My oldest sister, Diana, and her family came up to join us for the holiday, which was so lovely. Di is absolutely head over heels for Calvin, so I love any time she gets to spend with him. They came over Friday evening; we hosted a rather impromptu cookout, whuch turned out great! Di's longtime friend Stacey and her family joined us as well, and we all had so much fun. Calvin especially loved being the center of attention; he's such a ham!
Saturday Brian, Calvin and I headed up to Cleveland for an Indians game (yay Brian for being a VIP and getting free tickets!). Although it was chilly, and the Tribe ended up losing, the experience of being there is always awesome. I picked up a new Kipnis tee, and we got Calvin a 3-pack set of Indians onesies. Calvin said "baseball" (well, more like "BAH-bah") about 7,500 times throughout the day; he just loves it.
We headed back home after the 7th inning and made our way over to my Mom's house for Easter dinner with the family. Brian made delectable Mac & cheese as his contribution to the meal, and I made a cake, yum! Calvin's contribution was lots of smiles, giggles, and his compliments to the chefs, as he ate so much food!
Before the meal, we had a little Easter egg hunt for him. Di was kind enough to supply Cheerio-filled eggs, and even "hid" them on the lawn. Calvin only had to be shown once what to do - then he picked up his first egg... and chucked it, just as I predicted he would. After that, though, he placed each egg he picked up in his basket. Oh, it was so adorable; we were so delighted watching him. What a doll.
Sunday we attempted to do our own little egg hunt for him again, but he was much more interested in trying to run down the street, so we gave up on that pretty quickly. We did give him his Easter basket, though, which was a sweet little few moments. In it I got a box of sidewalk chalk, a mini plastic Slinky, a bath duckie that paddles his little feet, some Hot Wheels cars (there were more inside his eggs), bubbles, rainbow Goldfish crackers, and, I won't lie, some chocolate. I let him have 1 piece a day, and I help myself to some too. Obviously that's a crucial component to the basket. :D
After the egg hunt fail, we piled into the car to go to the zoo. They had some special events and such going on for Easter, and the weather was so nice that it was great to get out. Cal absolutely loved the aquarium - they recently got fish at school, so he gets pretty excited about them these days. Another highlight was when he spotted and chased after a goose by the lake - this kid is fearless, I'm telling you. I hovered very close by, because I have a healthy fear of geese, as everyone should, and like I said to Cal (which made a passer-by who heard it laugh), "Calvin, I really don't need you getting attacked by a goose."
But by far the best part of our zoo visit was Calvin's first carousel ride. As we passed by it, I suggested maybe we do it. On our way back, I bought the ticket and we jumped into line. I picked a glossy black horse for him to ride, and told him he had to hold on to the pole (which he did, the whole time!). I sang his ride-the-horsey song to him while we waited for it to begin... And then we were off! I wasn't sure how he'd react, but I had nothing to worry about - he loved it! I held on tight to him as his horse went up and down, the music played, the background whizzed by, every time he saw daddy looking on and taking pictures, he'd smile and wave and say, "Dada!", and he LAUGHED! Oh, he LOVED it!
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I can never be quite sure what parenting moments will make me emotional, especially considering that I'm not at all a "crier", but that, that definitely made me tear up. Knowing it was another first for him, feeling thrilled it went so very well, and just in awe of all his innocence and wonder... It was just amazing. It's a beautiful memory I'll have always.
Love, love LOVE my baby boy.
