Caleb is literally a smart kid. There is no other way to say it.

The other night, it was my night to read to him. We take turns. Mon-Wed is my night to read. Thurs-Sat is Jordan's night to read. And Sunday, we share the night. Pretty nice set-up I think. It used to be every other night, but with Jordan having to stay late later in the summer into the fall, it just worked out better to do that since he was gone pretty much every Wednesday.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand.

So, his TX grandparents are getting him Dr. Seuss books from a bookclub. There is one book in particular that has raised the issue. Hop On Pop.

When I was in there either Monday or Tuesday, he had the book out. He really likes it. Anyway, I was reading a book and he was looking at the Hop on Pop book. Then all of a sudden, he just starts talking. He goes through the book really quickly, then stops and turns the page to the beginning.

The next thing I know, he's literally reading the book VERBATUM! I stopped reading, and just listened to him. He read the whole book except for like the last five pages. I was seriously in shock. Now, granted the book is pretty much like: Mouse on the House and House on the Mouse with pictures to show what is going on, but he literally read it.

After my time with Caleb was over, I was curious how often Jordan read the book to him as we just got it a few days before. I asked the question in such a way where he couldn't guess. He told me it was no more than twice. TWICE! Caleb really has a photographic memory OR he is just able to process things very quickly.

I was simply amazed. I was in shock. Funny thing is, he's actually done this before, but we just thought it was a fluke. I got a book from the pediatricians office (thy are HUGE on reading to your kids). The next morning, he brought the book into our room and I read the book to him quickly. It was only like 10 pages long. After i was done reading it just the one time, he started from the beginning and literally read it verbatum.

Does he actually know what the words mean? Probably not. Does he know what the words are? Probably not. I've been told what he's doing is picture reading, and that is excellent at this stage, and is a sign of intellegence.

I'm scared of it actually because he's just a smart kid in general anyway. He's always been fast at picking things up. In my heart of hearts I wonder if this is going to go against him because you know how kids are. They make fun of the smart kid and the smart kid really doesn't have any friends until like high school and I worry that might happen to him. He's a personable little guy and he talks to just about anyone and always has a smile on his face. I just hope that kind of works in his favor.

I'm also scared because I have no idea how to really nurture this other than just to keep what we are doing. He LOVES books. he LOVES to learn (except for his numbers - LOL), so we are definitely doing all that we can on that front.

I'm so proud of him, and love him so much. Even as I write this I have a smile on my face. He really is the love of my life - other than my husband of course. LOL.

So, any ideas on how to nurture this would be helpful - those who subscribe to this blog or lurk, I'd be interested in hearing what you have to offer.

Caleb's Toddler Forecast: Being read to and going night night.

I know it's a day late, but it was a rather busy day yesterday. It was an enjoyable one for sure.

Yesterday I got to sleep in until 9:30. I lounged around all day, had lunch brought to me, then later that night went to a Casting Crowns concert. Can I just say how much I loved that concert. OMG. They seriously rock in person. It was probably one of the best concerts I've been too in a long time - other than Coldplay of course

Before we left for dinner and the concert. I opened up my presents. I got a personal training game for the Wii Fit (I'm really starting to work on my body and getting it back to where I was pre-Caleb. Hard to do, especially when you have a family of four to feed, but I'm doing ok. I also got this cool little gadget. Caleb pretty much has taken over our Powershot camera, which is fine. We mostly used that for video anyway as of late, so we've given him that camera. Surprisgly this little man of ours does have an eye. Blurry pictures still come out, but the way he takes his shots and so forth, are pretty artistic. I do have a few that I can put on the site, but I'll have to go through them again to take the best of what he did take - despite the blurriness.

Also, there was a surprise already on the camera. Click here to see it

Wasn't that just too cute. He had just woken up and Jordan got him to do it before he wrapped it up. It warms my little heart.

I do have some things that I need to talk about regarding Caleb, but that will have to wait until tomorrow. It's getting late here, and I still need to do my bible study, and do my daily prayers. So, tomorrow a new entry.

Caleb's Toddler Forecast: Being read to for night night.

Caleb had probably the worst meltdown I've seen from him in a long time. Holy Moly!

It basically started with preschool lessons. He hates his numbers. A LOT. I have no idea what it is about them, but every time we try to learn them, he freaks out. He's great with the numbers he already knows, but the moment you try to add on 2-3 more new ones, it's like the world comes crashing down. He cries.

Well, I was already tired from Zoe because she wasn't feeling the best from her shots the previous day, and my patience was probably a little thing. He wanted to play around, and try to be funny. Yeah, not happening with me.

