A growing boy needs his own car

Calvin is a growing boy.  He's gotten so big that we thought we'd better get him used to sleeping in the crib because we don't know how much longer he can stay in the bassinet in our room.  We made that decision even before our suspicions about his growth had been confirmed as they were during an impromptu visit to the doctor this afternoon.  Though he wasn't supposed to see the doctor again until mid August we were a little concerned about a rash on his neck and wanted it checked out.  The positive sides to the visit were the weigh in and measuring - 10lbs 4oz, 22.75inches - and the affirmation that the rash was nothing.  The negative side to the visit was having to see a different doctor who decided that we should be concerned about Calvin's level of jaundice, even though our usual pediatrician had already decided it was just a normal case of breastfeeding juandice and nothing to worry about.  The ensuing heel prick and blood letting for the bilirubin test was more upsetting to Cortney than to Calvin, but was stressful all around. 

Which is why we decided to treat ourselves to a nice evening out.  Since a rainstorm swept through just as Calvin was finishing at the doctor the air cooled down sufficiently for all of us to enjoy a stroll through the Ann Arbor Rolling Sculptures Car Show downtown.  We figured that this was an especially good choice for the evening since Calvin will soon be needing his own car.  Unfortunately they didn't have any Power Wheels for us to look at, but Jon was considering either the Chrysler Imperial or the Corvette.  Calvin thought both sounded good and was full of smiles when we got home - we were even able to catch one on camera!

Becoming parents

We decided to take advantage of Calvin's easy going nature and 3 week old portability by going to Top of the Park tonight.  The weather was fantastic and we really enjoyed the evening out, as well as the all too fattening food.   We thought that would be the interesting part of our evening but, while it was fun, it was not the highlight.  Instead we came home and topped off the evening by exploring our own collection of folk music.  The trip through our music player quickly became a vocal exercise, and Jon even played some of it on the piano.  Though Calvin slept through the performance we sang to him for hours, even video taping some of the fun.  We both remember the wonderful gift of music and song that our parents gave each of us and we want to share that with our own son.  Of course it may be too early for Calvin to enjoy it, or for him to recognize the nostalgia that was thick in the room, but somehow we feel that it brought us that much closer to being parents in the sense that we understand.

Baby wearing and ice cream

Not necessarily in that order.  The ice cream came first.  It was a beautiful day and  Jon did not have plans to come home for lunch so Calvin and Cortney decided to meet him at the church (a midway point between work and home) and go for a lunch time walk.  So today marked Calvin's second visit to campus for ice cream.  After all, we had forgotten the camera the first time and needed to re-enact the visit for the purpose of age enduring photography.  You can see the results here.  And the baby wearing came after dinner when we were finally able to try Calvin in the Baby Bjorn front carrier (he had to make 8 lbs first).  We enjoyed a wonderful trek around the neighborhood with Calvin safely ensconced in said front carrier and plan to use it again soon!  We see a zoo trip in our near future.

 

Good wine doesn't come under $15

Or at least it's hard to find. Out of 73 bottles at the "World's Greatest Wine Values" tasting with the Ann Arbor Tasters Guild, we each found only two that we might enjoy—and they weren’t even the same two between us. Many contained sulfur stronger than a coal mine, and one, according to the sponsor, was the best (or is that worst?) example of bad corked wine he’d ever had. Others were far sweeter than our roughened palates approved of. Even so, it was an event well worth experiencing. Jon had never been to a tasting before, while this was Cortney’s fourth. It was fairly crowded, but the people spread themselves out evenly enough, the only downside being that the hors d'oeuvres went quickly. We were all quite stunned by the enormous vat that the waitstaff poured the spit buckets into. We hear there’s quite a disgusting moment in the recent movie Sideways that is directly related to the spit bucket. We’ll have to check it out soon, especially with our newly enlightened vocabulary. Thanks, Dad H.

 Michigan football countdown: 5 days to go!

"A lady on the left is no lady at all..."

...according to the etiquette advice provided by her majesty's ladies in waiting at Michigan's Renaissance Festival, which we attended with Jon's parents. Fortunately, Cortney was seated correctly on Jon's right for the Italian wine tasting, the special theme for the opening weekend of the festival. Certainly, the food was one of the highlights of the day, offering every authentic old world finger food from huge turkey drumsticks to soup in a bread bowl to pickles in a barrel. Care to sample the king's nuts? (Roasted almonds).
While most of the vendors maintained period costumes and accents, some of the guests took advantage of the occasion to dress more like Xena than Guinevere. This was not so good in the case of the obese women with cleavage that supported a tip jar tucked in between! The most amazing costume award goes to the walking tree man, straight out of the Ents in the Lord of the Rings. The jousting was also a good spectacle, once the long-winded introductions finished. The accompanying drummer helped to increase the importance of the event, much like the timpani player in the movie Spaceballs. We also enjoyed a romantic ride on the Flying Dragons, took in the Ded Bob Sho, bought Cortney a beautiful green ring, and got Jon a didgeridoo. We're not sure how much the didgeridoo has to do with the Renaissance, but Jon definitely enjoyed filling up the car with the sound all the way home.