The C-dub A.V. Club

Settling in

2011-08-22T18:04:00.000-07:00

Calvin is no longer a Californian. He is now a Marylander.

We left LA four weeks ago and spent a week in Ohio. Calvin slept a lot on the flights and enjoyed the lush greenery and exciting thunderstorms of the Midwest.

Calvin is now 18 months old, has 12 teeth, and loves to climb. Some pleasures new to him in MD include riding in shopping carts, visiting Civil War battlefields, and day trips into DC to visit the zoo.

We are now living in a little house with a yard. Calvin has a bedroom and a pool! Here's a video of summertime Calvin and more videos can be found on Keith's YouTube channel.

Major changes

2011-07-02T20:08:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the very long wait between posts. It has been an eventful time. A quick rundown:

Brigid finished her PhD and graduated.

Grandpa and Uncle Ted visited for the occasion. They taught Calvin some basic baseball skills, as seen in this video.

Calvin has vastly increased his sign-language vocabulary. He is very excited to show off his sign for bird, as seen here and here. He lets us know whenever he sees or hears one. He seems to be getting closer to a few spoken words, but his signing of basics like "help", "more", "milk", "water", "diaper", and "all done" have saved him and us from lots of frustration.

We've also recently enjoyed visits from a great aunt and uncle and once-removed cousin; a Father's Day trip to the zoo featuring lethargic animals and Calvin's first taste of churro; an outdoor concert; and countless playground trips.

And a few people have asked when we'll teach Calvin to play poker. We haven't started on strategy, but he's started handling chips.

We are preparing for a cross-country move. The next post will likely be from our new East Coast home. Wish us luck as Calvin's time as a California baby draws to a close.

Growth spurt

2011-04-17T16:17:00.000-07:00

Calvin seems to have recently hit a growth spurt. We don't have any exact numbers, but he has recently gained enough height that we need to baby-proof another foot of vertical space in the apartment. He's also gotten good at climbing onto blocks, boxes and low tables. He's less adept at getting down, but here is a successful dismount.

Here are his favorite activities of the moment (with links to videos where available):
1. Dancing. He'll dance to any music or to anything resembling music.
2. Eating. Mandarin oranges are a new favorite and he's fared well on recent restaurant trips.
3. Putting things into other things, taking them out, putting them back in, taking them back out...

4. Talking on the phone (or pretending to).
5. Befriending strangers. He's caught on that when he smiles at people, they'll often smile and wave back. It's very charming.

6. Headbutting. This is a terrible development.

Thirteen Months

2011-03-10T12:27:00.000-08:00

Today, Calvin becomes a teenager. He's tied the record for youngest person ever to 13 months, which is pretty impressive. (He shares the record with about half of all people born in February - 393 days.) Like any teenager, he's rebelling by growing weird hair and putting himself into physically dangerous situations. Also, he got a job pushing an ice cream truck.

Here he is going down a slide at the one-year birthday party for his buddy Owen, who is soon to join him among the precocious thirteen-monthers.

Rather than poorly embed our videos here, we'll just link to them. Here's Calvin working on his spoon skills. Note his rebellious hair style, a mullet of sorts. I try to shame him out of it by telling him he looks like Terry Bradshaw.

Here he is putting himself in bodily danger by climbing on some boxes. And here he is wearing sunglasses indoors like some kinda jerk.

Here's Calvin with his ice cream truck. No customers yet. I think it needs a refrigeration unit.

We survived year one!

2011-02-18T09:09:00.000-08:00

A year ago, we were insanely tired, but crazy about our new baby. We are still insanely tired and still crazy about Calvin, but he's practically a grown man now. A grown man who pretends he's in a Coke commercial when he drinks form a sippy cup:

He's still working out some of the details of sippy cup use. For Calvin's birthday, we had a bunch of people over to our apartment and some refused to honor our "No gifts, please" request. So Calvin's had quite a week wearing cool new clothes and playing with new toys. Here he is enjoying a plush car.

