My Little Charmer

(yesterday evening, in the van with Caelleb, on the way home from work)

Caelleb: Can I have a piece of candy after dinner?
Me: You will have to talk to daddy about that. I am going out to dinner with Miss Sandi.
Caelleb: You are?
Me: Yep. You and daddy get to have a boys night tonight.
Caelleb: You having a girls night?
Me: Yes.
Caelleb: Ahhh man. I want one girl at my boys night.
Me: You do? Which girl is that?
Caelleb: YOU!

Cutest Thing

Bryndyn has always been a morning person. And I have always been, well, NOT a morning person. :) Usually (especially during the school year) Bryndyn is up, showered, dressed, eaten & on his way to work before I am even out of bed. Since we've been back from vacation we have been trying to get the kids back on a good sleeping routine so that they are ready and well rested when school starts next week. The plan is working, better than we would have imagined. Even though Bryn hasn't officially started teaching yet, he has been officially back at work since 8/6 with coaching duties, teacher/staff meetings & technology. So, he is back on his early morning routine. But he now has a "breakfast buddy." For the last week Caelleb has been waking up early and eating breakfast with Bryndyn. I kept thinking it was a fluke because usually he is not so easy to wake up in the morning. But every morning for the last week when I get out of bed I peek out into the living room and there he is already up watching cartoons, even dressed and ready for his day. I didn't realize until recently that he was also sharing the morning meal with Bryndyn. Last night Bryndyn told me how much he is enjoying spending that time with Caelleb and how nice it is to eat breakfast with someone. I thought that in itself was cute. But this morning, same thing. . . I got out of bed about to jump in the shower but I peeked my head out to see if Caelleb was up. Sure enough, he was completely dressed and laying on a pillow on the floor watching mickey mouse clubhouse. I told him good morning and he replied enthusiastically, "Good morning mommy!" So cute. Then I asked him if he had had breakfast with daddy this morning. I wish you could have seen his face. He turned toward me SO excited and exclaimed, "YES I did. I love that!"

I thought my heart was going to burst. So cute!

I - C - E - C - R - E - A - M

Last night we were walking downtown (oops, I mean, in the "district" *whatever*) to go eat at Chipotle. We walked right past Cold Stone. Caelleb says, "How come we don't get ice cream no more?" UMMMM because it is FREEZING outside is what I was thinking in my head. But then I got to thinking it might be a nice treat for him tonight. He has had an amazing couple of weeks, behaviorally. So while we were eating our dinner I say to Bryndyn, "maybe we could stop and get I - C - E - C - R - E - A - M (spelled out) on the way home?" Without missing a beat, Caelleb yells ICE CREAM at the top of his lungs. Ummmm, when did he learn how to spell? Apparently, besides his name, ice cream is the first word he learned how to spell! :) I take that back. . . He did that one other time with another word that he hates: B - E - D - T - I - M - E!

Two Hearts

I often tell Caelleb what a sweet boy he is! Well over a year ago I was commenting on his sweetness and I jokingly said that maybe God gave him two hearts and that is why he is so sweet. Caelleb grinned from ear to ear at this idea. About a week ago at his yearly checkup the doctor was listening to his heart. While trying to make small talk w/Caelleb she asked him if he knew where his heart was located. First he pointed to the left side of his chest and then he pointed to the right side of his chest. His doctor told him that he had it right the first time and placed his hand over his heart on the left side. Without missing a beat Caelleb informed his doctor that he had TWO hearts. One on each side. She smiled but played along. He tells people this all the time that God gave him two hearts. It's adorable but i'm kinda worried about the day I have to break the one-hearted bad news. . .

I guess I need to slow down. . .

The other day Caelleb had a dr. apt. at 8:45 am. I took him into work w/me that morning to get a few things done before we headed to the dr. office. As always I was rushing around trying to do too many things at once and we ended up running late to his apt. I'm so used to being in "rush" mode these days that I didn't even realize how FAST I was driving (in a residential area, to make matters worse). All of a sudden I hear Caelleb yelling "WEEEEEE" from the back of the van. I look in my rear view mirror to see what he's doing and he has both of his hands raised up above his head like he's on a roller coaster. I slowed down. He said, "No mommy! Go fast! I wike roller coasters." Since then I have been trying to be a more responsible driving example to my son. . . We just happen to be late everywhere we go. Next I'll tackle trying to be a more prompt example. . .

