I have piles of laundry to fold and iron, book-keeping to do, and dishes to wash, but today I want to write about Caleb.

I cannot imagine a cuter kid. He makes us laugh all the time. His favorite things right now include playing soccer with Daddy, listening to “George music” (aka Jack Johnson’s Curious George soundtrack), and playing with his many stuffed animals (especially the Chip and Dale that Daddy bought him in Orlando, the Larry that Aunt Laura and AnnaBelle gave him, and, of couse, the old favorite, Curious George). He is talking our ears off now! He talks constantly about anything and everything. The other day he was walking around the house saying, “I’m going to work on the computer to build a website.” His vocabulary seems to have doubled lately; there is little that he can’t explain or ask for.

Over the last few weeks, he has started to pretend a lot more. He likes to pretend that he is Curious George, or Larry the Cucumber, or Christopher Robin, or Mickey Mouse. Of course, if he is George, or Larry, or Christoper Robin, or Mickey, then Casey and I have to fill the complementary rolls of “the man with the yellow hat,” or Bob the Tomato, or Winnie-the-Pooh, or Goofy. And, naturally, all of the actors have to be prepared to change character at a moment’s notice. One minute, I think that I am Minnie Mouse, and I am acting my heart out when I am suddenly informed that I am actually Junior Asparagus! I am certainly getting the chance to polish my nearly non-existent acting skills.

Caleb also loves to read books, which, of course, is one of my greatest desires for my children. He will sit through as many books as we will read to him. For such an active and crazy almost-three-year-old, his attention span is really great when it comes to books. In the past we have mainly read picture books with plenty of bright colors to keep his focus, but just this past week I started reading to him The House at Pooh Corner by A. A. Milne. There aren’t as many pictures in this book, and sometimes there will be two or three pages with no pictures at all, but he is still content to sit in my lap and listen to the stories, which are much longer, with more character development, than most little children’s books.

Some of my favorite childhood memories are of my daddy reading novels out loud to our whole family. Because I have two brothers, I was forced to sit through Kidnapped and Treasure Island, but he also read Silas Marner and others. There is something so beautiful about hearing the words of a story spoken out loud and imagining it in your mind instead of being fed someone else’s interpretation through their images.

I hope that Caleb will continue to develop his attention span and wonderful imagination. Casey and I already have a long list of books that we are eager to read aloud to him when he is ready. He is such a wonderful blessing; we are cherishing every moment of being his parents.

Just another little moment that I want to remember: Several nights ago I crept into his room while he was sleeping to pray for him. We had had a rough day, and, after he went to bed, I spent the evening flipping through parenting books, trying to figure out what I was doing wrong. While I was praying by his bed, I was having one of those anxious parenting moments, wondering if he is going to grow up to know what is right and to love God, or if I am completely ruining him with my own flaws. As I prayed over his life and his future, in his sleep, Caleb began to sing out loud, “God of wonders, beyond our galaxy, You are holy! Holy!” Wow! It brought tears to my eyes and gave me peace over all my anxious thoughts. I felt like God was reminding me that Caleb’s soul and future are in His hands, and not mine. What a relief! What a blessing to get to watch this little soul fall in love with God!