Calvin loves to give hugs and playfully wrestle with others. On a possibly related note, another child at daycare recently chomped down on Calvin's hand, leaving some tiny teethmarks.

At birth, Calvin was in the 97th height and weight percentiles. At one year, he's hovering down around the 45-50th. So his mom's genes might be kicking in. The doctor did declare him "perfectly proportioned."

Here are some videos (not right-side-up, and poorly formatted for this blog--sorry, we are working out the kinks of getting videos off of our phones) of Calvin lifting a palm frond and playing in the park.

The final days of infancy

2011-01-24T11:31:00.000-08:00

Calvin is fast approaching his first birthday. He's matured a lot in the last few weeks. In the new year, he's gone from a crawler to a walker. Here's a video of a short walk taken last week. He can now walk the apartment from end to end.

His maternal grandparents recently visited and got to see some major progress on the walking front. He hijacked grandpa's BlackBerry and very nearly sent his first email.

Calvin is having a love affair with doors and hinges (that I've warned him will end badly). Our apartment has french doors that keep him busy. He opens and closes them, looks through the windows, and tries to slide things under them.

Other minor milestones: first successful sitting in a restaurant high-chair, first pair of shoes, and moving up to the "young toddler" room at day-care. So three days a week, Calvin is hanging out with some very mature one-year-olds.

Any recommendations for a first birthday celebration?

Calvin in the new year

2011-01-05T11:20:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas was a subdued affair. Calvin didn't get as into the ripping open presents as we thought he might, but he's definitely loving all the boxes that are around.

As a safety precaution, he licked most of the presents before we opened them.

In non-holiday news, Calvin can now push his stroller around the apartment sans-parent. And he is occasionally taking a step or two, but still prefers crawling.

He enjoys playing with the clear drawers of his dresser--pulling out clothes, putting them back in, and sometimes hiding a Cheerio for me to find later.

Holiday preparations are underway!

2010-12-19T15:16:00.001-08:00

Tree? Check. Presents? Check.

Christmas sweater? Check. Elmer Fudd hat? Check.

So we're covered, right?

LA is currently in the middle of a week of non-stop rain. We've started strolling around the apartment with Calvin behind the stroller, holding on. He appears quite happy in this new position.

Travels and Turkey

2010-12-07T06:51:00.000-08:00

Well, more than 10% of Calvin's life has elapsed since the last post, so here are the major events!

1. In mid-November, we made the drive up to Northern CA to visit some relatives. Calvin enjoyed the plush hotel bed, drinking water from a glass with Great Aunt Maggie, and being walked down the Santa Cruz wharf by an entourage.

2. Calvin took his first step the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and his second step the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. Both were accidental, occurring in the standing-to-crawling transition. He is yet to take a third step, but he now stands for "extended" periods of time (5-10 seconds).

3. Calvin has 4 visible, sharp teeth. He sometimes clicks them together, which makes me wince.

4. For Thanksgiving, we went to the Boston area. Calvin got to meet friends and relatives and two very friendly dogs and experience cold. A great time was had and Calvin behaved well on his second cross-country round trip.

5. Now we're back in LA without any travel plans for several months. Calvin is testing the limits of our childproofing, babbling constantly, and generally enjoying life.

Calvinlantern

2010-10-31T19:09:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween! It's an hour before bedtime and Calvin is still enjoying his first Halloween. We'd planned to dress him as a monkey, but he had zero tolerance for the hat portion of the costume. And without the hat, it was just a brown body suit. Here he is resisting the monkey costume.

On to plan B: a used pumpkin costume. A little more run-of-the-mill, but unambiguous, even with the hood down. Here he is playing in costume.

We went to a Halloween party hosted by a family around the corner where there were many babies. Here, Calvin is with another baby dressed as a bee. He was especially interested in winged costumes.

On an unrelated note, Calvin is finally getting teeth! He has one bottom tooth that can be seen up close and another one next to it that has just cut through. Neither tooth has been caught on film yet.

