My Little Bibliophile

My little man is learning to read!

For the past few weeks, we have begun working through Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons .
At first, we both thought it dry and boring, and I questioned seriously whether we would continue.
Soon, however, he started to apply what he was learning in the world all around him,
and learning to read quickly became exciting...for both of us.

Today, we tried out Bob Books for the first time.  Thanks, Elizabeth!  :-)
And, Caleb read through the first and second books on his own this afternoon.  
I caught the last part with my camera, and I thought I would share this super short video: 

Angry Birds: Caleb's Version

Like most of the nation, Caleb loves Angry Birds.

He first played it on his trip to Illinois with my brother and sister-in-law.

Now, when he sees someone with an iPhone, he often asks to play.

 I read once that creativity happens when resources are lacking.

And, we happen to lack the resources to play this particular game.

We don't have an iPhone...or an iPad...or anything else that might allow us to play it.

So, this little boy got creative and decided to make his own version

using alphabet blocks, cardboard bricks, a skateboard for a catapult,

and lego guys instead of angry birds.

He launches the blocks with the skateboard and tries to knock down the lego guys.
I love this kid.

How to Draw a "Battletank"

The other day Caleb asked me,

"Do you want to know how to draw a battletank?"

I did, actually.

And, I thought I'd share with you...in case you wanted to know.  :-)

He draws them everywhere...on sidewalks, on paper, on his chalkboard doors.

 When I asked him where he learned to draw them,

he says he "teached" himself.

Cute kid.

Sick Day

This is my photo for today...Caleb sitting in front of the tv with Koala.

He is doing better now with a humidifier and some sleep.

 I really love that boy...and hanging out with him on the couch.

p.s.  Take a look at the wonderful room my super talented sister-in-law, Julia, created for her girls.
I am linking directly to the post, but make sure you look at her previous post about their first floor.
They recently bought a house from the 1800's and are making it beautiful.  :-)

Project 365

In the four years since I have had a DSLR,

I have wanted to complete a Project 365...a photo a day for a year.

Fear of failure has kept me from attempting it.

But, the daily record that we now have of our sweet baby's 67 days are precious to me.

That, plus the desire to improve in photography, have been enough motivation to do it this year.

I am not sure in what format I am going to share them online,

but I know I want to make a book...probably like this one.

 Have you...or anyone you know...ever completed this?

Caleb's Eye Update

Yesterday, we had another eye appointment for Caleb.  We went in sure that Dr. Simmons was going to tell us that Caleb needed surgery to fix his eyes.  For more info about his intermittent exotropia, read this post.

We have seen Caleb's eyes improve...over all.  But, one day after we had forgotten a few days of patching, he was really tired and one of his eyes went so far out that I know he was seeing double.  He was crying and covering his eye, and I could do absolutely nothing about it.  It was heartbreaking.  Apart from that day, things have gotten better...but we have been pretty certain he would need surgery.

And it seems that for everyone we have talked to who has had the surgery (or knows someone who has), multiple surgeries have been required.  So, we really didn't want Caleb to have to have this surgery.  Although the crazy hard things our friends have been through lately have given us perspective, we have prayed that this step would not be necessary.

Yesterday, after the doctor examined him, he looked at us and said, "good news."  Caleb's eyes had improved considerably since the last visit.  He said he was "tickled" about it, and he wouldn't need surgery.  In fact, we don't even need to continue eye patching.  We will have a follow up in six months.  We are so grateful that God answered our prayers in this way.  Thank You, Lord!

Tonight's Prayer

Me: "...and thank You for this little boy and his daddy..."

Caleb: "...and Mommy.  Thank You for Mommy.  She's cute."

Me: "What did you say, honey?"

Caleb: "You're cute.  And thank You for our friends...and for guitars...and my guitar...and drums. And, I play guitar.  And I pray for someone to play drums while I play guitar.  Amen."

"Hey babe!"

So, if I counted how many times those two words are shouted in our home, either by Brandon or me, it would be a surprisingly large number.  "Babe" is just what we call each other, and "Hey" is the word we use to get the other's attention.  What is the even more surprising number, however, is the amount of times we hear "Hey babe!" yelled from the mouth of our little boy.

Caleb, I think, has determined that it must be my name.  So, when calling "Mommy" doesn't work, he soon resorts to "Hey babe!"  I haven't yet stopped laughing enough to correct him.  If only you could hear how funny it is with his little voice.  It's just one of many things he does that entertain us.

White Sands Balloon Fiesta

We love our hot air balloons down here!  A while back, Caleb and I braved the ridiculously early morning and headed out to White Sands National Monument.   We both thoroughly enjoyed all the colors floating over the endless white, especially when the sun decided to make an appearance.  What a beautiful place we call home...and what a wonderful God to create such wonders!

