Seven Months Old Today!

Our little man is seven months old today. Somehow this month got away without hundreds of pictures. But I'm glad I got this one. Caleb loves his older brothers and they are pretty sweet with him.

Lots has happened this month. He loves to eat anything you give him. He's figured out how to feed himself little things like puffs and pieces of bread. He can click and making razzing noises with his tongue. He's also started babbling "ah-da-da-da." He rolls all over and likes to do the plank position and stick his little bum right up in the air. He's mastered the army crawl and on Tuesday of this week he started doing this! This is the only shot I got of him today. But it's a great one and shows exactly what he is up to these days -- getting into everything.

He is constantly moving. So much so, our friend has "diagnosed" him with Restless Body Syndrome. You will rarely find him holding still, except for the first few moments after he wakes up and he's content just to snuggle.

He still likes his early morning feeding, although today it didn't come until 7:15AM! So we're getting closer to sleeping completely through the night!

We love our little Caleb and can't get enough of his big smile and spontaneous giggle!

Stats:

19 pounds 6.5 oz -- 71st percentile

27 inches long -- 56th percentile

45 inch head circumference -- 74th percentile

[ First tooth appeared on 11/28! Bottom right and bottom left may be coming as well!]

First Grade Sentences

I love that Dillon is really learning to read and write now. He's pretty good. His teacher really encourages the children to sound out their own words and write sentences on their own. I get such a kick out of some of the things he brings home. I can't keep all these papers, but have to remember these cute sentences. He's already improved a lot, so I'll try to list them in chronological order as much as I can. He was getting his Bs and Ds confused at first. Here are some of my favorites, spelled Dillon style (no italics if it was an instruction on the paper):

• Let me tell you what I did last summer! I playd at my nabrs hows and swhengd on the swhengs. It wus fun so I did it ovr, ovr and ovr. (Yes, we really need to get a swing set -- gotta get a back yard first.)
• The tigr shorc has gils on its heb so it can dreth wobr throo its gils. [Translation: The tiger shark has gills on its head so it can breathe water through its gills.]

• I like scool! I like my techr misis jasprs and ol my frens. I like ort and lunch and jim and math and evretheg.
• School is col and it is osum. I luve art and lunch at school.
• I can bro shorcs enewar. [draw sharks anywhere] At lest ef it is papr.
• Eggs or bracubol. [Eggs are breakable.]
• I like to...I like to eat food. I like to eat soe much I olmost eat the hol panchree. Sume times I dont. I dont like lemens varee much. I sume times eat ulot.
• My favorite season is summer. I like summer becus I swim and becus I plae awt side whith my frens and my bruther. I dont like it wen I get musceto bites. I do like it wen I see stors and butrflies.
• My favret game is Horses. Me and my bruthr Wesley are horses. It is fun. I like that gam. I plae it evreday. My bruther likes it to. He rids me. He likes wen I let him rid me. I like it to. Wen I am a hors my name is Red Licrish.
• I am a pummpcun. I live at a form with a scare croe. The scarecroes name is Luke. He is nise. I look all arawhnd. I see cids. They ar picen pummpcuns, but not me.
• Dillon is a strong boy. He likes Legos. His favorite thing is his stuffed animal dolphin. Dillon likes to eat pizza. Chucky Cheese is a place he likes to go to. His favorite sport is soccer. Did you know that Dillon likes horses?

Now I can clean off the door!

A New Motto

I don't "talk" on my blog very much, but I've had some thoughts that I think are worth remembering. I apologize if it's too personal, this is more for me than anyone else. I have a new motto / inspiration / something to live up to. It comes from Galatians 5:22 in the Bible.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance...

I came across it several nights ago after praying to be a better, more patient and loving mother. What an answer, hey?! This is how I need to parent, with the Spirit, filled with love, and concentrating on the JOY part. I need to be gentle with the sweet little ones with which I've been blessed. And on those days when I have just had it, I need to have faith and trust in the Lord -- let Him help me carry the burden. I wrote it down and have kept it next to my bed, re-reading the words several times. I've studied some of the specific words that are used. More than anything, I keep finding myself repeating the words in my head during the day. That alone has brought a lot of comfort. You see, I love my children. They are my life. They are why I get up every morning. And they are the reason I crash on my pillow at night. They wear me out! Three children has really been an adjustment and challenge for me. They are each so unique. I'm realizing that more now that Wesley is a little older. Things that were so simple with Dillon are huge battles with him. And the other way around as well. Some things that were so difficult with Dillon are not even issues with Wesley. And Caleb is his own man, too. It's so fun to see how different they are, although I was hoping parenting would get easier after the first child thinking I would know how to do it. Not so. Tonight we had one of those moments where it all seems worth it. It started with reading 'scripture stories.' The boys actually listened, probably just because they thought it was cool that the story was about a tower. Then we said a prayer and I helped them into bed. As I did, I sang "I know that my Savior Loves Me." The first few lines go like this...

A long time ago in a beautiful place, children were gathered 'round Jesus. He blessed and taught as they felt of His love, each saw the tears on His face.

I've sung it a hundred times, but this time Wesley stopped me and asked "Why did Jesus have tears on His face?" I explained to him it was because He loved the children so much. We talked about how sometimes people cry when they are talking at church because they are happy and are feeling the Holy Ghost. That really sparked Dillon's interest. We talked for a while and ended up deciding Dillon should say a special prayer to help him feel the Holy Ghost more and recognize it when he does. He also prayed that he'll listen to the words people are saying in church and understand things. He prayed for help in school as well. It was a really sweet, thoughtful prayer. When he finished he saw me wiping my cheeks and asked," Do you have tears?" I confirmed that I did, because I was feeling the Holy Ghost. And with a huge smile on his face he replied, "I think I'm feeling the Holy Ghost too Mom! I feel really good and happy." I thought back on my new favorite scripture and how grateful I was to feel the JOY and LOVE parts of parenting at that moment. The Spirit was there in that room and I think my boy may have felt it. I am so grateful to be a mom and even more grateful that I don't have to do it alone. The Lord understands my needs and those of my children and He is willing to help us along the way. I just have to remember to listen.

(Anyone know why Blogger messes up my paragraphs?)