Itty Bitty Mullet

He's business in the front, and a party in back (I've always wanted to say that).

It's official - Calvin is sporting a mullet.

Andy and I have been dueling for months over the boy's hair. He thinks it's too long, and I can't bear to part with his precious curls. Andy's parent's are coming to visit us in two weeks, and I swore I wouldn't cut it before then because they've always been on my side about his adorable hair, but lately I find myself a bit embarrassed in public that he looks like such an unkempt little orphan.

Today we compromised. The front and sides go, the curls get to stay until after his grandparents have visited. It's cute on him though, and it is nice that he doesn't have to peer out at us from underneath the hair falling in his eyes. Here are the before and afters:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

(Sorry about the piece of oatmeal cookie on his face)

Bad for the ego

Tonight Calvin was playing on our bed, so I laid down beside him and my shirt came up a bit. He scampered over as fast as he could and started slapping my belly, watching it jiggle. Andy walked in and immediately said, "that's fun isn't it, Monkey? It's like slapping a puddle." Sad.

Princess

Today Calvin stayed with his grandma for a few hours while Andy and I had a tax appointment. When we picked him up, she said he'd dug a crown out of the toy box, put it on over his eyes like they were glasses, and ran around with it on all day. She thought it was hilarious and snapped a few photos.

Andy hates how long Calvin's hair has gotten and giving him a haircut is a continuous "discussion". He says that some days even though he's his own son, he can't help but think that he looks like a little girl. Whatever, he's cute with or without his tiara.

Hannah, This One's for You...

(Warning: This is a super long post. If you don't read it, I won't be offended. Except for Hannah. If she doesn't read it, I'll totally be offended.)

I'm not the biggest fan of Facebook. I joined back in the day when you had to have an .edu email address to join, and I had heard that employers were looking at Fb profiles as a way of hiring applicants. I was curious, I joined, and haven't done much with it until recently when it became the thing to do and anyone and everyone started adding an account. Mostly I find it awkward because people you wouldn't consider "friends" add you, and I never know whether to reject them since I don't want to be in touch or accept them because I feel rude if I don't.

I have, however, had a few people that I had lost touch with that I was so elated to find/have find me, and one of them was Hannah. I had actually tried to find her several times before via school directories and such, but her name had changed so I had no luck. Well, Facebook reunited us, and I have been giddy about it ever since. She had moved to South Carolina (I never would have thought to look for her there), and between Facebook and blogs, it's like I found a long-lost bosom buddy.

Anyway, that's a long background to THIS blog post. We met as study abroad students in Israel. We didn't know each other too well at first, but then we spent a couple of weeks in Galilee where we were paired up with roommates and lived in bungalows on the beach. We were immediate friends. We had two other roommates - Erin who was also a kindred spirit, and one who was more interested in pursuing a certain young man than hanging out with us. Erin, Hannah, and I had a fabulous time. I loved them both immediately, and still do - though Erin went off and got married and I've never heard of her again, and Hannah and I hung out some once we were back in the U.S. at school.

The other day when we were talking, Hannah mentioned that her camera had been stolen in Israel, and that her journals had been lost, so it was like the magical time at Galilee never happened. I did some digging in my boxes of old photos, and these are what I found. Hannah, this blog's for YOU!

Hannah, Erin, Me, and the Canadian. Although we didn't become best friends with the Canadian, she did offer us endless entertainment. For field trips we had these portable microphone/headsets so that we could listen to the professors talking when we all couldn't be right next to them. Since I had a connection with one of the professors, I borrowed his microphone, and one night we pinned it on Canada. She had been flirting with this guy since we had arrived in Galilee, and he asked her to go for a walk one night after dark. Erin, Hannah, and I snuck around behind the bushes watching them (hoping they were going to kiss) and trying to listen with our headsets to their conversation. She chickened out and didn't use the microphone, but we had a ball sneaking around after them in the dark, straining to hear what they said, and giggling all the way.

The four of us at some ruins.

Since we were there over Thanksgiving, the cooks at the little village tried to make us something really special. They cooked lots of turkeys (something they never eat) and stuck sparklers in them when they wheeled them out. They tried so hard, but the turkeys were undercooked, and 90% of our group got severe food poisoning. I was one of the lucky ones who didn't. I'm in the middle left with a roll in my face.

Me and Hannah - see how blissfully happy we were together?