During the fiesta, it wasn't too long before Caleb was distracted with driving a little Matchbox car in the gypsum sand.  Unfortunately, the small toy got buried and lost forever.  The dunes are always shifting, so I don't think it will turn up anytime soon.  So much for "leave no trace."

Katie Pertiet Frames

Arrrrghhh!!!

Caleb really has no idea what a pirate is, and he most definitely did not request to be one for Halloween. Our original plan was for him to be Peyton Manning of the Colts. He has a jersey that his Uncle Patrick and Aunt Hannah had bought him for Christmas, so we just needed a helmet and some padding. The helmet, however, proved to be more difficult to find.

So, because the little guy didn't care one way or the other...and Liz had just recently been sent this costume in a box of clothes for her kids...of course he had to be a pirate. We have heard countless pirate comments over the past few months so I don't know why I hadn't thought of it before. So, I colored in his eye patch with magic marker. The result was the cutest little pirate ever! He loved dressing up and was even willing to pose for an incredibly long thirty seconds. While both visiting friends and at our church festival, he walked up to most everyone and said, "I'm a pirate."

Sorry, Peyton. You'll just have to wait until next year. Please try to stay undefeated.

Happy Birthday, Little Man!

Our baby is three! I tend to round up when people ask how old he is (I do this with myself too), and so I have actually thought he was three for about four months now. When people have asked him how old he was, his response was "I turn 'tember." As in, "I turn three in September." This past Monday marked the day God blessed us with this incredible little person in our family. And we had lots of fun celebrating his little life.

My family growing up always had a tradition of breakfast in bed on birthdays and mother's/father's days. We continue that in our family, and Brandon made Caleb this adorable pancake mouse. My husband is amazing.



He loved eating in his bed.

He wanted a choo-choo train party, which was a bit more complicated than the baseball party he had originally asked for. But, I found this Wilton Puzzle Cake and it turned out better than expected. Many good friends came over to help us celebrate, and we all had a good time. Caleb did, at one point, become a little overwhelmed by the attention and said, "I don wanna go to my birfday." Apart from that moment, he had a wonderful birthday.



One unexpected blessing happened a few weeks before. At a garage sale, I found a Thomas the Train wooden train set complete with several buildings and numerous trains for $20!!! This set is something we have been eying for a long time, but I wasn't about to spend the money it would require to begin the collection. I think this set would cost $300 new. He has not stopped playing it since he found it all set up in his room on Monday morning.

Note to self: Next time, ask someone to take pictures for you. You will be too busy. :-)

Intermittent Exotropia

Caleb was diagnosed in July with this. We had been noticing it for a while and made an appointment with an ophthalmologist when it got worse. (Have you ever realized how hard that word is to spell?) It means that his eyes don't focus in the same direction at times. It happens only at certain times (hence "intermittent") and they move slightly outward (hence "EXOtropia"). It is pretty minimal, and no one has ever noticed it besides us and Dr. Simmons.

He has worn a patch everyday since July 8th, and will continue until September 15th. His eyes are improving, but he might have to have surgery to fix it. Please pray that the patches are sufficient.



I wore the patch with him the first day...as he got used to it. As you can tell, we didn't get out much that day. :0) Caleb did so well, and he never tried to take the patches off. We finally found some that don't fall off when he sweats but have yet to find a way to remove the new stickier ones without causing the poor little guy some pain.

Six weeks down...four to go...

Boys will be Boys

I have few memories of kindergarten, but one thing I can clearly remember is spending my free time playing with red cardboard bricks. We made forts. We made houses. We used them to make walls to keep the boys away. So, when this package was opened at Christmas, I was so excited. I didn't even know they were still around. Thanks again, Peltons.



I couldn't wait to see what creations his little mind would conceive. I pictured us spending quality time together building fortresses for Caleb and houses for "Wala" (his koala).

Instead, this is what Father and Son spend quality time together doing:









...over and over and over again. You should hear the laughing as the blocks crash on top of him. I don't understand those two half the time, but I enjoy them pretty much all the time.

What we've been up to...

A Summary of November:

** Brandon's mom, Hope, came to visit us. We had a great time with her. We always enjoy being around her, and we look forward to seeing both her and Barry, Brandon's dad, in a few weeks.

** We raked leaves for the first time since leaving the midwest. Our trees are yellow and lovely, and Caleb got to experience the joy of leaf piles for the first time today. More pictures to come.

** Brandon's hernia surgery went well, and he is recovering well. He feels lots better, and he has had no more blood clots. Even with his inability to pick up Caleb, we are managing really well. Caleb is becoming really independent and can do everything except get into grocery carts by himself.

** Caleb's sleeping has been up and down all month, but we are getting more creative in our parenting. I think we are all learning together how to help that little boy get the rest we know he needs.

