"Up"

Caleb has suddenly started blossoming in the talking department this week! He's been consistent with Momma and Dadda as well as a few signs, but that's pretty much been it for a while. We have been trying to prompt him with words throughout the day for a while now, but not pushing too hard. On Thursday he suddenly became a copycat!

Since Thursday afternoon, we are now consistently hearing "up", "down", "cracker", "yes" and "no no". If I ask him a question (like, "Do you want _____"), he either shakes his head and says "no, no" or he says "yes" (it sounds more like dah). It's so amazing to me that from Wednesday to Thursday he suddenly changed so much!

Here's a video of some "up" time! He was coughing from laughing so hard...don't worry, we gave him some water as soon as the video was over! : )

Daddy's Helper

After we got back from our cruise our car desperately needed to be washed! Besides the typical dirt, it had also gotten a lovely layer of sand while sitting at the dock parking lot for a week.

Caleb decided he needed to help Daddy wash the car... he sure is a cute helper : )

Our Awesome Cruise

Last week, Jonathan and I had the chance to take a vacation together! It was exactly what we both needed. 

We took a 5 day cruise out of Galveston with Carnival. We spent 5 days not cooking, not cleaning, and not chasing a toddler. Instead, we held hands, lingered over coffee at dinner, and relaxed! I even got some reading time. 

I'm not going to do a day by day recap, just share a few pictures. We made some great memories and really had a chance to be husband and wife instead of mommy and daddy for a few days. I'm so thankful we had this time before Aaron comes, I know it will be quite some time until we can get away like this again.

In case you're wondering - no, we didn't leave Caleb home all alone : ) Grandma Mal kept him for the first half of our vacation and my parents (and Aunt Katy) kept him for the last half. He was spoiled, loved on and smothered for a week.... I think it was a pretty good time for him too : )

Jonathan's first "meal" after we got on the ship....we hadn't actually left the port yet. 

Relaxing on the first day

My view

Dressed up for dinner

By a natural pool at the Mayan ruins

Jonathan at the same pool

Jonathan and I at the Dzibilchaltun ruins

My explorer husband.... I stayed at ground level and took pictures of him having fun...

Jonathan snorkeling in Cozumel

Jonathan passed out after snorkeling for 2 1/2 hours

We didn't take many pictures, but we had a lot of fun! The ruins were amazing and the beach in Cozumel was incredibly relaxing. 

By Friday evening I was ready to get my boy, but I'm very glad we had the chance to relax for a few days. If anyone out there is considering taking a cruise, I highly recommend it! 

Caleb's 18 month checkup

Caleb had his 18 month check up this morning. When we got to the doctor's office, he had a blast playing in their "well children" area. It was neat for me to see him interact with kids he doesn't know. At one point he grabbed a toy truck that was in front of another child (a 3 year old that had some disabilities, he could pull himself around, but not walk or crawl). I told Caleb to give the truck back to the little boy and Caleb pushed it right over and gently gave it to him. He then went and found another toy like it wasn't a big deal. I was so proud of him for being gentle and sweet to another child.

They also had this Little Tikes slide.

Notice that it has little ridges to climb up, but no steps. Caleb went from fussing for me to help him (and truly needing my assistance) to doing it without any help in about 5 minutes. He spent the remainder of our waiting time going up the green part and down the slide over and over again. He got good enough that I went to sit down and just watch him. He certainly didn't need my help anymore! (and didn't want it either!) He always sat on the slide to go down too, he never tried to just step down. I'm thinking we may have to invest in something similar soon! 

So anyways, beyond my amazement watching my own child in the waiting room at the doctor's office... the actual visit was pretty normal. He's obviously an active child and does fine around other kids. He's not talking much yet, but we're seeing him begin to copy us more and attempt more words. The doctor wasn't concerned about how few words he actually says and agrees with me that, being a boy, he likely just needs a little more time. 

As far as stats go: surprise, surprise....we have a tiny child!

Height: 30 3/4" (9th percentile) - he is actually increasing in the height percentile

Weight: 19lbs 14 oz. (.5 percentile) - staying in the same percentile, but steadily growing which is mostly what they're watching for. 

After Caleb finished with his appointment, he and I headed over to Target to pick up a few things and before we made it home he had fallen asleep in the car. Between the excitement with the slide and his shot he must have totally worn himself out! He's been asleep for an hour so far and he usually isn't even starting his nap yet! So who knows what today will hold, our schedule is off for sure! 

