Life's Greatest Blessings: 4 and a HALF

Our big boy is now four AND A HALF! He's very quick to let you know that he's not just "four" anymore. Not sure where the time went but he's growing up so fast! I look back and his pictures and videos from when he was Samuel's age and I can barely remember him that age. It's very bittersweet.

To celebrate Caleb's "half-birthday", he had a big bowl of oatmeal for breakfast (his favorite) with cherries and blueberries on top (his favorite fruits) cut in half. Mommy even put 4 1/2 candles on top! We also took him to Chick-fil-A (his favorite restaurant) for dinner.

Caleb is so funny! He has recently started making jokes (that even occasionally make sense!), especially knock-knock jokes. He loves to laugh and make others laugh. He's always laughing at random rhyming words he comes up with (just the other day we played a game of "fish-fac-foe" with fish instead of x's and o's). Lots of his made up stories include inventive words that are just normal words with the first letter sounds changed. He thinks this is hilarious! We also have hit the potty humor stage so some days there is a lot of "pee" and "poop" talk in our stories and jokes.

Caleb is still a huge talker and is rarely quiet! He is always asking a million questions about everything. He loves testing out new words he has heard recently (the past few days we have been hearing "irritating", "jealous", "disguised" Unfortunately we have hit a "talking back" stage (that I'm sure will last for the next 15 years) that is driving Mommy and Daddy batty. Caleb loves reading signs as we're driving and asking what they all say if he can't read them fast enough. He has a very curious nature and isn't afraid to test out his theories on how things should work, often getting himself into trouble at home and school! He can be a good listener and has a very sweet nature but needs to be reminded often to actually DO what adults are telling him rather than what he thinks is best. As was true when he was a baby, he still is a very independent guy. He gets easily offended and mad if we try to help him do much of anything and takes great pride in doing tasks himself. If one of us suggests that he can't quite do something yet, he often sets out to come up with a way to complete the task so he can prove us wrong!

Caleb goes to Pre-Kindergarten on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 8:00-3:00 and loves it! He struggled a little in the beginning with knowing the right way to get friends to want to play with him but has been doing so much better lately. He and some other boys have been playing football at recess, that is when Caleb isn't playing with his best school friend, a little girl named Avery. Avery isn't even in Caleb's class but somehow they struck up a very special friendship on the playground one day and still are very good friends. When she invited Caleb to her 4th birthday party, Caleb insisted that he go along to the store to pick out just the perfect present, had me email her mom to find out what her favorite color was so he could make her card just right, and insisted that she open his present at the party (to which she so politely replied "Caleb, I love it!"). Her valentine, which he insisted on making for her even though she's not in his class, was covered in hearts he drew (and apparently she gave him a hug on the playground on Valentine's Day). Just this morning he told me that she told him that she was going to come to all of his birthday parties every year. I asked him what he thought of that and he says, "well, she can come to my 5th birthday party and my 18th birthday party. I think I'll have to take off of work on my 18th birthday to spend it with her!". They are precious!

Just recently Caleb has really started to get that spark for reading and writing! He can sound out a lot of words, loves being read to, can write his whole name, and is able to sound out and write words every week for his homework (which is not expected by his teacher - just something he likes to do). He reads signs as we're driving and even told me the other day at Kroger, "Mommy, that coupon machine says 'take one', why are we taking more than one?" Mommy got busted grabbing an extra almond milk coupon! haha He can almost independently read the Buzz Boy and Fly Guy books (his favorite right now) and loves hearing chapter books read to him. So far he's really enjoyed a few of the Flat Stanley series books and is currently listening to Chocolate Fever. Thankfully Mommy has tons of easy chapter books from her teaching days so he has quite the selection to choose from. Caleb also loves going to the library weekly to check out new books. His first stop is to see if there are any Batman, Planes, or other character books and then he likes to go check to see if there are any Fly Guy books he hasn't read before. We also try to find a book on CD to take home and a few books for Samuel, of course too!

Caleb still is the most easy-going eater in the world! For example, tonight for dinner he ate a fresh spinach salad with pears, feta, sliced almonds, and raspberry vinaigrette dressing, and soup that had whole wheat cheese tortellini, spinach chicken sausage, and fresh spinach (yes, we like spinach! haha). No complaints whatsoever. He's a rare breed, I know. He definitely has foods he likes (fruit, sandwiches, sweets, pickles, cherries) but he doesn't turn down anything!

Caleb loves Angry Birds, Batman, playing games on our phones, running, riding his bike, the Fly Guy book series, doing his chores (clearing dirty dishes off the table after we eat, folding socks and washcloths, putting away the silverware from the dishwasher, cleaning out his lunch kit after school every day, etc.), playing outside, meeting new people, talking to everyone (adults and children alike), sharing, hugging Samuel, going to Sunday School, playing with friends, going to the library and park, trying to convince others to do things using his logic, sleeping with his Mickey and puppy (yes, the same ones he used to sleep with a couple of years ago), wearing his Angry Birds watch he picked out with his Christmas money, trying to do almost everything by himself, and so much more.

Caleb, you are our loving, funny, independent, crazy, firstborn son. We love you so much and are so proud of you. You make us smile everyday and we are so thankful to be your parents! Love you so much, buddy boy, our "lumpy". :)