Everything is fascinating...

...to a two year old.  Especially worms.  We have a wonderfully landscaped garden plot in front of our new house, but since the home was vacant for nearly a year it had fallen into some manner of disrepair.  With the beautiful weather about to come to an end we decided we needed to get a handle on the encroaching grasses and weeds before the coming rains gave them a power boost, so the three of us spent the evening in the garden:  Cortney weeded, Jon cleaned up after her, and Calvin pointed out as many bugs as he could find ("worm, more worms, more worms," "spider, more spiders, more spiders," "tato bug, more bugs, more tatoes").  He also talked a lot about how prickly the rose and fir bushes are ("ouch," "picky," "no no no don't touch picky ouch").  And in case you were wondering, no he's never quiet at home.  Never.  Unless he's in trouble.

Amazing

Absolutely every day with a toddler is amazing.  We continually find ourselves asking "did you know he could do that?" or "has he done that before?" the answer to which is more often than not "no," sending us down that great spiraling path of utter amazement.  Calvin is growing so fast, learning so many things, and gaining so many skills right before our eyes.  He has boundless energy and a growing imagination, and every day is a completely new adventure.  We know that sounds cliche, but the longer we live, the more we find life to be full of those.  After asking his age, people invariably respond with "oh, what a fun age," and yes, we agree, but besides being fun, it's also absolutely amazing.  Every day we are reminded to count our blessings, and there certainly are many of those.

To Calvin, on his first birthday

You are the sun, the music, the bright spot in our lives, and today we celebrate the day of your arrival.  We remember it like yesterday - the anticipation, the excitement, the exact moment we first saw your beautiful face.  But today a sweet poignancy brings awareness of the slippage of time, a truth that is driven home as we watch you chase a pet while signing dog, practically running down the hallway past the picture of you at only 1 week old.  Oh the things that have happened since then!  In the past month alone you have started stacking blocks, and putting your toys away all on your own;  you started dancing to the music you have always loved;  your walking has improved enough that you actually spend part of our evening walks out of the stroller; and you are eating more and more foods, and beginning to learn to drink out of a glass. 

What has really amazed us, though, is your developing ability to communicate.   You have started to use baby sign language!  You sign "more" while you are eating, and have a tentative version of "eat" as well.  You also sign "dog" and can sign "cat," although it looks suspiciously like clapping or the sign for the "more," and you sign "duck" and "nurse" as well.  You watch us carefully now when we sign to you and we see the dawning of understanding on your face and know that it won't be long before you have more signs.   And even beyond the signs you are working very hard to communicate, using varying sounds (some more pleasant than others), expressions, and even hands motions, like pointing.  It is becoming clear that you understand a lot about the world in which you live, and we are simply amazed by you.  Happy birthday Calvin.  We thank you for coming into our lives, turning them upside down and inside out, and brining us the beautiful light of hope.  We cannot wait to find out what the next year has in store for the three of us!

 

Duck nurse more cat dog

Those are the baby  signs that Calvin seems to have finally started using.  We've been throwing signs at him consistently since he was a newborn, but he just showed no interest in mimicking them at all, though he did seem to understand when he saw them.  But the last week or so seems to have been a language explosion for Calvin.  The first sign we noticed him mimicking was duck, not surprising since he goes to the neighborhood duck pond at least once a day, and though it started out as merely mimicking after only a day or two he was performing the sign without parental preface.  And it wasn't more than a day or so later that he started doing the signs for both nurse and more. Of course the way he does them the signs for duck and nurse are pretty much the same thing, but context makes the meanings pretty clear.  And what's amazing to us is that he didn't just start showing the signs, he seems to fully understand when and how to use them.  Well, for the most part.  His only downfall is that he finds it so exciting to be able to communicate that he will stop nursing just to make the sign before going back to it, and he will ignore the food on his tray just to sign for more.  We've had to adapt by giving him just 2 or 3 pieces at a time so that he has more chances to use his new skill.  Life with Calvin is surely a riot.

To Calvin, who is 11 months old today,

Unbelievable:  Almost a year has gone by since you were born!  And you have really made the most of your time here so far.   You started your eleventh month with only two teeth, but now have six, yes six!  There are four on top, and two on the bottom, making for a very adorable lopsided grin.  You also started the month taking a few steps here and there, but now you can walk clear across the room without assistance, and are able to stand straight up right in the middle of the floor - no more crawling over to tall objects to pull yourself up anymore!  This has given you a new sense of freedom, and the smile that decorates your face when you totter around the house is brilliant and endearing!  When we see you doing that we can't help but laugh ourselves.  In fact, we spend a lot more time laughing with you these days.  Your fine motor skills have also advanced and you now use your toys in the more intricate ways in which they were intended to be used.  We love watching you sort shapes, your face showing your deep concentration then breaking into a giggling smile as each of the shapes goes in, just to start over again.

But you aren't the only one learning:  your parents sure have come a long way in the past month, too.  Just a week ago we decided that we could embark on our first family vacation and we loaded up the car and headed to Holland, Michigan, to introduce you to the tulip festival there.  That trip taught us that you are a wonderfully well natured child and a miraculously good sleeper, and that the stuff we pack for you takes up way more space than the stuff we pack for ourselves!  A couple of weeks ago you spiked your first real fever - all the way up to 102.5 - and we were really scared, until a quick call reassured us that the doctors aren't really concerned until 105 degrees.  Yes, we still have a lot to learn about lightening up, but we are working on it, especially in the food department.  Before April you had tried chicken, several standard fruits and green veggies, and a few cereal grains.  Over the past month we have added pork and beef, several new fruits and veggies, and even new spices to your repertoire.  You especially loved the curried chicken, and  also seem to enjoy garlic and cinnamon.  You like flavor, and you like he eating.  You are just full of life and you bring great joy to our days.