Do You Know Slow? :)

Caelleb is sick this morning. . . some kind of stomach issue. . . so, I have both boys in the office with me today (until Bryndyn relieves me at lunch). . . not fun! BUT he is still in a great, mellow mood which made for fun discussion this morning. Here are some tidbits from our morning banter:

We were heading down to the education wing of the church building to locate a tv for Caelleb to watch his movies on. We get to the teen room (which is where Bryndyn teaches the teens every Sunday morning--right across from Caelleb's class) and I start wheeling the TV out. Caelleb says: "Hey, what are you doing with Daddy's TV!" (like I was stealing it or something) :)

Then as we are pushing the TV down the hall it is loud & the baby was sleeping in his infant carrier on the other side of the hallway, where we were headed.

Me: this TV is LOUD
Caelleb: it gonna wake up baby
Me: when we get close to Jamie we'll just have to roll the tv very slowly so it won't be as loud.
Caelleb: I help. I know slow!

I don't know why, but talking to him just cracks me up! I would argue about whether or not he "knows" slow, but I love how his little mind works and he is always thinking of others and wanting to help.

Kind of random, but thought i'd share. These are the kind of things that I want to remember when he is a teenager and wants nothing to do with me! :)

Good News. . . Bad News. . .

December 7th, 2006

Quick Cute Caelleb Story. . .

Caelleb and I always have good talks in the van. So, the day we found out that Tia was moving out and Jamie was moving in I decided to talk to Caelleb about it when we were alone in the van. I told him that I had some good news and some bad news. I told him i'd start w/the bad news. . . I then proceeded to do my best to explain to him that Tia would be moving out on Monday (12/11/06). He got upset. Next, I told him I had some good news & told him about Jamie. He got excited. Two minutes later he was talking about power rangers. He's 5. What did I expect? I wasn't sure he got it until later that day. Tia was in her crib just waking up from her afternoon nap. I was in her room putting clothes away. As I was finishing up w/the clothes Caelleb came in and went straight over to Tia's crib. I didn't understand everything he was saying to her but here is what I did catch:

"Tia, bad news. You have to go live with you other mommy. But good news too. Baby boy coming to live with us. . ."

He definitely got it. Tia was barely awake and had no idea what he was talking about. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Regardless it was cute.

Way More Than Huge

Caelleb and I do this thing where I say, "Caelleb, do you know how much I love you?" He'll say (already knowing my response), "how much?" Then I say, "I love you HUUUUUGE" (loud emphasis on huge). Normally, he just repeats the phrase back to me. Sometimes this results in a friendly little argument about who loves the other the "hugest." (is that a word?) Usually the person who yells HUGE the loudest is the winner. :) But last night, instead of repeating the phrase, he looked me in the eyes and said, "mommy, I love you WAY more than huge." My heart melted. . .

Blue-Eyed Power Addendum

So, apparently these "blue-eyed powers" are even more powerful than I originally thought. Last night at the dinner table I jokingly asked Bryndyn if he had heard of Caelleb's "powers," because I wanted to tell him the cute story. Bryndyn informed me that Caelleb had not only told him about his powers but had actually used them. Apparently, on the way home from daycare yesterday Bryndyn and Caelleb were stopped at a red light and Bryndyn, just being silly, told Caelleb to make the light change from red to green. So Caelleb yells out "GREEN!" And almost instantly the light changed. Perfect timing. Bryndyn asked Caelleb how he did that and hence learned about these mysterious "blue eyed powers." :) Bryndyn had assumed that I had taught Caelleb this silly powers thing. I had assumed Bryndyn had taught this to Caelleb. Caelleb informed us that he taught himself these powers! :) The rest of the conversation went something like this. . .

Me: So, what do Tia's "brown-eyed" powers do?
Caelleb: brown eyes don't have powers mommy
Me: I have blue eyes too. So me and you have these special blue-eye powers, huh?
Caelleb: No, not all blue eyes have powers. Most blue eyes don't. Only some.

Quite the imagination we've got on our hands. He knew that we thought the whole thing was funny and he just kept playing along, adding more to his blue-eye'd power story. Anyway, it made for lively dinner time discussion! :) Never a dull moment!

