Caleb and Ice Cream

Have I ever mentioned how much Caleb loves ice cream? He really loves it, I'm talking serious devotion. He can spot a DQ logo from miles away and obtained this skill very early on in life. Now that summer has arrived, my son is back in his ice-cream-element. A few pictures to demonstrate.

And because I can't resist her cuteness . . . there are a couple photos of Ella from this afternoon as well. 3.5 months old already!

June

My babies are growing!
Yesterday Ella started actually playing with her little jungle-gym toys—pulling and batting at them, grabbing them and putting them in her mouth. Wow. I am astonished at how fast the past three months have gone!
Caleb graduated from "friendly-frogs" to "busy-bears" at school (daycare), which means: he can go potty on his own, can communicate reasonably and follow complex instructions, use scissors, and focus his attention for a significant amount of time. What a man! We are still working on potty training, but he is doing great and we are so proud of him!
Here's a few pics from this week . . . enjoy!

The Importance of Reading

Obviously, words are pretty important around the RedHouse—what with RedHouseMedia (www.redhousemedia.com) being a pretty important part of our lives, me being a writer, and our overall appreciation of the power of language, rhetoric, and words. That said, we, as do many parents of little people, depend on books!
I am so thankful that Caleb enjoys being read to—I love sharing story, especially aloud to a captive audience . . . if he didn't like listening, I'd probably have to sit in the bathroom and read aloud to myself or something, just to get my regular fix.
Last weekend, we spent the day at the Cabin with Grandma and Grandpa. Story time that evening as the Caleb and his cousin Joshua settled down, was a highlight. As the pictures demonstrate.
Seriously, the look on those boys' faces! They are into it!
The power of the written word—read on . . . and on . . . and on.

Typical Morning

So, I realize that I've been rather negligent in my blogging this week—and last— and figured it was time for some updates.
As you can imagine, things around the RedHouse are still abiding in the typical realm of chaos, and we love it. Most days.

Morning dawns at 6 am, with Caleb passionately crying our names—"I'M AWAKE NOW!" Seriously, who needs an alarm?

Ella still greets me several times a night, so though she does not sleep as consistently as I would like—she keeps getting cuter, which helps me weather the morning hours . . . that, and coffee. Copious amounts of coffee.

This morning, before I pulled Caleb out of bed, I stumbled into his room and curled up next to him, thinking, maybe maybe, he would settle back down and go to sleep. (ha). Instead he patted my cheek with his chubby little boy hand:

Caleb: "you tired Mommy?"
Me: "Mmmm."
Caleb" "Ok. I'll go downstairs."
Me: "No bud, you have to wait for Mommy."
Caleb: "Ok Mommy. Get up. You need Coffee."

Ah, he knows me well.

Kite-Flying, Memorial Day Weekend

What an absolutely glorious weekend! Not only was the weather as beautiful as I can remember it ever being on a Memorial Day Weekend, but Caleb, Ella, and I had the delight of spending a good portion of it with my sweet family at the cabin.

Caleb especially enjoyed himself as he played outside in the sun, got throughly filthly, fell off the dock into the lake (with life-vest on), and best of all, flew a kite for the first time.

I am not sure who enjoyed the experience more—he, or his Grandma and Grandpa.

Caleb James—teaching me to live everyday like none of it has ever happened before. . .

Updates on Ella . . .

Ella is two-and-a-half months old already! —Thought it was time to post a couple of updates from over the course of the past couple of weeks, as well as a few pictures from this morning.

• 11 lbs already!

• First smile, and yesterday, first laugh.

• Sleeps through the night (though not consistently)

• Utterly adores her brother and will smile for him faster than for me or Daddy (though Daddy comes in a close 2nd to Caleb).

• "Talks" constantly—considerably more vocal than Caleb was (which is a little scary considering the word count that comes out of that little boy these days)

• Happiest child I have ever met . . . which of course makes the rest of her family pretty happy too!

Caleb and Daddy

Have I mentioned how much this little boy loves his Daddy?