biker dude

When Michael returned from overseas, he and I made an impulsive decision to buy two bikes and a baby seat on LeJeuneYardSales.com (kind of like a local CraigsList), and they have turned into something... important.



At first, it was just something to do together that got us out of the house, which is important in itself. Then there was the perk of a little exercise. When we found a 16-mile bike path that practically starts and ends at our house (we have to do a bit of highway driving... maybe 2 miles), it became a 2-hour cardio workout. On top of that, we discovered that we can have a long, in-depth conversation about our future (which we're oh-so-very excited about) without anything to interrupt or distract us (besides those pesky cars).



The special bonus is that Caleb seems to really enjoy it. As long as he's not tired and grumpy, and it's not too hot, and we give him a drink of water once in a while, he just sits back and takes in the scenery, listening to us rattle off and occasionally adding in some babble or singing. Plus... look how precious he is in his riding attire.

water boy

We filled up our little $5 blow-up kiddie pool for the first time today, and boy was it put to use! Judging by the time lapse in my pictures, we were outside for about an hour, just splashing around, seeing what objects we could toss into the pool and fill up with water.

After a playful struggle between Momma and upside-down baby, a quick dip of his hair in the "shallow end" resulted in a toddler faux-hawk. I think it suits him nicely.



He took a few breaks from his pool to explore his surroundings, then it was back in the water.

(I love that belly! It makes him look like a frog - especially in this makeshift pond.)

Close-up!

These next two pictures crack me up, because they were taken exactly nine seconds apart. Just goes to show what kind of mood swings this little guy is prone to having.

A beautiful day, a sweet little boy, a few inches of lukewarm water... and a good time was had by all.

where's Caleb?

Sadly enough, he's stuck in the cupboards.



Looks like his boyish curiousity got the better of him this time.

"Come on y'guys, help me out... Well if you're just gonna laugh and take pictures, I guess I'll have to find a way out myself!"

(For the record, we did pull him out shortly after. Just in time for him to make some more mischief, I'm sure.)

These boys...

...make me so happy.

harmoni-CAN!

Caleb has had this toy harmonica for a few months now, and ever since mommy showed him how to use it, he has always pretty much just stuck the thing (it didn't matter which end) up to his mouth and... hummed. That in itself, of course, was precious.

However, now that it has come out of hiding from the Great Move, he thought he'd give it another try, and thus...



We're so proud of his musical capabilities. Just a few hours after this, he was full-out dancing to the BeeJees "Oh What a Night," compliments of mommy's iPhone.

And in case any of you are wondering how the Boy is getting along with his daddy, here's another video of the duo sharing a morning snack. Grapes!



On with our day!

Daddy's little helper

Now that Dad's back home, and has three weeks off of work, we've been finding lots of fun little projects to do around our "new" house, and Caleb is oh-so eager to help.

First on the list was to fix the yard. We are fortunate enough to have an awsome next-door neighbor who lets us use his washer and dryer, as well as some gardening tools, so we don't have to buy our own for the 2-3 months we'll be living here. Michael had to do some work on his lawn-mower and weed-wacker so he could tidy up the lawn, but I'd say that's definitely a fair trade-off.



So the three of us spent a few hours outside, and really enjoyed ourselves. Michael was glad to be doing something constructive, and not too laborious, Caleb mostly watched and directed (and smiled and giggled), and I took a few pictures, and made sure Caleb didn't hurt himself or get in the way.

He thought the lawn mower was fun, but then Daddy brought out the hose! "Caleb, wanna help me spray down the house and car deck?" (Trying to keep the spiders and potato bugs at bay).

"Yeah!"

"What's this? An obstacle!"

"It's okay, I got this!"

This little boy LOVED getting wet.



And we loved watching him.



Really though, who wouldn't?

Caleb loves playing outside, and will tread barefoot through pokey grass, twigs, and gravel without any complaint. Must those super-padded pudgy feet :).



This momma did her best to just sit back and let boys be boys, but when water mixed with dirt to become mud (and I could foresee that mud all over my kitchen floor), and rocks and twigs and roly-polies started making their way into Caleb's mouth... then I decided it was time to go inside, strip down and take a bath! Good thing it was close to bed-time, and one little boy was pleasantly tuckered out :).

a family photo

Here's this quaint little threesome on the front steps of our humble (and temporary) abode.

Caleb may look like he's a happy camper, but really he's trying to escape from our grasp so he can climb up and down those steps. It's his favorite activity for the time being, even after his little spill a few days ago. He biffed it hard, and had scratches from his forehead to the left side of his neck (including his ear) to show for it.

There've been several falls over the last week or two, big and little, and I'm not sure what to make of it. Either he's just out of his comfort zone, he's exploring and doing more risk-taking, or he's just gotten really clumsy. Sometimes when I watch him, I think it must be the latter. I'm slowly learning to accept that it's just going to happen, and I just have to let it. He's a pretty tough kid, even for a momma's boy.