Happy First Birthday Calvin!

Dearest Sonshine,

We can't believe it's been a year! And what a year it has been! You came into this world weighing 7 pounds 14 ounces, measuring 20 3/4 inches long...you are now 21 pounds and you measure 31 inches long, sissy better watch out because you are catching up!

You arrived at 2:55pm via c-section, but you didn't want to come out. You really liked being in Mama's tummy. Our doctor told us that every time she tried to get you out, you scooted further back in Mama's tummy. But out you finally came and what a sweet moment to hear that first cry and then to see you for the first time. It was then that we knew you were a Calvin.

Calvin David Sturm, you got your first name thanks to Cousin Bob (he suggested it at the family reunion) and your middle name is after your Grampapa. Oh do you like your Grampapa, he and you share a very special relationship. In fact, when Nana and Grampapa babysit, he's the one who gets to help you fall asleep at night.

You've accomplished so much this year! You've gone from just laying there, to rolling, to crawling, to standing...and now to walking. All in a year, you could say you've been busy! And you've gone from crying, to screeching (very zard like), to babbling the sweetest sounds...like dadadadada and uh oh. You now say "uh oh" when you drop your sippy cup on the floor.

It's been such a joy to watch you develop and grow. We noticed early on that you had your own interests that were so much different than your sissy's interests. You've always liked balls and wheels and just seeing how things work. Yesterday we put you in the bathtub (empty) to keep you out of trouble for a moment and you were happy to play with the drain stop, making it go up and down...you are a very curious boy.

We just feel so blessed. Thank you Lord for entrusting us with this sweet boy!

We love you Calvin!!
Mama and Daddy, Sissy and CincyCat

The Fair

We had alot of fun looking at the animals at the Palmdale fair. The best part was being able to get up close and personal with "Little Guy", Sam's sheep that she was showing at the fair. Mia loved petting all the animals, Calvin was really shy and scared of them. Oh and Calvin is now facing forward in his car seat...he really likes it!

Where Did The Summer Go?

I can't believe that school starts on Monday! We've been so busy this last week trying to get everything ready (not to mention we have a birthday to celebrate on Sunday!). The kids are doing great, I'm excited for Mia to be starting school again, I think it will be really good for her. We decided to go on one last excursion before the school year starts, so we will be heading out to Palmdale today to see Jarrett and family. Their kids are bringing their animals to the fair this weekend, so we'll get to go to their fair and it should be fun. Of course Daddy doesn't get to go...that makes us sad, but he's really busy now getting all his teachers ready for back to school on Monday anyway. We'll post some pictures when we get back from our adventure.

I'll Take The Heat Over Traffic

We had to go to LA yesterday and I hate driving in the traffic. I will take the heat from Bakersfield over the traffic from LA any day! It was a long day, but we got great news. Mia had an echo done of her heart and it looks the same as it always has, which is great. Her cardiologist told us we only have to see him once a year, unless something concerns us sooner. He was very happy with everything. We then saw Mia's neurologist and he is also very pleased with how well she is doing. We asked him about an MRI of her brain and he doesn't think we need to do one. Even though she'd be under anesthesia for other procedures, he doesn't think it is necessary to prolong the anesthesia to do an MRI of the brain, especially since it would take several hours to do that. So, we will wait on that. She's been seizure free for two years now, Praise God! We talked about weaning her off of her seizure meds, but he thinks that we should just let her wean naturally by her growing and the dosage being less for her body weight. I completely agreed with that and so that's where we are at. Praise God for great news!

Bye Bye

Calvin waved bye bye for the first time yesterday. I was waving my hand and then he copied me. It was very sweet. He also has been babbling a lot. He says, "dadadadada" all the time. It makes sense because Daddy is everyone's favorite. Daddy says that it makes up for Mia's first babbling of "mamamama" all the time. :)