Watching the Women's Halfpipe

The Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships were held in Vail again this year, and since we were in Utah last year during the competition, we decided we really needed to get up there this time to see some of the action.  We were there for the Women's finals on Saturday morning, and man they can fly!  Luckily Callie was obliging to her ambitious parents, putting up with being strapped in the front carrier and trekking up the steep, snowy slope.  Actually, she loved it.  And so did we.  It was the perfect bluebird day (we even got a bit sunburned!) to be outside enjoying the sun, snow and super pipe.

See?  Loving it!

The pipe was huge!

Gorgeous day in Vail.

Where all the action took place.

Soakin' up the sun on Golden Peak.

Nine is Fine

 So, Callie turned 9 months old and has recently mastered some new tricks, including, but not limited to:

- fake cheesy smiles (these are the smiles I get when she sees me pull out the camera - I can only imagine what school pictures will look like in a few years!):

Exhibit A. Cheesy Smile

Exhibit B.  Fake Smile

Exhibit C. Fake Cheesy Smile

Exhibit D. Cheesy Fake Smile

- clapping / pat-a-caking on cue (she's also started to imitate other things we do, like waving - sort of  - and patting the tray on her highchair and clicking her tongue):

Callie, can you do pat-a-cake?

Yeah, mom, I sure can!

- sidewinder snake "crawling" (since the filming of this video she's dropped the rolling to both sides step and instead pushes her legs around, lifts up her hips and somehow shifts her body sideways - hence the sidewinder snake analogy - to get to what she wants):

- eating all kinds of solids, including the occasional toys and toes (but she's great about chowing down on anything we feed her, and happily - sorry, TMI - her digestive system seems to be handling everything quite well lately as evidenced by her plentiful poopy diapers):

Mmmm . . .these look rather delicious.

Look, Ma, no hands!

What? I just need a little snack to get
me through this long photo shoot.

Fingers are tasty, too.

- just generally cracking us up with her antics (she's never been and is still not the best sleeper ever, but you can't really be mad at her when she flashes you a smile or lets out one of her adorable giggle-cackles):

See what I mean about charming?

This is her game face a la Brek Shea.

Seriously, Mom, are we done with the pictures yet?

Watch Callie grow: 8 months | 7 months | 6 months | 5 months | 4 months | 3 months | 2 months | birth

Photos from Phones - February 2014 Round Up

In case you just don't feel like scrolling through the pics I've posted, I'll summarize them for you: cute baby, cute baby, snowy landscape with blue sky, cute baby, cute baby, more blue-sky and snowy landscape, cute baby, cute baby, cute baby.  You get the idea.

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More round ups here: January | December | November | October | September | August | July | June

It's Great to be Eight

I'll subtitle this post "8 Great Things About Life as an 8-Month-Old"

1) Grocery shopping is so Great!  Especially the walk from the meat department to the dairy department.  Multiple shrieks and squeals of delight can be heard coming from Cal along that stretch.  She also "mmmm-mmms" a lot in the produce section.  You like those apples, eh, Callie?

This arm flapping and the nearly hyperventilating breathing
that goes along with it is a staple around these parts lately.

2) Watching videos on the computer of babies is so Great!  Or looking at pictures.  Or, even better, seeing kids in real life.  She loves children and has an amazing sense of when they are around.  My favorite thing to watch, though, is when she catches a glimpse of herself on my computer desktop background or when I'm (re)watching one of the little videos we've made of her laughing or bouncing.  She giggles and squeals when she sees herself and it's just too darn cute.  (2a - Playing with the cute baby in the mirror is just about as Great as looking the kids and the videos and the photos.)

3) Being outside is so Great!  Doesn't matter if it's sunny and calm or windy and snowy, Callie is just happy to be outside.  She tends to get a bit fussy inside with the same old boring toys and same old boring mom, but once we step outside, even if it's just for a quick jaunt to the mailbox, she instantly turns her frown upside down and (yes, again) squeals or shrieks in delight.  And if we can't get outside because it's blizzarding?  Looking out the window seems to fill the need for some outdoors for a moment.  Standing in front of the sliding door to the deck has always been her happy place.

4) A breeze across the face is so Great!  It can be a soft breeze (or even breath-taking wind) on a walk outside, the air moving around her from the ceiling fan in our bedroom, or a little puff of air that I blow in her face that will bring a giant smile to Cal's face.

5) Splashing is so Great!  She Loves (with a capital L) bathtime and all the splashing that goes with it.  Pool time during our California trip last month was so much fun, even if we didn't get all the way in, because her little toes got to splash, splash, splash in that water.  We've even been known to pull off her socks and pants, fill the sink with an inch or two of water, and let her go to town with her toes.  Kicking + water = splashing = Great!

6) Playing with toys is so Great!  She's really getting the hang of all those colorful plastic and plush toys we surround her with every day.  The greatest toys are definitely the ones that rattle or crinkle, though if she ends up with just one silent toy in her grasp (and she can't hit it against another of similar decibel level), she's learned that she can hit it against her head to get the needed sound effect.  Callie has also recently discovered the joy of the "throw it on the floor" game.

7) Eating "real" food is so Great!  Just in the last few weeks, she's figured out how to get food - usually sweet potato "fries" - from her tray into her hands and up to her mouth.  It's quite the exciting feat for her, as she's been able to grab cheerios for a while now, but they never seem to make it into her mouth, instead getting lost in her fist or being dropped to the floor.  Other "non-baby foods" that she's enjoyed as of late: a few bites of homemade french bread and buttermilk biscuits, an entire corn dog mini-muffin (minus the hot dog) during our Super Bowl watch-party, a few bites of homemade mac 'n' cheese shells, some shredded beef from our tortellini soup, a broccoli tree, even a graham cracker treat during church.  She's loved it all, in addition to her usual purees, which have peaches/nectarines, blueberries, and butternut squash added to the rotation.

There's a good view of that tooth and wannabe tooth
that just won't break through.

8) Skyping with grandmas and grandpas and aunties is so Great!  Up until the last little while, she didn't seem to "get" the whole skype thing.  The last few skype calls we've had recently, however, have been so fun for all involved since she has discovered that she can interact with those people on the other side of the screen.  It's been a fun thing to watch and I'm grateful every day for the technology that lets us connect with family far away.

Bonus - just a few things that are not-so-great:
- tummy time (still not a fave, though we don't get the screaming that we used to; instead she simply flips over to her back and plays with her toys)
- getting her face washed or her nose wiped (but the face that she makes when she scrunches up her nose and squints her eyes when she sees the washcloth coming is pretty dang great to see from a parent's standpoint)
- teething (one tooth in, another almost in, and at least two more slowly working their way in - it's a long and uncomfortable process)

Watch Callie grow: 7 months | 6 months | 5 months | 4 months | 3 months | 2 months | birth