The things that make Caleb happy.

Last night we were reading a book about being Joyful and happy and what the Bible says. When I finished the book, I asked Caleb what are some of the things that make him happy. It's a 50/50 guess as to what makes him happy. But his first response was: "My Shirt". So I asked him what else... and he said "my other shirt" (because he stole Jockey's and thus had two). So after those answers, I asked him again and got the following:

Mommy, Jockey, Daddy, Uncle Brian (he makes Caleb laugh), Uncle Jeff, Tigger (Hey, all those other people beat out the puppy), Aunt Brittany, Papa Dahl and Grammy Dahl.

And that's all I had time to listen. He was being silly and it was getting closer and closer and closer to 10 at night the more he talked (I think that was his plan).

Caleb, the ever helpful big brother was so very cute this morning. While trying to get Joshy to walk this morning. Caleb stood a few feet away and was calling Josh to come to him. Josh actually turned from the direction that I pointed him (toward daddy) and walked to Caleb and Caleb caught him! Caleb was so happy, and when he caught Josh, Josh was very happy and giggled. Caleb helps a bunch now. Sometimes when the timing is perfect and other times when it isn't so gentle and right. But it is so neat that Caleb wants to be a part of Josh learning and wants to keep him safe and out of things he shouldn't be in.

Ok, that's all I have time for. Caleb says it's time for a bike ride.

Josh is a little glitter head.

He got close to one of mommy's craft/scrapbooking projects and now he has glitter on his head. This is the second or third day. I even gave him a shower and it still didn't come off. So now his head is as sparkly as his personality. And for the record, he is growing hair on top, that is code for the peach fuzz is thickening.

Trying to beat the heat?! We are. Josh is doing it in a particularly fun and sloppy way. He, like his big brother did at this same age, has an infatuation with the dog's water! He can not seem to stay away. We haven't broken out the dish that is the size of a small child's bath tub, but that hasn't stopped Josh from trying to immerse himself. I watched him put both his hands in the dish (up to nearly his elbows) and then lay across the top of the dish. He just LOVES the water. When we went swimming he was trying to swim on his own; he tried to push away from me so that he could be independent. And he was already doing the dog paddle! The little fish. He liked floating too, as long as he had something to chew on!

Josh and Tigger are about the same age developementally. Yesterday, Tigger was told no for attempting to chew on Caleb's shoe... wouldn't you know it, this morning, Josh was also munching on that same shoe.

Josh is soooo very close to walking! He now leaves the couch and can get about 4 feet on his own before he plunks down on his padded behind. He is doing so well!

And Josh is handling life in general really good. It can't be easy to be trying to cut in teeth #5 and 6 at the same time. I'm so glad that he is getting them in pairs so that he won't look like an asymmetrical jack-o-lantern.

Caleb will be home soon from spending time with Papa Bill today. I'm sure that they had such a good time that a long nap will ensue. I'm happy about that, and will be thrilled if Joshy decides to go along with the napping plan.

That's all for now.

The weekend was full of fun and sun.

Saturday: After playing in the morning, we visited Remlinger Farms. Tigger in tow. Caleb had a good time playing on the climb on Train that they have there. He knew where he was the moment we drove into the parking lot, and he began asking to ride the pony. Fortunately, I found a mechanical pony to ride for .25 cents, rather than having to go to the "country fair" portion at $10 a person. The later wouldn't have happened, but I didn't disappoint the little guy because he still got to ride a pony.
In the evening, we had a barbecue in the backyard with Brian and Brittany. Caleb ran around and picked strawberries. We set up his bouncy house for him since the weather was so nice. Joshy even was crawling around. We could NOT keep him away from the strawberries! But he is too young to know the difference between red and green (Caleb still struggles with that even). But Josh wanted to be part of the picking crowd and just started pulling off any fruit that he could get a hold of and straight into the mouth; I probably didn't have to mention that, it is a given. Caleb tried to help, he picks Josh up now and tries to make Josh walk. Josh likes his big brother's help, if it doesn't take him away from what he considers his destination.

Sunday: In the afternoon, being so hot, we were relieved the go swimming and cool off. Caleb got to introduce his puppy to Cousin Tessa and Auntie Kristina. "No touch him ears"... Caleb his very protective of his puppy. Shep, their new puppy, didn't get the memo in all of his enthusiam. But it was a nice day seeing everyone, having a picnic at the club and then the swim. That was Tigger's first sight of the club. He ran and then quickly found a shady spot, never too far from any of us though.