Cliff diving. There was a waterfall and a natural pool. This picture is for everyone who thinks Israel is a barren desert wasteland. It's not. It's one of the most beautiful places I've been.

Bad hair day. The three of us stayed up late tying our hair in rags so that we'd have sexy wavy hair in the morning. It ended up in these nasty, tight little curls, so we combed it out and then had puffy messes all that day.

Some ancient altar.

This is a confession booth in one of the churches we visited. We were trying to look like we were making scandalous confessions for the picture. Sorry for the sacrilege to those of you who believe in confessionals. We were young.

This was a magical trip full of eating St. Peter's Fish, playing Ultimate Frisbee in the waves of the Sea of Galilee, reading the Bible on the beach, taking a ferry ride with a disco globe and doing the Macarena, following boys, playing countless hours of Phase 10, and so much more. I'm so glad I met Hannah, and I hope never to lose her again.

Male Babysitting

We had an appraiser come this morning, so last night I was frantic to get some piles cleaned up that have been laying around since we moved in. Andy agreed to watch the boy while I worked, and when I came into the family room this is what I saw:

I guess if you put the boy on the Wii Fit and convince him that he's the one having a great time while you actually push him back and forth where you want him to be so that you can win the game, then you're doing your job. I remember my dad doing similar types of babysitting when I was a kid. Of course we didn't have a Wii back then, just Walker Texas Ranger and Knight Rider.

New Tricks

This week Calvin has:

Become a master at climbing on and off of the couches. He no longer falls backwards when he tries to get down. Now if we can just get him to go down the stairs as well as he goes up.

Chased me around the house with a little lion puppet, growling ferociously.

Said "Amen!" after prayers, and "Google!" after his favorite googleberry pie song.

Spent a lot of time jumping in puddles and playing in rain water dripping from the rain gutters.

Clapped all during the inaugural address, so I have to assume he's an Obama fan.

Laughed at Pumba and Timon every time they sing on Lion King.

Spent a lot of time drawing with crayons, markers, and pencils. He is even getting better at holding them correctly.

A Day in the Life

Today Andy went to have his car safety and emissions inspection, so Calvin and I followed in the car behind him. While they were working on his car, we went over to the McDonald's because it had a ginormous playland. (There was a creepy man sitting alone watching the kids play, and he would actually start shaking when a little kid got near him. I don't think every lonely man who watches kids has issues, but this one made me very nervous.) We ate our fatty food, and then Andy took Calvin into the fenced in basketball court and held him up while he dropped the ball into the hoop. I wish I had taken my camera - I have never seen him look so proud of himself. He would drop one in, we would clap, and then he would beam with satisfaction before scampering down to pick up another ball and start the process over again.

We then went to the bank to open up a local checking account. As we sat at the desk of a nice lady named Cheris, Calvin took out all of the cards from my wallet and threw them on the floor, pulled all of the paperwork he could reach on her desk and threw it on the floor, and then squirmed until I let him loose. He would then run up to the different desks of people at work with other customers trying to get their attention. Finally he met a little boy with a fireman jacket who played with him briefly, but then Cheris gave him some Smarties which only seemed to make him more hyper. We were glad when we finally got him out of there.

At night we had a church activity called a potato derby. We had a potato bar and then everyone brought their own potato to carve into a car and add wheels and race it down the track. It was a very fun idea, but Calvin kept running up on the stage and standing on the edge, hovering like he was going to jump on the table full of cakes that the scouts were auctioning off. He would run to the car tracks and either try to hang from the line of flags, pulling it down, or jump on top of the tracks. He ran around and took pacifiers away from two different babies. And he would run as fast as he could straight into the path of bigger kids who were racing, almost getting himself killed on several occasions. Since we couldn't manage to juggle eating a potato, carving a potato, chit chatting with neighbors, and chasing The Boy, we finally headed out early.

He has so much energy. I realize that I am very blessed since I have a husband who is often home and who spends a lot of time with the boy. I don't know how normal stay at home moms cope with toddlers. He seriously never stops. He's so much fun at home, but whenever we go out in public it is all I can do to keep him contained and from destroying everything around him.

The Boy's Playroom

The boy is currently enjoying being an only child. He has his bedroom, his playroom, and the run of the entire basement. He is spoiled and he loves it. So today I finally finished up his playroom, and here is the beginning of the home tour that will be spread across the next several weeks. I didn't get great pictures, but you get the idea.

