Our Blog Readers...

...are awesome! I often get comments or emails about various blog posts that are so supportive and wonderful.

Case in point: my fantastic chiropractor Leslie emailed me today after reading the frustration in my post from last night and offered to take a look at Callie to see if there was anything going on with her neck or back. So Chris was able to take her in today for a little treatment, free of charge. Thanks so much Leslie! :)

I'm thankful that we have such wonderful family and friends that care enough to read my ramblings and look at the pictures and videos. Callie Joy is one lucky and well loved baby!

But when you look like this, how can you not be?

Hee hee.

So thanks to everyone who stops by and makes our little Punkin Head part of your day!

Epic Failure...okay...Success

I guess I'll start by saying Chris just left with Callie to drive around in hopes that she falls asleep. It is 6:15, she's about 2 hours behind her afternoon nap schedule, and we've turned into THOSE parents. The ones who have to resort to other people's tricks because we've exhausted all of our own.

After nap attempt #1 (5:00 or so) we thought we could just forgo the afternoon nap time and shoot for an early bed time. So we took her out of the crib after 20 minutes of blood curdling screaming, standing up in the crib, and no end in sight.

We brought her back downstairs and, after quiet time reading a book with Daddy, the utterly ridiculous crabbiness began again which signaled that nap time was seriously necessary.

So, to make a long story short, another 20 minutes of bloodcurdling screaming, standing up in the crib, and no end in sight, Chris is now driving around hoping for nap time victory.

But even if she falls asleep in the car, it still feels like an epic failure. And hoping it isn't the start of a new phase (I have a sinking feeling it is because we had 2 nap battles yesterday, though they were more successful).

It may be teething too, who knows. She's been holding steady with two teeth for like 6 months now. The others have GOT to be popping through sometime, right?

Regardless, all I know is I just need to focus on this silly scrunchy face...


...and remember how amazingly blessed we are...naughty napper and all!


****Update**** It is 6:45 and the car ride worked. Baby is sleeping peacefully in Daddy's arms, snowsuit and all.

I guess I shouldn't be so judgmental about using other people's tricks.

Videos

I haven't posted many Callie videos lately, but of course I've been taking them, so here's a post with videos from the past couple weeks.

She's so smart she knows where her socks and shoes go:

Socks from Baby Goose on Vimeo.

Auntie Laura taught her to kick while wearing her ballet shirt:

Learning to kick from Baby Goose on Vimeo.

You have to watch out when there's a baby in a walker zooming around:

Zoom Zoom from Baby Goose on Vimeo.

So much going on at lunch:

High Chair Baby from Baby Goose on Vimeo.

Patty-Cake is our favorite (though the face she makes at the end of the video would suggest otherwise):

Patty-Cake from Baby Goose on Vimeo.

Waving to everyone and anyone (and sometimes no one) is fun...especially to Kona:

Hi Kona! from Baby Goose on Vimeo.

Have a great Monday!

Busy Long Weekend = Super Long Post!

We've had a busy and wonderful couple of days. Thanksgiving was BUSY, beginning with a CHILLY 5K run, meal #1 with the Henderson's at the condo, 2nd meal with the Gosselin's at Dan's house, and dessert with the extended Gosselin family at Aunt Jeannie's! Here are some pictures from the day:








Friday was spent back at the condo with Grandma Henderson...and Callie and Kona discovered their love for the sunny hallway:




Last night we got to meet Sydney Marie! She was so little, so cute, and so sleepy! It is amazing how quickly you forget about life with a newborn. It was fun to get a refresher, but also fun to see Callie now and watch her interact with the baby. It is also amazing to see the difference than 11 months and 1 day makes! :)






And finally, a pic from dinner tonight:

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Holiday Season has officially begun and we have so much to be thankful for! To kick off the holidays we went to the Macy's Christmas exhibit last night. Callie had fun looking at the bright lights and interesting sights...




But then we went to see Santa, and that was NOT a hit...



Thankfully she recovered quickly. :)

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend, eat lots, enjoy friend and family, and safe travels!

A GIRL!!!!!

We got some exciting news last night to start off our Thanksgiving break. Our good friends Dave and Cherilyn had a baby girl at 11:27pm!!!! They named her Sydney Marie. She's tiny- 6 pounds 6 ounces. We can't wait to meet her!

Congrats Dave and Cherilyn...and new grandparents Al and Kathy and Pat and Lynette! We're so excited for you and thrilled that Callie has a new playmate!

11 Months Old!!!!!!!!!!

We are T-Minus one month until we have a ONE YEAR OLD. Here is our little 11 month old on her 11 month birthday!




This past week Callie has had some serious bed head! Her hair is growing really fast and it is hilarious to see her after bath time or after sleeping.





How did she get so adorable? :)

After a low key weekend of just hanging out, I'm SOOOOOOO looking forward to a 5 day weekend and lots more baby time and family time.