Monday: Caleb got to go over to his friend Donovyn's house and run through the sprinkler. I wasn't sure if the sprinkler part would go over so well because he was a little intimidated by it last summer. He did great though and they played and played, funny that despite the rising heat they were still shivering a bit. Donovyn was asking "are you sure you have to leave now?", which is Kid Code for "I'm having a good time, I don't want you do go". I'm glad that the boys get along so well. And I'm sure that this summer will be filled with lots of fun days like Monday.

We left Donovyn's house and went to Grammy's house. Caleb asks to go there all the time. He got to introduce Tigger to Grammy, Grandpa and GG. Caleb was very clear to GG "No touch him ears, No touch him Boy Parts!" As if GG really was going to do that, it made her blush. I'm also VERY surprised at the interaction that Josh and Tigger have. They truly like each other and play with each other. Last night, Josh grabbed a Tigger toy and waved and bounced it in Tiggers face; they really played a gentle tugging game! Josh climbs all over Tigger and often reachs out or crawls to Tigger to pet him. And Tigger is so gentle! They share toys back and forth, and Josh tries to share food. He throws it from his seat to Tigger and waves the food at Tigger to get attention. Cute.

So it is Tuesday: Josh and I are here at the house. The one air conditioned room in the house will be our afternoon haven. I've had to double check the baby proofing. We will be entering into "walking training camp". Josh is SOOOO close to walking! He has done 4-6 steps, perhaps a few more, all by himself! We encourage him by standing him up and letting him try, but he surprises us by spontaneously letting go of the couch and heading off to where he is determined to get to. Yesterday, the motivating factor was the dog food dish, and that won a hard earned 5 steps away from the couch before he plopped down on his bum. But it is a huge start. He really is on the cusp of walking. He likes to attempt to walk when we aren't standing around with the camera, the little silly. He is also sure that he is faster when he crawls, which is true... so even when he can walk, I'm not sure that will be the preferred mode of transporation.

Also, Josh has a very determined (near stubborn, where did he get that, I ask teasingly) streak. He is similar to Zuma. We say Jockey no, and the stops and looks at Mom, and then he looks at Daddy, and then you see the wheels turning behind the smiling eyes. The mind weighs whether he wants to do what ever was "no" more than he wants to do what he has been told... and then he goes for it. At this stage, it is safe to say he is more curious than obedient... Hopefully, it is just a phase to grow out of. We stopped hoping with Zuma.

As I've mentioned before, I'm teaching Joshy sign language, like I did with Caleb. I was sitting with Josh in the kitchen feeding him some baby food. Caleb had climbed up and was sitting on the kitchen table to get a bird's eye view. I asked Joshy do you want More? And I signed more, and Caleb reached over and grabbed Joshy's little hands and made Josh sign More. It was the cutest thing ever. Josh loved the interaction, and Caleb thought he was a big helper. I just love to see the brothers interact with each other in such fun and kind ways.

Lastly, a funny story about Caleb. He is really into what makes other people happy and proud of him. He is already so proud of himself, it makes him really happy when others are proud of him too. So he did something wonderful and Daddy said "Yeah Caleb" (a phrase which Caleb often initiates now), "High Five". Daddy and Caleb high fived. Then Caleb came over and said "mommy high five" so we high fived. Then, Caleb goes to Josh and grabs Josh's little hand and makes Josh give him a high five... THEN, Caleb bends down and grabs Zuma's paw and has to high five with her! It was hilarious... if you were there. Maybe it loses in the retelling.

Well, Josh is up. Gotta go.

Puppy On Board!!!

We got a call last night, in the early evening, saying that if we wanted, we could pick up our puppy. So we all hopped into the car and braved the commuting traffic to picked up our new puppy!

WELCOME HOME TIGGER!

"The most wonderful things about Tiggers, are Tiggers are wonderful things. Their bouncy,
pouncy, fun, fun fun.... the most wonderful about Tiggers is I'm the only one!"


Our "little" puppy grew in a week. He's not so little. Nearly the same size as Zuma. Caleb really likes him and wants to interact with Tigger as much as possible. Joshy is amazingly interactive with Tigger. He crawls over and pats and pets Tigger. They share toys with each other. Caleb shares the dog food with Tigger; I wish I was kidding about that, but at least we've decided to go with a "human grade ingredients" dog food.

