Of A Different Spirit

Caleb changes so much from month to month. He is now over 13 months old. I think at this point last year we were just getting used to having him around. He didn’t do much more than eat and sleep. The eating, I felt, was constant! Now, I watch him crawl around, talk (well, he seems to think it’s English), and toddle around.

He is starting to interact on a new level. He is now an active part in initiating play. He will peek around furniture, or around your shoulder like he is doing now, to get attention and play. He likes to be silly in his own way and loves it when it makes someone else laugh. Right now his favorites are playing peek-a-boo using whatever piece of furniture available and looking at things while he is upside down (see above picture for further explanation).

We also had a First Birthday Party – The Sequel since the last post. It was a special day for the Kelso side of the family to celebrate with Caleb. I wanted to wait until the last weekend September so that having a party at the park would be more bearable. It was so much fun! There was a nice view of the lake and a breeze that cooled things down a little. Caleb really enjoyed tearing into his cake. He has really gotten very good at demolishing cakes. I think his favorite part of the evening, though, was spending time with everyone! He had a lot of great company to celebrate with him.

He also enjoys all the gifts he has received, from both parties. I have to say, though, that his favorite gift was the set books that Aunt Jan and Uncle Danny gave him. He now prefers to sit and look through books to anything else. If he is particularly grumpy, the only thing that does the trick is to let him sit and look through a book, or two, or three…

I like reading, but he really takes after his daddy with his interest in books. Typically, naptime and bedtime come right after story time. Caleb usually falls asleep before I am done reading the story, but now there are times when he is too interested in the book to fall asleep. Of course, I don’t want to discourage his interest, so I will let him flip through the book or find a smaller book that he can play with while I read. I want to encourage a love for books and learning.

Oh right, the second part of the title for this post is “First Steps!” Yes, Caleb took his first steps a few weeks ago. In the last post I mentioned that he needed some balance and some courage to really get going, and I think he has almost mastered the latter of the two. I would have preferred that he get his balance in order first, but I think that is my fault. I have encouraged him to let go of objects and walk short distances, which he finds fun. Well, it’s more like a step and then a lunge. Of course, I am always there to catch him as I have never been a fan of nosebleeds or anything else that would certainly result from his face meeting the carpet in a not so friendly way. So, now he just has to find his balance. I’m sure it isn’t too far away. He can stand on his own for a few seconds now and seems to really get a sense of accomplishment from it. He’s at the gate and should be off running soon…