Downs

• Calvin started waking up around 5am this morning. Around 6 he decided he was completely awake and started screaming nonstop. Jaeger reluctantly got out of bed and started his morning. This was my day to sleep in so I got up around 8 and relieved Jaeger at which point he went back to bed. I really wish Calvin would get up at a consistent 6:30 or so each morning. That would make everything much easier.

Ups

• Jaeger got up with Calvin this morning.
• I went clothes shopping at the thrift store while Calvin took his mid-day nap. I didn’t get as much stuff as I need (I have almost no short sleeve shirts that fit) but it was still good to get out of the house. Amazingly, I made it back to the house before Calvin woke up.
• Jaeger, Calvin and I went and got ice cream and then Calvin played in a nearby park. This park had bigger slides than our normal park so I think it’ll be a better fit later on.

Calvin Moment

• Calvin’s supper consists of three phases: 1) I feed him food which makes sure he gets some calories down. 2) Calvin practices eating chunky finger food and 3) Calvin practices eating applesauce with a spoon. Not surprisingly, #3 is the messiest part. Usually, we conclude supper with stripping off the clothing and going straight into a bath. Today during phase 3 I wasn’t paying as much attention as usual to Calvin. He started out eating with his spoon and then, per his normal custom, he got frustrated with the spoon and started trying to grab handfuls of applesauce and stick it in his mouth. Today, he concluded his meal with grabbing my finger, stirring it around in the applesauce and then sticking it in his mouth. I wasn’t paying too much attention to him so he did this several times before Jaeger pointed it out to me.

Simplification

• Didn’t do anything today. I really need to start this up again but I never seem to have enough time.

Food Diary

• Breakfast – Whole Wheat Waffle with Peanut Butter and Cherries
• Lunch Snack – A medium sized bowl of Chocolate Mousse Gelato
• Supper – Grillers Stroganoff with mashed potatoes and garlic green beans
• Evening Treat – After Jaeger finishes washing the dishes, I’m making cookies for Jaeger to pack in his lunch. I love cookie dough so probably will snitch way too much of it.

Downs

• My new nameless work laptop hates me. Today, it refused to open attachments and then crashed two times when I exited a VNC session.

Ups

I finally ordered my kitchen computer. I’ve been thinking about buying a computer for the kitchen for years. Currently, I use my laptop which works ok but takes up counter space. In December, I noticed that my expenditure allocation was ridiculously healthy due to me not being able to get away from Calvin long enough to spend any money (well, except on Calvin things). I decided to use the accrued money to buy a kitchen computer. However, it took me a long time to figure out exactly what I wanted. I had several requirements:

• Not too expensive. This computer will be used primarily for online recipes, online TV, movies and possibly my nutrition software. For such limited types of use, I didn’t think it made sense to spend too much money on it. While I would likely get a better tv/movie viewing experience with better equipment, this is only for entertainment while I’m working in the kitchen so my attention will be distracted anyway.
• Because I might use it with my nutrition software, it needs to be Windows based.
• An all-in-one style. I don’t have room in my kitchen to attach even a mini-size computer. Plus, I didn’t want there to be cords hanging out everywhere. This intrigued me but I was worried about problems viewing it from various angles.
• A wireless keyboard with integrated trackball to minimize clutter. I love touch pads but they don’t work well with damp hands. I did briefly consider a touch screen computer but decided it would probably have similar problems to what I currently have with my touch pad.
• Somehow to keep it out of the way. Originally, I wanted to flip it under the cabinet when it wasn’t in use. However, after measuring my cabinets, I realized that would make for a very small computer. So, I decided I would try a wall mount where the computer could hug the wall when not in use and could swivel enough for me to see from any area in the kitchen.

Eventually, I decided on the most basic version of the Dell Vostro All-in-One (and I ended up getting a refurbished one) with a keyboard designed for a media center and a wall mount. One of the main reasons I settled on the Dell all-in-one is it is one of the few computers I found that claimed to be VESA mountable. I almost went with a MSI Wind Top instead because I like the flexibility of being able to use it as a monitor later on. However, I couldn’t really justify the price difference.

One of my current concerns is how to protect the monitor when I’m cooking. There are various screen protectors available but they all seem to get really bad reviews. Plus, some of them double as privacy filters which wouldn’t work for my situation. For now, I’m going to try saran wrap on the monitor itself (obviously not blocking any vents). I’m not convinced this is a good idea but I think it’s worth a try to see what happens. If nothing else, I can always buy something later. I also suspect that if I actually want to use the computer for video/sound, I’ll need to get external speakers. However, I’m going to wait and double check the sound first before evaluating what type of speakers I need.

