Soynut butter. It's what's for lunch.

Doctors take all the fun out of life.  No peanut products until at least three years?  But isn't that what all kids crave after a long morning on the jungle gym - a peanut butter sandwich, carrot sticks, and milk?  This is worse than no swimming for one hour after eating on a hot summer day at the lake.  But have no fear!  There are always work-arounds.  Every time we've fired up the stove to sear a veggie burger, popped a leftover dinner in the microwave, or preheated the oven to make a quesadilla we've longed for the easy days, still a year away, of quickly slathering a piece of bread with that nutty, creamy concoction readily available in a (glass) jar, and now we have our answer.  Soynut butter.  No, it's not the same thing, but don't tell Calvin that - he has nothing to compare it to, and obviously he's in heaven with it.  Can't you tell by the soynut butter mustache?  It's his new favorite two word phrase, and it's what's for lunch.

Moving right along...

No, we're not talking about the Muppets (although, several boxes and two paint jobs later we might be wishing we were).  Instead we are talking about that rite of passage that is punctuated by the acts of leaving and of coming, and is recognized by myriad boxes between.  Yes, we are moving.  Although we aren't going far, just far enough to put us smack in the middle of a good school system and a welcoming neighborhood, the short distance of travel doesn't seem to have shortened the amount of stress and work any.  Last week we were elbow deep in our own possessions, deciding what needed to stay put, what wouldn't be missed in the three week interim (which we boxed), and what wouldn't be missed at all (which we gave away).  Many boxes and a handful of tape rolls later we moved on to calking, sanding, painting, and cleaning nooks and crannies we didn't even know we had in all four years of our residence here.  Now that the dust has settled we are asking ourselves why we didn't fix that squeaky door years ago?  Or that shoe molding?  Not that any of those things truly bothered us in the past.  In fact, we've really enjoyed our first house immensely over the past four years, but this is a good move for us, getting us into a house and a community that leave us room to grow, and we are actually looking forward to moving day, which is only a week or two away now.

Happy lunar eclipse night

Thanks to Curtis for the quick lesson on how to use our own camera so we could capture this shot:

Picture taken at 10:00pm, just prior to full eclipse, on full manual (ISO 200, f8, 1 sec exposure)

Let the conversation begin.

A child's first words are a coveted moment, that turning point when the family's video library stops resembling a collection of Rudolph Valentino clips and enters the era of talkies.  And as with all childhood milestones, those first forays into speech are often surrounded by controversy.  In our case the incessant, pressure creating queries started coming before the first year was even up, and only increased in frequency thereafter:  Is he talking?  Has he started talking yet?  Isn't he talking yet?  Nevermind the fact that he started walking three months earlier than the norm, or the fact that he was communicating with over 30 appropriate hand signs with an efficiency that probably surpassed anything early speech could have provided.  In fact, as time passed the most inappropriately forward of people at church felt it their responsibility to ask such questions as "do you think teaching sign was a bad idea?" and our all time favorite, "are you worried about autism?"  No.  Our wonderful pediatrician was very encouraging.  His son, he told us, did not say a word until he was upwards of two years old.  So we settled in for the long wait, and were greatly surprised, therefore, when in October, Calvin suddenly started repeating animal sounds.  He could moo, quack, woof, meow, and even sound like a siren. 

December, 2007
And then during the gap between Christmas and New Years we were delighted by a sudden flourish of new words.  Like a ship taking on water, Calvin's vocabulary increased exponentially right before our eyes.  He mimicked every word he heard and quickly tucked it away in his mind's dictionary, and this trend has continued.  And after what had seemed like an excruciating wait under the caring yet disparaging eyes of our church community, I'm sure you can imagine our vexation when, just the other day, we were told "he is such a good talker for a boy his age!  You must be so proud!"  Yes, in fact, we are.

January, 2008

Not exactly twinkle toes yet

Calvin started dance class today, and what a riot that was!  We really had no idea what to expect but it should not have surprised us to find out that, even though the class is open to anyone ages 1-3 years of age, Calvin is the youngest by about a year and is the only boy.  All those girls thought he was just the cutest thing since My Little Pony and just wanted to love him to death, but Calvin thought that was a rotten idea and spent most of his time in a constant state of forward motion.  The objective of the class is to learn "purposeful movement" so we figure this gives him a head start.  That and it gives us a preview of all those elementary school years that are yet to come.  Can anyone say Cooties?

And we are really pleased with the class itself, girls and all.  The teacher was calm and patient, the music was lively and fun, and the activities were varied.  The best part about it was the relaxed atmosphere: there was a definite structure to the class but there was no circle to have to stay in, and the kids were encouraged, but never forced, to take part in the activities.  While the moms danced around to a Simon Says kind of song some kids took part, Calvin marched around the room laughing.  We played with hula hoops for a while, sitting in them, jumping in and out of them, and pushing them around the room.  Calvin just watched with rapt attention, until it came time to walk through the hoops like a tunnel, then he decided to join in.  His favorite part of the morning was the parachute:  he loved walking on it, he loved walking around it, and he really loved walking under it.  It was clear throughout the class that he was enjoying himself.  He was engaged the whole time, sometimes just watching, sometimes joining in, and almost always smiling or laughing.  We are looking forward to watching his progress throughout the year long class.

 Since dad was at work and mom was busy dancing there are no pictures from this momentous occasion, but there are some cute new ones in the Sept 9/8-14 album.