Caleb's Special Days

I wrote a post last October about how we try to give each of our children days where they receive our undivided, individual attention. While we do this some on a daily basis, we also purposely set aside a few hours here and there for planned activities where our little ones have special time with one or the other of us and sometimes both (though this has been less common since Reid's arrival).

Caleb loves having "special nights" and requests them frequently. As I mentioned in post a while back, his love language is quality time so it makes sense why he is so anxious to get one-on-one time with us. Since he has to be patient so much of the time while we are tending the more immediate needs of his younger siblings, this gives him a chance to be the main focus.

He doesn't care if our special day means going out somewhere fun and exciting or if it's just watching a movie together and eating popcorn or spending some time cuddled in the recliner reading one book after another. However, we try to do a mix of both.

In December, Dave took him on out to see the movie Frozen at the local theater (which was really a good opportunity for a relaxing evening for Daddy as well), but for most of the winter we did a lot of our quality time activities at home.

Once the warm weather rolled around, a lot more outings have taken place, including a visit we took to the local stock sale back in March. Granddaddy goes to sell his cattle sometimes and I thought Caleb would really enjoy watching the process. When I mentioned it to Grandma and Mom, they decided to come too. At the last minute I also said something to my Aunt Susie, who I ran into at the chiropractor, so she brought her crew along as well. It was a family event!

We were glad Susie got to bring Lex.

Before things started we went in the back to take a look at the cattle while they were still in their pens.

I was a little nervous taking the kids on those old wooden planks overlooking the cows, especially when Lexi got a little too close to the railings and leaned over for a closer look. 

Holding on to that three-year-old's hand tightly!

It didn't take me long to see that I'd picked the perfect outing for my little fella. When those cows came charging into the pen in front of us, he was thrilled. He giggled himself silly over the auctioneers and when it was all said and done, I think he was the main attraction for those present. I was a bit nervous that he would be too distracting and maybe even irritate people who'd come to purchase cattle, but folks seemed to get a kick out of him, smiling at his excitement and adorable comments.

I loved watching him snuggle into Granddaddy.

"What's he saying?!?!" Caleb squealed with humor. "He keeps saying funny things. He doesn't count normal!"

I wish you could have been there to see his face and how tickled he got over the fast paced auctioneer talk. It was like he was watching a comedy. 

Lexi liked the baby ones. She tried to get Susie to buy one.
L: Raise your hand
S: I don't have any money
L: Just raise your hand!

"Awww....one's poopin'," she exclaimed another time. Those kids sure did enjoy themselves.

"I like the black ones," Caleb told us.

"Why do they keep bringing cows in here?," he asked.

Granddaddy had a few calves to get rid of that night. We didn't stay the whole time, but we got to see some of his cattle come through. The kids, Mom, and Susie went downstairs and had a little snack part way through at the restaurant they have. Randy teased that you couldn't get a fresher burger. 

A few people teased Peppaw that he brought the whole family, but I think he was pretty proud to have us along in his stompin' grounds.

In April, we had a special night one evening at our kitchen table. Caleb had made some dinosaur molds earlier in the day while my friend Melanie was watching him, and I got the pleasure of finishing out the project with him. He loves art projects but some of the messy ones are hard to do when I have all three little ones during the day. It's best to wait until there are two parents around to keep the chaos at bay.

He has the sweetest little expressions.

For the month of May, an impromptu trip to the park was our special day. The younger two kids were asleep one day when Dave was home, so I got to take our big boy for a one-on-one excursion. The genuine smiles I got from him in some of the shots I took that day are some of the best photos I have of him lately.

He pulled out a map he made and said it would help us get there.

He also kept questioning me as we drove to make sure I still had it and was following it.

Glad spring was here!

Though I am not a fan of "selfies," I have been trying to get in photos more to show my kids that "Hey I was there with you!" Since I didn't have anyone else to take our pic, this is what we got.

The following month, Caleb had lots of special days. Not only did he get to do the chef day at the mall with me as I posted about back in June, he also got to go see Mary Poppins (one of the free movies they offered this summer at the Alamo theater) as well as do some other fun stuff with NaNa one day.

Another day when Melanie was watching the younger two, I tried to take him to Hartland Orchard because he'd been wanting to pick some strawberries. Sadly, when we arrived though, there were signs up saying that their season was over. I'd hoped we could pick something else but the blueberries and blackberries weren't quite ready yet, and we had to turn around to go home. I tried to think of something else we could do and drove around a bit because I mistakenly thought there was another farm nearby. In desperation to find something special to do with my boy, I asked if he'd be interested in stopping at a nearby farmer's market on the way home and he was thankfully agreeable. Things didn't turn out like we thought they were going to, but he still really enjoyed the time we had together.