** Donnie and Renee Begay reported to NMSU to officially join us on campus as Cru staff. They are a Native American couple who went to school here and have begun the first ministry within CCC to Natives. We are SO excited that they are here! We got to spend the week with them while they stayed with us as they were moving in to their new home. They have moved just a few blocks from us, and we love our new neighbors. They have a one-year-old, Natalia, with whom Caleb has quickly fallen in love.

** Caleb has developed a habit of taking every single book off his shelves (and because I was an elementary ed major, he has a lot). He pulls them all down, and sits right in the middle of them and reads forever. It is the cutest thing. Though the cuteness factor is quickly wearing off the more time I spend cleaning them up.

** I am sure there is more, but that is all I can think of right now...seeing as how it is pretty late. Hope you all had a wonderful November...and are enjoying the start of the Christmas season.











** Oh...one more thing...Caleb seems to have learned to smile for the camera. I am sure it is temporary, but I will enjoy it while it lasts. :-) I so enjoy that smile.

Fye-a-tuck

As most little boys do, ours loves fire trucks.  Our friend, Mark, is a fire chief at a station here in town, and we went to visit him and check out a real life fire station...since we have been reading about them so much lately. 

Just as we were getting ready to go, they were sent out on a call.  Caleb was fascinated to see the firemen leaving to help people.  He especially loved the lights and sirens.  

Mark and the other firemen were great...and so willing to answer our questions.  It was a really fun experience...and one I am sure we will try to repeat with friends someday. 

"Bye fye-a-tuck!!!"

A Big Boy Bed

We were blessed from the beginning with an absolutely amazing sleeper in Caleb.  He has inherited that, I would say, from his parents...and we had lots of help along the way from the BabyWise books by Gary Ezzo (AMAZING).  

So, when we decided to transition Caleb to a toddler bed, we were thinking it would be as easy as everything else has been along the way.  Well, not so much.  He screamed so much that first night that Brandon ended up spending the night in his room.  The next week or so went the same way.  He didn't nap.  I wasn't getting any sleep during the night or even during the day.  I wasn't getting anything done...and I was so tired.  

The screaming never stopped, so we decided he wasn't ready...or I wasn't ready.  Something like that.  So, now the opening in his crib is pushed up against the wall, and I am sleeping at night again.  He has security back, and I have my three hour window during his nap to get stuff done. Our home is happy and peaceful yet again. 

But, I would welcome any thoughts other moms have on the subject from your own experience. I could use all the help I can get for when we try it again in a few months. 

"Swiiiiiiing!!"

At any park we go to, all Caleb wants to do (apart from hanging out with every family besides his own) is swing on the swings.

So, Brandon built him a tree swing.  He has always been fine on the big kid swings, so we thought he would do just fine on this one.  Brandon built it from some wood we had for one of his many learning activities he takes people through. 

He hung it from a perfect branch in our front yard. 

And Caleb LOVED it!

That is, until this happened.  It was a pretty big "owwwwieee,"  but not too bad that I didn't take a picture of his sweet little face.  

And now this is what the tree swing looks like.  

Caleb just points at it and says, "swiiiiing!"  Sometimes he accompanies it with "owww."  For now, the poor swing lies motionless, but we're sure it won't be too long before he begs us to swing him again.  This time we just probably won't push him as high. 

He's TWO!!!

I blinked, and my baby became a two-year-old.  How is that possible?  We had a wonderful time celebrating his little life this weekend, and Caleb enjoyed it more than any of us. 

We had a guitar party on Saturday night.  So many friends came, and several of them brought their guitars.  Caleb loves guitars and is fascinated anytime anyone plays one.  

The guys had a jam session, and it was very entertaining for us all.  

...and Caleb got to participate.  We had set up a microphone and speaker with Cru's sound system, and he sang his heart out.  

He also played Jesse's bongos along with the music. 

Phil improvised a song about Caleb while the guys played a blues riff. (I have no idea how to spell that...don't even really know what it is.)  :-) 

He had an improvised guitar pinata.  As it was destroyed, its true Hannah Montana identity began to show through. 

I made a guitar cake with a Wilton guitar pan, but I didn't get a picture of it.  It was my first attempt at decorating a cake.  

We got him a little basketball goal that he can't get enough of.  He has a good arm, but I think that the adults in his life will get just as much use out of that little thing as he will. 

On his birthday, he woke up to breakfast in bed in his crib.  He didn't know what to think about us bursting into his room singing to him and bearing a tray of food.  He loved it nonetheless.

His dad is building him a tree swing, so we spent some time on his birthday outside helping him...and then went out to dinner at the same place we ate with my parents last year.  He threw coins in the fountain all night.  It was a wonderful, wonderful birthday weekend.