Tigger has been home less that 24 hours, more like nearly 12. But he is already fitting in. He is way more used to grass and playing outside. He perks up when we take the satelite dish off his collar, you know, when he regains his peripheral vision... He plays when we initiate and he stops when we stop, which is good because that means we are the pack leader not him determining the activities. He slept in the crate last night and after the first 5-10 minutes, you wouldn't have known he was even in the house, except for the smiles on all of our sleeping faces. Tigger is a very smooth, soft, good smelling, blackish colored dog with beautiful stripes of brindling coming through. We are told that the brindling will increase as he grows into an adult, which is wonderful because he looks like a photo negative of a tiger... so the name Tigger fits.

We are all in love already. How love happens so fast is beyond comprehension, and for that matter, we don't have to comprehend, we just know we love him. Mike is even happy that we have puppy "Purple", his litter name. Of course, it took a message from God to tell him that "purple" is the right puppy. But "purple" is home and we all couldn't be happier. And praise the Lord that the weather is so beautiful because we can play in the backyard and take lots of nice walks with Tigger in tow.

Enough gushing, here are some pictures.

Daddy with his newest baby...

See that smile on Caleb's face! A Mug shot of Tigger!
Could Jockey be smiling any more than he is?!

The littlest are playing on the floor, sharing and trading toys!


The Fez hat and and stitches are able to come out around Friday of this coming week, the collar will be an optional item if he is scratching at his ears. He gets his 3 month vaccines on July 5th (approx). He is doing well in his healing process, and from what we can see, Tiggers ears are very nice looking. If the stitches are any indication of the quality of the ear crop, then we are impressed with the good job the vet performed.

We are still praying, you can pray too, for the Lord to work the rest of the miracle. We are waiting on the other breeder to PLEASE give us a refund. She is not being very cooperative, and we are praying even harder. We simply can not afford to not get a refund, and unfortunately it might take some legal leverage or small claims court action to pry the $ from her hands. Lord, please don't let it be that difficult to recoup the money. Financially this has to be settled, we are in a deficit if this is not resolved. But the Lord provided a way better dog, I have every confidence that His provision will continue.

So one happy family here. TTFN, gotta go enjoy the puppy and the beautiful sunshine. You all have a great weekend.

The Lord is good and provides, even when it hurts.

However, this is a post of good report and joy. (so keep reading)


We loved Titan, but hindsight and compare/contrast brought us 20/20 vision and we see some flaws that he had. 1) he was aggressive/nippy when it came time to feed him 2) he was mouthy/nippy in his play 3) he had some visual impairment 4) he had badly done ears 5) he was aggressive, growling some strangers and dogs. 6) he wasn't our first choice of color, although we were willing to accept and love him 7) and he came from a breeder of shall we say "questionable" standards of cleanliness which manifest itself in smelly pups.

