Baby McKenna

On Friday my sister Mariah delivered a beautiful baby girl after only 4 hours of labor. Don't hate her ladies, I'm sure she has other challenges in life. McKenna is tiny and darling. She was 7lbs 14oz and 19 inches long and has adorable red curly hair (can't really tell from the pictures). Apparently she eats and sleeps like a dream and is a very pleasant baby.

The day she was born, I got really sad and jealous that I still have so long left. The next day when I actually held her I had a panic attack and told Andy there was no way I was going to be ready for a baby in 9 weeks. I have issues. When I held her, Calvin whimpered the whole time, and about 5 minutes into our visit with them at the hospital, he started waving, and saying "bye, bye!" as he rushed for the door. He was done. He's just not so much into this whole baby thing.

Congratulations Mariah and Curtis! We can't wait to see how you cope, and we'll miss your calls at 9pm inviting us to go out to eat where we say, ummm, we ate dinner at 4pm and our kid is already in bed. Welcome to the wonderful world of parenting!

Thanksgiving Point

We wanted to do something fun with the boy before his daddy leaves the country, so we spent the morning at a really cool place called Thanksgiving Point. It has gorgeous gardens, shops, a farmers market, movie theater, dinosaur museum, and petting zoo.

At a little cafe we enjoyed a cheese steak sandwich, Tuscon chicken salad, and mini corn dogs. Unfortunately, Calvin had already caught a glimpse of the fun, so it was impossible to keep him sitting still.

Fun animal statues.

Andy chasing a giggling boy around the bears.

Hugging the bears.

Running through the garden mazes.

Visiting the baby chicks.

Mr. Cow and the little boy who wouldn't get out of our picture.

This was a fun scale. When all three of us stood on it, it said we weighed as much as a small pony. Please don't think about that in too much detail.

A wagon ride just the right speed for a little guy. The horses were massive.

Feeding corn to the llama.

The pony ride. Calvin giggled and chattered the whole time. He loved the ride until about 5 minutes in, and then he was just done. He flung himself from the horse, trusting that I would catch him.

Chickens. He kept trying to get inside the fence. We're going to need to tell his grandpa that he isn't allowed in with the chickens at his house anymore since it makes him feel entitled to socialize with all chickens.

Petting the alpaca.

The alpaca chewing on his hair.

When Calvin saw this statue he yelled, "sheep!" and then proceeded to pick flies off of his face and try to climb on his back.

A daddy assisted sheep ride.

Ducks.

Father and son doing some hard time in the territory jail.

Bunnies.

Walking back to the car with a butterscotch flavored lolly.

The ride home.

Fallen Princesses

I love this art project found here. The story behind why the artist created them is an interesting commentary on our culture. Or if you're not into that, the photos are great and speak for themselves. Here are my favorites:

Bridal Veil Falls

Today we took a drive up Provo Canyon and ended up at Bridal Veil Falls. We hiked around a bit, let Calvin wade in the bottom pool of FREEZING cold water, and then moved to the river shore to throw some rocks.

At the falls:

The bridge under which many rocks were thrown:

I love the boy's facial expression in this one. He would be completely content if we let him spend all day long throwing rocks into water.

This is how he looked when we tried to leave.

So we pulled off to a campground playground so that he could play for a while, and all was right with the world again. When we finally went home, he was tired and content.

Blue Baby

People always ask me how Calvin feels about our soon to be new baby. I tell them that although I try to explain it to him, he has no concept of what a baby is. Here's how I know:

I'm 80% finished with all of my Christmas shopping. Calvin was born in early November, and it was still so hard to finish up shopping that year. I wanted to cry every time I went out. This year, the kid is due late November, so I have no desire to even attempt last minute gift planning/making/buying. My in-laws are finished. My family is mostly finished. Andy and Calvin are finished.

Yesterday I brought home a game that I intended to give to one of my sibling's families. Andy thought it looked really fun, and he begged me like a four year old all night long to just open it and get them another one a different day. Finally I caved, and I'm glad I did, because it was a lot of fun and Calvin LOVED it. As we were pulling out game pieces, we were asking Calvin what each of them were. When we pulled up the alien from the picture above, he yelled "Baby!" (the first time he's ever said that word) and then said, "blue!". The small alien has been "Blue Baby" ever since. And he hasn't let him out of his sight. This picture is of nap time. When I put him to bed, he gently laid Blue Baby on the pillow beside him and went to sleep.

