Catching Up With Caleb

It's not an easy thing to do, you know. I mean catching up with you, Caleb. You are almost always on the go - and fast. You accidentally whacked your head on the corner of the bathroom counter this afternoon and when you were in my lap crying I was overwhelmed at just how big you are. You barely fit in my lap! You're growing up way, WAY too fast, my Big Guy.

Your biggest piece of news is that you lost your first tooth...


...on Monday night while we were eating dinner. All of a sudden you hollered, "Mom! My tooth! I pulled my tooth!" And you sure had. You grabbed on, decided to give a tug and out it came! Daddy and I were both so proud of how brave you were! And, you asked immediately for Mrs. Dowdican's phone number [your teacher] so that you could call her to tell her. I told you that you'd have to wait and show her the next morning at school. The next morning, you wanted to take your tooth to school for show-and-tell, even though it was Tuesday and your day for taking something wasn't until Thursday. I told you that we'd have to compromise - that you could take your "empty spot" to school with you Tuesday to show everyone and then you could take your tooth on Thursday for your real show-and-tell. Then you insisted that you wanted to take your empty spot on Thursday, too, and asked if it'd be okay if you took two things - the tooth and the empty spot - just this once. How could I refuse?

What else have you been up to? Your usual silliness. You love telling jokes. They're always either knock-knock jokes or chicken-crossing-the-road jokes. And the punch lines almost always involve a chicken head and poop. You think it's hilarious! What a boy... Whenever you start telling jokes, you usually want me to take turns telling them with you. The few times that I've actually obliged, you just look at me with a straight face and say, "Mom, that was NOT funny." I'm sorry, Buddy, I guess I just don't have a chicken head and poop sense of humor.

Today when I picked you up from school, there was a broken egg on the sidewalk that fell from a nest earlier in the day. You pushed at it with your shoe and I told you not to do that. You said, "It's okay, Mom. This is an egg from a person, not from a bird." I'll have to remember to tell you that next time you ask me where babies come from, instead of stammering and changing the subject. "From an egg, Caleb, from an egg."

Your hair is getting crazy long. I know you really do need a haircut, especially since it's starting to get hot. I just can't bring myself to cut off your beautiful curls, though. You're such a handsome boy!


What else? You've been such an amazing helper lately - especially since Nathan was born. You're such a good boy and you have such a great attitude. I appreciate you so much. I guess, for now, the only other thing I have to say is: I Love You. I have from day One and always will!