However, we have found a wonderful, God-ordained, blessed alternative in a puppy for which we have put a deposit down. He is through Paradise Cane Corsos; he comes from a breeder in Allyn, Wa. They have 9 acres of streamside, quaint retired-farm setting land to include a well-maintained 1940's rustic cabin like home, cherry trees, apple trees with adjacent woodpile, grass galore to be romped and played in and old unused nostalgic barn. The puppies are kept in an outbuilding, meaning not the barn, not the home and not the garage, but a separate puppy residence that is puppy-proofed. They have 2 wonderful areas; an inside heated pen with wood shavings similar to that of a lamb's stall, and an outdoor, covered pen also with wood shavings but also partly grass. Thus no icky kennel smell. Also, because of the indoor pen where they are kept, when they are not being crate trained, the puppies have smoother, softer, and shiner smell-free coats. All of the puppies are some version of brindle, the color which we preferred above all others. And of the 5 male pups that had their ears already cropped (those were the only ones we really were interested in) only 1 mouthed at all, and even that was only once to Mike and once to Caleb, then he was told to stop and did. Agression is not tolerated by the Paradise Cane Corso breeder. All of the others were completely non-agressive and only interested in licking and sniffing... even of Josh, they had to check him out. They were even non-aggressive when it came to their food; aggression during mealtime is something that the breeders specifically say they would NEVER allow. They were all cute little (or not so little) bundles of energy and curiousity. And given that they had just had their ears cropped the previous day, we were shocked at how good they were looking, feeling and acting. They all wore the satellite dish collars and a bandage that looked like a white fez hat, they looked like members of a weird religious sect. But their collars didn't stop them from licking and sniffing everything. There were 11 puppies in the litter, 7 males, 4 females. Of the males, 5 had had their ears cropped, and just one of those had been spoken for, leaving 4 to really choose from. Because there were so many, they were color coded, the 4 were: a camoflauge collar aka Rambo, a green collar aka Feisty, Blue and Purple. After extensive discussion with the breeders, much debate between Mike and I (and an attempt to get Caleb's thoughts) and 2 hours of observation, we decided to go with puppy Purple. Rambo and Fiesty were just more than we wanted to handle. Which left the decision between Blue and Purple. Purple was going to be easy to train but not a lazy mush dog in temperment, he was gentle, he was loving and curled up with me and let me hold him for a long time. He has the most beautiful brindle coat; some of the others were quite dark with just a hit of a brindle to come. He is estimated to be about 115 as an adult, still quite bit, although smaller than the other puppy, Blue who was estimated at 130ish and who had a darker only hint of brindle, slightly longer/courser coat, and was a little more of a push over in temperment in their estimation. So Purple is our pup. If you visit the website, you can see our pup in the picture of them all nursing, and also he is the one sitting on the father, Sarg. Coincidentally, puppy Blue is in the picture to the right of the picture with Purple and Sarg.
Also, it is important to note that Sarg is the son of the dog(and his bloodline) that Mike fell in love with 4 years ago! Our puppy is the grandson of the best dog Mike could find in all of his research! Sarg is beautiful, powerful, BIG, and obedient. Raya, the mother, is EXTREMELY OBEDIENT and EXTREMELY MELLOW/GENTLE. We thought that Titan's parents were mellow, NOT in comparasion. When asked which dog he wanted, Caleb said "Mommy dog". She followed and doted on him while we were there.
I could keep gushing, but I won't bore you all. Bottomline, the Lord is good and will provide. We are going to get a better temperment, better bloodline, a prettier coat, healthier puppy than what we were before. It is all to the Lord's will and provision and we give him praise and credit. We are now just waiting for the rest of the Lord's provision to tie up the loose ends on the financial side of things. At it stands we have now paid for two dogs, vet bills and an autopsy without any reimburesment. I refuse to believe that the Lord would take care of us and make sure we got the better dog for our family without making a way for the financial... So I'm keeping the subject in prayer, my faith and hopes high, and giving the Lord time to work the rest of the miracle.

Caleb will recover from this situation I'm sure. But it was sad when we went to visit the puppies that he was poorly behaved and when Mike finally asked him what was upsetting him... he said "no me Titan here". He had actually thought that this was where that puppy had gone and we were there to get him. I know that once we have a puppy in our arms, he will be ok. Following this subject, we had thought that we would used the name Titan again... and we still may if that is what Caleb insists on, however we are thinking that a new name is in order. I don't have pictures yet to assist in the decision, but on name alone you can all decide:

a) tank b) tigger c) taz d) triton

Mike and I have a preferrence, but let's see what you think. Again, check out the website if you need help. Purple looks VERY similar to the puppy standing in the grass with the green collar, and keep in mind that our puppy's ears are cropped.

Ok, well, that's the good news about a new family member on it's way. If he is mending well, it is possible we are picking him up as early as Friday. Or at the latest the following weekend.
Wish us luck on puppy parenting...up during the nights and lots of impromptu potty trips.

A little recovery here.


First, Joshy is getting a 5th tooth. He is doing ok, with infant dye-free tylenol of course. He is gumming everything and biting his Mommy occassionally. Not on purpose, but it hurts no less. The days have begun to count down for Jockey's source to the "real deal". Josh is soooo active. He will NOT hold still. I have only 4 recourses to slow him down. The crib, the car seat, the swing and the exersaucer, not that any of those places are his favorite for the exact reason that I put him in them... to make him stay in one place. He is everywhere all the time. Stairs are his favorite place to go. It's a special joyful challenge to him. He feels like he is part of the world around him when he can navigate by himself. Another thing that he is particularly interested in joining is the ritual of eating. He can be full in the tummy, but if others are around him eating he would like to partake and join in the activity just to be part of the group. He really wants to be bigger and grown up and just do what everyone else is doing right in front of him. And he is not shy about telling us what he wants. He is frequently saying Mom, and has said (to date) yeah, what, all done, Caleb, and Daddy. I'm trying to teach him sign language too, but I haven't seen any progress in this regard.

