New Tricks!

Look who's sitting pretty AND sleeping in her own crib. Callie finally figured out the sitting thing, although we're still working on the whole "don't throw yourself backwards unexpectedly unless you want to bump your head" thing. She LOVES to sit up like a big girl. So much so that when laying on her back, she tries to just bend at the waist and sit right up(imagine super-impressive baby sit-ups). I can't wait til she can figure out how to get in and out of the position on her own:)


Hi!!


In other Callie-news, we finally made the transition to her crib. Now we're working on going to sleep drowsy but awake and not crying hysterically for half an hour the second mommy looks like she's going to leave the room. It's hit-or-miss with C. Yesterday, she went down for all her naps with minimal fuss. Bedtime was an ordeal of epic proportions with her crying bitter tears as soon as I'd turn around to leave the room. My mantra is "it's for the greater good". It's on a loop inside my head while I listen to my poor girl cry her eyes out and anxiously watch the timer until I can go back in there an try to soothe her a bit(minimal eye contact, minimal talking, and NO picking up. There are rules to be followed!). She goes to sleep pretty easily while being rocked, but bedtime has been tricky lately with her wanting to be rocked to sleep when I'm supposed to giving B and E a bath. So, the time came to teach her how to fall asleep on her own and it honestly makes me sad. I love rocking her to sleep and while I can still occasionally do it, she has to go to sleep in her crib for the majority of the time, lest we send her mixed signals and confuse her:( I am still bringing her to our bed in the middle of the night when she wakes to nurse, so there's that! Damn it, Callie. Why do you have to grow up?

Is there a sweeter sight than a sleeping baby?

Party Time

The Birthday Du Jour belonged to our friend Christopher. We had a swell time hanging out in his backyard, enjoying finger foods, TONS of toys(between him and his baby brother I think they have every single toy for boys 3 and under!) and great company.

This picture cracks me up because she really wanted to ride this scooter and the concept was just not hers for the grasping. She stood on it, kicked her leg back and forth in the air and said, "I'm not moving...?" No baby...no you're not! No amount of instruction clued her in so we moved on. She desperately wants a Tinkerbell scooter for her birthday, so we need to work on this!

Jazz Baby

Miss Emmie is ready to join a jazz trio! Dig this crazy cat!

Be Mine

Valentine's Day with my three little loves was pretty wonderful! They loved their valentines and heart-sprinkled cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Mimi and I took them to the park for a V-Day picnic and playtime where they both got ridiculously wet, sandy and tuckered out. Ben and I made a cake for Dan while Emmie and Callie napped and Dan brought home flowers, dinner AND an ice-cream cake from Coldstone. It was a cake-filled, Valentine's version of Gift of the Magi over here;) I was reminded of how much love I'm lucky to be surrounded by. We hope your day was super sweet!


Mr. Casual, enjoying his yummy breakfast.

Valentines don't come much cuter than this girl!

Miss C, sunning herself at the park

Benny Soprano, wearing his wise-guy track suit.
i call this look, "Curious George meets Good Fellas"

Obligatory sibling shot before bed. Emmie is focused on the tv, but Ben and Callie look cute!

Um, Divalicious is TOTALLY trying to hog the shot in this one!

Here Comes The Sun!

We've had many days of wonderful weather and we're loving it up! It's so nice to get out in the fresh air and get some sunshine. Here's some cute pictures from a recent jaunt to the park!

Self Portrait

Some people like to read in the bathroom. Some like to play on their iphone(::cough::dan::cough::). Ben likes to take "selfies" with my camera apparently! He's almost ready for Facebook!

7 Month Comparisons

Yup! They're related! No doubt about that:)

7 Months Old!

The countdown to 'ONE' has officially begun. Callie is now closer to her 1st birthday than she is to the day she was born:( It's exciting to think of all the things she'll soon learn but so bitter-sweet to remember all the things she's already left behind.We're still learning how to sit up on our own(she can do it perfectly with assistance and for a few seconds at a time un-aided!) and beginning to be interested in creeping. I'm trying to thwart her efforts at forward-propulsion still;) Solid-feedings have been a breeze once we intro'd veggies! She LOVES to eat pureed baby-foods and will gobble her dinner right up. We've moved on to fruits and surprisingly, they are a harder-sell. Applesauce, especially, seems to turn her stomach. Bananas are merely tolerated. But put some green-beans in her bowl and watch her go! We also have a lot of babbling going on. She's going to be a chatterbox just like her big brother and sister:) Here's my funny valentine with her first big-girl hair-do: piggies! Pretty cute, right?

Yo Gabba Gabba

We went to the most adorable birthday party today for our friend Wendi. The theme was Yo Gabba Gabba and her parents completely outdid themselves! The had t-shirts for all the kids(Ben declined his!), hand-painted YGG treat-bags for the pinata loot, personalized cups and awesome goodie bags. The decorations were all hand-made by Wendi's family and so clever and cute. I was blown away by how awesome everything was. I totally have to step up my game for Callie's 1st!

Emmie: "I'm a unicorn!"

A group shot of all the little party-animals.
Wendi's dad dressed up as DJ Lance Rock.
That is a man who dearly loves his little girl!

Wendi opening our present: an outfit hand-picked by Emmie. She loved it so much, she demanded she get one too:) I have a mini-shopaholic in the making, people!

Emmie and Ben and a good shot of the treat-bag and hats, hand-decorated by her momma and aunties!

The Birthday Cutie with her Foofa Cake


Apres-cake! You can see the crazy, sugar-gleam in Ben's eyes;)

Rain, rain, go away!

You may have noticed an alarming lack of recent blog entries? This is due to the seemingly never-ending icky weather we've had lately! Not only does it make it impossible to get out and about, but it's zapping my will to take pictures or blog:( We've all been in funky moods. Between preschool drop-offs/pick-ups and naptimes, there isn't much time in the day to even really do much and by the time naps are over, we run out of daylight, even if it isn't raining! Staying in, snuggling with my monkeys and watching far too much tv is pretty much all we've been up to lately. So, there you have it! Hopefully the weather and my mood will improve soon:)

Last Thursday, we had a beautiful, sunny day and no preschool. I took advantage of it and walked to our neighborhood park with the littles. We brought our lunch and enjoyed a break from the soggy weather! It was nice to get some fresh air, sunshine and exercise!


Swingin'

Smilin'

Slidin'

and hidin':)