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!

It's been a busy summer

Hard to believe that it has been over a month since our last post. So much has happened and now we just hope we can remember it all. As you know from earlier posts, Callie has a cute swimsuit that she has been anxious to break out on the Lexington pool circuit. Fortunately her parents finally gave her the opportunity and took her to a local pool.




In this first picture we find Callie frolicking in the water with her Dad. She definitely enjoyed both the wading pool and the big pool. She was especially excited to spend time in water without having to go through the whole washing ordeal.


As with many things, Callie really enjoyed playing around in the water. She and her Mom spent a lot of time whirling around. Although in this picture it looks like Callie is about to do a flip off of Sarah's legs, we are holding off on that training for the time being. Callie can't wait until her next trip to the pool.




This summer we have definitely spent a lot of time at Reed Valley Orchard in Paris, KY. If you haven't heard us rave about this place, it is a great place to pick blueberries, raspberries, peaches, and apples. The people who own it are really nice too. Not only are their orchards wonderful, but their slushes are to die for. According to Sarah, the cheese puffs they sell in their store may very well be the best she has had. We are looking forward to the fall when the apples and pumpkins will be bountiful.




It only made sense to introduce the Hallorans to Reed Valley since Fiona in particular enjoys good blueberries and has been able to make amazing sorbets with the other fresh produce. In this picture Fiona, Charles, and Iain rest a little bit on the porch at Reed Valley after picking some blueberries.



Callie is definitely enjoying spending time with Iain, especially since Iain is getting more interactive. Even more important, all of the parents involved are a little less concerned with Callie's crazy swinging arms. We are still working on the "gentle" aspect of playing with both animate and inanimate objects. Here we see Callie happy as happy as a clam showing off her love for Iain.






Unfortunately, this summer has also brought its share of illness to the Bowes household - Callie in particular. She got the croup and has recently recovered from a bout of pinkeye. You have never lived until you have been a part of a two-person team whose only goal is to put a single drop of medicine in each eye of a ten-month old. In fact, this is about as easy as giving a cat a bath - maybe. We're actually not sure about that. The point is, this serene picture of John and Callie enjoying a good read has been more of the exception than the rule lately. Such is life I guess.



We also were lucky enough to have Grammy Gayle, Uncle Zac, and Keith fly out to visit us in the Bluegrass. Callie wanted to make sure that they saw everything there was to see in the time they were here. First, as you can notice in this picture, she pulled a few strings to get great seats at the Lexington Legends baseball game. As a sign of her influence, we were only two rows behind Bill Meck, the local weather man for our NBC affiliate. If you ever visit Lexington and need to know what the weather is going to be, Bill's definitely your man.



You might recall from earlier posts Callie's love affair with rubber duckies. Much to our surprise, there was a fundraiser at the baseball game that included a five story crane dumping over 1,500 rubber ducks in the outfield. As you can see from this picture, it also included a super-sized duck. This was at once Callie's biggest dream and her worst nightmare. Apparently super-sized ducks can be a little overwhelming, and what you don't see in this picture is that Callie is not happy to be in the clutches of this big yellow bird. Oh well, maybe next year.


Our adventures also included a visit to the Shaker Village, dinner at Ramseys, and a trip to the Kentucky Horse Park. There are more things to do there than one might think. It's not surprising that you can go for a horseback ride, which we did.






But one of the cool things is that you can just walk around to all of the barns. In one of them, Keith and Callie took a moment to rest on a saddle set up to the side of one of those barns. It was obvious that Callie loves to spend time with her cousin.



At the park we attended a few different horse shows. One of these was titled, the Hall of Champions. For about half an hour we sat and heard about the glorious victories of horses like Cigar who now reside at the Park. After the show we had the opportunity to meet some of the horses. To be honest, we are not sure which one Callie is next to in this picture. But rest assured, it's a winner!


Speaking of horses, there is more than just thoroughbred racing here in the Bluegrass. The Red Mile Racetrack has harness racing a couple of days a week. Now it is not Keeneland, but it was a lot of fun and a great place to throw away some of our money. Callie was smart and decided not to bet on any of the ponies.




She was simply content to hang out and enjoy the last night the Sacramento contingent was in town. She had such a good time with all of them and was sad to see them go. But she knows that Christmas is not that far away.


We will end our post with a short video capturing Callie's love for duckies. This particular video was shot after one of her evening baths when she just couldn't get enough of her little friends. Enjoy.




