Tuesday, 19 January 2010

nick turns 30 & other news

Nick turned the big 3-0 last Monday (the 11th) and to celebrate, Calvin grew his third tooth.  It's an upper side one so he looks a bit lop-sided.  I've tried to capture a picture of it but no luck so far.  And I'm not sticking my fingers in his mouth for too long now since his three teeth can do quite a number on me.  In fact, we had a comedic situation the other day where Cal bit down on my fingers, I yanked them out in shock and hit Nick in the eye.  It may be before my time but it sounds like the 3 Stooges to me.  Calvin would be Moe.

In other news, Calvin had a check-up with the neonatologist's again and the doctor was extremely pleased with his progress.  We don't have to go back for another 4 months!  In case you were wondering, he still gets extra check-ups until he is 2 years old.  He is currently just shy of 20 lbs and still very tall for his age.  Any bets on when he will outgrow his mother?  I'm guessing by 5 years old.


Chilling with Dad on his birthday and fashionably supporting the Gophers


 Cal isn't crawling yet but he can really get his bum in the air.  
("Downward dog" for the yogies out there)
 



Eating cheesy toast and tomatoes all by himself.

Sunday, 10 January 2010

jet lag and erupting teeth

With only a limited grasp of time zones, making the adjustment back to GMT has involved lots of screaming between about 9 and 12 at night.  If it's this hard for me to handle I have no idea how Cal is dealing with it.  He's got some teeth coming in to keep him occupied, so we started giving him some biscuits and rice cakes to chew on.  About 95 percent of the food ends up on the floor, but it's all part of the circle of life.  Hakuna matata.  The country remains shut down because of near-freezing temps and a couple inches of snow, so life has been pretty relaxed while we wait for spring.

chomping away on a biscuit

 

not screaming

 

closeup of the teeth (and some drool).  the tooth eruption process is more interesting than I thought.  check it out on wikipedia if you're bored.

Sunday, 3 January 2010

christmas in MN and the end of the noughties.

We're at the end of our two week trip to Minnesota for the whole holiday thing.  It's been really nice, if not totally relaxing.  Cal explored wrapping paper and time zones, Sam discovered that she's 30, I wrestled with the competing forces of exercise and staying inside and having a beer, and none of us made it 'til midnight on new year's.  We get back on a plane tonight (hopefully a plane free of underpants bombers) and then we'll see what 2010 is all about.  It's predicted to be pretty awesome.  Here are a few pictures of MN, there are a bunch more here.


Opening presents, chewing on the paper.


 Hanging out with Nan on Christmas morning.


Galloping on Grandad's knee


 He's got some chompers coming in, so he chews on giraffes a lot.


Cruising around Shoreview on a sled from Nick's babyhood.


All is calm no longer- Grandpa Rick injects some adrenaline to the season.


Working out a new acrobatic routine for 2010.

Monday, 21 December 2009

finally...a winter wonderland

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!  On Friday, England had it's first major snowstorm of the year and we got about 5 inches here in Grantchester.  That means the entire Cambridge area shut down.  It was really beautiful and it has stuck around the whole weekend.  We thought Cal's first snow would be MN so it was a pleasant surprise.  We're off to MN tomorrow for Calvin's first Christmas and I'm not sure how much time we'll have for posting the next two weeks.  So have a great holiday season and we'll see you in the New Year!


The snow covered fields of Grantchester
 

Cal's first walk through the snow in the village
 

Ducks on the River Cam
 

 River Cam


The picture says it all
 

Our stroll through the paths and sidewalks of Cambridge
(no, they do not seem to have shovels or salt here)

Wednesday, 16 December 2009

grantchester home tour!

It's that moment you've all been waiting for...the house tour!  It's taken me three months to take pics of the rooms and they are still not that great.  I need to get one of those 360 degree cameras.

As a reminder, here is the outside:

We are the middle house with the door in the center of the picture

When you come through the front door, you enter the sitting room, where Cal spends a lot of time rolling around on the floor:

Cal is actually rolling on the floor here

View of the front door and window

You then go through another door and you enter the dining room:

Yes, it's always a mess

Through the next door is the galley kitchen:

Can't have too many cooks in the kitchen here


Then finally the bathroom:


From the dining room there is the staircase leading to the second level:


The first room on the right is Cal's room (aka the guest room when we have visitors):

Single bed on the left but there is another one underneath it


And finally the room facing the front of the house is our bedroom:

No closet so our clothes are on display (and no, the fireplace is not usable)

Scrummy toes! (that means delicious over here)


We don't have a back garden or any storage but here is where we supposedly can sip our morning coffee in the summer (and where I can hang the washing when it stops raining):

View from the dining room window (galley kitchen on the right) and

Cal's 'rugged' stroller for the cow poop covered paths (it lives outside for a reason)


So that's where we spend most of our time (a LOT of our time for Calvin and me).  Pretty exciting, don't you think?

Saturday, 12 December 2009

lazy days

We haven't done a whole lot of exploring lately.  Weekends come around and we try and catch up on sleep or run errands.  Super exciting.  We're getting ready to head back to Minnesota for the holidays (Sam's birthday is the big one), then when we get back we can start to dream of spring and a little more daylight to do things in.  The latitude problem is better here than it was in Scotland, but it's still kind of grim.  Here are a few shots of what little we've up to though.

Crawling practice.  We put toys well out of reach and taunt him.  He can hoist himself up pretty high (like the cobra position for the yoga nerds) but so far he just scoots backwards a few inches and rolls over.  


Hanging out in dimly lit pubs.  Pints for us, quarter-pint for him.
 

Bath time!  He has a chewable turtle and some dolphins to play with, which is good.  The non-slip butt pad in the tub seems to be more of a marketing gimmick than anything functional, but that's ok. 



flashback image:
  

He's happier in the bath now than he was at 11 weeks, and about three times as massive.

Wednesday, 2 December 2009

photo shoot