Happy Official 6 Months Cal!

It's amazing that tomorrow Calvin turns 6 months old. Time has really flown by for us but as I sat on the couch today reflecting on his time with us and how much my love for him and Tayva has grown I got a little teary and thought it best to write a bit.

Before Cal was born I loved how we would lay on the bed and I would tell him made up stories and he'd cuddle up next to where my voice was coming from.

When Cal was born he came out dark purple, with squinty eyes and a long head. He looked like a mix between an ancient Egyptian, an African American, and a Chinese person--I didn't know what to think! As the minutes and hours went on he started looking a little more normal. I remember accompanying him to the nursery while Tayva got moved down to her room. When we got there they were worried about him and had to take some blood. When they put the needle in his vein I watched his little blood squirt on the table and then into the tube and my heart broke. He didn't have that much to begin with, how could they take more? I didn't know what was going on and I didn't know if I could handle it. I asked the nurse if my mother-in-law could come stay with him and I'd go to Tayva because I was more confident she'd handle it right but they wouldn't allow it so I stayed with Calvin in the nursery for many long, lonely hours and prayed for him.

A few days after we got home Tayva was sleeping and I got to hold Cal and we had our first scripture study together. I taught him all 6 missionary discussions...not sure how much he retained :)

Shortly after he was born I had to go back to full-time work and school and leave he and Tayva home. It breaks my heart that my family is at home growing and bonding together while I'm away from them, but I am so glad that Tayva can stay home.

Calvin's got the greatest sense of humor and timing: whenever anything gets a little too sentimental he seems to notice because he'll "pass gas" or throw up right then causing us to laugh.

I love Calvin's laugh and his smile. He just brightens up, especially when I make silly noises. Tayva always acts so excited when I walk in the door and Calvin started taking her cue because the moment I walk in the door a HUGE grin breaks across his face and she holds him and says "It's your Dada Calvin!" (thank you Tayva for making me feel loved by my little boy!). I love our ritual of laying him on our bed and Tayva and I will pretend to eat him and he giggles. I love how attached he is to his mama. He adores her with everything in his heart--she is his, and my, whole world. He doesn't get the concept of kissing so often he'll just open his mouth REAL wide and put whatever part of her face that is closest in his mouth--be it eye, chin, forehead, cheek, etc. When he gets tired he nuzzles up to her and whimpers. I love how inquisitive he is. Since he was born he's always studying things or trying to touch things (like trying to grab the stripes off the couch). I love how active he is, Calvin hates laying down. If he's awake he either has to be sitting or standing (and since about 3 weeks old his preferred method is standing). He is like his daddy in that he starts the morning as an adorable ball of energy which fades as the day goes on so that he's grumpy by the time we reach the afternoon...poor Tayva, she's got two boys like that.

As I sat on the couch today reading to them, Tayva was giving Calvin a bath in his blue tupperware tub. I watched them for a moment and was filled with awe, humility, gratitude and a lump in my throat. There was Calvin, trying to be independent and doing his best to stand up in the bath tub and there was Tayva sweetly holding him up, encouraging him, and rinsing him off and putting him into his dragon towel. She was so tender and gentle and loving. It was like the perfect painting and I wish I could've captured it.

I couldn't round this out without saying a bit about Tayva. One of the things that attracted me to her is that I knew she'd be a great mama--even then I was underestimating how good she'd be. Tayva is a miracle, a saint, my greatest treasure, and greatest friend all rolled into one fine looking lady :) . She's infinitely patient with me and with Calvin. She always seeks the comfort of others (as evidenced in active labor when between contractions she'd go around the room and ask everybody how they were holding up).

Tayva sacrifices so much for both Cal and I. Because I work so early I go to bed often before she does. She'll stay up with Cal just playing with him in the family room so I can get some sleep, some nights I lie in bed getting a little choked up thinking about her out there with him staying up so I can get rest although she's had the baby all day. I try to compensate by doing little things for her or grabbing something she needs or thinking up other little ways that I can sacrifice to show how grateful I am for her but she's always one step ahead.

