Stephen Caleb Woodlief was born on February 11th, 2000, at some God-awful time of morning. We gave him the name "Stephen" because our daughter Caroline, who passed away four months before, said that's what we should name him. She loved our pastor's son, whose name is also Stephen. We gave him the name "Caleb" both because the Biblical Caleb was one brave man, and because "Caleb" is what you get from combining our daughter's first and middle name, Caroline Elizabeth. It was one of the few things we could think of to perhaps help him feel a connection to his sister.
We couldn't decide on whether to call him "Stephen" or "Caleb," so sometimes we call him one name, sometimes the other, sometimes both. He tends to respond to all three names, which I suppose is some small indication of intelligence.
Here are some things I love about Stephen Caleb:
1) You like to hear me sing "Away in a Manger" when it's not even Christmas.
2) You used to give a kiss when asked for a hug, and a hug when asked for a kiss.
3) The way you use the third person to describe yourself.
4) You always run as fast as you can to see me when I get home.
5) When you run, you work your little arms back and forth twice as fast as your legs, like old ladies getting their exercise on a Florida beach.
6) You're not embarrassed to carry your sister's pink baby doll out in public.
7) The way you greet other children when we’re out, like a sailor hailing a passing ship.
8) You sing in church even though you can't read and don’t know most of the words.
9) You're perfectly comfortable to ignore boring people.
10) You have the perfect belly laugh.
11) You like your hat even though it has two floppy tassels on it.
12) You stay right on my heels, even when I’m grumpy.
13) You like to play guitar with me, even though neither of us is very good.
14) When I'm brushing my teeth and crouch down to help you brush yours, you crouch down too, like that's how teeth are supposed to be brushed.
15) Sometimes you are just drawn into your sister's room, where you just sit and look around.
16) When I leave for work, you cry and say "No work!"
17) When I come home, you say "Hi Daddy!" like a used-car salesman.
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We couldn't decide on whether to call him "Stephen" or "Caleb," so sometimes we call him one name, sometimes the other, sometimes both. He tends to respond to all three names, which I suppose is some small indication of intelligence.
Here are some things I love about Stephen Caleb:
1) You like to hear me sing "Away in a Manger" when it's not even Christmas.
2) You used to give a kiss when asked for a hug, and a hug when asked for a kiss.
3) The way you use the third person to describe yourself.
4) You always run as fast as you can to see me when I get home.
5) When you run, you work your little arms back and forth twice as fast as your legs, like old ladies getting their exercise on a Florida beach.
6) You're not embarrassed to carry your sister's pink baby doll out in public.
7) The way you greet other children when we’re out, like a sailor hailing a passing ship.
8) You sing in church even though you can't read and don’t know most of the words.
9) You're perfectly comfortable to ignore boring people.
10) You have the perfect belly laugh.
11) You like your hat even though it has two floppy tassels on it.
12) You stay right on my heels, even when I’m grumpy.
13) You like to play guitar with me, even though neither of us is very good.
14) When I'm brushing my teeth and crouch down to help you brush yours, you crouch down too, like that's how teeth are supposed to be brushed.
15) Sometimes you are just drawn into your sister's room, where you just sit and look around.
16) When I leave for work, you cry and say "No work!"
17) When I come home, you say "Hi Daddy!" like a used-car salesman.
Back | Home
posted by Tony at
11:10 AM
