Callie's first time in a REAL pool!

Picture (AND word) overload!

Callie's "seat" on the plane :-)

First flying experience

Dave speaking at Mt. Gilead Camp

Callie and Sadie

First time in a pool!

"helping" Daddy arrange his notes

A little snack at camp

Too Cool!

Cousins

15 months old!

*late edition to this post-don't know how I missed this the first time, but 2 of Callie's favorite and most said words are "eyes" while usually poking someones! and "ICE!!!" always said very excitedly, especially when we're using the crushed ice button on the refrigerator! And one of her favorite real foods is corn.

I am woefully behind on blogging, so here is a quick recap of the last couple months! Callie has changed, seemingly overnight, from looking like our baby to looking like a full-blown toddler! She is also talking up a storm and can repeat, or come very close, to several words. On her own accord, she says: Mama, Dadda (and sometimes Daddy, which is Very cute), Poppy (my dad), puppies (which I believe refer to all dogs, but especially those of my in-laws and may refer to my in-laws themselves, as well-since they always bring the puppies), yes, yeah, mowr (more), peas (please), tree, bruge (bridge), rock, ba-ba (bottle), bu-ba (bellybutton-not incredibly different from ba-ba, but definitely distinct in her mind!), muma (her favorite monkey stuffed animal), ball (she doesn't quite emphasize the ll's very well), pool, and ba-ball (basketball-her favorite so far, though Mommy has not pushed this at all :-)). She has been very impressed with the results when she says "mowr peas" and will now say that for anything she wants, such as going outside! She does the sign language sign for more while saying it, thanks to one lesson from our friend, Amber! She loves the idea of counting and can do a pretty good job repeating what sounds like the numbers through five (or at least getting the inflections right).

She's our little dancer and would love to have music on constantly if we let her! Her almost 4-year-old cousin, Sophie told my sister that she was going to ask Callie for dance lessons 'cause she's got such great moves! She loves any music with a good beat (especially an electric beat). Christian Rock is preferable to anything else (I think this is due to her constant exposure in the womb to youth group music), and don't tell her dad, but she fussed when I had it on Country music one day!

She is still mostly on baby food, but she is also a junk food addict. Oh, that is another word she can say on her own-"pie"! She also enjoys cookies, anything with cinnamon, and just this month discovered ice cream (though she preferred the waffle cone to the actual ice cream). She will also eat bread, apples, cereal, sometimes hamburger, chicken, or beef, cucumbers, carrots, apples (one of her favorites!) and waffles or pancakes. Mostly, it just depends on her mood, and if she doesn't want it, it often gets thrown across the room along with a tantrum. (we are working/praying through this!) I will be extremely glad when she will just eat on her own and when she understands "two more bites and then you can be done!" (At this point, I'm sure all she hears is "wah, wah, wah, DONE!" because she always says, "Yes, peas!") I know that soon we will be at the "NO" stage, but right now, we are enjoying Callie's "yes" response to most everything. Yesterday in the car, she was hitting herself in the head. After repeated attempts at, "NO Callie, No hitting" I said, "Callie, do you want me to stop the car and give you a spanking?" She smiled sweetly and said "yes, peas!" (I realize I often talk to her like she's 5, but she understands a lot of it!) She also knows how to work a situation, so I'm never sure how much she doesn't understand and how much she's just playing me! Her Sunday school teacher this week greeted me with "Your daughter is a little player! After she finished her snack she asked for more and I said no. She then stuck out her bottom lip and sweetly/pathetically said 'more peas.' Who could resist that!?"

She continues to follow in her Auntie Anna's footsteps and runs nearly everywhere, not caring to walk much at all! Not surprisingly, this has resulted in several bruises on her forehead, much to my chagrin, as her little legs cannot keep up with her momentum! She loves playing with big kids and gets rather frustrated when her little body limits her. She's stayed at 22 lbs. even for about a month, but we're pretty sure she's grown taller.

This past month we had several adventures-the first of which I'm kicking myself over because I didn't take any pictures!

1. My mom stayed with me and Callie for a week while Dave spoke at a high school camp in Michigan. We had a wonderful time with her spoiling us, and the week went by so quickly! Callie loved having her here and was soon calling her Mama, also with a slightly different inflection :-). She would look to Grammy or me, depending on the situation, as a "first-base ump" if the other had already told her "no"!

2. My cousins, Micah and Heather, and their 2-year-old son, Ezra visited us for a day! Callie loved playing on the slide and in the tent and tunnel with Ezra, and we had such a good day catching up with them!

3. Callie experienced her first plane ride when we flew to Santa Rosa for Dave to speak at a junior high camp last week! She did fantastic, not complaining about her ears at all, and very much enjoying looking out the window, climbing all over me and Dave and flirting it up with other passengers. We were thankful the flight was not any longer, as she did get bored the last few minutes. (On the return flight, we were thankful it was not longer because there was no changing table in the very small commuter plane bathroom, and it became VERY necessary!)

4. Callie LOVED camp and enjoyed being outside for most of the day AND swimming in a pool for the first time!

5. Callie and I visited my good college friend, Jessica and her daughter Sadie (who is 6 months older than Callie) in San Ramon. The girls had a tea party, fed ducks at the outdoor mall, ran through the water fountain at the park and discovered each others' belly buttons! They were pretty adorable.

Okay, that's about it! Hopefully, that explains the pictures :-).