A Favorite Memory - Caleb

Yesterday I posted a favorite memory of Ben here, so today I thought I would share one about Caleb.  Oddly enough, one of my favorite memories of Caleb also has to do with an elevator, but there are no alligators or crocodiles involved.  ha!

Once when Caleb was around age three I took him to the eye doctor by myself.  (It didn't turn out well...he refused to let the doctor look at him without Denver there to hold him.) 

Anyway, the eye doctor that Caleb goes to has an office inside the hospital in South Bend.  That day Caleb and I found a place to park in the parking garage and then made our way to the nearest elevator.  When we got there we pushed the button and then waited. 

As soon as we pushed the button, a lady walked out of the parking garage and stood behind us to wait for the elevator.  I didn't think much of it or pay much attention to her because Caleb was talking a mile a minute.  Several seconds later the elevator dings and the door opens.  I stepped forward toward the elevator and said to Caleb, "Let's go, Joe".  Caleb stepped into the elevator and without missing a beat turned to the lady, waved his arm for her to come inside and said, "Come on, Joe."  The lady and I busted out laughing.  It took a minute to explain to Caleb that I was talking to him and not to the lady who he thought was "Joe".

Caleb will be 5 this summer and now says these rhyming things with me...when it's time for bed he often says, "Go to bed, Fred" or when we are in a hurry he'll say "Hurry up, Chump"....but I'll always get a chuckle out of the lady named Joe.

A Favorite Memory - Ben

Today, for some reason, I thought of one of my favorite memories of Ben and wanted to share.  Over the next several days I will post a favorite memory of each of the other boys.

I think Ben was about 3 at the time.  It was Christmas and a group from the church was at a local nursing home to sing Christmas carols, to visit with the residents, and to hand out lap quilts.  We had a pretty large crowd and a good mix of people from small children to grandparents.  Everyone was having a very festive and fun time together.

When we finished the first floor and were on our way to the elevator, I told Ben that we were going to ride on the elevator and let it take us up to visit other people.  A few seconds later we stepped on to the elevator and pressed button number two.  After a second Ben said, "This is an alligator?"  Everyone chuckled and I answered that no, it wasn't alligator.   Before I could again tell him it was an elevator, he responded...  "Oh, I know.  It's a crocodile."  That was it.  Everyone in the elevator busted out into full belly laughs!

To this day, whenever I get into an elevator with Ben, I think about alligators and crocodiles.  :o)