Texas State Fair 2011

Going to the fair every year is one of Mommy's favorite things about living in Texas. This was Caleb's second year at the fair and he got to go twice! He had so much fun at the puppet show and petting zoo and seeing the horses and chickens, and cows - he even got a kiss from Elsie! He danced to celtic music, and he ate yummy fair foods like french fries and giant pickles, and of course ice cream. He loved playing with his friend Layla on the farm too!

This year Caleb got to visit his special Fair Park brick that Mr. Brad got him when he was born. It says "Howdy Caleb from Big Tex". We look forward to watching Caleb grow over the years as he visits his brick each time we go to the fair!

Here are some pictures!



Okay, already! Let's do this!


How fun!


Emus are awesome!


Loved this splashing horse


A donkey


Petting gently


Cheese


Pickle!


Oh, so that's how it works!


What are you looking at?


Push Pop


Big Tex


Getting ready for a second fair visit


Posing


Dressed and ready to farm!


Watering the trees


Ready to feed the livestock and harvest crops


Let's go!


Driving the tractor


Caleb Deere?


Baaaaah!


A kiss from Elsie!


Ice cream is so yummy!


Tired out at his brick


Caleb's brick


A good nap after lots of fun!

~ Caleb's Mommy

Passover at Bubbe's House

This year we went to Pennsylvania to spend Passover with Caleb's Bubbe.  Beside learning how to dance, and climbing up and down... and up and down Bubbe's stairs, Caleb enjoyed singing (endlessly) about "Lotsa, Lotsa Matzah" and eating quite a lot of matzah too! In addition to the fun-filled Seders, we visited Gettysburg, spent Shabbat at Bubbe's shul, and played at the Pennsylvania State Museum children's area.  Caleb also watched his first play!  He sat and paid excited attention to the entire 30 minute performance of "The Aristocats" at the Harrisburg JCC.  Here are some great photos and a video from out trip:

Pizza - Caleb's last meal before Passover

Modeling the shirtless overalls look

Maracas!

At Gettysburg with Bubbe

Taking it all in with Daddy

Caleb loved Bubbe's student who played Thomas O'Malley.  He even clapped when he sang!

Demonstrating strong man skills at the JCC playground

Riding on Bubbe's knee horsey

Visiting Bubbe's Shul

Yum!  Chili (I think...)

Driving a Pennsylvania Farm Truck

So much fun at the Pennsylvania State Museum

Planting and harvesting carrots

Picking apples

The littlest birds sing the prettiest songs!

Riding a snail

Caleb's favorite Passover foods: matzah, brisket, turkey, dried fruit,

Here is a great video of Caleb picking apples at the Pennsylvania State Museum:

If you cannot see this video, go to this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6IkLydjghc

Thank you to Bubbe and Chloe for hosting us for such a fun week!

Caleb's First Dance

We arrived this afternoon in Harrisburg, PA to spend Passover with my mother, Caleb's Bubbe.  Caleb did not do so well on the first leg of the flight... he slept for about 30 minutes out of 2.5 hours - 20 minutes during takeoff and 10 during landing.  The second flight wend much better, however, after I let him eat a rather disturbing amount of bagel and cheese and then run up and down the airport terminal (supervised of course) for about 30 minutes.  He slept most of that flight.

When we got back to Bubbe's house she began showing Caleb all the fun toys she had found for him at a garage sale.  This included a backyardigans boom box that Caleb absolutely loves!  We were watching him play with the boom box when all of the sudden (for the first time I have witnessed) he spontaneously stood up and started dancing.  He has done plenty of arm flapping and clapping over the past few months, but this was the first full-on dancing.  I describe his technique as "drunken zombie"but only because I know he learned from watching me.

I didn't get the first time on video, but he was happy to show us again!
Here is the video.  If you don't see a video below, then click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qh_zMgbumlw.

Rock on! and Chag Sameach,
Love,
Rachel

13.5 Month Portraits!

So I have been rather remiss in getting portraits taken of Caleb... but I have something like 2500+ photos documenting the first year of his life, so I don't feel like I am slighting  him too much.  And now we have a fancy new printer (that was free with my new Macbook Pro) that actually prints good quality photos (wirelessly no less), so hopefully I will print a few more pictures too!  Now all we have to do is actually hang the photo frames on the walls...

Suzanne took Ella for some portraits a few weeks ago and they turned out really nicely, so I thought I would give JC Penney a try too.  I think the experience was much more stressful and less professional that Portrait Innovations (where we had the pictures taken last time), but that could be because Caleb didn't know how to move when we had the 5 month portraits taken and now I spent most of my time chasing him back into the portrait studio.  Or it could be that this time I was flying solo and last time Suzanne was there for us to take turns with the kids.

Enough of my babbling.  Here is what you have all been waiting for - the link to view Caleb's portraits.  I know that JC Penney gives you options to purchase from this link, but please don't bother.  I completely over-bought, I am sure, so there will be plenty of pictures for anyone that wants.  The pictures will be available for me to pick up April 1st.

Here is the link:
Click Here

Please note - you won't be able to view this from your iPhone or iPad (if you have one) because it requires flash.

Let me know if there are any pictures that you absolutely want.  I ordered a variety of sizes of many of them.

Rachel

Happy Purim!

We celebrated Purim in two ways this year.  For erev Purim we went to the park for a picnic, and then over to Suzanne and Oren's for some swimming and barbecue.  Caleb had a great time in the not-so-hot-tub.  He didn't really want to let Mommy hold him - he wanted to "swim" around on his own.  He doesn't actually know how to swim though, so that was a little challenging.  Thankfully, the hot tub benches and seats were at just the right height for him to walk around the edge and have a little independence.  Here are some pictures from the park and the hot tub:

Yummy Celery

Picnic with Daddy!

Modeling a swim diaper

"swimming"

I don't have any pictures of the post-swimming bath-time cuteness with Ella, but rest assured, they are out there somewhere on Suzanne's camera.

This morning we dressed up and headed over to Beth Torah for the Purim celebration and Megillah reading.  Caleb dressed up as the Shabbat Dinosaur for Purim this year (in the same costume he wore for Halloween).  It fit him just right this time around... even though it was size 6-9 months!  Caleb is only barely fitting into Carter's 9-12 month clothes now, and most of the 6-9 months things still fit just fine (as long as they cover his belly).  But since the dinosaur costume is all about the belly - it just fit that much better!  If you are unfamiliar with the Shabbat Dinosaur - it is from a fun song we sing at Tot Shabbat. Here is a taste:

There's a dinosaur knocking at my door,

Knocking one, two, three.

There's a dinosaur knocking at my door, 

And he wants to spend Shabbat with me!

And here are some pictures:

Caleb enjoyed the Megillah reading, though I think he might have been a little overwhelmed.  While he may not have understood the meaning of the story, he enjoyed using his noise makers!

We hope this has been a Purim filled with sweetness and celebration for all those who celebrate!

Love, 

Isaac, Rachel and Caleb

Our Little Virtuoso

Caleb hasn't been feeling very good lately, but that didn't stop him from rocking out on the Keyboard.

This is a video. If you can't see it, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPELPslxDFE

~ Caleb's Mommy