Holiday Party

A few weeks ago we had a fantastic holiday party in our neighborhood. It was a pajama party, with activities for the kids, a gingerbread house contest, and blind wine tasting for the adults. There were tons of things to do, see, loads of fun and a room full of amazing neighbors.

Santa came near the end. We had told Caleb Santa would be there, but he was very reluctant to talk to him. We told him that he didn't have to talk to him if he didn't want to. When he first came, Caleb was very nervous and just wanted to sit on the couch with me. Eventually, as he watched other kids talking and laughing with him, he decided the big man in red was OK and ended up on his lap.

Thumbs up!

Caleb's gingerbread house (he obviously had a little help). He kept finding excuses to stick his fingers in the frosting just so he could lick his fingers.


Caleb and Daddy. Nice PJs.

The family.

Happy Holidays!

Messes

Sometimes Caleb enjoys a good mess with his food.

Blackberries

(Real) Whipped Cream

Chocolate!

Happy mess-making!

MDA Firefighter Event

A couple of weeks ago Caleb got another opportunity to be an honorary MDA Ambassador (he's still too young to be official, but we're honored to have the chance to help out). This was a convention for the California Dept. of Firefighters. I'm not sure who had more fun, Caleb or me... OK, who am I trying to kid. Caleb was kind of a pill for most of the day, so I obviously had more fun chatting with all those hot firefighters... er, um, I mean fine gentlemen in uniform.

Anyhoo, even though Caleb was in a bit of a mood, I still managed to get some cute pictures of him.

Caleb and Abby Umali, the National Goodwill Ambassador. Isn't this the cutest picture?

Mommy and Caleb having a "chat" about cooperating with getting pictures taken.


Caleb posing with a couple of firefighters.

He would look good in uniform, don't you think?

Appeasing Caleb by letting him take some pictures. He's getting pretty good at centering the camera.

He loves Katie!

Caleb with some of the wonderful MDA staff, and some more of the patients.

Happy Hannumas!

I finally made a tree-topper for our "Hannumas" tree!

Happy Fanksgiving!

Well, Caleb has been pretty sick since Sunday (REALLY nasty cold that looked like the flu for a little bit). He's doing OK, but is still coughing a lot and has a constant runny nose, so we decided to just have a quiet Turkey Day at home in our pajamas.

Caleb wanted to share a Thanksgiving song with you. I'm not sure where he learned it, but I don't think PETA would approve. It's very hard to hear because of his sick, little, raspy voice, so I've written the lyrics below. Also, make sure to pause the music on the right.

Gobble, gobble, gobble,

That turkey, that turkey.

Gobble, gobble gobble,

The turkeys are weak.

We're not here for living,

We're here for Thanksgiving.

Gobble, gobble, gobble,

The turkeys are weak.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!!!

Dancing

Caleb and I were dancing together tonight. It was so much fun, and Caleb came up with his own version of Hip Hop!

Lollipop

So the other morning Caleb woke me up at 3:45 in the morning because he needed a drink of water...then to go potty...then singing "Lollipop", just to make it clear that he was up for good. Thought you would enjoy a rendition of his song, at a much more reasonable hour :)

Don't forget to pause the music on the right to hear him better.

I think my favorite part is the "rocker" voice at the end.

What The...?

No, I didn't have an unfortunate vacuuming accident... Caleb helped me paint my toes :) It's so nice to have someone pamper me once in a while, even if I need to clean it up afterwards.

Final Pics of Caleb in his Costume

At the kids Halloween party there was a great photographer there that took pictures of all the kids in their costumes. It helped that Caleb seemed to really get into character and was a total ham. Enjoy!

Happy Halloween

Caleb's Halloween Costume(s)

This year Caleb has been really excited about Halloween. He remembers last year and is looking forward to Trick-or-Treating, as well as his costume. However, it has been difficult to keep up with all the different things he's wanted to dress up as, since it changed about every 2 days. Here's a list of all the different things he's wanted to be:

• Handy Manny
• witch
• wizard
• mummy
• skeleton
• spider
• pumpkin
• Spiderman
• Batman
• a witch again
• mummy again
• skeleton again
• spider again

So what did he finally decide on?

