May 13, 2007...

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Our big boy

Calvin is a good eater.  There isn't anything that we have given him that he has turned down: we tried asparagus, he loved it; beets, he enjoyed them; strong, fancy cheeses, he begged for more.  Yet tonight we thought maybe we would stump him by trying him out on artichoke.  Nope.  In fact, even though we gave it to him sans salt and butter, he loved it so much he laughed and reached for more, which is a lot for a kid who takes his eating so seriously.  And tonight marks the first night that he had a plate all his own that looked exactly like his parents' - curried pork, potato, and artichoke.  We did have some pureed zucchini and eggplant on hand just in case, and he ate those, too (we think he's growing, he's been a very big eater lately).

And we were so excited about his first time eating a big kid meal, and his love for his first taste of artichoke, that we decided it had to make it on the blog, and so it did.  But immediately after dinner he did something else that we would denote as blog-worthy.  Maybe it was the lack of pants tying down his legs, or the big kid dinner making him feel so old and capable, but whatever the reason, after dinner tonight he stopped crawling.  He's been alternating between walking and crawling for several weeks now, and he is by no means a good walker yet, but tonight he was determined to be a toddler instead of a cruiser, and the footage we got was just so darn funny, we thought we'd better share.  We hope it doesn't eclipse our artichoke story.

To Calvin, who is 11 months old today,

Unbelievable:  Almost a year has gone by since you were born!  And you have really made the most of your time here so far.   You started your eleventh month with only two teeth, but now have six, yes six!  There are four on top, and two on the bottom, making for a very adorable lopsided grin.  You also started the month taking a few steps here and there, but now you can walk clear across the room without assistance, and are able to stand straight up right in the middle of the floor - no more crawling over to tall objects to pull yourself up anymore!  This has given you a new sense of freedom, and the smile that decorates your face when you totter around the house is brilliant and endearing!  When we see you doing that we can't help but laugh ourselves.  In fact, we spend a lot more time laughing with you these days.  Your fine motor skills have also advanced and you now use your toys in the more intricate ways in which they were intended to be used.  We love watching you sort shapes, your face showing your deep concentration then breaking into a giggling smile as each of the shapes goes in, just to start over again.

But you aren't the only one learning:  your parents sure have come a long way in the past month, too.  Just a week ago we decided that we could embark on our first family vacation and we loaded up the car and headed to Holland, Michigan, to introduce you to the tulip festival there.  That trip taught us that you are a wonderfully well natured child and a miraculously good sleeper, and that the stuff we pack for you takes up way more space than the stuff we pack for ourselves!  A couple of weeks ago you spiked your first real fever - all the way up to 102.5 - and we were really scared, until a quick call reassured us that the doctors aren't really concerned until 105 degrees.  Yes, we still have a lot to learn about lightening up, but we are working on it, especially in the food department.  Before April you had tried chicken, several standard fruits and green veggies, and a few cereal grains.  Over the past month we have added pork and beef, several new fruits and veggies, and even new spices to your repertoire.  You especially loved the curried chicken, and  also seem to enjoy garlic and cinnamon.  You like flavor, and you like he eating.  You are just full of life and you bring great joy to our days.

No girls allowed

It was a like a secret club weekend around here.  Cortney had an all day scrapbook cropping party on both Saturday and Sunday, which is like a secret club on its own, so Jon and Calvin got a healthy dose of a boys only weekend.  There was swimming, Taco Bell (for Jon, that is), swinging and sliding at the park, walks in the stroller, and general outdoor mischief.  Thankfully everyone has arrived at Monday morning all in one piece.

Understanding toys.

Before the baby we all read up and stock up on the best toys to be found.  We also swarm to garage sales and hit up friends who are done having kids to build our toy stashes.  Then the baby arrives and we look at this little slug of a thing, and then at the toys, and then at the slug, then the toys, the slug, the toys - why did we buy all these toys?  No worries, as parents of newborns we entertain ourselves during tummy time (the baby's not ours) by fittings shapes in holes, assembling wooden puzzles, and setting off every toy in the room that plays a song or sound of some kind to see if we can time them just right and hit a rhythm. Then the baby starts rolling over/sitting up/crawling and now he or she is suddenly very aware of the toys in the room.  Wow, this is it, the moment we've been waiting for!  Now all the time, effort, and money will be worth something!  And with fascination you watch, day in and day out, as the baby moves from one toy to another, grabbing it up, sticking it in his or her mouth, taking a bite or a lick, then throwing it aside to move on to the next unsuspecting toy.  Well, okay.  It's not what we'd had in mind when we spent all those hours researching every company's promise for development stimulation, but at least they're being used, right?  At least they're being used.

The good news is, there is yet another step in toy usage, and Calvin reached that step over the past couple of months.  He's been removing the rings from the peg for months now, in order to put them in his mouth of course, but when he finally put a ring back on the peg, now that was exciting!  And even that was nothing in comparison to the moment that he stopped filling the hollow circle with drool and started fitting it into the circle indentation on his learning home - wow, we're really making headway now!  But today takes the cake, because today he moved from understanding what hole to put the circle in, to knowing where to put the star.  The moment seemed to be just as big for Calvin as it was for his parents, he is even learning to clap (only for himself, of course).  And so, today we celebrate the validation of toy ownership.