Calebites

Caleb's place to store his soother while he nurses: in my mouth. Just in case I was needing a little soothing while he ate.

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I'm working on getting Caleb used to a sippy cup. He doesn't even really use a bottle on his own, but I figure at almost I year, I'd be putting the bottles away soon anyway. He's not really getting the idea of the cup yet. The other day he found his cup, brought it to me, put it in my hand and then threw back his head and opened his mouth wide, waiting expectantly.

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Still a great lover of food, nothing is safe if it's within Caleb's incredible reach. At Thanksgiving I fixed him his own plate of all the good eats and he sat on James' lap to eat. And eat he did - from his own plate, James' plate, Grandpa's plate and any platter within his arm's reach. earlier in the day we had gone out with James' parents and were sitting down for lunch - hot dogs. I had intended to pacify Caleb with a bit of bun and then feed him when we got home. But Grandpa, sitting across from Caleb, got distracted talking and was holding his hot dog a little too far across the table...

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I know most parents would think I'm crazy, but I can't wait for him to learn how to talk. Caleb not being able to communicate to me is the most frustrating part of our relationship. He's an extremely strong-willed kid, and knows exactly what he wants. And he always wants it now. The current stage he's in means he justs points and lets this loud yell/growl out until we figure out what it is he's after. And it's not even worth trying to ease his temper with something else. His way or the highway, baby.

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Caleb walks everywhere now. There was no stopping this kid once he figured it out. Crawling up the stairs also came immediately. Coming down was a little harder to master, but luckily it only took a few days of tumbling down the one stair into the playroom before he decided just to sit and yell at me to lift him down. And after a week of constantly doing that, I decided that he was going to learn how to do it himself. Thankfully, he did, and quickly. His judgment is sometimes a little off, but it's so funny to watch him get to his stomach, turn his feet around and then blindly shimmy around until he finds the stair.