From Caleb

Dear Grandma and Aunt Julie,
I miss you so much already. Thanks for visiting our family!

Aunt Julie took such fun pictures at the cactus gardens on Stanford campus.

Grandma played with me a lot. A few things she did included:

-Singing to me

-Reading books

-Teaching me how to love my blankie

-She even let me pull the tissues out of the box:

Aunt Julie was fun too; she:

-Took me down the slides at the playground

-Brought me over to some dogs so I could pet them (I love dogs!)

-Went on a jog with Dad and me

-Danced with me while playing fun songs

We also went out to dinner at Maggianos where I enjoyed eating ice, staring at the waiters, trying to get out of my high chair and eating some grown up food. When I got bored, Grandma and Aunt Julie took turns taking me outside.

Even though I was sick with croup the whole time you were here, I'm very happy you came. I am still coughing and my nose runs a lot but when mommy distracts me I feel better. Mommy and Daddy also bought me a humidifier last night so that is helping me a little bit.

I hope we can see you again soon!

Love, Caleb

So Big

Caleb picked this one up about 2 weeks ago. Sometimes he just does it now without us even asking how big he is. Or, I will say something like, "Caleb is SO cute." Caleb will hear the "so" and just lift his arms. It is adorable!

Lots of Fun

It begins...

Caleb is getting his first March Madness right now. He missed it last year by one month. We found out that he loves to watch basketball.

Bike Seat

We just got a bike seat for Caleb. We put it together last Saturday and just when we started our ride a nut and washers fell off. Derrick immediately knew what he forgot to do in the instructions so we headed back home. I had to go to Home Depot to get a new nut, since we could find the one that fell off, and yesterday Caleb and I went out for a half hour bike ride. It was so fun! I had never been so far up the trail by our house and it is beautiful and peaceful once you get up near the San Francisco Bay. We will definitely be biking a lot now.

Caleb was pretty scared about the whole thing at first but he got used to it.

Extra, Extra: check out Caleb's cute jammies. He is looking more and more like a little boy instead of a baby.

Cell Phone Uploads

Caution: loooooong post!!! If you choose to look at one thing, make it the first two videos half way down, they are recent happenings.
We just uploaded a ton of videos and pictures from Derrick's cell phone. We haven't done that in a really long time. They are very grainy but you can still get the picture :)
Pictures:
I always start with Caleb so this time I'm starting with the funny stuff. Here we have a picture of a sign that is prominently displayed in front of a hotel on a main street. VCRs? Really guys?

Here's a sign we saw in front of Hollywood Video a few months back. If you want free kids you know where to go. Right now they are going out of business so hurry up if you want one! (Though they probably won't be as cute) I'd get on that deal and quick!

Ok, now the cuteness. If we ever need Caleb out of our hair for a few minutes we let him go through my make up. It keeps him occupied better than anything.

Best picture we have of these four. Caleb was not liking the picture idea but he did love crawling all over the table. But doesn't Lily look happy to be hugging Caleb?

Ho ho ho!!!

I love Mom and Dad!

Sleeping baby

Happy baby.

Videos:
After being afraid of going down the slide by himself for weeks, he became brave and found that he loved going down the slide. Caleb and I did this for like 20 minutes--he would go up the stairs then I'd catch him at the bottom of the slide. When Derrick got home from work I showed him and he took this video:

This was about three weeks earlier when Caleb first learned how to climb up the steps quickly.

Caleb loves to pull down Derrick's ties

Funny laugh from a form of peek a boo (probably about 2 months ago)

I put this in here to remember how Caleb always holds out his arms. Wouldn't that get tiring after a while?

Caleb laughs hard at a funny noise (sometime in Nov.)

Daddy playing with Caleb (probably around Sept.)

This is when we were on a car ride sometime in September when we were visiting my family. (Sorry, the program I normally use to turn videos the right way doesn't let me do the ones from the cell phone)

Someone has an ear infection

If you were thinking Caleb, you were wrong. I'm the one with the ear infection! I felt it a few days ago for about a day and then it went away. Last night however, I woke up to really bad pain in my ear. I couldn't sleep and it took a little too long for pain killers to kick in. I went to the doctor today and sure enough, an ear infection it is. I guess it happens a lot with swimmers. I don't swim but almost every time I'm in the shower I rinse out my ears. I don't like ear wax at all so I always try to clean it out with water but I guess that is the wrong thing to do. So, if you do that like me, stop! You do not want to feel the pain I felt last night. It hurts! At least I know now how bad it feels and when I do suspect Caleb has it I'm going to be giving him children's tylenol and taking him in to the doctor right away. Hopefully these ear drops I'm using will make me better soon!

