To Calvin, who is 3 years old today

Oh my, how the time has flown.  It would be a cliche for us to say that we remember your birth day like it was yesterday, and the truth is, we don't really.  We don't remember the sleepless nights really (perhaps because you were a pretty good sleeper all along), and we don't really remember the time of ten diaper changes a day (that is conveniently blocked from minds).  We do, though, remember those early days filled with pride and joy; days that were bright and sunny and cooled by a soft whispering breeze; the days started us off as a family and filled our lives with a love we'd had no previous capacity for understanding.  Three years ago.

Today our days themselves might be just the same–bright sun and a cool breeze–but quiet and soft are rarely part of our descriptive vocabulary anymore.  Over the past year your loves have not changed–you still love animals, books, nature, and your blanket–but the volume with which you express your love has definitely increased.  So, by the way, has your vocabulary.  Sitting at the breakfast table the other day, finding that we were short of kiwi for the morning, you expressed your disappointment eloquently with "that really irks me," and your myriad of words has never ceased to amaze your devoted public.  You have made friends all over our little village, from Miss Terry at the bakery, who gives you your twisted pretzel before library every week, to Mr. George at the camera shop, who develops our plethora of pictures, and even the ladies at the grocery store in our neighborhood.  You are a kind and friendly child, and have a fine grasp of manners that endears you to all you encounter, or at least to most.

It is hard for us to know what achievements of yours stand out anymore.  You know your alphabet and can count to eighteen (except that you miss fifteen almost without fail).  You can recognize and spell your own name successfully and have started tentatively to read along with us, and although you have yet to show interest in drawing the letters themselves you love drawing just about everything else.  You have a way with puzzles, and are very good at sorting anything and everythign within reach.  You are a wonderful help around the house.  You still have your own daily chores, such as feeding all the pets and setting the table, and you also assist with general household chores, like collecting the garbage, sorting the laundry to be washed, folding the laundry that was dried, vacuuming up after meals, watering plants, both inside and out, and helping with general straightening.  We each have our favorite times with you–daddy when you play the piano with him (you can now play twinkle twinkle with the aid of color coded music!) and me when you help me cook or bake by measuring ingredients and counting amounts. 

Though you are clearly a 3 year old, prone to your own bouts of willfulness and resistance, you are a profound little thinker and can usually talk your way through (though not out of) a difficult situation, come to your own conclusions, and, even though you don't get your own way, come to terms with the end result.  We love to watch your mind work this way–the thoughtful look you get on your face, the determined set of your mouth, and the hard look of concentration in your eyes.  This is also the look you get when you try new things, like reading, biking, or gardening (making sure you pull only weeds), and it is a strong contrast to the look of pure gaiety and youth that you wear when you play with your your favorite toys, or watch a rabbit or bird in our yard, or simply run around the center of the house singing at the top of your lungs.  Imagination, concentration, growth, and learning, these are the key ingredients to the joy in our lives today, and you are the source of them all.  We have loved watching you grow and change over the past year, and we look forward to the many challenges and opportunities that will come our way during the next.  Thank you for being who you are, for the joy you bring to our lives, and for the way you push us to become the people we have always wanted to be.

We love you, mom and dad

In a foot note for the blog, I will tell you that we celebrated his birthday with a family party on Saturday night, punctuated by presents (a Calvin sized broom, cool flashlights, balls, new favorite books, and a play grill),homemade pizza, and fresh strawberry shortcake.  We celebrated on Sunday by going out for ice cream.  Then today, on his real birthday, we celebrated one last time with grilled steak and shrimp (his actual dinner request!), cupcakes from our local bakery, and a walk to the mailbox to pick up birthday cards (which did not disappoint!).  We also grabbed some family photos.  We really wanted just one, but how many do you think it took to get there?  See for yourselves.  The full pared down collection can be seen in the Happy Birthday Calvin photo album.

Please rain

It's our fault.  There was a ninety percent chance of rain today.  Ninety percent.  Did it rain?  Not really.  Want to know why?  Because we installed a new rain barrel over the weekend, that's why.  Last year when we installed our first barrel we hurried to get it in before a predicted day of rains came, but the day brought no rain (after the installation, that is).  In fact, it was over a week before we got the chance to try it out.  Well, we've committed the same blunder again.  So, blame us.  It will probably rain some time next week.

Nature seems to like us

The toad in our rock river, the mama robin under our deck, the chipmunk under our porch, the rabbit under our woodpile, the myriad of birds in our yard.  We seem to be on good terms with nature.

Toad

This little fella likes to visit our rock river regularly.  Or maybe he's living there, which would be even better.  We have become quite attached to him.

Running Ann Arbor

Yesterday was the day of the annual Dexter Ann Arbor run. This was my first year of running in our local race, and it was also my very first time competing in a 10K (6.2 miles). I spent most of the past two months being absolutely certain that it would at least be cold and rainy, since my first go at the Shamrock Shuffle was such a weather disaster, but as it turned out it was a beautiful day for it, with temperatures in the low 50s at the start, and a warming, but not scorching, sun overhead.  My goal, since I was well aware of the hills involved, especially the half mile long torturer leading up to the finish line, was to finish with a 10 minute mile average, and since I was only aiming to compete with myself in this race, I can confidently say that I won, finishing with a time of 55:28 (according to my stop watch), making my mile average just below 9 minutes.  That is by far a personal best, and in my longest race yet to boot.

But I realize that this blog isn't about me, so let me get back to the most important character involved and say that Calvin also had a great weekend.  Saturday night he had a dinner party with his Grandparents O and Aunt Ann (when we arrived to pick him up the house was completely dark and they were all playing with flashlights - you can only imagine the fun he had and how often we've heard about it since).  He also got to see his uncle Curtis and friend Julie who came for the weekend to run in Sunday's race and to share the stories of their trip to Japan (from which they returned last weekend, and if I thought I did a great job running yesterday, you should know that they both beat me, even with only a week to recover from jet lag).  And yesterday we closed out our race morning with an afternoon spent at the Taste of Ann Arbor.  I can't really say that the crowds were worth it - it seemed like one of the most poorly organized of Ann Arbor events we've attended - but the food was good and Calvin, at least, enjoyed the live entertainment while we enjoyed great beer.  Grandparents, visiting uncles, and live entertainment, oh my.  Visit the May 2009 album one last time for pictures from this weekend and last.