These two shots are the whole room from different angles. The curtains are my favorite part of the room.

For Calvin's baby shower, I received these alphabet cards from my co-workers. I love them. They're called Animal Parade and each one has an animal dancing or playing an instrument. Calvin loves to look around at them and especially enjoys growling at the bear. I wanted them a bit random, so I opted for the clothes line look. I got some brown twine and mini-clothes pins, and I like how it turned out.

This was my first thrift store redesign from my stash I bought the other day. I took the old accordion hanger, sanded off the pegs, and painted them bright colors to match the furniture in the room.

Where Calvin feeds his current Veggietales obsession. (And Andy secretly obsesses as well - he can be heard singing Veggietale songs and repeating "If it hasn't got a tail it's not a monkey" constantly). They are both adorable.

This was a five minute make-over, but someday I plan to give it a fancier one. I bought this chalk/cork board in college and then gave it to my mom when I couldn't use it anymore. She used it for a while, and then had nowhere to put it in her new house, so she gave it back. I glued on the letters and little wooden figures, and stuck it on the wall.

Calvin enjoying the room.

Thrifting

I love buying nice new things, but even more than that I love buying nice new things at a great bargain, but even more than THAT I like finding old stuff with some character and giving it a new look. It's so much fun trying to envision somebody's old cast offs as something pretty and useful. Last week I went to a thrift store and came home with this pile. I have one of my projects pretty much complete - I'll share it tomorrow. The rest of my pile of junk, I'll show you the end result as I have time to finish them.

And of course, some pictures of the boy for the grandparents:

Circus Day

Today I took Calvin to the library where they have an interactive reading time for 1-3 year-olds where they do stories, games, and crafts. Today they focused on the circus and both of the teachers were dressed as clowns. They juggled, walked a tight-rope (a string taped to the floor), sang songs, and read books about the circus. Calvin didn't appreciate it quite as much as I thought he should.

He was watching the clowns nervously from the time they entered, and then when they started singing, his bottom lip shot out and he started sobbing. After he calmed down he was all wiggles and would not sit still for the stories, even if he half-heartedly watched the juggling and other antics. There was a big ship in the back for kids to play on, which he loved. He was very possessive of it and I had to interfere a couple of times when he and another little boy had pushing matches trying to gain possession of the steering wheel. At the end, we all went to tables and Calvin produced this lovely art project - his first artistic creation ever. I am very proud.


At the end of the class, we played outside in the snow for a while before going home. Overall it was a good experience, and I look forward to going more often so that Calvin can make some friends and learn to interact with other kids.

Auntie Outing

Today Auntie Riah called and asked if she could take Calvin out for a while. She picked him up right after his nap and then took him to the toy store and out to a lunch of mini-corndogs and french fries. When I went to her house to pick him up, he was bouncing off the walls. Literally. He was jabbering non-stop and jumping on the couch and then running around the room, and back to bouncing on the couch. I hung out there for about 20 minutes and neither his mouth nor his body stopped moving during that time. Mariah also bought him way too many toys.

After their day together.

A picture was nearly impossible to take because he kept throwing the balls off the couch and watching them bounce.

All night long he played with the balls, and then he'd run up every 10 minutes or so and hug the bear, and then run off again. He loved banging on the piano as well. He's a spoiled little thing, but he sure did seem to have a great time. Thanks again Mariah and Curtis!

Bathtime Interrupted

I haven't been able to find one of Calvin's favorite Baby Einstein DVD's for a while, and tonight it finally occurred to me to look in the DVD player from our trip out here (Duh, I should have looked there first). So I was excited that I had found it, and put it in for Calvin for a few minutes before bed time. I made the mistake of not turning it off before putting him in the bathtub. When the song came on that goes with the crayon clown coming to life, he popped up in the tub, grabbed onto my legs to pull himself out, and ran down the hall trailing water (and prancing gingerly as not to slip on the wood floors) to go stand in front of the tv and watch the song. As soon as it was over, he went straight back to his bath to finish things off.

Also, yesterday he took a bottle of my perfumed lotion (I never use it because it's way too strong) and smashed it on the floor and then rolled in it. He smelled like a brothel all day long.

Busy, Busy, Busy

This was all within a span of about two minutes.