He went with the mummy costume that has a chest that lights up. I'm not sure that a mummy ever had a power wheelchair before, but he probably could've used a walker with how much trouble he had chasing after people.

Here's Caleb doing his "scarey" face :)

A Fun Video

Here's a cute video of Caleb taken a few months ago. Hope it puts a smile on your face, like it does mine!

Don't forget to pause the music on the right to hear the video better.

A Mom Can Brag A Little, Can't She?

So, I don't know that I'll ever get to brag about Caleb hitting the winning home-run, scoring the winning goal in soccer, or breaking boards in karate. But this is what I get to brag about: My 4-year old can read!

He's doing so well with reading, and is even starting to sound out words he sees on signs and stuff.

Thanks for not judging me too harshly for being braggy :)

Caleb Swimming Some More

Caleb's been doing AWESOME in swimming lately. He's actually propelling himself forward in the water with his arms, and can go the entire width of the pool holding his breath!

My goal in him going back into swimming was just to give him water therapy. I never thought he'd ACTUALLY start swimming.

Caleb the Photographer

So, Caleb's been having tons of fun taking pictures with our camera, and I thought I would share just a few of the hundreds he's taken.

He likes to take pictures of his things...

His stuff with his fingers...

More fingers...

Some OH so flattering pictures of me...

And some close ups of different parts of his body...

Hope you enjoyed!

Does Bribery Work?

So, Caleb and I were at a birthday party yesterday and had tons of fun. He was kinda in a photo-phobic mood for most of the day. Near the end the birthday boy's aunt, Laura, let Caleb play with her camera. He had a blast taking pictures. He did a series of photos of feet/shoes, then hands, then clothing/fabric, and a few people in there, too. Laura then wanted to take a picture of Caleb and I together. In the below picture Caleb was yelling, "I don't want you to take a picture! I want to take pictures!"

Laura's response was, "OK, if you smile for the picture, then you can have my camera back." To which Caleb responded...

...

...

...

...

...

CHEEEEEEEEESE!

Another Wonderful Telethon

Where has the time gone?! I have no good excuses for not posting... Time just flies when you're raising a 4-year old, working, being a wife, going to physical therapy sessions (Caleb's and mine), trying to raise lots of money for the MDA, etc., etc...

The Jerry Lewis Telethon this year was very successful. In San Diego over $650,000 was raised, and nationally over $60 million was raised! It's amazing and heart-warming to see how generous people can be during these tough economic times.

Caleb was a real trooper at "his TV show". We arrived around 8:15, and I was answering phones from 9-10. Caleb's Crew answered phones from 10-11, then about 11:15 we had two live interviews back-to-back. All the while Caleb was hanging out with different people, hamming it up both on-air and off.

Right around the time of our interviews we could tell his mood was going down hill FAST. So we took a break for lunch, and after some pizza and birthday cake he was back to being in a fabulous mood. So he went back on air where he helped the crew say, "Ring, ring, ring, ca-ching, ca-ching, ca-ching," he "tossed" a baseball, and just ran around in his walker. At one point he was about to walk out in the middle of someone else's shot, so I asked the director, "Do you want me to get him out of there?" He replied, "No way! He's the best thing for these camera guys to shoot!"

Here's Caleb hanging out with Palo, a fantastic Canine Companion for one of the other kids.

There were some clowns there, too. Check out Caleb's creative way to make a clown nose!

One of his on-air interviews.

Caleb Lifting His Head!!!

After 4 years of working at it, Caleb is finally able to lift his head! He calls it his "new trick." He started playing with it about a week ago (right after his birthday), and is just beginning to feel very comfortable with it.

This has been a milestone that we have been hoping and praying for a long time. We couldn't be more pleased with his tenacity at trying the seemingly impossible. We have learned that the only time to say "never" with this kid is in the phrase, "Never underestimate him!"