Because I work so much and go to school so much Calvin and I aren't used to each other as much as he and Tayva are--couple that with the fact that I was never around kids growing up so this is new to me. But because Cal and I are new to each other sometimes I'm more successful taking him for a couple hours while she's at school or doing something and sometimes I'm not. When I first took him for a couple hours while she went to school he went berserk and I didn't know what to do. After that she made sure that if I was feeling out of my league she'd stay home from her class and spend time with us (coincidentally she failed that class this semester and I have lots of guilt but she's not blaming me). I can't express how much I love her and am grateful for all she does for our family. She always sets the bar so high by her example and I'm left in awe of her feeling completely undeserving of her as a spouse but I'm glad she chose me anyway.

I've got the perfect family and have been blessed infinitely more by the Lord than I suppose I deserve but I don't take it for granted. I am constantly so grateful for my little Cal-cal and my wonderful eternal companion.

Happy 6 months Cal and Happy Mother's Day Tayva!

Love Peter

Six Months

Well, okay, almost six months. But close enough.
Calvin just gets more fun every day. Although he still has his grumpy moments, overall he's a pretty happy boy (as long as mama's around). I'm a little bit afraid I've given him some sort of complex because after this last semester of school he gets upset whenever I get ready in the morning.
We've started giving him "solid" foods, which has been SO much fun! It's the cutest thing ever to see how excited he gets when we put him in his high chair. So far he's tried tastes of pureed bananas, sweet potatoes, peaches, and rice cereal, and he's liked them all very, very much. The first bite always makes him pause in surprise, but then he starts waving his hands around and making little impatient noises. After that, he always tries to help guide in the hand with the spoon, which means that whoever is feeding him gets slimy up past the wrist.
Just in the past couple days he's started "singing" along with mom and dad, which leaves me and Peter laughing too hard to keep singing. The first time we realized what he was doing was in church, when the song hit a high note and he threw in his own very high note, and then kept up a kind of happy "AaaaAaaaAaaaa" in other parts of the song. It was completely and totally awesome.
And Calvin went to park for the first time! Peter planned a surprise picnic for us all and we went to a little park nearby to have some fun in the beautiful sunshine. Calvin went on all the slides with mama (even the BIG twisty one) and sat uncertainly in the bucket swing while his parents laughed at how tiny he still is (could have fit another baby in the swing with him!). Then we spent some fun time playing on the grass, and Calvin demonstrated once again how he is (probably) the cutest kid in all existence.

Four And A Half Months of AWESOME!

After a long break--ta daaa! News of our family!

Calvin is now four and half months old and trying to crawl. He can sit on his own for short periods of time and LOVES to wriggle all over the place. He's a pretty smiley little boy, and will give smiles to just about any friendly face. He's at the point where absolutely everything goes in his mouth, which can be entertaining and exasperating. Although he still likes Momma to hold him when really upset, after much determined hard work he will now usually calm down for Dad, and sometimes even fall asleep for Dad! And, as always, Dad and Cal love their playtime together. You can tell how much Calvin is enjoying the game by the pitch and volume of his shrieks. We've decided it's his war cry. :)
We had his first time playing outside the other day. He was fascinated by the grass, and even liked swinging with Momma for a bit on the playset out back.

As for Tayva and Peter news, Peter will be able to graduate with his Bachelor's at the end of this(!) summer, and will then take a year off to study for the GMAT (grad school test) and spend time with the fam before starting his Master's Degree.
Tayva is passing her classes despite a certain's miniature gentleman's attempt at monopolizing her every waking (and sleeping) moment, and should be able to graduate in April of 2012. She's still writing in her very sparse spare time, and is currently working to improve her cooking skills. (Any good, healthy recipes?)
Other than that, all is running fairly normally. I wish it didn't take so long to load pictures. I would put on a million!

Short and Overdue

Alright, I'm a bad blogger. Here is a video to make up for it. Sorry for the lame quality--it's from my phone. I'll do a real post soon. Promise.