A few days ago, Cael and I started playing Hide and Seek. I hid Doggo behind a couch cushion and he went searching. It took a while for him to get the concept, but once he found Doggo and I got really excited for him, he latched on very quickly. He prefers to be the hider, though, and for me to be the seeker.

The trouble with this is that Cael doesn't quite understand two key concepts to the game: one, that I'm not supposed to see him hide Doggo, and two, that Doggo is supposed to hide in a new spot every time.

Instead, Cael puts Doggo on the floor next to the coffee table and then goes and stands in the middle of the room with his arms up while I ask, "Where's Doggo?" He then proceeds to drag me around the living room and check under every single pillow. Every time he flips one over he says, "No..."

Usually we even walk right past Doggo to get to more couch cushions. When he decides it's time to find him, he runs to the table and squeals in delight, clapping wildly. He grabs Doggo and hugs him and then puts him right back down where he was and goes back to the middle of the room with his arms out.

"Where's Doggo?"

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Cael adores stuffed animals. He hugs them and kisses them and makes them kiss and hug each other - all things I plan to get on video to torture him with when he's older.

He also insists on having them with him wherever he goes. Which was manageable when it was just Baba and Donkey, but now has gotten very cumbersome and leaves Ryan and I no room on the couch.

This morning he partook in one of his favorite activities: standing in his play structure and beckoning for me to retrieve his friends. Like Santa calling out the reindeer he yelled, "Mama! Baba! Baba! Baba! Doggo!" [They all have individual names and he knows them well. If you ask him to get Ovie he'll head straight for the giant sheep (and struggle with the weight of her - something else I need on film). When he calls them, however, they are almost all - including Donkey and his blanket - "Baba."]

Once all the animals in sight had been gathered, he settled himself in them middle of them, grabbed blankie and just relaxed.



And no, they aren't all pictured. I couldn't get that wide of a shot ;)

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Ryan decided to test out our fireplace this weekend and keep the holiday spirit alive. There's been a fire going pretty much constantly for the past two days.

Today, Ryan went out to clean the gutters (good man!) and Cael and I were left to our own devices. We were just hanging out, drawing some fish and footballs, and then all of a sudden Cael dropped his crayon and ran over to the fireplace. He started pointing and chanting, "No, no. No, no. No, no, no!"

It took me too long to figure out what was going on, apparently, because Cael came over, grabbed me by the finger and pulled me to the fireplace. He pointed to the kindling box and waited for me to open the lid and then he took out a few pieces. After he was satisfied with that, he grabbed my finger again and pulled me to the front door. He pointed out the window at the box of starter wood and said, "Ah! Ah!"

He continued to walk me through the whole process until the fire was once again roaring. Satisfied, he returned to his crayons.

I think this little dude was born to be a boyscout.

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Cael has been sleeping in his "big boy bed" for about a week now. He took two naps in it and refused to return to the crib after that. He knows he's too cool for that baby stuff. Fortunately for us, however, he treats that little side rail as if it were an electric fence. He won't get out of his bed on his own - instead he just sits up and cries and waits for assistance. This morning he just sat there and said, "Mom mom? Mom mom?" until I rescued him.

Hopefully this trend will continue at least until we fix the door of his room so it actually latches. Otherwise I expect to wake up to find the little dude asleep on the floor of the kitchen with his cheeks full of Cheerios.

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Because you all so desperately want yet another video of Cael eating. You know you do!

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I'm sure you all know this, but I have a deep dislike of phones and phone conversations. Usually, in order to combat this, I hide it under the bed. But now I have a better solution: Cael!

The little dude has a love of phones that has to be inherited from his father. If anyone is using a phone, he must be a part of the conversation. It's as if phones call out to him, "Slobber on me! I need some drool!" His obsession goes so far that he will make other objects into phones. He frequently picks up television remotes and holds them to his hear with an enthusiastic, "Hewo!"

I think I'll just have him handle all my phone conversations from now on. Sure, they'll just consist of salutations and names of body parts, but minus the body parts that's pretty much what you'd get with me anyway.

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