Calvin Moment

• A couple of days ago Calvin decided he needed to feed me. He was attempting to eat cheerios for breakfast and I leaned forward to say something to him. He looked at me and then picked up a cheerio and put it in my mouth. He was delighted with this and so did it a couple of more times. Then, in the evening when he was practicing eating applesauce with a spoon, he fed me applesauce with his spoon. Ironically, I think he feeds me better than he can feed himself.

Simplification

• Didn’t do anything today.

Food Diary

• Breakfast – 1 packs of Instant Flavored Oatmeal (I discovered a stash in our basement that needs to be eating ASAP
• Morning Snack – 3 mini Scones
• Lunch – 1 toasted cheese sandwich
• Snack – Kiwi and 2 Triscuits
• Supper – Creamy Dal over Brown Rice, Spinach, and Garlic Bread
• Evening Treat – 2 dark chocolate pieces

Downs

• My nameless work laptop died. It worked fine on Friday but when I turned it on Sunday to do some work, it wouldn’t boot. I thought I had managed to kill another power cable. However, I drove to the Carbon Valley library to try another power cable and it still stubbornly refused to boot. So, I had to put it in the courier for Greeley so IT can order me a new one. I do sporadically back up my files onto the shared drives. However, they’ve been a little flaky recently so I haven’t been as good. IT did retrieve the hard drive so they can transfer files over to the new laptop when it arrives but until then I’m going to be limping along on Adara, my home laptop, which only reluctantly runs Windows. (IT did offer me a spare but I decided it wasn’t worth the bother of setting up another the computer the way I want it.)

Ups

• I met another mother on the playground who sounds like she has an 8-month version of Calvin. We were both suckered into thinking we could work from home without daycare because of other babies we knew who were much more placid than our children. Fortunately for me, I was able to find a good daycare willing to take Calvin. She wasn’t so lucky so had to quit her job. Also, her son doesn’t like naps so she’d have to take him on car rides to get him to sleep. He hated BOB, they have one too, so unlike Calvin, she couldn’t get any exercise while trying to get him to sleep. I think the moral of the story is that it can always be worse

Calvin Moment

• For his birthday Calvin received a wooden alligator pull-toy. It’s very clever and makes lost of noise even when you aren’t pulling it. I’ve been using this as a car toy. When I picked Calvin up from daycare today, I handed Calvin the alligator and he made the most extraordinary chortle because he was so excited to get to play with it.

Simplification

• Didn’t do anything today.

Food Diary

• Breakfast – Oatmeal with cherries and milk
• Lunch – 1 Larabar and 1 Luna Bar
• Snack – 1 Graham Cracker
• Supper – Paneer and Peas (though Paneer is almost impossible to get so I used Queso Fresco instead) and grapes
• Evening Treat – 3 dark chocolate pieces

Downs

• Calvin woke up at 3:30am screaming. Nothing was obviously wrong and he fell back asleep within 5-10 min. However, he woke up again 15 min later and repeated the whole process several more times. Finally, I got up and gave him some ibuprofen on the off-chance he was teething or in some other sort of pain. I also prepared a bottle because if I interfere, he normally won’t go back to sleep unless I feed him. This time all it took was me holding him in my arms for a couple of minutes. However, every time I would try to put him back in his crib, he’d start screaming again. Finally, I gave up and just held him in the rocker. At first, he would jerk awake every 5 min or so, see me and then peacefully go back to sleep. Eventually, he settled into a deeper sleep and I leaned back in the rocker and snoozed until 6:30. At that point, I handed him off to Jaeger and went back to sleep for a couple of hours. I’m still not sure what was wrong but our best guess at the moment is that it might have been a nightmare. I didn’t think kids usually had them this young but I’m not sure what else it would have been.

Ups

• Calvin, Jaeger, and I went out for brunch this morning. I forgot to feed Calvin his mid-morning bottle before we left so the first part of the meal he was occupied drinking his bottle and the second half I fed him tiny bits of Jaeger’s scrambled egg. After brunch, we went on a couple of errands before heading back home. I barely managed to keep Calvin from falling asleep on the way home. As soon as I put him in his crib, he was out for over a 2 hr nap.

Calvin Moment

• For some reason, Calvin adores cavorting on the sofa. During a video conference with mom, he rapidly crawled from one end of the sofa to the other, stood up, banged on the sofa a bit and repeated the process, cackling the entire time.

Simplification

• I packed up more of Calvin’s old clothes.

Food Diary

• Breakfast – Hashbrowns and 1/2 a large cinnamon roll
• Snack – Triscuits and Cheese
• Supper – 2 1/2 slices of pizza
• Evening Treat – Grapes

Downs

• Calvin only took a 1/2 hr nap today but actually seemed in a pretty good mood in spite of that.

