Kaleb at 3.75 YEARS

During this phase, Kaleb experienced Christmas, and along with that was all the enjoyment he got from his Christmas presents.  He is loving his bike!  At first, it was hard for him to figure out how to always move the pedals forward and not push back.  However, after a few more tries he got good!!  Ammon was motivated to get his bike fixed up, and they had plenty of hours riding out in our little street.  

We also got a little letter-learning type electronic book for him for Christmas, and that was a huge hit. He would spend an hour or so on it at a time.    Sometimes he will sit down with something that has words (book or cereal box or whatever) and he will pretend to read by saying a bunch of random words ("Kaleb with milk for inner peace.  sugar in high."), and then he will ask, "What does that mean?"  

Darned if I know, little boy!

Kaleb's coordination is also getting much better.  He can kick a ball better than me and really seems to enjoy it.  If I'm 'with it' this fall, I will sign him up for little league soccer.  

Kaleb also discovered that 'scary' things can be fun once you try just a little bit.  He was intimidated by this ladder apparatus at the park for years, but once I told him he could do it, he figured it out.  

OH MY GOODN ESS, this kid can be a ham and a half.  

Dancing in Daddy's Mountain Man Apparel

 "Come wit Me to de CASBAaaaa..."

(no joking, he asked me to do this to the handkerchief)

I've mentioned before that Kaleb likes to use his hands as little characters, his spiders that sometimes talk for him.  Well, in January I discovered that they have genders and names.  The one that always sticks around is Sayopotners, who is a girl (though she switches which hand she is frequently).  The other hand has changed names almost weekly, we've had Sose, Binteed and a few others I can't remember, but it is usually a boy.  I gotta give credit to this kid for his creativity for sure!!

As much as he is obviously growing up, Kaleb is still Daddy's little man and loves to just snuggle with him... just maybe not for as long as he used to.  

And on a good day, he might squeeze in a hug for me too!

The ultimate snuggling tool is Blue Bear of course.  Kaleb is absolutely convinced that Blue Bear is the answer to all pain and sadness, and it's the first thing he wants when he gets hurt.  Thankfully, he offers him to the rest of us when we get hurt too, which is a good sign.  The funny thing is, what he likes most about Blue Bear is rubbing his nose.  Apparently that's what comforts him most.  

This portion of Kaleb's life started his arguing phase.  He was convinced that Mommy and Daddy knew little to nothing and he would tell us that.  NO MATTER WHAT IT WAS!  We could be driving somewhere, and he would tell me to take certain routes.  Or if I told him what time it was he would say, "No, it's (insert different time)."  

It got old REAL QUICK!!

Kaleb is really having issues with crying over every little disappointment, and lately I've noticed that sending him to his room to "chill out" helps.  He really does well when he knows what's going on and has time to accept it.  This more and more just proves he is mini-me who likes to be uber-prepared.  

 Always ready to show his brotherly affection, Kaleb loves to do things for Sasha... constantly!  I will try to get her to help clean up the toys, but as soon as I point them out, he grabs them.  Or if I ask her what a picture is, he answers for her.  It would be pointless to argue that I never did that to my little sister, cuz I know I was a bossy know-it-all, but that doesn't make it right ;)

Kaleb is very helpful, especially in keeping Sasha out of harm since I have a hard time catching her when she doesn't wanna be caught.  

If Kaleb were a dog he would be a retriever.  

 So I'm pretty sure Kaleb's favorite color is pink.  He LOVES to grab pink things.  It started with a pin-wheel last year, and now he will grab pink suckers, pink hats and even pink jewelry.  He loved showing off this pink bracelet (dog collar).  At this point I expect it's mostly cuz he has a little sister who he loves that is always covered in pink... I hope.  HAHA

Speaking of a pink dog collar, we got a new (female) dog from the pound a few months ago, and Kaleb made an interesting discovery.  "Mommy, where are her privates?"  He also made this observation when I was changing Sasha's diapers "Mommy, Sasha has no privates!"  So of course, we had to have the girls-and-boys-are-different-because-they-have-different-privates discussion.  It was a funny way to open up the subject, for sure.  

 Here we are doing a family home evening lesson.  Kaleb loves to learn about people in the church, and he became a sunbeam during this time in his life.  He seems to really like singing time the best, as long as he doesn't have to do the prayers.  

RANDOM DIALOGUE WITH KALEB:

Kaleb:  "The blue bear is gonna melt!!"

Me: "Why is he gonna melt?"

Kaleb:  "Because of the crocodile on the spaceship"

Well, who can argue with that logic?!

 Oh MY STINK!  He is HANDSOME!!