Going to the doctor

This morning Cody had his 18 month check up. We're only 3 1/2 months late but better late than never. He was SO good. He was super cheerful and giggly for the doctors and nurses. He did cry when he got his 2 shots, one in each leg. And then he started to immediately itch when the band aides went on. Which we soon took off since he was trying to itch them away. And then we had to go get his blood drawn. Calvin had his blood taken for allergy testing and it was a nightmare, so I was expecting much of the same for Cody. When his name was called these 2 beautiful young nurse types came over to get his blood. He sat on my lap and I held his one arm and they held his other arm. And he couldn't have cared less. He watched them draw his blood and one poke was all it took. He sat perfectly still - as if he instinctively knew that he shouldn't move - or maybe he was mesmerized by the beauty of the nurses - of course it could've also been the death grip I had on him. At any rate, he was perfect. And it's moments like that that make my heart swell with love and pride. And when we were done, he just ran down the hall giggling.

Now we're home and Calvin and I are going to try to put white trim up in the newly painted kitchen. I hope I can measure and cut correctly. And if it's a little off, I figure I know how to use caulk :) Wish me and Calvin luck and have a wonderful new year!

Christmas Time

For the week leading up to Christmas, our family (mostly Wade and I) had a stomach bug. I had to take almost 4 days off work before feeling any better. It all subsided by December 23, though we were still reluctant to eat.

Christmas weekend was wonderful. The boys played together wonderfully. They were spoiled by Grandma Deanna and Grandpa Morris, Grandpa Floyd and Grandma Gloria, uncle Austin, Santa and us. They got musical instruments, a tunnel to crawl through, a tent to go over the bed, tricycles, trains, trains, trains, an etch-a-sketch, a truck, ornaments, skittles, books and probably other things I'm forgetting.

They got a set of Pooh books from Uncle Austin. Every night, Calvin has asked me if I will read all of them please and I have to tell him no. It would probably take over an hour to read them all. They are great books that explain some scientific type things like where rain comes from. This morniing in the car, Calvin was telling me that the clouds in the sky have water and will rain some day. It's so fun to watch him learn about things and come to understand different things.

Cody has a hugely multiplying vocabulary these days. Everything we say; he says. He loves the automatic trash can at Ginna's house. He plays with it all day long and says "trash" about 20 times a day. At home, he likes to point out all of the fans. Fan. Fan. Fan. He loves to drink water and is doing really well with his big boy cup. He also loves to practice pouring anything that was in his big boy cup. So we give him just a little bit at a time unless we have an ample supply of towels on standby.

I've decided that I need to make a career change. I'm tossing around a few ideas. I'll let you know if any of it pans out.

Thanksgiving morning

This morning when Calvin woke up, he came running into the kitchen and wanted me to lift him up to look outside. So I picked him up and we looked out the kitchen window for a few seconds. Then he wanted down and I made pancakes.

We had talked about how it was Thanksgiving today but he mixed it up with Christmas. When I asked him what day it was he said "Christmas!"

A little while later, I asked him what he was looking for outside and he said he was looking for Santa.

Happy Halloween!

Tonight Grandma Deanna and Grandpa Morris helped hand out candy at our house while we took Cal and Cody around the neighborhood to Trick or Treat. Calvin was SO EXCITED to go up to people's houses tonight and get candy. He kept saying "they're so nice!" Cody followed right along with his big brother and their pumpkin (candy sacks) got so heavy that Cody seemed barely able to carry it along.

After trick or treating, we came back to the house and attempted to get a family photo. Here they are...

18 months already

Cody, aka, Coder, Code Man, CodyCode, is starting to talk up a storm. Hard to believe he's already at this stage. He's 18 months now, he's got 10 teeth, four in front on top and bottom and two top molars. He's starting to finally grow some hair. He's a dare devil, always busy and constantly shoving everything that will fit in his mouth. His most recent fun is flipping over his "Cody" chair and saying "weeee!" as he tries to go down it like a slide. He likes to make us laugh too!

Here is a list of his words so far (or at least as many as I can think of):


1. Yes
2. No
3. daddy
4. mommy
5. Addy
6. B
7. Calvin (cal – in)
8. Down (downie)
9. Thank you (ank oo)
10. baby (babe E)
11. Audrey
12. Amen
13. Night night
14. Bye Bye
15. Hello
16. Honk (onk)
17. Eye
18. Nose
19. Ear
20. Duck
21. Cup
22. Juice
23. Apple
24. Belly
25. Ball
26. Out
27. Chase
28. Owie
29. Bottle (ba ba)
30. Blanket (bunky)
31. Please (eee sss)
32. Puppy
33. Woof
34. Tickle Tickle
35. Ribbit
36. Spoon
37. Vacuum (vac cue)
38. Rasberry (ras bur e)
39. Banana (nana)
40. Knock knock
41. Balloon
42. Roar (says this when he sees a tiger or lion)
43. Pumpkin (pum in)

And He Sleeps

Saturday night, littlest C went to sleep in his crib for (basically) the first time in his 18 months of life. He cried for 15 minutes and then fell asleep. He woke up in the middle of the night. I didn't have a clock but I'm pretty sure he was up off and on for like 6 hours. It was a long dang time. I was tired. That night, Calvin asked if he could have his crib back. The answer: No.

Evening #2. He cried for 1 minute, 30 seconds. Woke up once in the middle of the night. I gave him a hug and put him back down, he went right back to sleep without crying.

