Recap of Caleb's Monday class

As I mentioned before, Riverfield Pre-School classes send a daily update with pictures and written recap of the day. Here was Monday's: (you might have to click to enlarge to read the text).


What a doll, eh? Have a great Labor Day Weekend!

Week 38- First Week of School

The first week of school was great!! Caleb had a fun time and I heard nothing but glowing reports from his teachers and the other "spys" (co-workers) that I would send to peek in on his class. He is teething so he spent a good part of his days chewing on anything, but thankfully no classmates :)

These pictures were of us heading out last Monday. Look how cute his outfit is! Of course, he then had a blowout diaper on the way to school that leaked all the way up his back so the outfit made it no further than the changing table in his class. Oh well. He has started throwing mini-tantrums, like if you put him down and he doesn't want to be or if you take away something he has in his hands, which he didn't really do before this week so I am thinking my perfect angel of a son has picked this up in his three days at school. So begins the life of picking up less-than-fabulous things from classmates- ha!!

When Caleb got his first haircut, the curls that had started to grow at the ends disappeared. I thought the same thing would happen after we got his hair trimmed last week (he slept through his whole haircut, by the way). However, the curls have stayed and it might even be getting curlier. It gets that way especially when he's sweaty but on Thursday, I put a little "product" in it to see what would happen. Pretty cute results, if I do say so myself. You might have to click on it to enlarge to get the full effect of the curls.


We've been battling some diaper rash this weekend. Without being too graphic, it doesn't bother him when he does his business but screams when you have to change his diaper. His poor little booty is so red so I let him crawl around for awhile sans diaper. I figured the kitchen was the safest place and easiest to clean up any messes. Thankfully, I didn't have to do any cleaning. No matter how many toys I put on the floor, Caleb was way more interested in pulling up on the baker's rack. Notice the strategically placed blur in the following shot.


My mom got home safely last Monday, though one of her bags just arrived last night. Gotta love world traveling. She was glad to spend some time with Caleb on Friday morning as I took the dogs in for their checkups. Sam has yet another ear infection and a bacterial infection on a spot on his tail. As the vet said, "He's definitely the more delicate of the two dogs." He is a good patient as we give him drops and salve.

Have a great week! I am excited to work M-W then have a 5 day weekend!! Hooray for Labor Day!

Laughing "Ow"tloud

Crawling Video

Week 37 - Playpen, Pulling Up, Pefecting the Crawl

We had a great week but I was just exhausted after the trip to FL. I don't know if I'm getting old or if it was the time zone difference or what, but it took me until Friday to feel like I wasn't totally chasing my own tail.

Now that Caleb is standing and pulling up, we took the bassinet feature of the pack-n-play out. (To clarify, we hadn't used it for Caleb in forever- it was mainly serving as a catch-all/laundry sorter. So don't worry that he was close to rolling out or anything because he wasn't ever in it). Several times this week, he enjoyed time in the pack-n-play with his toys while I made dinner, tidied up the house, etc. He likes it for awhile but if I walk by and make eye contact but don't pick him up, he gets a little distressed. Note picture below with his funny face all smooshed into the netting.


He began pulling to standing on the side that faces out toward the living room (see picture above), then realized he could pull up on the side that faces in toward the bookshelf and pull off stacks of magazines, CDs, and movies. What fun!!

He is getting more and more proficient at crawling. He still needs an incentive- his green frog toy (his very favorite, Mrs. Ethel!), my cheering him on, his musical bench, or something similar. Otherwise, he's pretty content to stay in the same 3 foot area. See the video posted separately of his crawling adventures. This picture captures him investigating the lower level of our table. I think he was checking out the CO2 levels on our monitor.


He also had fun turning over my trashcan (at least it was empty) and banging on it with his hammer. He liked experimenting with the sounds it made when he hit it on the side vs. the bottom or with his hand vs. his hammer. What a smarty-pants!


Friday morning we had fun with at playgroup with friends from our Sunday School class. Caleb was the youngest (with the exception of Madison, who's 2 weeks old) so he didn't really interact with all the other busy boys that were into everything but it was a great time.

Tonight was Open House at Riverfield. I was there as staff member/parent but got to spend some time with Caleb, Aaron, and some of Caleb's classmates and their families. He was into everything (surprise surprise) but spent the most time investigating the basket of old computer mice (is that pluralized correctly?). Aaron says to say that Caleb is taking his first computer class- ha ha :)


School starts tomorrow so I am sure I will have pictures from that. The teachers also send a "Today We" document each day that has photos and a short write-up of the day's activities. It is sent via email and hopefully the pictures are clear enough that I can re-post some good ones.

Changing diapers is becoming more and more of a challenge because Caleb is not willing to lay quietly anymore. Tonight after his bath, he quickly flipped all the way onto his belly and scooted toward the edge, to check out the burp clothes and books in the bin, I guess. Again, before you think of calling DHS, notice I do have a firm hold on his leg and his hip. :)

Mom returns from Estonia tomorrow. The blog from her team was pretty funny this time. Check it out at this link.

