Cars

Caleb loves cars.  And trucks and tractors.  And helicopters and airplanes.  Basically, he's a true boy who has discovered the joy of machines that move!  Yesterday we were shoveling outside at Grandma and Grandpa Horn's house (because he also loves shovels right now) when he noticed Grandpa's huge truck.  He ran over to get a better look.  "Car," he said, rather in awe.  Then, "Wow!  Car!"

After reveling in such a big car, we went back to shoveling and Caleb eventually noticed the snowblower by the shed.  He ran over and shouted, "Car!"  I explained that although it has wheels like a car, it was actually a snowblower.  (He thinks that anything with wheels is a car, like wagons and skateboards.)  After pausing, staring at the snowblower and thinking for a brief moment, he then exclaimed, "Shovel!  Car!"  And I thought to myself, You are a genius.  A snowblower IS like a car that shovels snow!

Caleb was intrigued by the machine and desperately tried to get it working by pushing every button and turning every knob.  He was sorely disappointed and ultimately resigned to picking up his shovel and continuing the labor by hand :)

Each day we are reminded that we have a little BOY on our hands!  He is a pure joy and we love his boyish antics and interests.  

Aqua Tots

I recently discovered a Community Ed class called Aqua Tots that's designed to help kids get used to and be comfortable in the water.  Since there aren't many places to take Caleb swimming in the summer (unless Lake Superior counts, which it doesn't), I thought this would be a good opportunity.  We'll be spending 30 minutes in the pool each Saturday for the next 8 weeks.

I was curious what Caleb would think.  While he loves baths, the only time he's ever been in a pool before - last summer at Eli's cousin's house - he clung to Eli like a leech.  Well, let's just say that I had a little leech clinging to me today too.

The water was cold.  Colder than I expected, so that didn't help.  But I think he was timid more than anything.  And he clung to me.  I mean, clung to me.  If I tried to put any distance between him and me, he practically strangled me around the neck.  I think I had nail marks on my shoulders too.  So it took him awhile to warm up to the idea of being in the pool.  But hey, at least he wasn't crying!

Most of the other kids were laying in their parent's arms and splashing and kicking.  Caleb held onto me like I was the only life preserver in the building.  Most of the other kids were moving up and down and side-to-side while singing "The Wheels on the Bus".  Caleb held onto me like I was the last lifeboat in the ocean.

He took a looooong time to get acclimated, all the while shivering because he was so cold.  I told him he'd warm up if he kicked and wiggled a bit, but my encouragement came to nothing.  So I just moved around with my little leech attached.  I forced his legs to kick a little, which eventually made him smirk.  I bounced up and down getting him deeper in the water, which eventually made him smile.  I spun in circles and showed him how exciting this whole swimming thing can be, which eventually made him laugh.

Then, during the last 5 minutes of class we were supposed to set our kid on the edge of the pool and have him jump back in to us.  I didn't think Caleb would let go of me to even sit on the edge of the pool, but he did.  And then he instantly wanted back in my arms so he sort of thrust himself into the pool with me and somehow thought that was fun!  We did that over and over at the very end of the class, and suddenly he wanted to lay flat in my arms with his belly in the water and kick a little.  And he was smiling!  I couldn't believe it.

So we ended on a happy note, which will hopefully help him be excited next week.  He may never be the next Michael Phelps, but if he ends up kicking in the water every time, I'll consider it a success!

Three Months

Our baby boy is three months old already!  He's a beautiful, chunky, sweet little man who loves to kick and wiggle, who's starting to coo and giggle more regularly, loves the ceiling fan, hates tummy time, and has discovered the joy of sucking on his hand.  He has the blue eyes of his Mama (so far) and the temperament of his Daddy (so far).  He makes our hearts full and happy every single day!

Kai is also becoming more expressive.  Here are a few gems from today:

That smile melts our hearts.  We love love love this moose baby! 

Brothers

It is really difficult to get a picture of these two together.  I'll let you guess which boy makes it so difficult :)  I rarely try to achieve such a feat but this morning I felt the itch to make an attempt.  This is all I got:

Not too bad, I suppose.  At least Caleb's looking at the camera and at least Kai isn't falling over.  Not the most attractive picture, I realize, but not the worst either.  So here they are: our boys, together!

