Calvin meet Ollie. No, not eat Ollie.

Calvin is always intrigued by the dogs, and everyone seems to get along well.  Diamond ignores him for the most part, Moose wants to protect him (from us whenever he is crying), and Ollie is in awe of him.  Today, though, was the first time any of our four legged family tried to snuggle him.  Ollie was the courgeous canine who took it upon himself to keep the baby warm on such a cold day, and Calvin couldn't have been more thrilled.  Of course, his excitement was mainly due to the fact that he was sure Ollie was a new toy to chew on, but to Ollie any attention is good attention and he just soaked it all up.  And, no, we didn't let Calvin chew on the dog, but we did take a lot of pictures that we posted in the 22nd week album.

Baby, it's cold outside.

Today was the coldest day of Calvin's life.  Seriously.  This fall season has been a little strange.  Halloween was uncommonly warm this year, so it's hard to believe that he experienced snow a couple of weeks earlier than that, but he did.  Thus today's snow wasn't anything new, but it was more plentiful.  It snowed all day.  Really.  All day.  It mesmerized Calvin completely (he gets that from his mother who loves this time of the year).  Of course the ground is still too warm for it to collect in any great amount, even if the air temperature was frigid beyond early November belief, but a thin cheesecloth of snow is covering the ground as far as the eye can see.  So we did what any self respecting Michigan family would do under these cirucmstances - we canceled all our evening plans, lit a fire, and ate ice cream for dessert.  Well, Calvin didn't get his ice cream directly, but he did get to enjoy the fire directly, and he found it just as fascinating as he found the snow.  He actually stood, holding onto our coffee table, and watched the flickering of the flames for a very long time (well, upwards of 2 minutes, but that's a really long time baby minutes).

Tricks and treats

Yep.  Having kids keeps you young.  Or maybe we were immature all along, it's hard to say, but we were both excited about Halloween all day.  Jon even came home early from work so that we could be ready.  We decorated with a flag, a wind sock, and, of course, a family of jack-o-lanterns, and then we dressed up.  Actually, we dressed up our son (and took lots of pictures which are in the 21st week photo album) and just wore head gear ourselves.  We took turns taking our little giraffe for short neighborhood strolls while the other parent handed out treats, and Jon walked around the corner to visit Kristin and Matt's and even scored some candy in the process (they had better stuff than we did...).  The evening really tired the little guy out - all the visitors and the barking dogs and the cool fresh air - and he zonked out a little earlier than usual even.  There is a bit of sadness here, too, as we realize that this was Calvin's first real "first" holiday, and now it has gone by.  That and he won't be able to wear the giraffe costume again next year...  But we are looking forward to sharing the upcoming holiday season Calvin and teaching him all about our traditions!  Yes, having children does keep us young, and it gives these holidays a deeper, richer meaning that we are really enjoying!

 

Who is entertaining whom here?

We've been asked this question several times, especially after we posted the video of Calvin and Jon playing peek-a-boo.  Here is some more evidence in the matter.  Let's take a vote.

A Jumper by any other name...

We had this doorway jumper for Calvin which, after hearing how other kids his age were enjoying theirs, we finally put up.  We sort of figured that it would be an extensive installation, but in all actuality it was very simple.  In fact, the hardest part about the assembly and installation was having to use a screwdriver to open the battery case.  Battery case you might ask?  For what?  Well, they don't make jumpers like they used to.  The one we had came with an activity tray and removeable electronic toy console (better known as a whatchamawhoozit) that made Calvin cry every time the music played when he spun the shiny wheel in the middle.  This was an extremely unfortunate circumstance because Calvin's new love in life is spinning things (and someone in the commercial baby world knew that was coming because every toy we have has a spinny majiger on it).  And aside from the fact that the toy made him cry, the jumper was basically useless.  The tray set the whole seat off balance, the result of which was Calvin's obstinate refusal to do anything but lean back.  And spin the spinny do-da. And cry.  This was a major disappointment to both of us, Jon specifically, since he loved his own doorway jumper at that age (and remembers it so well, really). 

The moral of this story?  Sometimes less is more.  After three days with this failure of a jumpy seat, we decided to exchange it for Johnny, the good ol' boy.  You know, Johnny Jumpup?  He may be wearing a new suit, a sage green one with bugs all over it, but he's still the most reliable old pal on the block.  And it may look boring by comparison, but man is it fun!  And it sure gets Calvin moving.  We see a video in the future, possibly set to "I feel like dancing."