Later today we're taking him for another haircut so I'll post some pics of him all handsome when we get done! 

26 Weeks

I just got home from my 26 week appointment. I know I keep saying this, but where is time going? How is it possible that I'm almost in my 3rd trimester? CRAZY!

Everything is checking out well for baby Aaron and I. He is growing (as you can see by the belly!) and moving all the time. I remember Caleb moving around more often, but when Aaron moves - he really lets me know! So while it's less often, I'm actually less comfortable than I remember being with Caleb because this one is so strong. He is most active in the evening and at night. I rarely feel him during the day, but that's probably because I'm going non stop from the moment I wake up until Jonathan gets home in the evening. When I finally get still though, I'm not sure if he's punching, kicking, or doing flips - but I certainly feel it! Jonathan is now able to feel many of Aaron's movements too.

As far as weight gain... according to the doctor's scale (which I'm having trouble believing) I only gained 1 pound this month. Which brings me to a total of 5 pounds gained (still at a net change of -17 pounds). Again, if you look at last month's pic and this month's - I don't see how I only gained 1 pound. I think they are just trying to mess with me. Clearly, Aaron is growing fine, so I'm not worried about my weight.

On a side note, I must say - I have a wonderful husband! Most evenings, by the time Jonathan gets home I'm pretty tired and he has been great about taking over with Caleb so that I can rest. I hear about so many dads that have no idea how to do anything with their toddler, but Jonathan is confidant and able to take my place when needed!

Caleb has his 18 month check up tomorrow, so I'll be back on soon enough with some new stats for him. I'm excited to see how much he's grown. I know he's been putting on some healthy weight here lately! I sure do love my crazy big boy!

Strawberry Pickin' '11

Kristen and I made plans a while ago for her and Eli to come down to do some strawberry picking at Froberg Farms just like we did last year. Since then, we found that some of our South Carolina family would be in town, so we all decided to go together. Unfortunately, yesterday morning Eli came down with croup so they had to stay home, but we carried on with plans. We missed Eli and Kristen and hope they can come down soon and we'll go again. (It seems that Eli had a mild case of croup and is making a quick recovery, yay!)

Caleb and Grandma Deb picking strawberries

GG in the pink shirt, Lara on the far right and Madelyn closest

Look at all the strawberries! 

Madelyn was a pro! 

This is what happens when you sit on a strawberry : )

Eating our picnic lunch on Grandma and Pop's patio... he wanted to sit with Grandma

Grandma got distracted on the phone, so he had to get closer to her  : )

We had a great time picking strawberries! As a group we collected 7 buckets! (Around 5 lbs per bucket) I've got one bucket cleaned and in the freezer and my other bucket we cut up and ate with angel food cake last night. Just in case you're wondering - a 5 lb bucket is the perfect amount of strawberries for 12 adults and 2 kids to eat with cake : ) We had just enough left for Jonathan and I to have another slice with strawberries tonight! YUM!!!

I looked at my post from last year... I can't believe how tiny Caleb was when we picked a year ago : )

Last Year's Strawberry Picking (click here)

Caleb with Aunt Katy last May while we were picking strawberries. 

We Have a Name!

Little boy is officially Aaron Robert Lutz!

A little background... My Uncle Derrill is an amazing man with a huge heart. Anytime we are going to see him, Caleb gets super excited and runs straight to him. I love watching how they play together. Half the time when we go to GG's house, Derrill is either with us or taking Caleb outside. Growing up, Derrill lived in Alaska and Idaho for most of my childhood and we LOVED every time he came to visit. We decided while we were pregnant with Caleb that if we were to have a second son, we would continue Derrill's middle name, Robert, on with our second.

With that decided, we then had to pick a first name. It took us a long time to find anything that sounded right. As soon as we though of Aaron, we knew it sounded perfect. However, Jonathan's best friend growing up (and still a friend now) is named Aaron. We had to figure out if it would be weird to call our child a name we so associate with someone else. Well - after a few months of calling him Aaron around the house, we've gotten comfortable with it.

We told my family while they were at our house last night (mostly because I couldn't keep the secret any longer). Somehow I had missed that Robert actually comes from my GG's father as well. How neat that we are carrying on a family name and didn't even realize how far it went back!

I'm so excited that I can finally call him by name now! I've been so close to slipping several times. On a side note - I'm not creative enough to think of the name tag idea - a friend of mine did it with her little one and I borrowed her idea! (Thanks Sarah, hope you don't mind) : )