Updates

I know I have not sent out an update in a while about how Caelan is doing, so here goes. Caelan is now almost running anywhere he goes. I went back to work for the summer which meant he got to go with me. He loves being at the daycare and having other children to play with! I think this has really helped him develop his language and development skills. He is beginning to talk more and more. He can say juice, Bella, uh-oh, goat, and some of the kids names in his class. It comes out a little funny sometimes, but you know what he is saying. He is so cute! He is also getting bigger physically. He is 32 inches tall and weighs almost 23 pounds. (This was at the 1 year check up.) He also has a huge foot. One question for the mothers- why doesn't anyone tell you that when your child learns how to take off their shoe it means they are probably to small for their feet? I learned this the hard way with Caelan. I thought he needed new shoes for a couple of weeks, but did not think seriously about it. When we finally went to get him some we ended up with a 6 1/2! I had been stuffing the poor child's foot into a 5 for the last couple of months. I must not have caught on the first time because I did it with his Sunday shoes as well. I was putting those shoes on him this past Sunday and thinking they were hard to get on. Guess what- when we took the shoes off of his feet he had blisters from where they were rubbing on the back of his heel! I felt like I was batting a thousand in the mom department! I will always remember this for when he moves up in to a bigger size! I hope everyone is doing great and as always take care!

4th of July

We decided to try something different this year and meet up with our church for the 4th of July. We met on main street in Homewood for dinner and fireworks! We were not sure how this would go, but Caelan did really well. He would pay attention for a minute or two and then want to get up. This continued for the 20 minutes the show ran. During the times he was paying attention he would clap and "ooh" and "ahh." He has become so animated! I hope everyone had a great 4th and remembered what this day truly means!

Outside

Caelan loves the outdoors. He would stay in his swing outside all day if he could. Here are a few recent pics from Caelan playing on his birthday present from Mimi and Pop. He loves it. He is figuring out it has other items to play with besides the swing too. Enjoy!

Lake Party

Every year Jared's work(WBA) has a lake party. We were able to go this year and thought it would be a great way to introduce Caelan to some water other than the pool. (Hoping it would get him ready for the beach.) At first it was ok- he was not thrilled by being in the water. After a few minutes some older children got in and he forgot about the water and watched them. This lasted for a little bit until he remembered he was tired and he wanted OUT! So much for that idea. Honestly, he did great considering we were doing this during his nap time! On the way home was a quite ride- he passed out before we hit the paved road! We really are blessed for Jared to have such a wonderful place to work.

Home on the Range

While we were in Dothan for the reunion we got the pleasure of staying with Jared's Aunt Irene and Uncle Marvin. These are some great people. I especially like them for their fondness of Alabama football!! They have a lot of land that they raise cows and goats on. We could not wait for Caelan to get out and "play" with the animals. He was a little nervous at first, but then did not want to leave them alone. I can't wait until we can go back and Caelan can see the animals again! As you can see, Jared did not let a little influence from Aunt Irene and Uncle Marvin stop him. He thought it would be a great idea for them to match for the trip home. I fought it as long as I could, but when they look that cute how can you say no?!

On our way down...

Jared and I thought it would be a great idea to borrow my moms portable DVD player to take for the trip. Caelan loved it!! He watched two movies on the way down to Dothan- Barnyard and Shrek 2. I have never seen him sit so quietly for so long! As you can tell in the pictures, he made himself "at home" in the car. Not only did he have a good movie to watch, but he had some snacks and a comfy chair with plenty of air conditioning! If we could all ride like this on a 3 hour trip we would be much happier!

I know it has been a while since I last posted, but we have been extremely busy! This is going to be a little long so hang with me. At the beginning of June we went to Dothan for the annual Standifer family reunion. This year was a little different than last because Caelan is almost running now! Last year he was about 6 weeks old. Everyone enjoyed getting to see him and how much he had grown. If you look at the picture, the little boy with curly hair is almost the same size as Caelan. Colton is actually almost a full year older than Caelan. It is amazing to me to see things like this. I can't believe he is growing up so fast!