12(and a half) Months!

Ok, so clearly the second year of life goes by even faster than the first because it's been over two weeks since Callie turned one and I *finally* got around to taking her chair pictures! Callie had her 12 month well-baby visit recently and the Peanut is still tiny=) She weighed in at 18 lbs, 3 oz.(15th percentile) but is a long and lean 29 3/4 inches(70th percentile). It's funny how she was my biggest baby at birth(almost a full pound heavier than Ben and 1/2 pound heavier than Milly). She's bitsy. She can still wear 6-9 month clothes, although the pants are too short. Even though she's a feather-weight, she's BIG on personality. She has already perfected the art of tantrums and throws fits at a 2 year-old level;) She loves to laugh and often claps her hands in delight and says, "yay!". She answers 'yes or no' questions with the appropriate terms but clearly prefers to tell you "nonono!". She even does my finger point while saying it=) She's SUPER sweet, too. She gives me hugs and kisses all day long. She is so affectionate! She's also dealing with stranger and separation anxiety, which makes her very clingy. She's not walking independently yet but that's fine with us. We're enjoying the last fleeting weeks of babyhood before she turns into a bona fide toddler.

The Art of The 'Group Shot'

Getting one child to sit still and take a pretty picture can be difficult. Getting two together is almost impossible. Getting three or more? Ughhh! It's a exercise in futility. You will end up with many pictures where one looks adorable and the others...less so. You could doctor your photos and just put the cute heads all in one shot, I guess. But that's so disingenuous! Besides that, I like the idea that a picture captures a person in that moment of their life. Warts and all.

Ben looks adorable, if not a little forced;) Emily is making a weird gesture and Callie is clearly focused on something else.

Emily is precious in this picture. Ben looks drunk. Callie looks lovely but still distracted.

This one shows just how Zombiefied they get when the TV is on.
Better than nothing, I guess!

Little Helpers

Whenever I need Ben and Emily to keep up a steady pace while walking somewhere, I enlist their help in pushing Callie in the stroller. They love taking turns pushing her and are so eager to walk to the next landmark to switch. It makes it so much easier to walk home from the playground when they're normally tired from playing. It renews their energy and they don't even realize I'm tricking them into walking home faster;) Another variation of this is having them race each other to different landmarks. I use this to burn off energy on our "Walks to Nowhere". The only downside is one or both of them often trips and skins their hands or knees:( Then I feel like an a-hole for pitting them against each other to see which is faster. Plus, I usually end up having to carry someone most of the way. It's usually good, clean fun, but don't try it if your kid is wearing shorts and flip-flops. They're guaranteed to take a tumble.

Hopscotch Sprinkler Part 2

We got out our fave water-toy, Hopscotch Sprinkler. The best part about it is that it sprays the water lightly, low to the ground and predictably. They can get as close to it as they feel comfortable and it won't go crazy and spray them in the eyes. It's especially nice that Callie can play, too. They're all close in age, but there's a HUGE difference in what Ben and Emily can do and what's safe, comfortable and baby-friendly enough for Callie to join in. She *thinks* she's one of them and gets so frustrated that I won't let her just join in the fun whenever she wants. It makes things a little trickier with all three lately. Either they're having a blast and she's frustrated or she's having fun while they twiddle their thumbs and beg to move on.

Callie loves this toy more than Ben and Emily combined:)

She loves sprinkling water; it totally captures her attention and she loves to play in it.

I think Emily must be part cat, because she just doesn't really dig water-play like this.

Ben always has and always will adore water-play, though!

Mean Mommy stuck her in the middle of the mat right before we turned it on. She went from smiles to tears until I took pity and moved her;)

She'll never be a real mermaid until she learns to like water!

I love the way he's moving in this picture:)

Callie couldn't get enough!

She was content to splash around until Ben got too boisterous and started jumping in a way that splashed her in the face over and over again:( Then she started shivering and her lips turned blue. Once her water-works start to compete with the sprinkler, it's time to dry the poor girl off!

Adios, Ruby!

We had one last playdate with Ruby before they moved back to San Diego. We're sure going to miss her! I neglected to inform Ben and Emmie of her move. They don't really understand the concept and although she's well-loved, we really don't see her all that frequently. It's pretty likely we'll still see her roughly the same amount, even though she's moved away. I just don't see the point of upsetting or confusing them. Maybe it's not the best idea, but it is what it is!

We met up with Ruby and Mary(her grandma and Mimi's bestie) for some park-fun. We capped the day off with Spider-Man ice creams and said "so long!" to our pal. She is VERY sad and upset about moving so it really seemed like a good idea not to bring it up at all:( Poor girl.

