What We've Been Up To: Caleb

My boys are gone for the week. The whole week! I keep telling people this is the first vacation I've had as a stay-at-homer. The first time I've been at home while my children are gone. No youth camps, mission trips, or anything. Just home! It's lovely.

It's also a little lonely! I gotta admit I just started thinking about Caleb's little quirks, and how I miss them. Mind you, it's been a little over 48 hours. Hard stuff for a mama. :)

So, you're in luck! I think I'll just write about my boys, and maybe I won't miss them so much. And you get to know what's going on in their worlds these days. Keep in mind that I miss them, so forgive any overly sappiness or glossing over the little heathen traits they have. :)

My firstborn.

Caleb.

Gosh, I love this kid. He is just like me! He drives me crazy with his stop-and-smell-the-roses mentality, but I really love it. He and I compete for slowest eater, most likely to cause everyone to run late, and other exciting contests. Now that I think of it, together we probably drive Jon bananas.

It's been no secret that we think Caleb is exceptional (we are his parents, after all). I've been working on a preschool curriculum with him, and when I say something like, "Today we get to learn a new letter: P!" he'll say, "Oh, yeah, Mama, I know what that one looks like." And he'll swoosh his finger in the air in the shape of a P.

"Okay," I say, "maybe we'll learn about Q today then."

"Yeah, it looks like this!" And he correctly puts a little tail on the circle he drew in the air. Then he tells me what sound it makes, and several words that start with Q.

I attribute most of his genius to the iPad.

His recent kick is science. As a science-lover myself, I love this! These days, his block creations are less often castles, and more often science labs...usually complete with a mad scientist. He includes secret doors and traps of all kinds.

We have started a bug collection! I am not timid about bugs, but I will say I was a little nervous pulling them out of the freezer. Were they really dead...or just really cold? None of them have wandered off, yet, so the collecting continues.

For his birthday, Caleb wants a science party. I'm not sure exactly what he expects from this science party, but it's a GREAT theme, and I can't wait to get planning for it!

One day, as we drove in the car, Caleb asked, "Mom, do you actually know any scientists, and can I go see their lab someday?" I had to admit to myself that I did not know any scientists! But a plea on Facebook found a friend of mine who is now teaching 8th grade science, and she has agreed to show Caleb some fun bubbly things on Skype once it gets a little closer to school. I thought that was super-sweet. It's fun to be able to run with my kids' current interests.

In June, we had several camps and VBS at our church. The kids that came forward to commit their lives to Jesus and be baptized sparked quite a few conversations with Caleb. He would tug on my dress and tell me he wanted to be baptized. After discussing it quite a bit with him, and Jon and I together, we are grateful for the sensitive spirit that he has, but he doesn't yet understand what becoming a believer truly is. On one hand, does ANYone ever fully understand that? But on the other, he is very young, and we want him to be very sure.

In the meantime, I enjoy the sincerity of his prayers. For a long time, his prayer consisted of, "Thank you, God, for a great day, and for helping Mommy and Daddy feel better." Every. Day. It didn't matter if we had been sick or not! We finally asked him to start thinking of one thing to thank God for, and one thing to ask God for. Now I'm amazed by the prayers that come out of this little boy's mouth. Some things he says are things he hears us pray, while others are from songs, or things he simply says on his own. Some of the sweet prayers I can remember at the moment:

Thank you, God, for making things good. You took bad and made it good. You took sin and made it not sin.  (This was in response to a discussion about how bad things in life--animals and bugs, specifically--would not be bad one day. The lion laying with the lamb.)

Jesus, we don't deserve you. But we need you.

Dear God, help Great Grandpa. His batteries went out, and he needs new ones.

Thank you, God, for a great day. You are wonderful. You are ... (well, I can't remember the word, but it was a big one, and most likely from some song on the radio! Magnificent, maybe?).

Caleb is very excited about the new baby. Last time around, he really had no idea what was going on. This time, if I tell him, "I'm sorry, I can't share these raisins; I really need to eat them," he'll say, "Is the baby hungry?"

And a few times lately he has hugged my belly, or zerbered my belly, or spoken to my belly in a silly voice--all for the baby.

I love how tender Caleb is. He is sweet and kind. He is certainly not perfect. We have had to deal with a quite a bit of attitude lately (which, sadly, he has picked up from us!). But in general, Jon and I marvel that we have been blessed with such a neat kid.

 James is up next!