Five years.

A week in the life...

Of Calvin:












































































Of me:














And that's only one half of my desk.
Hoping for a respite (and more time to blog) soon.

Yes.

Because I can only say no so many times in one day.



I'd like to point out that the dog bowl was completely full when he started, and that I had already cleaned up the other full bowl of water he stepped in, dumped all over the floor, and crawled through.

And, yes, that is duct tape on my custom maple cabinets. Baby proofing at its finest.

Eleven down, one to go.

I forgot to commemorate Calvin turning 11 months last week. It's the beginning of the end, my friends. Any/all subsequent kids will be lucky if I remember to acknowledge their actual birthdays.

So...11 months. Yikes. I am feeling very emotional about all of this growing up business, so I am just going to post a few pictures of Calvin looking kind of serious (what, is this like the angsty teenage phase of the first year?) and call it good. I'll save the mushiness and waterworks for next month.

Walk this way.

Melon.

It's been unseasonably warm here lately. Spring in Minnesota is usually blustery, rainy, and about 55 degrees. But this weekend it was mild, sunny, and in the upper 60s. So, we did what any foolish Minnesota family would: cracked out the patio furniture and flip flops.

We are, of course, tempting Mother Nature and will probably pay for that with six more inches of snow in the next month. Until then, we're going to enjoy living in our backyard.

Saturday night we had our first dinner outside — burgers on the grill, potato salad, and watermelon.

I think Nate and I might rue the day we introduced our child to this piece of fruit.

The kid went nuts. First we cut a piece into chunks for him, and he was grabbing fistfuls and shoving them into his mouth going "mmm! mmmm!" So then I figured we may as well give him a whole piece. He sucked the living daylights out of that thing and then chewed it all the way down to the rind. And then chewed on the rind. And then got really mad when I took the rind away. I'm pretty sure we could have handed him the whole dang melon and he would have put it away, rind and all, in about 15 minutes.

Last night we grilled beef and vegetable kebabs. He took about two bites of everything and started throwing a fit. So, we gave him another piece of watermelon. And then another. And then I ate the last piece instead of giving it to him because, really — shouldn't the people who pay for the watermelon get to have some?

At least he's acting this way over fruit and not french fries. I'm in no hurry to introduce those, because — as we all know — french fries are WAY better than watermelon.

How I spent my Easter vacation.

Nate and I took Calvin to Illinois to visit my family for Easter. It was so much fun — I love being back home and spending time with my parents and sister. And it was pretty obvious Calvin does, too. Not surprising, since he got to do all kinds of fun stuff while we were there. In just three short days, he:

Discovered Nana's extensive collection of Tupperware and wooden spoons.














Accidentally called Houston when G-Pop wasn't looking.














Went out for Mexican food, where he was publicly humiliated
after dumping an entire glass of water all over himself (No, wait.
That was us.).


















Played on the train at the park with Daddy.














Laughed his head off over Nana's genius game (putting a bottle of rice on his head and letting it fall off). He loved it so much he started trying to put the bottle on his head himself.


































Snuggled with Auntie Jill.


















Watched everyone else eat hot dogs and cheese fries for dinner
(no fair!).














Tore through three of his five (!) Easter baskets.






























Laughed at G-Pop for wearing a matching shirt to church.


















Took his first real steps — toward Nana! (This is a placeholder photo, I didn't get a picture.)


















Went down the neighbor's slide, looking both terrified and delighted.


















Finally got comfortable enough with grass to sit and blow bubbles with Dad.














Spent far too much time crammed into his car seat.














It was a long ride there and back for my little guy (and us), but I think Calvin would agree that seeing Nana, G-Pop, Auntie Jill and Uncle Kyle was totally worth sitting in a pile of smashed goldfish crackers for 12+ hours.

And yes, the name G-Pop has somehow managed to stick.