Ella!
Caleb is quite verbal for his age. He says Mama, Dada, Ella, and All Done. His favorite word is Ella. He calls Henson Ella, he called my cousins puppy Ella, the neighbor’s dog is Ella, and when we go for a walk and hear dogs barking in the distance, he looks at me and proclaims, “Ella!” And I say yes, it’s a dog, just like Ella. And he grins.
Today he had Ella in his sights as he crawled quickly toward her. “Ella! Ella! Ellllll-ahhhhhhhh!” he shouted. Ella looked at him, nearing her at a faster-than-usual pace, and bolted out of the room onto the safety of the couch. Caleb stopped in defeat, knowing he couldn’t keep up with her let alone get onto the couch. He started to cry in frustration, but luckily there was a vent nearby for him to look at and hit. He loves vents.
Boy does he crawl around. Today for the first time he grabbed onto a lower-rung of a dining room chair and pulled himself up to a kneeling, then a-frame position. He wants to stand so bad.
I’m loving my talkative, fast-paced little guy. My favorite part of the day is on our daily walk. We walk down to the lake, go to the end of the public dock and sing a hymn. Well, I sing the hymn. Caleb points to stuff and babbles. The dogs enjoy the sunshine on their brace leash. Does it get any better? I savor those moments and try to press them into my mind so I never forget the wonder, the feeling of completeness, the uber-contentedness.