Easter eggs

Calvin and I dyed Easter eggs earlier this week to take to an egg hunt that he had been invited to by some friends. I didn't get any pictures of the actual dying process because close supervision was necessary after a rough start. I had opened the packet of dye tablets and asked Calvin to put one tablet in each of the cups he had set out earlier. When I came back inside from checking on the cat (all of 10 seconds later) I found Calvin flinging purple spit onto the floor. He had put the purple tablet in his mouth and found it to be rather disgusting so he grabbed it out of his mouth and dropped it onto the floor. Luckily, our night only got better from there. Anyway, he had fun dunking the eggs and grabbing them out of the cups with his hands. He had even more fun smashing eggs together when we were done cleaning up.


The finished product. Two missing...
Right before he smashed the eggs together.
Poking a hole into an egg.

Showing me his eggs.
If I had only been a second faster with the camera. This is his face after throwing his head back and howling with laughter. He thought it was so funny to smash the eggs together.

Spring update

Calvin has been learning about shadows and had a lot of fun with his one morning when the sun was streaming through the windows.
Tried to get a good picture but this is all he would give me!

We have certainly been taking advantage of the amazing weather we have been having recently. All Calvin wants to do is "play outside" and "go to park." The schools are on Spring Break so we have been able to go to the elementary school (the "park") during the day all week. If we aren't there we are in our driveway/backyard playing baseball, soccer, basketball, or digging in the garden. We also have been loving the extra daylight in the evenings because we get to stay out longer. Here's hoping that this beautiful weather lasts through the Spring right into Summer!

We had Calvin's first parent/teacher conference last week. He's doing well in school and his teacher reports that they enjoy having him in class. When asked what he hopes to do at school Calvin's answer is usually "play puppets." His class has finger puppets that he just loves to play with. He still enjoys puzzles and reading books with the assistant teacher.

Potty training has begun! Well, it did a few weeks ago but we've had a set back. Within the first week Calvin wasn't having any accidents and was even waking up dry at nap time and in the morning. Recently his new game is to tell us that he needs to go potty but then refuse to try. He has found a button to push and he pushes it a lot!

We are remodeling our downstairs bathroom/laundry room. Once everything is done I think it's going to look really good but right now it's a disaster. Not much left to do but there never seems to be enough time to get much done at once. Hopefully this weekend will be productive.

Kitchen redo

Old counter top.
Old sink.
Old plumbing and water filter system that hadn't been kept up while the house was on the market so we decided to get rid of it.
Calvin eating breakfast. He saw the camera on the table and insisted that I take photos of him. Most were blurry though.
The old sink hole. Nice and rusty.
Calvin helping.
Cutest helper ever.
More helping.
While Calvin was using my little cordless screwdriver he thought I should use his and set it on the counter top for me.
New plumbing. Notice that the garbage disposal moved from right to left.
New gleaming white sink. I love, love, love this sink. The left side is so large I can set a 12 inch frying pan flat on the bottom of the sink.
New counter tops. So much nicer. The pictures really don't do them justice.

Advent Calendar

Calvin's first Advent calendar! Each little bag holds a trinket, candy, stickers, or a few coins. He and I made the ornaments after I realized that we were not going to get out of Michael's without buying the clear plastic ornaments. I didn't want them just floating around the house so I also bought pom-poms to fill them. Calvin did the middle one by himself and helped me with the other two. He lost interest after a bit so I had to finish filling them. I hope he enjoys opening the bags as much as I enjoyed filling them!

Preschool!

Calvin has joined the world of preschool! He will be attending every Wednesday and Friday from 8:30 am to 11:30 am at a local Montessori preschool . Well, we're supposed to get there at 8:30 but we were late for his very first day of school! We received our first snow and slush of the season so traffic was a little crazier than usual so even though I gave us extra time to get there it wasn't enough. Oh well, he arrived just in time for circle time. Today it looked like they were working on identifying colors. Calvin actually knows his colors but I'm guessing he didn't shout out the answers because that just isn't his style when he's in a new situation. I think there was story time and singing today as well as play time and a walk outside. Luckily he already has his boots, snow pants, mittens, and winter jacket because he needed all of them today!

The teacher reported that Calvin did great today. No tears, he jumped right in, and it seemed like he had been there forever. No tears from Mom either! Hopefully Friday will go just as well. I think the hardest part for both of us was waking up so early.

Halloween!

My two cows. A couple of people commented on Dan's costume and wondered how Calvin and I talked him into dressing up. What they don't know is that Dan wanted to be a cow! He asked me to make him a costume! We were both going to be farmers but Dan decided that it would be more fun to be a cow. I think he was right. Calvin loves wearing his costume and he's actually worn it quite a bit. He's gotten to wear it at two Halloween parades, a small Halloween party with friends, trick or treating at Sam's Club (more fun than it sounds!), and of course tonight. Luckily it washes well.
Mooing for the camera!
Calvin is still mooing. We couldn't get him to smile so we had to keep asking him to moo otherwise he just had a scowl on his face.
Still mooing...
The farmer and one of her cows.

We tried to teach Calvin to say trick or treat but he never really got it. So he just shouted "Halloween" before grabbing candy from our neighbors. Sometimes he would just moo at them instead which got lots of laughs. Although we didn't go to many houses our neighbors are very generous so we ended up with a lot of candy.
All in all I think Calvin had fun.

A few Calvin updates

Every day it seems as though Calvin has learned a few new words. Most of the time I have no idea where he has heard the word and he's saying it! Luckily, no swear words! I'm not even allowed to say Beaver Dam, WI I have to say Beaver Darn, according to Dan. His favorite word right now is Mom. All day long it's: mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom. By the end of the day my ears are tired.

He really likes playing monster with me. We walk around waving our arms in the air like a monster saying "monster" (if you're me) and "monter" (if you're Calvin). He also really enjoys playing games. He'll grab a ball and say game which can mean one of two things. We are either going to kick the ball back and forth or he is going to hurl the ball at me while I cower in fear. He doesn't have much control over where he throws the ball and it can be a little scary. I try to only play ball with him with soft, squishy balls so I don't get hurt. He also enjoys the few board games that we have for him. He doesn't understand the rules and doesn't really care when you try to show him how to actually play the game. He has his own rules and they are constantly changing. Sounds kind of like your grocery store game, Mom! Oh well, he has fun and it usually doesn't involve throwing things at us so we try to encourage board games.

Books are still a huge hit. One of his other favorite words is lap and he likes to say it while patting our laps with one hand and holding a book in the other. I'm going to miss when he doesn't want to cuddle with us anymore!

Calvin had his two year physical earlier this week. He weighs 26 pounds 6 ounces and is 35.5 inches tall. No wonder we have a hard time finding clothes that fit him! Pants that are long enough usually fall down to his ankles as he runs down the hallway yelling "running."

Now you are up to date!