My Biannual Blog Update :)

On May 31st, we went to Hogle Zoo for our annual, Kindergarten fieldtrip! It was a perfect trip! The weather was perfect, I only had 22 kids to worry about (not 55 like 2 years ago), I wasn't prego, and no kids were lost . . . . phew!



Happy Birthday to Mrs. Kelly!! I walked into my room the day before my birthday, when much to my surprise, it was all decked out for my birthday! The lunch lady, Michelle, drew my name as her birthday buddy, and went ALL out! There were cute signs, and streamers all over the classroom, and each seat had a different plastic instrument for the students to play while they sang happy birthday. She also gave me a huge gift bag full of scrapbooking stuff, and put bags full of 5 different kinds of cookies in the faculty room for all of the staff to eat! Michelle was so incredibly nice and thoughtful to do that for me! It really made my birthday special!
As well, for my birthday, my mom made me crepes and yummy fruit for my breakfast in bed, and then my parents took me and James out to CPK and to Thor for my birthday! What a fun day!



Our Kindergarten round up was on May 6th this year and it was a success!! Everything went smoother than we could have hoped for! I was so proud of all of my cute students for singing their little hearts out!



Hooray!!!! James graduated with his Bachelor's in accounting from the U of U on May 6, 2011! I was so excited, maybe even more excited than my own graduation, probably because this means we can go on with our lives . . . . well, he'll be going onto more schooling, but it's a big milestone :) My dad ordered some BEAUTIFUL leis from Hawaii, and all of the Polynesian kids were jealous, he he! Both of our parents, Scotty, Michelle, Kamber, Ro and her family were all at the ceremony, and of course my dad brought the fog horns! I think those have been to over 10 graduations! They were incredibly loud, and Vicky held hers for the longest time! It was hilarious! After we had a BBQ at my parent's place and Trent and his girls, Emily, David and Michelle, Grandma and Grandpa Brown, and Trevor all joined us for that!



Caleb's first Easter basket! I saw this cute, felt, monkey basket at Target and couldn't resist. In his basket was candy, pez, bubbles, sidewalk chalk, a light up easter egg, and some other fun stuff.



This Easter was so much fun, since Caleb could actually pick up eggs himself! It was funny though, he'd pick up the egg and then just throw like a ball, lol! Maybe next year he'll really catch on.



James was looking outside and saw lightening strike this huge tree! There were wood splinters ALL over the yard, and the wood shot out so hard that it broke some of my parents window's in their room and the exercise room!



Over my Spring Break, we took Caleb to the Children's Museum. I took him when he was about 7 months old, and I felt it was a bit pointless, but now he loves it!! He had a blast with the balls and the water area!



We had a blast going up to Huntsville with my sister Rochelle's family! Caleb loves his cousins!


My Caleb Update:

*Caleb LOVES movies. His favorites include: Cars, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Barnyard, Finding Nemo, and Happy Feet. He's really good at taking out movies, putting them in the DVD player, watching them for a few minutes, then taking them out, putting them back in their correct case, and then putting in a new movie. It's a tad annoying, but impressive!

*Caleb would live outside if I let him. We have to lock all of the doors in the house, including the garage, because he'll find an open door and bolt. He loves to play in his car, jump on the trampoline, go in the playhouse and laugh at us from the window, and play in the sand box. Whenever I bring him back inside, he throws a tantrum.

*Caleb is not transitioning well into nursery. He'll cling to James or I whenever we go on, to the point where if I even stand up, he freaks out. He has major separation anxiety, and it's a bit frustrating.

*Caleb is on an amazing sleep schedule right now! He'll go to bed at about 8:30 and wake up at around 9:30-10:00. It's perfect, because both James and I are night owls, so we don't get to bed until about 2 most nights!

*When Caleb is happy, he'll do this hilarious dance where he runs in place and squeals. I love it!

*He's been saying a few more words, but not many. I'm a little worried that his speech isn't quite where it should be, but since he's only 20 months old, we're just hoping it clicks one day and he'll be spouting off full sentences :)

*Caleb enjoys going into grandpa's office, demanding that grandpa puts him on his lap. He will then just chill there, watching bizarre action movies while grandpa pops chocolate into his mouth.

*Caleb likes most food! He especially loves grandma's green drink!

*Caleb loves being hit by pillows and tackled!

I can't believe he's almost 2! He's the absolute delight our lives and we feel so lucky to be his parents!

Winter fun has just begun 2010!

A family pic at the reception at the old meeting house. Such a fun, beautiful night!!



Caleb LOVES his cousin Josh! Josh can make him laugh like no one else. I so wish that Tiffany's family lived closer. I can't blame them though, I would totally live in Kauai if we could afford it.



Cute nieces/nephews pic, but where's Caleb? Oh yeah, that's right throwing a fit, ha ha! Smart kid, it was frigid outside, and gave James an excuse to stay in, lol!



Such a happy, beautiful couple!!! My entire family is so ecstatic to have Kamber officially be a part of the family!! Now all 8 Banks kids are married :)



We love to go up to my parent's new cabin in Huntsville. I was a little skeptical at first, but it's turned into a really fun getaway. It's only an hour away, and it's got a gorgeous view!



