When we found out that my wife was pregnant with our second child, we naturally assumed it would be a girl. We already had one of those, felt pretty comfortable with her, so this one would definitely be a girl as well. When we found out the baby was a boy, it was a bit of a surprise.
Caleb Franklin Stahl was born on the night of October 25, 2008. It was a dark and stormy night, seriously, it really was a dark and stormy night. No offense to Snoopy. We were only about a week from the due date this time and Caelyn had fallen asleep on the couch between my wife and I when things started to get interesting.
Our original plan was that when Kerry went into labor, we would take our daughter to some friends of ours. Their son was about her age and she would stay there until I came to get her after her brother was born. When Kerry told me she was in labor, I called our friends to alert them and tell them we would be coming by later to drop off Caelyn.
Kerry called her doctor. The doctor on call told her to wait about an hour, then call back to update them on the contractions. About 30 minutes into labor, it became apparent waiting an hour was not an option and we would not have time to take our daughter over to our friend's house. We then called our next door neighbors who promptly explained to their dinner guests that it would be an early night and came right over. I took the still sleeping Caelyn to our bedroom and put her in our bed. Kerry and I then drove through thunder, lightning, downed tree limbs and a bit of flooding to get to the hospital.
She was admitted and we found ourselves in the delivery room. After a short time, Kerry asked me to tell the nurses she was ready for the epidural. At the request, the nurse looked at me and asked, "Allready?" We had not been there very long.
The nurse came to take a look and was no longer surprised at the request. The only thing holding back the birth was for the water to break. This kid was ready to come out and there would be no time for the epidural. The doctor and the nurses just waited around for a little bit until the water broke, then Caleb made his appearance.
He didn't yell immediately, scaring the crap out of me, but soon he was complaining and telling all of us just what he thought of the bright lights and the cold. I stayed at the hospital for a while, then went home and crawled into bed.
When Caelyn woke up, I told her that her brother had arrived and he and mommy were at the hospital. She immediately wanted to go see. We arrived at the hospital and I walked her to the room where her mother and brother were. She then proceeded to get in his face.
Now 18 months old, his sister still gets in his face. Before he could roll over, he was very watchful. His eyes were always tracking objects moving around the room. We believe this is because of his sister and her sudden movements.
While he can be loud, he is very different from his sister. He personality is much calmer though no less diabolical. Where his sister would run through a wall, he is content to methodically dig through it. He is still very watchful and tries very hard to figure things out. We fully expect to walk into a room one day to find the TV or the stereo spread out in pieces across the floor while he sits in the middle of it all with a screwdriver in his hand.
Before we bought a high chair with shoulder straps, he had climbed out of his old one twice, each time so fast I didn't know it until he hit the floor.
He is tough in his own way but not particularly daring. Almost nothing fazes him. He can be in a room full of larger children with objects literally flying over his head and simply go about his business. In his collisions with other children, rarely does he so much as flinch while another child may start to cry.
He is also an extreme flirt. He manages to get women and girls of all ages to do his bidding even though he can barely speak. He has a special "hi" he breaks out when he really wants attention from a girl. He delivers the line like Joey from friends saying, "How you doin?"
He is also not above catcalls. One day while walking to the train station to meet my wife, I was pushing him in the stroller. He started leaning out toward the street and yelling. It was then I looked and saw a pretty 20 something year old girl walking on the other side of the street. He was determined to get her attention.
As for music, his taste tends to be bands with girl lead singers. Paramore, Flyleaf, Mindy Smith, Joan Jett, though I think if she is pretty and sings, he is interested. If she can sing and play guitar, he is really interested.
There is no good way to sum up his personality, as it develops more each day, so I will leave you with this simple thought about life with Caleb at the moment: He has reached the age where he is into everything he can reach. Unfortunately, we are still adjusting to this ability and most of the time don't realize he can get to it until he has it.
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