I Finally Got It...Kind Of

I have been trying for months to get video of Caleb singing the "Boom Boom Pow" song!!! Every time I would break out the camera, he'd clam up and get too silly. He finally agreed to let me film it, but still got a little silly. I tried getting him to do it again, only louder, but he refused. So make sure to pause the music on the right and crank up the volume so you can hear him.

Here's the real video...

Caleb Schmoozing

In the last post I mentioned that Caleb and I had just gotten home from "schmoozing" for the MDA. Katie Hepperman sent me the pics, which are just too cute!

Here he is with a couple of the firefighters from one of our new Vista fire houses. The guy on the right thought Caleb would love to see his fire hat (which is yellow). When he brought it over to Caleb and asked, "Do you want to try my hat on?" Caleb responded, "No, I want a red hat!" Apparently it's the fire chiefs that wear the red hats. They all thought Caleb's desire to be the top dog was hilarious. They didn't realized that all he really wanted was a plastic hat that he could actually wear without his head toppling over.

We then stopped by a Stater Bros. store to thank them for their continued support of the MDA. They have raised well over a million dollars for MDA so far, and this just continues to grow. The managers were excited to find out that Caleb's Papa Mickey was "Mr. Gold!" Caleb's grandpa is the VP of deli and bakery for Stater Bros. and he apparently stops by this store somewhat regularly to check on their deli and bakery on his way home from the corporate office in Riverside.

The next stop was an Oceanside firestation to thank them for their support in the "Fill the Boot" campaign. And they even had a plastic hat for him to wear!



Then they let him drive the firetruck!

The next stop was... Dreamland. Apparently all the schmoozing is very tiring.

MDA Picnic

A few weeks ago (my goodness this summer has been flying by!) we went to an MDA picnic and had tons of fun. Caleb enjoyed being an honorary firefighter, eating ice cream, hangin' with one of the greatest dogs, and getting his face painted for the first time.



The MDA staff loved seeing how much Caleb enjoyed the firefighters and fire engine that they used his picture for some "Fill the Boot" campaigns. Caleb and I just got back from spending the day with Katie Hepperman, the MDA regional coordinator, going to a few different firestations to try and raise some more support for fill the boot. He was stoked to get to drive the firetruck again, and the ginormous garage was a great place for him to run around in his walker! He made quite the impression. Right now he's passed out on the couch recovering from his day of schmoozing.

Newport Vacation

A few weeks ago Grammie Mumu and Papa Mickey took their annual Newport trip along with the Mesirow clan. We spent a few days up there with them and had such a wonderful time relaxing, socializing and generally enjoying the beach and the sun. Check out the pictures to see all the different activities!

The Best Sidetrack at Sea World

A while ago, Jeff and I took Caleb to Sea World (having passes is so great 'cuz we go on a whim and for just a couple of hours :) We had just left the penguin exhibit and were right next to the sharks. I asked Caleb, "Do you want to see the sharks?" I knew full well that the answer would be, "No" because he was scared of them.

But before I could hear his answer, a man in a Sea World uniform came up to us and said, "You guys wanna see something cool?" Jeff and I took a quick look at each other and said, "Sure." The man introduced himself as Tim, the curator of yada yada (basically he was in charge of the sharks), and thought there was something in his "office" that Caleb would enjoy.

Tim took us into a room that was wall-to-wall tanks. There were shark pods where you could see the tiny baby sharks moving around before they hatched, tanks with baby sharks, and some baby rays. In the center of the room was a shallow, open tank with some sharks swimming around in it. Tim got a stool out for Caleb, was teaching him what kind they were (I wish I could remember), and before we knew it we were all petting the sharks (obviously small ones that wouldn't bite). After petting the sharks for a while, Tim started showing Caleb a bunch of different sets of teeth, the most impressive being the set of Great White jaws

It was pretty cool to have Caleb go from being afraid to look at sharks to petting them within a matter of minutes. This was a brief encounter that we will all remember. Below are a few pictures from the experience. Enjoy!