The zoo at home

Today marked Calvin's second trip to the Detroit Zoo (yes, we know we've been slacking, but we plan to increase that number in the near future).  The second trip turned out to be very different from the first.  Being a little older now he is able to see better and is more interested in his surroundings, not to mention that with his good neck control he is now able to face forward in his carrier and actually see the animals (if he tries).  The other thing that was different about today's trip was taking a friend to the zoo.  Or it may have been the other way around, since he was invited by his friend Liesl, on the condition that he bring Cortney along to play with her mother Becky.  So this may have been a play date, but most likely it was Cortney and Becky's.  Unfortunately the zoo was not as striking as it can sometimes be:  the tigers were sleeping, the baby prairie dogs were not out, and neither were the wolverine kits, and the kangaroos were merely lounging.  On the other hand there were still plenty of animals to enjoy:  Talini, the year old polar bear, was swimming,  there was a second baby kangaroo on the way, and the peafowl attempted to eat our lunches.  What is really funny about today, however, is Calvin's apparent lack of interest in real giraffes by comparison to his absolute enthrallment with the Playskool Peek N Pop Giraffes at home.   All we can say is, at least he's showing interest in something.

The trouble with gripping...

is the lack of aim. 

 

We Pot-lucked out

A good party makes a good weekend.  Good food makes a good party.  Good people make good food.  When you work out that equation what it boils down to is this:  the ingredients for a good weekend include good people making food for a party.  So, if this equation is correct, then our weekend, which included not one but two, count them, two pot-lucks, was fantastic.  Saturday night we had a wonderful time with a good old summer barbecue hosted by our friends and neighbors, Andrew and Amy.  An additional note about that event is that it was our very first "family" party.  As we sat on the deck sipping beer and eating sausages we were watching a scattering of children under the age of five play whiffle ball in the yard, then we passed babies back and forth while discussing their sleeping and eating patterns.  As we took in the full meaning of the evening we suddenly felt as though we had "arrived" at parenthood.  What that phrase really means, we don't know, but that is somehow what we felt.  Sunday's potluck, which was a kickoff gathering of the First Presbyterian Quad D deacons, sported a higher average age (how much higher we will not divulge).  At that gathering we sat at tables under a tent in a yard, sipping lemonade and discussing summer activities and church business.  Both evenings were fun in very different ways.  The one common denominator?  Passing the baby!

Joining the choir

Though Calvin has drawn lots of oohs and aahs, kisses and hugs, and pets and pats from his loving choir family, up until now all of this doting activity has occurred while he was sleeping.  It's quite likely, in fact, that the choir was beginning to believe that he suffered from narcolepsy.  The truth of the matter is that they had only ever seen him on Sunday mornings at church and, thankfully, most mornings that has coincided nicely with his nap time.  Tonight was their chance to actually see that he has blue eyes, and that he is capable of interacting with his environment because tonight was the annual choir beginning of the season potluck.  Overall it was an uneventful event.  We got there just as the little man was waking up from a nap, and his daddy successfully fed him a bottle while standing in the middle of the festivities.  His mommy pulled off a discrete diaper change, and then he spent some awake time mingling.  The down side, of course, is that evening is his fussiest time, but, as previously noted, he pulled off a fairly uneventful evening.  And there was no shortage of loving arms to allow us a chance to get and eat our food.  Calvin may not be ready to sing in the bass section with his father just yet, but he sure is scoring points with the other singers!

Grabbing, swinging, chewing

Last weekend it was his thumb, today it was a rattling toy named Tiny.  To what do we refer?  Both the thumb and Tiny have now been forced into Calvin's slobbering mouth.  The thumb found its own way there, but we're not sure that Tiny would have chosen such a fate on his own (or maybe he would have - his package specifically listed grasping and chewing as his favorite activities).  But, whether Tiny enjoyed it or not, we were very excited to see Calvin grasp and swing, then pull the toy toward his mouth so we could mark another milestone on our calendar (we don't keep a calendar for our own events anymore...). We do admit that we helped him find Tiny by touching the toy to his flailing hand - try as he might, his wild batting isn't focused enough yet - but the grasping, swinging, and mouthing was all Calvin.