For Jane, From Caleb

You've been patiently awaiting more Caleb stories, so here you go...

Yesterday we were in a co-worker's office to discuss a project. We were in the middle of conversation when Caleb interrupted. He was standing by my side, with his pointer finger held high in the air and said, "Mommy! There's something on my finger." While grabbing a tissue to collect the offending "something", I said, "I wonder where that could have come from?" With a rather bewildered look on his face, Caleb replied, "I think it came from my nose!" Ha! Good thing the co-worker was a mom...she took it right in stride.

And this morning, I think we may have found a solution to his yearning for a pup. The boys and I were resting in my bed because they both have a habit of waking up FAR too early. In my state of being half-asleep, I made the mistake of pretending to be a sleeping dog in order to amuse the fussy Owen and restless Caleb. He thought it was hilarious. He kept patting my head and saying, "That's my good boy, Sparky!" I played along for quite a while, but I'm not sure how long I'll keep this up. Every time I said something, he'd demand, "No! Only barking." He's smart. I'm sure he realized that I can't reprimand him if I can only bark. Where did I draw the line? When he went running to his room to find a leash.

Last weekend, while riding in the car, Caleb asked, "Mommy? Was I ever in your comfy tummy?" I replied that, "Yes", a long time ago he had been in my tummy, when he was very small. He thought about that for a minute and said, "Oh. 'Cause I think I forgot a pillow in there."

That's all for now, but I'm sure there'll be more to come. He never disappoints!

What to say?

It's weird. I haven't published a post in so long, that I feel I hardly know what to say. It's not for any lack of "goings on". Life in our little Taylor-world has been its usual whirlwind of activity.

So? What's happened in the last several weeks?

We had quite the attack of various little germs. Eye boogers, tummy aches, fevers, etc. Thank God, I think we're finally past all of the bugs that were plaguing us. Caleb still insists, though, that there are bugs in his tummy that sneak in from under his bed during the night. No telling where that came from.

With the help of family, we tore out an old shed and various "stuff" from the corner of the yard and installed a very nice play area for the boys. I'm really praying that it will lead to many hours of enjoyable (safe) play for them. I know that Caleb is excited, and will be even more so, once a sand box is added to the area. Owen hasn't been able to partake in the fun, yet. He definitely does seem eager to get down (and dirty), though. I'm sure his time is coming, sooner than I'd like.










I took on a project in the back yard as well. Our grass suffered last summer from our inexperience in how to properly tend to a lawn. So, last week I raked out all the dead grass and re-seeded. It was quite a chore. By the end of the day, it took me FAR too long to straighten up again. I was kinked, for sure! As the song says, "I'm much to young to feel this 'darn' old." Ah, well. Thankfully, I'm still young enough to recover!

Then my mom, Caleb, Owen, my Uncle Jerry and I all participated in the March of Dimes' March for Babies. It was fun, definitely an experience I'd like to repeat, but not for another year - thank you very much. It was long and hot, but not bad at all. Especially considering the year before it was long and cold. I'd take the hot any day.

On Mother's Day, Zach took me for a ride on his motorcycle. That was fun! We hadn't been able to go for a ride together, because we bought the bike while I was pregnant with Owen. This had been our first opportunity. I'm definitely still a weenie. But I'd rather be safe than sorry, especially when asphalt is involved.

Last week was a doozie. Zach's dad, Phil, received a kidney transplant. They got the call that the organs were available on Wednesday morning and he had the operation on Thursday afternoon. His recovery has been a little challenging, but overall, it's been so-far-so-good. What a blessing!

Also on Wednesday, Dave took a spill on his motorcycle. Actually, it probably shouldn't be referred to as a spill. The term "spill" makes me think of being poured out on the ground. He did hit the ground, eventually, but only after hitting a wall. I guess he did spill, in a round-about sort of way. His collar bone is broken and his bike is totaled. I'm praying that he's blessed with quick and thorough healing, with financial break-through and with enough maturity and responsibility to keep this from happening again! (By the way, he did successfully reaffirm my commitment to "weenie-ness".)



Owen has been up to his same old cuteness. He's getting closer and closer to crawling. He has definitely mastered skootching. (I'm not exactly sure how to spell that.) He's enjoying the increase in mobility and, you can see by the sparkle in his eye, that he can tell there's something incredible that's just beyond his grasp. He'll get it soon enough. He had his first "real" food yesterday - green beans! He finished about half the jar before he really stopped to consider his opinion of the new taste. He made a funny face and had a bit of a shudder, and then that was it. No more green beans for Owen! We'll try again today.

That's all I can think of for now. There was more involved in there (work, a graduation, a wedding, knitting with a friend, etc), but you get the point. Life is busy...and good!

A Posting Hiatus

Just wanted to let you all know that we're all still alive and kicking. My recent lack of posts has been just that...a brief pause. I simply haven't felt like posting.

My silence hasn't been due to any lack of material. For instance, I could definitely write about Owen's eye boogers, Caleb's claim that he "kisses lots of girls" or his faked ear infection. I could write about our weekend backyard transformation in which we tore out a shed, bagged about a million fallen leaves, did a significant amount of dirt work and set up a swing set/play area for the boys all in one day. I should be telling you about my plans to walk in the March for Babies walk on Saturday. (If, by the way, you'd like to help support the cause, my site is set up to receive donations.)

I'm sure that in the not-too-distant future, I'll get at it again. The posts will continue. In the mean time, though, I just wanted to say that I love you all. After all, what more is there to say?

A Girl's Gotta Do...