Can't Catch a Break

This poor kid.  He's sick.  Again.  He caught a nasty cold while traveling over New Year's and it was the worst cold he's ever had.  For eight days he was enduring snot and goop in his nose and eyes.  Every time he woke up he could barely open his eyes because of the crusted eye goop that had gathered while sleeping and had sealed his eyes shut.  And he had boogers stuck to his nose and lips that looked like nasty growths on his face.  And he had dried snot in his hair.  For eight days this went on.  I had to clean his face every time he woke up and he hated it.  He would scream and kick and scream some more.  By Day Six his nose was so raw it started bleeding.  This poor kid.  It was horrible, just horrible.

Finally, the virus passed.  We had four days with a healthy little toddler.  Then he woke up today with snot encrusted in/on his nose again.  And snot in his hair.  And eye goop crusted in his lashes.  Oh, the poor kid can't catch a break!  I put him right in the tub.  He loves baths and it helps him feel better and truly get clean of the snot.  And by God's grace, he's actually in a good mood despite being sick.

What was the culprit this time?  The nursery at church?  Storytime at the library?  Tot Time at the Community Center?  It's inevitable that this kid will get sick from being around other kids during cold/flu season, but I must admit that these sicknesses can take a toll on a Mama.  The constant nose-wiping and hand-washing gets tiring.  And trying to keep Caleb from touching Kai and spreading the germs can be a challenge too.

But we're pressing on!  Winter is over halfway done and when spring comes I'm looking forward to less sickness in this house.

Kai in Black & White

Kai is becoming more expressive these days and he's smiling frequently now, especially when we hold him close and talk to him.  He continues to be a calm, content baby and we are delighted in him!

I did a small photo shoot with him the other day while Caleb was napping.  Kai catered to the camera and I turned some of the photos into black and white.

Then I realized there are hardly any pictures of me with this baby since I'm always the one behind the camera.  So I set the timer and took a few of us together.  This was the best face he gave me.  

He's growing so fast, as they always do.  His 2-month appointment was earlier this week and Kai is 25 inches long (97th percentile) and weighs 14lbs, 12oz (84th percentile).  He's truly a Horn baby :)

New Year's in Michigan

Traveling is tiring.  Traveling with little children is exhausting.  We spent this past week in Michigan with my family, which was wonderful and well worth the exhaustion.  But we are exhausted nonetheless and came back to Duluth with a sick toddler and are spending today resting and recovering before Eli goes back to work tomorrow.

Kai was an all-star traveler.  He slept the entire time on his first flight from Minnesota to Michigan.  And he was easy-going as he got passed around from person to person throughout the week.  He's truly a good baby and it was fun to introduce him to the rest of my family and show off his sweet face!

On New Year's Eve we put the kids to bed and played games.  We even played Pictionary!  It's been years since anyone had played this game, but my parents still had a whiteboard tucked away downstairs so we hauled it out and tested our artistic ability.  It was really fun and helped us stay awake till midnight, which wasn't the easiest thing to do this year!

We celebrated Christmas on New Year's Day and attempted to get a photo of all the grandkids in their jammies.  This was the best we could get.  Not too bad, all things considered.  Caleb was the most uncooperative and wouldn't hold still no matter how hard we tried.  Alas, that's the way it goes with little people!

Caleb's cousin is only 8 months older than him and he loves trains right now.  Caleb has shown a lot of interest in cars and planes and trains recently so it was fun to watch these two little boys be boys together :)

Then it was time for ice skating on the pond!  We used to ice skate a lot growing up so it's fun to get the kids out on the ice and watch them play and fall down and play some more.  Caleb had a great time, although he wore boots rather than ice skates :)

We also spent a day at my sister's house where all the Clarks had gathered for a Christmas celebration.  It was wonderful to see everyone!  There were two other new babies born this fall so everyone was passing around the babies in between playing games and snacking throughout the day.

It was a great trip to Michigan.  We felt like it wasn't enough time, but that's the way it goes.  There's never enough time during the holidays!

When we returned to Minnesota we made a quick trip to the Sea Life Aquarium at the Mall of America.  Caleb loves sea creatures right now: dolphins, whales, shark, fish...anything that moves in the water.  We knew he'd love it so we splurged and spent the money to see the fish, and Caleb was definitely in heaven :)  He loves saying "shark" although it sounds a lot like "sh--" when he says it, so we've been laughing for weeks at his pronunciation and tried to keep his shouting to a minimum as he exclaimed over the sharks in the tanks, lest anyone think we're teaching our child bad words at home :)

 So now we're home again and Caleb has currently been napping for almost four hours.  That kid is tired.  He needs to recuperate from all the travels and fun and people.  And since it feels like -23 degrees outside right now, it's a great day to stay inside and rest up.  Tomorrow starts the beginning of another week of another year in the House of Horn!