Fortunately we have put this post up a few days before we embark on yet another adventure. Stay tuned for a report on a trip to New England that will include time with Grandpa Jay and Nana Taffy and the Balestraccis, a visit to the Basaks, and all sorts of other good times.

Callie by the numbers

A third update in less than a week?!?! What is happening? Well, there have been a few other developments that we wanted to talk about before too much time has passed. But first, here is a picture of Callie taken just a few days ago at Fiona and Charles' house.



This is a cute picture of a big noggin. And that is only fitting, because Callie had her 9 month appointment on her return from California. Here's a quick look at the numbers. Speaking of a big noggin, Callie's is in the 90th percentile at 46cm. That melon is propped up by 28 3/8 inches of body, which places her in the 73rd percentile. The only question is what is in that head, because her weight is a whopping 15 lbs and 12 oz, which places her in the 7th percentile. From a distance she is starting to resemble the letter "i" in appearance.


Clearly, though, the grey matter in her brain is working overtime, because just this past week she has started to demonstrate some sign language skills. She is using the sign for "milk" at appropriate meal times. We are extremely impressed with her new skill and excited for more signs to come.




Another big transition for Callie is her new play corner in the den. We finally switched out the pack and play/diaper changing station and put together an area that holds some of her favorite things. It's been fun to watch her sit and entertain herself with blocks, books, and other assorted toys.

The summer is still young, so more good times are ahead. Hopefully we will continue to be good about posting updates. Take care and always wear sunscreen - especially if you are fair skinned like Callie and her dad.

Trip to California Part II - It is all about the family

Hello again! Clearly it took us a while to get to the second post...the Graeter's ice cream was just that good. And away we go on the second portion of our California trip. Most of our travels revolve around family, and this trip was no exception. It continues to be important to us to have Callie know her amazing relatives on both coasts and everywhere in between.

Grammy Gayle could not wait to get her hands on her granddaughter after not seeing her for almost five months. So it is fitting that we begin with a picture of the two of them and Sarah. Or as Sarah labeled the picture, "three feisty women".




Grammy Gayle is very happy that Callie is showing signs of feistiness - perhaps Sarah will soon understand what it is like to raise a daughter with some spunk, as they say.


Feistiness is not the only possible hereditary link here. If Callie takes after her mother and grandmother, a love of candy will also be a factor. Here Callie reveals her potential sweet tooth in a candy shop in Old Town Sacramento. John had to stand outside the shop with the stroller while this was going on. "Old Man Bowes", as he has been called, is no fun in the candy department.






Although Uncle Zac has been busy traveling all over California for work, buying his first house, and starting renovations on said house, he certainly made time for his niece. The two of them were joined at the hip whenever he was around, and Callie loved every minute of it. Here he is reading her a story before bedtime.





We also got a chance to hang out with the Nice family in La Selva. For the non-locals, that is a cute community outside of Santa Cruz. We had a blast hanging out on their patio, catching up with all the latest news, and eating some good bbq. Callie enjoyed not only hanging out with her cousin Sophia and Great Aunt Isabel, but also could not get enough of Louie and Dusty, the two dogs. As you can see here, she just had to hug the dogs and love on them. If this is more than just a phase, we will either have to get a dog or convince our neighbors to get one.




This next picture is of Callie and her cousin Brian. She did her best to impress Brian by wearing her pink Vans. Hopefully one day Brian will think she is cool enough to take down to the beach and teach her how to surf. First she'll have to learn how to walk. But it's always fun to look ahead.



Callie is no longer the youngest cousin in the bunch. All three of us were lucky enough to meet Brady Anthony Lucas, pictured here in the arms of his dad, Tyler. We must admit not only is he adorable, but seems to be a very well behaved young lad. This probably is due to the fact that his parents, Tyler and Sara, seem so comfortable in their new roles. Sometimes, though, Sarah [Bowes] has to do a double take when she realizes that Tyler is both married and a dad. Clearly he is not her "little cousin" anymore. One thing that this visit highlighted is how much fun the holidays are going to be in the years ahead when we all get together.


For those of you long time readers, we finally managed to capture Great Aunt Teri and Callie together on camera. Although it was difficult to tear her away from her new grandson, Teri was happy to get the chance to talk to Callie about all the latest news. Callie doesn't have the manual dexterity to start quilting just yet, but when she's ready she'll know who to talk to.





Tyler and Sara weren't the only ones introducing new family members to the crowd. Haley and Ryan also have started a family and introduced Ziggy, their new goldendoodle, to everyone. Ziggy was also very cute and Callie spent the afternoon wrestling with her. Both little ones seemed to have no fear, and Ziggy was fortunate that Callie's teeth haven't grown in just yet.