Evening #3. No crying. Just sleep and peace.

I'm hoping the rest of our lives are like evening #3 but even if we have to do evening #2 some more, no problem at all. The boys are sharing a room because Calvin doesn't like to sleep in a room by himself. It makes me feel bad that he didn't sleep more with me when he was really little. But I let him crawl in with me if he wants to in the morning. I like it, he smells good, it works.

One more picture for today.

It's been a while since we've had any good pictures. I finally said to heck with it and bought a new camera. I haven't had time to play with it much and it was a really cheap little thing but he's a picture of Cody, being Cody. And Chillin. Most of the pictures I took ended up being blurry so I either need to figure out how to get these boys to hold still (Ha!), or how to work this camera better. I'll get there eventually.

Here are the after school pictures

Only one way to describe this boy: hot!

Oh, and thirsty!

And excited to have been at school and happy that mom came to pick him up.

as

Calvin Started Preschool!!

Calvin started preschool on Tuesday! This was before we got to school, we stopped to say hello to dad at work.

He's going on Tuesday and Thursday. He's a little mixed feelings about it. He wants to go back but has been upset and crying in the mornings when I've left. He did get to feed the fish today when I left and he seemed pretty pleased about that when we talked tonight. On Tuesday, he did really well until it was nap time and then he cried for me. He said he was worried about when I was going to pick him up. So we went over the schedule in more detail so he knew better what to expect and it went better today, well, other than drop off. Hopefully next week he'll understand the routine better and be more confident and relaxed.

Father's day

Today was father's day. We just puttered around the house today and grilled tonight. Wade was really tired today so we were pretty low key. When I went to call my dad, I told Calvin that we were going to call grandpa and tell him happy father's day and Cal says "it's Grandpa's father day too?" And I explained that yes, it's father's day for all of the dad's and grandpas. I'm not sure that he really understood but it was pretty cute. Then when he talked to Grandpa Floyd and Grandma Gloria tonight, they told him they were sitting around a bon fire. He was very concerned and told Grandma to call the fire department to put out the fire. Too funny.

We are still doing no tv for the boys. It's going well, Cal hardly asks to watch anything anymore and doesn't really say much when I tell him no. Funny that it's a lot easier to never turn it on than it ever was to turn it off, if that makes sense.

update

We have decided to attempt to go without TV for the boys, we are on day 2. A big part of this decision is based on where I started to work this year: a Waldorf school. The philosophy there is that media for young children is not healthy. I've read many articles about tv contributing to ADHD and I have sitnessed for myself that my 3 year old is much better behaved when he doesn't watch tv. Wade and I also watched a show on Thursday night that talked about the development of human babies and it all tied in to how the Waldorf school views it. The timing of it was perfect for us. Cal may be able to go to the school I'm working at in the fall and in order for that to happen, we have to agree to be media free for the kids. I think we can do it!

We are all trying to get over being sick. Me and the boys have had a head cold for a couple weeks. Cal is about cured. Cody and I are still snotty and coughing but it's getting better. Wade is unscathed at still.

Wade starts a new job tomorrow! We're very grateful that something came along that seems like it's going to work out well. We'll see if we still think so after he starts :) He'll be working as a mechanic again and about a 4 minute drive from the house, right on the way to where our day care is. Which is SO nice, especially considering my commute is 45 minutes each way. Not very handy if there were to be an emergency.

Cal and I went to the nursery yesterday and bought some flowers to plant. We're going out now and we're going to make mud, I mean we're going to plant the flowers. Gotta go!

and then there were 3

Cody took his first steps on March 29. Now he's getting around pretty well and walking more than crawling. Tonight, he stopped and loosely locked his hands behind his back. hmmm... that reminds me of a couple other guys I know - Calvin and Grandpa - My jaw dropped.

Calvin types: 8iuyt

Time

During this month, Cody turned 1 and Calvin turned 3. I feel like time is moving too fast. Calvin started potty training and has been wearing underwear now for 12 days. He's having an accident a day for the most part but some days he's gone the whole day with no accidents. Then Cody started staying "mommy" and "doggie" and "puppy" and "daddy" this month AND he took his first real steps on Tuesday, March 29. These boys are truly a blessing, I wish I could stay home with them more. Some days I feel like if I blink, another year will pass us by. Reaching the milestones, like potty training and walking, are wonderful and exciting but they also make my heart ache just a little bit. We were looking at the recreation center activities for the summer and Calvin is now old enough to join t-ball so we're tossing around the idea of doing that. I'm looking forward to having the boys help me plant some flowers this summer (aka rub mud on mommy) and going to the swimming pool with them.

Missing my big guy

Last night was the first time Calvin was away from me overnight other than when Cody was born. It feels like a milestone. And I miss him and can't wait to see him later today. He and dad went to visit friends for the night. So it was just me and Cody yesterday and last night. We went to bed early and are just getting ready to have breakfast now.

The End

Today was my last day working for Enscicon. Now it's time for a week off. I have lots of plans for the week. Most of them involve cleaning and organizing.

Happy New Year

This past year has been some of the worst and best for our family. We welcomed Cody to our family and said final farewells to Al.

Here's to health and happiness in 2011!

Bobcat

Wade found our camera! So I was going to take a picture of Calvin playing with the Bobcat that grandpa sent from the factory for him. And I told him about 3 times "get your Bobcat and smile" and every time he would start pretending like he's a cat and act like he was scratching a scratching post. Needless to say, there's no picture.