Blankie

As some of you know, I had (and still have) a blankie that I sleep with at night. In fact, if you were at our wedding, you may remember that my dad incorporated it into his speech:


Well, five years later my daughter has become stuck on a "blankie" as well. Except this "blankie" isn't one of the nice ones she was given as a gift. Instead, it is a burp cloth... actually there are three burp cloths that can pass for the blankie, which I guess will come in handy if we lose one some day. But regardless, she loves them. She rubs them on her face, flails them around and, most importantly, snuggles them and goes right to sleep (usually). Thank goodness for the blankie(s)!

Blankie and Giggles from Baby Goose on Vimeo.

It's fun when...

...a play date actually involves playing.

Here are Callie and Wes (the neighbor baby) hanging out:

Weekend Wrap-Up

As I mentioned yesterday we had a grown-ups night last night. It was great to hang out with friends (despite a power outage...we hung out in candlelight!)...though I did find myself in conversation about Callie or babies for most of the night. :) And she did great with MorMor and Bops.

Today Callie and I had our girl time while Chris and Dan played basketball. Then we hung out at the Gosselin's house. It was fun to have everybody together!

Here are some pictures and videos from the weekend.
First snowfall of the season!


Happy Baby

The girls (and a certain 98 %-ile head!)

Bucket of toys from Auntie Cathleen!

Grandpa and Uncle Dan

Reading with Grandma (the Color Book Mommy made!)

First ride in the big girl car seat! Thanks to Grandpa for helping us figure it out. :)


A little bit of dancing, some singing and some really silly faces:

Baby Beluga from Baby Goose on Vimeo.

Peek-a-boo books are the best!

Peekaboo from Baby Goose on Vimeo.

Letter to Baby

Dear Callie-

I feel like writing you a letter today because I don't feel like I've seen you much. Saturday is usually our day- just us girls. But today I had to do some necessary evils- like clean and cook. You'll learn very quickly that your Daddy and I are not neat and tidy people. So when we actually clean, it takes awhile. So while I was cleaning you got to hang out with your Daddy. Which is great, but I miss you.

Now you're napping and I want you to wake up! But I won't, because I know how much you need the sleep. You're so busy. You're learning so much each day. You're such a happy, sweet, charming, outgoing, funny baby.

You wave and smile at strangers- something that your Henderson aunties and your Mommy NEVER did. We were so shy...I wonder if you'll have your Daddy's personality and be the funny one- thelife of the party.

You love music and animals. Singing songs and seeing your doggy Kona put the biggest smiles on your cute little face.

With your new-found ability to move on your own, you are really wanting to be independent. But every once in a while I'm blessed to have you crawl right over to me, pull yourself up into my lap, and bury your head in my chest. And then, in a flash, you're gone...moving on to other fun toys and getting into more fun trouble.

You have charmed your way into the hearts of SO MANY PEOPLE. And it doesn't take much for you to do that- all you have to do is smile your scrunchy face smile and you have everyone wrapped around your itty bitty pinkie.

Tonight your Daddy and I are going out with friends and MorMor and Bops are coming over to babysit (now do you understand why I spent so much of today doing the necessary evils? hee hee). We're excited to have a night out to do non-baby related things (more specifically, beer related things), but I want you to know that half of mind and all of my heart will be back at the house with you... wondering what you're doing. Wondering if you're going to go to bed okay. Thankful that you are in good hands.

I love you Punkin Head...and now I've made myself cry...silly Mommy...

Love,
Mommy

New Tricks

How is it Friday already? Not that I'm complaining...but the week went by really fast. I guess that seems to be happening in general as it is the middle of November and the holidays are right around the corner. Which means...

...a certain Punkin Head's 1st birthday is right around the corner!

And I can't even fathom that right now. So while I'm trying to ignore the fact that my baby is growing up, she is making it nearly impossible.

In the past week she learned to:
I) crawl...officially (see video from last weekend in Chicago).
II) pull herself up.

Because of I and II, we:
A) had to put her crib mattress lower to the ground.
B) have to put her in her sleep sacks for nap times (along with bed time) so she can't pull herself up in the crib.

Yesterday we:
1) bought a new convertible car seat that we'll start using tomorrow!!!! No more lugging a baby around in an infant carrier.

And along with all these big milestones, she's just so stinking smart! You can just see the neurons firing away in her brain. (I hope that is the right use of biology vocabulary. I watched "Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader" tonight and am feeling rather dumb.)

Here are a couple videos of our little genius from this past week:

Dancing...? from Baby Goose on Vimeo.

Curious Cat from Baby Goose on Vimeo.

Not quite ready for steps from Baby Goose on Vimeo.

And a couple of pictures:

Chicago Pics

Thankfully I took the day off today so I could:

1)recover from the weekend, and
2)get some stuff done!

And now I get to add to the list:

3)chase around a baby that is SERIOUSLY on the move.

No more sitting nicely and playing...she is EVERYWHERE. So #1 and #2 will really only happen during nap time. :)

Here are some pictures from Chicago. We hung out in Laura's apartment, went to watch Laura play flag football, went to the zoo, went to a park, and did a lot of eating.













Thanks to Laura for a wonderful trip!