The Dotsons

It is so hard to believe that Caleb is a year and a half now! Really, it just seems like he was born yesterday. Rhett and I both agree that the first 6 months of Caleb's 2nd year have gone by much, much faster than the first 6 months of his 1st year! I cannot believe that in 6 months, he will be 2...and we will also have a newborn! Wow! He is learning so much with each passing day and he is such a sweet boy, too. Sure, we have our meltdown moments but overall he really has a sweet disposition. And boy, can he ever make us laugh! It is truly a joy to be his parents!

Ok, now...all about Caleb at 18 months:

* Weighs 26.6 lbs (50-75%), is 34 in tall (90%), and has a head circumfrence of 19 1/8 in (75%) - all these measurements were taken today at his well-child appointment. The nurse measured his height twice b/c at his 15-month well-child, he was 32 inches tall. She thought that 2 inches was a lot for a little guy to grow in 3 months....but, he was definitely 34 inches tall today. Unless the 15-mo measurement was off, he has really grown "up" in the past 3 months! This does not surprise me, though, b/c most of the men in our families (both Rhett's and mine) are tall.

* He is FINALLY walking! He started officially walking on January 23rd at 17 months and 13 days old! Boy, did he ever take his sweet time! He does still walk on his knees after he falls down. He can stand up independently but most of the time, he will knee walk to the closest object and pull up.

* He has learned quite a few new words:

hot ("ha") - Our dishwasher is stainless steel and it gets warm when it's running (not too hot to touch, but warm). He touched it one day, pulled his hand back, and looked at me. I said "hot" and now he says it on his own if he happens to touch it when it's warm. He also points to the fire in the fireplace and says "ha."

cracker ("caca") - We were making s'mores with some friends and I guess Caleb heard us saying "cracker" in reference to the graham crackers. He came up to me, signed "more", and said "caca". It took me a minute to figure out what he was asking for, but I was amazed that he picked that up by himself. Most of his words are words we have taught him, but this time he said it on his own!

chip ("chiii" in a high-pitched voice) - this is another one he started saying on his own. We were sitting at the table for lunch one day and there was a bag of chips on the table. He kept pointing at the table and saying "chiii" but I could not figure out what he was saying (there were other things sitting on the table too). Finally, it hit me that he was asking for a chip! I gave him a couple of chips as a reward for using his words (something we are working on b/c he still grunts and points a lot)

wagon ("wawa") - He also started saying "wagon" on his own, although sometimes it is a little confusing because "wawa" is also "water", haha! Most of the time, we can tell what he's saying (water vs. wagon) by what he is pointing to....either the fridge water dispenser or the door to the garage (where the wagon is!). He's a smart boy, if I do say so myself. :)

MAMA!!!! He is finally calling me mama!!! For the longest time, I have been either "ma" or "ba" (his sound/word for anything around him in general) or nothing at all. Even when I was "ma" he rarely said it. Now, if you ask him who I am he will say "mama" and his new favorite thing to do it to point to me and say "mama" to other people....letting them know I belong to him! How sweet! He also does this for "dada" too. I guess he DOES love us. :)

daddy ("dada") - he's been saying "da" for a long time but he's finally starting putting 2 syllables together (with other words as well)

mac (short for macaroni - "maa")

bus ("buu" with no "s" on the end)

more ("MOAA") - hard to describe what it sounds like, phonetically but he says it very emphatically! We are working on "please" so he doesn't sound so demanding, LOL.

Rio ("oreo") - it really does sound like he's saying oreo, haha! "Rio" is a very difficult word for just a little guy to say so I am surprised that he can sorta say it.

MumMum (just like it sounds) - these are rice crackers that he likes to munch on.


* He can make a few animal sounds. He doesn't do it all the time or much on his own but when you ask him "what does a _____ say?" he can answer you (when he wants to). We're still working on it. He has made sounds for a sheep, cow, horse, duck, lion and kitty cat. Surprisingly, he cannot make a puppy sound, although puppies are his favorite. Oddly enough, he has a thing for cows. Anytime he sees a picture of a cow, he points at it and makes his moo sound. A lot of times, kitty cats, ducks and lions also moo...in case you were wondering. Oh, and sometimes they also "baa" like a sheep, too. (since his favorite animals sounds are "moo" and "baa")

* He is getting better at stacking his mega blocks but he still mostly likes to pull them apart. They don't hold his attention for very long, unfortunately. (well, not much does at this point other than reading books)

* He loves to play with his Little People school bus. For some reason, he will not leave the backdoor on it so it's not very safe for the LP to ride to school, LOL. (he didn't break it, for some reason the doors are designed to come off). He really likes buses and points them out all the time (in books or on the road). I guess a lot of things are buses to him: school buses, vans, and 18-wheelers are all buses.