Caleb looked so stinkin cute in all of his snow clothes. I can't get over his cheezy smile, either! He's such a poser for pictures, ha ha, I wonder who he got that from ;)



It's a blast to have 2 Christmases now. Caleb was definitely spoiled by his awesome granparents, aunts and uncles.



He was loving trying to ride on his giraffe!



Caleb was SO much fun this Christmas! He ran to the tree, automatically sat in his chair, mauled the giraffe, and started trying to open presents!! He was so happy, and made me super excited for Christmases to come!



Aw, gotta love the Christmas Eve pjs!!! I wear mine ALL of the time!



Caleb's very first hair cut on Christmas eve! I thought it was time to get rid of the mullet. His Aunty Kamber did a great job. We gave him a sucker, put on baby einstein and he did surprisingly really well!



Another tradition that every other Utah family has . . . . the lights on temple square! It was a perfect night, except for the crazy crowds. As well, it was fun seeing all of James' family and the Brown side. Grandma Kelly even brought yummy hot chocolate and donuts!



Man, I wish Caleb loved Santa! Both years now, he's been throwing a fit in the pictures. I can't blame the kid though, but still. This Santa was a little weird. He wouldn't take Caleb if he was crying, made James sit on his lap with Caleb, and gave us a 5 minute lecture about safety zones and kids. I was thinking in my head, "It's a 20 second picture, give me a break. He's 1 and will be over it in a second."



Kicking off the Christmas season right . . . . Festival of Trees! And yes, you better believe that's a Twilight tree! It was a little sad this year though, because I couldn't get over all of the trees dedicated to little kids that passed away, and the one made for my friend's dad, really got to me as well. They were all so beautiful, though!


So I began blogging once I had Caleb, so that I can have memories of him, and it's been like a family journal. I've decided to make an "All About Caleb" list at the end of each blog, so that I can remember the fun little milestones and quirks that he has. Since this is my first one, it's gonna be LONG :)

ALL ABOUT CALEB
*Caleb loves to give kisses! He'll make a sound with his mouth that sounds like a kiss and keeps his mouth wide open as he's doing it. He even just started to kiss all of the baby pictures in his books! It cracks me up!
*Caleb loves to climb on everything! This kid has no fear, which makes mommy on edge all of the time. He'll climb up on the bar stools, couches, on things in the pantry (to get to treats, te he), on his car, our 4 foot high bed, and will even move boxes and all sorts of things to give him a little extra lift!
*Caleb is very adventurous and fast. It's been a little hard living at my parent's house, because it's not very baby proof, and there are a lot of places to hide and things to get into (and he will get into them).
*Caleb loves babies and kids. He'll give hugs to kids and just adores his cousin Maya, and always goes up to the apartment looking for her. He even says her name like, "Aya!"
*Caleb makes the silliest sounds. He has this fake laugh that he must've gotten from Grandpa Banks, and it cracks me up. He's such a boy in all of his grunts and growls, and watch out for that scream of his. It seriously causes permanent ear damage!
*Caleb has become a total "Daddy's Boy"! Although I love it, it makes me a little sad, because it started when I had to go back to work. He freaks out any time James even picks up a coat or shoe, because he thinks that he's leaving. However, when mommy leaves, he blows me a kiss and waves bye. Even though I'm happy about it, I just wish he loved me as much. I'm the one that was pregnant with him for 9 months, went through labor, nursing, and woke up with him all night for the first year of his life. Oh well, our girl will just love me more :)
*Caleb loves to sleep every night and cuddle with Mr. Owl and his elephant blankie.
*Caleb is a great eater! He will even eat broccoli and seaweed strips!
*Caleb was completely weaned on December 23rd. It was a real bitter sweet for me, because even though I was relieved not to have to nurse, I miss the bonding time with him, and it made me realize just how fast he's growing up.
*Caleb loves to do somersaults, spin, and dance!
*Caleb LOVES bath time!! He plays with his bath boats, and loves to stick things in the fishy spout. After bath time, he loves his "Run around nakie time!"
*Caleb really likes to read books. His favorite book is probably "Baby Boo!"
*Caleb can turn on the blue ray player, tv, work the controller, play with our phones . . . . pretty much anything electronic. He really is his father's son.
*Caleb likes to play with balls, and to have me throw his beach ball on his head to bounce it off.
*Caleb's words are: mama, dada, bath, eat, grandma (maema), Maya (aya), ball, baby (bebe), Jesus (he thinks any picture is Jesus), no, and a few other random ones.
*Caleb HATES having his diaper changed. All I have to say is the word "Diaper" and he runs and hides and throws a fit the entire time.
*Caleb has consistently been off the charts for height and sometimes weight. When he came out, he had huge hands and feet, so we thought he might be big, but we had no idea how big. At his 15 month appointment he weighed 30 pounds (97th percentile), and was in like the 105th-110th percentile for height. He's been wearing 2T clothes since he turned 1. We have no idea where he got it from, because we both have small families, but at least he's proportionate :)
*For a week straight, Caleb has been sleeping from about 8:30-9:30. AMAZING!!!
*Caleb is a fun, happy, sweet, and cute little boy! He's growing up so fast, and I just feel so lucky to have him in my life!