I told him that enough was enough, to stop playing around and that he needed to settle down to get into his lessons. After saying this several times, he started laughing, and I had enough. I took him by the hand told him he was in time-out up in his room, and that when he settles down, we'll finish up with his lessons. Then, the water works came. I've already got tears in my eyes anyway because I hated to get on him, and of course, it softens my heart every time he cries when he knows I'm upset. But, I had to be consistent, and I had to let him know that I wasn't happy.

Got him up in his room, and the meltdown began.

Meltdown really isn't a word for what he did. Let's call it a scream fest. He. Was. Mad. Zoe was asleep, so I closed his door to soften it a little bit, but she did eventually wake up. He probably screamed at the top of his lungs for a good 5 minutes or so. Man. All because he didn't want to do his numbers. Hate to find out what he'll do when I say no to something else. LOL. 

Anyway, after five minutes, it just stopped as soon as it started. He came out of his bedroom, looked down the stairs and just smiled. I asked if he was feeling better and he said, "Yes, Mommy". All the while smiling, like nothing ever happened. He said he was ready for his special treat and his cartoons, and I told him that he wasn't going to have a special treat becuase he didn't do well with preschool. I told him that we still needed to finish his preschool and if he did well this time around, then we could watch some cartoons.

Needless to say, he did much better the second time around. LOL

Today, he was about to start the same kind of thing and all i had to do was say he was going upstairs, and he straightened right up and did his lessons. Love it when I get through to him. LOL.

However, I did it a little different this time. I only increased his new numbers to one, instead of three that they recommend. He seemed to do a little better. He still fought me, but we got the job done quicker than yesterday for sure.

So, we'll see how the next few days go with this route and see if he does better.

Caleb's Photo(s) of the Day:

Caleb's Toddler Forecast: Talking to Daddy

We getting our new numbers down a little better now. He still doesn't like to do them. He gets so used to the ones he knows that he doesn't want to learn anything new, but he's getting there. Still can't mix them up just yet. I'd rather him memorize them in the right order, then switch them up on him later. So, he knows 0-11. We're getting there.

About to print out more of the letters since he's doing awesome with those. Once we get those all done, then we'll work on reading and picking them out in his books. We can sort of do that now, but he does get a little confused. I think it's because the letters in the books are smaller than what is on the flashcards.

Still has the attidue going on though and it seems to be typical for three years old. Can't wait for this to end. Wow. Now that he's got SOME say as to what he wants to do, he knows it and tries to use it to his advantage. LOL

All in all, I'm very pleased with the progress. :)

Caleb's Toddler Forecast: Watching Max and Ruby

I have to laugh because Caleb seriously reminds me of me in this department. He has to have everything just so. It's pretty comical.

Like today, he had all his cars, dinosaurs, accessories to his dinosaur collection, planes and anything else small - including his drink cup - all in a line making a corner. I have a picture of it. Unfortunately our PC is on the loop and I can't download the pictures to put it on here. That will come later.

Not sure if I've reported this before, but we've started preschool lessons with him. I know at one time that I talked about finding a preschool, but after doing some thinking, we're going to wait one more year, get our finances in good shape since I'm not working, then send him off next year. I found and online course that I can do for home and he's really doing well. The only thing that I can tell at the moment in which he is "behind" is his alphabet and his numbers, but the other stuff I think he's doing ok in.

We're working on "reading" numbers 1-11, and "reading" letters A-I.  He knows the numbers without looking at them and can rescite all the way up to 15 I think. So, it's just a matter of looking at them and telling me what they are. He prefers his letter lessons over his number lessons though. Right now, we're doing 2 year old curriculum only because I'm trying to make sure that we aren't leaving anything out, and I'll be starting some three year old curriculums in the next couple of days, so I'm not overly behind with that.

He likes it for the most part, but I can tell he gets bored with it VERY quickly. The bad thing is I have no idea how to make this stuff fun. I'm not a teacher obviously, so I don't know how to get him to focus and keep his attention with it. Jordan does a little better with it, but he has the same troubles - and he WAS a teacher. LOL. He's a smart kid. 

Like yesterday, he said his harmonica was an instrument. I didn't know he knew the word instrument. I don't remember ever telling him that's what it was. So, he learns very quickly for sure. His vocaulary explosion has slowed down, which is normal, but he knows how to put all kinds of words together to make a sentence. We can actually have a conversation with him now and he understand what we are saying and can talk back with just about the same sentence structure. His mind gets to going too fast and he still does his, " uh, wee uh wee uh wee..." but it's just a quick redirection to tell him to stop and focus and he's right back to where he left off. 

He's going to be a smart kid I think. And that I can't wait to see happen. 

And he's become a vegetarian as of late. LOL. He's not eating too much meat and prefers his veggies and salads over anything else. That's great and I'm not complaining, but it gets frustrating sometimes when we get something for him and he only eats a few bites, but chows down on everything else. LOL

My big boy definitely has grown up.I was looking at him going up the stairs the other night and wondered where the time went to. He grew up so fast. And unfortunately, I'm seeing the same thing happen with Zoe.  Time needs to slow down for me a little bit. LOL

Pictures to come soon once we get our PC fixed.

