Relief Society Retreat, broken bones, and 10 months

We've been having quite the adventures here at the Reichman household. I was fortunate enough to go on a stake RS retreat to beautiful Heber last weekend, which was a blast! I was hesitant to go, since I didn't know anyone in our ward yet and feared ending up in a group of people I couldn't relate to, but l ended up having the time of my life. Turns out there are a lot of sisters in my ward who are young moms like me (and 5 of the 16 or so who came were pregnant!! Good thing it's not contagious!! Ha!!) We stayed in some cabins, ate lots of yummy food and hot chocolate, heard some inspiring talks, saw lots of deer, did a humanitarian project, did a freaking scary "challenge" course, and went on a lovely hike. It was a much needed break for me, and also the first time I had spent a night away from Caleb. I wasn't nervous, because thankfully I totally trust Brent.

Perhaps I shouldn't have been quite so trusting, though, because the moment I had reception, the texts started coming.

Saturday morning, Brent was playing ultimate frisbee. He laid out to catch the frisbee, when another opposing player landed right on top of his hand. When he got up, Brent's fingers were crossed, and he thought, "I didn't do that...." Luckily, Brent's brothers were there, and one went with him to help with Caleb so Brent could go to the Health Center. Thankfully, Caleb was an angel baby. The Health Center confirmed what he thought--his ring finger was very much broken. It was a bad enough break that he needed surgery. Boo.

Luckily Brent has such supportive brothers, because they stayed with him until I got home and could take care of him. His hand was in a splint, and the x-rays showed Spock-like hands. Needless to say, we couldn't make it to the Ogden Temple dedication the next day, as no babies were allowed, and I couldn't leave Caleb with Brent alone. (Was it good??)

Also lucky for us, Brent was able to get an appointment fairly quickly for his surgery (after correcting some failed communication). The surgery went as well as it possibly could have, and now Brent has two long pins in his finger that remind one of Wolverine. Caleb and I hung out at a park that was conveniently next to the clinic, and the surgery went quickly. Brent waking up from anesthesia wasn't quite as hilarious as we were hoping it would be. Basically, Brent reminded me of a very sweet little boy waking up from a really good dream. A little dazed, with a smile on his face. :) Brent was very pampered that day with Wendy's chicken nuggets, homemade chocolate chip cookies, and Batman Begins. I rewarded myself after Caleb went to bed with a very long bath and date with the Three Musketeers.

 But anyway, the pins will be removed in a couple weeks, and until then, Brent has quite the cast on his arm. Luckily PhD students never need to type (hardee har har). Brent has been getting to know the dictation feature on his laptop quite well. Who knew there would be all this trouble for one finger???

But all is well. Today itself has been interesting day of flip-flopping.

• Caleb woke up before seven, which in my opinion, no one should ever do. I am so not a morning person.
• Then I found out that DoTerra, who I have a lot of issues with, was under fire from the FDA. (I don't have issues with their product, just the company, for a lot of reasons that I won't list here.) Happy day! 
• Drove Brent to school, during which the car in front of us appeared to be intoxicated or on drugs (second time this month, what the heck Provo?)
• Got home, and Caleb took a blessed two and half hour nap, during which I was able to rest and get some housework done.
• Desperately needed the bathroom and found that the toilet was clogged! Nooooooo...
• Toilet unclogged.
• After Caleb woke up and ate lunch, I decided to go on a run because I really want to try to get in better shape, only to find that all three wheels on my Bob were flat. :(
• Reverted to Plan B, which meant taking our other cheap-o stroller to go on a pleasant walk.
• tried to FaceTime Grandma R, which failed. Which is just as well, because Caleb was starting to have some serious meltdowns. 

We will see how the rest of the day goes. 

Today is also Caleb's ten-month birthday, so I will quickly update any interested parties (aka my mother-in-law) ;)

Caleb LOVES solid, non-mashed foods, and will eat just about anything we put in front of him. We are transitioning from baby food into grown-up food as much as we are able to without him having any teeth. He has also began attempting to stand on his own! Yikes!! We are pretty sure this kid will be walking by his birthday. He loves exploring, eating, pulling out baby wipes and attempting to eat them, going outside, knocking down block towers we build, crawling around on our bed (under close supervision, of course), playing with the blinds, talking (a lot of gagaga, mamama, dadadada, and wowowowow). We recently introduced him to baby cheese puffs, which he is crazy for. Also, despite us not having stairs, he has learned to climb them at an impressive rate. He loves to be with other kids, to chase and be chased, and shaking rattle-like objects. He loves playing peek-a-boo with Brent underneath blankets. Something funny he likes to do is push the stroller back and forth. He is so sweet and good-natured.

Surprisingly, Caleb does not seem to enjoy patty-cake. Not surprisingly, he does not enjoy going to bed, being put in his car seat, being held for longer than a minute, or having objects rudely removed from his mouth by his discourteous parents. He also hates gettin dressed or undressed, as well as getting his diaper changed. In fact, he seems to have a personal goal to crawl away as fast as possible whenever his is buck naked.

                                         Caleb learning how to clap. We're getting there!