Slow news month

2010-10-23T09:11:00.000-07:00

We have no major milestones to report, so here are the minor ones. Some are very minor. Calvin pulls himself up on everything in sight. Here he is trying to get into trouble.

Sometimes we play minor tricks on Calvin. Keith made him a tutu out of the foam tiles he plays with/on.

He now eats yogurt mixed with fruit and is getting better at getting finger foods from his tray to his mouth. Here he is post-yogurt, contemplating a cereal bit.

Calvin also made his first trip to Las Vegas 2 weeks ago to. Since we didn't want to risk Calvin chain smoking at a slot machine, yelling for more drinks, he mostly hung out at the hotel where extended family doted on him. Here he is with a few relatives. Thanks to Uncle Teddy for the photo.

Here is Calvin showing off his guns. If his shirt didn't button around his diaper, he'd probably rip that off to show off his pecs as well.

And finally, for lovers of baby noises, here is Calvin laughing as he and Keith play peekaboo.

Everyday stuff

2010-10-03T16:13:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the long hiatus. Calvin's been battling a cold and it's hard to take pictures and wipe snot at the same time.

No major news. Calvin is getting stronger and steadier and more vocal. In this video, he's just doing some typical playing. But doesn't he look dapper in a polo shirt?

He now sees everything as something that he might be able to stand against. The couch was an early success.

Calvin now responds to his name, often with a look like this:

Breaking news! Cruising!

2010-09-21T19:06:00.000-07:00

Calvin did his first "cruising" today, taking little steps while holding on to his crib rail. Keith captured it on film!

Big changes

2010-09-19T18:13:00.000-07:00

Since the last post, Calvin's had a lot of excitement.
1. He figured out how to pull himself up to standing position, first using his crib railings (dimly lit video below), and then using anything he can reach that will support him.
2. He has started part-time day care. Three days in, he seems to be enjoying himself and the company of other babies. He also has developed a runny nose.
3. He occasionally opts for a proper crawl, up on his hands and knees, belly off the ground.

His now speaks with passion and volume. Here's a typical rant.

Bath time

2010-09-04T09:20:00.000-07:00

Calvin recently graduated from his infant tub to a little chair in the big tub. He has been extremely squirmy on the changing table and increasingly messy in his eating, so he now requires daily baths. And his attempts at escaping the little tub were harrowing. In this photo, he's caught off-guard, naked with a face full of prunes.

Five minutes later, he was quite at home in the tub.

We'll tip sideways his laundry basket of toys sometimes and he enjoys removing them all and scattering them around. Repeat this a few times, throw in some eating, a few walks, a few naps, and a bath and you have a typical Calvin day.

"Bbbbbb...Mmmmm"

2010-08-27T14:50:00.000-07:00

Calvin's moving away from growls and trying some new sounds. He's pretty good with his Ms and here he practices his Bs. He has a rich vocabulary of "mom", "bom", "bob", and "mob". So he can alert his mom if a mob of Bobs approaches with a bomb.

The last month has brought a lot of changes. Calvin now eats several kinds of solid food every day, sleeps in a crib, and can easily and quickly scoot from room to room. His newest feat of strength is going from his back or belly to sitting up. He has managed to scrape his ankles enough in all this activity to develop his first scabs. The crib sleeping, sitting up, and ankle scabs are pictured below.

New moves, new foods

2010-08-15T21:09:00.000-07:00

Calvin enjoys sitting at the table with us while we eat our meals. To keep him happy, we just keep a steady stream of toys or foam circles in front of him.

We've been introducing new foods one at a time to Calvin. Today he tried chicken for the first time and was underwhelmed.

At last, here is the famous scoot. The grunts that accompany the scoot in this video are a little raspy. Calvin managed to growl himself hoarse for a day, but he's starting to sound better (and resuming the growls).

Boat trip!

2010-08-09T17:07:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, Calvin took his first boat trip to his first National Park. We went to the Channel Islands to do some birding. On the boat ride, Calvin danced on the tables below the deck and fit as much as he could of a water bottle into his mouth.