These days

The lighting is really bad in this picture but it was so cute that I had to put it here.

If you look closely you will see bubbles on Caleb's chin. He started drinking the water. Gross!

Since we didn't do web cam last night with my family, I'm putting this video on here so they can see a little bit longer video of Caleb.

Saturday night...

Derrick and I decided that Derrick would get up with Caleb in the morning at let me sleep in for once. Caleb is getting up around 5:45-6 these days. Well, Sunday morning I wake up to Caleb at 6:57! Not fair. My one day to get a break and Caleb sleeps in. Derrick got off so easy.

NASA Tour

We have a friend who works at NASA and took us for a personal tour. There were a lot of places we couldn't go into because they were restricted but we still saw some cool things like the outside of the biggest wind tunnel in the world!

An aircraft hanger

Flight simulators: this one had the cockpit for a spaceship. We were told the simulator could go 22 feet per second!

I put this video here to show how big the room is. The simulator travels around the room when people are using it. Pretty big huh?

Sphere's full of gas. That kind of looks like what Caleb has :)

Gotta Love Him

Too Cute!

Playtime

Caleb's bedroom floor always looks like this (on the right). We just keep the toys on the floor all the time. He mostly likes to suck on them like in the picture on the left.

Valentines Day

For Valentines Day Grandma Isaacson sent Caleb a homemade toy. It is can filled with milk jug tops. The top of the can has a slit in it so you can put the tops in it. Caleb loves to chew on the tops.

Caleb and I made Derrick Valentine cards with a "hand" theme. Caleb's said, "Hands down, your the best dad. Happy Valentines Day." I traced Caleb's hand on it, which was no small task.

Mine said, "I love you and your soft hands. Let keep them that way." For his gift I got him lifting gloves for the gym. He has been wanting them for a long time now.

Derrick got me maise. Yep, that's right, maise. And chocolate. When I told him he needed to tell me he got that for me because he loved me so much he didn't want me to get hurt he replied, "The gift says it all."

Then today, we got this bear in the mail from Grandma Isaacson. This isn't on the video but it sings "Sugar Pie Honey Bunch" and it's cheeks light up red. Caleb loved this more than anything I've ever seen him love! It arrived on our front door right when we were sitting down to dinner. Caleb was refusing his food but if we had the bear on he would eat. If it wasn't going he wouldn't eat but when we turned it on again, he would eat. Then after dinner he just sat holding it and staring at it and touching it. What a great gift! Thanks Grandma!

Juice...yum!

Just like us
Caleb loves the bathroom. Maybe it's because we don't let him go there very often. There are three things about this video: 1. Caleb sees us flush the toliet and he knows we're doing something with the handle so he's trying to do what we do. 2. The noise he is making is so funny. He makes it quite often. 3. Note the toliet paper. Caleb loves to unravel it, so I'm always rolling it back up.

I'm ready for my close up

Caleb's first time at the Temple!

Last week I went to the temple on our ward bus trip while Derrick watched Caleb. Today Caleb and I drove up to Oakland with Derrick and waited for him. We went to the visitor's center where we watched a short movie, looked at the displays for black history month and talked to some of the sister missionaries there. We also picked up a Subway sandwich for Derrick and I to split after he got out. Don't worry, I got Caleb something too: 2 pieces of turkey that he gobble, gobbled right up :)

Clapping, Learning and Laughing

Caleb is picking things up so fast! Just today he clapped for the first time and he had a great time doing it:

On Sunday we realized Caleb really knew what the words "Mommy" and "Daddy" meant. I was holding him and asked where is Daddy. Caleb looked immediately at Derrick. Then we asked where Mommy was and he looked at me. Then we asked where Daddy was (again) and he looked at Derrick!

Yesterday I was at the library and picked up this book called Baby Faces. The second Caleb saw the cover he gave out a little laugh. I opened the first page and he laughed again. When we got home and read it some more he was laughing so hard throughout the whole book. Here's when I took a video of me reading it after we had read it a few times and Caleb's laughing had worn down just a bit. I always heard about babies just absolutely cracking up at something. Well, I finally found Caleb's something.

I found our Camera!

If I'm trying to play the piano or go on the computer or eat lunch while Caleb is awake he always comes up to the chair I'm in and wants me to stop what I'm doing. He will usually smile first and if I don't give him attention right away he will start to fuss then cry. But if I play with him on the floor he's fine. He just needs to know I'm there for him and not in my own world :)


In my last post I mentioned how Caleb carries things around like a dog. Well, here's him doing just that:

Caleb time!

