Still here

So, it's been a busy month and I'm planning to post about Thanksgiving, our trip to San Antonio, Heather & Max's visit to Utah, and of course how much Calvin has grown in just four weeks. For now, this will have to do:

Calvin loves to play peek-a-boo with anything (in this case, his car seat canopy). He took his first steps at Grandma & Grandpa Roberts' house in Texas a few weeks ago. His new favorite foods include Stove Top stuffing, oranges, and cake. He's getting his two canine teeth on top (bringing the grand total to 10), but he still hates brushing them. Calvin is recently fascinated with zippers, so we're often greeted with an Elvis impersonation in the mornings. He unzips his jammies so they look like a jump-suit with his chest showing and then stands up in his crib and talks until he's retrieved- it's pretty cute. Calvin still loves dogs (unless it's a real one) and has recently learned to say "woof" and "hi" in addition to "dad" and "mama." He's really excited about his first Christmas followed by his first birthday.

p.s. i'm sure most have seen this site already, but feel free to check out our elf video if you need some Christmas cheer (or a laugh - Russell's head is on the girly elf body and mine is on the manly one - not sure how that happened)! http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1172071100

Rooaaarrrrrrr & Waaaaahhhhh

My mom bought some cute Halloween costumes on sale, so we tried Calvin out as a lion last weekend.

the fierce lion sticking out his tongue
he was more interested in the swords that go with the knight costumes
finally a smile


Calvin got a new fancy suit for church, so he modeled in his crib for me tonight.


until he had enough

Another trick

Halloween

Calvin and Russell went trick-or-treating with Rich, Hannah, Jacob, Alex & Logan.

The surgeon, the "bandido" (which I guess is Spanish for bandit? or else Russell just made it up), and our little monkey.
Calvin and Grandma Perkins

Cute little tail.
Russell's "Antonio Bandido" look. (P.S. I made his big shiny belt buckle)

Vegas Vacation

Last week, we spent Wednesday through Saturday in Las Vegas and St. George. It was 80 degree weather and a much-needed break from work (and Provo).

Calvin with mom at the Flamingo water bird exhibit.
As usual, the Bellagio's atrium was extravagantly decorated. This was a fall-themed bridge with jumping water over the top.
This was my favorite - a waterfall of apples.
Some huge squash and pumpkins.
Playing at the Circus Circus midway.
Calvin loved his first time swimming.

Crazy pool hair.
On the way out of Vegas, we stopped at the Ethel M Chocolate Factory. Russell and I enjoyed some lovely macadamia nut chocolates and Calvin had sweet potatoes for lunch in the cactus garden.
On Saturday, we stopped at Quail Creek Reservoir outside St. George for another shot at fishing. The lake was beautiful with red rocks and perfect weather, but we didn't catch anything (which brings the grand total to 0 fish this year).

Russell constructed a rock bridge to get to this small island, which he named after himself.

Enjoying some snacks and the great view.

Fall Favorites

For the past 4+ years of our lives, this time of year has been a time of stress and preparing for mid-terms. I do miss some things about school, but have been so grateful to have time this fall to do lots of things I love and that we haven't made time for in a long time! I actually started my Christmas shopping already, as opposed to December 23rd (like last year).

We took a drive up Provo Canyon and walked around at Sundance. The leaves were gorgeous and there were some remnants of the first snow (not my favorite, but it looked nice).
This really was a few weeks ago, despite what's printed on the picture. I'm annoyed that we can't figure out how to take the date print thing off of the camera and even more annoyed when it's wrong.

Before the carving of the pumpkins.
Calvin was a great help with the gooey stuff.
Taking a quick taste!

Russell starting on his 24 pounder.

Calvin loved holding the jack-o-lantern so much. He bawled when it was time to put it on the porch.
Russell and his finished product (a cat in front of the moon).
We raked leaves today and Calvin played in them, which means he sat in the big pile as still as possible so he didn't sink in farther and looked pretty worried the entire time. Boy was it fun!

A new trick

We've been working on waving for awhile and Calvin finally tried it this past week. Sorry for the shaky video - I didn't realize I was waving so hard.

Cousins in Costumes

We probably won't see each other on Halloween, so most of Calvin's cousins dressed up in costumes last weekend at Grandma & Grandpa Perkins' house.

Emily holding Joshua the pumpkin (Emily is going to be Hermione Granger, but her costume wasn't finished yet), Hannah the princess, Kelsey the pink witch (she's going to be Ginny Weasley, but was also still waiting on her costume), Jonah the firefighter, Ethan the bat, Caleb the puppy, Jacob the power ranger, and Sam the gorilla.
Jamie with Logan the puppy and Alex the monkey.
We don't have Calvin's costume yet, but just for fun,here he is in a diaper box, one of his favorite pasttimes these days.

Calvin Meets Ian

My good friend Elsha was in town from Iowa last week, so she and little Ian came to visit. Calvin enjoyed meeting a new friend. Ian is so good - he sat and enjoyed the toys while Calvin was busy as usual. You can tell from these pictures that they both liked to grab each other. Thanks to Elsha for sending me some better pictures (it was tough to catch these two together). It was so good to see you and to meet Ian.

New friends holding hands.

Ian's photogenic smile!

Calvin's Different 'Do's

According to Russell, the shampoo mohawk is an integral part of every real man's shower (or bath, in this case).


This is a typical morning look.


Calvin's hair is so long, I just couldn't resist trying a ponytail. It actually turned out pretty cute! (Russell doesn't know about this one - yet)!