Caleb's Toddler Forecast: Sitting next to me playing with his toy plane

Wow. Something happened overnight to Caleb. Our little man has attitude now. LOL. He's not nasty with it, and it is rather funny, but I definitely wonder where it's coming from. It's probably just a three year old phase kind of thing. LOL

I finally uploaded all the pictures to our main site yesterday. A lot to go through for sure, so be sure to check it out for more pictures then what I put on here.

We went out in the snow yesterday and Caleb had a good time. Until Jordan threw a snowball in his face and then that was that. LOL. It was kind of funny, but he was done with it when he started to cry, but we kept him outside anyway and let him hit daddy and me with snowballs and he got over it after about a half hour. Also, had to give him some chocolate milk, and that made it all better. 

This morning he was a little snit though. He wouldn't eat his breakfast at all. He did everything in his power to prove that he wasn't going to eat it. So, I upped him one. I took the cereal away, and told him he was not going to eat anything until lunch time. He couldn't watch TV (cartoons or his movies) until later and that if he wanted to play, he had to play with his other toys. He didn't think I was serious with it until he started getting one of his movies out of the DVD case, and I caught him and told him NO. Big tears, big pout and off to the computer chair he went to sit down. Not once has he asked for food, or asked for the TV.

Bet you he'll start eating his breakfast now. Now, just so that you all know, he did eat a little bit. He just didn't eat a lot - probably because he had his special treat BEFORE his breakfast for not messing up his bed. However, wasting food is not a habit I want him to get used to, so that's why I did what I did. Not that I should have to explain my ways or anything, but for anyone out there who read this and thinks I'm starving my child, yeah, not the case.

Now, on to pictures Remember, check out the main site for more pictures

From December 17:

From December 20:

From December 21:

Christmas Eve:

Christmas Day:

From December 26:

He got a table and chair set that you can use dry erase markers on, and well, he though it was chapstick

From December 27:

From Today:

Caleb's Toddler Forecast: Playing with his Leapfrog TAG System

Seeing your three-year old at Christmas in an awesome thing to watch. Seriously. It was so fun to see him interacting with the whole concept of Christmas. He sort of understand Santa, and he knows that Santa brings presents.

Last night was a late night for us. First, Caleb stayed up until around 8:15 or so. Then after reading him his books and getting him off to bed, well, that got all done and settled by 10:30pm. Yep. 10:30!!!

While Jordan read to him, I got all the presents out of the basement and stored them in the doorway to our garage. It all fit, but it was sure crowded. Once we knew Caleb was officially asleep (we checked at 11pm and he was), then we hurried up and put the presents under the tree. It really was a pretty site for sure. The only presents that were not under the tree was my in-laws. They decided at the last minute that they weren't able to make it (weather-related). Kind of a bummer considering that we were in a position for the first time in a long time that we could bring them up here, and the fact they were welcome to stay in the house, but they just decided that they didn't want us to do that. So, we didn't. Instead, I guess they are spending a couple of days in Galveston. 

Caleb got up every four hours last night starting at 2am. He just wanted to snuggle.  I put him to bed finally at 7am, where he got up at 8:30 to discover that Santa had arrived and that he had brought him a VERY special present - a bicycle. I really wanted to be up with him when he saw all the gifts under the tree and I expected him to come and get me like he always does, but not this time. I heard him gasp, run up the stairs quickly, come into my room and tell me that, "MOMMY!!! Santa brought me a bicycle!!!" It was the most happy thing I've heard in a long time. He was thrilled.

Jordan was out shoveling our driveway (we had a blizzard last night that gave us about 6 inches of snow and about 2 feet in drifts. It was weird to see for sure. Then, both of them had breakfast, then at a little after 9am, Jordan went to get my parents and brought them over for us to celebrate Christmas. We all had a great Christmas, especially Caleb. He was happy with everything that he got and there really wasn't one present that he liked more over the other. There is just so much stuff that he's a little overwhelmed, but he's played with everything so far, so that's good.

Now, we're just waiting for the ham to cook and then warm up the rest of our food, and we can enjoy our dinner, enjoy the company, and enjoy the rest of the holiday. 

Pictures will come later as always 

Caleb's Toddler Forecast: Running up the stairs with a toy

I haven't written so much this past month, and it's been weird. I've just been SO busy with getting ready for Christmas. I've been decorating, baking, doing a little shopping and spending some much needed time with both kids.

Zoe has been sleeping alot as of late due to her teething issues, so I've been spending a lot of time with Caleb which has been nice. He's figured out how to put DVDs in the DVD player and to play them, but he hasn't quite figured out how to turn on the TV and speakers. We're in trouble now!! LOL

We did go back to Branson last Friday and that was nice. Caleb went with us while Zoe stayed home with Grandpa. He did well but it was so cold. He slept like a log that night and the next day. LOL. 

