I usually read to Calvin while he drinks his afternoon bottle. One of the books I read today was Peedie by Olivier Dunrea. We are told that Peedie is a forgetful gosling but he never forgets to wear his hat. Then I read, “one day Peedie put his lucky red baseball cap in a secret place. But he forgot where he put it.” Upon hearing that, Calvin took the bottle out of his mouth, solemnly looked at me and said, “uh-oh.”

I’m pretty sure Calvin is too young to understand what I was reading. However, it still was very cute and impeccable timing.

Downs

• Calvin was really cranky Saturday morning. I was frantically trying to get ready for church (I was pianist this week) but Calvin was insisting on being picked up and put down constantly. Jaeger was gone for the day on his expedition and I was worried I wouldn’t have enough sanity to deal with Calvin all day by myself.

Ups

• In spite of the awful start on Saturday, the rest of the day went very well. Calvin took a nap on the way to church which helped both him and me Since I was playing for church, I had arranged for a couple of people to take care of him while I was busy. Unlike some previous times, he seemed fairly content with them taking care of him. After church, we went to the Carbon Valley Library and hung out for a couple of hours. The Carbon Valley library is great for a couple of reasons. 1) I know the people there so it allows me some modest adult conversation opportunities and 2) they have a fantastic play section for children.
• This was the first Sunday we had a babysitter so I could start working on Sundays again. I was really happy with how the day went. Jaeger got up with Calvin so I got to sleep in late. Then the babysitter arrived to take care of Calvin and I grabbed the rest of my breakfast and headed downstairs to work for three hours. I finished working just in time to rock Calvin to sleep for his afternoon nap. I had a couple of minutes to relax before heading out for grocery shopping part 1. My grocery shopping routine starts at Vitamin Cottage (think Whole Foods except better prices) and ends at King Soopers. However, I had an extra long list because I needed to get supplies for camping next weekend also so I decided to nip out and do the Vitamin Cottage part of the expedition while Calvin slept. This took longer than I expected because they moved into a larger store and rearranged everything. However, it’s very nice. I got back home, fed Calvin snack, and then took him to King Soopers.
• Calvin does appear capable of sleeping in a tent. We’re planning to go camping next weekend for the first time with Calvin. Most of the sites I saw on the internet suggest co-sleeping when camping/backpacking with children. However, Calvin thinks co-sleeping means an extra special treat where he gets to stay up late and pat mommy and daddy’s faces when they try to go to sleep. That didn’t seem like a great idea to me. Previously, I had asked my favorite parenting Q &A site how others went camping with babies. The top voted answer suggested we should just go ahead and buy a big family tent. A couple of weeks ago we bought an REI Kingdom 6 tent. It’s huge and easily fits Calvin’s Pack ‘n Play. Last night we took it for a test run and other than getting Calvin to go to sleep, it worked well. I’m still a little worried about how to keep him warm enough but that’s probably just due to me being an overly paranoid mother.
• Because I worked on Sunday, I got a couple of extra hours of free-time today. About half of it was spent at Calvin’s 15-month doctor visit. However, I did manage to squeeze in a massage which was really nice. I specifically waited to schedule another massage until after I was scheduled to play at church. I don’t practice consistently enough so my muscles always protest after I play for church.
• I met our backyard neighbors. They were outside at the same time as I was taking down the tent from our practice last night. I mentioned that I was worried about Calvin staying warm and they promptly offered me a kid-sized sleeping bag they had. It looks like it might work well for our purposes.

Calvin Moment

• As mentioned above, Calvin had his 15-month checkup today. Other than him crying the whole time, it went well. The doctor pronounced Calvin healthy and he got three more vaccinations. He weighs 24lbs 3 oz and has a length of 30 3/4″. This is 50th percentile for everything, including head circumference which they didn’t write down on my little sheet so I don’t remember the exact numbers. As usual, I had quite a few questions for the doctor. This time I made sure to ask all of them first thing so I didn’t throw the doctor off his routine.

Simplification

• Contributed another purse to the thrift store bin.

