Reading his new favorite book

This video is especially dedicated to Caleb's Great Grandma McClure who bought him a very special book for his first birthday. The book is called Moo. Sometimes when he sees the book he says the title, which kind of sounds like "MMMMMMmmmmm." He also says this when we get to the cow page, though of course not here when being video-taped.
As you will see in the following video, he also enjoys the yellow squeaky duck on the duck page.



Thanks Great Grandma!

Caleb's Walking!

While visiting Grandma and Grandpa O'Neill in Michigan, Caleb took some of his first steps that we could catch on camera! He has taken a few before, but this is some of his best walking we've seen. He is just three days shy of his first birthday.

Birthday party!

Caleb enjoyed his 1st Birthday Party a little bit early in Visalia with Grammie and Grandpa Griffis. He also enjoyed his first taste of dessert - a whole piece of chocolate cake!




The "Doljabi" (돌잡이) ceremony for a child's first birthday is a Korean tradition. The child wears a traditional Hanbok and different objects are placed in front of him. The first two objects he chooses are thought to say something about his future. Typical objects to be placed in front of the child: a pencil and paper representing being a scholar; thread representing skill and dexterity; a noodle representing long life; and money representing financial success. In modern incarnations of this tradition families may add other objects representing similar skills or paths in life.
In our ceremony, Caleb wore a hanbok given to him by Julie's former teacher's aide from TCIS, Sunah Chong. We placed thread, a ball (representing athletic skill), a stuffed animal (representing a love of animals), money, a Bible (representing a life in ministry), and a pencil in a semicircle in front of him and let him go...

Which two do you think he chose?

Grandma and Grandpa O'Neill come to visit

Caleb keeps us busy and joyful, and here are a few new videos with the little guy.


One game Caleb likes to play with Daddy is "Daddy's Gonna Getcha" - a little chase around the living room.





When Grandma and Grandpa O'Neill came to visit they had a great time playing with Caleb, and Caleb really enjoyed this book sent by his Great Grandma McClure - it has little flaps that make noises when you open them, and Caleb really got the hang of it quickly!






Playing horsey with Grandpa.






Caleb loves to eat and this day he was particularly enjoying mealtime:





Thanks for enjoying our videos! We hope you have a wonderful holiday season!

Caleb is Crawling!

In the world of babies, everyday brings a new developmental feat. So, what is new one day is old news the next.  Caleb has been crawling for about a month now, so it's not so new for him any more, but we realize that most of you out there haven't gotten a chance to see him in action.  We thought we'd better post videos of him crawling before he starts walking! Here are a few short videos of him exploring the living room in our new home in Orange.

New home, new videos of Caleb

Hi everybody!

Here we are in Orange County, getting settled and ready for a new adventure!  We haven't been posting as much to the blog, and probably won't be, but we'll still use this as a place to share our precious Caleb videos.  He's growing so fast!

In July we traveled to Michigan for Peter's wedding and as a bonus, Caleb got to meet his cousin Timothy for the first time.  Timothy is just 15 days younger, and these guys had a ton of fun together.  Here's a video of their first moment meeting - Caleb was six months old here.




After we returned to California, Brian's mom came with us to help us get settled.  Caleb got a new high chair and started eating lots of different kinds of foods.  Here's a video of him enjoying the tart sweetness of applesauce.  Very cute!



Be sure to check our latest pictures on facebook:
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More baby videos

Enjoy watching Caleb in action!

This first video is from a walk we took with Caleb and Sierra some time ago.  The video is from February but I forgot to share it.  This shows what life is like here in Mali outside of our mission compound.

Next is a video from Easter.  Grandma and Grandpa Griffis sent Caleb a little lamb as a present, and he took an immediate liking!  He tried to eat the lamb to the best of his abilities.  (18 weeks old)

On Easter Sunday we went to church at Bethel.  You'll notice Caleb and Brian wearing their matching Easter cloth outfits - see our facebook album for a family picture.  In this video Caleb enjoys the singing.  (18 weeks old)

Sometime in the last few weeks Caleb has really discovered he loves playing with Sierra.  When she comes close he puts his arms out and leans in.  He especially loves "petting" (ie grabbing) her ears.  She has been very sweet and patient, and usually reciprocates (or preempts) the pets with a big lick to the face!  (18 weeks old)

Caleb also loves singing, or at least loves it when Mom and Dad sing.  A couple of his favorites are the Alphabet Song and The Itsy-Bitsy Spider.  Here he gives some smiles during the song and also tries to eat the camera.  (19 weeks old)

Finally, be sure to check out our newest facebook album with plenty of Caleb pictures!