Last Monday, 6/12, Joshy waved for the first time to Auntie Charlotte. I'm not 100% positive, but Auntie Charlotte might have been the first person Caleb waved to as well. Wouldn't that be funny that the boys waved to the same person for the first time. Well, Auntie Charlotte is great with Caleb, so it's fine with me if she and Josh have similar relationship.

Ok folks, I was going to spend some time telling you about the big thing this weekend, but I'm afraid I'm out of time. I'll just provide a link to the main website, and tell you that a deposit has been made.

www.paradisecanecorso.com

I'll go into detail at another time because there is just too much to say about our visit, the results, and God's hand in the whole matter.
TTFN

Titan (4/20/06-6/14/06) went to see Jesus.

Friends are made fast when love is shared without reserve.

He went in for a surgery to replace the stitches that he dug out of his ear crop (after he had maneuvered the satellite collar off). The surgery had to occur to prevent mass scar tissue and infection, and it had to be done under anesthesia because it was going to be very painful. He made it through the surgery and was put back in the observation cage. Very shortly after, a vet tech ran and got the Dr. Titan had stopped breathing. They worked on him for a hour. They did everything they could, but he didn't make it. They suppose it was a weak heart, or an allergic reaction. It is impossible to be 100% without an autopsy, but that is a decision that we have yet to make.

We are all extremely sad. The Lord knows what is best, and the best we can do is go to Him for comfort and lean on the faith we have in Him.

Some of you might have known that we were going to have Titan's eye checked out and it was not 100% determined whether we were going to be able to keep him (although our hearts already were saying yes of course). Perhaps the Lord knows that now is better than in 2 weeks from now to make the decision about Titan's fate with our family.

We were very blessed to have a happy 72 hours to love him and share him with the family around us. In that time he has made an indelible mark on our hearts and memory. He was a very mellow, sweet, trainable/obedient dog that was proving to love us and protect us as much as we did him. He leaves a void that is puzzling to know the best way and timing to fill. We know we are a dog-loving family and we know we had made space in our home, hearts, mind, and time for a new cherished family member. It now feels pointedly incomplete in our home. We are praying for the wisdom to know the best way to handle this situation.

We appreciate all the comfort that everyone has offered. Your prayers are very appreciated in that God is the only one that has true answers and heart mending capabilities.

As you know we have a little 3 yr old that is well impacted by this unfortunate event. He is doing far better than expected. He has been told that Titan is gone and not coming back. I'm unsure if he actually has understanding of this and it's meaning. As he and I picked the first large 'crop' of summer strawberries I asked him if he knew and understood. I asked him if he was ok with Titan not coming back. That amazing little boy said "yeah" and then put his hand on my shoulder and tilted his head to look at me and asked "you okay, Titan no come back?" That is an astounding, amazing, wonderful and sensitive boy that I have. I needed a hug from him and then I was okay. My biggest worry was about him (and Daddy). That being said, it was a very difficult night with disturbed dreams and sleep; Caleb ended up sleeping next to Mommy where she could help him with each whimper. And Mommy felt better too knowing that at least my irreplaceable, precious boys were alive and well.

We appreciate all the comfort that everyone has offered. Your prayers are very appreciated in that God is the only one that truly has the answers and heart mending capabilities. Please keep us lifted up to Him.

-sorry if this isn't the typical, humorous, recount of the boys' activities and growth; this is the largest source of communication with our family.

Put your nose on the wall.....Daddy.

Our little Caleb has entered the mimick phase. You just know he isn't going to repeat just the nice and wonderful things we say. As responsible parents we have to have our guard up and watch what we say so that we don't pass on bad habits to our beloved son. And as responsible parents it is our duty to discipline poor behavior with the hopes to bring it to an end.

But what if the guard falls....Daddy?

Caleb picked up something from Daddy without missing a beat. Caleb had to be corrected. But to get to the root of the problem, Daddy also had to put his nose on the wall so that the discipline was across the board. Daddy didn't want to put his nose on the wall, but knowing how important it was to follow through he was a good sport and took his dose of discipline. It was cute and funny to see my big, big guy and my little guy both with their noses on the wall, for saying the same thing.

Oh, I do so pray that I don't have to put my nose on the wall.

Caleb and Josh's (and Daddy's) Puppy, TITAN, came home!!!




