One week and all is well

Parenting has a persistent way of reminding us that all plans and good intentions are subject to change without notice.  One week ago today I heard Calvin wake up from his nap and start his usual afternoon monologue, about a half hour of every word, phrase, and memory he can come up with.  It's always such a joy to listen to him that sometimes I spend that extra half hour of "free time" sitting outside his door eavesdropping.   Usually we let him wake up on his own terms and wait for him to call us before we go get him, but last Monday, when 45 minutes later he still hadn't called for me and his usual chatter had become disconcertingly quiet, I took matters into my own hands and barged into his room.  Imagine my surprise at finding him more than half way out of the crib already, hanging by his forearms and lowering himself over the side, toes reaching for the floor.  The first thought through my head, of course, was "well, darn, there goes the confined sleeping stage we'd planned to hold on to until he was at least three."  As soon as Jon got home Calvin helped him take the side rail off his crib, making it effectively a toddler size day bed, they installed a guard rail over half the bed side (so he won't fall out), and we had a small celebration at dinner to mark this wonderful next big boy step.   Calvin took the change in typical Calvin fashion; he was excited about sleeping in the "new" bed, and he seemed to listen intently when we told him that once he climbed in bed for the night or nap he was to stay in bed until mommy or daddy came to get him.  After the 3 Bs –bath, (tooth) brushing, and books–we tucked him in and again reminded him of this important rule before dusting off and plugging in the reliable old baby monitor and preparing ourselves for what could have been a difficult night of lots of discipline and little sleep.  As it turned out, the only thing the baby monitor was really good for was listening to his night time banter, a redux of the post nap monologue (and this, by the way, is a really good use for the thing and I'm not sure why we didn't think of it earlier).  It's been a full week now and Calvin has consistently remained in bed and slept his full nap and night schedules (hear the sound of me knocking on wood as I type this).  And we've discovered a great secondary benefit in not having to lift our nearly 30lb toddler over the high crib side.  Sometimes a change of plans is a good thing.

Goodnight

The joy of reading

From the very beginning, we made reading an integral part of Calvin's daily routine. These days he has many "scheduled" book sessions—when he wakes up, just before nap, and just before bed—and he adores every minute of them. But there are also many "unscheduled" sessions, the times when he picks up a book of his own accord for the sheer pleasure of it, and those are the moments we treasure most. It is in these times when we see just how much attention Calvin has paid to the books as he retells the stories out loud, all by himself, page by page.

Calvin has become aware of the video camera these days, so we have to be more stealthy about capturing his spontaneous moments. Forgive the slight hidden camera approach as we present Calvin's interpretations of two current favorites: My Big Boy Potty by Joanna Cole and Moose Tracks by Karma Wilson. We've used subtitles to show the actual texts, but Calvin's version is pretty darn close!

To Calvin, who is two today,

Is it even possible to sum up an entire year of a young life in just a few paragraphs?  And yet, looking at you today, just today, we would be at a loss trying to describe what that year of changes entailed.  As the time passes, each day melts into the next, and sometimes whole weeks, even months, will blend together in our memories.  But in sitting down to reminisce about the past year, and looking at those pictures and videos from a year ago, we are reminded of just how far you really have come over the past 366 days:  from toddling to running, climbing stairs, turning somersaults, and even to full blown jumping; from a baby of few words, a handful at best, to a toddler with over 600 of them, and a growing grasp of phrases and sentences; from a shy introvert, to a full participant in dance, music, and library classes, and in Sunday School play room as well;  from a face stuffing, floor decorating eater, to a boy who uses his silverware and his napkin (most of the time), drinks from a glass, and will even set and clear the table and help load the dishwasher.  

We are coming to know you as a calm, gentle, and sensitive little boy who spends as much time thinking as acting, watching as doing, and listening as talking.  If we worried a year ago about your development without the daily exposure so many kids get in daycare, our fears have been set aside as we have seen you grow.  You love to share (even down to the very last fish cracker in your bowl or the only toy giraffe in the library), you are patient with others (always waiting your turn in line, never afraid to be last), and you have begun to fully take part in cooperative play (building towers or playing house with other kids in Sunday School).We absolutely love to hear you talk, especially to hear you practice your good manners with words and phrases like please, thank you, and excuse me, and we are so very proud of your happy and friendly demeanor, even when speaking with strangers (as long as your parents are near). 

You can sing your ABCs (mostly correctly), count to ten (though you sometimes forget "5"), and most days remember to do your chores (feeding the pets and setting the table), but perhaps one of our favorite developments has been that of imaginative play.  It was around Thanksgiving that you got your first play food set, and from then on there has been no stopping you.  You were so in love with that first set of food, pretending to cook all sorts of things, that it was soon followed by more food, then a set of pots and pans, plates and silverware, the kitchen itself, and now even condiments.  You can spend an uninterrupted hour playing by yourself in your kitchen, and we love to listen to you as you talk to yourself about your play.  But your imagination is far more active than even that.  The funniest example is the way you use one of your Maracas to vacuum the floor (when it isn't busy being an instrument, that is), and our favorite is probably the way you run around the house on all fours, roaring like a lion, barking like a dog, or meowing like a cat, and demand to be pet or fed.

If we had to sum up the past year in just a word or phrase it would be difficult to choose between a year of physical growth, intellectual achievements, or social advancements, but more likely than not we'd just have to say that the past year has been just plain fun.

Fudging the dates

Calvin's birthday is just around the corner - only two days away - but since this year it happens to fall on a Monday, and since a two year old doesn't care about dates, we celebrated today instead.  As with most things that are new to him, we spent the week preparing by reading books about birthdays and talking about our plans for the day.  Although he did have a solid opinion on what he wanted for dinner, that being "pizza, artichokes, strawberries, happy birthday cake" (honestly, in his words), two year olds are, thankfully, blissfully unaware of the usual birthday hullabaloo, and our party planning consisted of buying ingredients for a carrot cake, digging the last year's leftover decorations out of the basement, and deciding whether to pick up the pizza or have it delivered.  Calvin  With the recent heat-wave we decided to bake the cake (carrot) early, before it got too hot to use the oven (another great reason to order pizza for dinner) and then walk into town for the Dexter Ice Cream Social in order to get out of the house for the morning.  That turned out to be a great choice - the breeze and cloud cover made it more comfortable to be out of doors than in, and Calvin enjoyed the Social like it was one big birthday party.  He got a balloon, he got to feed llamas and goats, and he even got to take part in the all essential birthday pony ride.  Twice.  And he wasn't particularly shy about telling everyone that it was his birthday ("oh, and how old are you?"  "two!").  Then, following a much needed afternoon nap, he woke up ready to have a party all over again, which was a good thing, since the kitchen was already filled with one.  And, what the family party lacked in pony rides, it made up for tenfold with good company (his four favorite grandparents, his favorite aunt, and his favorite mom and favorite dad), food, and presents (of which his favorites happen to be a helicopter, a dollhouse, and condiments - yes condiments.  Who knew they made wooden condiments???).  We just hope he doesn't expect pony rides and a petting zoo every year.

The usual picture overkill can be found in the June 2008 album.