Hey out there!

Watcha doin?

 

Beer and sports

Last night was Calvin's first "beer and sports" experience.  Yes, beer and sports.  After almost a week of near sleepless nights trying to get Calvin's schedule back on track we decided that an evening at the bar was in order.  Well, not really, but you go where the food is and Casey's is a great place for great food and just happens to be a (non-smoking) bar, so that's where we went.  Dinner was relaxing for us and strangely exciting for Calvin, who was wide eyed and looking around throughout the entire meal.  Then what better way to follow a great beer and burger at the bar than with a good sports game, so after ingesting said vices we took Calvin to watch his uncle Curtis play soccer.  The game was really enjoyable, especially in the cool evening breeze, and the fresh air was just as invigorating as the beers and burgers, except for Calvin who was rather sleepy after a day of extended alert periods.  Lucky for us, something worked and last night we actually got some good sleep again!

Calvin in live action!

It's amazing how quickly Calvin is changing, and just recently we have found ourselves getting to the really good part - the part where he is still pretty easy to get along with, but beginning to really respond to us and to his environment. He started smiling over two weeks ago, and added giggles last week, then just a few days ago he started to grab at things, perhaps mostly by accident but he is beginning to work more with his extremities, that's for sure! Though we have nearly an hour of what would be categorized as fairly boring footage by most folks, the following is about a 90 second snippet of some of our favorite moments. We especially like how, in the final seconds of the clip, Calvin gets frustrated trying to maneuver the giraffe and takes it out on the elephant: "what are you looking at? I'll just bop you in the face and then you won't laugh at me anymore for not being able to chew on this giraffe! Hah!"

Calvin is trying to tell us something...

... and the shirt says it all. We're all for it, Calvin!

A new vernacular

We realized today that since Calvin's arrival, several average terms have taken on very new definitions in our household.
 
Blow out - No, not a flat tire on the interstate, but a diaper that doesn't hold it all
Ceiling fan - You thought this was a household item used to circulate the air, but really it's the most fascinating "toy" in our home
Genie - Not a character that comes out of a lamp, or a star from a popular 1960s sitcom, but a trash can specifically made to collect dirty diapers
A good night's sleep - Forget 10, or even 8, hours in a row, we're lucky to get five most nights
Gym - No longer a place that adults visit to work out, now a floor mat about 2.5'x2.5' with overhead bars and dangling animals (see picture at right)
Hero - Not just any brave person, but a person who willingly uses some part of their body to block a stream of urine, an explosion of poop, or a waterfall of spitup in order to protect the furniture, floor, baby's clothing, etc.
Magic fingers - No longer a quarter operated bed in a room at a cheesy roadside motel, this is our infant sized vibrating recliner chair
Making pants  - not a sewing feat, but the baby's job which always ends in his needing a new diaper which, in turn, often results in great consternation for his parents (see also Blow out, Hero)(see picture at bottom)
Midnight snack - not cookies for adults, and not usually at midnight, this is the time that the baby decides he needs to eat between when we go to bed at night and when we get up the next morning.
 
And a small sample of other terms that have also made daily usage in our house: fussies, nap, onesie, tummy time, sleeper, etc.