Happy Father's Day Allen!

June 10-16, 2013

Caleb says hi (thinks it's hilarious), high (on the swing), yo-ween (trampoline), spoon, cockroach, bacon., although I doubt anyone else would recognize those sounds as words other than me. mamanadada means mom and dad. Mine and outside are 

When we hear a siren Caleb points toward the sound and I usually ask if he hears the ambulance. twice he has corrected me that it is not an ambulance, "Nana, yayaya," which apparently means, "no, police car."

If you do "I love Caleb" or "Old MacDonald" he always chooses outside and trampoline. What does outside say? The trampoline says "jump, jump here and jump, jump there".

We go on the trampoline at least twice a day, usually twice in the morning and once in the evening. The afternoon is so hot we'd have to put sprinklers on but we usually go to the pool then unless it is raining. 

Caleb pretends to see bugs, grabs a shoe and hits the floor or wall. He laughs whenever I try to kill a bug, especially on our cockroach hunt in Leila's room on Wednesday morning. 

Leila is getting chubbier and cuter! She's also getting stronger... Holds head up really well on belly, not so well upright but she did okay when I put her in the Bumbo for a few minutes. 

She still likes to suck on her fists and doesn't love binkies, hasn't discovered her thumb or fingers yet. Doing tons better since I stopped dairy but has still had really mucousy poops lately. 

She loves attention but doesn't get as much as I'd like to give her. Caleb wants to attack her all the time. She handles it really well when he shoves her binky in her mouth or pushes her swing really high or when he grabs her arms and pulls. One day he tried pulling her out of the bouncer on his own to hold her. 

We've been working on Caleb's inside voice. 

Monday pool, Tuesday rain, Wednesday watched friends' six kids while they packed to move. He loves the pool and asks for wawa frequently.

Wednesday evening Allen was helping pack the truck for our friends (the Baldwins) and we tagged along because Caleb would have been heartbroken to see dada leave again. He had fun with the other kids there but got attacked by fire ants and got his foot stuck in the truck. Luckily it worked to pour oil on it to slide it out.

Allen's soccer team is still undefeated. I haven't exercised for almost two weeks, other than walking to the park/pool and jumping on the tramp. Tried to keep from getting sick, it didn't work. I am so out of shape! 

Thursday morning Allen and I had dentist appointments so he watched the kids while I went and I was home when he went. Then in the afternoon we went to Rob Fleming water park; it was not as great as we had expected. It looked like fun for kids 10-14 years old so maybe we'll go back in about ten years. We got home just as the missionaries drove up to our house for dinner. 

Friday Allen was back at work. The kids and I played on the trampoline, went to the park, drew with sidewalk chalk (we do this almost every day), visited a friend, took naps, went to the pool and watched some Tangled. 

After picking Allen up from the bus stop we drove directly to the Baldwins' new house for  Al to help hook up their dryer. Caleb loves playing with their kids!  I nursed Leila while I was there and got asked some pretty funny questions : " are you feeding her for real or just for pretend?" "Why do you have that blanket over her?" "I want to watch" "it looks like you're feeding her from your belly." "What does she like to eat?" 

Saturday we slept in until 6:30 am (I was up with Leila a couple times at night but to sleep til 6:30 is a huge improvement at this house)!! Played on the tramp, skyped with grandparents, went to Sam's Club, cleaned the house, barbecued, went to the pool and after the kids were in bed we watched a movie (well, two hours of Dark Knight Rises before going to bed).

I was kinda lame for Father's Day. No homemade gifts and he didn't even sleep in (he did get a two hour nap Saturday and a two and a half hour nap Sunday)so that counts. He did get some new basketball shorts and he did get to play with his kids. We went on a walk and to the park before naps. I made him cheese crisps and dinner and didn't complain about taking care of the kids by myself while he played the organ in church. I should start practicing the organ...

Allen is an amazing dad. He chases Caleb and tickles him, plays with him, gives him baths, reads him books, sacrifices his free time to jumping on the trampoline and giving underdogs at the park when he'd really like to be taking a nap. 

Allen is the reason Caleb won't sleep in until 7. He did it for a week but every day I go get him out of bed, he chants dadadada and gets upset if dad has already left for work. So he forces himself to wake up to see Dad before he leaves at 6 am. 

Caleb will carry around articles of Allen's clothes and say dada over and over again. If I ask him if he wants to do something (go to the store or park) while dad's home, he will pause until I say Dad is coming too and then he will shout "Yeah!" If he hears the door kind of creak because the wind was blowing, he gets excited that its dada coming home. If he's tired and dad isn't home from work, he tries to stay awake by yelling. 

Leila smiles and looks for Allen whenever she hears his voice, even if he's just on speakerphone. I love watching her fall asleep just laying on Allen's belly/chest. 

Allen (if you read this... Or even if you don't), you are the best father I could ever wish my children to have. Thank you for taking care of us and loving us. We love you infinity!