Calvin has learned some new dance moves - check it out.
In the second video, you can hear him say "all done" when one of the two toys stops playing a song. He then says "good job" and "all done" after he turns off the second song.
In the third video, he says "dall" for "ball", does a little magic trick, and finishes with an "all done" for "ta-da!".
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Calvin's first haircut
It was definitely time for Calvin to get his hair cut. His hair was over his ears and down in his eyes, and I could never get it to look combed and normal. 
For about 10 seconds I considered doing it myself - I know the general concept of how to cut hair, and he's only 16 months old so he wouldn't mind if it wasn't perfect. But then my imagination helpfully provided images of Calvin as a patchy, bloody mess and I quickly admitted that I should leave this job to the professionals.
A quick google search led me to a nearby place that specializes in children's haircuts, so that's where we headed last Saturday afternoon. Inside was filled with brightly colored everything, toys, cool car- and plane-shaped chairs, video games, and TV screens - evidently the perfect 10-minute tranquilizer for an impatient, energetic, squirmy toddler.
From the minute we strapped him into his cool yellow car, Calvin's eyes were glued to old school Sesame Street and Super Grover.
Calvin's new haircut looked great - she did an amazing job, especially considering her subject and the mood he was in last weekend. I am soooo glad I didn't attempt Calvin's first haircut at home. 
I think Calvin could have done without the final couple minutes of styling, but he looks so cute with spiked hair!
For about 10 seconds I considered doing it myself - I know the general concept of how to cut hair, and he's only 16 months old so he wouldn't mind if it wasn't perfect. But then my imagination helpfully provided images of Calvin as a patchy, bloody mess and I quickly admitted that I should leave this job to the professionals. A quick google search led me to a nearby place that specializes in children's haircuts, so that's where we headed last Saturday afternoon. Inside was filled with brightly colored everything, toys, cool car- and plane-shaped chairs, video games, and TV screens - evidently the perfect 10-minute tranquilizer for an impatient, energetic, squirmy toddler.
From the minute we strapped him into his cool yellow car, Calvin's eyes were glued to old school Sesame Street and Super Grover. 
Calvin's new haircut looked great - she did an amazing job, especially considering her subject and the mood he was in last weekend. I am soooo glad I didn't attempt Calvin's first haircut at home. 
I think Calvin could have done without the final couple minutes of styling, but he looks so cute with spiked hair!
Monday, June 20, 2011
New words
Just as the doctor promised a month ago when we sat in his office and I lamented Calvin's lack of "mommy" and other words, our son's vocabulary has been growing at an astonishing pace.
It started about 3 weeks ago with Calvin's new word-obsession: "hot".
Everything that is a light is "hot", an impression he probably got from touching too many hot lightbulbs. But it doesn't matter if it's the light on the outside of the dishwasher or the light inside the refrigerator, if it's on it's "hot".
Sometimes he asks the question "hot?", especially when given food or when filling the bathtub. Then, if the food or water has a temperature other than luke warm, he declares it to be "hot!". He even adds his version of the hand sign, which I've been using for a while now, especially when waiting for his food to cool down enough to serve it to the starving, crying, tortured child.
Although, sometimes he uses "hot" for "cold", which completely confuses me when it's the middle of the night and my slow, half-awake brain responds to his crying and hears "hot" but knows he's "cold". This happened last night, and I eventually figured it out after first taking his sleepsack (a blanket that zips up so he can wear it - one of the best inventions ever) off, to which he completely freaked out, and then putting it back on and added his quilt on top, at which point he instantly calmed down and fell right back to sleep.
Then, he started pointing to everything and saying "that", sometimes as a request, sometimes as a question. "What's for dinner?" was a finger and "that" directed at the bowl on the counter. Trees, planes, cars, spoons, dog bowls, wheels, rocks, flowers - anything and everything got a "that", which I can only assume was his way of asking for the words to describe them. Although, sometimes his pointing and "that" became a demand for the spoon in my hand or the cup of milk in front of him or seconds on breakfast oatmeal. "That", by the way, sounds very similar to "hot" and "light", especially coming from Calvin, so I suppose it's not surprising those were the succession of new words, at least in the beginning.
Now, over just the past few days, he has added "dall" for "ball", "diz" for "drink", "sis" for "circle", "good job" (which he draws out in a very cute "good jooob"), "thank you" (first at daycare, and I'm pretty sure I've heard it once), and other words. Somewhere along the way he stared saying "all done", but I don't remember when that started.
Still no "mommy", though... He can make the "ma ma ma" sound, which he'll occasionally oblige me with when he's crying. But no "ma ma" or anything remotely resembling "mommy" when he sees me or wants me to pick him up or anything. Little booger!
It started about 3 weeks ago with Calvin's new word-obsession: "hot".
Everything that is a light is "hot", an impression he probably got from touching too many hot lightbulbs. But it doesn't matter if it's the light on the outside of the dishwasher or the light inside the refrigerator, if it's on it's "hot".
Sometimes he asks the question "hot?", especially when given food or when filling the bathtub. Then, if the food or water has a temperature other than luke warm, he declares it to be "hot!". He even adds his version of the hand sign, which I've been using for a while now, especially when waiting for his food to cool down enough to serve it to the starving, crying, tortured child.
Although, sometimes he uses "hot" for "cold", which completely confuses me when it's the middle of the night and my slow, half-awake brain responds to his crying and hears "hot" but knows he's "cold". This happened last night, and I eventually figured it out after first taking his sleepsack (a blanket that zips up so he can wear it - one of the best inventions ever) off, to which he completely freaked out, and then putting it back on and added his quilt on top, at which point he instantly calmed down and fell right back to sleep.