After we docked, we spotted an Island Scrub Jay with Uncle Max and explored a little bit of the island before returning to the mainland.

For a few more recent photos of Calvin, see our Flickr stream. And check back for video of Calvin's scoot--it's not a crawl, but it gets him where he needs to be.

Solid foods and belly laughs

2010-08-01T11:25:00.000-07:00

We're vacationing this week with extended family and will have some exciting photos for the next post, but here are two recent videos. They're linked from Flickr. Please tell us if there are any problems playing them.

Eating the floor

2010-07-24T15:43:00.000-07:00

We put down some foam tiles to give Calvin a soft scooting surface. He recently discovered that the tiles come apart and are delicious! Here he is caught in the act of ripping one up and then tasting it.

Calvin has odd hair. He was born with a healthy head of dark hair that he lost in a few weeks except at the nape of his neck. He's now losing his second round of hair and the top of his head is very patchy. There's a distinct whorl and then a patch that he has rubbed completely bald just above the remnants of his original head of hair.

Today we took Calvin on his first hike on Mt. Hollywood. He did pretty well on the trail and enjoyed hanging out near the picnic areas afterward.

Moments after that last picture was taken, he noticed the camera and, of course, lunged for it mouth-open.

Heat wave

2010-07-19T20:39:00.000-07:00

It's been a steamy week here in L.A., but we're finding ways to beat the heat. Last weekend, Calvin took his first dip in a pool at a trial session for parent-tot swim classes. Here he is nervously watching the plastic doll used in demonstrations.

And at home, he's spending a lot of time in just a diaper. He especially likes rolling around and lounging in bed. It's the most forgiving surface when he gets tired of sitting up and topples over.

Sleeping patriot

2010-07-09T16:04:00.000-07:00

For the 4th of July, we took Calvin to a parade at the neighborhood elementary school. In the past, he's been fascinated by kids so a whole parade of kids seemed perfect. We didn't count on Calvin sleeping through most of the commotion.

Calvin's getting much better at sitting up without support. He's so much better that this video is a little boring: a little over a minute of a sitting baby breaking the fourth wall. Enjoy!

In the past few days, Calvin has developed a very guttural growl. It's a strange noise to come from such a cute face, but I imagine Tom Waits's mom thought the same thing and that worked out pretty well for her baby. This video features some little growls and Calvin enjoying/abusing his Exosaucer.

Back from touring

2010-07-01T09:37:00.000-07:00

We've been back in LA for a few weeks after our East-Coast-Midwest tour. Calvin was amazing on the flights, less amazing in the car. Here he is asleep in the car, probably after a lengthy crying jag.

Calvin was introduced to as many relatives and friends as we could get to in 10 days. Here his is with his great-grandpa Tor.

In breaking news: Calvin has been refusing a bottle his whole life. Then today, he took matters into his own hands. We figure now that he can feed himself, our work as parents is basically done. We just need to occasionally drop of some full bottles and pick up the empties like an old-fashioned milkman.

Cheap thrills

2010-06-05T12:16:00.000-07:00

Blowing in a baby's face is supposedly one way to cure his hiccups. This has never worked for Calvin, but it is a fun way to keep him smiling for a few minutes. He sometimes sticks out his tongue to gauge the breeze.

Calvin smiles plenty, but getting him to laugh out loud is no easy feat. He enjoys a game we call "bear attack" that involves some combination of roaring, pawing at him, and pretending to eat his stomach. It never fails to crack him up. This is a gentler version of the game that still gets a laugh without making Keith look too crazy.

We'll be heading out of town soon and I might get blog lazy while we're on the road. If you find yourself next to us on a flight, please be kind and understanding.

Physical pursuits, large and small

2010-05-30T16:22:00.000-07:00

Calvin has recently mastered the back-to-belly roll going over his left side. The first few times he did so, it was an epic struggle. By the time I captured it here, he was ready to turn pro.

