It has been so much fun to watch more and more of Calico’s personality emerge, he is a little over 2.5 years old and so much fun :)

He has started this new thing when we ask him why he did something he says “happy”, which is hard to argue with.

I was a nomad for a really long time and it did not bother me to not have much of a “home”. When I was renting rooms or apartments I slept on a mattress on the floor, kept things pretty minimal, and never felt a desire for much more. As I got older I got some cheap legs for my bed so people wouldn’t make fun of me… but I never felt a big desire to create a “home”.

In 2014 something changed and I didn’t feel weird about buying pots and pans and more than one spoon. It was a good change. It was after a few years of traveling and moving around a lot and I guess I was at a point in my life that I was ready for a “home”.

Fast forward to today, I’ve got a family (which is 90% of my home), but we also bought a house in Boulder, and along with Mrs. Fox, we have turned it into a real home that I love. I have a really comfy Wave mattress on my bed, I’ve got a veggie steamer that works great, pots and pans that make it easy for me to stay on my diet, I’ve got a big comfy bean bag to read in, I’ve got a comfy couch to watch movies in, I’ve got an indoor bike setup I love, a mountain bike so I can jump on trails, and so on. And, when we come back from long trips I am filled with pleasure to be “home” which is a feeling I’ve never really had before.

We are on a 3 month trip to Malta & Spain and after a few nights at an AirBNB with a really shitty bed/mattress, I started thinking about the tension I have between enjoying comfort but fearing the weakness it causes. I’ve got a strong belief that hardship creates meaning in life. So, what have I been thinking about?

As I get older it seems like I enjoy having a comfortable mattress more, is that a weakness? And, if so how much should I fight it? I used to sleep on hotel floors under tables at ultimate tournaments, and now I sleep in a bed every night. What impact does this have on my well being?

I miss my vegetable steamer, that seems like a stupid annoyance, am I making my home too easy and what impact does it have on my psychology and passion for life if things continue to get easier and easier at “home” as I get older?

These might sound silly but they really bug me. I worry a lot about how easy everyone wants to make life and how that seems to drain the pleasure & meaning from it. Don’t like vacuuming? Have a robot that does it for you 24/7. Don’t want to wash your own dishes? No worries, get a machine to do it and buy way more dishes then you need. Don’t like missing TV when you are pooping? Put TVs in every room of your house. Don’t like cooking? Have a service send you ingredients for 5x the price. Don’t like cleaning? Hire someone to do all of it. Weird kitchen machine that does x just 10 seconds faster but only has a single purpose? Buy it even though you make that thing only 2x a year.

I don’t think making something easier is bad, but I think it needs to be done selectively. If you don’t like cleaning toilets outsourcing it is great, but I think it could be bad for my life if I start outsourcing all hardship. It just seems like the entire USA tries to outsource anything that requires a little hardship as an ideal.

Anyway…

I’ve decided a comfy bed is important, sleep is crucial :). That said I also think it is great to go sleep on the ground, or in the back of a truck, or a bad Airbnb bed for a time. It is nice to remind yourself the other way isn’t so hard, and you value the enormity of what you do have.

On the rest of the stuff, I am going to cut myself some slack as I can be hard on myself. I just don’t want to end up one of those people who doesn’t travel because they fear a less comfortable environment. The idea scares me. I’d like to be 75 years old and sleeping in a seat on a rickety old train in Russia and enjoying life. Or the same goes for going camping with just the basics and not bringing all the comfort of home with you.

And, I am going to try to stay aware of my home and being careful to draw a line between comfort and superfluous comfort. As well as big questions like do we need a TV, can I go a month without hot water, or y, or z. Such a weird 1st world problem, but one that seems intrinsically linked to basic human happiness and fulfillment.

Lindsey took these and they are just fantastic for capturing some of his amazing personality :)

We got a crazy snow day in October in Boulder, and Calico enjoyed it :). He has been watching Snowy Day on Amazon and was prepared with his red snow suit.

Calico has grown, he added 2.5 inches in 4 months!! His last doctor visit was at 14 months and here are his new stats :)

Height 33.75 Inches (he added 2.5 inches in 4 months!!)
Weight 23lb and 9 ounces

He is doing great apart from some sleep regression. He is trying to talk all the time and putting words together like crazy. We are working on please currently and he is doing pretty good with that. He also started using the word “no” a bit :)

Just a quick post to celebrate that Boulder finally got warm in May and that Calico is now 17 months old :)

Because of flu season, he didn’t see the doctor until 13.5 months, but close enough! Here are his stats (he saw the doc in late April and was 32.5 inches):

Head circumference: 18.625 centimeters (75th percentile)
Height 31.25 Inches (80th percentile)
Weight 22lb and 2.5 ounces (50th percentile)

He is so active and trotting just about everywhere. It is so much fun :). I like taking him to the park when it isn’t snowy and just watching him wander around. Anytime we open the door to the house he is out and just wandering down the sidewalk. The first pic below shows his love of blueberry banana smoothies.

Calico has been saying mama and dada for a while, but the first word he has really grasped onto is “ball”. For a few days now it is all he says as he plays with his soccer ball, rugby ball, or other bouncy balls we got him. Oh and check out his outfit as Lindsey dressed him up today :)

Wow, I can’t believe Calico is one year old (Dec 30th!)! It has been one of the longest and fastest years of my life, and somehow that makes sense. I love him and Lindsey so much, it was a fun year :). Definitely some challenging times, but we made it through.

And, here are two videos from his birthday muffin, and the next day playing with all his birthday and Christmas toys :).

Calico having fun at a friend’s birthday party :)

A really cool moment happened yesterday, I was reading to Calico and he stood up on the chair and choose a new book for me to read himself. At 11 months old he is starting to seem more and more like a lil person :). A few days he picked the below outfit off the couch and wore it like a cape and walked around the house being hilarious. Fun times :)

I had such a blast with Calico today, Lindsey went for a cooking lesson so we went on a big stroller ride… playground and a lot of swinging, climbing stuff, the library, the grocery store, etc. Good times!