Driving edamommy up the wall

Animals of all kinds are able to identify their offspring by the unique sound of their call.  For whales this sound is a haunting bellow, for birds a beautiful song, and for dolphins a cheerful chirp.  Other animals are not so lucky - next time you are compiling your sympathy list you might consider including that poor hyena mother, or the mom to a baby howler monkey.  And somewhere along that scale, of course, fall human mothers.  We hear it all:  tears, screaming, laughing, babbling, and, we can't forget, whining.  Who can forget the whining?  At this point in time we are convinced that the whine is the single most identifiable sound in Calvin's vocal range - we can pick it out of a busy room anywhere, and it often sends us heading in the opposite direction if possible.  Unfortunately the whine is also the most frequently heard sound, and it has a long list of uses to which Calvin is forever adding.  Over the past few weeks Calvin has begun to take an interest in "driving" things around the house, such as toy cars, elephants on wheels, and even blocks without wheels - he will drive anything that will push easily, and of course he accompanies this new driving skill with motor noises that sound suspiciously similar to his ear-piercing whine.  We try to remind ourselves that this is creativity at its earliest and best, but that's hard to keep in mind as we sit through lunch watching and listening to Calvin driving his edamame across his highchair tray, wondering if we wouldn't prefer that baby howler monkey after all.

Fancy footwork

Look out America, there's a new So You Think You Can Dance contestant in the making! He's no Danny Tidwell (who, by the way, should have won this season) yet, but he practices his newfound art every time he hears anything remotely resembling music, and we've captured a few choice moments for your viewing pleasure. The first part of this video was taken last week, after his second dance class, while the rest of the video was taken this afternoon, after his third class. We like to imagine that we see improvement.

Music credits go to Fisher Price, Propellerheads, and Mario Spinetti.

The daredevil

Pick a good one

When the temperatures cool, and the late day shadows lengthen, we find ourselves hungering for the traditional colors, smells, and flavors of fall.  Last Wednesday, well after the sun had gone for the night, we sat bundled up on our deck, huddled around a smoky fire drinking hot cider.  On Friday we went through our recipe box, moving all those warm weather recipes to the back and replacing them with those rich and spicy fall recipes, like squash dishes, and stews.  Then today we made that oh so cherished seasonal trek to the apple orchard down the road.  It was the opening weekend of their annual Country Fair, complete with petting farm, pony rides, play areas, apple and pumpkin picking, haunted outbuildings, and, of course, fresh cider and doughnuts.  The trees and grass might still be green, and the warmer days of Indian Summer still ahead of us, but we just couldn't wait any longer to enjoy that wonderful grocery list of fall pleasures.  For some reason Calvin doesn't seem to remember having been there last year, and he greeted the occasion with wonder and excitement.  He loved the llamas and the swings, was flabbergasted by the corn, and was perhaps a little too enthusiastic about the apple picking (it was hard to explain to him that we were supposed to wait until later before eating apples we picked).  An orchard, particularly this orchard, is a very pleasant place to be during the changing of the seasons, and this visit will certainly not be our last. 

The classic apple picking pictures are in our Sept 15-21 photo album. 

 

A saving grace

We will be the first to admit that our beloved Michigan Wolverines have fallen short of expectations this year, although to be truly candid we are not sure who set such high expectations for them in the first place.  Ranked fifth?  Honestly, our quarterback has been questionable from the beginning and our number of experienced and talented players has been greatly reduced recently.  Every program goes through rebuilding years, we can accept that.  In fact, we expected it.  The losses might be disappointing, but they are not crushing.  When was the last time State even went to a bowl game?  That's what we thought.  And besides, in the mean time we have our beloved Michigan Marching Band to fulfill our need for talented performance and tonight we took Calvin to see their Friday night rehearsal.  It was his first encounter with the big band that his mother marched in during her college years, and it was clearly a hit.  He clapped and danced, and every time they stopped playing he would frantically sign "please music please" to the amusement of his parents and other onlookers.  This was, perhaps, his first real lesson that even the word "please" will not bring one everything they desire.