Often after he's all wrapped up for sleeping and his arms and legs are constrained, Calvin gives his tongue a workout. He seems to be trying out different sounds in his mouth. This is a typical "conversation".

This week in Calvin

2010-05-22T15:35:00.001-07:00

This week, Calvin started wearing bibs to catch the copious amounts of drool he generates. Not only does he not mind wearing bibs, he loves having something to clasp. He'll occasionally respond to a toy, but then he has to choose between grabbing the toy, his toes, or his bib.

He also enjoys being shirtless and sucking on his fingers.

He has started to notice my camera and looks at it suspiciously. He was startled by the flash in this one.

The other big news of the week is his cool new stroller. We'd been strolling him in an infant car seat on a stroller frame, but lately he'd been straining in it for a better view. In the new one, he's sitting upright and looking out. Very mature!

Sleep smiles and workouts

2010-05-15T18:23:00.000-07:00

Calvin often smiles in his sleep. On rare occasions, he lets out little chuckles. Here he is with a few sleep smiles. They're pretty easy to elicit.

Here is Keith helping Calvin through his workout with some sit-up-stand-ups. It's more impressive if you hum the theme from Rocky as you watch it. "Getting strong now..."

Finally, here is Calvin just being chatty as he grabs his toes.

Afternoon in the park

2010-05-10T19:36:00.002-07:00

Last Friday, Calvin enjoyed a successful trip to the park. We'd made attempts before, but tears and weather had thwarted our efforts.

As you can see, Calvin photographs very nicely in the natural light. Hopefully, this was the first of many park outings.

Rollin' rollin' rollin'

2010-05-05T20:42:00.000-07:00

Today, Calvin completed the stomach-to-back roll (with a tiny bit of help from gravity, as our couch cushions are at a slight incline). The inaugural roll was captured on film. I didn't frame it very well, so it's hard to see what's going on. But you get the idea.

When he's not sleeping...

2010-05-03T18:01:00.000-07:00

What fills Calvin's waking hours? Eating, mostly. Some time is spent every day making faces and playing with his rag (a convenient toy, given how much he spits up).

A few minutes of each day is spent struggling through "tummy time".

And now, just in time for the Cavs-Celtics series, Calvin is able sit on the couch like a real person.

He sometimes gets tired and the weight of his head gets the best of him.

Giving the people what they want

2010-04-30T15:37:00.000-07:00

If I've learned one thing in these first 10 weeks of motherhood, it's that people love baby pictures. If I've learned a second thing, it's that I can't keep up with the demand for pictures via email and Facebook. And so, in an effort to give the people what they want, I'm starting this blog that I promise to update regularly. Hold me to it!

Week 1:
Calvin was surgically removed on February 10, 2010 at 7:02 pm. Here he is in the OR. He was a whopping 9 lbs, 4 oz, 22 inches and was declared a very healthy baby. We brought him home on a Saturday so he could enjoy the weekend. His Nana and Uncle Max were here for his first few days at home.

Week 2:
In week 2, Calvin met more grandparents and started making fun faces. Here he is "smiling" with Grandpa Ted. He was already having adventures like going for walks around the block and sleeping through dinner at Pitfire Pizza.

Weeks 3 and 4:
Once Calvin's umbilical cord remnants were gone, he was treated to a proper bath. By this time, his hairline was receding and his belly was getting round.

Weeks 6-8:
Calvin was definitely turning into a smiley guy. He was pretty good at holding his head up, so we'd challenge him with some time on his tummy. His first round of hair had mostly fallen out and a new round was slowly starting to grow in.

Month 2:

Here is Calvin meeting his great aunt Cindy. Now a very social creature, Calvin will return your smile with a smile and gurgle responses to some questions. At his 2 months doctor's visit, he weighed in at 14 lbs, 2 oz and bravely endured multiple shots.

Keep checking back here for updates. I promise at least a photo per week and possible links to more extensive photo sets on Flickr. Existing sets can be found here.