Counting

Yesterday Calvin counted to ten. He missed the 7, but he said every other number perfectly. I, of course, think he's brilliant. He has since counted EVERYTHING - his steps up and down stairs, sidewalks, etc., number of goldfish he's eating, number of flowers in the garden, cars driving beside us... and anything else he has come in contact with. He is very proud of himself.

On Sunday, the boy wasn't doing very well in church, so he came to class with me. I was sitting on the back row and when we had exhausted my supply of books and toys, he got up and started to wander. I let him loose a bit because he wasn't going far, but before I knew it he was at the front of the class. With the teacher still speaking behind him, he stood at the front and went down the row pointing at each woman, saying loudly "one, two, one, two," assigning each one a number as he pointed at them. Everyone laughed.

He loves to count.

September 11th

Little patriotic boy.

Twenty-Two Months old

Dear Calvin,

Your biggest change by far this month is your language skills. It's like over night, you just decided you felt like starting to talk. You have started repeating everything you hear. Here are some of the words you've started saying on a regular basis:

• One, two, three, four, five, red, blue, lellow, green (which you say Guh-reen like that robot on Short Circuit. It's the cutest thing I've ever heard), cookie, cupcake, cheese, potty, airplane correctly, hippo, daddy, puppy, and many others I can't remember at the moment. You'll even say "blue car!" when you want to go in Daddy's car instead of Mommy's.
  

At the park across the street, you love this flag pole. You bend down and trace the words. You also point out each individual character of the 2002 and say, "two-oval-oval-two!"

You are very independent and love to play with toys and puzzles on your own, but several times a day, you'll pull me or your dad into your playroom just so you have an audience. You'll point things out to us and explain them in your gibberish.

You have recently rediscovered the Mayflower Little People set that I bought you last year and you didn't care a lick about. You lay the people on the hammock and make snoring noises while they sleep, you put your animals on the outlook deck and have them oink, moo, or baaa at the people below on the deck, and my favorite, you like to take the white male pilgrim holding the apple and the middle-eastern man in his robes holding a bottle of frankincense and make loud kissing noises while pushing their faces together.

You love to draw and color. I can put you in your chair and you'll use your crayons contentedly for 30+ minutes at a time - the longest amount of time you ever hold still. This is a light drawing board that your grandparents gave you for Christmas. You love that you get to draw and make it glow, all at the same time.




You have a thing with cows. Besides dogs, they seem to be your favorite animal. I walked in one day and you were playing with this stable, but only the cows were allowed in. The poor horses, pigs, and sheep were left out in the cold.

At grandpa's house, it makes me so nervous, but you'll crawl under the fence and walk straight up to the cows with no fear or hesitation. I think they don't run from you because you're so small and they're curious, but as soon as I freak out and come after you, they run off and you're disappointed. You have the cutest moo in the whole world. You've also started saying other animal sounds like neigh, baaa, N-eow for a cat, bok bok for chickens, and the funniest little monkey sound. You love animals - in books, on tv, and in person.

You love to jump, no matter where you are. You'll jump off stairs, bleachers, on beds, couches, pillows, or just on the hard ground. You'll squat your legs, jump with both feet a couple of inches off the grounds, and then land squarely again on your feet. The only time it's annoying is when you're throwing a tantrum and you jump up and let yourself fall on your butt while squawking at me. You are a fast runner, a good thrower, and overall very coordinated for someone your age. You don't eat very much and you don't sleep as much as I think you should. I have no idea where you get all of your energy.

Calvin, you have the most darling little personality. You are quick to smile and laugh, you love experiencing anything and everything, and you get smarter every day. I would give anything in the world to wrap you up the way you are and just keep you forever. I'm already panicking at the thought of you becoming a teenager and thinking I'm old and crazy. I love that I am your favorite person, and your world is centered around me and your dad. I love that you snuggle up to me often with huge hugs and kisses, or just to lay on my lap when you need a break. I treasure every second with you, and feel like the luckiest mom alive to have you as my son. Please never forget how to be happy and excited, and always remember how much you are adored.

We love you so much!

Love,

Mom