My 2 year old!

Caleb turned 2! Wow! I am blessed. I wrote him his annual letter, sealed it up, and put it in his memories bin.  I get so excited writing him, dreaming, and praying for him.

Caleb's actual birthday was a Friday night. We had a quick supper, cupcake, and then went swimming.

Good morning, Coach!

Get the frosting!

Family picture with the 2 year old and frosting:)

Swimming with Daddy

So much fun!

Caleb had a lot of fun. It's family fun nights like on his birthday that I just revel in US. Josh, Caleb, and I have so much fun together. It's great to be out of the home and just focused on Caleb. Caleb is clearly thrilled and happiest when the three of us are doing something together, at home, in the backyard, or out and about.
I love my two year old, but even better...I love us as a family!

April - the fake spring month

April was deceiving. My poor guy wanted to play outside, but he couldn't shake his winter jacket! We made a trip to the park and some great walks, but really didn't enjoy our yard. It either had snow or was a sloppy mess. We tried to make the most of it though. And really, a toddler does help with that! One new thing Caleb started doing regularly at daycare is going on the potty. He doesn't get there all the time, but he willingly sits and sometimes pees on the potty chair. He is quite proud of himself. And we are proud of him too!

Flushing the potty.

At the beginning of the month Caleb had an ear infection and after several sleepless nights, Mommy got a cold too. But we got through it. I knew Caleb wasn't feeling well but I never would have guessed it was an ear infection. He really is a trooper and tolerates pain well.

Caleb got a new item in his room. A map! We plan to mark all our destinations on this map as a family. We're pretty excited and Caleb was happy to help put it up. We also had a snow day on April 11! Can you believe it!? Another highlight was eating Rouladen, a traditional German meal. Caleb really enjoyed it.

Caleb's happy about the Snow Day with Mommy!

Rolling up the sirloin, bacon, onion, pickle and mustard into Rouladen!

April means Caleb turns 2. He can say, "Two," and hold up about two fingers. He at least gets there eventually. He watches as his fingers curl down. It's stinkin' cute! The night before his birthday he helped mix and bake his cupcakes. He is such a great kitchen helper.

On Caleb's actual birthday Caleb celebrated with daycare first with snow. Well, first he had to put up with his mommy sticking a tie on him and taking pictures in the early hours of the day. School was two hours late due to snow so I could just enjoy the morning with some extra snuggling. When we got home that evening, we ate supper quickly and had a couple cupcakes. Then Josh, Caleb, and I went to the YMCA. First we went in the ball pit for a bit and then played basketball in the gym. We finished the trip with the pool. Caleb loves the water!

That night after Caleb was in bed, Sandra and I frosted all the cupcakes and I got the cake done. Fishing was the theme. We think they turned out really well.

Saturday, April 20, we invited family over for a party. We squeezed in had a wonderful meal and fellowship. During gift opening Caleb gave hugs to everyone for each gift. It was super cute!


We ended the month with more snow and Josh's 34th birthday. School was actually two hours late on his birthday too! We enjoyed supper at the Taphouse with Nana and Papa, Sandra, and our little family. When we got home we enjoyed a German apple cake that Sandra made. YUM YUM!

Spring Break and Easter

My son has become the reason I get up in the morning. Literally. Spring Break used to be this time for me to get up leisurely, as well as watch TV in my bed, read on the couch, and go/do what I wanted. Now, spring break is completely different. Not that that is a bad thing!

Caleb and I had a great time this spring break. We went to the Southern MN Children's Museum in Mankato, The Children's Museum in the Twin Cities with our friends Beth and Brenna Erdal, went to the YMCA, splashed in puddles, and had lots of family time celebrating Easter!

Write off the bat I got to go to the hospital and take pictures of a brand new baby boy. My colleague had a baby and I got to practice taking some newborn shots.

Cutie!

Monday, March 25, 2013 - Children's Museum in the Twin Cities

Beth and I have been friends since we were babies. So we took our babies to the cities for some fun! Both kids did such a great job transitioning from room to room and listening to their mothers. We had a wonderful day! They slept the whole way home.

The MN Wall at Children's Museum

Sleeping with his book.

