Christmas at the Beach

Dan, Calvin, and I spent this Christmas at the beach in South Carolina. It was great to get away and be with family to play for a few days. We had a great time, and we are so thankful that Ace, Jeffy, Sam, Abbey, and Ben were willing to make the long/expensive treks so that Dan and I didn't have to. We love you guys!

Here are some highlights of our time together:

1. Getting some down time while other people watched Cal. This does not happen a lot, and unfortunately it didn't happen without great effort while we had many willing sitters for Cal. Cal was not feeling well and was extremely clingy....I spent a lot of time hiding because when he saw me, he was immediately discontent....more like screaming.

2. Having all the "kids" together. It love watching Dan with his brothers...he acts like he is 10 all over again.

What this picture does not show is what happened when they reached the open beach at the end of the dock. Ben decided it was time for a frigid swim. Of course, Dan and Sam had to follow suit. All three grown boys....in their skivvies.

3. Walking the beach. It was very windy for the first couple of days, but the last day was gorgeous. We walked a couple miles down to a pier. On the other side, we found a starfish graveyard. I think there were between 50-100 starfish of all shapes and sizes within 100 yards of each other. It was pretty incredible.

4. Watching Cal with his grandparents, uncles, and aunt.

After bath time has always been Jeffy's special playtime with Cal. I don't think Calvin likes it very much. =)

Awww.

Calvin is getting initiated early into the world of golf. I love this picture of Cal on the golf cart with grandpa. It is windy, but neither seem to mind too much.

Birthday Boy

Calvin celebrated his first birthday on December 26th. It is hard to believe that a year has already passed! Here are some highlights from his first day-after-Christmas birthday. We tried to make it special.

Cake....like many other foods, Calvin was unwilling to try it since it was not his idea. But, he was thrilled to feed it to Dan. Then, Uncle Sammy was happy to eat the mutilated scraps.

Calvin's hair had been getting pretty unruly, so we decided to give him his first haircut on his birthday. If Cal's Uncle Ben's career as a geologist doesn't work out, he might be able to make it as a baby hair stylist!

First Snow and Big Steps

It snowed yesterday for the first time this year in Durham. We thought it was very pretty, but Calvin didn't seem to care too much. We thought we had to document the event, so here are some pictures of Calvin not caring about the pretty snowflakes.

Big Steps

Here is the scene that greets me as I rush over to offer some spotting. I always think I can be one step ahead, but I'm quickly learning that it is the other way around.

Here is what follows. Cal has gotten very good at climbing the stairs. He gets to the top and sits down (with only one cheek on the top step) to look behind with a proud smile and give high fives.

Calvin has been learning how to steer his little buggy....well, sort of. He sometimes works himself out of jams, but not without whimpering and looking for assistance first. Here he makes a valiant effort to get free from the coffee table. =)

Push and Ride Racer

I am constantly struggling to know when to intervene and make everything better for Cal and when to let him learn something. While teaching, I saw the results for some kids who received too much intervention, and I don't want to go there, but it is hard to know the line.

Here are some times recently where this has come up:

Steering the Push and Ride Racer:

Calvin has been loving this new toy from his Uncle Ben. He confidently walks behind it without anyone helping him...except to steer. He walks laps around our downstairs and loves it! However, Cal repeatedly runs into things and whines until I help him steer him clear. I've been helping him, showing him how I am turning while moving the car, but helping nonetheless. Not sure if this is the right answer or not.

I don't have a picture of his walking behind the racer, but you get the idea from seeing him ride it above. Cal has been doing what Dan is doing in the picture. Also, Dan's lips look funny because he was making a motor-ish sound. What a good dad!

Climbing the stairs:

We have 13 stairs connecting the two floors of our house, and I think they are steeper than normal. Last night when Dan came home, Calvin independently climbed every single one to get to Dan while he was changing out of his work clothes. It was quite an effort, and obviously I was centimeters behind him the whole way. This decision was obvious, even for me.....of course I don't let him learn this the hard way =).

Throwing the lamb blankie overboard:

Calvin has really been enjoying nap time and night time...too much. He stands in his crib and throws everything he can overboard...mostly socks and his blankie. This is fine until he realizes he wants his blankie to sleep. There has been some screaming lately because I've decided not to go up and give it back. Breaks my heart, but I don't want to play that game.

Even though I feel like I'm being tough, I think Cal is still a pretty happy guy!

Family Time

This is very belated, but it deserves a post anyway =).

Around Thanksgiving, we had fun seeing lots of people that we love. For about a week I felt like we still lived in the midwest as Kim, Jason, and Addie, and my mom came down south to see us. It was so great to get to show them our world here in North Carolina. Here are some of my favorite pictures of our time together.

Calvin and my mom really enjoyed hanging out together. I think this picture is sweet.

My mom helped me make a pillow for Cal's rocker. Incidentally, the fabric I chose had ducks all over it, and we stuffed it with duck feathers. The concept was brilliant. The mess was not.

Calvin and his Uncle Jason haven't spent a ton of time together since he is often at work while Cal is visiting and awake. However, Calvin knows when he is loved. So sweet. Jason also took the picture at the top of this post. He's good.

My sister, Kim, has quite a way with Cal. He always smiles with her. More than smiling, Calvin has taken to chasing his cousin Addie around. He actually took his first un-coerced steps trying to chase Addie while they were here.

Clap, Clap, Clap

We've been having lots of fun watching Calvin follow verbal directions. So far, he loves to give "fives" and loves to clap. Hopefully he'll be mowing the yard by springtime.