ONE

Our Sweet Calvin,

Yesterday you turned one! Just as expected, the year flew by. I could not believe we were already at the point where it was necessary to stick a single candle in a stack of pancakes to commemorate your special day.

It felt like just yesterday we were nervously and excitedly preparing for you. Painting the walls of your nursery, reading all of the right parenting books, taking birthing classes and trying to make sure were 100% ready to be the perfect parents for you.

And then you arrived. 6 pounds 8 ounces of pure innocent love.

We quickly learned that all of the preparation in the world could not prepare us for a baby like you. I can't help but think of the days when we would rock-paper-scissors over who had to change the next poopy diaper. And there were days of screaming and crying for no obvious reason which led to hours of us marching up and down the hall with you curled up in a sling in the hopes of five minutes of quiet. And the days when we could not get your s.l.o.w. self to finish a single bottle. And how can we forget the shrieking.. OMG the shrieking! 

But those days were quickly overshadowed by the better ones. Like the day you first smiled for us, or laughed at Marshall licking your toes. The day you grinned and showed us your first tooth. The day we gave you your first bite of watermelon and your eyes lit up with joy. The day you proudly crawled over to your dad to welcome him home from work. The day you said "Mama" when you woke up looking right in my eyes with your little arms stretched up towards me. Those were the days we could not have possibly prepared for. 

So much love I can hardly stand it.

(Pancakes down. Cue the failproof yogurt.)

We are honored to be your parents. We are so proud of you and so excited to watch you grow into the person you will become.

We love you, son!

  And now we enter the wild world of toddlerhood.

 I think it's going to be a doozy.

Happy birthday sweet Calvin!! 

You are the best thing that has ever happened to us!

-Mom & Dad

Cal's Red Sled

Calvin's Grandpa Ruhl has been dying to get him in the snow ever since he saw a video of him squealing with delight during his first sledding experience in New York last month. As soon as we made it to Minnesota and recovered from our crazy blizzard adventure we headed out to pick up the perfect Christmas sled for Cal. And what day in the cold would be complete without a new winter coat and snow pants? Needless to say, by the time we bundled him up appropriately for the sub zero temperatures and got him into his sled he could no longer move. Hilarious for us, for him- not so much.

And while we all had huge expectations for our day outside, Cal had a different plan. The kid would not crack a smile to save his life. He wasn't upset, there were no tears, just a frozen wide-eyed little face taking it all in. 

As for Grandpa, he was perfectly happy pulling his grandson around the backyard, so proud to introduce Cal to his first Minnesota winter.

Thankfully, we brought Cal's new sled home with us and Chicago took the hint. The snow is falling as we speak and someone has a BIRTHDAY tomorrow.. I'm thinking we will celebrate outside in the sled!

Merry Christmas

Hoping your Christmas was

Merry & Bright! 

Ours was lovely.

We had a great time in Minnesota relaxing and enjoying

our favorite holiday traditions with our family. 

Millions of photos of Cal's first Christmas to come!

Santa Baby

It was the perfect first Santa experience. No lines. No crazy shoppers. No photo taking Elves that push you to the side as they take the perfect photo that you can only get your hands on for the low low price of $47.50. Instead, it was a real live Santa at O'Hare Airport. Calvin caught this Santa in his official embroidered red gear on his way to Ohio for a season of mall madness. This Santa, (who works as an HVAC engineer 10 months of the year) was unbelievably sweet and entertained Calvin as we waited to board our plane to MN last month. Calvin happily sat on his lap, smiled at his perfect train whistle impression, and then gave me major 'tude when I finally snapped his photo.

Oh well, at least we have a cute story.. and avoided those damn elves! 

Love for a Box

Calvin is obsessed with boxes lately. He will climb into anything from a large shipping box to a shoe box- his love does not discriminate and he enjoys them all equally. Our home looks like trashy disaster as we have been saving every single thing that Cal may potentially want to climb into. I blame our sledding adventure a few weeks ago for sparking his interest. It's adorable, really. The other day he open our bathroom drawer, climbed on in, and patiently waited for someone to pull him away in his "sled". 

And while we have been making makeshift sleds out of a dog leash and Costco box to pull Cal around in inside of our condo in snow-less Chicago, we have finally made it to wintery Christmasy Minnesota where the powder is plentiful and fresh. Calvin will have endless opportunities to sled this week along with an endless line of people willing to drag him around- such a lucky boy. Speaking of our Christmas in Minnesota, can I take a quick second to say we schooled Winter Storm Draco today. It may have taken us 11 slow and steady hours to get home but we made it and thank God for getting us to our destination safely.