Ups

• I went to bed last night around 8:30 which means I got a solid 8 hrs of sleep! I rarely go to bed late but Calvin often starts making noises around 3:30 and I usually doze after that instead of getting quality sleep time.
• Since Calvin is now taking his nap later, I took him to the early service at church. The “early service” is a fairly new thing for Boulder aimed at families with small children. It seems to be fitting the demographic fairly well as almost the entire Cradle Roll class was there. After church, we went to Sabbath School and then I fed Calvin lunch before driving back home. I was hoping he’d continue napping in his car seat after I stopped the car but he only slept for a couple of minutes more. I think it was easier to sleep in the infant car seat as it reclined more.

Calvin Moment

• When visited the park today, I pushed Calvin on the swing. I’ve noticed that most mothers gently push their toddlers to encourage a sedate swing experience. However, Calvin likes going fast and high. In fact, he adores it when I push him up so he’s parallel to the ground (with me holding him, obviously). He dissolves into delighted giggles whenever I do this.

Simplification

• Jaeger and I talked about giving stuff away. Does that count?

Food Diary

• Breakfast – French Toast with Peanut Butter and Maple Syrup
• Lunch – A toasted cheese sandwich
• Snack – Homemade chocolate mint ice cream
• Supper – Asparagus Ravioli, Broccoli, and Bread
• Evening Treat – 3 Dark Chocolate Pieces

Downs

• Yesterday morning Calvin woke up at 3:30 and refused to go back to sleep till around 5:30. By that point, I had trouble going back to sleep. I was incoherent most of the day. However, after the 2nd time he woke up, Calvin was in a very good mood.
• I left Calvin’s shoes at daycare today so we couldn’t go play in the park. I carried Calvin around the neighborhood and we walked barefoot on our driveway but it wasn’t as fun as the playground.

Ups

• Took Calvin to the dentist today. Everything looks good. I’m suppose to start brushing his teeth before bed. I forgot tonight . . .
• Calvin visited the “First Steps” daycare room today. Daycare usually tries to have the children visit the next room up several times before they officially move in order to get them use to it. Calvin did really well in the older room and even took over a 2 hr nap!

Calvin Moment

• Yesterday when I gave Calvin his finger-food, he tried to eat it with a spoon. However, it didn’t work very well.

Simplification

• Didn’t get around to doing anything.

Food Diary

• Breakfast – Oatmeal with raisins and soy milk
• Lunch – A toasted cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread with Kiwi
• Snack – 2 Graham Crackers
• Supper – A Bean Burrito and Kiwi
• Evening Treat – 2 Dark Chocolate Pieces

Downs

• Calvin consistently starts waking up around 4:30 each morning. This means he’ll cry for about 10 minutes, go to sleep for 20 and repeat until he decides he really is ready to get up. It is routine enough that I’m now starting to wake up just before he starts crying. I had trouble going to sleep after that in anticipation of the next bought of crying.

Ups

• Calvin was in a very good mood today. He barely cried at all.
• So far, I’m liking the new schedule. I seem to be more productive at work which makes the rest of the day feel more better.

Calvin Moment

• Calvin has started doing some serious toddling without any support. He walked about 1/2 the living room several times today without stumbling.

Simplification

• Shredded a stack of old receipts from 2008.

Food Diary

• Breakfast – Oatmeal with raisins and soy milk
• Lunch – A toasted cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread
• Snack – 3 dark chocolate pieces
• Supper – Asparagus, Red Pepper, and Tofu Stir-Fry over Brown Rice
• Evening Treat – A cup of hot chocolate

Downs

• N/A

Ups

• Today was Calvin’s first day to try the morning daycare shift. It went better than I had feared. I made his breakfast the night before so I had plenty of time to feed him and let him play a little bit before taking him to daycare. When I picked him up, daycare reported he had done very well. With the new schedule, he is taking his nap about 3 hrs later than previously and I was worried he’d have a melt down. However, he managed to get an hour of sleep which isn’t bad with all the distractions around daycare. I picked him up at 2:30 and then made his meals for tomorrow. Around 4, I took Calvin to the park in his backpack carrier. Normally, I would have used the Becco carrier or the BOB stroller. However, I’m trying to get Calvin more use to the backpack carrier so we can go on longer hikes without him getting fussy. Anyway, Calvin had lots of fun at the park, especially once the other toddlers arrived.
• We had our science fiction book club at Erie library this evening. Only Jaeger and I had actually read Affinity Bridge so there wasn’t a lot of discussion. We both concluded in was an amusing but not particularly compelling story. A nice breather for after a more intense book. Next month, we’re going to read Boneshaker which is a Hugo nominee. Personally, I’m not very thrilled by the idea of yet another steampunk novel, they seem to be getting out of control, but Jaeger and Zan Lynx were interested in it. Plus, it’s hard to resist a book that Publishers Weekly claims showcases “a phenomenal strong female protagonist.”

