To Calvin, who is 3 years old today

Oh my, how the time has flown.  It would be a cliche for us to say that we remember your birth day like it was yesterday, and the truth is, we don't really.  We don't remember the sleepless nights really (perhaps because you were a pretty good sleeper all along), and we don't really remember the time of ten diaper changes a day (that is conveniently blocked from minds).  We do, though, remember those early days filled with pride and joy; days that were bright and sunny and cooled by a soft whispering breeze; the days started us off as a family and filled our lives with a love we'd had no previous capacity for understanding.  Three years ago.

Today our days themselves might be just the same–bright sun and a cool breeze–but quiet and soft are rarely part of our descriptive vocabulary anymore.  Over the past year your loves have not changed–you still love animals, books, nature, and your blanket–but the volume with which you express your love has definitely increased.  So, by the way, has your vocabulary.  Sitting at the breakfast table the other day, finding that we were short of kiwi for the morning, you expressed your disappointment eloquently with "that really irks me," and your myriad of words has never ceased to amaze your devoted public.  You have made friends all over our little village, from Miss Terry at the bakery, who gives you your twisted pretzel before library every week, to Mr. George at the camera shop, who develops our plethora of pictures, and even the ladies at the grocery store in our neighborhood.  You are a kind and friendly child, and have a fine grasp of manners that endears you to all you encounter, or at least to most.

It is hard for us to know what achievements of yours stand out anymore.  You know your alphabet and can count to eighteen (except that you miss fifteen almost without fail).  You can recognize and spell your own name successfully, and although you have yet to show interest in drawing the letters themselves you love drawing just about everything else.  You have a way with puzzles, and are very good at sorting anything and everythign within reach.  You are a wonderful help around the house.  You still have your own daily chores, such as feeding all the pets and setting the table, and you also assist with general household chores, like collecting the garbage, sorting the laundry to be washed, folding the laundry that was dried, vacuuming up after meals, watering plants, both inside and out, and helping with general straightening.  We each have our favorite times with you–daddy when you play the piano with him (you can now play twinkle twinkle with the aid of color coded music!) and me when you help me cook or bake by measuring ingredients and counting amounts. 

Though you are clearly a 3 year old, prone to your own bouts of willfulness and resistance, you are a profound little thinker and can usually talk your way through (though not out of) a difficult situation, come to your own conclusions, and, even though you don't get your own way, come to terms with the end result.  We love to watch your mind work this way–the thoughtful look you get on your face, the determined set of your mouth, and the hard look of concentration in your eyes.  This is also the look you get when you try new things, like reading, biking, or gardening (making sure you pull only weeds), and it is a strong contrast to the look of pure gaiety and youth that you wear when you play with your your favorite toys, or watch a rabbit or bird in our yard, or simply run around the center of the house singing at the top of your lungs.  Imagination, concentration, growth, and learning, these are the key ingredients to the joy in our lives today, and you are the source of them all.  We have loved watching you grow and change over the past year, and we look forward to the many challenges and opportunities that will come our way during the next.  Thank you for being who you are, for the joy you bring to our lives, and for the way you push us to become the people we have always wanted to be.

We love you, mom and dad

In a foot note for the blog, I will tell you that we celebrated his birthday with a family party on Saturday night, punctuated by presents (a Calvin sized broom, cool flashlights, balls, new favorite books, and a play grill),homemade pizza, and fresh strawberry shortcake.  We celebrated on Sunday by going out for ice cream.  Then today, on his real birthday, we celebrated one last time with grilled steak and shrimp (his actual dinner request!), cupcakes from our local bakery, and a walk to the mailbox to pick up birthday cards (which did not disappoint!).  We also grabbed some family photos.  We really wanted just one, but how many do you think it took to get there?  See for yourselves.  The full pared down collection can be seen in the Happy Birthday Calvin photo album.

Tadpoles

Gardening days are here!  At least for the hardier plants.  We started with a nearly blank slate last year, added several gardens, and planted nearly all perennials, so even before entering the dirty phase of gardening we have been enjoying little sprouts of green all around our yard.  The best surprises have been plants that we thought were gone or had not made it, and yet here they are making a grandiose comeback!  On Sunday, after a very lazy, chilly morning, we made our first trip to our local nursery to pick up some plants to make a hanging basket (about the only annual plants we'll buy), and were treated to a very different kind of nursery;  there, in the decorative pond near the driveway, was a collection of tadpoles.  We watched them for quite some time, and this morning Calvin and I went back to see how they were doing (and to see if they had gotten any new hanging bags for our butterfly and hummingbird garden).  What a very interesting world we live in.

Little helper

When we moved into this house a year ago Calvin was still too short to reach the bathroom sink by himself, even with the aid of a step stool.  But kids grow, and they also become desirous of independence, so last week (and when I say last week I truly mean throughout all of the week, but that's another story) Jon replaced the hard to maneuver single knob style faucet in our downstairs bathroom so that Calvin could easily wash his hands all by himself.  Calvin was over the moon about this new measure of selfdom.  This morning, while I was tidying the kitchen a bit, he called to me from the other room to say that he wanted his diaper changed and that he was "all ready for me."  And if I wondered what that could possibly mean as I stopped my chore to go join him, my wonder turned to terror as I rounded the corner to find a trail of liquid from the bathroom to the play room.  I could only begin to imagine what that fluid could possibly be, but my terror turned to inner laughter when I found him in the play room, clean diaper in one hand, and a number of dripping wet wipes in the other hand.  My little helper.  He truly was ready for me to change his diaper, and I must have missed the sound of the running water in the bathroom while I was running in the kitchen.  Something that I have found to be true is that with that sense of independence comes a desire to help in ways that only a toddler can, an observation that is a great source of pride and happiness for me (even when my work increases tenfold because of it).

Shoes

Learning to put them on got a lot easier with the introduction of velcro, but you still have to get them on the right feet all by yourself.  Or not.

Helping...

make pizza dough.