Poop!

Today we hit a milestone, Calvin went poop in the potty for the first time! We are so proud of his excremental ability! I am beaming with pride at my little guy. He's going to grow right up on us.

Here are a couple pictures from the past couple days:

Eating batter from the Calvin friendly cake I made for a holiday party we went to.

Letting loose Calvin's creative abilities, all over his hands, face and the chair! Good thing they make washable markers, he came clean with no problem, as did the furniture.

Sleep and Wipes

Wade and I went to check on Calvin today while he was napping. We found that he'd taken his baby wipes off the changing table and emptied them out. Then fell asleep sitting up with his puppy, which is the only stuffed animal he likes so far. He was sitting there bobbing his head.

Words!

The list of words Calvin says so far:

Daddy
Momma
Casey
Buddy
dog
Go
no
bubble
water
apple
purple
up
down
out
Elmo = Melmo
Barney = Bardone
cookie = coco
on
balloon
Virginia = Ninna
Wee!
spoon = poon
juice
eye
bye
yes
bang
woof
that = dat
allergy = algae
bottle
mine
book
ball
eat
pee
poop
hat
key
monkey = money
apple
ear
hair
cheek
yeah!
fish
bird

dog

Sleeping Beauty

There is truly nothing like a sleeping child.

In the Mountains

These were taken by tunnel 1 up Clear Creek Canyon. Calvin really enjoys playing in the dirt.

cookies

Tonight when I got home from work, I could smell cookies as I was walking in the door. Wade had made Cherrybrook Farms chocolate chip cookies for Calvin. They are a manufacturer who makes baked goods for people with dairy, egg and peanut allergies. And the best part was they were really GOOD! Calvin kept asking for more.

Golf

Every time Calvin walks outside, he looks for the golf clubs and balls. Wade has been working on his grip with him and Calvin LOVES it! So we went to the store and got him his own little driver. It has an adjustable shaft so hopefully he'll be able to use it for a few years, until he needs a real set :)

Had I known, I would've let Grandma Gloria buy him the little set we saw.

Here he is working on his grip.



See the ball in the air? That's my boy!

Porch all gone

Wade and his brother Ed spent this past Saturday tearing down the rotten back porch. It took them from 9am until 5 pm with only a brief break for lunch. This coming weekend the rebuild will begin (technically it's being repaired).

Grandpa Al's visit

Grandpa Al came to visit and we were able to capture the moment!

Vacation

Here are a few pictures from our vacation. Unfortunately I don't have many pictures from mom's farm but I do have a few from Cottonwood Lake.

This one was at the beach in front of our cabin. It was cold but that didn't deter a determined 16 month old!

This was directly in front of our lake cabin. Every night around bedtime the weather would calm down for the night. It was cold while we were there.

Bath time at Grandpa Floyd's 5th Wheel! Oh what fun it was to turn the water on and off!

Grandma Gloria bought Calvin a ball to play with and boy oh boy did he love that ball!

Swimming

C really likes water! He splashes and splashes! Here's a few pictures from yesterday in the pool.

Napping this past weekend

I love how the butt is in the air, always!

Bonkers

Around noon today C was helping me put away clothes (aka, promptly knocking over any folded pile of clothes in site) when he fell 2 feet off our bed and onto his head. He immediately started screaming, I picked him up and then he passed out for a few seconds. I panic, nearly call 911, but 2 seconds before doing that I got my wits back and instead threw him in the car and got to urgent care. He's fine, of course. What I learned is that some kids will hold their breath and pass out briefly. So the utter panic that raced threw me was mostly all for not. But hey, at least I know that I react quickly in an emergency. I am also a breath holder when I'm in pain. I wonder if I ever passed out from it as a young child??

Oh yea, it gets better... so we got lunch and ate and then played for a few minutes. Then I decided we need to get those clothes done. So we go back into the bedroom and I was putting clothes on hangers while Cal was practicing his walking moves. I noticed he tried to grab at the hangers (love those huggy hangers!) and so as I'm telling him no, he slips and I swear to you, he landed on his head again. At least this time he was already on the floor but I swear as God as my witness that he did something and bonked that baby head again. This time I was quick enough to remember our friend Andy saying that if they hold their breath, to blow in their face, so I immediately started blowing in his face and praying for him to not pass out again. I don't know if mommy could take that 2 times in one day. But alas, he was fine so we decided he was going to be the safest in his crib and that it really seemed past naptime. So he's sleeping soundly now. Bless his heart.

Peanutbutter and Jelly Sandwiches

A week before C’s first birthday, we went hiking up in the mountains. I never posted about that day as it has haunted me ever since. I made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I made him a special sandwich without the peanut butter, thinking that he could choke since it was sticky. But when I got them out, he wanted mine so I let him have a bite. The first bite had no peanut butter. He had another bite, this one with peanut butter. One tiny bite. Almost immediately he started coughing, like he was choking on it. Within a minute came the vomit. Neither I nor my husband knew about peanut allergies or that vomit indicated a severe allergic reaction. I had heard of breathing problems with allergic reactions so I watched for that. I even did a calculation in my head of how long it would take me to run with him to get back down the mountain; we were in a relatively remote area. But his breathing was ok and a couple minutes later, he wanted to crawl around on the ground. I thought he was fine. I thought maybe the altitude was bothering him or the baby Bjorn was making his belly hurt. We casually hiked back down the mountain, he had some (rice) milk and we drove home. A few hours later, he vomited again. While changing his puke soaked clothes, I noticed a rash around his stomach. I thought maybe he got into something in the mountains (but really that was unlikely) so I put him in the bath. Whoops! Don't do that if you have hives (I've never had hives in my life). The hives spread like crazy so I called the doctor. They instructed me to bring him to urgent care immediately and that if I'd called when he was vomiting, they would've sent an ambulance. I thought I was going to vomit. As soon as we arrived, they brought him back and gave him benadryl and prednisone and he recovered well.

