Caleb's First Beach Day!

I didn't have work today so we decided to have some fun at the beach. Caleb is sporting the outfit Gram got him when she and Pop went to Hawaii not too long ago.
We found a half sand dollar and gave it to Caleb, it didn't leave his grasp for like 20 minutes. You can see it in this picture.



Me trying to feed Caleb his lunch but he just wanted to play:

Most kids find seashells in the sand. Caleb found an orange and he couldn't be more excited. Yes, someone left a whole orange, what a waste!

All in all, it was a good day. We had so much fun and can't wait to go back again...if only we weren't so tired when we got home :)

Funny thing

At work on Saturday a three year old girl came with her mom to the cleaning. I was talking to the girl while working on the mom. I asked the girl what her dad does for work and she said, "He golfs." The mom then explained that her husband was the head golf coach at Stanford. The girl was right, her dad golfs for work, how many kids can say that?

Words

Caleb says a few things with meaning like:
hat: haa (while he reaches for his head)
bye: bye (with a wave)
park: pa
duck: duh (when he sees a duck)
amen: num (This one is my favorite. I love that he really is learning from our example. Sometimes Caleb says it after we do or other times right before we do.)

Doggie love

Two days ago I was at the park with Caleb in the late afternoon when two women walk by with a small to medium sized dog with white curly fur. Caleb got really excited when he saw it. The women noticed his excitement and asked if Caleb wanted to see him. I said yes and we went over to where they were in the grass. Caleb smiled the whole time we were petting the dog. Then the dog started rolling around in the grass and Caleb laughed harder than I ever saw him laugh without being tickled. The dog proceeded to stand up and shake his head which got Caleb laughing again. The dog did this over and over...roll in the grass, shake his head. Caleb was so entertained by this and I loved that he loved it. I love seeing Caleb so happy.

Caleb's groove

Caleb has really gotten into moving with the music. Whether it's a song on Sesame Street or my upbeat singing.



All that dancing wears a little guy out! (I put this here to show that Caleb sleeps with his little blue bear. He loves that thing and will give it hugs all the time).

Caleb's One Year Photos

A big thank you to Liz Baker for taking the pictures and to Cheer Olsen for recommending her! We are so happy with how they turned out!

Caleb's Walking

Caleb has been walking more and more. Last week his record was 14 steps. It's hard to film him walking but this shows a little bit of how he's doing:

Play time and eating time

We keeps Caleb's old bathtub in his room. He loves to climb in and out and in and out of it. He will sit there like this and just play.

This toy is actually battery powered but Caleb is scared of it when it's on so he just plays with it like this:

Caleb loves watermellon:

Derrick's 28!

We had some yummy chocolate cake!

Why is Caleb's shirt off you wonder?

Because we knew this would happen:

I got Derrick some Get Fuzzy comic books and Avatar on Blu Ray. We've had a Blu Ray player for over a year now and this will be the first blu ray movie we've owned.

Happy Birthday my love!

Yesterday on our walk...

We passed some men cutting down a big tree with a chain saw. Just as we couldn't hear them anymore Caleb starts making noises. I realized he was making the sound the chain saws made. I laughed out loud when I figured that out. He really is starting to imitate noises more and more.

Responding

This is the bear from Valentines Day. Everytime we pull it out Caleb gets the biggest grin on his face. He will hold it close to him and just stare at it. He also starting to dance. You can see it a bit in this video. He will move up and down to a beat. It is so cute!

I cannot believe how much Caleb is reponding to things now. In the car yesterday Caleb starting singing to his alphabet cd. The song about the letter "I" says, "I, I, I, I" at the beginning and Caleb repeated, "I." Then today when I played the song again (because I wanted to hear him sing it again) he said "I" before the words even started. I couldn't believe he remembered it after only hearing it once! He will also say "O" for the song about the letter O.

Here are my favorite responses in this video. Caleb goes around all day making kissing noises. Derrick is a little worried but I love it.

***Also, Caleb started walking yesterday. He took up to three steps at a time. We can't video tape it though because he gets too distracted by the camera. Good job Caleb!***

Palo Alto Zoo

Palo Alto has a mini zoo (about 25 animals) that is so great because 1. It's free, they just ask for donations 2. It's only about 15 minutes away from us 3. It is small and you don't get tired from walking around all day feeling like you have to get your money's worth.

Caleb liked what wasn't behind glass or bars. Which meant his favorite were the goose and racoons. It was a perfect little trip on Friday.

The bobcat was the biggest thing there

Like I said, Caleb loved the racoons. Maybe because they were putting on somewhat of a show.

Caleb is also learning to walk. He has yet to take a step on his own but he now likes to take steps with us holding his hands (even more than what this video potrays)

Caleb's 1st Birthday

The wonderful guests:

My mom and I made banana cake with buttercream frosting. It was so yummy! I had my mom bring her cake decorating tools. I'm going to get my own sometime in the next year so I can always decorate my kid's cakes. Caleb did great with everyone singing to him.

After a little help with the first bite, Caleb ate that cake right up.

Check out the 39 cent banner and the cute kid with his Gram.

Caleb opened his presents after the guests left. He's really liked taking the pieces off of the puzzle.

Whenever my dad would play with Caleb he would growl at him and chase him and tickle him. The first day my parents were here Caleb was crawling away so fast and for so long that he was actually panting because he was out of breath. We have never seen that before.
Also, that same time when Caleb was being chased he was so worked up and scared/thrilled from my dad's growl that he screamed. We have never heard a scream like that before, ever. We wish so bad we had that on video.

Got milk? Now that Caleb is one, we're starting to feed him cows milk. Here's his first time drinking it:

Videos

Something hit Caleb's funny bone

Trying to get Caleb to say "hi."

Easter

Easter Day last year:

Easter Day this year:

Caleb has had two Easters so far and he's not even one year yet. How lucky is that?

We cooked our first ham this year and it was yummy! We're going to be eating left overs for the next two weeks.

Saturday night after Priesthood session of General Conference Derrick went to buy our ham. While at the store he picked me up flowers. When he got home he knocked on our front door and handed them to me while he said, "Happy Easter."

Favorite Things

1. Scooter: Caleb got his first birthday present from Grandma and Grandpa Isaacson. Since we put it together Caleb always wants to ride it. He smiles the whole time he is on it. Cutest thing!

2. Jamba Juice: Scott was in the area for work and we got to see him two nights last week. One night we got Jamba Juice and Caleb was addicted. He even through a little fit when he didn't get some when he wanted. He lay down on the floor and started crying. Jamba Juice is good stuff.

3. Dogs: I am amazed that Caleb is naturally drawn to boy things. Whenever he sees a dog he gets so excited and will stare at the dog until it is out of sight.

4. Trucks: When we're at the park and anther boy has a toy truck Caleb will go for it if he can. I think he likes the wheels.

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