Otherwise, we haven't done too much as of late. My picture taking has been nill as well, but I do have pictures up on the main site . So feel free to look at those.

Here are some recent pictures of Caleb over the last week or so:

Caleb's Toddler Forecast: Sitting in the rocking chair

We had a FABULOUS time in Branson. Caleb really enjoyed the cabin. It wasn't as woody as our other one (that was a one bedroom), because it was on the main road, but we had the woods behind us so that still made us feel like we were out in the wilderness. We took walks everyday while we were there. He loved going up and down the stairs of the cabin and everything. I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked, but we got some.

Yesterday we spend most of the day outside putting up Christmas lights. It was about 70 degrees yesterday. Caleb played with our next door neighbor's daughter, Ashely most of the time, and they spent a lot of the time in our yard despite the grandmother's opposition. I couldn't get over how over-protective she seemed to be. I realize that grandparents want some time with their grandkids, but really, how much time and attention are you giving if you are spending all of it putting up Christmas lights. I'm sorry, 4-5 year old kids get bored very easily, and there is no way that Ashley was going to stay put in her own yard with the adults doing that. I didn't mind her being over at our place. I was watching both of them as they were near us most of the time, and Caleb was having fun. Oh well. Each family is different I guess.

Today, I did a hand and foot blot for Zoe's baby book, and Caleb wanted to get in on the action. So, we got his handprint for three years old. The last time I used that stamper was when Caleb was 3 months old. Do you know, that it was still wet? I was amazed really. Zoe's handprint looks a little funky, but it turned out ok. Her footprint turned out great.  Being that Caleb was older, his handprints were picture perfect for his baby book. Might have to do that every couple of years or so to see a big change. 

Speaking of baby books, I'm kind of surprised I'm still remembering to do it. LOL. I thought I would just forget all about it and have to catch up. I'm not overly on top of it, but I've kept up on it where I don't have to remember too much. Mostly what I need to do is to start putting pictures in there. That will be the very last thing I do though, only because I have to make sure that they are the right pictures. Cant' have bad pictures in a baby book.

Caleb's Daily Picture(s):

Caleb's Toddler Forecast: Shopping with Daddy

It's been a year since his last wellness visit and Caleb has done phenomenal. In fact, when he was sick and I took him in to have him checked out, his weight has even improved since then.

Here are his stats:

At two his weight was: 30.6 pounds and in 78th percentile
His weight today: 34.6 pounds and in 79th percentile (when he was sick, he was down to 32.8 pounds, so he increased just about two pounds since two weeks ago)

At two his height was 34.5 inches and in 48th percentile
His height today: 37.5 inches and in 42nd percentile

We can officially put Caleb on skim milk, which is what I have been wanting to do for a very long time. I gave up milk when Caleb was able to start drinking milk, but because he had to start on whole milk, I didn't want to buy two kinds of milk. Whole milk is, well, yuck. LOL. So, now that he is on skim milk, I can start drinking milk again. Not that I missed it or anything. I probably still won't drink very much of it, but  a little bit of calcium intake this way won't hurt me.

I have been doing everything right in terms of raising my big boy except for taking him to the dentist. I got reprimanded for that one. I guess we should have started to take him when he hit one year of age. KS requires that you start taking your child in when the first teeth start coming through. I guess the state just wants to make sure that they catch things much earlier than if we were to wait until the generic 3-4 years of age time frame.  But, other than that, Caleb is very healthy. I do have a number for a pediatric dentist to at least get his first visit in, then he can go to our dentist next year. Or, maybe, if we like the dentist, we just keep him going to the pediatric office. I don't know. At this point, this is all new to me, so I'll just give the doc the benefit of the doubt.

Caleb did have one shot today and that was the last Hep A shot. I told him before we left that he was going to have a shot and that if he was a really good boy, didn't cry, and listened, he would get a really big special treat. Well, wouldn't you know, he took the shot like a little trooper. No crying or anything. He did awesome. The nurse asked me if we should do Zoe first (since she also had her wellness check-up as well), but I thought that if he saw her cry, he may not want to do the shot, so he got his first. I think that was a wise choice. 

All in all, a great appointment and he's good for another year. His next appointment will be a little later because they are going to start getting him in sync for when he's ready to go to school. Instead of a November appointment he'll go in January 2011, then he'll go in May 2012, then he'll have another one around the same time before he starts Kindergarten in 2013. Can you believe that?  In three years, he'll be in kindergarten. Unfortunately, they don't test into grades, so he'll be one of the oldest in his class due to his birthday being in November.

Caleb's Toddler Forecast: Rolling down the hill (he's in the front yard)