So, a little more catching up…
Calvin turned 4 in January – it was another low-key birthday as we had all been sick, but he did take cupcakes to school for a little party there and we had cupcakes at home, too, and for a couple of weeks after his birthday he was pretty much convinced that cupcakes should be available at all times.
He’s really getting into pretend play these days. He still loves to sing and he enjoys puzzles and reading and using the iPad. He’s going through another naked phase (wants to be naked all the time), and he is really into making towers out of couch cushions and then jumping on top of them and knocking them over.
Henrik is not talking much at all – he says “Dada.” In fact, “da” is his favorite syllable and he gets a lot of use out of it. His yes is a very emphatic “da!” so we joke that he’s our little Russian boy. He’s finally starting to say “mama” as well – I have some catching up to do! He also says a version of “all done” that is very cute and also very definite.
He’s got a great sense of humor, but he’s more insistent about what he wants than Calvin was at the same age and he has a little temper if he doesn’t get his way. Once he gets some vocabulary we’re in real trouble!
Henrik is also at the age where he wants to do everything his brother does, which means we really have to watch him closely. Since Calvin is jumping off furniture, well…you get the idea.
Both of the boys are exploring, growing, pushing their boundaries, which means every day is a wild mix of exhaustion, delight, anger, sweetness and gut-busting hilarity. That’s our current norm. 🙂
Behind on the updates once again! Here are some of the highlights from January (decided to try out the slideshow feature since I had so many pictures to post. Let me know what you think):
Before first haircut – looks really red here!
And after. Sorry for the lack of action shots – he was too squirmy during the haircut. I had to help keep him still.
Christmas Day:
Cold weather:
With Uncle Ivan:
Blurry, but still cute:
Calvin loves his bike:
Daddy’s little helpers:
Playing with pots and pans:
Learning to drive:
Calvin made all the Christmas ornaments again this year:
With excellent results:
Snugglers:
Playing with birthday presents:
Calvin made a “present bus”:
Making a mess:
Henrik was sick on his birthday, poor little dude.
Calvin, Henrik and Eric all had a pretty nasty stomach flu last week. Eric texted me this one – Henrik had been playing on the floor and just laid down and fell asleep on the mat:
He perked up eventually, though. We had a little family birthday party at my mom’s on Sunday night.
I think Henrik couldn’t have cared less, but Calvin was really into it – he helped me make the cupcakes and was very excited about singing happy birthday and helping his brother blow out the candles (he insisted that we have lots of candles, not just one).
And I guess Henrik doesn’t have much of a sweet tooth because he was not remotely impressed by his cupcake:
Yeesh! I knew I hadn’t put up pics in a long time, but I didn’t realize how long! Things are going well. I started a new job a month ago and am loving it. Calvin started preschool in September and is loving it. Henrik just turned one! Eric was able to sneak away to Florida in October to visit his mom and had a really nice trip. He is still chipping away at the house – the bulk of the remodel is done, but he’s putting in a new master closet (woohoo!) so I’m looking forward to that and we have been making a lot of use of our new space. As hard as it is going through a remodel, I’m happy that we did it.
Here are a few highlights from September and October, and I’ll post Henrik’s birthday pics this weekend.
September
“Spider cake”
October
Halloween – the boys went as Cowboy and Octopus – Calvin’s preschool had a Halloween parade and we went trick or treating with my cousin’s family.
Calvin loves his preschool teacher Miss Pat (seated):
November/birthday pics coming soon!
Realized I haven’t posted about Henrik’s walking progress. He’s gotten really good and is working on his climbing skills now.
Room to Roam 