What DO Little Boys Get Up To When Mom & Dad Blink?

Exhibit A (Ooh! Very pretty!):

Exhibit B (Hmm... the first moment things might have gone awry.):

Exhibit C:

Exhibits D & E:

And finally, Exhibit F:

He was very proud of putting on his own "mustache". Maybe face painting one on could have been avoided for halloween this year...

Good times.

Trick or Treat! Smell My Feet!

110% Potty Trained!!

No diapers at all for well over 10 days. Horray! The good and bad of life really does motor on, regardless of any insignificant incidentals each of us as individuals may be sorting through, doesn't it?


For the first time in more years than I can remember, I truly feel weightless about life. I'm not pretending or wishing... I truly feel it. It has been a long road of processing, re-assessing and re-aligning. The real bolt slid home once the needle etched my "strongmankaleb" tattoo this fall - my homage to our family strength, to our incredible son and to living the life we aim for.

I know perhaps that not everyone will understand this burning need some of us have to physically commemorate meaningful events upon our own bodies. I've tried to explain my personal need to acknowledge and delare a passage of rites, a glorious battle trophy and with this most recent adition, it finally feels like that final step, planted with a resounding thunderous smash atop my mountain, is firmly affixed.

I'm home and I LOVE it.

Summer has Fallen

Puzzles, tricks and problem solving really attract our little adult. His self expression knocks us into fits of laughter daily. During a 4 a.m. potty break, Dad asked him what he was dreaming about that night. His response: "Oh, not too much."

Potty training is 99.9% there, with more dry diapers greeting the mornings than not. He enjoys cleaning up as much as he enjoys trashing the place. I LOVE the stray hotwheels car tucked into the door jam, the errant peanut butter smear on my shirt, and the cracker crumbs in (Dad's side) of the sheets.

He's incredibly bossy for one with such limited scope on the workings of life, though he vehemently denies it. He knows which route we take to drive home from daycare and woe be the driver who strays. Oh, and you'd better blow on your hot food before you take a bite, not to mention sit in your assigned spot!

He loves whispering wet secrets into your ear and smashing juicy kisses onto your face. Make a fishy move, though and he'll nail you to the wall with the sharpest stink eye you've ever been slain with.

He is entirely our son.

Beat the Heat

Last summer we were just trying to get our footing after being spit out on our own. This summer, we're enjoying and stretching out into every corner of our new lives. Business is strong and yet we still maintain time to absorb life with one gorgeous little monster at the most leisurely pace imaginable. It still somehow seems a sin while everyone else buzzes about us in the rat race.

Dialogue is coming along at an entertaining pace. I just adore his little expressions and favourite routines. Brushing his teeth, putting toys away, collecting bugs, closing gates (we have a few), commanding dogs like a seasoned pro. Even his super-hairy eyeballs and fiesty outbursts are things I'm disgustingly delighted to witness.