Caleb and I saw this article on facebook this morning about an author whose book I have started and whose blog I sporadically read. She's made the news as "Pregnant and Pushing 50." Caleb asked if she was actually 50. "No, 46. That's hardly pushing 50 in my book."

"I wonder if #littleladylentil is going to have wrinkles when she comes out because she was born to a forty-one year old!"


Cracked. Me. Up.

I love these glimpses into the world of how his mind works.

Hospital Visitation

Caleb was not thrilled at the prospect of spending his evening visiting our friend at the hospital. ("Why do we have to?" "We want them to know we love them and care about them.") I don't believe it comes from a place of heartlessness but rather a discomfort with medical institutions. I sympathize with that.

As we were on our way in, we found out that our friend was not feeling up to company so we would be spending some time with his wife in a family waiting area. This made Caleb question even more the need for our visit and he remarked, "His sleep pooped on our party."

Evolution According to Caleb

"I didn't know monkeys like apples," says Caleb one morning noticing my nightgown.

"I think they're cherries...oh, no I guess you're right, they are apples. Well, that shouldn't be too surprising to you: you like apples and you believe you descended from monkeys."

"I descended from Minions! I LOOOVE bananas."

Where Babies Come From

Caleb came into our room for snuggles and announced, "I had a dream I had two sisters and mom gave birth and one of them was an egg and I was holding it and then dropped it and it cracked." Joseph mentioned the dream may have had some roots in the movie Caleb had seen the evening before: Penguins of Madagascar. (Oh, and it turns out the cracked egg hatched just fine.)

Judging a Book by Its Cover

I wasn't feeling up to going to church and so, when the guys came home, Caleb found me on my bed with some books. He picked one of them up, "Becoming Myself - You already are yourself. You don't need to read a book about becoming yourself!?"

Do you KNOW what you will be when you grow up?

Over lunch I asked Caleb is he was still thinking of a career in the Army when he leaves home.

"Not thinking about it."

Surprised, I sought clarification, asking what he might want to do instead. He indicated he wants to join the army, so I asked, "oh, so you're not thinking about it, you're planning on it?"

"Not planning to, I'm going to!"

Nice to see some things don't change. He has had his heart set on this for well over four years now. Branch specific, not simply military, ARMY!

What's Unlucky to Caleb Is Our Pot of Gold

"I'm the unluckiest kid ever."

"Why is that?"

"I'm adopted, I don't have any brothers and I'm an...outtie...what's that letter?"

[He does have an outtie belly button which I think is the cutest one I've ever seen and I thought maybe that's what he was talking about until he said that about the letter.]

"The letter?"

"Yeah, you know, the letter that means I like to be around people."

"Oh, an 'E' -- and 'extrovert'?"

"Yeah, I'm adopted, I have no brothers and I'm an 'E'."

"What's unlucky about being an extrovert?"

"Well, I have no brothers, nobody to play with."

"Oh, what's unlucky about being adopted?!? Adopting you is about the 'luckiest' thing that ever happened to Dad and Me!!!"

As so often happens, the conversation got distracted from there and my heart was left in pieces on the living room floor.

The Measure of One's Life

"They fit all of his life into seven discs! That's short."

Caleb's current audio book is on the life of Benedict Arnold. A lot of the stories he has been listening to are eleven discs in length.

"How many discs do you think it would be if they turned your life story into an audio book? Eleven?"

"Yeah. [Pause, moment of thought.] No, thirteen."

The boy has aspirations. I have always said he needs more than one life to live in order to do all he hopes to.

Tough Jobs Call for Rough Languange

After not playing with his Playmobil for months, Caleb had finally pulled them out again. I was on my bed semi-distracted (painting my fingernails) as he had a game of cops and robbers going nearby when I suddenly heard:

"Get in the car D*** it!"

"Caleb, that's not something to be saying."

"Why not?"

"You know how we've explained that words are like knives. Well, that one is like a sharp, sharp knife. It's not for everyday use. It may have its uses, but it is certainly not for play."

[This is a concept that we got from the book "Loving the Little Years" by Rachel Jancovic.]

"Well, what can he [the police man] say then?"

"How about 'Darn it'?"

"Well, that doesn't sound like a real police officer. This is a realistic game."

Melting Mama's Heart

On our annual road trip to Leavenworth (enjoying the gorgeous autumn colors along the way), we were talking about beauty.

Me: "What comes to your mind when you think of beauty, Caleb?"

Caleb: "I don't know." (No surprise here.)

Me: "What's the most beautiful thing you can think of...that you have seen?"

Caleb: (without missing a beat) "You."