Food Diary

• Breakfast – Waffles with peanut butter and maple syrup and Hot Chocolate (we were “camping”, I had to have hot chocolate)
• Lunch – Veggie Sandwich
• Snack – 3 Dark Chocolate Pieces
• Dinner – Cuban Black Beans over Brown Rice, Sweet Potatoes, and Cherries
• Evening Treat – Banana Split Flavored Ice Cream

Downs

• N/A

Ups

• I’ve gotten up early and exercised three days in a row now. Hopefully this is a trend.

Calvin Moment

• This isn’t actually a Calvin moment but it happened while I was at the park with Calvin. There was a little girl at the park, maybe 4 years old, who suggested that Calvin might like to swing. Calvin did seem interested so I put him in the swing seat. She then asked if she could push him and I agreed and we struck up a conversation. It meandered very kid-like. At one point, she asked me if Calvin had a grandma and I said, “yes, he has two grandmas.” She then inquired about a Grandpa and I again told her that he had two. Then she asked about a daddy and I told her he did have a daddy. Her next question was, “does he have two daddies?” I told her no, there was just the one. The she inquired if he had two mommies. Again, I told her he only had one. She wanted to know why he only had one mommy. I decided that it wasn’t the time to explain my lifestyle choices to a random little girl so I settled for “well, there’s only one of me.” She then asked if there was another one of me back home. I replied no. That appeared to end the conversation about family elements. However, the rest of the conversation was similarly surreal. I wonder if little kid conversations will make more sense to me once I see Calvin’s conversational skills expand.

Simplification

• Didn’t get around to anything tonight.

Food Diary

• Breakfast – Oatmeal with raisins and soy milk
• Lunch – 1 Larabar and 1 Cliff Bar
• Snack – The bars didn’t leave me feeling like I’d eaten so after I got home, I also ate a slice of cheese with Triscuits, a Molasses cookie, some chocolate chips
• Dinner – Black Bean & Spinach Burrito (it was a leftover fridge combo)
• Evening Treat – Panda Bar Brownies

Downs

• I was feeling out of sorts last week. Not sure why. I was having trouble making myself go to bed and thus also getting up in the morning. Maybe it was because my work schedule was weird. Normally, I work from home but last week I went to Greeley twice, Carbon Valley once and Erie once. Friday is the only day I worked from home and that day I had a long meeting via teleconference.

Ups

• I actually got up and exercised this morning. It’s the first time I’ve done that in waaay too long.
• I got dinner prepared and the mess cleaned up before Calvin started demanding my complete attention. Often, I’m trying to bounce him on one hip while frantically stirring a pot which doesn’t work so well.
• We have a babysitter for Sunday mornings! She’s starting this Sunday. This will allow me to work Sundays and take some time off during the week when Calvin’s in daycare. I’m hoping I’ll actually have time for a haircut.

Calvin Moment

• Calvin still doesn’t understand the potty training concept yet but I’ve been putting him in training pants when home instead of diapers (so he’ll start making the connection when he feels wet). In addition, I try to put him on his potty chair at regular intervals. However, he is very active and so doesn’t like staying seated for long. I’ve taken to bribing him with graham crackers (well, bunnies). If nothing else, it’s obvious the connection between sitting on the potty and the crackers has been made. When Calvin wants a cracker, he now goes and sits on his potty chair, fully clothed, and then looks pointedly between me and the cracker box.

Simplification

• Designated 40 cookbooks for the thrift store. I hate giving up cookbooks but I haven’t used these in years so I don’t know why I would start now.

Food Diary

• Breakfast – Oatmeal with berries
• Lunch – Toasted cheese sandwich, a molasses cookie, and a couple of chocolate chips
• Dinner – Baked potato topped with cheese, fried veggie steak, spinach, and blueberries
• Evening Treat – Brownies with Peppermint Cream Cheese Frosting

Downs

• The night before last was a horrible night. Calvin was very restless and cried in his sleep at least once an hour keeping me awake. I think I got 3 hrs of sleep total which is not enough sleep for me. Jaeger suggested I call in sick to work except I was scheduled to drive up to Greeley to head a meeting I had organized so that didn’t seem like a good option. Fortunately, I did manage to stay mostly coherent during the day helped by a mug of hot chocolate (sugar/chocolate is more effective than caffeine for me).

