March Madness

March is the second most busy month of the teaching year. We have conferences and grading, as well as district and state assessments that interrupt our normally scheduled programming. So this is the haze of fog that swims in my head at school, but as soon as I pick up my baby boy...I just see him! His smile upon the sight of seeing me makes anything from school melt away. I am his mother; he is my son; we are happy!

We have especially been happy since we're able to be outside in the fabulous March weather we have had. Even up to 80 degrees has been a pleasant surprise. We did NOT put on the air conditioning, but I don't judge those who did...well, maybe just a little.

Caleb in March:
Caleb got a new hat that reminds me of Newsies.

March 11th we had lunch with Great Grandpa Alms & Gladys. Then for supper we went out to Buffalo Wild Wings to celebrate cousin Avery's 11th birthday. He was very adorable and made some friends at the table behind us. We also ran into Pat and Mary O'Brien which was fun as well!

Great Grandpa Melvin Alms, Bri, Caleb, Gladys

We took our first trip to the park in 2012 on March 13th. We climbed on the equipment and went swinging. He was ready to go down the slide, but we'll have to wait for Daddy for that.

Caleb found the shelving unit that holds all the CDs and DVDs. He also discovered how fun it is to pull them off the shelves. We also needed to childproof all the cabinets. He's into EVERYTHING!

Finding the DVDs and CDs

Finding the entertainment center

March 16th was a great day because we go to hang out with the Knowles family, Great Grandpa and Uroma, Krista, and Oma & Grandpa Gene. Jim, Tina, Laura and Eric drove to MN for the week and we got to spend the evening with them. Caleb was his typical adorable self. He also enjoyed some of the college NCAA tournament moments with us. Harjes family = basketball family!

Great Aunt Tina & Caleb playing

Caleb and Great-Grandpa Bill playing.

Great Uncle Jim & Caleb

Caleb & Great-Grandpa Bill watching Basketball

Caleb & Oma

March 17th: ST. PATRICK'S DAY!
My Irishmen wore green today and we had fun going to Aaron's first birthday. Aaron's party was lots of fun and it only brought it more to my attention how quickly Caleb will be ONE!  But more than that, these boys will grow up together and have a wonderful time being buddies!

Two Parent Household, most of the time

Caleb loves Mommy AND Daddy! I walk into daycare to pick him up and he immediately starts to giggle and bounce. Then Daddy walks in the door from work and he starts to giggle and bounce. He lunges for both of us. I love how much Caleb loves his Daddy.

Since Caleb was six weeks old there have been several times when one parent or the other is out of town for the week or weekend. And each parent completely trusts the other to handle anything that may come up. I have had a couple weekends out of state even and I've never worried about Josh not handling single parenting for the weekend. Well this weekend it was my turn to stay home and Daddy to leave. Daddy left Thursday(3/1) after work to go fishing, and came home Sunday afternoon(3/4). But he didn't feel well and went to bed shortly after coming home.

Well Caleb and I not only survived but thrived. Caleb had TWO play dates! On Friday Linnea and Severin came over. Sev is about three weeks older than Caleb. He is already walking! What a fun little guy! The two boys had lots of fun together...and I have some further baby proofing to do before I have a walker:)

Cruisin' the neighborhood

Saturday morning Caleb woke up early and so I made us breakfast and off we went grocery shopping. Caleb was already getting a little sleepy for morning nap about halfway through the trip. I was just picking up some flaxseed meal when he started crying. I couldn't figure out from what and picked him up out of the cart. That didn't stop him either so I pushed the cart toward the deli where I knew one of the workers. She said, "Hi!" and the tears stopped. Just like that he was in happy mode. Such a social butterfly!

He fell asleep on the 8 block drive home and then slept for almost two hours. When he woke up he was changed, fed, and on to his next play date. Daddy went fishing with a friend who also has a son, Aaron. Aaron is one month older than Caleb. Again Caleb had fun playing with toys and cruising around a new house. Aaron has a cat and Caleb was quite fascinated with him!

  

















The rest of the day Caleb and I played at home. Caleb is now crawling across rooms on all 4s. He is really getting fast!

We had lots of silly faces this weekend too! Here's one of my favorites:

Sunday we went to church and then brought cousin Josie home with us. She did homework while Caleb napped after church and then we had lunch together. She played with Caleb while I got a few quick things done and then we ran to Target for Josie. We took her home and Caleb fell asleep in the car. By the time he woke up, Daddy came home. Boy was he excited. He had just woken up so I was expecting a groggy hello, but he giggled as soon as he saw Daddy and practically jumped from my arms. That does the heart good!

So Daddy had a great time fishing and Caleb and I had a great time being social butterflies:) All were happy!

Sundays are family days

Caleb is blessed to have standing invitations to local family meals. Sundays we take advantage of those invitations most.

The Miller family all goes to Crossview Covenant in North Mankato. We have been attending there since this fall. Nana, Papa, Aunt Boogie, Uncle Michael, Uncle Jason, Aunt Carrie, and cousins Josie, Avery, and Eli are all there. We sit with them at the 9:00am service. After church we occasionally run a few errands and then have soup and salad at Olive Garden with Nana and Papa. We usually have the same waitress and she is sweet on Caleb:)

Sunday evenings we are always invited to Oma and Grandpa Gene's house. This has been going on since the summer. We have so much fun playing cards and games and eating a delicious meal made by Oma. Here are pictures from the last Family Dinner at their farm:

Eating and using my pincers with Grandpa Gene

Cuddles with Oma

Taking steps!

Uncle Garrett and soon to be Aunt Kayla - I like her hair!

She's not really eating my hand, but I want to feel her teeth!

Can I feel your teeth?

First haircut!

Caleb had his first haircut on February 26, 2012! Oh my goodness! I didn't realize the impact cutting 1/2 inch of hair would have on his look.

Nana was done her family hair for 30+ years. She is a licensed hair dresser and was thrilled to be part of this FIRST for Caleb.

Here he is at the beginning:

The process of cutting hairs: Nana said it was the best baby haircut she'd ever given. He was great!

Sitting so nice for his haircut.

Every one was making faces:)

So happy!

He liked sucking on the spray bottle. I would slowly squeeze it so he'd get some water. Too funny!

Finishing up.

Cleaning up:

The final look:

 When we got home and we were looking at Caleb, Josh said, "Should we put his hair back on?" We couldn't believe how much older he looked. He doesn't have that baby look at all. He's our little boy! We love him so much!