Baby Room vs. Toddler Room (according to Caleb)

1. baby name vs. cool name

2. crib cage vs. "free access/independence honoring" toddler bed

3. closet sometimes left open during nap/bed time vs. new plastic sliding locks on both folding doors--out of reach to the curious-with-best-intentions, closet-playing toddler

4. video monitor placed on wall above crib vs. video monitor pulled off the wall and broken, unable to be fixed (so no "big brother"parental eyes can spy on the "big brother to be" while in the privacy of his room)

5. room appliances (i.e. CD player, night light, monitor) plugged in wherever convenient vs. all cords moved/removed as to not be exposed to tiny engineer-to-be hands

6. books of all kinds placed "cutely" for use and decorations vs. all non-board books removed from room by parental figure (and often times all board books pulled on floor by energetic toddler during naptime exploration/rampage)

7. all dresser drawers closed most of the time vs. bottom two drawers sometimes open, with socks or shoes "arranged" all over the floor by tiny hands

8. pacifier (a.k.a. Soothie) either in baby's mouth or in baby's crib vs. Soothie either in toddler's mouth (supposedly just during sleeping time) or on top of dresser (placed by parental figure) or on top of stuffed animal (while they "night night" during toddler play time)

9. baby always sleeping in crib during nap/bed time vs. toddler sometimes sleeping in bed and sometimes sleeping in creative spaces around the room

10. my parents' vs. MINE

Dear Caleb (A Letter From Your Cat)

Dear Caleb,

I must share a few things that make me view you as the most peculiar little boy. First off--I don't understand why you still call me "cat"--even though you know so many words and names--and every adult refers to me as "Summit". I know "cat" was your first word...but really, if you're going to keep saying,

"Hi, Cat!",

I might just start spending more and more time upstairs on the office chair. I mean really--if you can shout the 4-syllable "helicopter," then surely you can say, "Summit."

I also wonder if you've noticed that I do NOT have hands...and therefore I don't need to wash them after going to the bathroom. The other day, you yelled,

"Cat wash hands; poop!"

upon my bolting out of the litter box. You're so silly.

Now on to other annoying sayings and noises. Yes, the room where I eat and take care of my business (I call it my room) is also where you people wash your clothes in those huge machines. Whenever the dryer buzzer goes off, my ears ring...and now you have to repeat over and over,

"Nnnnnzzzz; laundry's done!"

and laugh and laugh. I've even heard you say this hours after completing the chore...while you're trying to fall asleep in your bedroom...

And then there's your fascination with offering your milk's sippy cup straw to every stuffed animal, every toy, and even me. Your blue blow up Rody horse even has a dry milk moustache on it--and I probably do, too.

"Cat drink milk, sllllpppppp,"

is not my favorite thing to hear.

When your mom says it's clean-up time, your solution to picking up is putting things away on your bed (or in other strange places) saying they're going to sleep...

"Book, night-night! Hammer, night-night!"

A pretty good trick on your mom, though, I agree with your approach...nice thinking!

One thing I appreciate about you is that you are the only person who helps me enjoy my feline cuisine. While everyone else refers to my meals as "cat food," you always say,

"Cat's crackers."

I only wish the Friskies bag would have those more dignified words written across the top...

Fondly,

Your Feline Buddy Summit

Not Summit's Stage (but the Jaguar's)

Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle

Caleb's 21st Birthday (21 months on May 16th)

My mom said I visited the same zoo around the same age. How fun!

A Hard Day's Work

In North Carolina, toddlers are hard at work. Inside, outside. Morning, afternoon, night. Pajamas, clothes. Barefoot, shoes.

First up: Get out of bed and start the chores. (By the way, the $2 garage sale vacuum has been a hit...) This boy is always working on something...and he can multi-task, as you can see. Talking, sweeping--gotta get the floors clean and calls made before you get the trash ready to take out to the curb.

It's Monday morning, after all.

Next task: electronics. Get the un-attached computer keyboard plugged into the "e" for "energy" (or just a letter in the name Caleb, the working boy).

(He figured this one out all by himself...)

Oh, and that "toy" vacuum is missing its plug. So, why not attach Mama's phone charger to the empty hole? Vroom, vroom!

After that: Get dressed, and head outside before the day gets too hot. Water the back deck's plants: herbs, strawberries, tomatoes, lettuce.

Back inside....it's getting muggy out there! Take it easy and watch Dada mow the lawn...it's gonna be the boy's task someday. (Are we needing to get a "toy" mower in the near future?

The

working

boy

LOVES

to watch

things that

make noise.

LAST....it's been a tiring day that has brought on much hunger. Gotta get outside to pick strawberries at the local farm...and enjoy every last juicy bite!

"Gatz" = Vac

I finally had to relocate the vacuum cleaner to an undisclosed (to my 20-month old) location: behind the guest bedroom's closed door. For about a week, every morning, Caleb had woken up and begun his trek down the hallway to the kitchen for his first sip of milk from the fridge...only to stop at the coat closet and grab my hand, point, and repeatedly say, "Gatz, gatz!" I then proceeded to open the door for him to view the Hoover Turbo Power 7300. That simple action only gave Caleb a one or two day fix: then, he wanted more. "Pull the vacuum cleaner out of the closet and let me look at it in the hallway all day long!" his pleas said (in much fewer vocabulary words, however). Later on in the week: uncoil the cord each morning. By day 5 or 6, it actually was vacuuming day, so Caleb's joy was filled to the brim with my plug-in, turn-on, and push-push of his favorite household machine.

Day 1, week 2: "More, more! Plug in, turn on!" the cleaning obsessed boy seemingly said. I tried to explain to him that I refused to vacuum the carpet every day...the floors probably could use it, but I couldn't use the "task" hanging over my head. So--solution? Plans for the next day's nap time relocation....as described in the first line...

Day 2, week 2: "Gatz, gatz!" Hallway closed door opened to......emptiness! I had wondered what Caleb's first reaction would be. Would he keep saying his beloved word "Vac"...would he cry and throw a fit....would he drag my hand to "look" for the Hoover friend? Of course the toddler had a solution: Popper Substitution.

Last month, I found a used popper toy (one similar to my childhood toy) at Once Upon a Child for $3.50. Best investment EVER (and much cheaper than the adult version that used to live in our hallway closet). Can we say obsession? Caleb's favorite toy by far. Could it be the vacuum cleaner resemblance? Who knows that goes through these little people's minds. As of now, the empty closet has a new resident, and the noisy plastic toy has a new resting spot. Plus, in Caleb's mind, the carpet in and in front of the closet is so clean...it gets vacuumed numerous times daily, sometimes minutely.

I wonder how long this "fix" will last....how long can I keep Caleb out of the guest bedroom, and when will he want his bigger friend back? This weekend, I did take the original carpet sweeper out (while Caleb was in another room) and wheeled it to the family room...just in time for Mr. Clean to watch me plug it in and turn it on. Such a happy boy....highlight of his day? I returned it to the guest bedroom after Caleb went to the deck to play....and no notice was made about its disappearance.

Today: back to popping. Love that Gatz!