Here we are, living the good life in Webster... Cameron (woof!) joined us in 2004, we got married in August 2005, and Calista Anderson arrived January 4, 2008. I teach first grade, Ken's a high school counselor, and Callie & Cammie earn their livings by being cute. We are surrounded with the most spectacular friends and family and love our little life.
So today we finally went to "The Sandbox!" It's an indoor playground in Fairport and I had heard lots of good things about it, but wasn't sure Callie would be ready for it until she was moving around a little better... Let me tell you, she had the TIME of her LIFE! She did nothing but giggle and squeal the whole time. She "ran" around like a maniac. It was hilarious and one of my most favorite moments of the past 11 months!
Here's a video of her on the "rollercoaster:"
All of a sudden, Calista's doing a million new things...
She's walking like a maniac now. Before, she was just experimenting, but now I think she really sees it as a way to get around. It really started just last night when I turned away to pick something up and when I turned back around, she was waddling over to me. It was very, very different than any walking she had done before. She'll suddenly walk totally across a room to come see us or get something she wants. It seriously blows my mind! Ken and I keep looking at her, seeing this little tiny baby, and all of a sudden she stands up and walks over to us or to her toys and we don't understand how this mini human is learning to do all of this!
She's also started throwing her hands to her face when one of us does something silly... I'm pretty sure if she could talk she'd say something along the lines of "you guys are seriously embarassing me" or "you're giving me a headache." It's hard to catch on video, but I'll keep trying.
She is doing a little "ta da!" thing when she's proud of herself. It doesn't take much for her to be proud of herself, and it's hilarious. She throws her hands back behind her body, palms down, in a very dramatic fashion and expects excitement from everyone around her.
We're convinced she's saying "hi" although I'm sure no one else buys that. She did, however, get her first "report card" from day care and they ALSO think she can say "hi," so maybe we're not totally crazy.
She learned how to shake her head this week, too. We're not totally convinced she knows it means "no..." seems more like she just figured out something else her body can do... but we'll take it for now (it's kind of funny) as it has to be better than the screaming "NO" tantrums I'm sure will soon come our way.
She definitely waves "hi" and "bye" and it's one of my favorite things. A few minutes ago, Ken and Callie left to run errands and she waved "bye bye" to me on their way out. Even though I've seen her do it so many times, I still can't believe it.
Anyway, I put up some new photos on Phanfare, and I'm posting a bunch of videos below... enjoy!
Singing and waving "bye-bye!"
Do YOU think she says "hi" to Aunt Kristyn? (Okay, perhaps this is not a good example)
This was some of her walking last night, but I feel like today it's even better than this! Maybe TODAY she decided to really "buy in" to the whole walking thing...
She loves to "help" with the laundry... last night she found her puppet in the laundry basket.
After that, for the first time, she decided to help "clean up her mess" (a girl after my own heart) by putting everything back in... at least until she got distracted by her pink skirt and decided to be done picking up.
Here's another video we made for Aunt Kristyn and it shows you the "you're giving me a headache" thing she started doing...
Everyone said once Calista took her first steps she'd be "off and running in no time." She's actually decided to prove everyone wrong and take her time with it, which is fiiiiine with us. Some days she is not really into it at all, and other days, she is willing to experiment with those little feet. Here's a video from last night...
In other news, Callie got "in trouble" for the first time the other night. She had Ken's phone and somehow kept pushing the buttons to connect it to the Internet. I managed to keep pushing "end" on the phone while she was holding it to keep it from connecting, but one of the times she started loading the Internet, her hand was covering the "end" button, so I took the phone away to push the "end" button. I was going to try to figure out how to lock his phone and give it right back to her, but then she SCREEEEEEAMED at me for taking the phone from her. It was definitely a scream that made both Ken and I drop our jaws. I mean, this girl has cried before, but this was very different. She was SO mad at me, and the angry, nasty scream shocked both of us.
I took her chin in my fingers and turned her head toward me and said "NO" in a firm voice. Well, that must have just been the end of the world, because the wail she let out when I told her "no" was soooooo dramatic and loud, you could probably have heard her down the street. She was just beside herself. Of course, she goes crawling over to her Daddy, sobbing (thanks kid), and I'm just picturing all the things she wants to say to him ("Mommy is the meanest Mommy in the world...").
In the end, we kissed and made up, and I'm traumatized for life, scared of the next time I have to tell her "no." I'm pretty sure next time I'll let Ken be the bad guy.
