Approaching 2

We seem to be in a transitional time these days, though I suppose all the time is transitional as Callie grows and changes.

But somehow, since I went to back to work, things have been changing a lot.

1) Bumps and Bruises.  My friend Casey always told me about how her daughter Ciri fell down a lot and now I know what she meant.  Lately Callie always seems to find a way to hit her head on something.  Seriously.  It seems like it happens all the time (falling to the floor, running into a kitchen drawer, etc).  Case in point- she face planted on the sidewalk when walking to the park yesterday.  Yay for goose eggs.

2) Lots and Lots of Words.  Her vocabulary is growing in leaps and bounds by the minute.  She is quick to point out everything she sees (always putting an "a" in front of the word), especially in the car.  "A BUSH!!!!!" (bus),  "A CHOO CHOO!!!!!" (light rail)   "A PANE!!!!!" (plane), "CAW CAW!!!!!" (bird).  We're working on colors now and she is THISCLOSE to mastering them.  I'll get a good video soon.

3) POOP.  If we had a dollar for every time she has said "POOP" the past few days, we'd be rich.  Or at least be able to pay for the $30 portable potty we went to Babies R Us to buy.  Thirty dollars?  For a little potty?  It seems ridiculous, but whatever.  You may be thinking that we're jumping the gun, but her fascination with poop and the potty has grown like crazy.  In fact, when I got home from taking Kona for a walk over the weekend, I walked into to this scene:

So maybe we'll get lucky and she'll be an easy potty trainer like my sister Laura was.  All my mom needed was 4 hours and some M&Ms.

4) Increasing independence. Her need to do things on her own is becoming constant.  It is good, but hard for me to let go the control I'm used to.  Especially when she asserts her independence when eating really messy foods and refusing to wear bibs.  And the F-R-E-A-K-I-N-G out if we don't let her do things on her own.  Whew.

5) Meltdowns.  As I alluded to in #4, toddler meltdowns and temper tantrums are becoming a regular thing.  She knows what she wants (and what she doesn't) and has no trouble showing it.  Even if it means throwing herself on the ground and screaming.  Or arching her back in the car to try and avoid getting buckled in and screaming.  Or what Daddy got to experience today: screaming for no good reason in the tunnel at Underwater Adventures at MOA.  I got this in my email inbox at work today from Chris after a particularly trying afternoon:


6) Sleep.  And by sleep, I mean less of it.  We were so spoiled the first 18 months of her life.  She has always been a great sleeper.  And, up until recently, she would go to bed at 8pm and sleep til 8am no problem.  Now she wakes up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed anywhere between 5:30 and 6:30am...and we, her parents, are the opposite of bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at that time in the morning.  We lay there and listen to her "blah blah blah" away in the crib, and no longer does going in and putting in the passy work to get her back to sleep.  No longer does going in and giving her a bottle work to put her back to sleep.  She's just up, and so then, are we.

7) Little Girl.  I don't know how it happened, but when I look at her I don't see my baby any more.  She is my little girl.  She can still melt my heart with a single look or hearing the word "Mom" from across the room.  She loves to give hugs and kisses now, in addition to the usual high fives and bumps.  Her personality is hilarious...she is so playful and smart.  Her brain is constantly going, learning, soaking the world up like a sponge.

So, as we gingerly advance in to the 2-year-old realm (and all that I've heard it entails), I continue to be thankful for the little family we have created, and all those who love and support us.

Weekend Wrap-Up

I'm not sure how it got to be Sunday night already, but here we are. 

Friday: Family Fun Night.  We checked out the Minnehaha Arena sale for the first time in YEARS...and found some good stuff.  We also all enjoyed a yummy cinnamon roll.

In order to kill time before dinner, we found a new park over in Mpls. 

After a yummy dinner at a pizza joint we hadn't been to before, we went home, gave a certain toddler a bath, and played with the new garage sale purchases.

Saturday: After a chiropractor check-up, some errand running, and naptime, we went to a family bridal shower for Chris' aunt Karen and her future husband Gus.  Callie was pretty active, so I didn't get too many good pictures, but I tried.

