The Lego Store

A trip to the Lego Store at the Mall of America served three purposes...

1. It introduced Calvin to the great world of Legos.

2. It fulfilled Jakob's life long dream of standing in front of a giant wall of his favorite childhood toy (game? manipulative?).

3. It kept the boys occupied while my mom and I slipped away for a little shopping time at a mall that I love going to but can never seem to find the courage to actually go to. Facing the traffic and crowds at the largest mall in the country can be and little intimidating. On the flip side, I think I burned off my entire Orange Julius walking from Gap to Nordstrom!

So without further ado, I give you a snapshot of our brief visit to the Lego Store this past weekend..

(Sidenote- As a child I remember Lego Land being much more exciting. Huge, intricate displays of giant pirate ships and all sorts of other amazingness! I was either seeing it through the eyes of a naive child or it has been overhauled as a giant Lego store with only a few semi-cool displays. Either way, it was better in 1995. Thankfully, Calvin and Jakob didn't know the difference and had a great time and Jakob's love for Lego's only continues to grow.)

More from our adventures in Minnesota to come!

Cloth Diapering Update

Since a few of you have asked, I thought I'd put a little something together about our cloth diapering adventures thus far. 

I really can't say enough about how well cloth diapering has gone for us. I entered the process with an open mind. While I wouldn't say I was convinced it was the perfect choice for us, I was 100% committed to giving it a solid try. I loved the idea of saving money and avoiding midnight runs to Target for diapers. And of course, there's the perk of feeling like we are doing a small part to live a greener lifestyle. (Please note- I have not done the actual "disposable diaper waste vs. water waste from laundering cloth diapers" math- although I would be very curious.)

Just to clear the air, we still use disposable diapers here and there- when we are travelling, when Calvin is with a sitter, when the cloth diapers are in the wash, when we feel like it. However, I would say that Cal is in cloth diapers at least 80% of the time

We waited to start cloth diapering until Cal was about 2 months old. We could have started a little earlier but Cal was still only 8 pounds at two months and the one-size-fits-all diapers we use could barely make a seal around his scrawny little legs. Now, 15 pounds and a few snap adjustments later, the diapers still fit great! We are still using the original 18 diapers we started with.

We are pretty particular and methodical about our wash routine- which keeps the diapers clean and our home smelling (mostly) fresh.

Here's our routine...

Wet diapers go in a waterproof bag. 

Diapers with "solids" get a quick spray and then hang out in a second waterproof bag until laundry day. 

Every two-three days we wash the diapers with a small amount of Charlie's Soap and two good rinse cycles*. 

Everything goes in the dryer. (In the summer we try to use a drying rack outside in the fresh sunny sun whenever we can.) 

An hour later, we stuff the clean diapers with the clean inserts and start again! 

*Once a month we do an extra wash cycle with OxyClean to help keep the inserts white. 

*Every two months or so we "strip" the diaper inserts using a small amount of bleach and blue Dawn dish soap (apparently there is some magical ingredient that can only be found in BLUE Dawn dish soap). Rinse. Rinse. Rinse. Dry. This extra routine keeps the diaper inserts smelling fresh and washes out extra laundry soap that may have built up on the inserts over time.

That's it folks! 

(Disclaimer: It is a total coincidence that I am publishing this post on Earth Day. While I would like to say I planned it- this post has been sitting in my draft list for months. No guilt trips or political agenda here!)

We Love Grandma & Grandpa

We love having Grandparents in town! While the list could go on, I will give you my top three reasons.

1. We love the company and enjoy a good excuse to relax at home. This past weekend was spent firing up the grill for the first time, a few walks to the park, and evenings spent watching movies and playing dominoes.      

2. Home projects magically get checked off of our never ending list (ie: the cute footstool makeover Sali completed for us this past weekend).

3. I slept in past 9:04 am THREE mornings in a row! THREE! I'm positive that has not happened since before Calvin. There is no better sound than hearing your baby cry at 6:32 am and then hearing him laugh with his Grandparents one minute later as you drift back to sleep. One morning, Jakob was even scolded for getting up too early.. Grandma wanted more one on one time with Cal. And what does Calvin love more than someone's undivided attention? Nothing! Lucky boy. Even luckier parents.

(A sweet photo of the crew walking to brunch on Sunday)

Thanks for a great weekend!
We love you!

It Happened

I knew it was coming. 

This no morning nap business was bound to get the best of him. 

Falling asleep at lunch mid bite..

Classic toddler. 

And of course, I captured this milestone on camera. 

Classic Mom.

15 Months

 Boy oh boy oh boy.. our boy is getting big! 

..and he's talking like crazy!

I would be lying to say that months 12-15 flew by when in fact, the past three months have been filled with so many sick and dreary days inside I would say it's actually felt more like 6 months since Cal's first birthday. 

