And the special today is....

We've had a special week filled with milestones and celebrations.  Monday's special was a birthday dinner at the Hillers' house.  Tuesday's special was Calvin's introduction to bananas, and to "chunks" of food.  Wednesday had several specials:  Cortney's birthday (the big 3-0 - shhhhhh);  Moose's birthday (the big 3-5, in human years, that is); Calvin learning to sit himself up; and, Calvin learning to truly crawl (Not on his tummy like in December, and not backwards like earlier this month, but forward while on hands and knees); Thursday's special was...well, Thursday actually wasn't special; but Friday?  Friday's special was (is) a celebratory work party with Jon's bosses and co-workers and Calvin's introduction to drinking water (which, by the way, he loves).  We think our downfall was Wednesday, when Calvin's friend, Liesl, came over to celebrate [Moose's] birthday and showed him how to crawl, but it was worth it because she brought with her Cortney's friends Becky and Julie who took her to lunch (a very courageous outing with three kids under the age of 14 months), and even brought a maize and blue cake, Spartans though they are.  This afternoon may have brought some reprieve, though, following a nice birthday lunch that Cortney and Calvin shared with friends Erinn and Leah, in the form of a book that doubles as a sort of play pen.  Yes, a book/play pen of sorts (thank you, Leah).  You'd have to see it to believe it so we took pictures.  It may not be sturdy enough to hold a determined child, it might be just the thing to deter a considering one.

Calvin's new smile

At least, we think it's a smile.  It started out looking like a smile when he did it while playing on his safari roller, but then at dinner it kind of looked like he was freaked out about something.  Smile...freaky scary face...whatever it is, it's kind of cute.  Or freaky.  One of the two.  He mostly does it between bites at the table, and we think it's his way of saying "hurry up with my next bite, will ya?"  And it goes along with his whole new found love of speech.  You know, baaa, daaa, maaa, naaa... whatever he's saying it sounds wonderful to us!  Except for the occasional deafening shriek, and the excessive crying that is now accompanying naps.  Last week he dropped his third nap and went to two, and immediately he went back to sleeping through the night - woo hoo!  But the nap time crying we could do without.  We've said this before and we'll say it again - why is it that the people who need the naps the most are the ones who want them the least?

A converstaion and a bit about the weather.

It has been a really weird winter.  Snow in October, temperatures in the forties and fifties throughout December and January...very weird.  And then, finally, winter hit with a vengeance in the form of a weekend ice storm that broke trees, downed power lines, and left our deck slippery enough to cause trouble for the poor dogs.  Monday saw many schools and businesses closed due to power outages and downed trees.  Even Jon got the day off because his office was one of those without power, and today his bosses moved operations to their institute location, as the power likely won't be restored until tomorrow or Thursday.  But, and this is easy for us to say since our power is on after only a brief interruption, everything sure is beautiful with a fine covering of shining ice, and the air seems so fresh when it is crisp and cold, with the sun shining brightly, albeit very coldly, all afternoon.

And Calvin must have really loved the day, too, because he and his mother had a long conversation about it at dinner:  Calvin "huh, huh, huh,"  (that was fun being out in the cold today) Cortney, "huh, huh, huh" (for you maybe, you were covered up), Calvin "mmmmm," (I like to watch the snow out the car window), Cortney, "mmmMmm" (you should have been sleeping instead), Calvin "aahmmm" (more squash please), Cortney "AAhmmM" (eat what's on your face first)...and so on.  You get the idea.  They conversed like that for upwards of two minutes, which had Jon laughing nearly to the point of tears.  This is the first time that Calvin has really seemed to talk to us, or to mimic in any way.  It was a beautiful conversation!

 

Eureka!

There are moments of sudden clarity in one's life when it truly feels as though others must actually be able to see the light bulb flick on over your head, and yesterday was one of those moments here in this household.  For weeks we have been struggling to get Calvin down for naps, and at night he seems reluctant to go to bed even though he is clearly exhausted.  And don't even get us started on the reappearance of the night wakings.  So Thursday morning, in a moment of utter desperation, we were racking our brains for ways to correct this new behavior when that light bulb lighting moment of clarity hit us - obviously his sleep patterns are changing, duh!  When we think about it, the last time we were experiencing such difficulties was when he was getting ready to drop the fourth nap and go to three, so we looked in our baby manual and lo and behold, around 7-8 months babies usually drop the third nap.  Duh!  So Thursday we did just that, keeping him up longer between naps, letting him sleep longer for the two naps, and putting him down earlier for bed at night, and we continued that trend yesterday.  The result?  Very easy naps and bedtime (he is even putting himself to sleep again!!!), and he's sleeping through the night again!  He is getting up about an hour early in the morning, but goes back to sleep if we encourage it, so we aren't too concerned.  Besides, when choosing between being up for an hour at three or getting up at six, we'll take the latter of the two, thank you.

To Calvin, who is seven months old today!

Seven months!  Wow!  It seems like that is how we always start these letters to you, and that is because with each passing month we find it harder to believe that time is slipping through our hands at such an alarming rate.  It seems like just yesterday that you would lay sleeping in our arms, light as a feather, but today you are too busy to fall asleep that easily, and too heavy and long for us to cradle that way.  This month you celebrated your first Christmas and, while it may have meant little to you, it will always be etched in our memories as a season to remember:  you visited Santa and did well on his lap, and then Santa visited you while you slept; you had your own stocking; you had your own presents; you ate your own Christmas dinner.  The day came and went too fast, but the memories will last us a lifetime. 

You didn't take any time off for the holiday, though!  In the past month you actually quit crawling, exchanging that mode of transport for the slightly easier log roll, but you continue to pull yourself up so that you can play while standing.  In fact, that trick is old hat to you, and your new favorite game is walking!  You love to pull yourself up and go for a walk while holding on to our hands.  Though you're no where near going solo, you are capable of cruising for a short distance, just a few tottering steps, while holding on to a table or a toy.  But perhaps our favorite milestone from the past month was your introduction to solid foods.  We started with rice cereal on your six month birthday, and every few days since we have introduced a new food.  Right now your menu includes rice and oatmeal cereals, peas, green beans, sweet potato, acorn squash, and avocado.  We are making all of your food for you, and we taste all of it first to make sure it's something that we would like to eat.  So far you have been a wonderful at and we really enjoy sharing meals with you, and watching your face whenever you taste something new.  There are so many other things that we can't wait to introduce you to over the next month, our little adventurer!