Big Catch

Apparently this is going to be a bi-monthly activity because Caleb LOVES to go fishing now with his daddy. That's all Caleb could talk about all morning yesterday and was eager to help Mommy and Daddy all morning so that he could go. I promise I won't post every fishing trip, but Caleb caught his biggest fish to date this time.

His first catch: a purch

Caleb's biggest catch to date! Daddy had to help reel in this catfish.(BTW, I'm so glad these fish are set back free in the water because I would have nothing to do with the preparing to eat or eating of these fishy guys! Yuck!)

Our friends and neighbors, Peter and Lauren, went with Caleb and Matt. Next time Carter and I will have to join the party!

One of Lauren's catches.

And of course being outside in the hot weather deserved an ice cream cone to follow!

It's Coming Along

Our garden wasn't so successful last fall with broccoli and cauliflower. Here is attempt #2 with tomatoes, green pepper, and one strawberry plant just to see how it would do.

The first tomato
Green pepper getting pretty big
This is the same first tomato. It is now turning yellowish and working it's way to red. Yum! Can't wait for those BLTs.

It's fun to have a garden, although I can take very little credit. Matt does most all of the work from planting to treating/looking for bugs, etc. I cover the watering when I water the rest of the lawn.

All Things Caleb

Here are some fun things that Caleb has been up to lately:

Caleb had a chance to visit the Old MacDonald's Farm with his aunts, Grandma, and cousins. Carter and I stayed home, and it looks like we missed out on a lot of fun! (I sure enjoyed catching up on some sleep though.)

Matt and Caleb went to a Fathers and Sons campout. Unfortunately it was a long drive just to have it pour rain almost the entire time. They did get some fishing in when it wasn't raining though.

Caleb was bummed that he didn't get to ride the canoes at the campout, so on the way home, they stopped off at a community center where there were a bunch of fire trucks. Matt asked if they could take some pictures with the trucks and look at the trucks. Caleb loved it!

Caleb sporting his "Big Brother" shirt

I thought this was too cute. Caleb was feeding all of his animals/dinosaurs play dough the other day.

Too Precious

Carter was laying on my bed yesterday morning while I was getting ready for the day. When Caleb came into my room and saw Carter on the bed, he immediately climbed up next to him and started "reading" to him. It melted my heart. So precious.

First Time Fishing

Father/Son Outing #2

There is a pond full of fish and ducks right next to our church building, so a few Saturdays ago when I needed to go practice the organ at the church, we decided to make a family trip. Carter and I went and practiced the organ (he slept), and Caleb and Matt went fishing. This was Caleb's first time, and he found it so exciting.

First they looked at these ducks that had just hatched a few days ago.
Caleb's first catch
Caleb about to hold the fish for the first time (yuck!)

An Added Joy

I was even more nervous for this second baby than I ever was with the first. Excitement overwhelmed me the first time, and this time I was mostly nervous about the first few months with a toddler on top of it all. I was also paranoid about colic or some sort of medical concern with Carter, but Matt says that's because I'm a pessimist. (Really I just like to be prepared for the worst.) All these worries, so far, were unnecessary, because I'm loving having a baby in our home. Granted, the nights are rough (especially with Caleb waking up frequently), but I love little babies. We're having so much fun with Carter being a part of our family.

Carter is a calmer baby than I remember Caleb being. I love that Carter goes back to sleep most of the time right away after the nighttime nursings. With Caleb, he seemed to be wide awake at night for the first month, and it was not fun training him that nighttime is for sleeping. Carter brings a special spirit into our home (as Caleb did)...maybe because he was just with our Heavenly Father not too long ago.

Caleb is, for the most part, very sweet with Carter. If Carter is crying or upset, he will find the pacifier and put it in Carter's mouth. Caleb will also share his toys with Carter very well when Carter is sad and doesn't understand why this doesn't fix the problem. He's always giving the baby kisses. He's very proud of his little brother. If someone is admiring Carter, Caleb is quick to run over and smother the baby with kisses to take ownership that this is his baby. Caleb also is very aware of Carter, and if he doesn't see Carter, he will ask, "Where's the baby?" I can't wait until Carter is older and they can play together.

Here are some recent pictures of Carter:

9 days old

2 weeks old

20 days old

Big Brother

Caleb being a good helper by sharing his toys with Carter when Carter is crying.

(Carter is 4 weeks old)

Father & Son Outing

One thing I didn't anticipate with a new baby was just how strong the feelings of guilt would be about not giving Caleb the attention he used to have. When I finally do get a chance to spend some one-on-one time with Caleb in the day, it seems like the time is always cut short because of Carter's needs. Caleb has been such a trooper though about being patient when I have to attend to Carter, and he always wants to be a helper. There has been some acting out on his part to get attention, but not too bad. I find myself losing patience a lot more quickly though with Caleb when he is "naughty" on purpose.

I was worried that Caleb would regress in terms of potty-training, because that's what I have heard from so many people. I'm thankful that this isn't the case. He has regressed in terms of sleeping, however. When we transferred him to the "big boy bed" in Decemeber, it took forever (months) for Caleb to be able to sleep through the night again. Now we're back to square one it seems with Caleb's sleeping habits where naptime and bedtime are very difficult, and Caleb will wake up at least once a night (most of the time we are guaranteed twice a night). The funny thing is that Caleb will sleep through Carter screaming at night, and then wake up at some other random time, so the two events are completely unrelated. Unfortunately for Matt, my body is not physically capable of waking up for Caleb's needs in addition to Carter's needs, so Matt has been on "Caleb duty" at night. Nights are rough. :o)

Matt has been very good about giving Caleb 100% of his attention when he gets home from work. They will play outside together until dark when it's time to start getting ready for bed. Caleb LOVES this time with Daddy. If Carter happens to be napping during this time, it allows me some "me" time to be able to get some things done on my to-do list.

Last Saturday, Caleb and Matt went to an Astros game together in order to give Caleb some extra attention. I don't know how much of the game they actually watched, because they spent most of the night playing in the children's area.

Here is Caleb racing the baseball player.
Caleb posing next to Craig Biggio.
Daddy and Caleb
Caleb sitting on a ball outside the stadium.

When the workers announced that it was time to close the children's area for the night, Caleb decided to pull a "naughty" act and refused to come out of the play gym area. Parents aren't allowed inside, so Matt wasn't able to aide in capturing Caleb. Apparently it took all 4 of the workers to climb through the play gym to try to catch Caleb, and they were at it for some time. If I had been there, I would have been thoroughly embarrassed, but one of the workers told Matt afterwards that he's the fastest kid they've ever had in there. Matt wasn't embarrassed, but instead proud that his little boy was so fast. :o)