Right now I should be doing bookwork, but it can wait for five minutes. Sometimes when a blog topic presents itself you have to put everything on hold and strike while the iron is hot. After all, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. And, right now, what I've got to do is embarrass the heck out of my brother.

Hmm. Embarrass. I never realized exactly how close that word is to sounding like two other words...bare ass. Pardon my French, but as with most things colorful (or should I say off-color) in my life, it's Dave's fault. He stopped by this afternoon to watch the guys for me while I ran a few errands. He told me he had to be at work by 3pm, so I was back in plenty of time. I figured that, as usual, he'd have to stop by his house on his way to grab his uniform. It was getting closer and closer to 3 o'clock and he still hadn't made a move for the door, so I asked, "Don't you have to stop by your house?" "No," he said. "I've got my uniform in my car." Okay. (Although he was still cutting it insanely close.)

He finally headed out the door. A minute later I noticed the mailman drive by, so Owen and I went out to see if there were any surprises waiting in our mailbox. We didn't have to go far, though, before we got a heck of a surprise...Uncle Dave standing in the middle of our driveway...in his undies! Aagh! He was changing into his work uniform right out in the open! To his credit, he blushed a little. But, he did admit to changing in public places more than once...in a UNM parking lot, at the Monte Vista Fire Station parking lot, etc. "All the way down to your undies!?!", I had to ask. "Well", he shrugged, "that's what you do when you change your pants."

I have to admit, I was glad to hear that he does it in more places than just my driveway. At UNM, I could see that he could possibly snag a girl. At the Fire Station, he could possibly score a free meal. At my house, though, the best he'd probably do is thrill an elderly, widow neighbor!

Again, aagh...DAVE! He is too much.

Always Good for a Smile

Too bad I can't stick him on the dash of my car, because his little bobble head is the most entertaining I've ever seen. Zach seems to think he's actually implying a "no" response each time he does it. For instance, Zach asks, "Can you say 'Mama'?" Every time his little head wobbles back and forth. But, if Zach asks, "Can you say 'Dada'?", he usually answers with a smile. Stinker!

I don't doubt that it may actually be a "no" response, though. It seems likely to be the most common answer to the questioning he'll eventually receive. Already, Caleb has been plenty eager to blame things that go awry on his little counterpart. "Caleb, did you open this package of spaghetti?" (While we're still in the store.) "No. I think Owen did it." It wasn't the first time and I'm sure it won't be the last. Eventually, I probably will have to start questioning Owen. Something about that little sparkle in his eye does, admittedly, make me nervous. But for now, I am pretty confident that he didn't mess with the spaghetti.

What he wouldn't do...

After Squirt relocated to the porcelain bowl, Zach asked if we should go to the pet store and buy the "other" fish for Caleb. I opted no. I wanted to wait until Caleb actually asked. No sense in getting another fish if he's not going to be interested.

After this morning, however, I'm wondering if he wasn't so impressed with his brief stint as a proud fish-owner. He has resumed talk of getting a "pup", as he calls them.

In answer to his "Why not" question that I get so often these days, I again tried to explain that it might not be safe while we have a baby in the house. "Oh, okay," he said, with a surprising level of acceptance. But, I should have known better. His solution? "Maybe we can get a pup after we sell Owen."

Aagh!

Rest in Peace, Little Squirt

Yep. You read it right. The poor little guy made it for exactly two days. I'm not sure what went wrong. It seems, though, that with a goldfish all it could take is the wrong barometric pressure and they'll turn belly up. Sorry. Bear with me, I'm trying to use humor so I won't get too sad about a dead fish and my role in his early demise. Because, it turns out that I was definitely the most affected.

Caleb was vaguely aware of what was going on. Suddenly Mommy was washing out Squirty's bowl...a last ditch effort to revive the almost-dead fish. I had hoped some nice, fresh water would do the trick. Unfortunately, it didn't. We were going to wait and tell him after his nap, so that at least he would be able to rest peacefully. (Although I am entirely convinced that we were both just stalling...still praying that the floating-on-his-side fish would make a miraculous recovery.) Before he made it to bed, though, Caleb noticed that his fishy was awful still. "Daddy, why isn't my fishy swimming." I was in another room taking care of Owen, so I cringed and waited for what was coming. I didn't exactly hear what Zach said. All I really heard was Caleb's unaffected resolve as he chirped, "Okay. I'll get the other fishy from the store."

WHAT? He was completely fine. At first, that bothered me more than the death of our new little pet. Not that I want to see my Caleb in tears, but... Does this say something about his personality? Is he already cold and calloused at the ripe young age of 3?

I was quite disturbed by the whole afternoon's events. Thankfully, though, God started the healing process quickly. He made me realize that Caleb is as precious and innocent as ever. And, better yet, he's been listening to his parents. Thankfully, we haven't had to talk to him too much about death yet. But when we have, we have always incorporated Jesus and his love for us into the discussion. So. What did Caleb take away from our conversations? That death isn't something to fear. Yeah! He seems pretty darn confident that he doesn't need to worry about his fishy. So, I guess I won't either.

May You Swim in Peace
Squirty Squirty
April 10 - April 12, 2008

But, to end our Squirty memorial on a happy note: On Friday night during dinner, he kept coming up to the top of the bowl and touching his round, little mouth to the surface. Caleb thought he was drinking his water and, as only a 3-year-old could, thought it was absolutely hilarious. "Look Mommy, look! He's drinking his water! He wants to get big and strong, so he can lift up cars like Uncle Justin." Ah, my Caleb...