Busy, busy, busy

I'm not exactly sure what we have been up to lately but we sure have been busy. In May Dan and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary by taking Calvin to Wisconsin Dells for a night. We were supposed to go out for dinner on our anniversary but my friend who was going to watch him called to tell me that her youngest had just been diagnosed with pink eye and that she hadn't started his medication yet because the pharmacy was out of it and had to get it from another branch here in town! We had a nice family dinner at home that night. We did get to go out to dinner alone about week later which was nice. Anyway, if you ask Calvin what he did at the hotel in Wisconsin Dells he will tell you that he played basketball and went down the bird slide. He needed someone to catch him at the bottom of the slide but the slide was small enough that he could walk up the steps and go down it without help. He'll probably also tell you that the outdoor pool water was really, really cold. He might also talk about the duck that was swimming in the pool with him.

Calvin and I go to a different park each Monday with a group of friends. He has gotten much braver going down the slides, climbing the ladders, and swinging. I wouldn't be so nervous about his climbing but he is easily distracted and wants to watch other people rather than watch where is feet are going.

We've gone to a couple of LumberKing baseball games down in Clinton, IA. Both games were fun to watch but it sure makes for a late night when we finally get home. Maybe in a couple of years Calvin will actually be interested in watching the game for more than a few minutes! Probably not though. Anytime he sees a sport being played it makes him want to play it. He'll ask to watch baseball and not more than 2 minutes later he will be playing baseball. We spent a lot of time playing tennis during the French Open. He finally understands hitting the ball back and forth and will ask to do that with me. I think our record is 4 hits in a row. Pretty good for a 2 year old!

We took a tour of our neighborhood fire station not too long ago. Calvin loved it! Every time we drive by the station (pretty much every day) Calvin points to it and says "That's the fire station we went to." Or something like that. He also points to fire hydrants and says that Kenny (the fire fighter who gave us the tour) opens up the hydrant to get water out. He is also asking to go back.

Calvin doing his "work" after nap time the other day. If you haven't read "Little Blue Truck" you're missing out on a really cute story!

Spring

Calvin lined up all the eggs for me to find.  When I was pretending to look for the eggs I must have asked where are the eggs because Calvin ran over to the eggs, pointed at them, and said "right here."

Finding his eggs.

Calvin before his music program at school.  All the kids were asked to bring a white t-shirt and this is what came home!  Each class had a different color shirt but they were all tie dyed.  I thought it was a great idea and it looked really good when all the kids were standing up on the stage.  The kids did a great job!  Some of the older kids actually sang/shouted their songs when it was their turn to sing.  I don't think anyone in Calvin's class actually sang other than the teachers.  One of the teachers told me later that the kids would belt out the songs when they were in their room practicing.  None of the kids cried or ran to their parents which just amazed me.  The teachers did an excellent job preparing the kids for the program!  The music program was professionally recorded and we bought a copy of the DVD.  We'll have to have a movie night next time we are all together.  Then everyone can see Calvin and hear the laugh he got from the crowd! 

All the eggs.

Calvin helping plant the garden in front of the garage.

Dan and Calvin working hard.

All the plants nicely placed where they are to be planted.  Too bad I didn't get a picture a few minutes later after Calvin "helped" me move all the plants.  He thought he was being such a good helper by moving the plants back onto the grass.  Hard to get upset when he thought he was being nice!

This is what we get when Calvin gets a hold of the camera.

Feet by Calvin.

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.