Tag Archives: Calvin

Our Winter

Today is the last day of winter! To celebrate, I have a little (or kinda long) winter recap of what we’ve been up to. Thanks to El Niño, it was short and sweet, requiring not too many walk-shoveling days.

It’ll take it all the way back to Christmas, I suppose. It was spent in BC with family, as per usual. First we headed to Nanaimo for Christmas with Tim’s family, which was an adventure with 10 adults, 3 kids, and a dog in a house undergoing an extensive kitchen renovation. blog 1 Then it was back to the mainland for time with my own family! A little less crazy, but just as fun!blog 2 While we were in BC, Tim and I (along with my personal tag-along) were able to get away for a couple nights to Squamish. We spent a couple hours in Whistler, and did the Peak 2 Peak gondola. As expected, it was so beautiful! And then it was back home. I’m finding every time we do the drive between Edmonton and the Coast, the boys require less and less to make them happy. It’s great! blog 3 When we arrived home, one of my Christmas presents was waiting for me…Michelle and Mark had painted our living room! It was quite a great gift. You can see a little before and after below. Other household changes in January were that we got Calvin a twin bed and moved him into his own room! The first week was a rough go for him, but the change was no sweat off Victor’s brow. Honestly, I was very surprised. Victor is our child who has to have things a specific way, and doesn’t take too kindly to change. But, he IS the introvert, so having Calvin away from him probably brought him great joy. Calvin, the extrovert, thought differently. This change also meant that Patrick could move out of our room and now sleeps in the crib in Victor’s room. It’s nice having our entire room back for ourselves. It feels so much less cluttered.blog 4This winter, there was an ice castle here in Edmonton. We went with our friends and it was really neat! A bit crowded, but Calvin had lots of fun roaming and finding little holes in the walls and such.
blog 5 Of course we spend a fair amount of time inside during the winter. This is what it looks like:blog 6 In February, I made a quick trip back to BC to celebrate the marriage of a close friend! This was Patrick’s first flight and he did great! A little sad at takeoff, because it was past his bedtime, but he soon fell fast asleep once we were cruising. It was nice to have a weekend away with just one son. A little break from the demands of the older two. And Tim had a good time with them at home! The wedding (or reception really, because they had already been married in Africa) was beautiful, and I’m so glad I could be there to support them. blog 7 And then it was back to winter once again.blog 8But spring came quick! And the kids are definitely not strangers to mud these days. I think our patio is going to have to have a good power-washing one day soon. Oh, and just because we may still be in our jammies, doesn’t mean we haven’t left the house. I love warm winter days!
blog 9 In the past few weeks, we’ve enjoyed the company of three different parties. First Tim’s parents came through, then my friend Anna and her son Parker (who is just a couple months older that Patrick), and finally Jordan and Amy. We love having company, and are happy they all took the time to come visit.blog 10These days Calvin is as energetic as ever, never stopping until he is 100% asleep. We have him signed up for soccer this spring, and I think he will enjoy is a lot. It’s going to be so great for him, being around other kids doing team sports. That’s kind of what makes his world go around. He is also testing our patience these days, with bouts of anger and attitude. It’s so hard to know how to handle their emotions that they don’t even completely understand.

Victor is still mostly his sweet, cute self. His mannerisms are so endearing and often have us smiling or laughing. He loves playing Star Wars, and if he gets you with his light sabre or “pewer”, you must “fall gown on yo back!” He’s also a good sport at falling down himself, when you get him. He plays fair! He’s also still awesome at playing on his own, which is especially great these days because he is not guaranteed to nap every day. I think he actually naps less than Calvin, who also is no longer a regular. But on days that they don’t nap, if we go somewhere in the evening (like 2 hours before bedtime), they can be out in 3 minutes. They still need to nap! I’m trying to have a better attitude about this. Please pray for me.

Patrick is growing and learning, like all 7-month-olds do. He is able to sit on his own (since 5 months), and experiences what I call “accidental mobility”; the kind that has him falling off couches (yeah…I know…) and falling on his belly from a sitting position while reaching for something. He has recently displaced Calvin in the Costco buggy which has made shopping a different kind of experience. Calvin can either be happy or mad about not being in the buggy. It’s a gamble. Patrick has started eating food, as he’s a super star! Well, he doesn’t know how to open his mouth for food, but he keeps everything in, which is amazing! You have to remember my last child detested everything, and still does. So I’m happy with this little guy! I just have to work super hard at getting his mouth open. Making him smile usually does the trick, but it takes a fair amount of effort. Same with laughing. You have to prepared to expend a lot of energy trying to get him to laugh, and then all you’re rewarded with is some sort of grunt or throat spasm, like he is trying to hold his laugh in. He’s a happy boy, but keeps his emotions on the DL. His second tooth has broken ground, and I’m going to miss his lone one he had on the bottom. It was so cute!

blog 12 A two last photos, because they were looking so cute for church one morning. :)blog 13You get seven points for reading to the end!