Participating in the "activity" with Karen, Gus, Papa and Daddy

Family time!

Reading with Aunt Lynn

And then, there was dinner.

Sunday: While I was running this morning, Callie helped Daddy pick his fantasy football winners.  Then we Skyped with MorMor and Bops.  They are in Spain for a couple of weeks, so it was fun to check in with them over video chat.  At one point my dad asked Callie to give him her passy.  She was a little confused, but tried to oblige.

We went to get bagels for brunch...and as I was holding Callie, the cashier said something like "If you don't look exactly the same, no one does."  Do we?

After some football and an almost-3-hour nap (yay!), we headed to Aunt Mari's for a scenery change. 

Making funny faces!

Fall seems to be in full swing with a crispness in the air and carmel apples at Lunds.  Even though the summer is over, I do love fall and look forward to all of the fun the next few months will bring.

The Callie and Charlie Show

You know it has been an interesting evening when, at the end of it, you say "This deserves its own blog post."

You know that controversy that was happening a few months ago about restaurants wanting to be able to choose to be kid-free zones? Tonight, our children were the very poster-children for why people think that is a good idea.

Let me back up.  Callie and I met Jenna and Charlie for a dinner/ice cream date.  The daddies were indisposed (*cough...video games...cough*).

Jenna and I both have an affinity for Mexican food and Coldstone, so meeting at El Loro and heading for ice cream after sounded like a great plan.  Until they sat us at the table by the kitchen- the table with the most traffic back in forth in front of the table.  The table where the waitstaff walked by countless times carrying very hot plates of food.  Nothing disasterous happened, but you can probably imagine why that was a problem.

We started out well...2 toddlers in high chairs eating their weight in tortilla chips.  Pretty soon Charlie had to be out of his high chair (making good friends with one of the waiters) and Callie had to be drinking her water without the straw- only through the little slits where the straw goes.  So while Jenna was trying to wrangle Charlie, and I was trying to make a very stubborn Callie understand why drinking through a straw was the way to go, we managed to order and have some adult conversation. 

The food came quickly, but neither kid would eat very much, or stay in their high chairs.  So...out came the cheddar bunnies and fruit, and the double-toddler wrangling began.

Notice the water glass- no straw?

The rest of the meal is kind of a blur.  We managed to sort of eat in between the times we had to get up to make sure Callie/Charlie didn't get run over by waitstaff or crawl on the ground eating discarded chips or pour water all over themselves, or laugh hysterically because the situation was so ridiculous.  We also got to enjoy the looks of pity from the other diners.  They were all very patient with us.

In the midst of the chaos, somehow the cry of "Kiss! Kiss" escaped Callie's lips.  She tossed her passy to Jenna, and Charlie went for it.  We're going to have to watch out for those two in 15 years or so.



The calm moment ended as soon as the passy went back in.  We were somehow ignored for awhile and had to wait for our bill (we assumed they would want us out ASAP).  Then we had to wait in line to pay. 

After the chaos that had been the past 58 minutes (was it ONLY 58 minutes???!?!?!?!?!), you'd think we would have called it a night.  But no, like any other ice-cream-loving women would do, we headed to Coldstone, where the children continued their rampage by climbing up and down on the chairs (and tables), and enjoying a little not-needed-by-any-means sugar.

So there you have it. A rundown of the 85 minutes of The Callie and Charlie Show. Here's to hoping that Charlie crashed when they got home like Callie did when we got home, because both Jenna and I need a nap.

Confident and Demure

As I shared with the I Pray blog post, Callie is starting to understand things about herself.

It is no secret that she is stinkin' adorable.  Apparently she is aware of it:  A couple of days ago, after I put her jammies on her, she shouted out "I cute!"

It is no secret that Callie has some Henderson girl social awkwardness around people she isn't familiar with. 

