Caleb's (not so exciting) new tricks

Since the last post was dedicated to that new skill Caleb learned which we got so excited about it (crawling), I figure I would devote this to some of the things he has learned recently which haven't made his mom and dad quite as excited. The first thing that Caleb learned this past week was to pull himself up - yet he doesn't just pull himself up on furniture or on people. No - our son decided it would be really fun to start pulling himself up on the toilet. Fortunately he isn't tall enough yet to lap up any water - but I'm sure that he would try it if he could reach.

We discovered another one of his newest tricks yesterday after his morning nap. Sharon's mom called down to us "We have a problem!" when she went to check up on Caleb while he was napping. When Sharon sprinted up to check on Caleb, she found him lying on his back, naked from the waist down - happy as a clam. It seems he has now learned how to take his diaper off - which is quite problematic since he is a typical boy that loves being naked :)

The third new trick he learned recently is how to pull himself up in his pack and play. Although this is not as humorous as the first two - it is something that we've been dreading the past few weeks. I've heard the horror stories of how babies will pull themselves up on their cribs in the middle of the nights and not be able to get back down unless a parent comes in and rescues them. I don't want to sound insensitive to the dilemma - but I can't figure out why Caleb just can't let himself fall down on his butt. We all know he has plenty of padding - even if he has already managed to pull his diaper off in the night. I just have this image of coming into his room in the morning and just seeing him there clinging to the rail of his pack and play with his muscles quivering and sweat pouring from his brow after 8 hours of holding on tight. I know I find it mildly amusing now - but I'm sure that will change when he wakes up tonight with his hysterical crying. Anyways, to show that we still are enjoying the new things Caleb is learning - I'm posting some pics of his recent "swim lessons" with mom and me at the pool.

Caleb wasn't quite sure about the water at first...

but he soon began to really enjoy himself in the water...

on dad's shoulder...

and playing with one of his favorite "toys" - the Dasani bottle

After twenty minutes in the water - he was glad to snuggle with mom.

Doesn't he look a little like a future Jedi warrior here for some reason?

Crawling at last!

After two months of making us think that he was on the verge of crawling, Caleb finally has broken through and started crawling. Although his crawling is definitely not a thing of grace and beauty, it usually gets him where he needs (or thinks he needs) to go. It definitely has placed us in a new level of awareness about childproofing the house and not keeping him away from stairs, but it has also made our lives a little more fun as well. We actually don't know how long he will be just crawling because he has started pulling himself up on things (and people) and he really enjoys standing up. Also, if I didn't want to jinx us, I could tell you that he has done a much better job of sleeping through the night and getting regular naps recently. So hypothetically, if I was going to say something like that, I would say how proud I would be of our son. However, rest assured - I've learned my lesson and I would never talk about these seemingly positive steps - so maybe this hypothetical baby will keep it up :)

On the home search, we definitely have had a big shift in focus recently concerning where we are looking. Some of you already know what the plan is, but I think we wanted to wait to share where we're looking to move until it is a done deal. All that to say, we are really excited about some of the ministry possibilities in the area where we are looking to move now and we'll soon have more to say about that. Until then, enjoy the pics and videos of Caleb...

Two short clips of Caleb crawling

Caleb and his stylish soccer outfit...

although he seems to gravitate more towards the goalie position

Caleb's First Hike

Last Monday, Labor Day, Sharon and I finally decided that Caleb was ready for his first real hike with mom and dad. Well, when I say decided, I mean that it just so worked out that Caleb and his hiking backpack were in the same location for the first time this summer - so we actually could go hiking with him. We were a little nervous to see how much he would like his backpack (which was another one of our wonderful Seminary freebies...thanks Sara Just), but he ended up loving it more than we could have hoped. He spent most of the 2-3 mile hike up Sawnee Mountain (more of a glorified hill) smiling from cheek to cheek and checking out everything around him. The only problem was that the backpack wasn't designed great for sleeping in, and by the end of the excursion that was all he wanted to do. He eventually fell asleep so that his entire face was mashed up against the side of the backpack in a very uncomfortable looking manner. Fortunately for Caleb, Sharon had mercy on him and decided to carry him in her arms the last 10 minutes of the hike. Overall, it was a great introduction to hiking for Caleb and resparked my dream of hiking the Appalachain Trail with him in a few (or maybe twenty) years.

In other news, Caleb was also excited about the start of the football season. As you can see in the picture below, his "Steeler" face needs a bit of work - but at least his outfit is top-notch. We didn't quite think he was ready to join Koerber World Fantasy Football this year - as we thought it would be better for him to wait a year or two before embarrassing his family. For the time being, he is rooting hard for the Steelers when not napping during the games. Caleb has also started to crawl/scoot around the house, and we'll share some fun videos of that in the next post.


Caleb enjoyed holding on to the straps just like his dad

Unfortunately, the hat that kept the bugs away also blocked his vision a bit

Enjoying the view with Daddy

I love hiking!

Our family at the top of "rugged" Sawnee Mountain

Still a momma's boy

Sleeping in the backpack = not too comfortable :(

Sleeping on mommy = much better :)

I asked him to make an "intimidating" Steeler face and this was the best he could do?