Blue-Eyed Power

Caelleb & I both overslept this morning. So, trying to motivate Caelleb to move quickly, I told him we would race to see who could get ready the fastest. First, he says, "no mommy, it not a race." :) But then once he is dressed he runs into my room to see if he beat me!!! Playing along I say, "Wow Caelleb! You are FAST! How'd you get so fast?" He says, "I've got powers mommy. My blue eyes gave me powers." I laughed out loud. Where does he come up with this stuff? Too funny!

Child After My Own Heart

One of my oldest & best friends (we actually consider ourselves sisters), Kathy, adores my kids. The feeling is mutual as my kids adore her as well. Unfortunately, Kathy doesn't live close by so we don't get to see her very often. But she will IM me from time to time with the following question: "Any cute Caelleb stories?" And now that Tia is talking she'll say, "any cute kid stories?" If I can think of any off the top of my head I will IM them to her. Probably about a year or so ago I started saving these IM conversations as a way to help me remember all the cute things the kids do/say. Now that I am blogging I can preserve the stories this way as well. Thank you Kathy for taking such an interest in my kid's lives & for being such a great friend! So, here is a "cute Caelleb story" that took place on 10/12/06.

Yesterday morning Bryn was taking Caelleb to school which means he gets up WAY earlier--Bryn leaves at 6:15-6:30, as opposed to me leaving at 7:45am. Anyway, when Bryn went into his room Caelleb didn’t want to get up yet and says, "noooo, I tired more." Bryndyn, thinking he has a few more things he can get done at the house before they leave, asks Caelleb if he wants to sleep a couple more minutes. Caelleb shakes his head yes and pulls the covers up over his head. So Bryn heads out to get the rest of his stuff together. As he is walking down the hallway from Caelleb's room he hears Caelleb yell, "TURN THE LIGHT OFF!" :)

Bryndyn, being very much a morning person tells me this is a like-mother-like-son sort of thing! :) He's probably right!

Color Blind

A few nights ago we were all in the living room watching a baseball game. The kids were playing together on the couch right next to me and just out of the blue Caelleb says, "Mommy, Tia's hands are black." I said, "yes they are." A couple minutes go by and Caelleb says, "My hands are white." I again say, "yes they are."














A couple more minutes go by and Caelleb asks, "Mommy, why are Tia's hands black?" So, I asked him the same question, "why are your hands white?" He thought about it and said, "I no no" (translation: I don't know).














So, we had the whole "God makes every person one-of-a-kind, unique & special" conversation. But I just thought it was so awesome that after 15 months he just noticed that he and Tia had a different color of skin!














The above pictures are from our summer vacation. Tia went to her first baseball game at Dodger Stadium so my parents had to get the kids all decked out in dodger blue! We spent a day at Zuma Beach in Malibu. The last picture is from our family reunion cruise!

Rule Clarification Please

So yesterday Caelleb was "sick" with absolutely no symptoms but I went ahead and let him have the afternoon off from preschool because he kept telling me he was sick. Normally I don't give in but we have had a stressful few weeks as a family so I figured maybe he just needed some extra "mommy" time (side note: when I asked him about that he said, "I need daddy time" -- whatever, :) I'm used to that--he is such a little daddy's boy!). Anyway, so he was with me on my lunch break. I stopped to put gas in the van and told Caelleb I was going in to get a soda. He wanted to go in too because he wanted the "pink juice" (this extra sugary juice that we let him have on occasion, rare occasion). So, trying to make a point that you can't just miss school and do/get whatever you want, I say, "I already have apple juice and water for you in the car and besides when you are sick you don't get to drink that kind of juice." His angry/pouting response: "I didn't know that was the rule!" So, I asked him if he wanted to change his mind about being sick. I could totally just see his little mind working. Once he weighed his options (not sick=juice but going back to school & admiting he hadn't been totally honest vs. sick=no juice) he decided that he was in fact still "sick." Too funny!

Prayer Warrior

Just a quick cute Caelleb story. This morning, we were in the van headed to Caelleb's "work" (daycare), he was coughing quite a bit. I made the comment that I should've given him some cough medicine and he says, "yea, I have a bad cold." :) Anyway, a few minutes go by and I hear him whispering. He has quite the imagination and is always finding ways to pretend play so I didn't think much of it but then I heard him say, "and please help my cold be better." So, I turned around to see what he was doing and he had his hands folded and his head bowed--he was totally praying for God to heal his cold. My heart just melted! Man, I LOVE that kid!