* He figured out how to "go" forward on his ride on toy (it's leg-powered!). He went backwards first, I guess b/c it was easier to push backwards with his little legs. Now he can go scoot forwards...but he has trouble getting on and off by himself. He still needs help swinging his little leg over the seat.

* He plays with his cars and trucks more than anything else he has. He can really get the engine revved up when he's driving his cars all over the floor (or on chairs, or the wall, or window sill, or couch, or anywhere really).

* Other than playing with cars, he LOVES taking wagon rides, playing outside, and swinging.

* Whenever he picks up something that he doesn't want...or maybe doesn't think would taste good??...(like a leaf outside) he walks around holding it out away from his body while making a "pth" sound (like a spitting sound) - it is so funny! It's as if he's put it in his mouth and knows that it tastes nasty...even though he hasn't.

* He moved to a "walkers" room at church and is still going through a little separation anxiety when we drop him off. I don't think it helps when everyone else who's getting dropped off is also crying!

* He finally thinks that "peek-a-boo" is a fun game...hilarious, actually. He never cared about it as a baby but now he loves it.

* He is taking very good naps - most days he will nap 2-3 hours (usually closer to 3 hours) and it is so nice! He still cries when you put him down for both naps and at night, but usually only for 5 minutes or so.

* He got his 2nd haircut but first cut at an actual hair-cutting place (Kool Kuts 4 Kids). He did pretty good and looks so grown up without those curls! He definitely did not get my hair (straight and thin). He's got his daddy's hair (body and texture). Rhett's hair curled in the back when he was a little guy, too.

* He still L-O-V-E-S to dance and will dance to any and all music. He knows how to turn on the radio in our living room (part of our entertainment system) even though he's not supposed to touch it. When the music comes on, he immediately starts dancing...especially if it's country music, ha!


These first few pictures are from our first visit to the Children's Museum. We met our friends Haylee and Isaiah there. Caleb had a great time (even though he got aggressively shoved down by a little girl...it happens!)

One day, I "locked" Caleb in his room so I could go take a shower (obviously I did not really lock him in...I put up the baby gate!) When I went back to get him, this is what I was greeted by...

"I didn't do it!"

a big powdery mess! Guess I left the opened bottle of baby powder a little close to the edge of the dresser!

The culprit...who smelled baby fresh the rest of the day! (so did Mr. Bear and Pirate the Puppy, for that matter)

This particular day, it was FREEZING outside (literally) so we were stuck in the house...and yes, we are still wearing Christmas jammies since they still fit! Caleb entertained himself for a while by putting his fridge magnets in this big Rudy's cup. He was so proud of himself.

and then he took them out and threw them all over the kitchen floor...what fun!

(and for kicks, here's the ice we got that day....which was supposed to be 3-4 inches of snow. those weathermen are liars! LOL)

While I was outside (freezing my hiney off) taking a picture of our ice (it's noteworthy around these parts)...Caleb was inside, longing to be outside playing. This is what I saw when I turned back around...my little window pane piglet and his Rudy's cup.

Here's the back of Caleb's hair before his new haircut. It was a little sad to cut the curls for a second time but they were getting out of hand. Some days, they'd curl perfectly and look so cute. Other days, it'd be a big mess of non-perfect curls that I just could not look at for another minute. Well, curls or not...he is still a handsome fella!

Here's the back after his cut....much neater and clean cut.

Such a cutie!

And here are some random pictures I took in the backyard before we went to a Super Bowl party (hence, the football shirt...it's the only football-related attire he owns so we went with it)

Oh.My. His sweet little face melts my heart...

fun on the swing!

These are the cute little Valentine's we (I) made at our V-Day playdate. I let Caleb have one tiny little dum-dum....and then he wanted another. After that, I decided 2 was plenty...and he was not happy at all!

So I had to distract him with cheerios (which he's eating off the table in this picture)

and finally, a little blooper photo from our 18-month shoot with Mr. Bear...

"ok, mama....enough is enough! I'm outta here!"

Our sweet boy is 18 months!! 1 1/2 years old - wow!

Well, Caleb finally decided he could walk on his own and there's been no turning back since! He's been walking between objects and while holding our hands for a little while now and on occasion, he'd take quite a few steps on his own (like all the way across our living room, for example). But, he always went right back to his knees and back to knee-gliding all across the house.