Calvin Quips

It’s been quiet around here the past few months, but I have a few posts brewing in my mind. While I gather thoughts for those, here are some little things Calvin has said over the past year or so (some are obviously from a younger Calvin). He doesn’t often have witty remarks or clever observations, but sometimes he sure does make us laugh!IMG_2685-0

C “Let’s play go fish!”
Me “We just played go fish and you didn’t play it very well. You need to learn it better.”
C – takes cards in his hands a looks at them “learn learn learn. I learn-Ed now, mommy!”

Me “victor, say thank you to Calvin”
Victor signs thank you.
Me “Calvin, say you’re welcome”
C “I welcome, victor!”

“That not sense!” (That doesn’t make sense!)
“What you got for?” (What did you forget?)

“I am so hot. I need a book to warm me up!”
One of the things that make you think about how he thinks. Warm is cooler than hot, but “warm up” is the term he knows with warm. I had been cooling myself down by flapping a book in my face.

Playing with my hair.
“Hum hum hum. I’m just tangling your hair. Hum hum hum!”

C “Jesus put mud on his eyes!”
Me “Wow! So he could see?”
C “Yeah! Jesus help him. And Jesus help me!”
Me “What does Jesus help you with?”
C “He put mud on my eyes.”
Me “Why does he put mud on your eyes?”
C “Because, to make me look nice!”

C “Please feed Victor”
Me “I already did feed him”
C “Can I feed Victor?”
Me “How would you feed him?”
C “With my armpits!”

“Topart” is the opposite of together

Driving through Saskatchewan:
“I saw a tree!”

Talking with Aunty Michelle about chickens laying eggs.
C “If there are 5 chickens, they lay 5 eggs! If there are 5 dogs, they lay 5 eggs!”
M “Dogs don’t lay eggs!”
C “Dogs lay poop!”

“These are the rules” as he counts off on his fingers. “Don’t eat toilet paper, don’t eat poop, don’t eat pee. Those as the rules. And don’t eat kids.”

[fridge makes quick knocking sounds]
“What’s that mommy?”
“The fridge”
“I don’t see it”
“See what?”
“The freeze bubbler”

Sits on toilet.
“Pee delivery!”

“I love you mommy”
“I love you too! Do you love me as much as I love you?”
“Yeah! And daddy. And Amber.” (Grandpa’s dog)IMG_2686

Two Weeks

2 weeks 1It has been two weeks since Patrick’s arrival into our lives. Already two weeks since heading to the hospital not sure if we would be staying or not. It was another short stay, leaving mid-afternoon the day after he was born. It was fun to have the older boys come and meet Patrick, although they were more interested in sharing my breakfast with me than getting to know their new little brother. 2 weeks 2

We’ve had a great time with both sets of our parents visiting for a handful of days each. I’d say one of the only positives of living away from family is that when they come to visit, they are devoted entirely to you. They cook, clean, do yard work, fix things, take the older boys away to do things. It is really quite special, and I am so thankful for it. My sister-in-law, who lives within walking distance from both sets of her parents, said she was trying to think of how different it would be with in-home help and someone to cook; I know no different! I think we need to finish having our children here, before moving back closer to family. :)2 weeks 3

It has been fun watching Calvin and Victor with Patrick. They are, for the most part, so gentle with him. I’m excited to see their relationships grow as the years go by. I can’t say that the older boys have been perfect through this transition though. Calvin has been giving us lots more attitude, which I think Victor picks up on and copies to a degree. Victor has also been getting some eye teeth in, so he’s not always happy. And you can also throw in the coming-off-the-grandparents-visiting-high. I’ve had a handful of bad moments when I wish it was easier to communicate with toddlers and preschoolers and that discipline actually works and works instantly. But I know that these transitional times will be gone before I know it.2 weeks 4

Patrick himself is a trooper. It’s amazing what an infant can sleep through! He’s actually quite a sleepy baby. He slept through his hospital bath. He slept for about 8 hours on his first Sunday morning, without me being able to even rouse him to eat. And he sleeps fairly well at night, and can go 5 hours in his first stretch, and last night he even did 6 hours! This is a nice change from his brothers who weren’t so great. I think it’s because he’s a big baby. Slower metabolism. Lots of chub. He’s able to hibernate. However, he has difficulty with nursing sometimes. If he is tired, it can take upwards of 10 minutes to get a good latch. But he doesn’t get frustrated, and he knows when he has a bad latch, so he just comes off and tries again until we get it. And he nurses well once he gets going. It will come naturally to him soon. For a while I was thinking that there may have been something physically wrong with him, since I had no troubles nursing the other two, and I should know better, but he doesn’t know better, and he has to figure it out. 2 weeks 5

Currently we are in the midst of being blessed by our church community. For every baby born, they set up a meal train and we have meals delivered for a week! I highly recommend this for any community – church or otherwise. It is such a blessing to a family with a newborn, or any other life event like a move or family illness, to have a plan for people to bring meals. When our week is up, my sister will come for the following week, and then we are all heading off to BC together. Yet another blessing for us in this time; my sister will be there to help us on our first road trip with three kids! Can’t wait!