Apparently she is aware of it:  My mom took her to the library today, and she put the social awkwardness on display when another woman was in the kids section with them.  After the woman left, Callie went to my mom and said, "I shy."

Weekend Wrap-Up: Happy Birthday MorMor!

Today is MorMor's birthday!  We love you MorMor!

I love this picture!

 We had a crazy busy weekend.

Saturday: I ran a 10K race with my friend Alison, benefiting Park Nicollet's Cancer Center.  Alison's mom is currently a patient there, so I was so glad to run and raise money for the center and for "Team Deb."

My little cheerleader came too!

After the race we stopped by "Woofstock" in Linden Hills.  The street was blocked off and there were tons of stands for various doggie products and services.  Callie loved it because there were doggies EVERYWHERE!  Kona loved it because...there were doggies EVERYWHERE!

Playing a game- she won a pink purse!

Petting the puppies!

Kona being high maintenance and drinking out of a cup instead of the public water bowl.

Showing off the new pink purse and newly decorated bandana.

After naptime, Callie and I went to Southdale for a girls' shopping trip.  We shared a delicious smoothie.

Mango Strawberry...delicious!

On Saturday night we got to go visit Dave, Cherilyn and Sydney!  I think I forgot to mention that they all flew home on Wednesday night.  It was so great to see them, and Cherilyn's parents as well.  Callie and Sydney had fun playing together as usual.

Sunday: MorMor's birthday!  We went to brunch this morning.

After brunch and naptime, we stopped  by Ciri's 3rd birthday party.

We are very excited that Ciri will be getting a little brother or sister in early November!

After the birthday party we headed downtown to go to dinner and have more birthday celebrations.  Callie enjoyed helping MorMor open her gifts- especially the Legos that she got her (at MorMor's request!).

After some spice cake we headed home for bed.  Now I'm exhausted, doing laundry and mentally preparing myself for the week.  Chris and I are watching a 9/11 special.  I remember being in my dorm room 10 years ago watching the news footage.  I can't believe it has been 10 years. 

Accident Update: We got some bad news this morning.  Dave got a fever overnight so they took him to the hospital.  He has an infection in his abdomen and he'll be in the hospital until they can get it figured out.  So, unfortunately, his recovery is still very difficult.  Nik is still on some serious pain meds due to his broken ribs and sternum, and working on recovery.  His short term memory is getting better, but he is frustrated by his slower processing speed.  Our friend Nate, who lives in Washington, ended up having a fractured wrist so he has to wear a cast for 6 weeks.  Chris went to get checked out last week, and the doctor recommended that he get an MRI on his left shoulder.  He's going in this Wednesday for that, and will find out if he has a torn rotator cuff.  If that is the case, it may require surgery.  Please continue to keep the guys in your thoughts and prayers.

Skype!

I got a new work laptop that has a camera built in.  So tonight I downloaded Skype and we were able to video chat with Auntie Laura.  A cartwheel was requested, so she obliged.


Skype with Auntie Laura! from Baby Goose on Vimeo.





Uncle Dan came home from camp on Monday!  So we got to hang out with him tonight.  And, just like Callie wants Laura to do cartwheels, she wants Uncle Dan to throw her up in the air.

Happy Weekend!

I Pray

Those that know us well know that we're not exactly good at eating at home.  Or positively stated, we're really good at eating out. 

Obviously, with a 20-month-old, that is not ideal.  But after the craziness of the past few weeks, we were getting REALLY bad at not eating at home.  Like, until yesterday, I can't really remember the last time we DID eat at home. 

Anyway, the point of this it that we're trying really hard to do better.  So far, we're 2 for 2.  Last night we had sandwiches and corn-on-the-cob and tonight we had lasagna and salad. 

The best part of eating at home is that we have started to teach Callie to pray with us before our meal.  She folds her hands, we say the "Come Lord Jesus..." and then start eating.  About a minute later she signs for more, folds her hands, and says "I Pray."  So now during our meals we do a bunch of prayers, while trying to get her to actually eat her food when her hands aren't folded.

Next step, is working on the "Amen."