Tulip Time!

Plagued by an overwhelming case of spring fever and the need to get out and do something, and faced with the generous offer by Jon's bosses to use their condo on the big lake, we found ourselves forced to go out of town this past weekend and take in the sights of Holland, Michigan's Tulip Time! festival.  Twist our arm, right?  This was the first time that just the three of us had traveled and we were a little worried about the logistics of the long drive with Calvin and getting him to sleep in a house that wasn't his own.  We shouldn't have been worried.  On the trip out, Thursday evening, he babbled for 40 minutes, cried for 20, then slept for 90.  And lucky for us, after we arrived and gave him a bath and a quick cuddle, he went right back to sleep and slept the whole night!  He napped and slept well while we were gone, and the trip home was much the same, minus the 20 minutes of crying!  It seems that he has his parents' penchant for traveling.

All three of us really seemed to love the break from the routine, too.  Friday was a beautiful weather day and we had a great time checking out the tulips and the tourist spots;  at Dutch Village Calvin was intrigued by the flowers, enthralled by the farm animals, and only slightly worried about the carousel;  back in town he was still intrigued by the flowers, tickled by the dancers, and confused by eating outside;  and back at the condo he loved the walk down to the beach, was curious about the sand, and thought the waves were funny.  Saturday was cloudy and a little chillier, but it was still a fine day and we spent it visiting the local food haunts, with breakfast at the Windmill restaurant (what a line!) and lunch at the 8th Street Grille, and laughing at more flowers and more fun animals to pet.  We finished our visit with one last tourist stop, this one to Veldheer Tulip Gardens with its rows and rows of tulips and acres and acres of bison, as well as a wooden shoe factory.  It was a wonderful weekend and we really have to hand it to Calvin.  We asked a lot of him this weekend, expecting him to sleep in a strange place, miss naps and still be good in restaurants and interact with lots of strangers and strange things, but he adapted to the situation without flaw and that made the whole trip very enjoyable and very worth while.  He was certainly our little angel the whole trip!

 And of course there are tons of pictures in the May4-11 photo album.

Adding spice to our lives

Or at least to Calvin's.  We got tired of always feeding him just plain pureed fruits and vegetables, so we started adding some natural spices for him to try.  We started this afternoon with cinnamon in the applesauce and, though we were nervous about this transition, the introduction went pretty well.  Actually, we aren't at all certain that he cared one bit about the new flavor - he showed no real preference over bites either with or without the spice in them.  Oh well.  In general he seems awfully distracted these days when we are inside, but who can blame him?  Now that he's had a taste of playing outside in the yard and going to watch the ducks at the pond (which he invariably laughs at), why on earth would he want to play inside?  Seriously, the last few days it has really felt like spring, possibly even summer, finally arrived.  Of course, we can't really say "finally arrived," because it's still March and this is still Michigan.  Heck, around here spring can't really be considered late until June, so the recent days of sunny and seventy have been a wonderful treat.  Unfortunately, it looks like we will be saying goodbye to summer and hello to spring over the next week or so, but that was to be expected.  Calvin will just have to go back to being happy with his indoor play.

Eating the outdoors

Calvin had his nine month pediatrician appointment this morning and the consensus is that all is well.  Better than well, actually.  The pediatrician said that he is well ahead of the game on physical development, and his verbal development is right on track (no more worrying for his parents, then).  He measured over 28 inches, putting him in the 50th percentile for height (a good place to be) and weighed in at a healthy 19 pounds, which puts him in the 35th percentile for weight (the doctor thought this was probably due to how extremely active he is all day every day!), and his head circumference fell in the 75th percentile.  We got the go-ahead for lots of new foods, the first of which will be cheese - yay!

Then this afternoon we were blessed with such a beautiful spring day that Cortney and Calvin just couldn't stand to spend it indoors, so instead they took a long walk, followed by some driveway playtime.  Calvin was really too young to truly enjoy outdoor playtime the last time that it was warm, so this was really like an introduction to him, and, as usual, he took it very seriously.  It wasn't long before he made it very clear that he intended to eat as much of the outdoors as possible, but his mother made that goal very difficult (no, Calvin, we don't eat rocks).  Eating or not, however, he was more than a little disappointed about having to go inside for a real lunch (until he saw the banana, that is).

The lion has arrived

We were awakened in the wee hours of the morning by the sound of ice pellets hitting our windows and roof.  Wow that can be a loud sound!  Then for the second time this year Jon decided to start the day by working at home due to rather iffy road conditions, and the ice continued to come down until about 10:00 a.m. when it turned into a really hard, pouring rain.  What was really striking about this morning's weather, though, was the return of thunder.  In this part of the country the first thunder of the year has the same kind of significance as the first robin, or the first tulip, and we figure that spring is on its way.  Of course, just as with the first robin or tulip, it doesn't mean we won't see any more winter, it just means that we can feel ourselves getting a toe hold on the incoming warmer weather, a hold we will be reluctant to let go of.  And the timing of today's first thunderstorm of the season can't be missed either, because it just drives home the old saying "in like a lion."  With that kind of literal translation opening the month we expect the end of March to be all fluffy and white this year.

True Michigan spring

It was 27 degrees on Saturday morning.  We kid you not - 27 degrees.  We had been all set to go to the zoo, but decided instead to stay home and bake 12 dozen cookies for church, some for the Confirmation banquet and some for the Sunday morning coffee hour.  Sunday was beautiful, though, and today even more so.  From 27 degrees on Saturday morning we got to about 63 degrees this afternoon!  Cortney and Raspberry enjoyed a long walk in the neighborhood today (the treadmill is jealous), and then couldn't resist the hamburger when they went grocery shopping.  So for the first time this season we all enjoyed a good summer meal - grilled burgers with grilled buns, lettuce, tomato, onion, and avocado, green beans, and salad (also with all the above fixins).  We spent the evening lounging in a house with open windows, a breeze playing around us, and then retired early, the smell of the outdoors lingering in the air.  Argh, too poetic.  Let's just say it was a really nice day, and we hear that tomorrow is likely to be even better!