red, white, blue and water bottles too

I will return with some lengthy Cal observations this coming Friday. Until then, here's what we were up to over the weekend:

Saturday was packed with patriotic fun – BBQ party, swimming, margaritas, and a glimpse of a firework finale. Lunchtime was spent at a friend’s bright orange house in the heart of east Sacramento. Flags hung from trees and whole streets were blocked off for festive block parties. Calvin wore a red striped shirt with star sleeves and became quite enamored with a half-full water bottle that he wrestled into his palms and put in his mouth, gnawing on its white cap for almost a full 10 minutes. He galvanized lots of ogling attention as the only baby in attendance. Swimming at Ggma’s house followed. It was Calvin’s first rendezvous with icy blue, cool, chlorinated water so he scrunched his face when his thighs were first dunked in. But he got used to the temperature and soon was back to laughing and smiling. His very favorite wet entertainment was Shaun coming up and smiling after hiding underwater – it never failed to get him giggling, which would make the rest of us laugh in a cascading giggle fest. Cal also liked to lead with his hands and head and wiggle his feet and tows as a rudder in the water, but a few unattended licks and gulps of water and I decided to keep him upright. After about a half hour, I dried our boy off and he, Ggma, and I sat in the shade and watched Shaun, Uncle Ry, and friends Morgan and Christine splash the afternoon away. On a bed of towels, Cal practiced his happy baby yoga move (as Morgan pointed out, it's when he's on his back with his hands holding his raised feet) and he also sat on my lap and talked. At this point, Cal was wearing his first pair of boxer briefs and probably feeling extremely comfy without a diaper. After a yummy BBQ dinner that included our garden's first corn cobs, the Hugheses and Ry returned to mom’s and dad’s house for margaritas and an attempt to put Cal to sleep. Cal resisted a little so he got wheeled out on the porch in his magic highchair. We all marvelled at his tiny toes that had curved themselves so sweetly around the chair's stopper. We left just after the sun set and Cal succumbed to sleep on the ride home in our new car. After tucking Cal in, Shaun and I caught the caboose of the beautiful Woodland High fireworks show from the perch of our own backyard. They crested perfectly between our trees in their sparkling glory. We had one warm, wet, wild, crackling, very American, and very wonderful 4th of July.