Highlights
- Evan turns two
- Nanna and Poppa arrive for their visit
- Calan graduates kindergarten and celebrates with school’s graduation and year-end party
- Morning Cloak caterpillar becomes “Hatcher” the butterfly
Calan
Summer is here…
This first real month of summer never quite feels like it’s here, but little by little the season lets us know. For starters, Calan’s late spring session of workshops at school ended and he got to participate in River Oaks’ school graduation ceremony by playing violin with the “school band.”
Swimming classes also started up with our favorite instructor, Coach Lynne. The first four weeks took place at another house in Camarillo, at 7:45 in the morning. Each day, Mama and Calan would get ready and scoot out the door for the half-hour lesson then catch up with Dada and Evan as Dada went off to work. Calan picked up mostly where he left off last season, this time looking even stronger and faster as he practices the various strokes and forms Lynne has the kids practicing to perfection.
One early summer night, Mama came home with a dark, fuzzy caterpillar. We didn’t know if he’d survive but Mama was determined to give him everything he needed. Well, it didn’t take long because within a day he’d found a spot in his bowl and turned into a chrysalis, hanging upside down from a small twig. He hung out that way for about ten days, when one morning we found the outer layer had been shed, and we had a Morning Cloak butterfly as a momentary pet. Of course, we had to release him so we set out in the back yard when we thought it was time. At first, “Hatcher” didn’t do anything and we thought the worst. But with a little help, we got him fluttering his wings and he took off out of the bowl, flew around the yard for a few seconds, then disappeared into the jungle, high up in the back trees. The boys were excited and were ready to find some more caterpillars to see grow up.
We also kicked off the summer season of flag football. This is Calan’s second season of football, and it’s a bit different this time around. Last time it was a young, small team of five kids with our friend Jose coaching the team. This time around, we’ve moved up a division as Calan really wanted to be on the same team as Josiah. This meant sneaking Calan in with a slightly older team of 6-8 year olds. The team size was twice as large as well, at 10 kids. There were also three coaches total, in addition to Jose this time. Calan didn’t seem to notice at all, but the experience is a little different because you have these bigger, faster kids getting many more chances to carry and throw the ball. And with many more players, that leaves Calan with next to no opportunities to ever run with the ball — something he was really looking forward to. So far, his “assignment” has been to be the center and kick most of the plays off on offense as he hands off to the QB. At least he gets to touch the ball each play. That doesn’t mean we still won’t urge the coaches to let him have his chance sometimes too.
Both grandparents visit in the same month!
The new tradition of Gran and Grandpa coming for Mama’s and Evan’s birthdays resumed this month. As May spilled into June, we had our usual fun with “the Gs”, flying kites, playing board games, reading books and lots of play time in the park. The biggest event that we got to share with the Gs besides Calan’s solo violin recital and Mama’s birthday at end of May, was Evan’s birthday. More on that to come…
As sad as we were to see Gran and Grandpa depart back to Oregon at the beginning of the month, we were as glad to welcome Nanna and Poppa for a visit at the tale end of the month. The kids quickly warmed up to Nanna and Poppas as they arrived in the early evening of June 29, flying in from NM. Evan immediately wanted to play ball with the big, bouncy beach balls and Calan was eager to show off his missing teeth and the tops of his new, permanent teeth coming in. “Hand”, thumbs up, and the grip were all back…although, this time Evan was having fun with these as he played with Poppa. Calan learned “got your nose” from Poppa, and loved it. More next month since Nanna and Poppa’s visit was mostly in the beginning of July.
Calan also participated in a week-long art camp at the YMCA. It was the first time he had been away from the house (and Mama and/or Dad) for the bulk of the day…and multiple days in a row to boot. At times it seemed more about managing that process than it did about his experience at the camp. It takes a lot to ensure Calan has all the right food/water throughout the day to make it through the longer schedule. One challenge we had to get through was his eyes being extra sensitive. Perhaps it was being out in the sun most of the day, but as he rubbed them, sunscreen inevitably worked its way in and the red and itchy eye syndrome set in big time for him. He seemed to enjoy the camp aside from that, loving mostly the time they got to play water games and go on little walks…but Mama especially was glad when it ended. In fact, we decided to opt out of the second camp we’d signed up for in August. I think these things will get easier as he gets older.
Of course, this month began an exciting chapter in Calan’s OIT allergy therapy. He started peanut dosing! Mama is now documenting the complete story on her own site here: oitmommyloves.me
Notable quotes this month:
“I want to go to the money store and buy a thousand dollars.”
Dada: You use to make your own toast when you were four.
Calan: Yeah, I was just a little more independent back then.
“Dada, whenever I do something kind, I really want you to give me some money.”
Evan
Just like that, it’s Evan’s big month. He has turned two, and if he wasn’t a full on toddler before he officially is now. The big (little) guy had a great day laying low with family, including Gran and Grandpa. He sported a new outfit (thanks, Gran!) and had a lot of fun with his favorite things at his little party after his afternoon nap: balloons and candles. In fact, we lit the candles several times on his cupcakes so we could all sing Happy Birthday and blow them out. He loved it each time, begging to “do it again!” after each one. For his birthday, he got a new tricycle, a small, wooden train set of his own, a nice beach/sand toy kit, some clothes and some great books from the Gs. He also got a personalized music CD from Nanna and Poppa, which was really cool. We had fun watching him dance and run around with his party balloons after his party. As always, we figure he may have had no idea what the extra fun was all about but he soaked it up and loved it.
As Evan becomes more verbal, we’re always taken aback when he says something. What really stuck out this month was when he would voice something he wanted to do that he liked. The best examples of these were “Fly da kite!” whenever we went to the park with Grandpa to try out a kite. Grandpa picked up a new kite this year, so it was extra special, and elicited many “fly da kites” for a few days…and the rest of the month for that matter! He also enjoys riding in the shopping cart at the store with Mama and promptly announces “Ride da cart!” when the opportunity arises.
One thing Evan did this month at the Y was change his response to being dropped off at in the child care area. Usually, when getting left in child care, Evan gets a little reserved or even upset when parting ways with Mama or Dada. It usually has to be quick, and we have to sneak out as best we can. Evan will sometimes cry, then get over it in a minute. One day though, Mama opened the door and lo and behold Evan walked in excitedly all by himself and didn’t even look back at Mama. Later when Mama returned to pick him up, he didn’t come running over. It’s nice to see him become comfortable in a situation that normally stresses him out. 🙂 On another note, Evan calls child care “Kyle-care”…he’s trying to say “child” but the irony is that his favorite guy in there to play and hang out with is a college student named Kyle.