Cute-ish.

Calvin has been doing so many not cute things lately (throwing tantrums, refusing to sleep, tossing food, generally making me crazy) that I am going to try and focus on the very cute things he's started doing. Maybe by the time I finish writing this post he'll seem cute-ish instead of like a holy terror and I'll feel calmer and little better about my parenting skills (or lack thereof).

The wheels are starting to turn in this kid's head. I just love watching him, because he's really taking things in and beginning to figure them out. For example:

While my parents were here, we saw him pick up a sock, sit down, and try to put it on his foot. Unfortunately, his foot was already in a shoe. So he stuck the sock beneath the tongue of the shoe, because he knew the sock went under the shoe.

I have a drawer in the kitchen dedicated to Cal's stuff, and he likes to pull everything out of there (and sometimes even puts everything back before moving on to the next thing...where does he get these neat freak tendencies?). The other day he pulled out a sippy cup and a lid, and walked around the house for about 20 minutes trying to put the lid on the cup. He finally screwed the top on — with no help from me, I was just watching him in wonder — and then threw it back to take a swig.

This morning, I found him walking around with a headband on his head. No idea how he figured that one out, I've only worn it a handful of times. But it was properly placed behind his ears and everything.

He's started using a fork and spoon to eat. And taking bites vs. shoving the entire thing down his throat. Though he still prefers that method of eating occasionally, and I can't really blame him for that. Sometimes food is really good and you can't help but want it to just be in your mouth already.

He very clearly says "up," "puppy," "baby," and "Ma!" (for Mattie). In fact, he was in bed with us yesterday morning, and he started saying "Ma!" and patting the bed like we do when we try to get her to come up on the bed with us. Neither of us had done it, though, so we were surprised to see him remember that we'd done that in the past and begin to mimic our behavior.

Okay, I feel a little better. I'm obviously raising a total genius, however poorly.

And now, a few random pictures to go with my random post.

Sweet headband, kid.


















Headed for the rug, very good. Please make sure to use the dog hair attachment. (Seriously, what's with all the cleaning?)


















"I like to eat chicken and watch the World Cup with my Dad." Narration courtesy of Nate.


















Hummus, I got the hummus. And also the Ritz.