Enjoy the new videos posted. The laughing one just cracks me up.

OK, need to hit the hay before another busy week. I am sure that if I am supposed to be at work at 8am, that doesn't mean pulling in at 8:00, then unloading Caleb and his gear, taking him to his class, then making it back to my desk by 8:30. So it will be an early morning until I can figure out how to shave off a few minutes here and there.

Oh, and we do have pictures from the "Blogging Gals and Kiddos" playtime from a few weeks ago. I'll work on posting those later in the week.

Have a great week!

To Florida and Back- Week 36

It was another busy and fun week at the Walton's. The photo above captures perfectly the "we had a great time in Florida but followed absolutely no schedule so now my parents are going to pay for it and why in the world do I have to pose with this silly sign every week" mood Caleb was in when we returned this afternoon. What we do to/for children for the sake of a photo opp!

Aaron spent Monday at the PGA tourney at Southern Hills (a birthday gift from him wonderful wife). He was this close to Tiger and didn't get his autograph or anything. Oh well, we do have pictures to prove it- with no zoom lens needed.


Caleb is officially crawling. It's not pretty but it gets the job done. Several articles I've read say it's not uncommon for babies to wake themselves up at night because they are practicing a new "skill" in their sleep. Well, Wednesday morning about 5:00, I heard Caleb stirring and so I woke Aaron up and we both snuck in to see this:

(OK, I do have to be honest...this is actually a reenactment of the scene because I had already picked Caleb up out of the crib by the time I thought to take a picture and when I set him back down in it, he got a little nuts. Guess he didn't grasp that I was just trying to take a photo then I'd pick him right back up). Needless to say, we've moved the mattress down to the lowest setting to prevent any falls.

Thursday morning Caleb and I headed to Florida with the help of our good friend Bob (my friend Heidi's dad). He was such a great help with getting Caleb in and out of the stroller, keeping him happy on the plane, etc. Once again, Caleb was a great flier. That night was the 3rd night of prelims for the pageant then we headed up to Miss America's suite with the rest of the Oklahoma crew to hang out with Lauren, as she was there emceeing. Caleb had a lot of fun wallering in bed with Miss America (how many guys across the country wish they could say that?!?) while we waited for Aaron to get in. He arrived about 1:30am and we all hit the hay. We as in Aaron, Caleb, and me; not Aaron, Caleb, Lauren, and me :)


Friday we hung out at the pool for awhile, went to the Mall of Millenia to eat at the Cheesecake Factory (are you surprised??) then waited for Aaron's cousin Rome and is family to come in from St. Augustine. Aaron and Rome moved to Jacksonville together almost 10 years ago. Aaron moved back and Rome stayed, met his wife, and now they have two cute kiddos. The cousins had a great time getting to know each other. This shot is taken at the pool on Saturday. I was on my way to a pageant meeting so didn't get to swim but did get to hang out later.


Saturday night was the pageant finals. Jamie did a great job and made the Top 10!! She made us all proud and truly could not have done any better. Miss Virginia's Outstanding Teen won the title of Miss America's Outstanding Teen 2008. Interesting tidbit, she is the daughter of NFL quarterback Mark Brunell, who played for Jacksonville when Aaron worked there and now plays for the Redskins.

Aaron and Caleb didn't attend the pageant but did stroll over to the convention center so we could see them at intermission. Caleb met this cute little girl when he came to the pageant on Thursday night but I didn't get a picture. When we ran into her again on Saturday, I had to capture the moment. She was 20 months old and from North Carolina. She was totally infatuated with Caleb (who wouldn't be??) and kept blowing him kisses and saying "tickle tickle". It was hilarious.

Once back in the hotel after the pageant, we saw Lauren in the lobby. For all the times I've seen her since she won and for all the pictures Caleb has with her, I decided it was my turn. So Heidi and I posed for a picture with Miss America. By the way, like how smooth and sleek my hair is in the picture? I used Heidi's Chi hair dryer and flat iron. If you like it, make a comment on the blog and tell Aaron that I need $$ to buy these high dollar items because my cheap Walmart imitations do not give results like this!! HA!

We had an uneventful flight back and are now in recovery mode. This is busy week at work with In-Service at school preparing for class to start next Monday. Aaron is busy busy busy too. Mom has made it safely to Estonia and must have more computer access than in Tanzania because we've received several emails so far.

Have a great week!!

Oh, one more thing... Congrats to my friend Damaris, who was crowned Miss Grand Lake last night. Yippee! This picture is from Miss OK in June after Damaris won Rookie Talent and Overall Talent on her prelim night. Silly pic, I know but the only decent one I have of us.

working on vocab and crawling

Photobucket Album

Week 35- lots of "mama" (well, sort of)

So you can judge from the video posted separately whether or not Caleb is saying "mama". Similar to the "dada" thing a few weeks ago, he says it all the time, regardless of where I am but there are definitely times that I walk in the room and he says "mama", clear as day. I LOVE IT!! He's also getting really good at waving hello and bye-bye, though more with an excited flap of the arm than with his hands and fingers (but it still counts, right??)

