 2-year molars. Not sure where they're at.

-He still loves talking on the phone (to real people now). He'll say, "Hewo. How doin' 'day?"

- He's got the names down for everyone. Mommy and Daddy being the easy ones, here are some others:

Gae Gae (Gabie)
Mammow (my mom)
Mooma (Oma)
Gamma (Sandi)
'Ogan (Bapa Hogan)
D (Miss D)
Byo (Bapa Tyo)

-His replacements for Boz over the last six months have been Yo Gabba Gabba ("gabba" - when we have the DVD from Blockbuster) and Thomas the Tank Engine ("too too twain").

-He totally hijacked Gabe's mini-DVD player that he got for his birthday and loves putting DVDs and CDs in and taking them out, watching about 5 seconds and then switching to another....

-He's very methodical. He can sit and take shoes on and off, put DVDs in and out, etc. for pretty long periods of time. Once he gets interested in something, he can stick with it for a while.

-He's a little fiesty. :-) He's learned to growl and cross his arms emphatically when he doesn't like what we have to say (which he also learned from his big brother).

I can't believe he turns 2 next Tuesday. He's been such a joy and so much fun, especially as he's learning to talk and saying new things all the time. It's crazy to thing that when Gabe was Caleb's age I was 5 months pregnant! No more babies on the way right now, though. :-)