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Of couse I know that my son is adorable. Every mom knows that. Caleb has been making women gush for about as long as he's been on this earth. He gets numerous compliments on his curly hair, green eyes (find out What Color Eyes Would Your Children Have, by the way), and long lashes. And that's not mentioning his cheerful disposition and good manners.

He has gotten special treatment from women we've come into contact with in various situations, especially waitresses (female servers, or whatever you like). He's gotten free food at least twice from them. He's gotten also gotten extra candy when trick-or-treating ("You're so cute, here's some more candy."). The nurses at the doctor's office give him handfuls of stickers, apparently as a reward for simply saying hello and having little conversations with them.

The newest lady to be smitten by Caleb is the girl who runs the merry-go-round at the mall. Caleb has always loved the merry-go-round at the mall. It is a huge thing, two stories tall. It has dozens of beautiful animals of all types. When he was in his brace, he still begged to go on it on his birthady. He simply sat with me in the handicapped passenger bench, which is still quite fancy but nothing like the giraffe, seal, or horses. He still smiled and waved with glee to our friends who were there with us. He even let loose more than one, "Wheee!"

We met this girl the last time we were at the mall, about two or three weeks ago. Bryan and Caleb got a token to ride and when she stopped the ride for the people on it to get off, Caleb started jumping and cheering. He had been allowed to hold the token, but as soon as she opened the gate he ran toward the merry-go-round, saying, "I'm so excited! I'm so excited!" and forgetting to give it to her.

So Bryan called him back and he gave her the token. I think that might have been the moment she was bitten by the Caleb bug. During the ride, we chatted a bit. She told me how excited Caleb had been to get on the ride (I had parked the stroller out of earshot). She went on about how cute he was in all his excitement. She talked to Micah, too, admiring his big eyes and smile; but it was Caleb all the way.

When their ride was over, I started walking and then noticed Bryan helping Caleb onto another animal. When the second ride was over, he told me she'd offered a second ride to them for free. So as we were leaving, we went back to thank her for the ride. And get this: She said ANYTIME we are at the mall, to come by and give her a ride. She asked Caleb for a hug and he, of course, hugged her.

So yesterday we were at the mall, but by the time we got to the merry-go-round, she had already closed it. He walked over to her to wave a bit tentatively, but once she saw him and very excitedly opened her arms to him, he reciprocated. She told him that seeing him had made her day (!) and that she really hoped he could come back tomorrow (today) so she could give him a ride.

So I promised Caleb we'd go back, and today we did. Today he wasn't shy about approaching to say hello when I pointed her out. She told us not to get a token and gave both boys* two free rides. We finally exchanged names (hers is Vanessa). We sincerely thanked her and Caleb hugged her again before we left. She said he could come back any day and she'd give him another ride.

This boy is SPOILED! :)


*By the way, Micah apparently does not enjoy the Merry-Go-Round as much as Caleb. We put him on a horse next to Caleb and I stood between them, but about thirty seconds into the ride he started crying. We rode the rest of the time in the handicapped passenger bench, and he enjoyed watching Caleb. I think he didn't like looking at all the things moving past.