After a brief camping night out to Fort Stevens, OR the family headed over to Portland to pick up the long awaited, much talked about TITAN puppy. The camping was good, but the puppy is great. Titan has the best personality. He is calm, mellow, gentle and a hint of curiousity. He loves Caleb and tries to incite play. Caleb loves to be chased and throw toys for Titan. Josh and Titan are like two litter mates. I've already caught them playing tug-o-war with a dog toy (which are turning out to be some of Josh's new favorites). Josh crawls over and literally pats and pets Titan, and he also uses the puppy to try to pull up into a stand. Titan is a wonderful traveler, sleeping most of the way. Titan made his Daddy's dreams come true by sleeping with his head in Daddy's lap most of the way home. (He did curl up next to Mommy as she slept too, just to spread the love around.) Titan and Zuma are doing very well together. She is dealing with him either by ignoring him or sniffing/playing with him. He's already liking to play, but showing her that he is no push over. Titan played long with Caleb, our family, and Uncle Brian and Auntie Brittany, then promptly fell asleep in the grass in the backyard, too tired to even make it in the house. He treats stairs and grass as if he hasn't ever seen them before, but he is adjusting quickly. Titan is already proving to be easy going and adaptable with his first introduction to us being in a car, the our trailer and then back in the car for a 4 hour trip home, and the to our home and the chaos of unpacking and having guests. Also, cross our fingers for more successes, he hasn't had a puppy accident yet; in fact, he has gone outside 8 times and with the potty command and had success! He is a great loving, soft pup that is already as attached to us and we are to him. The Lord has blessed us with a wonderful pet to carry us forward with joy and companionship. Here are some pictures of our littlest (which no longer is Jockey, by age at least):

Titan has had his ears cropped. He removed his 'satelite dish' collar too soon and needs to go in for a couple replacement stitches, hopefully Monday. And following that in a week, his ears will be wrapped and 'posted' for a week or so just to keep them mending in the proper way. He seems to be managing his 'pain' well. And Caleb warns everyone not to touch his ears. Good job Caleb. Titan is current on his shots and will go back in for more in one month.

Back to the camping trip... Other than Anacortes, this was Josh's first trip to the coast and ocean. He slept right through it. But he was a happy baby because of a good nap, and I'll take that any day. Also, this was our first trip with a TV in our trailer. Caleb liked that alot. When it got dark, we put in a new cartoon about the Ten Commandments and watched that just before bedtime as a family. This really was a great camping trip. The park was near our campsite so Caleb got to play for a long time, he got to swim in the hot tub at the rv park in Portland, and of course, the puppy.

That was our eventful weekend. Stay tuned for more crazy stories, events, and pictures!

Caleb's thoughts on Superman.

Everyone knows what Superman looks like. And everyone knows how Superman classically stands. Well, Caleb walked into a store and saw a poster for the new Superman movie coming out. He asked Daddy "why that man has his hand on his underwear?"!

Can you believe that? ! When asked that way, I can't even explain a man wearing tights and just his underwear on the outside. I love the child view of the world. It reminds me of how simple life can/should/and needs to be. And how much negative or superfulous information, materialism, or non-profitable actions we allow to cloud our thoughts, time and lives. The child sometimes knows best. If I can't explain it, then perhaps our lives shouldn't include it.

Caleb is so compassionate and caring. So intelligent and insightful. He's a blessing to learn from.


Josh is getting 2 new teeth, if I haven't mentioned that already. They have crested/broken through all the way, now they are just in the process of moving downward. I'm sure Josh will be relieved when they are done moving, and when it means he can have real food. The biggest thrill of Josh's life was sharing a real yogurt with Caleb and Mommy. Finally, he was just like the rest of us.
Josh is pulling himself up on everything! I've even seen him let go and try to take a step, but then he realizes that crawling is faster so he drops down to commando crawling. Josh is totally preoccupied with stairs. He can not stay away from them. He will climb the entire flight of stairs. Determined and unstoppable. He sets his aim and just goes for it. And on the flat surfaces, he just puts his head into something and starts pushing and sliding until he goes through, over or under, but regardless he does get to the other side. Of course, he is a happy as can be when he finds something new to chew on. Life is all about what can go into his mouth. Today, I put him in the exersaucer while I planted a couple shrubs. That little silly reached way way over and grabbed a handful of the lacy leaf maple and was going to try for a little salad!

