The vault is closing

OK, so the title is a little overly dramatic. Caleb's six month birthday is Monday! I can hardly believe that he is almost half a year old. I feel like people say stuff like that all the time (I can't believe my baby is _________ ). But none of us can help it, you know? Everyone was right about time flying by! Caleb has really changed in the past few days. He is starting to make noises other than just fussing. " D D" or "M M" comes out a lot. He blows bubbles more. In general, he is sailing one step further away from infancy towards the childhood world of his big brothers. There's not much infant left on this sweet, squeezable baby. I find myself trying to remember to soak it all up! It's more painful now when I hear him cry if I have decided it's time for him to sleep. It sounds like he is actually trying to say something to me like "Mom, how could you leave me?" So, again, a little overly dramatic. He actually does great putting himself to sleep more times than not. Unfortunately, he has struggled at night w/waking up too much. The past two nights have been good though. Thank you, Lord! One of his pass times is most definitely watching his brothers play wii:

Here is what my five, almost six month old looks like now. I mean, I know I'm biased, but come on. Don't you just wanna pinch those little cheeks!?



And my heart melts when I see this expression. Come to think of it, just about everything about Caleb Thomas Caulley makes my heart melt!!

He loves people. Especially Mommy, Daddy, Jon David and Luke. But he has a very ready smile. When the ladies at Jon David's school see him in the stroller while I'm waiting, they can't resist coming over to make faces at him. He loves it!


Ha! That one makes me laugh. ;) He was probably on the verge of getting fussy and tired of me taking his pic. Less flashing, more holding, please Mom!
He LOVES his Daddy. And his Daddy LOVES him!


His cheeks are very red. I think it's because of the heat in the house and the dryness, maybe? Luke's cheeks used to look like that too.


For the Jon David and Luke updates, well, Luke said something worthy of being recorded the other day: "Mom, Candy Land is just like Chutes and Ladders. Except it doesn't have any chutes. Or any ladders." Ha! The past two days have been glorious here. The sun has come out, and temps have risen above freezing! Yay! I actually took all three boys to Kohl's yesterday b/c Caleb was asleep when I picked Luke up from school, so why not? Love the post-winter sale. It didn't go perfectly --JD and Luke asked for toys many times. But hey, we did it! And I need to say that I am really enjoying all of my children right now. Oddly, I think the snow days were actually good for us. I don't get to spend extended time w/Jon David much when he is in school. So I enjoyed having him at home for a while. It was like a second winter break. He played wii a lot, but we also read some, played games, did crafts, and other randomness. It is often during times like these that I am able to catch a glimpse into his sweet heart and reassess how he is doing. He is growing up before my very eyes. And he is handling it very well. God has blessed Jon David to mature past some things this year, such as excessive temper tantrums, escalating anger, and general beligerance. Not to say that we never struggle anymore. Major *ha*! We still struggle for sure. But Don and I feel more peaceful in how the struggles play out. We have discovered new ways to handle him. Thank you, Lord! He is so precious. I am so proud that he is my son. He was invited to a friend's house this week. It was someone from school. I hung out with him for a while with Luke and Caleb and talked to the mom. It was so interesting to see him interact and have big boy reactions. When his other friend comes over three afternoons a week, I also get a chance to watch his social skills. He has learned to be OK with not always being the best in certain areas. He seems peaceful. Again, thank you, Lord! He is such a good boy. One day, a certain classmate that he really likes said that he didn't really want to sit by him in music class. Jon David said that it made him really sad. This broke my heart. Don handles things like this so well. He just encouraged him to befriend other kids in his class. And much to our pleasure and righteous pride (if there is such a thing) he did! He tells me about a different friend often. Sometimes I think about his name and the friendship that it symbolizes in the bible.
As I drove away from his friend's house (he was to spend the afternoon there), I again had this fleeting of time feeling. Jon David is no longer the preschooler that I have to hover over when we go somewhere. I drove Luke, Caleb and myself back to Wilmore for a playdate for Luke. I feel truly blessed. Luke hit it off with his friend. They played game after game. It was great to see! And then his mom brought him home to me an hour or two later. What a blessing!
Luke... what else shall I chose to say about Luke? I was commenting to Don about how the past couple of days had gone really well. ( I want to be sure to blog about lots of positive things, too! Sometimes I tend to focus on the negative. So hopefully, this is a positive memory post!) He reminded me that one reason I am able to handle things decently on some days is because of sweet Luke Jamer. He is one of the sweetest, most easy going children you will ever meet. He is so precious with Caleb, he loves to play, read, tag along. By the way, he is starting to read! He read a beginner book to me today called "Biscuit goes to school." I could hardly believe it! He can also read Hop on Pop --by Dr. Seuss. (Again, some of this is for journaling purposes. Hopefully by putting it at the end of two or three long paragraphs, it won't appear to be too braggy and maybe won't even be read much!) This morning, I took Jon David to school. Unfortunately, Don was in bed with a head ache. He usually takes Jon David to school EVERY morning! I know, huge blessing. Anyway, Luke slept in, so didn't wake up until it was time to leave. I told him he could watch TV while I was gone, and that Daddy was in bed. He does this a lot when Don is trying to let me sleep in btw. Great kid.
Well, I think that's it for now. I have felt like a new person today and yesterday with the sun out. Yay! I think more snow is coming Sunday or Monday though... maybe the sun will be back out soon. I hope so! I think I'm getting ready for Spring. Oh dear.

Here is a clip of Caleb Thomas Caulley from today. Enjoy!