We have saved the best picture for last. Great Grandma Lucas was in seventh heaven surrounded by all her family. But she was especially excited to have her three great grandchildren around her. She is Callie's only living great grandparent, and the two of them love spending time with each other.




We can't wait to see everyone again at Christmas time. Family is so important and the time always seems to go by so fast. See you soon!

Trip to California Part I - Monterey

Here we are...the first of a two part report on our trip to California at the end of June through early July. So much happened on the trip and we saw so many people that it is going to take the two posts to tell all about it. We begin with the first part of our journey - the six days we spent in Monterey. By the way, there are 17 pictures in this one, so make sure you are well fed and hydrated before you sit down to read.


As many of you already know, Katherine Elyse Perrone was born on March 18, 2008 to her proud parents, Lauren and JP. It took a little over for three months for Kate and Callie to meet, but they finally did. And from the way that Callie cried every time she was separated from Kate, it looks like there might be a lifetime of friendship here.



So we did everything we could in the short time they were together to keep them next to each other. Here Lauren manages the two little ones. It really was incredible how much Callie was into Kate. She certainly likes other babies, but not quite in the same way.




We (and by we I mean Sarah and Lauren) also managed to do a photo shoot of the two young ladies in their swim wear. Due to the forest fires in California and the ashy skies, this shoot took place inside. Nevertheless, the results were fantastic. Both Callie and Kate are very photogenic.



Making an unannounced and quick visit was Callie's Auntie Gretchen. She arrived on Saturday afternoon and left early Sunday morning for a flight to the East Coast. But Callie loved every second she got to spend with her and can't wait for her next trip to Kentucky.







We were lucky enough to get a good number of Callie's other California aunties together while we were out there. It was definitely a full house and we had a great time. We went to Cannery Row, enjoyed a bottle of wine or two, and watched Denise's stand up comedy routine once or twice. Keep an eye out for her at a comedy club near you.



All in all, it was great having everyone there. Of course, the days passed too quickly and it was soon time for most of the crew to head back to Los Angeles. But before everyone left, we had a few more visitors.


Pictured here are three generations of Yee women. Lauren's parents took the opportunity to drive down to Monterey and say hello. Since Sarah and Lauren were college roommates and have known each other for seventeen years, it was a great opportunity for the Yees to meet Callie as well.




As all grandparents can imagine, Grandpa Dan enjoyed every moment he could with Callie. He hadn't seen her since she was three weeks old. And now that she is a whopping nine months, she is very different. She is crawling, making lots of noises, and loves to play.



As Grandpa Dan also found out, she also loves to read books. No Herman Melville quite yet, but she definitely likes to sit down in an easy chair and have a good book read to her. It was so great to see the two of them together and Callie can't wait to hang out with her grandpa again.




We also got some time to just hang out as a family. One of Callie's newfound joys is pictured here. Although she cannot walk yet she is beginning to train to be a fencer. We are starting with straws and working our way up from there. In just a few years she will be ready to learn the real basics from her Uncle Chris.




It was amazing to be able to take Callie to the Monterey Bay Aquarium since Sarah went there when it first opened. It is such a wonderful place and they have so many things for little kids to do and learn about sea life. In one interactive room, Callie and John used different shaped blocks to learn about what different sea animals like whales and dolphins like to eat. Please note that these animals do not in fact eat blocks. Just a learning tool for the kids. We try to be educational as much as possible.



But there is more than just one interactive room. That's just how good this aquarium is. Here we see Sarah dressed up as a sea horse while Callie is dressed up as a clown fish. It is going to be so much fun to take Callie here as she gets older.






How is everyone doing so far? You hungry? Thirsty? We are over halfway through this first post, and we are a bit tired. But once we finish typing it is a reward of Graeter's mint chocolate chip ice cream. Trust us, it is worth every typed word.



Although we didn't get out to the beach a ton, we were able to take a walk along the seashore. This picture is hopefully one of many we will take in Monterey over the years. At this point, Callie hasn't realized how many times she will have to put up with the "this is where we got married" stories. You can just see the innocence in her eyes at this point. Poor girl.



We also got the opportunity to visit Sarah's cousins Heath, Ola, and Bella. Not only did we get together one night for happy hour, but we also took a fun road trip to Roaring Camp in Felton, CA to take a steam train through the redwoods. This first picture shows the two dads trying to assert control of their daughters before the train had even started. Good luck with that.



