The Growing Caldwell Family

Last Sunday we went to the park near our house and SG had a ball!  She found a little girl who was probably six to play chase with and although I don't think SG understands how to play chase, she had a great time doing her version of it!  She was fearless climbing up this rock climbing structure.  It was probably 6 feet tall and she could scale it pretty quick with a little help getting started at the bottom.  It's afternoons like this with her that remind me why I wanted to be a momma!

Sarah Graves has a big imagination and she goes on many adventures!  She loves to pretend our coffee table is her car or bus and she loads it up with Kate in her carrier and Kate's stroller.  Momma is usually the driver and everyone must wear their seatbelt that goes, "click click."  Our destination varies, but it is often going to Chick-Il-A, the park, or the beach.  When we go to Chick-Il-A, someone has to be the order person and she takes it very seriously.  She orders Coke Zero for Momma and milk for Kate.  She pretends all of it, including the food and the money. The other pretend game is taking Kate to the doctor.  Kate throws up a lot and has to go to the doctor for that.  Sometimes she will use a spoon to give Kate medicine and she is such a good momma that she always cleans up Kate's throw up. Pretend play is my favorite thing about this age!

Here's a video of her enjoying her play-doh. http://www.youtube.com/embed/JWx2vrYbtvo?hl=en&fs=1</a>" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>

Sarah Graves is totally into coloring and play-doh right now.  She doesn't really make much out of play-doh, but she loves to pull it apart and practice putting it in and taking it out of the small cup that it came with.  We also practice making snakes and our "sssss" sound.  She knows that if she puts it in her mouth, I have to take it away.  So she puts it right up to her mouth and smiles at me!  She is such a kidder! When I tell you that I could just eat her up, I mean every second of the day.  Sometimes I think I am going to burst because I love her so much.

Sarah Graves has been a climber from the start, but she stunned me the other day when she just climbed right up her jungle gym to get to the slide!  We were in the yard and I am used to her running around and running underneath the fort part, but all of a sudden I looked up and I could see her head peeking over the top of the ladder and there she was climbing up onto the fort part.  I was so proud of her and scared for her all at the same time!  I was proud that she had the confidence in herself to just climb right up and wasn't the least bit scared.  She did it about 10 times in a row just to prove that she really could do it.  That's my girl!

On Saturday we went to Kangazoom, a children's play area with inflatables. Sarah Graves loved it! There was a toddler area and a big play area. Sarah Graves loved to play on both. There were slides, bounce houses, and climbing things.  She would climb up to the big slide with a little assistance and would go down all kinds of ways.  I think Aaron and I enjoyed it too! When she saw the firetruck, she got so excited and started saying firetruck! 

Just to give you a sense of how busy Sarah Graves is, here is a little video of her doing her typical thing.  Lucy is also doing her typical thing, so now you can see what she has been up to as well.  You definitely can't take your eyes off of them, or no telling what they will be up to! 

I thought that I posted this a while back, but Blogger says that I didn't, so here's a post from a couple of weeks ago.  SG loves to play with clean laundry!  I think it's because the basket is just the right height, but she will go through the different pieces and has a good time taking them out.  In this picture, Daddy was letting her amuse herself with that while he watched football.  Sarah Graves isn't in to college football, yet. 

I am still going through pictures and videos from our trip and I had to share this one. This is a really fun age.  She understands games and can really interact.  We were eating in a restaurant when she started using the napkin to initiate a game of peek-a-boo!  Fortunately, Jeanne' had the wherewithal to pick up the camera and capture it. 

Sarah Graves is like a little monkey!  She uses her feet like a second set of hands anytime she wants to reach a toy or steady a toy while she lies on her back.  It really cracks me up to watch her!  I so love those chubby baby feet.

I feel that I should explain that I am not really that bad of an aim with the camera.  She won't smile and giggle when I am behind the camera, so I try to get it focused on her and then hold it out to the side while I let her see my face.  Maybe that's one of the reasons they invented tripods...