The doctor at the urgent care instructed us to follow up with our primary care doctor and in a very calm way warned us of the reality of this potentially life threatening allergy. She suggested we get him examined and get an Epi-pen as soon as possible.

We got allergy testing done about 6 weeks later (at National Jewish Hospital which is ranked as one of the top hospitals for this and happens to be conveniently located in Denver) and found that indeed he is allergic to milk, eggs, and severely allergic to peanuts. We have an Epi-pen that goes everywhere he goes now. All of his caretakers know how to use the Epi-pen and have lists of all no-no ingredients. When we vacation this summer, I will be sure my family knows how to use it as well, and when to use it. And I will watch like a hawk to make sure he’s not given anything suspect.

Me on the other hand, I feel like nuts are making me nuts. After finding out the severity of his peanut allergy, I would nearly panic when I would walk by the aisle with the peanuts in them at the grocery store. I’m able to casually pretend to ignore that isle now. I’m getting better little by little. I will work on finding the happy medium where I make people aware of his allergies so he doesn’t get sick but I also don’t end up the annoying crazy mom freaking out because some nice lady gave her son a cookie. I have not had that occur yet but I dread the day. Almost all treats either have nuts or are processed in manufacturing places where there are nuts and cross contamination is possible. And things I didn’t think about like some restaurants use peanut oil to fry or cook with. A lot of dog food is processed with nuts. And of course he’s too little to understand any of this, though I do talk to him about it, and he’s at the stage where everything goes in his mouth. Wade is much less concerned than I am, which is good but makes me slightly crazy too.

I’m trying to educate myself about his allergy but it’s really hard for me to do so. Every time I start looking things up I find stories that break my heart. My heart breaks for the other families and it breaks especially for my son.

Today I am posting a couple photos from the day we hiked; the day we found out he was allergic. They are really nice photos but looking at them makes me wince and gives me a pit in my stomach. I feel like if I share them, somehow that burden may be lifted a little, so here they are. Please enjoy.

This was taken as we went further and further up into the national forest.

This picture was taken as he was starting to cough from the peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Socks = Gawk

Last night as I was letting him pick out which socks he wanted to wear to bed, he said "gawk?" Yes!!! Socks!!! Wonderful work my son, wonderful! But then he slept like, I don't know, something that doesn't sleep well, so I don't think we'll wear gawks to bed anymore. (It was so cold Wade turned the furance on this morning.) I took a picture of him last night so I'll get that posted here later.

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.

Ball Baby

Tonight we played with the exercise ball. Calvin enjoyed banging on the ball and laying on top of it. Really, he likes to pat and bang on anything he can find. Only a couple weeks and he'll be a year old, it's hard to believe how quickly it goes by.

Calvin can stand holding on to things, but not so much if they move. Lucky for him, I had his back side.

Calvin likes to pat everything: the dogs, the doors, the dog dishes, and yes, the ball.

More teeth!

Calvin broke another tooth yesterday, the bottom left beside his two middle teeth and he's still drooling to beat heck so I'll bet the right one comes in a day or two. So right now, the little guy has 7 teeth!

He's standing up holding on to everything he can get his hands on and he's practicing letting go. We say either "ta-da!" or "kerplunk!" when he falls on his bottom. He has a nack for hitting his head on things so I can imagine how many bruises he'll have. Last night he stood half way up in the bath tub and before I could even bend over, he slipped and wacked his head on the tub. He cried for about 15 seconds and then we decided it was time for bed.

I have a feeling it won't be long before he's off to the races. Uncle Austin is going to buy a new TV stand and assemble that today so Calvin doesn't tip the one we have over on himself.

Standing Man

Last weekend Calvin pulled up for the first time! He has started pulling up in the bathroom, in his crib, on chairs and probably on everything else when we can't see. Here's a picture of him playing with his bouncer today, but he can't be contained IN his bouncer anymore!

He isn't standing on his own but for a few seconds before he falls and he hasn't attempted to move while standing yet, but I'm sure it won't be long and we'll have a toddler.

Tiger

Calvin has the tiger by the tail!

Dad and Calvin were having fun playing in the crib today with the tiger.

Bye Bye

CALVIN WAVED BYE BYE FOR THE FIRST TIME TONIGHT!!!

Wade came in to say good night to him during our bed time routine and when Wade was walking out saying good night, he started waving buh bye! The things that make a mommy's heart melt!

Kate's Wedding - February 7, 2009

This past weekend we attended the wedding of our niece Kate. It was at the Boulderado Hotel in Boulder. It was at 6pm, so it was pretty late for Calvin. But he's a trooper; he's so interested in everything that he didn't fuss at all the whole night. We arrived right at 6pm when the wedding was about to start. Wade and I took turns holding Calvin during the ceremony, which only had standing room. Half the time I held him, just kept trying to put his pacifier in my mouth, it was entertaining. After the ceremony, there were appetizers and then a nice buffet with prime rib and the most scrumptious mash potatoes. The food was delicious! When we were getting ready to leave around 10pm, we put Calvin's pajama's on him and he fell asleep for the night in his car seat.


Here are a couple pictures of us at the wedding. Calvin was very handsome with his suit!

Moving along!

Here's Calvin on the move!

Last night Calvin slept through the night! We played a lot today and went to the mall so I could get some exercise.

Calvin has started to crawl and is becoming more and more interested in things all the time. Calvin is really into his mommy these days and loves to sit on my lap. Here's a self taken picture of him and I from tonight right before dinner.

January 1, 2009 - Happy New Year!

Has anyone seen my food?

Hey, where you goin'?