Now don't get me wrong, while I have really enjoyed watching Calvin grow and learn these past few months, I have never been so tired in my life. The kid is curious to a fault, fearless, has no regard for his own personal safety, and unbelievably stubborn. I'm sure his persistence will come in useful some day but lately it just comes off as rude... if it's even possible to call a one-year-old rude. On the up side, he is keeping Starbucks in business (Caffeine, I love you!) and I feel as though I'm working out more than I ever have in my life without stepping foot in a gym. Thanks for that, Cal. To reward myself, I'll eat an extra handful of M&M's right now- to keep my energy up of course.

As for the fun stuff, his vocabulary is growing daily. My favorite lately has to be when he screams "GOOOO!!!" after you prep him with, "Ready, Set..". He has picked up on my apparently still apparent Minnesotan accent, especially when he says "oooooh nooo" every time something semi-negative happens (ie: a dropped Cheerio or the end of bath-time). He's tough. He falls, bonks, and crashes frequently and gets right back up without a tear. He wears his bruises proudly and is all smiles when he finally masters a new trick. He has a great sense of humor and joins in and laughs whenever someone else is laughing- adorbs. What more can I say? I love the boy. He's such a happy kid and so fun to be around lately! 

Cal's 15 mo. stats:

Weight- 23lbs 2 oz (30th percentile)

Height- 32.75" (90th percentile)

Head- 18" (15th percentile)

The progression in the photo below sums up our current Calvin well..

Photo A: "If you think I'm going to stand for a photo you are going to need to bribe me with something. Kix would be great, thanks."

Photo B: Cal stood up for a nanosecond to snatch his Kix and immediately sat back down.

Photo C: "No more food? Forget this. Now chase me around the house until we are both out of breath or I crash into a wall."

March (instagram style)

And now for those of you who don't follow our family on Instagram and may be interested in even more photos of Cal from this past month (I'm assuming your name begins with "Grand")..

A Swinging Good Time

My grandparents came into town this past weekend to spend a little time with their Chicago grand and great-grandkids. As always, we had a wonderful visit with them. A relaxing weekend of puzzles, dominoes, and parks? Yes please! 

On Saturday, the whole crew spent some time at a nearby park. Cal showed off his new climbing/running/tripping/falling skills and the rest of us enjoyed some quality time on the swings. Everyone loves a good swing! 

 (Even little Jack got in on the swing "fun")

Thanks for a great visit Grandma and Grandpa- we love you!

Weekend Eggstravaganza

For the first time ever, with family scattered all over the globe (Dramatic much? With Hauna in Scotland, I think I can get away with it), and a work schedule (mine, of course) that kept us in town, we were "alone" for Easter. Determined to maximize the little time that we had together over the holiday weekend, we went all out on Saturday and celebrated Easter from sun up 'til sun down.

We started the day with bunny pancakes, just the way Grandma Ruhl made them! 

After breakfast, we met up with some friends from work and church and headed over to our favorite neighborhood park for their annual "Eggstravaganza" which included face painting, Easter crafts, an egg hunt, and a chance to meet The Bunny. 

Can I just say that I was extremely impressed with the egg hunt? I envisioned kids parents running around and yelling as they shoved toddlers out of the way for a single Tootsie Roll in a plastic egg. 

So not the case. Once the playground was covered in eggs and the kids were set loose, the volunteers walked around the park sprinkling extra eggs in front on the wee little ones so everyone could get a chance to pick up a few. 

And the best part? The eggs were empty. Each child (even those who collected no eggs) would get a small bag of candy when the hunt was over. Everybody wins! They collected the empty eggs, closed the playground down for a few minutes, and started again. So smart! 

Calvin got to go twice. He loved it and somehow seemed to understand exactly how to scoop up an egg, toss it into his bucket, and continue on with the hunt. Call it child's intuition. 

 (Thanks to the sweet boy who shared one of his eggs with Calvin. 

I hope Cal returns the favor to a small friend some day.)

Next up, meeting Mr. Bunny. It went just as expected. Skepticism.

Followed by terror. Can't say I blame him. How creepy is that bunny?!

We spent the rest of the sunny Saturday walking around the neighborhood talking about how excited we are for the warm season approaching.

We ended the day with a delicious Easter brunch- for dinner. Ham, cheesy hashbrowns, all of our Easter favorites- just for the three of us! And while I didn't take a photo of the feast, I did manage to get one of Jakob's favorite holiday dinner "accessory", the lamb butter. Hilarious.

On Sunday, Calvin woke up to his Easter basket. 

A less creepy bunny filled it with a bunny sippy cup, an Easter book, some chalk eggs for his chalkboard, an entire zoo of puppets, and a few plastic eggs filled with toddler friendly treats like Craisins and cereal (don't worry Grandma- he did get to enjoy (and promptly choke on) a Peep later on).

 (Testing out his new sippy immediately!)

 (Meeting "Pierre" the zebra with the french accent.)

(It's never too early to start practicing for next year's hunt.)

Hope your Easter was eggcellent! 

Oh no she didn't. 

Yes, she did.