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!