Calebites

Caleb is growing and changing every day. I absolutely love this age.

His vocabulary grows in leaps and bounds. Just like Colin, he spoke his first word around 18 months. And, just like Colin, as soon as that first word was out a fountain burst forth, as though a deep sea of words had been collecting beneath the surface and was only waiting for the geyser to erupt above the surface. Every new word he hears he immediately repeats, adds to his vocabulary and uses on a regular basis. I, of course, am his sole translator; pronounciation of sounds will develop over the next year or so, but I am generally able to understand based on the context of the conversation, and closely following his train of thought. He is also moving right into stringing words together, to combine a person with an action, to relate multiple thoughts, or to tell a brief story: "Mommy sleeping...wake up...eat cereal." or "Daddy working...come home soon...go to park."

The one thing that isn't changing is his lack of sleep. His afternoon naps measure around an hour and a half to two hours, but at night he still needs no more than about 8 1/2 to 9 hours. He wakes usually between 5:30am and 6:30am, ready and rearing to go. "Mommy" is the first word out of his mouth, summoning me to his room. "Cereal" is without fail the second. Just like his mother, he likes to eat first thing. The nice thing is that he doesn't seem to be suffering because of the short sleep he gets; on the contrary - he wakes in a happy demeanor and gets right into his day. It is myself who is desperately looking for ways to prolong his sleeping hours; if I want to get the eight hours I need, it means going to bed almost as soon as he does. This proves difficult if I want to get something done after he is in bed, or spend time with James or on my own. It also means that we spend every waking minute together (because by the time naptime comes, I am in desperate need also!). I love my boy to the ends of the earth, but there are times I need some solitude. I have tried moving his bedtime around, to no avail. The suggestion of ridding him of the afternoon nap is also a fruitless one - he is so tired by noon (having already been awake 7 hours) that he actually asks for his nap, and will put himself to bed if I don't comply right away!

He is still in the "copying everything Colin does" mode. Half the time this leads to hilarious romps around the house between the two of them; half the time Colin is thoroughly put out.

Caleb still loves to help me cook. As soon as he hears me rustling in the kitchen, he races for a kitchen table chair, pulls it over to the counter and climbs up with the pronouncement "I watch." Luckily he is very patient in this activity, and although he wants to help out also, he is very willing to wait until it is his turn.

Last item - Caleb has entered the "why?" phase. Colin never went through this, so it's a new game for me. I'm managing to stick to my guns about always answering the "why", and not just with "because." Two things make this really easy: the first is that although there is never just one "why," Caleb is never asking it as a game. He genuinely wants to know why. If I think my answers through enough, I can usually bring the conversation to a close with a well-thought out reply that truly answers his line of thought. The second thing that makes it easy is that he has developed this Transylvanian-like accent that actually sounds like: "Vye?" So cute, so irresistible.