Ups

• I went to bed early last night and Calvin slept soundly the entire night. It was glorious.
• Interviewed a second potential babysitter for Calvin this evening. Jeager and I are conflicted, they both seem like really good options. It’s nice to have two good choices to choose from.

Calvin Moment

• Calvin can now climb up the playground equipment and go down the slide by himself. I was right behind him the entire time but he didn’t need my help.

Simplification

• Didn’t do anything.

Food Diary

• Breakfast – Oatmeal with berries
• Lunch – A fruit bar, protein bar, and some chocolate chips
• Dinner – Baked potato topped with cheese, Azuki beans, salad, and bread with jam
• Evening Treat – Maybe a cup of hot chocolate, still undecided

Downs

• I haven’t been feeling good this last week. No sick symptoms yet but it seems like I’m always tired even if I get plenty of sleep.

Ups

• Interviewed a potential babysitter for Calvin this morning who seemed pretty nice. Jaeger likes to go on “expeditions” throughout the summer to relax. This is a useful thing to do but is inconvenient for me as it doesn’t allow time for me to relax without Calvin. I’m hoping to hire a babysitter on Sunday mornings while I work in the basement. Then I won’t go to work on Monday but still drop Calvin off at daycare so I have a couple of hours to myself to do important and/or relaxing things. I’m hoping to have someone lined up in the next week or two. I think my biggest challenge will be using the free time to actually relax instead of running mundane errands.

Calvin Moment

• Calvin most recent obsession is trying on mommy’s and daddy’s shoes. He’ll bring a shoe over to us and hold it insistently until we put it on his foot.
• In other Calvin related news, this weekend we kicked-off his potty training. It didn’t go quite as smoothly as I had hoped. He doesn’t seem to understand cause and effect yet and has no idea why we’d want him to sit on the potty. However, it took him a lot of practice before he picked up any other skill so I’m trying to relax and just give him lots of opportunities to figure out potty training.

Simplification

• Last week was a weird week and I didn’t have time to do my normal household tasks. So, I cleaned the bathroom this evening instead of trying to get rid of anything.

Food Diary

• Breakfast – French toast Sandwiches
• Lunch – Leftover Spinach Curry over Brown Rice and some milk chocolate chips
• Dinner – Veggie Burgers, Fries, Strawberries, and milk chocolate chips

Downs

• I haven’t been sleeping well the last couple of nights. Two nights ago it was because our house was incredibly hot. Last night, I had been asleep for less than half an hour when 5 jumped our baby gate and jumped into our bed. I quickly bundled her up and put her in the basement but that seemed to set the tone for the rest of the night.

Ups

I’ve been in a big reading phase recently. Within the last couple of weeks I’ve gobbled up:

• Married by Morning – I love the Hathaways series but 3 stars for this book. I think I already knew too much about the characters. However, I’m really looking forward to Love in the Afternoon
• Agnes and the Hitman – Solid 4 stars. This is the second time I’ve read it so I think it’s time to buy the book instead of just checking it out from the library.
• The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy – 3 stars, not my cup of tea
• Blood Bound – 4 stars. I read this book in one day so it must have been good but it was much creepier than I prefer. I have Iron Kissed on hold at the library to be picked up tomorrow. I’m hoping it’s not quite as creepy because I really like Patricia Briggs’ writing but I don’t like her enough to risk nightmares.
• Ten Things I Love About You – 3 Stars. I did enjoy reading this book but I prefer some of Julia Quinn’s other books more such as The Viscount Who Loved Me

Calvin Moment

• Calvin is going through a phase where he hates taking a bath. I’m not sure exactly what the problem is but the moment he is put in the bathtub, he tries to climb out of it. Thus, when I put some water outside for the cats it didn’t occur to me until too late that Calvin might enjoy playing in it. He has an old measuring cup and some other small cups to scoop sand with. They also work very well for pouring water over oneself. However, I drew the line when it looked like he was going to try driving the cats’ water.

Simplification

• Yesterday, I cleaned out one of my kitchen shelves that had become cluttered with Calvin paraphanelia along with various other kitchen gadgetry and ingredients. I packed up most of it but a couple of things where tagged for the thrift store and some stuff just had to be thrown. For instance, I had a tub of Crisco that expired in 2007. I’ve never smelled rancid Crisco before and it’s certainly not pleasant. These days I very rarely use Crisco unless it’s absolutely necessary for the baking chemistry.

