More photos please

This one is for the grandparents (mainly my mom or Grammy) who keep harking on me for more photos:

First one of my favorite videos of his little giggles:

   

He's a natural!

Learning how to play from the queen of piano herself (Aunt Hannah)

I couldn't resist matching for the day. Caleb would want me to tell you that
our shirts are peach, NOT pink. 

Photo shoot with Mama

Love this one

Bath time fun!

This was when he was sick and would only eat cheese :)

One of my all-time favorites! 

11 Months!

I admit I am ready for these monthly updates to come to an end! While they seemed like such a good idea months 1, 2, 3 & 4, they have made me feel increasingly guilty in the months since. I ask myself every month why I can't get this done on time, and I have yet to come up with a valid excuse. This month Caleb has been sick for the past several weeks, but I'm pretty sure the camera still would have taken his picture in between the sniffles and coughs. Let's just say the subsequent March babies are unlikely to get their own post with pictures of updates each month... I'm a second child so I get it.

With that being said, here's the big moments from month 11:

• Caleb is definitely a walker now. Since his first few steps at 10 months, he has not stopped moving. 
• I'm pretty proud mortified that Caleb knows how to use a phone. Here's the evidence: 

• Still no real words besides "Hi", which he says every time he holds the phone to his ear. He actually says "Hi D", which we think means "Hi dada".
• The main events of the past month have been a series of illnesses... starting with a cold, which became bronchitis, which lead to an adverse reaction to the antibiotic, and culminated in some sort of stomach bug that left us with a child that refused to eat the many meals we so laboriously prepared and an abundance of laundry and diapers. After nearly 10 days of his finicky eating, he finally ate his Chik-Fil-A chicken nuggets (we'd given up on cooking for him) yesterday... I nearly cried!
• Caleb's top two teeth came in bringing the grand total to four chompers. 

After nearly 50 photo attempts (you try getting Caleb to sit still for 5 seconds), here are the handful of successful shots:

And here are a few of the many outtakes:

"Hmmm... if I take this off, do you think the  crazy women with the camera making the ridiculous sounds and facial expressions will leave me alone?"

This is what he thought of his 11 month sticker and our little photo shoot

Mid-fall... he often looks like a drunken sailor as he toddles around.

I Could Watch This Over & Over...

Melts.my.heart!

And We're Walking

Caleb took his first steps just before he turned 10 months. He is now able to walk across the room:

Here are a couple other recent fav photos:

We are loving this new outfit from Grammy. Thanks for making Caleb so stylin' mom!

Caleb has had a bug of some sort for over a week now (no fun!),  but he is still our smily dude 

Love this one of dad & son! 

10 Months & Beaver Creek

Once again, here I am after the month mark posting the latest and greatest of Caleb over a week late. Thanks for your patience... it's been a busy month. With little time to recover from a very fun holiday season, we've jumped right into 2013. This started with a huge milestone in the March fam... our first trip away from Caleb! Tim and I spent 3 days skiing/snowboarding (Tim being the skier and me being the boarder) in Beaver Creek. While we had an a-may-zing time together, I'll admit it was a bit too long for our first big trip away. I was doin' okay days 1 & 2 but about lost it day 3. It's crazy that this little man that I didn't even know 11 months ago has weaseled his way so very deep into my heart that I can hardly last 3 days without seeing and squeezing him. Thankfully, from all accounts, it seems he had a blast with Grammy and Grampa Richardson in Michigan (still can't thank them enough).

Here are the other big events from Caleb's 10th month:

• He took his first steps! Crawling is definitely still his mode of transportation, but he can stand on his own for an extended length of time (meaning 20ish seconds or so) and can take a few very shaky steps. 
• His "pincer grab" has now been perfected which has made cheerio-eating a much quicker and cleaner process. 
• We think his first word is Dada. We're positive he know's who Dada is since he looks directly at Tim when asked "Where's Dada, Caleb?"
• Oh this one is fun... he has thrown his first tantrum. What?? I fully thought we had a whole year before this began, but I was soooo wrong. I couldn't believe it the first time it happened... I took a my cell phone away (how dare you, mom!) and Caleb literally hurled himself backwards, flipped onto his stomach and started banging his head and feet into the ground. I couldn't help but laugh in disbelief. We're now frantically reading and talking to other parents about how to discipline at this age... it's not like we can spank him and "no" obviously does not register yet. Any advice other mamas out there?
• It also appears that he has started testing us. While it's impossible to know for sure, he seems to know when he is not supposed to do something, like touch the outlet. But this certainly does not stop him from trying. He'll crawl right up to it, put his finger on the socket and turn around and look right at me with a devilish grin. The first time is pretty stinkin' cute... not so much the 2nd time, 3rd time, 4th time... you get the point.
• He never stops moving! We sat in church yesterday and I watched another little 10 month old sit in her moms lap the entire time... I can't even fathom this. Caleb won't sit still for 2 seconds let alone 75 minutes. This is going to make our 2 1/2 hour flight in 2 weeks oh so much fun, especially by myself. Yes, I will be that mom holding the baby who is watching a movie on the ipad while stuffing his face with baby cheetos... desperate times call for desperate measures. 
• Measurements at 10 months & 1 week:
• Height: 30.25 in (90%)
• Weight: 23 lbs. 8 oz (75%)

Here's our big dude at 10+ months:

"Look Mom - no hands!"

And here are pics from Colorado:

Made a pitstop at McD's on our way to drop Caleb off at Grammy & Grampa's in Michigan.

So hard leaving this little face!

Not bad

Of course we picked the weekend when it was -25 degrees with wind chill. 

I'm a little ashamed to say this was my favorite... not being on the mountain,
but building a fire and enjoying the peace and quite at the end of the day. 

We spent this past weekend in Minnesota celebrating our niece Allie's 3rd birthday. So much fun!

Cousin lovin'

Baby cheetos will now be a staple for long car rides... he's just like his mama in this regard. 

Joy to the World...

...the Lord is come!

Let earth receive her King;

Let every heart prepare Him room,

And Heaven and nature sing,

And Heaven and nature sing,

And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

We spent 9 wonderful days celebrating Christmas in Michigan with the Richardson clan. Caleb is still too young to understand Christmas, but it definitely registered that he was the center of attention... and he loved it! 

Not sure who is going to enjoy the wagon more... Caleb or the parents

He loved the box that the wagon came in more than anything and so did we - it's not easy keeping a moving babe safe in a non-baby proof environment!

He had never seen a fire before and was mesmerized.

Playing with Gramps Christmas morn 

He's pretty pleased that he has his own set of keys 

There was one point in time when everyone in the room was staring at Caleb and taking photos:

He learned quickly that the "How big is Caleb - SO BIG" trick was a hit... even when we hadn't asked how big he was, he would thrust his arms into the air, which of course brought on immediate attention.

Caleb with his Great Grampa

Love this photo of my Gramps and Grandma - sweetest people ever!

We discovered that he LOVES THE SNOW!! We all had a blast sledding in the back:

Tim and I stole away for a few minutes for a snowy walk through the woods. 

Another discovery we made... we have a future musician on our hands. Doesn't it look like he is reading the music and playing??

"Thank you ladies and gentleman! I'll be here all week."

We capped our time off with a little family rivalry: Tim's Vikings vs. my Packers. I would say I am a much better loser than my husband (when it comes to games in which I am not playing), so it's probably a good thing the Vikings won. Plus, the Packers will crush them next week, so it's okay :)

Sporting his new AP jersey... all he needs is an Aaron Rogers jersey now