Eyeing those heirloom tomato plants. Aunt Amy, would be proud.

We even took one home, but it sadly never made it into the ground because Mommy got too busy to water it.

We didn't get to pick strawberries, but we did pick up a few anyhow.

Strawberries weren't the only thing we came home with. Lots of fresh produce and some apple bread. Mmmm...good.

We got impromptu outing together (this time to NaNa's house) on the 4th of July when the younger kids were snoozing, but later in July, I also got to take him on an outing to find a book bag at Walmart. On our way to get his school supplies and some groceries though, I detoured to the pet store - a place I'd been planning to try to take the kids but hadn't gotten around to. I wasn't sure if Petco was going to be a hit, but to my pleasure, Caleb couldn't have been any happier than if it was candy store. From one tank or cage to the other he dashed, wide-eyed and interested. We didn't get to stay very long because the store was closing, and it was hard to pull him away. He's asked repeatedly since then to go back another day.

I don't think he'd ever heard of a ferret before until then.

He spent a lot of time running back and forth from one bird cage to another.

I purposely took him to look at the reptiles for two reasons. One so that he could experience seeing them, and the other so I could try to face my fear of snakes. I am improving but I did notice that this was the only section of the store where I caught myself scolding him not to get too close or touch the glass. Oh, I hope my fears don't rub off on him...

August is a month that has really been full of special days! A couple weeks ago, the library hosted a creepy crawlers event where you could come meet some unusual animals and learn about them. It was during the kids' nap time, but I let Caleb skip his and left the others at Granny's so we could go. Last year we tried it and I clung to the back wall, anxious about the large snake the woman in the front was presenting. This year though, in light of the fact that I am trying to overcome my fear, I sat in the second row, determined to be closer to the main event. And, can you believe it? They didn't have any snakes this time! Instead we got to see a millipede, a hissing cockroach, a poison dart frog, a tarantula, and a possum.

Hello, millipede.

We learned there is a difference between venomous and poisonous. Venomous animals have fangs while poisonous animals require you to eat or lick them to harm you. So really, there is no such thing as a poisonous snake; they are venomous or nothing.

Caleb also got a father/son bonding day with his daddy. Dave has been anxious since the spring to take Caleb on a real camping experience (aside from what they did at Sky Meadows) but hasn't had the opportunity to do so. When a church hike was happening a few weeks ago, he thought it would be a good chance for the two of them to get in some of that outdoor fun together even if they still had to wait on the camping. To our disappointment, Caleb wasn't being a very good listener the night before and kept getting out of his bed repeatedly. Mommy threatened not to let him go hiking if he got out one more time, but the warning didn't work and the hike had to be postponed. Last Sunday though, Dave did take him hiking, just the two of them.

Dave said some of these pics look more dangerous than they actually were. I hope so, Daddy.

I'd also been wanting to go bowling with him at some point since he's getting old enough to try those kinds of things. Mondays at our local alley are dollar days - $1 for shoes and $1 per game, so I planned for several weeks to try to take him some time, but something always came up. This Monday finally worked thankfully so he got a special day with Mommy back-to-back with his hiking day with Daddy - what a treat!

The lanes were full at first, but we had a snack while we waited.

They had a dragon ramp for kids to use that I saw when Dave and I went on a date night there for our anniversary. Rather than waiting all night for their slow momentum balls to meander down the lane, this piece of equipment was a great tool for keeping things moving.

They also had side bumpers that came up when he bowled to keep his ball out of the gutters. They went back down when it was my turn.

Caleb was an excellent listener about keeping his fingers our of the way of the machine and other balls.

He was actually a little overly cautious.

That's a smile I like to see.

Mommy won but not by too much.

I was so worried he was going to drop that ball on his foot, but he held it from underneath like I said and did really well holding on to it. There was one slip up but no one got hurt thankfully.

Game number 2 - He's gaining on me!

When the second game was over he begged for a third and decided to try it without the dragon. After one frame though, he said he was done bowling. I tried to play a couple more but figured it was his night so why push it if he didn't want to play any more. 

He wanted to try out the car game in the arcade. One of the great things about this age is that he didn't even seem to mind that he wasn't really playing the game - saving my quarters!

Just looking back at the expression on his face in these pics, I can tell every one of these days were exciting and fun for him. Honestly though, I think they are just as relaxing and meaningful to us as they are to him. This is definitely a tradition I plan to prioritize so he knows just how much we love him and our time together.