Blogger.com was down, written Friday Oct. 2
Maybe I’m getting old, but Cal has gotten slap-stick quick. He has mastered his crawling technique in a month’s time and now can burst into overdrive once he sees something electrical or dangerous to eat, or both. They tell you that kids seek out cords, plugs and everything off limits and you shake your head in ignorance until you find out that they do. I’m sure it has to do with novelty and that priceless “I can’t have it so I want it” quality.
My weekly Wednesday with Calvin ended with a sore back and all around fatigue. Don’t get me wrong, we had fun – especially at the park where, sitting directly in front of the bucket swing on the bark-padded ground, I pushed Cal and he swayed back and forth like a pendulum wearing a wide grin. He got quiet when I ducked out of view, then chuckled when I burst back into his frame. I could see his white bottom teeth glistening as giggles poured out.
Now that we’re homebound on Wednesdays (Shaun no longer carpools) we’re discovering the niceties of staying home. Grocery trips are replaced with walks and park trips. Eventually, we’ll venture out on the bus with our compact stroller, but we haven’t yet.
We spent a long stretch of time on a blanket outside, where Cal would pile on top of me or steal my glasses. That’s the other thing – he shuffles toward me with this beautiful grin (queue slow-mo) and just when I think he’ll nestle into my arms and give me a hug: he snatches my glasses and starts to mouth and inspect them, clenching them tightly in his fists while I try hard to wrestle them free. It’s not exactly like taking candy from any baby, he’s very strong. He gets upset when I eventually retrieve them, grunting with acute frustration and bounding after them, even if I put them behind me or under my leg. He knows that things still exist now. He is persistent about the glasses and I can’t help it because I don’t want to egg him on – but it makes me laugh, if under my breath.
The other thing is that his grunts have multiplied lately. My mom and I were talking about this last night at a friend’s fundraiser gala (my first night without Cal and without Shaun!). Calvin has so many desires and ambitions now, waiting to burst out, and they surface as these highly impassioned grunts. Sometimes, we can even extrapolate from the grunting and body language what exactly he wants; frequently, it involves things he can’t have. But the other day, Nana responded to his grunts at the decorative lights threaded over her living-area entranceway, which he’s always marveled at, by plugging them in; he smiled in approval.
Midday Wednesday I turned my head and Cal had pulled the stool over; it landed with a thud beside (thankfully not on) him, but he fell down with it. Emotion coursed through me as I heard his heavy breathing and crescendo crying begin – it made me tremble with grief even as I’d known he’d be alright. The stools were banished to the garage.
Our day together was speckled with grunting and bonked heads and lots of cuddling after my little adventurer’s accidents under the sun and in the breeze of early fall. Calvin is learning cause and effect (by way of hard floors and objects, and exposed outlets if he got his way). I’m learning to stay calm despite the mental anguish of watching him learn, and fall. I guess, welcome to Parenthood 101.
Running after Cal and absorbing so much emotion from his physics experiments runs a mom ragged. Thankfully, there are those two long midday naps – much needed rest for mama, and baby.
Food Matters!
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