Calvin Moment

• I think I’ve mentioned before that Calvin loves people. When we were at the park, Calvin spent a lot of time trotting up to an older toddler, grinning, and then trotting away to find the next toddler to stalk.

Simplification

• Didn’t have time to do anything tonight. While Calvin’s new schedule seems to work well for him, I’m losing about 2 hrs of more normal productive time because he now is taking his nap at daycare. I’m not sure how I’m going to balance this yet.

Food Diary

• Breakfast – Oatmeal with banana, soy milk, and honey
• Morning Snack – 5 triscuits
• Lunch – Pea Soup and a peanut butter & jam sandwich
• Snack – 3 dark chocolate pieces
• Supper – Black Beans over Yams and Garlic Green beans with 2 cookies for dessert
• Evening Treat – 1 piece of dark chocolate

Downs

• On Friday, daycare had an in-service day so I had to take the day off to take care of Calvin. It started out ok. Calvin was a little fussy before his nap but that isn’t unusual. However, he ended up fussing the rest of the day also. I did have a couple hours of quiet when we went to the library. Calvin loves the library and all the staff that fawn over him. Oddly enough, once Jaeger got home, Calvin perked up and was very enthusiastic and didn’t want to go to bed at his normal time.
• Somewhat related to Calvin being home, I ate a huge amount of food on Friday. When Calvin’s crying, I always feel like I need extra energy to be able to deal with him. After Calvin went to bed, I then felt like I needed an energy boost. I think I ate 1/2 a bag of milk chocolate chips by myself.

Ups

• I introduced Calvin to peanut butter on Friday and, so far, he hasn’t had any adverse reactions.
• Based on Yanthor’s recommendation, I checked out the first season of The Big Bang Theory and finished watching it Friday night. That was the highlight of my day.
• On Saturday night, I left Calvin with Jaeger and went to a “Ladies Fondue Night.” One of the young mothers in our church made 6 different types of fondue (3 savory and 3 dessert) and we all brought dipping items. It was very nice and I learned all sorts of useful things about the problems of houses built on “expansive soil” and tips about potty training. There was also the mother of 2 1/2 year old twins there which made me feel like a wimp because I have trouble surviving with just one kid.
• Today, Jaeger got up with Calvin so I got to sleep in.

Calvin Moment

• Currently, Calvin really enjoys crawling into things. In addition to crawling in and out of the container for his toys, he also enjoyed stepping into a box in his bedroom. Jaeger has an amusing picture of Calvin sitting in the box clutching the edge like he expects it to start moving at any moment.

Simplification

• Didn’t actually throw anything out but I did create a meal plan for Calvin for the week. Usually, I just look in the fridge and whiz up whatever seems appropriate. I try to get a good mix of proteins, grains, and vegetables but I’m never sure how good I’m doing. Now, I have a plan. (We’ll have to see how long it takes to fail).

Food Diary

• Breakfast – Pancakes with berries and whipped cream
• Morning Snack – 1 Graham Cracker
• Lunch – Spinach and cheese dish over brown rice
• Snack – 2 dark chocolate pieces
• Supper – 2 pieces of toast with butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon

Downs

• N/A

Ups

• Calvin was in a good mood most of this morning. After breakfast, he sat quietly in my lap for several minutes while we read stories. Then he played around in the living until it was time for our mini-morning walk and his nap.
• I had 1/2 hour extra after I finished cleaning the house today. So I actually had a leisurely lunch before heading to work at Erie (normally I eat while I work to save time).

Calvin Moment

• Calvin is actually starting to “eat” with his spoon. That is, he understands the basic concept but has trouble actually getting food in his mouth. I was making a big deal and clapping every time he managed to get the spoon in his mouth which he really loved. It was obvious that he was repeating the actions because of the praise.

Simplification

• Threw out an old jar of bath salts.

Food Diary

• Breakfast – Steel-cut oats with berries, and soy milk
• Morning Snack – 8 milk chocolate chips and a graham cracker
• Lunch – Pea Soup with 2 pieces of garlic bread spread with margarine and 1 piece dark chocolate
• Snack – 3 dark chocolate pieces
• Supper – 1 1/2 servings of Asparagus Ravioli with Marinara sauce and a dark chocolate piece
• After Dinner Treat – 3 Kiwi

Exercise

• 15 min walk around the neighborhood with Calvin on my back
• 15 min ab exercises