Life Lately

I just put a bunch of photos from my phone and camera onto the computer and realized there have been a number of things lately that could do with some documentation!

To start, I am going to jump all the way back to mid-June, when my brother and sister-in-law were here with their girls. You may recall my brother built my desk, but we did other stuff too! We went to the zoo, enjoyed the park and hung around the house while it rained. Thiessen Visit Thiessen Visit 2 Thiessen Visit 3In later June, the weather got pretty hot and sticky, so we enjoyed lots of popsicles, sprinkler times, and dinners in the shady evenings. And I’ll just quickly gloss over the fact that this weather made me a tad too cranky. LifeThen came July, and with it, the arrival of our van! New VanThe first time pushing the “start” button was to drive it home. The second time was to drive it out of province! We went to visit our good friends out in Regina so we could meet their new baby boy! I have to say there was almost too much cute in their house that weekend.
Morton Visit 1 Morton Visit 2A few days after we arrived back at home, Tim’s mom came out for a little visit. I suppose our guest bed had been cold for too long! She spent lots of time with the boys, which was great for me! We visited K-Days for the first time ever, which was fun. Hot and busy, but fun! And she and Michelle came to our church picnic.Mom Visit 1 Mom Visit 2Also, this past week I hit the 38-week mark in my pregnancy which means I am full term! Because of that, I decided it was time to get the “nursery” ready. 38 weeksTa da! Haha! I got the pack and play up, the newborn clothes washed and folded into their little drawers, and newborn diapers purchased. The car seat is just awaiting the insert to be washed (which I realized I had never done by machine, after being used for 2 babies already – yikes!) and my backpack is ready to be packed. Those things should be done this week, and then we will be 100% ready!

So that’s our summer this far. I feel like we haven’t done all that much, but putting all the photos and memories together in one post actually make it feel quite full! And the rest of the summer will be baby baby baby!

Calvin is Three!

Today we have a three-year-old in our home. Our first little boy is three. It seems like such a small number, but how have we been parents for three years already?!

The birth day, 1st birthday, 2nd birthday and today!

The birth day, 1st birthday, 2nd birthday and today!

Yesterday we had a small party for him, with some of his favourite friends. There was fresh snow on the ground for his past two birthdays, so it was nice to be able to take advantage of the nicer weather and spend a bit of time outside.Birthday 2 Calvin has grown into a fun, smart, energetic and talkative little boy. He loves puzzles, playing sports, and listening to “Monster” by Skillet. I have to admit though, I am beginning to understand what everybody is saying when they talk about 3 being worse than 2, attitude wise. He is really getting into the whole disobeying-and-ignoring-us-when-we-ask-him-to-do-something thing. But we love him, Victor loves him, and he makes us laugh! I can’t wait to share more years with you, Calvin!IMG_0465

A Happy Easter Weekend

I was so happy when my parents decided that they would come visit on Easter Weekend. We have never had family come for this special holiday, so it was a nice change. We packed in lots during their three days here.

We had an early birthday celebration for Calvin:Easter Weekend 1 Had a little Easter egg hunt out in the cold, and enjoyed a simple ham dinner with Michelle who also came by that day:Easter Weekend 2 And still had time for some backyard fun and relaxing!Easter Weekend 3Thanks for coming and spoiling us all!

 

Calvin Sleeping

Everybody knows sleeping babies are one of the most precious things ever.IMG_8674But sometimes it is mostly just silly.17 (3)

He went through a stage where he would cry himself to sleep in front of his door. Made it difficult to open the door to get him back into his bed.

He went through a stage where he would cry himself to sleep in front of his door. Made it difficult to open the door to get him back into his bed.

IMG_0877

This is one of the times he feel asleep waiting for me while I locked myself in my room to nurse Victor before nap time.

This is one of the times he feel asleep waiting for me while I locked myself in my room to nurse Victor before nap time.

And these days it is falling asleep while reading books to himself.

And these days it is falling asleep while reading books to himself.

IMG_8741

This particular time, I heard him "aaaa-ooooooo"ing to himself before falling into silence.

This particular time, I heard him “aaaa-ooooooo”ing to himself before falling into silence.

IMG_8836 10857822_10152913613003970_3550383655741861940_n