I can't find my camera at the moment so, sorry, no pictures for now. I know that's the best part. There are some notable things about Caleb though.
1. His fine motor skills are developing really fast. He can pick up a tiny piece of food and get it into his mouth in no time.
2. He is happier even when he is tired. Derrick has especially loved this. Normally when Derrick gets home from work Caleb is a little fussy since it's so close to his bed time. But now, Caleb will be happy even if it's past his bed time. The only problem with this is that it is a little bit harder to tell when he needs to go down for a nap.
3. Caleb is standing all the time while holding onto objects. He can walk while holding on. He makes some pretty risky moves but he is learning his limits.
4. I have yet to get a video of this but one quirk he has is that he will find a toy he really likes and then crawl around with it in his mouth like a dog. It's pretty funny to see.
I'm sure there's more I can write here but that's all I can think of now. Peace out!

Sick...but not too bad

I have been so lucky with Caleb's health. He got sick once when he was 2 weeks old but since then, nothing. Yesderday Caleb woke up a little early, cried a lot, wasn't crawling, never stood up in his crib like he always does when he waits for me. Why didn't I put 2 and 2 together? It wasn't until about 3:30 in the afternoon that I felt his forehead. It was hot. So I took his temperature and it read 100.2 degrees. Not too bad but I gave him some Tylenol. After about an hour he started to feel a little better. We gave him one more dose of medicine before he went to bed.

This morning he was up at 5am. He was very hot and weak. I took his temperature again, 100.7. Still not too bad but I gave him medicine again. After an hour he was ok again, just tired. I put him down to sleep at 7am and he slept well. Ever since then he's been fine. Except he started crawling funny. Do other babies do this?

Here's a cute video from Wednesday.

Eating, Loving, Learning

Here's Caleb crawling onto my lap the other day. He had lots to talk about. Caleb is such a fun person to have around!

Caleb had a disgusted look on his face the first 3-4 times he bit into my apple but he kept coming back for more. Oh, and the other day I made some no bake cookies, which have peanut butter in them. Babies + PB = No no. I walked to where he was playing and sat down on the floor eating one. He crawled over very quickly and wanted some. I felt so bad I couldn't give him any.

Father and son time is great. Derrick and I love the weekends when they have more time together. They love each other a lot.

Ok so this is more of a bounce than a jump but look at that cute little body move.

We are so amazed how quickly Caleb learns.

Examples:

1. I was trying to get Caleb to bite on a rubbery toy because I thought he would like it. I bit on it first and so he took the toy and what does he do? He keeps bringing it in and out near my mouth! I guess that is what I showed him.

2. Derrick was tapping pens together like drumsticks in front of Caleb. He then handed the pens to Caleb and Caleb started trying to tap them together. That was a bit of a task but he was able to do it after some practice.

3. Today at church there were about 5 steps up to the stage. I put Caleb down at the bottom, showed him how to move his legs up on one step and he was able to do the rest with very little help.
4. Caleb is now pretty steady on his feet and there are a lot less injuries than there were a week ago.

3 Quarters of a Year

Oh Caleb, how much I love you. Today Caleb is 9 months old. He weighs 18 lbs 6 oz and is 29 inches long. Caleb is still on the thin side which is attributed a lot to his now active little body. I don't worry though because he is quite the eater. I haven't seen him refuse any food in months. He is a jabbery boy. It seems like he has gone through phases of sounds. Starting with "mama" then "baba" then tongue clucking then"gaga" and now "nanan." My favorite thing about him is that he is a friend to everyone. He will smile for people and let them hold him. His huge eyes are always the icebreaker. People will always tell us how big and beautiful his eyes are.
Time for stories:
1. A few mornings ago Derrick and I were about to say our morning prayers together before Derrick left for work. We set Caleb down in the middle of the living room floor and we knelt over the couch holding hands. After about half a minute we feel this little hand reach between our arms and put his hand on ours. I started laughing out loud (I know, not very reverent) and Derrick, who was the one praying, ended the prayer pretty quickly because we were both laughing. How was he able to come between us and stand up by the couch without us noticing?
2. On Sunday night we went to our "adopted parent's" house to have dinner and chat. Before we left I was holding Caleb and he just started putting his forehead on my face. It was like he was cuddling into me. He kept brushing his face on mine. So cute and oh so lovable!

Caleb is very good at taking things out of their place whether it be the clothes in his drawers or hamper, or the remotes from the entertainment center, or the newspapers from the recycling bag:

I feel so blessed to have him and I feel like I love him more everyday.

