back when caleb was first born, i rewrote the words to "on christ the solid rock" and changed the chorus to
'round caleb chiao our lives revolve,
he has such strong will and resolve.
he has such strong will and resolve.
and boy, i had no idea how much truth those lines held, even as he turned one last month. his "strong will and resolve" is more evident than ever... and my life revolves around him like it never has before.
for some reason, i had the misconception that as he became more independent, i would get more of my life back. what a fallacy! i told victor the other night that i feel more like a slave than ever. "take me here!", "take me there!", "no way, don't make me walk!", "i want that!", "no! now!" caleb has taken to pointing and grunting to express his desires. and if those desires aren't fulfilled, this is the end result:
in fact, this picture was taken because i wouldn't give him the camera. and within 60 seconds, if i still don't give in to him, he turns to full-on, blue-faced, melt-down mode. this happens very frequently during the day... i would venture to say, several times per hour.
victor and i figured that whenever he did this, i would take him to his crib and leave him there until he calmed down. surprisingly, it seems to be working so far. but this afternoon, no such luck. after i picked him up, and he calmed down, we had a heart-to-heart. i told him that as strong of a will he thinks he has, mine is stronger. afterall, where does he think he got it from? mommy is just as stubborn as he is, and the more tantrums he throws, the more i dig my heels in to not give in. on the other hand, if he would calmly let me know what he wants, as long as it's not dangerous, i would gladly oblige. you know, i know this sounds crazy, but i feel like he was listening to me. he wasn't squirming, grunting, or pointing as he usually does. he actually sat there quietly, looking at me. weird. but don't worry, i'm not insane. i know that the talk was more for me than for him. but still...
since caleb has turned one, he has turned into this crazy-scary eater. compared to other kiddos around his age, he used to eat practically nothing. but suddenly, he can't get enough and stuffs his face with everything he can get his hands on (as long as it's not baby food).
(above: looking for more. below: thrilled after a good, messy meal)
as thankful as i am that he eats (afterall, i know tons of parents stressed about their kids not eating), oftentimes it makes me really ill to watch him. i equate it to watching the nathan's hotdog eating contest. it makes my stomach turn to watch him shove so much food in his mouth so fast. so as a result, victor ends up feeding him most of the time if he's around.
other than that, i'm constantly amazed at caleb's refinement of skills and spatial awareness. this afternoon, i found him doing this:
he was meticulously placing a small package of crayons into the holes in this ball. i know, it sounds like nothing. but watching the concentration and the fine motor coordination was pretty cool.
we've also been having fun with some new toys he received.
he got the xylophone/piano tiger from james & ruby for his birthday, and the kawasaki keyboard from "grandma" winnie at church. while caleb enjoys banging on them, these have become victor and my favorite toys. we can frequently be found trying to play a new ditty on these things. victor has become quite proficient at "do, a dear". i think the keyboard is a hoot because it's got that cheesy synthesized rhythmic beat in the background as you play. ha ha. fun stuff.
