October is a time of year. Oh yes, it is.
It’s the time of year to go to a pumpkin patch with cousins while the cousin’s mom (Janae) deals with complications from having a baby (Penny). It all turned out ok (SPOILER ALERT).
This year, it was also the time of year that my parents visited from the land of Arizona. They went to the pumpkin patch with us, and later we all trekked to the zoo.
I hear holding babies is pretty cool, from people who do it.
The thing about pumpkin patches is they contain pumpkins - that you can buy for somewhat exorbitant prices.
Calvin was excited to carve a pumpkin. He drew this face with a marker, and then we made it official.
When we asked Calvin what he wanted to be for Halloween months ago, he said he wanted to be a barrel of toxic waste. I’m told this is something from the ‘Calvin and Hobbes’ comic that Emily has been reading to him. Emily painted a segment of a cat tunnel and topped it with some insulation foam that she painted green. Pretty darn cute, huh?
The crappy old Camry I’ve been so fond of broke. I think I tried to jump start it with the jumper cables reversed and it fried something. Embarrassing. Calvin loves the idea of fixing cars or just using tools generally, and has been “helping” me.
The “nice” car also broke when we ran over something metal hanging out in the road that was impossible to safely dodge. It likely originated from a car wreck on the opposite side of the freeway. Goodbye, a thousand dollars, it was nice knowing you.
Maybe he’s a budding engineer or mechanic, who knows?
Or a scientist, since everyone knows scientists have microscopes.
Calvin’s interests has been expanding into other areas besides cars, although that continues to be an interest as well. He’s grown fond of puzzles. When he discovered he likes doing puzzles, he spent days doing this cat puzzle on repeat. We’ve since acquired additional puzzles. He likes the idea of doing puzzles with more than 100 pieces, but he hasn’t quite gotten to that level of skill or stamina yet.
Legos have become the most consistent obsession. Cars built out of legos combines two obsessions, so it’s been a hit, perhaps needless to say.
Emily and Calvin wen to Utah for Thanksgiving and I stayed at home alone. I don’t know if I want to spend all future holidays alone, but this year it was a very nice change of pace. Yes, my brain probably works differently than yours. There’s a lot I could say on that subject, but I don’t have time for that crap.
Calvin has been getting to know his cousin Leo who is walking and talking. He also got to spend quality time with aunts, uncles, grandmas and grandpas - including a birthday celebration for his fifth birthday. Seems like a successful trip to me. Also, dogs.
Calvin goes to school at the local Catholic church. This year for the Christmas program, he was Joseph. And yeah, the whole thing was as adorable as you’d expect.
Calvin and I have a little tradition going where we go to Starbucks on a weekend morning. Sometimes he brings his supercars book so he can read the names of all the cool cars, how fast they go, and what types of engines they have. It gets a little monotonous for me, but there will come a day when he won’t want to do that anymore, so it’s important to try and savor each moment.
So this Calvin kid can read really well. Every child develops at a different pace, but it’s just been fun, and kinda freaky, that he can read so well. That means we can’t hide things from him as easily. He’s reading entire paragraphs (with a bit of help). Pictured here is Calvin reading off cards at dinner with ‘get to know you’ questions, and expecting us to answer each one in turn.
We’ve been hunting for dinosaur bones.
Here’s just a random pic of Calvin writing in his…er MY…journal.
And now for some outro music.
