Down

• There’s never enough time to get everything I want to done.

Ups

• Had SF Book Club Monday which was amusing. Calvin didn’t stay in one play so it was hard to “discuss” anything but we did manage to pick the next book, Blackout by Connie Willis.
• Went on a travel related shopping spree and most things have arrived. Got a suitcase for our stroller (I hear airlines can really mangle them) and a fold-up potty seat. Also ordered some toys and a leash for Calvin (now that he’s mobile it’s harder to keep track of him so I got an animal backpack for him that has a tail I can hang on to).
• Potty training has been going well. Calvin still doesn’t do particularly well away from home but at least it’s reduced the number of home diapers to deal with. I think on our travel days I’m just going to put him back in diapers but let him use the potty whenever he wants to, just not stress about it.
• Calvin is enjoying Christmas so far. We have a little tree in the china cabinet that lights up which he loves. We also had Christmas part 1 last night which consisted of Calvin open up a couple boxes of waffle blocks. We found one that lets you build your own car. Not only do Mommy and Daddy enjoy playing with it but Calvin does also. Occasionally our artistic visions differ. Calvin tends to win as he destroys our creations.
• Calvin is now wearing shoes other than the same type of tennis shoes he has been insisting on for the last 6 months. I went shopping and bought some snow boots for him. He loves them and is constantly putting them on and taking them off.
• We’ve had some decent weather recently so Calvin has been able to spend more time outside. Today he greatly enjoyed sitting in the tree in our front yard.
• Jaeger has managed to reduce Elmo segments down to 5 minutes. Once Calvin caught on that a deposit in the potty meant he got to watch 15 min of Elmo, he got very good and portioning them out. As a result, he could easily spend several hours a day watching Elmo which I felt was way too much on a regular basis. Calvin isn’t particularly excited by the short episodes but has decided they are better than nothing.

Calvin Moment

• I don’t have any one moment but Calvin keeps getting brighter and smarter every day. It’s so nice to see him develop into a little person. As I write this, Calvin is wandering around the main level of our house pushing chairs up to light switches so he can turn them on and off. Probably not good for the lights but he’s having a great deal of fun. Oh. He’s just figured out how to unlock and open the sliding glass door. This can’t be good . . .

Simplification

• Haven’t done anything. I’m now aiming to restart after Christmas and travel is over.