I wanted to give a short update before the new year started and I get WAY behind :) Caleb is getting to be such a big boy. He isn't physically growing much lately, but definitely in every other way. He is learning more and more everyday. He can say just about anything that you want him to, at least he will try it after he hears it said. His teeth are all in and I can't get him to slow down enough for me to keep up with him! He is such an active little boy, and doesn't slow down except to eat and sleep (which he loves both of those activities, so I'm lucky!).
I've tried to ween him off of one of his naps during the day, but he just can't do it. He is so active that he needs to keep both of them for now. Some day he'll sit down and watch cartoons with mommy and we can actually read a book together, then maybe we'll be able to skip one, but until then, he is just going to keep going and going. I can't tell you how lucky I am with this boy, he loves his sleep, and tells me when he needs his naps. Grammie, I can't begin to tell you how right you were about the schedule thing from the start!
He is a good eater too, he doesn't like a some of the plain meats (roast, ribs, etc), but if I give him ketchup or some sauce, he'll gobble it right up. I hope that he isn't going to be a real picky eater, like me, it'll make it REALLY difficult to feed us all if we are both picky!
Since the last update, we've had Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas - how I AM behind! I'll add photos as soon as I clean off my camera. For Halloween, he was a Triceratops (dinosaur). He did really well in the costume, and got lots of goodies. Isaac, Caleb and I went around with our neighbors and their girls, Ginger & Cyla. They all seemed to have lots of fun. We took the stroller, but he was able to walk quite a ways. Daddy did a great job taking him door to door! Caleb also was able to see his Holtrop cousins. They all had fun and got pictures taken at Grandma Sandy's. At the end of the night, Aunt Rachel & Uncle Jared showed up at our house and spoiled him some more. He was getting pooped but able to stay up long enough to have a piece of candy and play in his costume a little.
Then we got him back into his routine during November, and Thanksgiving came. We didn't travel much this year, just to Ireton and LeMars, but it was both places in one day. It kept him busy and tired, but NOT hungry! We went to GGrandma Rena's and he played around with cousins Amber and Johnny. Then after we were all tired and full, we went to LeMars to Grammie's house. We did get a little nap out of him, but Uncle Sean didn't want much to do with that. Caleb was just fine not sleeping with all the people and activities around. We ate again and tried to get family pics taken for our Christmas cards, but if you didn't notice, they weren't useable! After we were stuffed again and really tired, we all headed home. We were able to unwind the rest of the weekend though, not much else going on, so it was nice to just hang out at home.
After Thanksgiving weekend, we just all got ready for Christmas and the get-togethers to start. We were supposed to head to Bagley in the middle of December, but we got our first snow storm, and couldn't leave town. We had a nice 4-5 foot drift, and it was pretty much a white-out. We lost power that day around 2 and the house got really cold, so Isaac and I packed up all our stuff for the night and headed over to Grandma Sandy's. They have a propane heater in the basement, so we could at least stay warm and not be bored, but right as we were heading out the door, the power came back on. We went anyways though, to let the house warm back up. So we've had a nice layer of snow since then. The next weekend was the Maurice Tire & Repair party. We took Sandy/Daryl & Nate/Crystal out to Archies in LeMars, and Grammie took Caleb for a few hours. She was able to take him to the Christmas party for the Legion riders that Grandpa Kim is part of. He saw Santa and got a goodie bag - not to mention showed off all night to Grammie & Papa's friends :) Next we are up to Christmas weekend, which was a little more busy than I thought, but lots of fun. Friday night, we had friends over for Christmas Eve, and Caleb was able to open 1 of his presents from Rachel & Jared (seems to be his favorite so far!). Then we woke up on Christmas morning and the 3 of us had fun having our Christmas. Caleb realized that there were presents under the tree when he woke up, but was still a little confused about what presents are. We had to turn it into a game, so he could see 'what was in the paper' - but we still had to save some presents for later in the day as he got bored! But it was a nice low key day at home with the family. We ended up going to our neighbors again for supper that night, and had some pizza and let the kids play for a few hours. Then Sunday we got up and headed to Grandma Sandy's house for Christmas. We had lots to eat, the kids played well, Caleb was pooped, and so were Mommy & Daddy by the end of the night! Caleb has gotten lots of fun new toys that he's playing with and we still have some yet to go. I'm definitely going to have to take a day after January and organize all his new stuff, and move all the old stuff to the storage room!
Then its on to moving Caleb to the big room upstairs and getting the nursery ready for Ducky...Speaking of, all is going well with Ducky and I. We are healthy, and growing nicely. I've only put on a few pounds so far, which is great for me and the Dr says so too. My belly is showing now, but I don't really have any cute shirts to show it off in, so I fell/look like the blob most days. Isaac is not really sure yet about this one, because he's been keeping so busy with Caleb. And we are still at a stand still with names. We had the ultrasound done at the beginning of December, and didn't find out what the sex is, just like with Caleb, so we have to have a boy & girl name. We both still like Cooper, so unless we can figure something out that is better, that's probably the top choice now. As for a girl: WE ARE CLUELESS!!! This time around is much harder, not sure why, but it isn't coming along nicely like before.
Well, that's about all that I can think of now. I'll upload the pics from the last few months as soon as I can...I know that's what you all want to see anyways :)
Hope you had a Merry Christmas, and have a Happy New Year!!!
the Holtrops