Though Caleb is not officially crawling, he is managing to get around a room quite well. He was once content to play with some toys on a blanket while I was on the computer. Now he is trying to pull up on my chair, chewing on the dog bowls, pulling out my USB cords, or (a newly discovered fave) playing with the doorstop. He has pretty much pulled this one out of the wall already.


He has had some diaper "issues" since we've been back from NC- some days lots of #2 and some days none, but always with much grunting and groaning. This has led to a bit of diaper rash so I was letting him air out awhile after bath the other night. He really enjoyed the freedom, needless to say. And we were, thankfully, without accident.

Pulling up on things is getting more and more fun and adventurous. I took Caleb to the laundry room with me as I was moving things from the washer to the dryer and the next thing I know he has his head in the dryer. Aaron came quickly with the camera to catch the moment.


We had a blast this Thursday hanging out with the "blog girls" and their offspring- Kim and Adalie, Marilyn and Elijah, Faith and Gavin, Heather and Ellee and Preslee, and Betsy minus Sam due to illness :(. We enjoyed playtime and a GREAT lunch at Kim's parents' house in BA. Betsy got some great pictures so I am sure she will post them on her blog or distribute them and let us post them.

Today was a baby shower for a friend and former co-worker and neighbor. It was fun to catch up with the girls that I knew from my banking days. Caleb had fun interacting and playing. Here's a shot with him and Jett, who is about 2 weeks older than Caleb. Jett has his own blog too. Jett is about average for 8 month olds, which just shows me how HUGE Caleb is. Jett was trying to show Caleb how to crawl but Caleb was more interested in eating O's and chewing on Miss Mendy's toys.


This week we head to Orlando for the Miss America's Outstanding Teen pageant. Jamie, our Miss Oklahoma's Outstanding Teen, has been there since the 1st but Caleb and I head out Thursday morning and Aaron will join us late that night. We are so excited to see Jamie rock the house and hopefully it will be another uneventful flight for Mr. Caleb.

Also this week, my mom heads to Estonia for yet another mission trip. Here's a picture of Caleb playing with a giraffe that she brought back from Tanzania. It's his reminder to Grandma to have a safe trip and bring him (and his mom) back something fun :)


Have a great one!

Explaining the Videos

OK, for the life of me I cannot get the videos to load unless I completely leave them alone. If I go in to edit and type a caption, the video disappears and all I have is a black box that says "Oops, No Video". Same thing when I tried to cut and paste the html code to at least put them in one bigger post instead of separate ones. Oh well.

The one of Caleb walking with Aaron is from Asheville last week. Also from last week is the one with Caleb and his cousin Ada (whose 2 months younger than he is). The third one, with Caleb saying "dada" is from several weeks ago.

Thanks for your patience!

Working on Walking

Caleb and Cousin Ada in Asheville

Trying to say "dada"

A Very Delayed Week 34 Update

OK, so here's Week 34's recap. The big event was our trip to Asheville. Caleb gets the "Super Baby" award for his airport and plane behavior. He really enjoyed the rides- playing peekaboo with the people sitting behind or in front of our seats, charming the flight attendants, and occasionally yelling out in excitement.

We had no trouble getting on the flights to DFW or Charlotte then drove 2 hours to Asheville. Aunt Elyse and Uncle John's house is beautifully decorated and a very fun floor plan with eating/living/dining areas and some bedrooms upstairs and two bedrooms, a full bath, and living area downstairs. There were 23, of us, including 3 babies, and it was a great time. About 1/2 stayed at their house and the other half was at a rent house a few minutes away. And, just like at home, Caleb was able to enjoy his Praise Baby videos.

We definitely enjoyed our trip to the Biltmore. It is the largest privately owned residence in the US, built by the Vanderbilts in the 1890s. Visit their website for more info. Aunt Elyse treated us to the audio headsets as we toured, which made the experience much more interesting. And again, Caleb was a very well behaved baby, not counting the blowout diaper and the quick, hidden changing out on the veranda since the mansion's bathrooms were not open to the public. HA! Here's a photo of part of the estate's gardens. Caleb was more interested in chewing on his toy, but you get the idea.

There was also a big music festival going on in Asheville called Bele Chere. We only went for awhile one afternoon but it was fun to hear the music and enjoy more of the city. At the festival, we were able to spend some time with my cousin Allyson and her family. Quinn, who is 3 and lives in Mississippi, said at the end of the trip, "I love Caleb so much!" And of course it was even more adorable with his accent because he says "Caaay-lub".


We took a big group picture but not with our camera so hopefully when one of the cousins sends it out, I'll be able to post it.

The flight home was not as successful. Let's just say that my parents and sister drove home and beat us by about 4 hours. Oh well. Caleb was such a trooper. My hope is that he'll continue the streak when we head to Orlando next week!!


For more pictures, watch the slideshow in the post below (or at least click on the "view slideshow" button- not sure why it's not working).

Have a great week!

Slideshow of Pics from Asheville Trip

We had a great trip. Will write more when I get Caleb busy eating some O's and puffs :)