I need to share with my readers that my darling wife Melissa has started her own blog . There are writers who aspire to inspire others online like myself and many others then there are those like my wife who have a natural, God-given talent to craft words in such a way that you can’t help but feel every emotion, sense every detail, and literally feel like you’ve been drawn into each paragraph. Folks with the pure talent that she possesses are few are far between and I am proud to announce the start of her own blog at www.aheavenlyjourney.net.  So, to all my readers, check out Melissa’s blog!

We went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo with Caleb this week for Caleb’s first trip to see the Am-in-als (yes, Aminals is the correct spelling and pronunciation of “animals”!) Here are a few pics to commemorate the event!

Our Moose Baby!

Moose Baby Loves Mommy and Daddy Time!

Moose Baby Tongue!

This is my first trip to the zoo! I'm so excited!.... Ok maybe not, but I should be!

That giraffe looks a little suspicious

Tasty Railing! Nom Nom Nom!

Who You Lookin' At?

I CEE YOUS!

Daddy! I don't like the Lions!

(In the monkey house) Those Monkeys are making quite the ruckus!

Mr. Moose, Meet the Moose Baby!

Well, it happened! Tonight as I was tickling Caleb he laughed giggled for the first time! It wasn’t long, it was just a short one but without a doubt, a new sound that he’s not made before! He delighted our hearts! We tried to capture it again on video but he would not cooperate and soon tired of the constant tickling so we’re going to try again tomorrow to bring you Mr. Giggles! I’ve been shocking myself at how easily I get excited about the simple things these days. I suppose that these milestones for Caleb aren’t little things at all, but are markers in his development and growth. It’s almost scary how fast he is growing. I’m beginning to understand what countless other parents have told me in the past – that the time flies by so fast you barely have a chance to breathe!

Melissa was gazing longingly into Caleb’s eyes the other day – I asked her what was wrong and she replied, “Was he ever an infant? He’s so big now!” And that’s how it feels – like we’ve always had this baby, and  yet we can hardly remember what it was like to hold him in our arms as a newborn. He’s changed so much already that I barely recognize him in the early pictures.

Life comes at you fast, treasure every moment of every day. I remember thinking to myself in the first couple weeks, “I’m so looking forward to going fishing for the first time – I wish he could talk back to me and tell me how he feels… and many other thoughts.” But now all I want is for him to slow down so I can savor every moment with him. I know Melissa feels the same way. Slow down Caleb!

I’m beginning to understand the universal paradox of being a parent. You wish with everything in you to see your child grow and learn and succeed in this life – but you also want him to stay little forever so you can just cuddle him and take care of him and care for him. It’s an amazing feeling… I love being a daddy!

So last night we had our friends Alejandro and Renee over to watch the opening ceremonies. We took these pictures of Caleb and their son Danilo because we couldn’t resist. I’ll quote Renee’s blog because she said it the best….

Caleb on the left – 10 weeks old.
Danny on the right – 7 1/2 months old.

Almost the same length. Almost the same weight.

Amazing.

Can you say we are proud parents of our little moose baby? In a word, YES!

We reached an amazing milestone today – Caleb began to copy facial expressions! There he was, lying on my lap with his ever-present burp-rag (which we have a plentiful supply of considering the copious amounts of “urp” he spews on a regular basis) under his head.  He was staring up at me with those big beautiful eyes just as content as could be. I smiled at him just as I was just enjoying the calm and the serenity of the moment when within a mere moment, his eyes lit up and he let loose the biggest grin I’ve seen from him so far! You can imagine the reaction I had so I made Missy pause the show we were watching and looked at him with a serious expression again. He just looked back at me contentedly. I smiled big and again, a split-second later, Caleb cracked his big beautiful smile too.

Well, the serenity of the moment dissipated quickly as I began trying all kinds of different facial expressions including suddenly “booga-ing” at him which would make his eyes go wide in shock and then it would resolve into silent giggles as he’d open his mouth as wide as his little face would allow with his eyes twinkling and a look of utter amusement and joy on his face. I have some videos below I’ll share of Mr. Smiles but I didn’t get any of the best ones as he always seems to know when he’s being video taped and doesn’t perform for the camera. You may think I’m just an over-exuberant dad, but trust me, this wasn’t gas!

Anyway, it got me thinking about how our heavenly Father must feel about us. When we laugh and have joy fill our hearts, it must fill his heart just like Caleb filled my heart up tonight. It amazes me how my mood improves when Caleb responds to me in that fashion. His bright eyes and innocence are so refreshing to my soul. And just imagine with me that maybe, just maybe (I’m convinced honestly) that we can affect the Eternal God in the same way!

Well, goodnight for now, but I had to share this and wanted to share a couple of really cute videos. Please enjoy!