Food Diary

• Breakfast – Oatmeal with Mixed Berries
• Lunch – Toasted cheese sandwich, Blueberries, and 3 chocolate pieces
• Dinner – Quinoa Tabbouleh Salad, Spinach, and a Chocolate Cookie

Downs

• Motoko’s , the Rav4, starter died yesterday while I was at the grocery store. It started fine when I left Vitamin Cottage but when I tried to leave King Soopers, it just clicked instead of even trying. A random couple who know a lot about cars first tried coercing the starter into working again but when that failed, they help me push start it (one of the few times I have been grateful to have a standard transmission). I drove back to our garage and kept the car on while I informed Jaeger of the situation. We decided he’d drive it to the top of a hill, turn it off, and try to start it again with the key. If that failed, being on the top of a hill he could start it without any other assistance. I stayed home to watch Calvin and load the frozen food into the freezer. Jaeger called to inform me that the starter was still not working without a running start. We decided to drive it into Boulder to our mechanic immediately to avoid any problems getting enough momentum to start it in the morning. While Jaeger drove home (he had the car seat so couldn’t just take off for Boulder), I frantically packed supper for Calvin. We headed off to Boulder and dropped off the car. I swapped the car seat while Jaeger attempted to feed Calvin who was too distracted by all the interesting stuff around him. We ate supper at Jaeger’s new favorite phở chay place and then headed back to Longmont to put Calvin to bed an hour late.

Ups

• Obviously one up is that when Motoko was dead in the parking lot, a random couple came and helped get her started again. Jaeger was home and King Soopers is actually easy walking distance of home but it still would have been much more inconvenient.
• I survived Saturday. I had church stuff today which is always more stressful these days since I have to find a babysitter to take care of Calvin.

Calvin Moment

• Calvin has always loved trees. When he was three months old we went out to Washington and he adored being strolled in his stroller under trees. He’d turn his little face up to look at them in awe. I’m not sure if it was their massive size or the color or something else. In any case, he still likes trees. While we were at the park Friday, he was looking at a tree that had some low hanging branches. So, I lifted him up and then pulled a branch down to tickle his face. He laughed hysterically every time I did it.

Simplification

• On Sunday, I packed three boxes to go to the thrift store. I think I’ve finally purged most of my duplicate/unnecessary kitchen equipment. There were a couple of things I decided not to give away yet such as my pasta maker. At the moment, I don’t have time to use it but maybe in another decade I’ll have enough time to try elaborate meals again.

Downs

• I still haven’t managed to do any proper exercising this week

Ups

• I met K in the park again. It’s so nice to talk to another mother that has many of the same situations as me.

Calvin Moment

• While we were at the park Calvin got it into his head that he wanted to climb up the slide. So, I’d hold his hands while he climbed up and then swoosh him down. We did this over and over and over and over and over . . . .

Simplification

• Didn’t do anything today . . .

Food Diary

• Breakfast – Oatmeal with Mixed Berries
• Lunch – Beans and rice
• Snack – 3 dark chocolate pieces
• Dinner – Vegetable Curry over Brown Rice and 3 chocolate cookies

Downs

• I haven’t exercised in over a week. I was thinking about it this morning but I didn’t get to sleep soon enough last night.

Ups

• I had a lot of fun at the Megafest this last weekend. At the previous one, I felt like I spent most of it holding a crying Calvin. However, this time I took him to daycare during my normal working hours for two days and then got a babysitter for a couple of hours on another day. This allowed me to have time to do fun things with the other fest participants. Calvin was also much more self-sufficient this time.

Calvin Moment

• I put on a recording of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons and Calvin liked it so much that he put down his bottle and started clapping. Periodically, as the strings became more passionate, he’d put down whatever snack he was working on and start clapping his hands again.

Simplification

• Didn’t get around to doing anything today.

Food Diary

• Breakfast – Oatmeal with Mixed Berries
• Lunch – A slice of pizza and a mango
• Snack – 3 dark chocolate pieces
• Dinner – Vegetable Curry over Brown Rice, a couple slices of pineapple, and 3 pieces of dark chocolate