During our lengthy adventure today, my mind frequently wandered to the families in Newtown, CT whose broken hearts long for the opportunity to spend time with their children this Christmas. Families and loved ones whose Christmas trees will have unopened gifts lying under them on December 26th. My heart is broken for them. My prayers are continually with them. There are no words to describe how blessed I feel to have the opportunity to kiss my box lovin' baby this Christmas.

Praying for safe travels and peace in your home this week as we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Savior.

Month Eleven

This past month has been Cal's busiest month yet! Month eleven began in Mexico and ended in New York with a trip to Minnesota for Auntie Sarah's shower smashed in between. We were constantly on the go! As for Cal, he was also on the go. Always exploring, always into something. In the spirit of the holidays, he has taken on an attitude that is equal parts naughty and nice. I'd love to say I'm loving this stage of parenting but I'm too tired to find the words.

 ELEVEN MONTHS

For your comparison...

TEN MONTHS

Here's what we have learned about Cal this month..

Stats:

The official 1 year weigh in is coming next month but I would say that he seems to have grown about 3 inches in the last 2 weeks. All of his pants are suddenly too short and we were forced to finally upgrade him from his infant carseat after his legs were hanging over the end of the seat. He is wearing 12-18 month clothes and (when I can actually keep shoes on his feet) a size 2 shoe.

Eating:

What happened to my baby who would eat anything with a smile? I miss him. He has been replaced by a super selective eater who now carefully analyzes his tray and takes his sweet time picking every single pea (or any other vegetable for that matter) out of his dinner before he will take a single bite. Now I know it's common for kids to dislike their veggies but he has also become equally picky about cheese and fruit. Fruit! What kind of kid doesn't like fruit? He's crazy and currently living on scrambled eggs, cereal, and toast. Ugh.

Sleeping:

Naps were getting better for a while and now seem to be hit or miss. Some days he naps very well and goes down without a fuss. Other days, he puts up an epic battle before falling asleep and then takes a ten minute nap. Luckily for everyone else, he seems to nap very well when he is with someone other than me. So unfair. (Says the girl who is currently blogging while her kid takes a nice nap- I'm such a whiner.)

Milestones:

Tooth count: 5. Two on top, three on the bottom. I need to get a good photo of his toothy grin, it's adorable!

I was sure Cal would be walking by 11 months as he has seemed so close for months now. Turns out, he would much rather crawl at the speed of light and is too busy getting into things to walk these days. He is now getting up to standing unassisted in the middle of the room but is too hesitant to take more than a step without help. He loves pushing his car around and slamming it into things- preferably Marshall or my ankles.

He waves "Bye Bye" and will sign "more" and "all done" when he is eating. He is now saying "Mama" and "Dada" and definitely knows what he is saying and looks our way when he calls us out. Marshall is "Ma" followed by an ear piercing squeal. Cal loves to throw toys for Marshall and is so thrilled when Marshall returns the toy to him. Those two could play for hours. Cute. Cute.

Calvin LOVES to look at books lately and even has a few favorites that he will dig through the book pile for.  Reading books feels like such a big kid activity and is just one more reason I am not even going to mention what is about to happen in 17 days!!

Seriously?

The other morning I scooped Cal up from his crib and noticed these odd white specks all over his face and hands. I spent the day wiping away these little specks and didn't think much of it until I put him to bed that night..

I don't see the appeal.

Mexico

We had a amazing time in Mexico last month. The weather was beautiful, the drinks were endless, and the wedding was a blast. It was the perfect getaway! I am finally getting around to the 500+ photos we took of our first tropical family vacation and thought I would share a few of my favorites. 

Even with the wild one, the trip was actually quite relaxing.

We spent several days hanging out at the pool and lounging on the beach.

Calvin thoroughly enjoyed the fruit cart that delivered fresh watermelon poolside.

The rehearsal dinner was held in downtown Riviera Maya. We had a great time wandering around watching all of the little kids dressed up for Halloween and Dia de los Muertos.

As always, Calvin couldn't get enough of Grandma!

Dinner was delicious!..and Cal slept through the whole thing. Bonus!!

And of course, the reason for the trip, the wedding! Everything was gorgeous- the bride was beautiful, the setting was picturesque, and the guests sat barefoot on the beach. What more could you ask for?

Evan Cal was happy to celebrate!

 Our final photo at the airport getting ready to head home. Someone wasn't too happy about it (not that I could blame him).

 Congratulations Heather and Phil!!