A Crazy Month

Life has been a bit hectic around our house the past month. We had several trips planned on top of VBS and then Calvin had surgery last week. So this didn't leave too much time to post anything.

We had a good trip to Virgina. It was fun to be around some good friends. Calvin did great during all of our travels. The Lord certainly gave us one excellent flyer. I flew home without Marvin, he stayed to take a class. Calvin caught a little cold bug from some of his new friends while we were in Virgina and so the last flight was a bit trying for him. The poor guy was so tired and his fever was climbing, and it didn't help that our flight was delayed. We were supposed to have a tight connection in Dallas and we also were delayed in leaving VA so when we got off of our first flight I checked the board and it said our flight was in final boarding and we still had to change terminals, eeks! After rushing to our gate the poor guy with American airlines had covered the screen with a piece of paper and shortly made an announcement that they were waiting on the plane. Whew that was close. After moaning through most of the last flight we finally were home. Calvin was very happy to get out of his car seat and it was so cute watching him crawl all over the living room. You could see the relief on his face when he saw all his toys.

Here are a few of my observations about flying with small children:
1. It is very hard packing light with a baby, he took up most of our suitcase. We miss the days when we could go somewhere and not have to check any luggage. It will be nice when he gets to the age of being able to carry his own things for the flight.

2. People are so willing to help, especially when I was flying alone. I had multiple people stop and ask me if I needed help. They were certainly very sweet as I was juggling a stroller, car seat and diaper bag and trying to entertain Calvin. I love how helpful people are in the Midwest.

3. It's much easier going through security when Calvin can sit up. When Calvin was in the rag doll stage it was hard getting his stroller and our bags on and off the x-ray machines.

4. It's pretty ridiculous that they make you take off your baby's shoes!

Through all this craziness Calvin has stopped sleeping through the night, which means he has two very tired parents. It started over a month ago when Calvin developed an ear infection, then he was held all week during VBS, so he thought he needed to sleep in someone's arms, then we were traveling and he was sleeping in a strange place, then he caught a cold, then he had surgery. We are hoping his sleep patterns return in the next couple of weeks, because this mama is tired. Thankfully Marvin let me take a couple of naps this weekend. My body was just exhausted.

Calvin's surgery went well and he is still a little uncomfortable but for the most part he is doing great. He is certainly more clingy and cries a lot more than normal. He has lost his appetite and it has been a battle getting him to take his medicine. I will be glad when I don't have to give him meds daily. He also is cutting a couple of teeth, or so I think. The poor guy is 10 months old and still not teeth.

Other developmental news: He is getting faster at crawling and has started standing without holding on to anything for a few seconds at a time. He can crawl up stairs and he can go down at least one. It's funny when we play in the play room he will go up then down, up then down, he just can't decide what he wants to do. He can also find the smallest morsel of food on the ground, which means I must sweep the floors after every meal, even if I don't think I dropped anything. Yesterday he almost ate a piece of onion, yum!

We have enjoyed the Olympics, but it seems like we were glued the the TV all weekend. It is so unusual for us to have it on all the time. I decided I needed a TV break today, but I am sure we will check it out tonight. Sometimes I think I get overstimulated.

Here's a few pictures of the last month:

At the petting zoo during the family carnival in Richmond. Calvin really like the baby ducks but he kept banging on the cage so rather than torture the poor little things we moved on. He wasn't too impressed with the other animals, if only they had a dog he would have been so excited.

Since our flight was delayed in Dallas we had time to play in a little play area there at the airport. It was perfect and gave him a little wiggle time. He LOVED it. Basically he crawling through a tunnel and following a little girl around the 15 minutes we spent there.

Mr. Sleepy Pants. He woke up one morning and his hair was everywhere. This particular night (the night after his surgery) he decided it was time to play at 2 am. I was up holding him until 4:00 when he finally caved in and fell asleep. Since Marvin had to work the next day I fell asleep with him in the living room. Apparently he was sweating a bit because what little hair he has was sticking straight up. It was pretty cute.

We want our Mamas! We briefly went out the car and when we came back to the door this is what we found, two boys waiting on their mommies to return. How sweet.

Calvin playing with his best buddy, who is now 1!!! Now that Calvin can crawl he just follows him everywhere, I think his pal gets tired of it from time to time. Calvin think he is so cool.