Josh is sleeping just a little bit better. Still not all the way through the night. In fact he's up a minumum of twice a night. But when he does get good sleep in those times, he wakes up clucking his tongue. He is so cute about it. And when he isn't clucking his tongue, he is sucking on his bottom lip and making a sucking pop sound. It's all about the mouth to him. He routinely says Mom, Mom, Ma, Mum. And shockingly, a few weeks ago he said "all done".
I will be teaching him the sign language that I used with Caleb. But I think it is likely that Josh will talk sooner than 2 1/2 years old. Caleb however is seeing me use the sign language and is picking it up again with lightening speed. I think I will continue to teach Caleb new signs. You never know when it might come in handy.

After a week off, Caleb spent the night at Grammy and Papa's house last night. He had a totally dry day (diaper wise) from 2 to bed time! WOW. The next day wasn't such a success. But it as filled with such fun activities that I'm sure it just slipped him mind. He had gymnastics, and in the afternoon, swimming with Daddy. He really likes doing things. And that wears him out and makes him sleep good, which is fine for everyone.

We have the count down to getting the puppy. Only 5 full days left! The excitement is building for everyone. And the tasks that have to occur before the puppies arrival multiply! With that being said, time's up here.

New goats!

When we arrived back from our trip to Portland last weekend, we came home to new "City of Monroe" goats. And not just the two that were there before. We now have one of the previous ones back and then 7 others! Caleb just had to go and visit them! Here are the pictures:

Well, as for things around here. Caleb is really getting into mischief. We tried to garden, until he brought in a shovel full of dirt onto my carpet. Then while I was putting away the gardening stuff, he brought in a truck full of sand into the family room. AND THEN while I was cleaning/vaccuming up the dirt and sand, my "mommy-extra-sensory guessing" alarm went off. I turned off the vaccum and called out to Caleb. He was found standing ON the kitchen counters trying to get into the food cupboards! That was all within the same 15 minutes! Mischief! Joshy isn't to be outdone, however. He gummed Daddy's phone until it completely died. The only buttons that respond are 1, 3, 5, 0 and off. The # button is permanently pushed and then the phone started whinning. I didn't know phones whined, but thanks to Josh that great mystery is solved... they do whine.

We've been up to the usual. Tuesday, I took Caleb to his gymnastics class. He surprised me completely with his stretching time. He kept with the instructor and followed along with the entire class. He was even eager to do the next step and was the first to put away the little carpets where they belong. He was having such fun. And he was very excited to see Bob. He was a little distracted by Mommy and Josh being there and watching. But he was amazing they stuff that he did do, when he wasn't frustrated waiting his turn. He was so excited to show me that he lost focus a bit. I think that this is an activity that has to stay a Grammy and Caleb activity with me only creeping in to spy every once in a while. This is fine, he needs to have a Grammy only activity, and she does too I think.

Playgroup on Wednesday. But it was a special treat to see Aunt Rene and Uncle Mel. We haven't seen them since February; too long, so it was very nice to see them and show off the fast growing duo.

We've also been to the golf driving range a few times this week. Caleb really likes that. I have shown him a couple times how to stand, keep his eye on the ball and then swing. The hilarious part was when he was watching me and he said from the sidelines: "mommy stand" and then placed his feet in the way that I had showed him and obviously I wasn't doing at the moment. I had to laugh, the student becomes the teacher. Not that I will ever be able to tell anyone anything about golf.

Caleb has started to suprise me with the extent of his vocabulary and understanding. He will come up with words I didn't think he knew all the time. And his sentence structure is building and getting more accurate and complete everyday! This is wonderful. Except when he repeats the same sentence 6 times, but maybe that's Mommy's issue of patience not Caleb's issue of repeating. Caleb and I have renewed our efforts to learn his colors. He seems to know some of the names, but not be able to point out the correct color with the name that he knows. He's smart though, if you use a Blue ball, a Green frog, and a Red truck, he will remember what item is what color when you tell him, but that left me to question whether he knew the color or the object. So right now I pulled out 7 colors of shirts and folded them all up to the same size/shape and hung them up on his dresser. We are trying to point and learn with all shapes/sizes being equal. This will be the true test and learning field I think.

Post-Birthday fun. Caleb got some pretty cool trucks for his birthday. Well, he has started to make them duel. Not crash into each other, ok that too... but they play music and he gets them all going at the SAME time and then dances to them. Very fun for him, yet very noisy.

Well, that's all I have time for. More later as time allows.