Even More Costume Fun

Caleb the pirate

Looking for treasure

Bowling

We took Caleb bowling for the first time tonight. He loved it. We were very proud of him for having a great attitude, for having fun even though he wasn't very good at it, and for being grateful. Caleb is definitely a perfectionist like his Mommy, so we thought he might get frustrated, but he didn't.

This is Caleb holding his ball.

This is Daddy helping Caleb bowl.

This is Caleb bowling all by himself.

It was a great family outing and a lot of fun for us all.

More Costume Fun

The crazy costume theme continued today with these silly combinations.

Golf Pro Spider-Man

Professor Spider-Man

Fireman Spider-Man

Vroom Vroom Dice Game

VROOM VROOM DICE GAME
By Caleb Rosenfeld

Number of Players
2-4 Players

What You Need
12 Rounded Train Tracks
2 Straight Train Tracks
3 Bridge/Tunnel Tracks
2-4 Cars
1 Big Die
1 Schoolbus

Setup
Arrange train tracks in a figure eight with the schoolbus in the middle of the second half of the figure eight. See Picture A.

Picture A

How to Play
Place cars at the starting line, which is under the tunnel. See Picture B.

Picture B

Roll the die and move car the number of train tracks that matches the number on the die. Players continue taking turns in a clockwise order until first player crosses the finish line, which is under the tunnel. That player will have completed a full figure eight.

When a player lands on the track next to the schoolbus, that player loses his or her turn. See Picture C.

Picture C

How to Win

The first player to go back under the tunnel wins. See Picture D.

Picture D

Eli the Mountain Climber

Eli has recently discovered how much fun it is to climb on things. He has some soft foam play forms to climb on, but he often tries climbing on things he is not supposed to. Today, he climbed on the Little People garage. For some reason, every toddler that we have known loves to climb on the garage. I am not sure what the appeal is other than it is just the right height for climbing up on.

First, Eli climbed up on his knees and then climbed down. He repeated this up and down sequence for quite a while.

Then he tried sitting on the garage and ended up straddling it. He got stuck as he was only partly sitting on the garage with his bottom wedged between two pieces that were sliding apart slowly. Luckily, Mommy was there to rescue him.

Sweet Angel Baby

Have you ever seen such a sweet angel baby before?

Eli Loves His Daddy

Throughout my pregnancy, Allen wondered how he could possibly love Eli as much as he loves Caleb. Allen and Caleb have a really special bond and are very close. Caleb is a mini-Daddy in looks and in some personality traits. Allen worried that he and Eli would not have the same sort of bond.

When Eli was born, those concerns went away of course as Daddy fell in love with Eli as instantly as he had with Caleb. The longer Eli was around, the more Allen started teasing, though, that Eli loved his Mommy more than his Daddy. Eli is definitely a Mama's boy in many ways. But that doesn't mean that he loves his Daddy any less. In fact, when Daddy comes home from work, Eli yells, "Dada," and crawls as quickly as he can to the front door. He now fights Caleb to be the first one Daddy hugs and kisses. Eli has been able to say, "Mama," for a while now, but he definitely prefers saying, "Dada." These are some pictures of Eli with his Daddy tonight that show the special relationship they are building.

Costume Fun

Today, Caleb brought me a tie and asked for help to put it on with his Spider-Man t-shirt. A little while later, he came in with a green striped shirt on with the tie and announced he was a professor.

Then he put on three ties and a golf hat and became a 3 tie golf professor.

When he put on his Spider-Man slippers, I knew that dressing up had gotten a bit out of control.

Later on in the day, Caleb became a cowboy professor and a clown professor.

As a result of all this dressing up, I decided it was finally time to rehang his peg board and create an official costume bin. We hung a few costumes up and then put everything else in the bin. I had been wanting to organize his costumes for a while so that they would all be in one place and easy to find. After reading the SouleMama blog, I had been feeling compelled to provide more creative outlets for play and learning. I have a feeling that my ham of a child will be dressing up quite a bit, especially since he knows his Mama will take lots of pictures of him, which he loves.

Caleb did not want to be the only one having fun, so he dressed Eli up as much as Eli would allow so that they could both be professors.

Sleeps Like a Wolf

Eli definitely takes after the Wolf side of the family. We have decided that he has Pop Pop's ears and metabolism. Well, today, we discovered that he also inherited Pop Pop's ability to sleep anywhere at any time. Mommy, who also has this ability, used to fall asleep in class all the time in college. I promise that I was not bored (most of the time!); I was just exhausted constantly.

Right before his nap today, I came out to the living room to find Eli sitting on top of the blocks' container crying. See Exhibits A and B.

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Imagine now for a moment Eli asleep while sitting on top of his blocks. When I asked Caleb why Eli was crying, he said it was because a noise from the TV woke him up. Apparently, Eli was so sleepy that once he had made a seat out of the blocks he had fallen asleep. I just wish I had seen it myself and had been able to take a photograph of it. The thought of it made me laugh, especially as I knew that this little apple of mine did not fall far from the Wolf family tree.

Water Fun

This morning we spent some time in the kiddie pool in the backyard. These are some pictures of the boys in the pool. I especially like the first one.

Can You Turn Your Head Like a Penguin?

Eli's favorite animal right now is definitely a penguin. He loves Eric Carle's book From Head to Toe, which has a part where it asks if you can turn your head like a penguin. It was one of the first movements from the book that he could imitate.

We read Elmo Loves You recently, and as soon as he saw the page with penguins on it, he immediately began turning his head. I was amazed that he not only recognized the penguins which look different than the ones in the Carle book but that he also remembered to turn his head like one. Since then, every time he sees a penguin, he immediately turns his head. It is so cute to watch.

Knowing how much Eli likes penguins, Caleb decided to find his stuffed penguins for them to play with tonight. Eli immediately started turning his head when Caleb gave him one. Eli also snuggled and kissed his penguin. I can't wait to take Eli to Sea World again to see the penguins. I think he will love seeing live ones, especially since he loves seeing real animals up close.

Choo Choo Trains

Today, the boys played with wooden trains. Eli thought the trains were cars and rolled them every where but on the tracks. This aggravated Caleb to no end as he wanted Eli to do it the right way. I have no idea where Caleb's perfectionism comes from. Nonetheless, the boys had fun playing together.

A Typical Day in Eli's Life

A typical day in Eli's life, after nursing and getting dressed, usually begins with reading books in his room. He is obsessed with books these days and begs for us to read to him constantly. His favorites right now are The Monster at the End of This Book, Another Monster at the End of the Book, Elmo Loves You, I Love You Through and Through, Away in a Manger (which must be sung), and Animal Hide-and-Seek. Today, Caleb read to Eli.

When he gets bored of reading books and playing in his room, Eli will crawl out to the living room to see what Caleb is up to. Today, the boys decided that they wanted to play with cars. Eli loved this and had a lot of fun rolling the cars around the house.

When he wasn't playing with the cars this morning, Eli was practicing standing up on his own, which is his newest trick. He has taken a few steps by himself and will soon be walking.

After a nap, Eli is ready to play again. Today, he decided to crawl around the house in a downward facing dog position (yoga pose). Both of his arms and legs were straight and his behind was high up in the air. He also did some more standing up on his own.

It is obvious when Eli is about ready for bed. His playing will slow down, and he will often sit sucking his thumb watching TV. Today, he snuggled a soft blanket like Linus while watching TV.

Tomorrow will begin another day of playing, growing, and having fun.