Tricks and treats

Yep.  Having kids keeps you young.  Or maybe we were immature all along, it's hard to say, but we were both excited about Halloween all day.  Jon even came home early from work so that we could be ready.  We decorated with a flag, a wind sock, and, of course, a family of jack-o-lanterns, and then we dressed up.  Actually, we dressed up our son (and took lots of pictures which are in the 21st week photo album) and just wore head gear ourselves.  We took turns taking our little giraffe for short neighborhood strolls while the other parent handed out treats, and Jon walked around the corner to visit Kristin and Matt's and even scored some candy in the process (they had better stuff than we did...).  The evening really tired the little guy out - all the visitors and the barking dogs and the cool fresh air - and he zonked out a little earlier than usual even.  There is a bit of sadness here, too, as we realize that this was Calvin's first real "first" holiday, and now it has gone by.  That and he won't be able to wear the giraffe costume again next year...  But we are looking forward to sharing the upcoming holiday season Calvin and teaching him all about our traditions!  Yes, having children does keep us young, and it gives these holidays a deeper, richer meaning that we are really enjoying!

 

Halloween identity crisis!

I'm a dinosaur? I'm a lion?

I'm a giraffe!

Happy birthday to the US

And to Cortney's dad, but don't tell anyone.  We started our celebration last night by going to the fireworks display in Manchester.  It was, of course, Calvin's first evening of fireworks and he dutifully slept through the entire thing, but that's okay because we enjoyed his first fireworks outing for him.  Tonight we celebrated birthdays with Cortney's dad's fantastic and famous smoked ribs.  Yum.  Calvin also slept through this experience, but that's okay, too, because he will get to enjoy them via the indirect route.  In other news... we got our first real smile on Sunday!  It has only happened one other time since then, but we are sure the frequency will increase with time.  Of course no one ever has a camera ready fast enough when these things happen...  But we did get a chance this evening to put Calvin's super baby growth into perspective... he has a long way to go yet.

 

Happy first father's day!

Father's Day took on a whole new meaning in our house today.  Though we have each received father's and mother's day cards from our dogs in the past, being the father of a human child gave Jon a little more leverage this year.  Jon's main request was a special breakfast of pancakes...no, waffles...with fresh strawberries and whipped cream on top.  He also stopped on his way home from the early church service to pick up a special coffee drink - yummm.  And, though a household with a new baby is not afforded too many shopping luxuries, Cortney already had a few things on hand - just in case.  So Jon got to celebrate his first father's day with waffles (which he was nice enough to make himself so Cortney could quick grab a shower between feedings), strawberries, whipped cream, two cards, and a son, all dressed up in I love daddy clothing.

But the day of firsts did not stop there - this evening Calvin took his first trip to his grandparents' house!  Though Jon's parents were unavailable, we continued the father's day celebration with Cortney's parents and other family members through a wonderful dinner and a rousing game of "pass the baby."  Though Calvin slept through a majority of the evening, he woke up enough after dinner to demonstrate to everyone his profound baby strength.  So today was another day of firsts - for a grandfather, a father, and a baby boy.

Easter enrichment at home

We decided to prepare ourselves for our future role as parents with some practice Easter egg decorating tonight.  At least, that's our excuse and we're sticking with it.  And it sure was fun.  We have eggs with the names of each of our family members (including an egg for the pets and one for Raspberry), we have eggs with flowers, we have eggs with dinosaurs and eggs with toothy lizards (watch out!), and we have eggs with random designs.  We used all the colors in the rainbow and then some, and we managed to keep our clothes clean and all the eggs whole.  It was a successful practice run then, or unsuccessful depending on how you look at it - maybe we aren't being as realistic as we could be about the mess a little one might introduce to the same activity, but we'll enjoy it while we can.

Happy Easter to all!