September has been very busy. We started out with a Megafest over Labor Day weekend. I think this is probably the best one yet with Calvin. We got a babysitter for 4 hrs two of the days and for the last two days he was in daycare for the full day. This left Saturday as the only day for which we were trying to fest and entertain Calvin at the same time. It worked out reasonably well by me taking him to church for the first half and meeting up with the others on Pearl street and letting Calvin wander.

While I’m still sad that Borders is going out of business, that hasn’t stopped me from going and looking for bargains. To my surprise, I found quite a few that I hadn’t read from authors that I have enjoyed in the past. I’m looking forward to a chance to read them.

Toward the beginning of September I started going to a Tai Chi class at the rec center. I checked out a DVD of Tai Chi many years ago and, while I liked the concept, it was obvious this wasn’t something I was going to be able to pick up from a video. I was looking over the rec center guide because I was interested in getting Calvin enrolled in swimming classes and saw this Tai Chi class. It fit into my schedule so I decided to give it a shot. It’s a drop in class so everyone is at different levels. Fortunately, a whole bunch of new people showed up the same day I did so the teacher decided to start at the beginning. It’s pretty slow going. Reminds me a lot of learning the piano. At the begining you’re awful and change happens so gradually it almost isn’t noticeable. However, I knew it wasn’t going to be simple and it is interesting.

Jaeger’s mom visited us this week. She arrived on Sunday and just left this morning. She and Calvin had great fun amusing each other. We also celebrated Jaeger and my birthday (since she was in person, she wanted to do both at the same time). We had mini-German chocolate cakes that were very fun. Jaeger’s mom also gave me a duvet comforter which I’ve been wanting for almost a year. It’s white with a grey pattern and I think it lightens up our room more than our blue duvet cover does.

I did manage to find a swimming class for Calvin. In addition, I found a “tumbling” class for him. Each is only once a week so it’s not too overwhelming.

We went to his first Tumbling class on Monday. I wasn’t sure what to expect. The class was held in a medium-sized classroom. There was all sorts of equipment scattered around such as a trampoline, balance beam, mats, etc. They started with 10 minutes of “free time” where the kids got to explore everything. Then we did a warm-up. Calvin seemed to know exactly what he was doing even though this was his first class. Daycare must have them do some of this stuff or something. He’s not learning it at home . . . After the warm-up, she demostrated a little routine that she wanted them to all go through. When she first demonstrated I didn’t believe that the kids could do everything but Calvin proved I was wrong. It was chaos but controlled chaos. Calvin had a lot of fun and we got back home later than I was planning.

The next evening was swimming lessons. It turns out that Calvin is a little fish. He was fighting my hold on him most of the time trying to get me to let go. Given we were in 3′ deep water, I didn’t. He enthusastically splashed and paddled and threw a fit when it was time to get out. I think I’m going to buy him a pass and come early on swimming days and also go to the pool another day a week. At least, I’ll try that schedule out and see if it works. Calvin was also fascinated by the group showers. I turned the shower on and expected him to object since he doesn’t like them at home. However, he didn’t complain and started experimenting with how far out he could get before he no longer got wet. Then he’d back up until the shower was spraying the top of his head.

Jaeger’s mom babysat Calvin after the pool and I met Jaeger in Boulder where we went to eat and then wandered into the Boulder Bookstore where we bought even more books.

Calvin Moments from Today:

• We went to the library today and one of the books Calvin wanted me to read was ABC Kids by Simon Basher. It’s a cute ABC book where there is a child, whose name starts with the first letter of the featured alphabet letter for that page, that sits on top of the letter. When we got to the letter C, Calvin said, “you get off letter! My letter!!” I didn’t even bother telling him that it wasn’t a real person. I just told him we needed to share the letter. He was not impressed by this logic. (To see the picture he objected to, go to the Amazon link then click Search inside this book. After that, in the “Search Inside This Book” search box, type Claude.)
• On the way back to our house, Calvin announced from his car seat that he wanted to go home. I told him that we were going home. He then said, “Step on the gas mommy!” I was incredulious that I had heard correctly so I carefully asked if he wanted me to go faster and he concurred. It’s not a phrase that I’ve used in his presence but Jaeger informs me that he probably picked it up from Cars and Trucks and Things that Go where it says, “Step on the gas, Bunny Rabbit!”
• Today at supper Calvin eyed my glass and then said, “May I have some water.” This astonished me for a couple of reasons. First, it’s a complete sentence with no words missing. Second, he properly used the word “may” instead of “can.”

September is going to continue to be busy. I play for Sabbath School tomorrow and then have practice at someone’s house later in the afternoon. I play for church the following week and Bethany and Josh will be here for Bethany’s reunion. Then the week after that, my mother arrives to get her Calvin fix.