Caleb Ezra!!

Caleb is going to be 3 in 21 days!! Our sweet, caring, considerate, smart, affectionate, independent "little man" is growing up.  My most favorite thing about Caleb is his tender heart. If someone is sad he will give hugs and pat your back.  If another child wants something he has he is the first to share. I honestly have recieved more hugs and kisses from my "guy" than any of my other kids.  Caleb hates to disapoint, but loves praise and extra affection.   Lately, he is scared of everything.  I honestly think his little brain distorts everything he sees.  We hope he gets through this quickly!  Tonight at a restaurant a commercial with a talking tree with eyes came on and he wouldnt finish eating dinner because scary was coming back on soon.  Caleb loves loves loves trains!!  Steam engines are by far his favorite.  He enjoys the real train videos over Chuggington and Thomas, although he does like them too.  He reads real train magazines with Daddy and watches live trains on the internet.  He plays trains all day long when he is not putting a puzzle together with trains on it.  Caleb also loves diggers, cranes, rollers, hotwheel cars, Daddy, and his Papa Moon!  Caleb's best friend is Bekah.  If he needs anything he knows who to go.  Bekah always knows what is wrong with him or what he needs.  They do puzzles together everyday and love to tackle and wrestle and laugh about silly things.  These days Caleb is potty training and is almost completely trained.  He has been doing it on and off since a little after he turned 2, but now we are making him stick with it.  He wants to be big like his sisters, but being lazy is also appealing.  As for speech, Im happy to say he has been working so hard and has made a lot of progress.  He is now able to repeat any 1 and 2 word phrases when asked. Obviously there are tons of articulation problems, but we'll take it! He still is lacking spontaneous speech outside of our home with someone other than immediately family.   He is currently in speech with 1st steps and at the local hospital.  Once he started getting therapy 2 times a week he really started gaining some ground.  There is nothing better than hearing his deep voice!  When he says a two word phrase he sounds just like Arnold Schwartzenager (totally guessed how to spell that)!  Life has definitely gotten easier being able to figure out what he needs. Once he turns 3 he will get into the local school for some therapy.  We actually find out Thurs what he qualifies for at the school.  He will either be put into a preschool program for 2 hours a few days a week or only once a week 30 min program.  We are just praying he gets into what God wants for him because honestly Im torn on what I want for me and for him.  I do want him to get the help he needs! All I have heard from the school from his testing is that he only tested in the 17 percentile for his age. 6 months ago he didnt score a single point!   Although he has come so far, he has so far to still go.  He was in a slump and backtracking for about 3 weeks but seems to be coming out of it this week.  Hearing him call our names for the first time brought such joy to our hearts and the next thing that would bring pure joy to our hearts would be to hear spontaneous speech outside of our home with those not a part of our family.  Caleb recently started riding a training wheel bike, doing 100 piece puzzles, counting, recognizing shapes, colors, and many letters.  He has also started being picky at meals, but loves fresh fruit, raisins, fruit snacks, and chocolate covered granola bars. Oh and any candy he can get! His favorite song for me to sing is 5 Green Speckled Frogs.  We definitely love our "little guy" and couldn't be more proud of his hard work these last 6 months!!  I cant wait to celebrate 3 great years on October 1st!!!