The train ride was a lot of fun and even though we claimed to be doing it for Callie, she had no real clue of what was going on. She did like the breeze in her hair, and we were fortunate that the random spider/wasp/or other stingy thing chose to bite John and not her. We chose not to include pictures of John's slightly swollen right ear. Seriously, it hurt!




This picture shows the growing Rocha family - Heath, Bella, and Ola from left to right. There is another baby due to arrive in December. This time a boy will be joining the family, and it looks like someone will finally snatch up the name Lucas. Sorry, Haley.




Any good family attraction has a gift shop, and Roaring Camp is no different. Sarah couldn't pass up getting Callie a little engineer hat. As you can see, she is absolutely adorable in it.





And we end this post with one more family photo. In this picture we see John, Sarah, and Callie the train engineer. Just so you know, there was another picture with Callie facing the camera and a train going by in the background. Apparently, however, it did not show off the engineer hat well enough. Just thought you would like to know.



We should also note before we end that all of the above was made possible by the generosity of Sarah's Aunt Teri and Uncle Ron. Without them we would have been staying in a tent in the park where we got married. And we would not have looked so good in many of the pictures.


Wow. Are you still with us? Impressive. On to California post number two.

School may be out but the learning has just begun

It may be hard to believe, but this post is going up less than a month after the last one. Impressive, don't you think? And even better than that, this post actually has a theme. So here we go. The theme for this month is learning. School is pretty much done, except for two more weeks of summer classes for John. But while he wants to take a break from learnin', Callie's all fired up for new things. The following includes just a few of her new tricks. For the record, the following is not in order of lesson learned or level of difficulty.

The first picture shows Callie holding her very own sippie cup. She doesn't use it very often. But on hot summer days like the ones we are experiencing now, she likes to hydrate with some cool water. No need for Gatorade yet, but it's only a matter of time. Just yesterday we went to the store to buy a puzzle and came away with a ball. She showed no interest in the puzzles and went right after the rubber balls. It is not a soccer ball, but that will come eventually.




The second picture is of Callie clapping. She started "putting her hands together" at about 7 months. Although we are pretty proud of this skill, she lets us know who's boss by refusing to do it on demand. At this time it is also safe to say that she is not what one would call a loud clapper. She's more of a "good golf shot" clapper.


We should also point out that in this picture she is sitting in John's old chair that is still in Madison, CT. At one point John could sit in that. Hmmm. Not pictured here are all the folks we saw on a quick visit to Madtown that included water fights, wiffle ball, and quality time with Nana Taffy and Grandpa Jay. Much to her parents delight, Callie also traveled like a champ, sleeping soundly on 3 out of 4 flights.



Now for the third installment of Callie cam. Here we see our hero learning how to travel from one spot in the room to another without the assistance of her parents. This is the most recent skill of note.



As you can see from the video, she has not completely mastered crawling. Like some cars in need of a wheel alignment, she tends to veer right. As everyone told us, our life is increasingly changing. We now find ourselves sticking covers over electric sockets and worrying constantly about the cleanliness of the floors. Unfortunately, despite the constant use of the Swiffer, Callie manages to find the one dust ball that escaped.



True to our goal this summer, we have conquered another hike. This time our feet took us to Raven Run, a small nature preserve on the outskirts of Lexington. We were better equipped in a number of ways. No flip-flops this time, and Callie rode in style in our Ebay-acquired backpack. We are proud of our bargain hunting abilities on this one - got it at less than half price!






Callie definitely appeared to enjoy her time in the backpack. She was able to observe all the wonderful greenery and listen to the cicadas who were in fine form. The three of us also shared the experience with our friend Karen Ross who was too busy hiking to pose for pictures. All in all, the exploring Kentucky summer is going well. Hopefully the temperatures will cool down so we can keep up the momentum.




As we write this, Callie does not have a smile like the one below. She has just finished a bath and is a bit...how do I say...cranky? Fatigue must be the cause, because only minutes ago she had bottle and wolfed down some peas and carrots. Although she is trying to eat the TV remote at the moment. Of course, the crankiness may also be related to the appearance of the first tooth. Don't get too excited, it's only just coming through the gum. And like the elusive Yeti of old, it is rarely seen. But if she sucks on your finger there is definitely something sharp in her mouth.




That covers most of what is new. However, the months to come will surely provide more and more firsts. Hope all is well with you and yours. Callie and her giraffe hope to see you soon.