Then, he started pointing to everything and saying "that", sometimes as a request, sometimes as a question. "What's for dinner?" was a finger and "that" directed at the bowl on the counter. Trees, planes, cars, spoons, dog bowls, wheels, rocks, flowers - anything and everything got a "that", which I can only assume was his way of asking for the words to describe them. Although, sometimes his pointing and "that" became a demand for the spoon in my hand or the cup of milk in front of him or seconds on breakfast oatmeal. "That", by the way, sounds very similar to "hot" and "light", especially coming from Calvin, so I suppose it's not surprising those were the succession of new words, at least in the beginning.
Now, over just the past few days, he has added "dall" for "ball", "diz" for "drink", "sis" for "circle", "good job" (which he draws out in a very cute "good jooob"), "thank you" (first at daycare, and I'm pretty sure I've heard it once), and other words. Somewhere along the way he stared saying "all done", but I don't remember when that started.
Still no "mommy", though... He can make the "ma ma ma" sound, which he'll occasionally oblige me with when he's crying. But no "ma ma" or anything remotely resembling "mommy" when he sees me or wants me to pick him up or anything. Little booger!
Monday, June 6, 2011
A trip to the Park
A few days before Bryan left for D.C. we went to the local park to play. It was so much fun!
We played chase (please ignore the fact that my toddling toddler was running with sticks in his hand)...
... romped through the grass...
...paused to watch a plane in the sky (he is a Hoke, after all!)...
...swung on the swings...
... and had an all around great day.
We played chase (please ignore the fact that my toddling toddler was running with sticks in his hand)...
... romped through the grass...
...paused to watch a plane in the sky (he is a Hoke, after all!)...
...swung on the swings...
... and had an all around great day.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Helper in the Garden
Calvin is my little helper in the garden. Sort of anyway. He likes to test the stability of the fence, finding all the boards that fall off when he rocks it back and forth as hard as he can. (that kid is strong and my fence is not!)
Flowers are interesting enough to a 15-month old, but now that he's learned it is okay to pull some flowers, he wants to pull them all! 
And why look at flowers when you could be holding a stick!!!
Flowers are interesting enough to a 15-month old, but now that he's learned it is okay to pull some flowers, he wants to pull them all! 
And why look at flowers when you could be holding a stick!!!
Thursday, June 2, 2011
We're on the Move
...or, some of us are anyway.
This summer we're moving to Washington D.C.! We are very excited to live there for the next few years, near friends and my cousin Jaime, much closer to other friends and family in the southeast, and in an excellent location to explore the northeast, which neither of us have spent much time in at all. We will definitely miss Colorado, though!
But because of lots of complicating reasons, we aren't heading out at the same time. Bryan left a week ago and has already started his new job. He's staying with friends for now and is looking for a place out there for us to move to. Calvin and I will join him in July, after (hopefully) selling our house in Westminster, CO and (definitely) making some good progress toward completing my degree. It's pretty tough being separated, and my brain is making lists of lists of lists to stay on top of things while taking care of Calvin, two dogs, and a cat, keeping the house in clean/mowed/you-want-to-buy-this-house condition, and finishing a PhD. Needless to say, there isn't much extra time at the end of the day for leisure activities like blogging (sleep always takes priority). But tonight the baby is bathed and sleeping, the laundry is washing, the house is clean, and I'm enjoying a perfect Colorado evening on the back patio under Christmas lights strung through the trees.
We are lucky (and we know it!) because our separation is only for a month and we've had lots of help from family. Both of our parents each spent a full week in April helping us get our house in awesome selling condition. They helped with repairs big (relatively speaking) and small. Doors, plumbing, landscaping, and painting - we couldn't have done all the work without you. Thank you, moms and dads!
And the support continues with visits by family every weekend while Bryan is in D.C. Having someone else here to watch Calvin while I mow the grass and go grocery shopping, someone to get up with in the middle of the night when Calvin is running a temp, and just someone to talk to in the evenings is a huge help.
This summer we're moving to Washington D.C.! We are very excited to live there for the next few years, near friends and my cousin Jaime, much closer to other friends and family in the southeast, and in an excellent location to explore the northeast, which neither of us have spent much time in at all. We will definitely miss Colorado, though! But because of lots of complicating reasons, we aren't heading out at the same time. Bryan left a week ago and has already started his new job. He's staying with friends for now and is looking for a place out there for us to move to. Calvin and I will join him in July, after (hopefully) selling our house in Westminster, CO and (definitely) making some good progress toward completing my degree. It's pretty tough being separated, and my brain is making lists of lists of lists to stay on top of things while taking care of Calvin, two dogs, and a cat, keeping the house in clean/mowed/you-want-to-buy-this-house condition, and finishing a PhD. Needless to say, there isn't much extra time at the end of the day for leisure activities like blogging (sleep always takes priority). But tonight the baby is bathed and sleeping, the laundry is washing, the house is clean, and I'm enjoying a perfect Colorado evening on the back patio under Christmas lights strung through the trees.
We are lucky (and we know it!) because our separation is only for a month and we've had lots of help from family. Both of our parents each spent a full week in April helping us get our house in awesome selling condition. They helped with repairs big (relatively speaking) and small. Doors, plumbing, landscaping, and painting - we couldn't have done all the work without you. Thank you, moms and dads!
And the support continues with visits by family every weekend while Bryan is in D.C. Having someone else here to watch Calvin while I mow the grass and go grocery shopping, someone to get up with in the middle of the night when Calvin is running a temp, and just someone to talk to in the evenings is a huge help.
Of course, there are ways to mow the grass when no one else is around to help babysit a toddler.
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