So much, so fast

Crawling!!!
Caleb is crawling from place to place in our house here are two of his favorite spots:
The door stopper on the front door. It is fun for him to spring it.

The heater

With moving comes injury. Saturday night Caleb pulled himself to his feet on the entertainment center. He slipped and hit his mouth on the edge of the unit. He split his gums from his front tooth up until I couldn't even see it anymore. He bled for over 5 minutes. I was holding him and Derrick was putting pressure on Caleb's gums. He was fine the next day.
While crawling he has slipped a few times on the kitchen floor and face planted. He has also pinched his finger on a kitchen drawer. Discovering the world is not such an easy thing to do! But Caleb loves moving around. I have never seen him smile so much as he does now. It is so cute when he comes around a corner and sees me...his face lights up!
Haircut!!!
We gave Caleb his first haircut last night. At first he heard the buzzing noise and was turning to see the buzzer but then once Derrick started cutting Caleb held really still. I wasn't expecting that but I'll take it! His hair doesn't look baby like anymore :( He is growing up so fast!

Peek a boo!!!
Caleb has learned how to pull the towel off his face himself.

Another type of peek a boo we play is Derrick will hold Caleb and I will go around a corner and pop out in different places. Derrick says that as soon as I disappear Caleb starts shaking with excitement. When I come out he smiles and laughs.
Talking!!!
Caleb's favorite thing to say now is, "gagagaga." He is also an expert in tongue clucking.

Yay it's Christmas!

Before we left for Utah, Caleb opened his gift from us. We got him a tool set. We figured he can suck on it now and play with it later. He has been loving it!

We arrived in Utah and went straight to Target to get food for Caleb. Derrick and I ran in the store while everyone else stayed in the car. When we came back Lynne was gone and they told us she had to run in to get books for Caleb. My mom and Derrick's mom both spoil and love Caleb so much!

Here we are playing games. We played A LOT of games over the break: 500, 5 Crowns, Rich Man Poor Man, Ticket to Ride (my present from Derrick), Rummikub, Quiddler and probably some more that I can't even remember. Games are the best!

Ahh, the cat. Caleb petted her so nicely. Well, nicely the first few times then he grabbed her fur and she took off running pretty quickly.

Caleb has a new favorite song! Derrick is opposed to this but I'm sorry Derrick, it's my favorite video!

This one goes out to everyone who has ever worked on a puzzle at Grandma and Pop-pop's house in Huntington Beach. We worked on a puzzle in Utah too. That made me feel right a home.

This has got to be the most exciting news. Caleb started crawling on Christmas morning! And I got it on video. So here it is, the very fist time Caleb crawled:

Scott gave Julie a scooter for Christmas. He gave it to her the night before Christmas because she was bound to walk into the garage sometime before Christmas morning. Pretty sweet!

Alright present time:

Opening Caleb's first present on Christmas morning:

Skip the present, leave the ribbon.

I made sure not to leave anyone out. This video gets at least a second of everyone:

Other happenings on the trip that we didn't get pictures of:

-Derrick skied with his cousins

-I saw New Moon in the theaters

-Watched BYU vs. Oregon State bowl game at Julie's house. BYU wins!!!!!!!!!

-Christmas Eve morning we fed breakfast to a homeless shelter

-Visit to Grandma and Grandpa Isaacson's house

-Christmas Eve we read the Christmas story from the Bible and then shared our feelings and experiences about how we have felt the Savior in our lives the past year. That was probably my favorite part of the trip. The spirit was definitely present

-Lynne's side of the family came over for Christmas dinner

-I got a cold for 3 days

-Delivering gifts and food to people for Utah Food Bank

-Family pictures. These were taken out in the snow the day after Christmas. We were all pretty cold and Caleb cried a bit for the first two poses but on the third pose he was smiling and happy. After the pictures we went to Cafe Rio.

-Visited with some of Derrick's high school friends.

-Watched movies

-Last day there we had lunch at Olive Garden in downtown Salt Lake.

-How could I forget...we ATE, ATE, ATE, ATE and ATE some more! I literally ate enough calories to last me throughout all of January.

Overall it was a wonderful trip packed with things to do. Caleb did great. The night we traveled home was rough because he fell asleep in the car on the way to the airport, fell asleep again on the plane and again in the car on the way back home. Every time he had to fall back asleep he sounded so sad. It was like he was saying, "I'm supposed to be in bed asleep right now. Why am I being tortured like this?" Poor boy. He is fine now though, caught up on his sleep and crawling around our home. I hear him now waking up from his nap...time to go running and burn some calories!