Callie's 1st Birthday Extravaganza

It's befitting that my 1,000th(!) blog post also be the one celebrating Callie's 1st birthday. This sweet little baby's arrival might have turned our world on it's ear, but she's made every day of the last 52 weeks just a little more special because she's ours. We spent the weekend celebrating her very first birthday and ohhhh what fun we had! Here's our weekend in pictures:)

Callie woke up bright and early and got to play with her new dolly stroller-style push toy. She loves anything that rolls but Emmie's doll stroller is too flimsy to support our fledgling walker. Now she has a darling stroller all her own and she figured out how to walk with it within minutes!

As you can see, she loves it! Ben and Emily love it too, but it's just a tad too short for them to push comfortably. That doesn't stop them from taking it though:( I'm glad she got some one-on-one time with it before they woke up.

All new toys pass a vigorous testing process. It involves pushing all buttons numerous times, rolling/pushing it this way and that, seeing if it will support her weight while trying to stand up and of course! The taste-test!

My sweet birthday baby

Grrr! She's a tiger when you try to take her new shoes;)

We are now the proud owners of three, count them! THREE Pillow Pets. Callie got the ladybug to finish our collection.


After naptime, we wracked our brains to come up with a fun family outing that Callie would love. She usually just tags along in my carrier or the stroller but it was her birthday! Finally, we decided to go for a swim. Callie adores swimming. She actually thinks she can swim and will try to squirm right out of your arms if you're not careful. The water is the only place she insists I hold her facing away from me. If I try to turn her towards me, she flips out. It makes swimming with her a challenge, but she's just so happy and giggly and squeal-y that it's a joy to hold her=) She got to swim until her lips turned blue, then she got out of the pool and played with me on the grass.

She'd much rather use me as a jungle-gym than explore her surroundings. I know she'll be off and running soon enough, so I make sure to enjoy it while it lasts!



After swimming, we went to Fresh Choice for dinner. Callie chowed down on a variety of fruits, veggies, breads and pizza. She was such a big girl at the table! Looking at this picture below, it really hit me that she's ONE. She's a one-year-old. She's just going to get bigger and less babyish from here on out:(

Daddy and his Birthday Girl


When we got home, it was cake-time! I made Callie a cake; one that Ben and Emily helped me pick. They thought she'd like strawberry cake with strawberry icing so that's what she got. I tried to make it look like a stack of presents. Then I added a bunch of sprinkles for good measure. Let's just laugh at it and move on, k?

Even Callie silently mocks my cake with her eyes!

Apparently it doesn't taste much better than it looks!

She decided to just pick up her whole piece and go to town

"Nom nom nom nom nom!"She decided then and there that cake? WAS GOOD!



Today, we had our nearest and dearest over to Mimi's house for a birthday party for the little miss. We got a bounce house because Callie was the only baby out of all 10 kids and those 10 kids really got our money's worth out of the bouncer! It was a perfect, sunny, California day. Not too warm with a nice, cool breeze to stir things up. I couldn't have asked for a better afternoon to celebrate our little love! Family and friends joined together to wish our girl a happy birthday and it was very, very happy indeed.

Callie is at the peak-age for stranger anxiety and it really flares up when people get right in her face and talk animatedly to her! She burst into anxious tears each time someone said hello and wished her a happy birthday. I immediately worried that it would be one long-ass party with me holding a shy, cranky baby! I decided to take her into the bounce-house for a bit and she transformed back into the little bit of sunshine she normally is. She laughed and played with the kids, let other people hold her and didn't even bat an eye when I left the bouncer to mingle. Salvation, thy name is Cool Bouncer;)

She loves to be bounced, so even though she's too little to jump on her own, she really loved being in there and jumping with the big kids!

Ben was the first one in and rarely left it.

Emmie was in heaven, playing with her "girls" Asia(Dan's step sister) and Ruby

After awhile, she came inside to socialize with the grown ups. She's happy here with someone's camera and water bottle. She's just that cute, people. You'd gladly hand over your expensive camera and a bottle of fluid with which to break it just so she'll bat those big brown eyes at you.

She got passed around, posed for many a picture and then did a repeat-performance of last night's cake-smash

"Oy. Not this stupid hat again!"

"Happy Birthday toooo yoooou!"

Giving herself a round of applause

Slightly daunted by her piece of cake?

Naaaaaw. She's already a pro at this, remember?

She was so "frostin-y" as Ben and Emily called her, that I had to give her a shower before we could open her gifts. People started leaving at that point, so I put my camera down and enjoyed the rest of the shindig:) She got many cute outfits, some really fun toys and fell in love with a plush Winnie the Pooh teddy. All in all, I think this was her best birthday ever;)