Calvin had his first taste of banana today, and it was a comical one. The funniest part about it was not his reaction to the spoonfuls of mashed banana, that he liked well enough, but his consternation regarding the the small piece of banana that his mother gave him. Now that you'll just have to see to understand.
Video | tagged humor, milestones ...was my two bottom teeth! And a few toys. Well, maybe a lot of toys. But the two bottom teeth are really cool! They're not all the way in yet, and I wish they'd hurry! But you'll never guess what I've been eating with those teeth! In the last week I tried sweet potato, then oatmeal, and tonight I tried acorn squash. I like all of those better than the green beans, which have a funny texture if you ask me, but I do like my peas pretty well.
holidays, milestones, parenting Our favorite new advancement is by far Calvin's new 
peek-a-boo playing skill, but there are two other fun ones now, too. At his checkup on Monday, Calvin's doctor told us to go ahead and increase the number of times he got solids during the day, so now he eats when we eat, and that makes for a fun family dinner. We are even starting to get smiles out of him while he eats, though most of the time he seems to think it's a very serious undertaking.
The second new trick of which we spoke is one that strikes fear in our hearts - 
he is now able to get up on all fours, and thus is that much closer to crawling! Thankfully it is still likely that he will wait until the Christmas tree is gone, but that still means we have a lot of child proofing to do, since we have naively been putting it off. Check out this week's (his 27th week) photos to see the sequence of pictures showing how he gets into this crawling position - it's not via the traditional tummy time lift, it's Calvin's own personal way of doing things (the doctor did describe him as willful).
life, milestones, parenting Calvin had his 6 month visit with the doctor today and came home with a clean bill of health! He is still struggling a bit to make up the weight he lost when he had the reflux trouble several weeks ago. In fact, he weighed no more today than he did two months ago at the four mnth checkup - 17.25 lbs. He is longer, though, now measuring just over 27 inches. The doctor was not worried about his lack of weight gain - between his recent trouble with the reflux and his more active state it is not surprising. The doctor was very impressed with Calvin's motor skill development, though, and told us that Calvin is doing the things that a normal 9 month old should be doing! He was particularly impressed with Calvin's peek-a-boo skills, which is our favorite advancement, too. There was really only one surprise about today, and that is the fact that Calvin seemed to have no reaction to the vaccines at all! Even though he actually got one more vaccine than in previous appointments (the flu shot being teh new addition), he was just like himself all afternoon!
And there is one more update to share: On Saturday we tried again to introduce Calvin to cereal. It went much better this time around. He opened his mouth every time he saw the spoon come out of the dish, and he finished the whole thing. Later this week we will try introducing him to veggies and see how that goes!
development, milestones, parenting Well, Calvin, you are now a half a year old! The time is just going too fast. The past month brought wonderful advancements, but it also brought some challenges for you and for your parents. For the first few weeks of the month you struggled with your acid reflux, eventually leading to you losing an entire pound! 
After juggling your medications you are now doing much better, but this will be the first month that you have not gained any weight. What you have not gained in size, though, you continue to make up for in your other advancements! Last month you realized how much you enjoyed standing to play, and this month you have learned how to push and pull yourself into that favorite play position! You have also started to travel! Thankfully you don't get very far, but you can crawl, in your own creeping sort of way, for very short distances. You will be able to go much farther as soon as you figure out how to hold your head up off the ground while you are moving! 
But our favorite new trick of yours is your new ability to play peek-a-boo! For months we have played this game with you, covering our faces and then surprising you to make you laugh, but just two days ago you started covering your own face and waiting for us to ask "where's Calvin?" before uncovering and laughing up a storm! It is so wonderful to have you engage with us this way, and we see this as a very fun milestone!
This past month has been very special to us for another reason, too: it held the start to this year's holiday season with Thanksgiving and the start of Advent. 
This is our favorite time of year, and now we get to share it with you, introducing you to the traditions, spirit, and love of the season. We had a beautiful Thanksgiving, and decorated the house for the Christmas season. You were awed by the lights on the tree, and seem to love singing carols with your parents every night (mostly you love sitting on your father's lap and banging along on the keys while he plays the piano). You don't even seem to mind the cold air! This season is not just new to you, it also feels new to us because it holds such a special new meaning to us now that you are here. We have so much to be thankful for!
To Calvin... | tagged development, life, milestones, parenting