Two Boys - Lots of Differences

How different two people can be who come from the same tree really amazes me! God is so amazing at how he creates us.  Here is just an example of the differences in our two little boys.

Joshua is a risk taker.  He will actually beg to be flipped, tossed, and swung high in the air. 

Caleb seems to understand, even at such an early age, that his is not invincible.  He actually will cling to a person who tries to toss him too high in the air.

Joshua loves cars.  If he had a choice between a car or a ball, he'll take the car 10 out 10 times.

Caleb loves balls.  If he had a choice between a car or a ball, he'll take the ball 9 out of 10 times.

Joshua doesn't like his hands dirty, so he uses a fork to pick up his food.  He has been doing this before he was a year old.  He hates dirt/food anywhere on him.

Caleb doesn't care if his hands, face, feet, belly, legs, or even his hair at times are dirty or even covered in food.  He just digs in.

Joshua loves meat, cheese, and bread; yet doesn't like fruits and veggies very much.

Caleb loves fruits and veggies and will actually pick the meats and breads out of whatever he eats, so he doesn't have to eat them.  He just did this to my pasta meal last night.

Joshua doesn't eat very much (he's 3).  

Caleb eats "everything" and lots of it.  He LOVES to eat.  My mom says, "One way to make Caleb happy and pacified is to feed him." 

Joshua is up at the crack of dawn and loves the morning time.

Caleb likes to sleep late and can tend to be grouchy and impatient in the mornings.

Joshua loves to go to bed early.  He will actually bring his blanket to you and tell you it is "night night" time, if you don't go to bed when you should.

Caleb will stay up as late as he can get away with.  He loves to stay up late, and in fact protests having to go to sleep.

Joshua loves to wear hats, shoes, scarves, gloves....

Caleb can hardly stand anything on his feet, hands, or head. He likes to go NAKED. 

Joshua can tend to be rather clumsy, not watching where he is going.  He actually runs into the walls when he goes down the hallway.

Caleb is rarely ever clumsy and almost always watches where he is going, even at his young baby age.

Joshua doesn't like to be cold. 

Caleb doesn't like to be hot.

So very different little boys, but the loves of Dave and my life.  How wonderful to know that God loves each of us and has created us all so different.  

Bragging on Caleb

Caleb holding on to Mommy's chair for support

Okay, so I have to take a minute to brag on my little smiley man. I know that as parents we might not ought to brag so much, but then again I wonder, does God brag on us at all when we make accomplishments that He is proud of? I think He does, so here goes.

First let me say, that Caleb is probably the sweetest little boy on the planet.  I don't think I've ever met one sweeter.  He is so easy going, easy to please, easy to make smile, and easy to get along with .  He has been easy to nurse (did so in 5 minutes after being born), easy to change diapers (he doesn't squirm), easy to feed solids (he doesn't fight for the spoon), and easy to sit with in church (he is really quiet and still).  

Now, my little sweet Caleb is starting to walk.  He began pulling up a few weeks ago, and then decided he liked the standing position, so he plays with most of his toys while he is standing.  We just put them on a chair so he can stand to play with them.  

Caleb waving to Mommy as he cruises around her recliner

Well, on Friday, Caleb surprised us all and let go with both hands of what he was holding onto, took a step and stood still to keep his balance, then grabbed on to something else to hold onto, so he could cruise down the furniture some more.    Now, he's a cruising boy. :)

We are impressed, but then I guess we would be.  We are his parents.  Parents impress easily, it seems, when it comes to their kids.  :) 

Caleb spying on Joshua in the bathtub

Training Joshua - I'm a baby

Since Caleb came into this house, Joshua has wanted at times to be a "baby" like Caleb. In an attempt to get attention, he will do various things to prove that he is a baby, including: put a pacifier in his mouth and cry (he quit using a pacifier when he was 12 months old), try to sit in Caleb's baby car seat, attempt to sit in Caleb's swing, sit in Caleb's baby walker, and even climb in Caleb's high chair and sit to wait on baby food to be fed to him.

Well, today I decided to help Joshua understand that being a baby was not always a desirable thing to be. When Joshua crawled in his brother's highchair, I proceeded to tell him that once in the highchair, he could not get out. He said, "I'm a baby." I said, "Well, okay, but babies can't get out of the highchair." He said, "I'm a baby."

I then said, "Well, babies eat baby food in the highchair." He said, "eat food." So, I said, "okay."

I then went and grabbed some leftover over oatmeal cereal and pears I had fed Caleb this morning, and put a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar in it. I then, mixed it up really good and then presented it to Joshua.

I said, "Okay, here's that baby food for that baby." He said, "eat food; I'm a baby." So, I fed him a spoonful. After some comical expressions on his part, he swallowed the food and said, "yum." I thought, "well, maybe this isn't going to work after all."

So, I reached for another spoonful. Joshua in turn shook his head "no" and clamped his mouth closed. I smiled and said, "no, open up, this food is for the baby, and you're a baby. Open up." After a little convincing, I managed to get him to open his mouth and eat another spoonful.

Well, he gagged, choked, and squinted, but he managed to get that second spoonful down. He then said, "all done," to which I replied, "oh, you're not a baby anymore; you're a big boy?" He said, "big boy." I again said, "so are you a baby?" He said, "no, big boy."

I then, let him down and sent him on his way. He hasn't wanted to get back in that highchair all afternoon, and he still says he's a big boy. He says he's no longer a baby. :)

Yeah, I laughed too.

Ketchup Anyone?

Joshua hates to get dirty. He hates to get his fingers dirty from touching food; he hates to get his feet dirty from walking without shoes; and he hates to get any food or drink on him while he is eating. To help Joshua get over being so picky about things, we are trying to teach Joshua that it is okay to get dirty usually. But, with a picky child, this can be a hard concept to get across.

So, we have been teaching Joshua that when he gets food on his fingers that he needs to wipe it off with a napkin. Well, just recently my parents have been showing him how to lick things off his fingers. In an effort to please them and also in an effort to try "not to complain" about getting dirty my creative son Joshua decided to take his "licking things off" to a new level.

While eating his meal at my parents home, he managed to get ketchup on his knee, fingers, and elbow. So, without anyone saying anything or even commenting that Joshua was "messy", Joshua proceeded to lick off his ketchup. Here are pictures of his attempts to lick it all off. Though you can't enjoy the event as much as you could have, had you been there, at least you can enjoy the pictures of Joshua's attempts anyway.

Joshua gets ketchup on his knee, fingers, and elbowJoshua trys to lick the ketchup off his knee