One week to go

Let me set the scene for you. It's been a long week and I finally finished grading over one hundred papers so I could start grading exams. I'm sitting on the couch as I hear the back door open. Sarah comes rushing into the room, shouting, "Quick! Grab the camera! Callie just ate her first piece of dirt!" Which answers your question of, is that chocolate on her mouth? No, no it is not.



On the positive side, it appears that she does not mind getting a little dirty. By next summer we hope that she will take over the responsibility of weeding our flowerbeds. She certainly couldn't do a worse job than we have done.

But enough about eating dirt. We have another post because so much has been going on and we need to get these pictures up before October 3rd arrives. That's right, Callie Alexis is turning 1 on Friday. But first things first.


Here we see two dads of the 21st century with their little girls. Nothing accessorizes a man's outfit like a baby bjorn and a baby. John and Callie are standing next to John's cousin Dan and Dan's daughter Lucy. We were up in northern Indiana for the weekend, checking out the Trail of Courage Festival and hanging out with the Peltier clan.






There were a variety of intriguing things to do at the festival. Instead of entering Callie in the tomohawk throwing contest or having her show her skills at the musket firing range, Sarah decided the time was right for Callie's first official craft. And what a perfect setting to be able to do it with her cousin Lucy. Nothing says the perfect first craft for babies like hot wax, a sharp stick, and a little movement. We are happy to report that no one was hurt in the making of the candle.


So here is a picture of Dan, Lucy, and Carrie Peltier. Lucy was born on June 19 and is a very sophisticated young girl. Some impressive statistics include the following: she had her own facebook page before she left the hospital, was born in Illinois, moved to Indiana at 3 weeks, and has just moved to Kansas as we write this. This wild and wooly journey will end with a final move to Minneapolis in November. She is clearly the darling of the Midwest. Her parents are darling as well, just so you know.



We spent Saturday night in South Bend with John's Uncle Charlie and Aunt Mary Gay. Mary Gay not only made us a phenomenal dinner, but she also pulled together some pancakes the next morning. She allowed Callie to take part in the pancake process. It is not completely clear how helpful Callie was, but she enjoyed getting to spend some time with her great/Great Aunt.





Finally we have a picture of Callie with Charlie and the dog of the house, Debbie. As noted in previous posts, Callie loves dogs. If you click on the picture so it is bigger, you can see the huge smile on her face. However, Callie's love affair with Debbie took its toll. Quite simply, Debbie would walk over to Callie and lick her entire head. On the one hand, Callie enjoyed every minute of it. On the other hand, she smelled like dog breath for the entire ride home. We say it was completely worth it and Callie enjoyed it far more than she actually enjoys a real bath.

So there you have it. The final post while Callie's age is still counted only in months. Unless, of course, she eats something interesting in the next couple of days and we get a picture of it.

Too Good to Wait For

Usually we give an update once a month on what Callie is doing. It gives us the time to build up a good collection of pictures and stories. And we don't exactly have the time to update more frequently. But there comes a time when you just have to share a few things, or in other words, boast shamelessly about your child.

We start with another video. We have titled it "Brilliance", but we can also see how one might title it, "Early Uber Organizer". Either one works.



Tonight we were looking to have our dinner without having to get up every second to run after Callie. We decided to combine the high chair with some of Callie's favorite kitchen supplies. Who doesn't like colorful little bowls? Twenty minutes later, we were no longer hungry and Callie had stacked and restacked those little bowls over and over again. In fact we had to pull her away from them so we could put her to sleep. We'll keep you updated on what else she likes to stack. We are hoping this skill will allow her to reorganize either the basement or our linen closet.

Next we have a brief picture interlude. Callie has always enjoyed her stuffed animals, that's for sure. But now she has discovered the pure joy that comes from sitting in a big basket surrounded by them. It doesn't get much better.



We are also happy to point out Callie's name puzzle we got at an art fair in Berea this summer. In any case, Callie loves spending time in her room with her animals and books.

Last, but not least, another video contribution. Our next door neighbors, Sharon and Chris Chrisman, have been very good to us, and to Callie. We have enjoyed spending time with them and they are certainly one of the reasons why we like Lexington. But we digress a little bit. We mention this because in the video below, Callie is sitting on Chris's lap as she goes for her first taste of ice cream.




Who knows when she will develop a taste for ice cream. If she knew just how good Graeters ice cream is, she would definitely change her mind. So there you have it. Just a quick little update. Summer ends this weekend and fall is in the air. It is the best season of the year, don't you think? Until next time...