The next day we played hard at the open gym and ball pit at the YMCA. Woohoo! Caleb loves running around the Y.

 And then he collapses for nap time. He didn't last long.

 Multiple times we went for walks. Well, he took me for a walk, as you can see with the leash. Sandra took Woody and Caleb took me. On this particular day I messed up and we just wore tennis shoes.

The next time we wore boots. He drug me along:)

Friday morning we drove out to my parents to great our Colorado family, visiting for Easter. Kiri had just woken up and we got to have some play time with her.

Do you like the music?

Getting so big!

My beautiful goddaughter

 Saturday morning we dyed eggs. We did some basic dipping and then we did a couple shaving cream eggs. Caleb really enjoyed it!

For lunch we went to Green Isle to celebrate Easter with the extended Harjes family. We had a blast with cousins and Easter egg hunts.

 Sunday we hosted the Miller Easter.

March 2013 First 2 weeks

March meant we added a member to our household. Sandra Dohmen, my host sister from when I lived in Germany, is living with us this spring. She is going to be a teacher and needs a three month experience in a native speaking English classroom. So Caleb gets a live in aunt for the spring! We threw her right into the family mix with supper out with the Millers on Friday and MonsonAlms family on Sunday night.

We finally set up a time for Caleb's haircut. Wow! It got long! I couldn't believe how much hair was on the floor!

Sandra was initiated to Minnesota with a Snow Day on March 5, 2013. We had fun inside and outside!

This month Caleb is rocking puzzles and shape sorting. He's always done well previously, but he's a rockstar now. He also rocks at hanging with Daddy!

Caleb with his cape on, can hardly see him. He's so fast!

Weekend fun included joining the YMCA and tasting Broetchen, German biscuits! I think he likes them!

What? There's not more!?!?

Leaving the YMCA after swimming fun!

 Next post: Spring Break and Easter!

Highlights of 2013 Jan/Feb

Caleb is such a character. 2013 was been full of learning and exploring new ideas, new experiences, new expressions, and so much more. Here's a smattering:

The blur of many dance parties

Walking in Daddy's shoes

Making cookies with the big mixer!

Eating chocolate cake in a dress shirt and no stains!

Head gear for the Miller little ones

Sword fighting while shopping

Tugging on Mommy's heart strings but not winning.

Cowboy hats!

Valentine's Day as a family!

Day date in St Peter

Celebrating Great-Great-Great Aunt Betty's 90th Birthday!

Caleb's first self-portrait. Not bad!

Playing guitar with Mommy!

Playing Mommy's guitar

Playing upstairs, waiting for Sandra to come.

A very fun stage

Caleb is hilarious! I love how he bosses his parents around while he plays. Now don't get me wrong, he is learning to share and learning some of the "hard knocks" of life. How he bosses is how he "arranges" his dad and me to start a race and count to three. Too cute. He grabs our hands and lines us up against the couch. We have to be truly against the couch or we get a finger point. Then he proceeds to "count" to three and ends with a loud, "GO!" He has also already learned to cheat. Sometimes he only counts to two! Ha! He jumps to an early lead and then turns around to check if we're following behind. At that point he giggles to see us coming up behind him and starts high stepping with his knees as he runs. Either that or he starts twisting as he runs with his feet kicking out to the back and then sides. Such a character!

Caleb has learned Hide n Seek! I hear it might come back to bite me when we go shopping in the future, but I think I'm safe for a little longer with my Momma's Boy. He has hid under a table, snuck in a closet, and giggled "quietly" behind cupboard doors. What was perhaps more impressive was his Seeking ability. He found me quicker than I would have thought. He's an observant little guy!

This weekend we made cookies. He loved stirring and figuring out the standing mixer. He was very happy to pull levels and turn knobs. He liked to press his hand to the top of the mixer to feel the motor vibrate. He was, as usual, a wonderful helper. Luckily he share cookies very well.

Caleb loves the dark, especially if he has a flashlight. He has recently enjoyed following a flashlight around the house. He looks like he's on a treasure hunt.

He is busy exploring and learning all about this world, and our home in the winter:)

It's exhausting and amazing!
My little guy is 35.5lbs and almost 3 feet tall. How did this happen?