I Really Need It to Be February

January is getting pretty brutal. February come now...please?

Maybe it is just this week. This week has been rough. Kids at school are crazy and I'm just DONE with the crazy. Conferences this week (two 12-hour days). Trying my darndest to do my "30 Day Shred" workout DVD daily, however I failed tonight (it would have been day #13 in a row...but I walked at the MOA after work, so at least that was some form of exercise...still gotta get rid of the last 10 pounds!). Can't seem to make myself go to bed when I know I should. Tired. Not using full sentences.

On the plus side, Auntie Mari came home from her j-term abroad, so we went to dinner with her and MorMor tonight! Daddy and Bops are at the T-Woves game, which is currently in overtime. Crap, never mind. They just lost by 1 point.

Anyway, here are Mari and Callie at dinner:

The other plus of the week is that we got our house cleaned yesterday! It was my Christmas present from my mom...she found a great local company that uses natural cleaning products. I'm reveling in the awesomeness that is a clean house.

One more 12-hour day and then I get a fun 3-day weekend.

Okay, I'm done whining. Thanks for listening!

Some New Tricks

We were over at the Gosselin's yesterday and Callie was the BEST entertainment!

First, she and Cathleen wowed us with their new trick:

Marker Trick from Baby Goose on Vimeo.

Apparently, highlighters are the COOLEST toy ever.





Then, after an hour-and-then-some long, three adults vs. one baby nap battle that I alluded to having started yesterday, she slept for over an hour to rev herself up for 15 minutes of this:

Watch for the Arabesque from Baby Goose on Vimeo.

She was a one-toddler show last night and kept us entertained for a long time!

13 Months Old!

Here it is, the 22nd, and Punkin Head is another month older!

And here is her picture for today. It is a picture of a tired toddler who should be sleeping but is not.



And pretty darn happy about it. Little does she know, her Daddy and I are willing to do the car ride thing to make this nap happen ASAP. :)

She Can, In Fact, Listen...and Read the Bible

Video #1 shows that Callie does know where her nose is, despite my previous post.

Nose from Baby Goose on Vimeo.

She can also point to other family members' noses, Kona's nose, Mr. Bear's nose, and her baby's nose when asked. We didn't explicitly teach it to her, so I'm assuming she learned it from her "So Big" Elmo book. When I was reading it to her awhile ago, I noticed her touch her nose when we got to the part of the book when Elmo touches his nose. Ever since then, she has pointed to noses. Smart baby!

The following pictures and Video #2 show Callie "reading" Auntie Cathleen's Bible. It was ADORABLE. She went over to the table and started paging through it...and quite unlike any other book she "reads", she was calm and gentle. Until it falls on the floor...but before that- totally gentle!

Bible from Baby Goose on Vimeo.

I'm thinking that means she is ready to read her Spark Bible (an awesome kids Bible we got from our friend Bethany) without wrecking the pages. Fun!

Happy Tuesday

We had a fun family day yesterday! We went out to lunch, went to play at Edinborough, stopped by to see Grandma and Auntie Cathleen, and hung out at home. And of course I had the camera handy:






And to make you laugh:

Baby Baluga from Baby Goose on Vimeo.

Tonight we went to see our former neighbors' new house. Callie and Wes had a lot of fun playing together! Wes is 11 months old and TOTALLY showed Callie up by walking. He's super mobile and Callie showed how NOT interested in walking she still is. Here she is holding on to the fireplace, while Wes is moving all over the place.


Gotta love short weeks- tomorrow is already Wednesday!

A Lengthy Weekend Wrap-Up

We're starting to really get into this "toddler" thing, even though Callie still is not technically toddling. She is CONSTANTLY on the go and has gotten really good at ignoring us. Case in point:

Ignoring Mommy from Baby Goose on Vimeo.

We've also noticed a couple of other fun new...uh...traits popping up:
*Being shy- She was in a few situations this weekend with lots of unknown people, and she was adorably clingy to those of us that she did know. Because of the amount of waving that she has been doing (for months!) at total strangers, I figured she was going to be more outgoing like her daddy. But, unless it is just a phase, it seems that she is taking after her mommy and Henderson aunties.
*Temper tantrums- The arching of the back. The screeching. Enough said.
*Being a chicken-butt- Seriously...she is totally refusing to walk more than 6 or 7 steps. We'll get her going back and forth between us a couple of times, and then she'll start either falling forward, putting her legs up to just sit, or basically just refuse to do anything else. I know that we'll be remembering these days fondly once she really is off and running...
*The most amazing smile- I just can't even handle how cute it is.



Anyway, we had a fun weekend!

I'll once again let the pictures do most of the talking.

**Friday Night...Celebrating Grandma's birthday!***




***Saturday Afternoon...Hanging out at the condo with the Suurmeyers!***



***Saturday Evening...Hanging out with college friends (and kids)***
This is our friends Jed and Theresa's older boy, Dominic. He was the kid that Chris talked about in his blog post here. It was fun to be able to hang out with Jed and Dominic again with our little one around!

Nik and the girls- hard to tell who is more excited.

Callie helping change Sydney!


***Sunday afternoon- Condo House Blessing!***




As usual, I uploaded a bunch more pictures that you can find right here.
And the best part of the weekend...? The fact that it is not over yet! Chris and I both have the day off tomorrow, so we're going to find some fun family activity to do.

Hope everyone else had a great weekend!

Toddler Attack!

Signs of a good night:

The basement was attacked by a toddler tonight. (Yes, we still have birthday balloons up.)

A speedy, short attention spanned, and adorably happy toddler blew through her toys like a tornado, leaving brightly colored plastic destruction in her wake.

I was attacked by a toddler tonight.

A slobbery, loving, and a little bit crazy toddler headbutted me and crawled all over my back showing me just how big she really is getting.

And then, though there is no photographic evidence, the sweet little toddler crawled up into my lap. She sprawled herself out with our tummies touching and her head on my chest, and listened to me sing while occasionally throwing her head up to look at me and smile.

Melt my heart, little toddler, melt my heart.