Steppin' Into the Fall

It is hard to believe that in less than a month fall will be here and Callie will be one year old. We will finally be able to calculate her age in years and not just months. Everyone told us that this year would go by fast, and boy were they right. We have truly enjoyed watching Callie grow and develop into an adorable little girl. With only five teeth and some wisps of longer hair here and there, she can sometimes look a little crazy - but she's still adorable to us.

But we start this post with one of the more exciting developments of the past year. She may not be able to talk the talk yet, but Callie is on her way to walking the walk. (And sometimes faceplanting the face) The following video provides proof of her latest accomplishment.



Not too shabby. And we are sure that if we could just get her to stop focusing on the ducks all the time she could be an even better walker. But time will tell.

Most of the pictures that follow come from our Labor Day trip to New England. As usual, we managed to pack quite a bit of excitement into a mere five days, including a visit to Lexington, MA, a trip to a medical clinic in Guilford, CT, a vacation in West Yarmouth, MA, and of course time in Madison, CT. Why don't we start in Lexington, MA.



Here is a picture of the Bowes family enjoying a wonderful breakfast with the Basak clan. Pictured around the breakfast table, starting at the left, are Maya, Anjin, Amit, Sachin, Una, Callie, and Sarah. It is tough to find the words to describe how much fun we had. Amit and John have been good friends since freshman year of college, and it has been too long since we have all gotten together. We enjoyed some good food, good fun, and good political discussions once the kids were asleep.


It was so much fun to see Callie interacting with the boys and Maya. She could not get enough of them and all the Basak kids were so good to her and gladly shared their toys. Now we just need to make sure that we see these folks more often. As with everyone, we are trying to lure them to Kentucky with talk of horse racing and bourbon.



Next we took a drive down I-95 to hang out with the fine folks in Guilford and Madison. Callie slept the whole drive just to make sure she was ready to play with her cousins.


Pictured here is Callie showing off her stair climbing abilities. Captain Caution, a.k.a. her father, stands ready to prevent any mishaps, while Brendan enjoys the fact that there is another wild child in the family. One can only imagine what will happen as Callie gets even more mobile. Keep an eye on those two.




Callie spent her first weekend away from her parents. Although this was extremely hard for her Mom in particular, she was well cared for by Nana Taffy, Grandpa Jay, Aunt Katie, Uncle Chris, and the two fine gentlemen pictured with her here.





As mentioned above, this was the first weekend away, and Callie decided to add a little drama to the mix by running a high fever, which obviously stressed out her parents and forced a trip to the Yale Medical Center conveniently located in Guilford. Two great results from this visit were the green light that Callie was just fine, and second, Callie received a stuffed animal now known as Barry the Magical Flying Octopus. Although Callie can't talk, he is sure this is what she wanted to name it.


Next stop on the tour was the Green Harbor Resort in West Yarmouth, MA. For the third year in a row, there was a gathering on the Cape of five couples. All the guys are friends dating back to elementary school. All are now married, as of October 22 all will be parents, and all are living far apart. Seattle, Pasadena, Lexington, New Haven, and Fairfield were all represented. Needless to say, it was a fun time. And when we returned from the Cape some of us got together at the Surf Club to get the little ones together.




The above picture shows four of the next generation. On the left, Jackson McBean holds onto his beautiful sister Hayden. Callie sits in the middle, trying to take it all in, and Wheeler Dowling sits for a brief second before he goes running after his ball. That boy has some serious energy. And if you have seen pictures of Ted, there is no doubt that the two are related.


Here is John and Callie with the McBean family. This is certainly a playdate we could get used to. We just have to figure out a way to live closer to each other. It will happen eventually. Just a quick note - you may notice that John's hair is pretty short. Let this be a warning to all. Never use hair clippers before you have had your morning coffee. Seriously. And always check those clippers twice before putting them to your head. Oh, and if you happen to make these mistakes, best not to do it while your daughter is napping. When she wakes up she might be confused about who you are.


But enough about that. Let's throw in one final picture before we end this post. Callie has been eating a variety of pureed foods for a while now, and Sarah has been great about keeping up with the ravenous appetite of Callie. She is making food like nobody's business. In any case, the next step is get Callie to feed herself. She eats Cheerios by herself, but is it time to go to the next level?




This picture would appear to tell us that the time is not quite right for Callie to be in complete control of her food intake. But if she can absorb nutrients through her skin, maybe she's on the right track.

All in all, things are going well. We are making plans for the fall as time continues to fly by. Stay tuned - if the University of Kentucky football time keeps playing well Callie might get another opportunity this year to appear on College Gameday. Come on CATS!