This sweet little two year old sure has been keeping me on my toes! He's definitely one of the cutest little boys I know, but also one of the most stubborn. He's currently going through a crazy phase and gives me a headache almost every single day. We're all trying to figure out how to avoid his freak-outs. One moment he's super happy and being the sweetest little boy ever, when all of a sudden, something sets him off and he's hitting me away saying, "No!" "Stop that!" "Bad Boy!" Then he screams, cries, refuses to eat, protests against getting dressed, and fights me on everything that I try to get him to do. I've quickly learned that it has to be on Cal's terms if it's gonna get done. He can't be forced to do anything without putting up a fight!
Cal's been spending a lot of time in time-out lately, which usually calms him right down. That's the good thing - he is quick to say "I sorry" with a hug and kiss to make it all better. We need to break him of the binky habit soon though. That's his main comfort. Anytime Cal is mad, sad, hurt, or scared, he runs to his crib to grab his binky. He knows he's not supposed to have it either. Spencer is the binky enforcer and Cal knows daddy won't let him have it, so when Spencer walks in the room, Calvin will quickly pop the binky out, run to his daddy, and say, "here you go Daddy."
Calvin and his daddy sure do have a special bond. They love to wrestle, play pirates, and tackle each other. It's one of my favorite things to watch - I gotta remember to get video of Calvin yelling, "Pirates! Let's get em!" While he and Spencer make all sorts of cannon noises, gun shots, and throw imaginary coconut bombs across the room at the "bad guys".
He's currently obsessed with the "bad guy" title. If he feels threatened or scared by someone, he'll give a nasty look and call them a "bad guy". In trying to break this habit, we're always telling Calvin what a nice boy he is. The other day Spencer says, "Calvin, you're a nice boy." Cal turns and cooly says, "That's right!"
Last month Spencer's mom gave me a bunch of old clothes back from when Spencer was little. It's been so much fun dressing Cal in outfits I know his daddy used to wear (like the BYU shirt in the pics above, which is sadly already too short for him). I dressed Cal in this red, white, and blue outfit the other day, letting him know it used to be his daddy's. He totally got a kick out of it and kept saying, "It's daddy's shirt and daddy's shorts!"
Check out Spencer's old bathrobe! Cal fell in love with it and spent a good amount of time admiring himself in the mirror while wearing it.
It sure is fun having a boy - for many reasons. I love reading with Cal and having him point out the "beetles", "spiders", "dragonflies", and "caterpillars" in his bug book (and all by the right name)! I love how interested he is in frogs, telling me which ones say, "Croak, croak" and which ones say, "ribbit ribbit". A couple months ago Spencer went in to get Cal out of bed in the morning. Cal was being silly, crawling all over his crib, and Spencer asked him, "Are you my man cub" (something Spence always call him). Cal says, "No, I a bull frog! Ribbit Ribbit!" and then starts to bounce around in his crib like a frog!
Cal's a fun kid to take to the library. He'll get really excited over a simple train book. Then sit and study the same book for 20 minutes, talking excitedly about all the little details of the train cars. I love how he knows the different types of trucks by name now too. I remember working in a day care back in high school and there was a super cute three year who was obsessed with trucks. I vividly remember this three year old pointing to a truck and saying, "That's an excavator!" I remember hoping that one day I would have a little boy who could say the big truck names at such a young age. Then just last month I sat in Cal's glider reading a construction truck book with him and he started telling me about all the trucks - "That's a back hoe!" . . . "Cherry Picker", "dump truck", "bulldozer", and sure enough, "excavator!" I sat there, loving every second of it!
Everyday we ask the kids what their "high" and "low" of the day was. And everyday Cal has the same response : "My high/low is . . . . going to the park!" The other day, the first words out of his mouth when I got him up from his nap were, "Let's go to the park!"
Lucky for Cal he's got a mama and sisters who don't mind giving into his requests!
Calvin's big sisters sure do take good care of him. Madi's always quick about jumping him to sing to him when he screaming in the car - works to calm him down every time! Elle's good about keeping Cal entertained - even if it is playing dollhouse! Elle likes to bring the Strawberry Shortcake girls into the tub and gets Cal to play in there too.
Cal really does have a special bond with those sisters of his! My favorite is when he tucks the girls into bed at night and has to give them each a dozen hugs and kisses before saying goodnight. He says, "A hug" . . . "a kiss". . . "a hug" . . . "a kiss" over and over until I finally say he's had enough and they're all rolling in laughter!
Love this boy bunches! Crossing our fingers his "terrible two's" don't last for much longer!
