Calvin 4 month Update

So we are long overdue for an update with Calvin here on this blog. Its been over 2 months since the last update and he has changed so much its amazing. And not just him, things have also changed around here with me being back at work and Calvin at daycare.

First things first...the statistics. Weight, I think he's just about if not over 16 lbs, but we won't have a weigh-in till the end of the month at his doctors appointment. Length, yeah, I don't know. I'll let you know after his doctor's visit at the end of the month. Really helpful huh?

Eating and sleeping...this kid can eat. He can be done with a meal with me in 7-10 minutes and he still only eats one side (which Ellie did, but it took her 15+ minutes to have a meal). His teachers at daycare have remarked over and over how fast of an eater he is. He can down a 5oz bottle in 5-7 minutes. Its amazing to watch him eat. Sleeping, not much to comment on that. He has great nights (down by 7pm, up at 2:30 to eat and then sleeps until 6:30am) and nights which are pretty awful (up every 90 minutes). He's been a little congested lately and I think he may be in a growth spurt, so we have had a string of not so great nights. He still needs to be swaddled to get good sleep. He will sleep unswaddled, or with his arms out, but its not great. We are working on it, but it take some rough nights to get him trained and used to sleeping without being swaddled. Hes still sleeping in his bassinet in our room...we are talking about moving him to his crib and into his room as he just barely fits in the bassinet now.

So daycare started. He had his first day of daycare on June 2. As much as I miss having my constant companion and my "coffees with Cal" as Nick called my mornings, I was happy to get back to work and not be spit up on every 3 hours  and have people respond back to me using actual vocabulary. His first day went pretty smoothly. He apparently fought his first bottle a little bit, but that was it. It took about a week for him to get adjusted and start getting some decent naps at daycare. And then after being at daycare for four weeks, we switched him to a new daycare where he had his first day on June 30. We switched daycares for several reasons and got super lucky that we got a spot at the one he is at now. He adjusted quickly and I can tell he is happier at daycare now.

He's spent time meeting more family including Big Cousin Jimmy and spending more time with Great Grandparentals Van.

Cal is pretty much a happy kid. He loves to be outside, likes listening to Ellie sing and laugh, and is joy to be around. He hates bathes. Sometimes he hates his car seat and riding in the car, but I think its because he gets too hot in the seat. He has developed a fondness recently of putting any toy in his mouth, even Little Hobbes

He is super strong and doesn't mind tummy time. He hasn't yet rolled over but he is close. When he gets fussy you can sing "Twinkle Twinkle" and it will instantly calm him down and make him smile...but only "Twinkle Twinkle" works. He is very vocal now too. He likes to "talk" and communicate with a couple of vowel sounds that he's working on. He can turn on a dime...super happy one moment and almost instantly he is screaming his head off!

Whenever someone meets Calvin for the first time they either comment about how big he is, how great his hair is, or his smile. And that's Cal, a chubby, adorable, happy baby.

And a couple videos of the little man...

Happy Four Month Birthday, Cal!

Big Hobbes was happy to help the little super-guy celebrate! 

 

Happy 4th of July!

We hope everyone had a great 4th of July!

This year we skipped the parade in South Pasadena to save our energy up as we planned for the fireworks at the Rose Bowl this year! Our thought was Cal is still young enough to be okay chilling in the carrier, Ellie is old enough to sit still for a few hours before the show, and yet they were both free to get into the stadium!

We did grill our for lunch and Nick set out the little pool so he and Ellie could stay cool during the very warm afternoon.


















Around 5:00pm we left the house to head over to the Rose Bowl. Pasadena totally has crowd control down to a science. Parking and getting into the stadium was seamless and easy. We found some seats in the shade, got some dinner from the concession stands and got ready to chill until it got dark. There was a good roundup of entertainment including some motorcycle stunt people and a Beatles tribute band that was managed by George Harrison's older sister.


























Once it got dark, at 9:00pm, the fireworks started. It was was great, for about 2 minutes. Cal, who was sound asleep in the carrier started to freak out. Yeah, it was loud. The fireworks were launched just over the stadium and there was some awesome echoes going on. I didn't think between the firework booms and the noise that Cal was that loud, until we were offered ear plugs from a guy a few rows behind us. So once I realized that we were that family with the crying baby. So Cal and I left the inside of the stadium and stood just outside. I got to see a portion of the firework show, Cal stopped crying, and it was all okay. Except that Ellie was upset that she and Nick wouldn't find us after the show. But we met up, got back to the car, and were home by 11:00pm.


















The whole experience was fun, but I think we will skip the next few years until Calvin is 4 or 5. There was quite a bit of walking, sitting still, and of course, the loud noises (which never bothered Ellie).



Happy Independence Day!


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Exploring L.A. :: Long Beach

A few weeks ago we all packed up (about a ton of baby gear) and headed down to Long Beach to check out the Aquarium of the Pacific and the Queen Mary. None of us had ever been down there (if I had I don't remember it) and we were all looking forward to being tourists and our little day trip. We had no idea what to expect but had heard only good things about both the aquarium and the Queen Mary.

We arrived at the aquarium just as it was opening. We knew as soon as we walked in that it was going to be a fun adventure. There was so much to see and do just based looking at the map and were overwhelmed when we first walked in. Immediately Ellie was mesmerized. Our first stop was to touch some jellyfish. Yep, we touched jellyfish. They were moon jellyfish that don't have stingers so it was perfectly safe. Ellie was a bit shy at first, but then she was super excited about touching them. She said they felt soft.

There were lots of fish. Big fish. Small fish. Colorful fish. Endangered fish. Fish from the Cali coast. Fish that were poisonous. Sea horses. Gigantic fish. Eels. Seals. Otters. Penguins. It was pretty awesome.

Cal seemed to love the whole experience as well. He slept for a while but then he woke up and I put him in the carrier where he could see more and at a better angle. He seemed to really be engaged with the colors and sights and differences in light. 

The most exciting part of the aquarium was the exterior touch tanks that had horseshoe crabs, sharks, rays, and all sorts of cool stuff. Ellie was a little scared at first, I mean these are sharks and sting rays...but after seeing Nick touch quite a few of the animals she was cool with it. She then thought it was awesome to touch sharks. But also adjacent to the shark touch tanks was a giant tank that had huge sharks, rays and even a sawfish. A sawfish!

After checking out the aquarium we headed over to the Queen Mary. We were able to leave the car parked where it was and take a free bus over to the Queen Mary. It was Cal's first time on a bus! The Queen Mary was pretty cool. We got to just wander around the ship. Ellie wasn't quite sure what to think about it and to her credit the whole ship was aimed at an older target audience. However, she did enjoy wandering and checking out some of the exhibits. There were quite a few artifacts and exhibits which were fun. They had dining room tables (with dishes) and cabins decorated for each class. They also had a whole WWII exhibit (which was cool to see since Great Grandpa Van had been on the Queen Mary when he shipped over to Europe during the war). They also had a set up where you could see the propellers under the water which was a bit amazing. Also the bridge and boiler room was open which was pretty awesome. Plus we had a nice little snack on the deck and were able to enjoy the weather on the ship.

After the Queen Mary we went back to the aquarium for more touching and hanging out with sharks. Then we walked to have a quick dinner followed by some ice cream. It was an awesome day that we all (including Cal) enjoyed. I'm sure we will be back to Long Beach for the aquarium soon, maybe when Cal's a little older so he can enjoy it even more.