Petunia

Tonight our much loved cat, Petunia, passed on due to liver failure. She was the best cat I have ever met. She never destroyed anything in our house, she never complained on the many car rides across the country. She was sweet to our baby and let him pet her with his not always gentle ways. She was a lovey kitty who liked to be snuggled and rubbed under her chin. She spent many days and nights outside chasing birds. And I'm sure she's now running around my grandma and my grandma is wondering where that kitty came from.

We love you Petunia, rest in peace.

Allergies

Calvin had allergy testing done today. He was so good, just that made my heart melt. He does have a few food allergies including peanuts (and other nuts), eggs, and milk. The good news here is that he's not allergic to soy, which opens a lot of food options that I was not considering previously. At least he can eat more than chicken and potatoes!

They are supposed to call me late this week to discuss the blood work. Getting the blood was a tricky for the nurses. They poked him 3 times before they finally got enough. I was debating about when I was going to draw the line and tell them to stop. But Calvin was such a good boy and played with a squishy pig toy the whole time and really didn't wiggle or anything. I was amazed, especially since he's such a busy baby these days.

We will go back in 6 months to get another set of blood work done to see if his allergies are lessening or not. Unfortunately, controlling allergies is more of an art than a science so there is a lot of room for interpretation. In the meantime, we are avoiding the foods listed above and will keep the EpiPen and benadryl within an arms reach.

This picture is from March but I love it! :)

and the kitchen sink too

Calvin is learning about a lot of things these days. the laws of physics are a favorite. And how the kitchen faucet works, that's a favorite too.

After transferring the dishes from the sink to the window sill, he figured out how the faucet works to turn the water on. He loves to wash his hands after eating, but he's not fooling anyone, he just wants to play in the water. I can't wait to take him to the lake this summer!


Look at that strong baby!

Dinner Time

We tried some of the Juniors premade toddler food, and Calvin thought it was much more fun to play with it than eat it. But there was oatmeal and spackel to be had after this was over; he sure loves his oatmeal and spackel. In case you're curious, the spackel (so kindly named by Uncle Austin) consists of spinach, mangos, and pears blended all together into a paste with apple juice. Got your taste buds going, huh? :) Notice the wall... all that splashing has to go somewhere!

Happy Birthday!

Today was Calvin's 1st Birthday. We had a celebration with our closest friends and family. Uncle Austin baked the cake and cooked the sloppy joes. Uncle Ed came to join in the festivities. Others on the guest list included Jesse, Camey, Jessica, Chelsea, Janet, Nell and Jason. Calvin received lots of great presents, including a penguin from Grandpa Floyd that came in the mail today. While we missed having more of our family here, we had a very nice time. Enjoy the pictures!

The very first present of the day! A penguin that I can chase around the house!

Present from Uncle Austin. I sure like this centipede! He sings the alphabet!

And of course, the cake! mmmmm!!

He likes to watch!

Yesterday we got 15" of snow! And really, it's been the only snow storm we've gotten this year. Which is fine with me!

This morning, Uncle Austin decided to go out and get the shovelling done and Calvin and Bella were watching intently.

Calvin Rocks

Today Clavin got to play in the yard with Dad and Uncle Austin.

Calvin picked up his first rock and proceeded to wave bye-bye with it when it flew out of his hand, he continued to wave for a couple seconds before he looked at his hand, apparently wondering where the rock went.