Caleb's First Shoes

One day after I flew up to Philadelphia for work, Caleb had another landmark experience in his life: buying his first shoes (well actually I guess he wasn't technically the one doing the buying). I always thought that buying shoes for a baby would be a fairly simple process because it's not like he cares if they're stylish or anything and they only fit for a few months. However, after our first Target shoe-shopping trip for Caleb in mid-February, I realized that finding shoes for him would be a little trickier. You see, Caleb is "blessed" with what we refer to as very "meaty" feet. That is to say - they're not so much long and slender as they are just super fat and wide. We found that out the hard way as we tried to cram his feet into standard sized shoes at Target that we just assumed would fit based on the length of his feet. After 15 minutes of screaming and fussing every time we tried to find a good fit at Target - we gave up on the shoe idea for a few weeks.

However, as the weather started to improve, we realized that we would just have to bite the bullet and go the local Stride Rite store to find his custom-fit shoes. Sharon's parents were excited to buy Caleb's first shoes, so they had a fun trip to the mall the day after I left for Philadelphia. As you can see from the pictures' below, he really enjoyed wearing shoes once we were able to find his correct size, which is 5 EXTRA WIDE. It is fun to be able to have him walk around in stores now rather than always having to lug him around, yet now we also have to keep a closer eye on him since he has no qualms about running away from his parents.

The same day that Caleb got his first shoes, we also had a rare winter event: a snowstorm in Atlanta. Since I was in Philadelphia, I missed out on all the fun of watching southerners try to get around in the snow. To add insult to injury, as I was trying to figure out how much snow we were going to get in the Philly area - the weatherman would make a point of saying (with extreme excitement and amusement): "And it looks like they're going have some serious snow in Atlanta!" The one good thing about the storm was that we really did get a good six inches of snow up in Philly and I was able to go sled-riding with my nieces Ella and Catherine while there. Another highlight of the trip was the introduction by Ella (and my sister Megan) to the wonderful world of Webkinz. I also got my fill of Guitar Hero while there and enjoyed catching up with the Demos. As you can see - we still haven't changed the blog name. We've appreciated the suggestions so far, and we promise we'll have a new name by the time I turn 30 (which is coming all too soon!).


Caleb with his mom and grandpa while trying on shoes.


The best way to know that Caleb really likes his shoes: he tries to eat them.

Isn't this what you picture when you think of Atlanta?

"Let me out mom! I want to play in the snow!"

The family on top of nearby Arabia "Mountain" (which is more like a glorified speed bump). This is just days after our snow storm:)

Caleb and Daddy