Absolutely every day with a toddler is amazing. We continually find ourselves asking "did you know he could do that?" or "has he done that before?" the answer to which is more often than not "no," sending us down that great spiraling path of utter amazement. Calvin is growing so fast, learning so many things, and gaining so many skills right before our eyes. He has boundless energy and a growing imagination, and every day is a completely new adventure. We know that sounds cliche, but the longer we live, the more we find life to be full of those. After asking his age, people invariably respond with "oh, what a fun age," and yes, we agree, but besides being fun, it's also absolutely amazing. Every day we are reminded to count our blessings, and there certainly are many of those.
Why is it that most kids spend such a large portion of their childhood trying really hard to grow up, while so many adults spend their grown up years trying to be young again? Cliche, we know, but only now is this becoming so very obvious to us. Calvin spends all day trying to do what we are doing. For a while there we were spending what seemed like much of our days enduring tantrums after explaining to him that he was too little for this or that, but a month ago we did a little soul searching and reassessed our previously set boundaries, bringing peace back to the neighborhood. You'd think we'd taken him to Disney World when we gave him the basket from the dishwasher and let him put the utensils away. It's now his favorite chore (he even puts them in the right places). Same with setting the table, feeding the animals, and even washing the dishes (sans the sharp knives, of course). And while he's not allowed to actually help us cook, he is allowed to pull a chair up to the counter and use his own pans to "cook" nearby. No matter what we are doing he wants to be part of it, from talking on the phone or folding laundry, to putting away toys and yes, that is a picture of him putting a diaper on his stuffed bear (heck, tonight he tried to give it a sippy cup and then put it to bed). We know we should be thankful - he really is helpful in so many ways, and provides a heck of a lot of comedic entertainment to boot - but think that somebody ought to be enjoying childhood here. Maybe the next time he's loading the dryer or putting away his laundry we'll play with his toys (we've had our eyes on that soft rocking horse for a while now).
Entering into the deep months of winter we knew we were going to have our work cut out for us: wintering with an infant is one thing, but being stuck inside all winter with a toddler? We wouldn't wish it on anyone. Cortney is increasingly thankful that we had the foresight to sign up for an abundance of activities this season, and with dance class on Tuesdays, library class on Wednesdays, and music class on Thursdays, the monotony of the season has been greatly livened. Still, with the mild January that we've had, rather than having snow for sledding, we have rain to keep us inside all the other four days of the week so we've had to be creative when it comes to activities in order to keep the whole household entertained. Calvin does pretty well building with his blocks, playing his musical instruments, or "reading" the pictures in his books, but we find ourselves needing stimulation as well, and Calvin is our usual project. So far this winter Calvin has learned how to hold his pencil correctly, how to set the table (we shared the fruits of that labor with you yesterday), and how to play high vs. low notes, white vs. black keys, and loud vs. (more importantly) soft on the piano. And we have whiled away what would have otherwise been many a boring hour by drying the bathroom after water play time in hopes that this will bring back thoughts of warm days at the pool or beach. It's not working, so instead we find ourselves hoping that April is a lot closer than it looks.
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.
Absolutely every day with a toddler is amazing. We continually find ourselves asking "did you know he could do that?" or "has he done that before?" the answer to which is more often than not "no," sending us down that great spiraling path of utter amazement. Calvin is growing so fast, learning so many things, and gaining so many skills right before our eyes. He has 
boundless energy and a growing imagination, and every day is a completely new adventure. We know that sounds cliche, but the longer we live, the more we find life to be full of those. After asking his age, people invariably respond with "oh, what a fun age," and yes, we agree, but besides being fun, it's also absolutely amazing. Every day we are reminded to count our blessings, and there certainly are many of those.
development, 