We were at the church for a meeting on Sunday, January 23rd. Rhett had gone downstairs to get ice and I was setting up the food table. Caleb was roaming the room. I turned around and he was walking right toward me from halfway across the room. I didn't think too much of it at first glance because as I've said, we've seen him walk some fairly long distances on his own before. But then he just kept walking around more and more. Rhett came back with the ice and couldn't believe his eyes. Caleb was toddling all over the place! When I took him down to the nursery, he walked a lot of the way (not all the way because that would have taken us an hour to get there, LOL)

SO, officially as of January 23, 2011 at 17 months and 13 days old...Caleb is walking! Here's a video I took at home on one of the first few days he was on the move...

Since Caleb will be 18 months old in just two weeks, I figured I'd better get his 17-month post up! I am behind on my blogging! I wish I had been making notes all along, but I haven't so let's see if I can remember what my sweet boy did between months 16 and 17! We really haven't been up to much with it being cold, so our month was pretty boring (with the exception of Christmas, of course). I don't have many pictures either b/c most of the pictures I took this month were at Christmas.

* As of 17 months, he is still not walking on his own. We stopped going to PT b/c his therapist said there wasn't much else she could do. He just needs to decide he can do it on his own! (and we know he can!)

* He's learned a couple new words:
water ("wa" or "wawa")
car ("ka" or sometimes just a "k" sound for some reason)

* The only new food he's eating that I can think of is grapes. He used to not eat them and now all of a sudden, he will. It all started at Chick-fil-a. We get him a fruit cup instead of fries and one day I gave him a grape and he's eaten them ever since.

* We tried peanut butter and he's not had a reaction to it. I made him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He ate the first 4 bites and acted like he like it, but then refused to eat anymore. Guess we will try again another day.

* He still loves playing with his Fridge Farm and Car Wash magnets on the side of the fridge. He now knows all the animals from the farm (cow, horse, sheep, pig, and duck) and on the car wash, I think he just knows the car. (not 100% sure - I need to test him to see, ha!)

* He still L-O-V-E-S books and wants to read all the time. One of his favorites to "read" is one of those "baby's first words" books that has lots of pictures of various things. He can point to lots of different objects. Ones I can think of are eyes, ears, nose, teeth, mouth, feet, hair, cow, chicken, pig, sheep, horse, duck, bread, bananas, grapes, ball, shoes, socks, pants, zebra, giraffe, elephant, lion, monkey, bear, car, school bus, airplane, boat, puppy, and kitty cat.

* He still loves to play with cars and trucks. Lucky for him, he got a ton of them for Christmas!

* He's been taking really great naps lately and for that, I am so thankful! He goes down at 1pm and has been napping from 2-3 hours almost every day! I think he's wanting to stay up later because of it, but that's ok because he is usually in a great mood in the evenings (especially once Daddy gets home!).

* Speaking of Daddy, he loves his Daddy and gets upset when he leaves for work. When he hears the garage door open, he heads straight for the door. Rhett gets quite the reception coming home...between Caleb and the dogs, who also go nuts when he comes home.

* He loves to snuggle up on Roux and give her hugs. If one of us is sitting there with her with a hand on her to keep her still and calm, she will tolerate his hugs and petting. He sometimes does get a little rough so we are working on being sweet and gentle. I have a much harder time getting Tag or Rio to sit still for his "lovin" - they freak out and run. I think the girl takes it because she's lazy and would rather just lay there than get up. (however, if I'm not there petting her while Caleb is, she will get up and move). Oh, and since he likes to point out others' eyes, you have to watch him around her b/c he will poke her eye and say "iiiiiiii", LOL.

* He likes to tackle his big teddy bear and give it hugs. He's so sweet.

* He is also finally giving "sugars" (kisses) freely again. He used to a while back, then stopped, and now he will do it again...love it! He gives hugs, too (not just to Roux or his bear but to mama and daddy too)

* He still hates having his teeth brushed. We found a toothbrush at Walmart that plays a song about counting from 1-20. Since he loves music and dancing, I figured it might help...and it has. However, it still takes two of us to effectively brush his teeth.

Ok, that's all I can think of. Now for some pictures...

one of our last classes at Little Gym (we are taking a break). he loves the shakers!

playing at a neighborhood park for the first time. he did ok but did almost fall headfirst off this thing at one point! oh, and he tried to eat a handful of rocks but Aunt Courtney got to him first!

playing peek-a-boo with Aunt Courtney...











practicing walking with Aunt Courtney...


ok, the boy likes to try to fit into small spaces - he is strange, LOL. here he is crying b/c he's stuck himself in the crock-pot!

pointing at Mr. Bear's "iiiiiii"