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...

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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!

The Popcorn Porpoise

Here's a new video of Caleb swimming. Recently he has gotten much more confident in the water and is extremely comfortable (sometimes a little too comfortable). One of his favorite things to do is pop up and down under the water. He's kind of like a popcorn-porpoise. He is also beginning to actually use his arms to move in the water, and dives down to get toys in his own special way (the king of compensation in action!). We are all amazed at how quickly he has made this kind of progress - everyone except Caleb, that is. According to him this is all just so much fun.

It is such a joy to see him so independent in the water. It seems like such a natural environment for him!

Trip to Northern California

A couple of weeks ago we took a trip up to No. Cal. The main purpose of the trip was to see my brother, Scott, while he was on leave before going on his next deployment (he's in the Marines - HOO-RAH). Unfortunately, I was pretty bad about taking pictures until the last couple of days, so there were quite a few festivities that didn't get documented. I think there's still enough pictures for you to get the idea.

Caleb posing with Uncle Scott and Auntie Remy

Lunch with Grandpa Steve. Unfortunately Caleb was in a bit of a foul mood at this point and didn't want his picture taken.

Still a bit photo-phobic while reading with Emma (whose house we stayed at while we were there, along with her parents Christina and Ben, whom I failed to get a picture of).

Playing in the bumper boats at Christina's parents house...I don't think we can go to the pool without one of these ever again. He absolutely loved it (see video below).

Don't shoot!

This was a really good trip for getting Caleb acclimated to dogs. We started out pretty small with Hershey, whom he loved to chase around the deck.

Then we took a sidetrip to San Jose to visit a couple of people, both of which had some smaller dogs. By the end of the below visit, Caleb was saying, "I want the doggie to kiss me!" This is HUGE, since he has NEVER liked dogs to get near him.

Posing with my buddy Angie. She's a dear friend from Undergraduate school at San Jose State. This was the first time she got to meet Caleb. She's, of course, heard and read all about him over the years, though.

We also met a new friend, Robyn, who also has Ullrich CMD. Her parents recently renovated their home to make much of it accessible for Robyn. I left with many great ideas, and Caleb had a blast playing with her.

Here they are playing in her accessible play house.

Here's the video of Caleb playing in the bumper boats.

It was a great trip visiting with family and friends, but we did leave with somewhat of a heavy heart. It was difficult to say "See ya later" to my baby brother this time (sorry, dude. I know you could probably kill me with your bare hands and stuff, but you'll always be my baby brother). It was also hard for Jeff and I to realize that it is just becoming more and more difficult to travel with Caleb. He requires so much equipment and modifications of his environment that it's just getting more and more challenging to be away from home. We did have lots of fun, though.