Sweet Sleep

My love affair with sleep has been confronted head-on by the arrival of Jonathan and Caleb. Jonathan's arrival provided challenges to my nine hour nights of sleep, but Caleb really put a cramp in my sleeping style. It's not that they are terrible sleepers; they just get the occasional illness, teething episode, or cranky night. I should appreciate their usually solid sleeping patterns, but today I am lamenting my state of exhaustion.

Saturday night Jamie and I enjoyed a VERY late evening with a young couple from our church who do not have children. Very late meaning well into the morning hours. After we were finally in bed, Caleb slept fitfully and was up probably five times between two-thirty and six in the morning.

Remember what I mentioned about Caleb being an easy baby? Addendum: easy when not teething. Absolutely exhausting and not all that fun when he's teething. Up nine times in a ten hour period during the night, fussy all day, and a poor eater when he's teething.

Wishing my eyes were closed and my mind in dreamland...

Deck The Halls

Monday was tree decorating night. We made popcorn, had apple cider, listened to Christmas music and decorated the house for Christmas. Caleb got tired very quickly and was ready for bed, so his participation was limited. Jonathan loved it. He sat on the floor with me, looking at all of the ornaments, putting them on the tree... even the star on top (with the help of Daddy).

Viola!

Merry Christmas!

Dedication

Sunday was a meaningful day for more reasons than Caleb's first birthday party. We also had Caleb's dedication at church. His dedication was our commitment to loving Caleb like God first loved us. Teaching him like God teaches us. Extending grace to him in a manner similar to how God gives us grace. We pray and hope in God that Caleb will know the Gospel and will thoughtfully pursue his faith.

Ring around the Rosy

These have to be some of my favorite pictures of the weekend because they tell such a story and so clearly express the personalities of Grandpa Maynard and Grammie (Carol). Jonathan loves to play games, and is always searching for willing participants. Enter: Grammie and Grandpa Maynard. They were both outside with the lad on Sunday while I was preparing lunch. I glanced out to see what they were doing, and I observed this scene:

They are still children at heart, but their mid-late sixty year old knees and hips liked this game better when played on chairs. Thank you to Grammie and Grandpa Maynard for your willingness to engage the desires of a three year old for this simple game.

The Gifts

Grandma Judy made this quilt for Caleb for his birthday :+)

Jake loves to put things around his neck (we had to watch him with ribbons and strings): check out his attempt at a "ribbon necklace".

Caleb getting some gift opening help from big bro and Daddy

This ribbon was an undeniable favorite

Caleb has been trained in the art of "playing cars" by a master on the topic: Jonathan

Consumption

The cake looked wonderful. Caleb affirmed that it tasted wonderful, too. He didn't think twice about diving into the cake. We didn't think twice about having him dive immediately into the bath following this adventure.

One Year

To commemorate the day and hour of his birth (today, 4am) Caleb decided to be awake and screaming like he was last year at this time. I've long since given up the intense problem-solving techniques I employed when Jonathan cried in the middle of the night. They can't talk, so to give extended effort to determining the cause is most often futile effort. I just rocked my babe for a bit, gave him some loving, and put him back in his bed, asleep. He rarely wakes up crying, so I saw it as a chance to love on him a bit since he usually doesn't like to snuggle and a chance to remember last year.

Caleb has been a man of his own since he arrived December 1, 2008 at 4:38am. He has loved to eat from Day One. He screamed and screamed much of the first two months and it would take us two hours in the evening to settle him down for the night of sleep. You would never know that he was a difficult baby by the way he now laughs and smiles. He has always loved to watch Jonathan play, and now readily imitates much of the play.

At one, Caleb is:

~ Still a great eater.

~ Happy and easily entertained. The munchkin may have been a screamer and very challenging as a little babe, but he is now a very easy baby.

~ Very easy unless he is overly tired. Then, he screams.

~ Smiley.

~ Engaged by his brother's play. He just loves to play with and watch his brother. He shrieks with delight and irritation as they play.

~ Walking about ten steps on his own at various points in the day, but often prefers the more stable mode of transportation: crawling.

~ Stubborn about wanting to use his own fork. He likes to stab the food and definitely likes to play with the food.

~ Not much of a napper. About an hour to an hour and a half daily.

~My little sweetie pie. He might not love to snuggle, but he gives kisses and love in other ways.

Happy Birthday little one!