To a New Week

So this was not the best week in the Krisel household. It started with me getting the flue Monday evening and was quickly followed by Callie getting it in the middle of the night on Monday. Needles to say, we spent most of Tuesday on the couch sleeping. And a good portion of Wednesday too. We were on the road to recovery in time for Mike to get it on Thursday. And then we were all so kind as to pass it onto Grandma Mary who was watching Callie this week. And she shared with Grandpa Stu. We thought Callie was better, so we were off to a new session of swimming lessons when she got sick in the car. And then a really long night on Saturday that had us a little nervous. She hadn't had a wet diaper in over 12 hours, but the nurse line said as long as she wasn't throwing up or having diarrhea, she would be fine until the morning. And then she threw up...a lot. But she also had a wet diaper, so our stress level went down. We did continue giving her pedalite in a medicine dropper because she won't swallow it otherwise. Every 20 minutes. Good for her, bad for my sleep. Fortunately she was a very a happy girl when she woke up on Sunday and was full of energy and wet diapers, so she did not need to go into the doctors. Crossing our fingers that she is really better this time.
All this happened in a week I really should not have missed at school. We needed to move kids into new classrooms because there are too many 1st graders. Starting Monday, I will be teaching a 1/2 split, which means I had a little bit of work to do. And it didn't happen. So I went in on Saturday and will be putting in some late nights this week.
So here's to a new week. I know it is going to be a good one!

Our Little Explorer

Exploring the World-Also Know as Our Backyard

A while ago we bought Callie a used "swing set." There is a slide, a swing, and a little fortress with a steering wheel. So far, the primary use has been as a place to quickly put her (and confine her) when we eat outside. She likes the swing, but it isn't near as cool as the swing at the park. Tonight Mike out her in the fortress standing up and she had a blast. She hung out in there for over 30 minutes.Callie is going places. She loved playing with the steering wheel and even chewed on it a few times. Her balance has greatly improved as she was able to move the steering wheel and hold on with one hand at a time.

Here she is legitimately trying to climb up the steps.

Then we decided to help her out a little. And it was just too cute not to take a picture.

We walked over to the park. The spray ground isn't turned off yet, so Mike got it going and explored it with Callie. She was fascinated with the water.
Mike took her to a jet that shoots water from the ground. It is a little more forceful than the previous one. I missed the first time she reached out an touched it and both her and Mike jumped backwards. So this is the second time, but still a good expression.

Right before she touched the water

And she felt it again!

Our last adventure for the night was having Callie "walk." We just discovered that she is able to take "steps" with us holding her hands. Three by herself, lots initiated by us leaning just a little to get her started. Here are the three steps.

And then Callie fell apart because she was exhausted from all this exploring and it was time to go home and go to bed.

Eating is MESSY!

Callie started eating solids (or purees to be more exact) about a month ago. She was not to interested for a while and would only eat about 2 bites. Now she has decided food is good and loves it. She is no longer passive in the eating process. She will grab the spoon and pull it towards her mouth when she is ready to eat. Often this is accompanied by her leaning forward to get the food into her mouth faster. Sometimes she is so eager to eat, that she grabs the food, not the handle of the spoon. She has not mastered getting the whole spoon in her mouth before she closed her mouth, so the back half of the spoon if left out, leading to any food that is there falling off most of the time. Then there is something new on the highchair tray, so she must feel this to investigate it. Now there is food everywhere, but she is happy and starting to learn to eat.
We have also been introducing a sippy cup with water. I don't know how much she has actually drank from the sippy cup, but she loves to chew on it. All parts of it. The nubby part where she is supposed to drink from, the handles, the bottom, the corner of the lid, or any other place she can find.

First Vacation

We flew to LA to visit Lindsay and Callie was such a trooper. She loved the plane ride. So many people to look at and then she just stared out the window during landing. Even though our flight back didn't land until 10:00, she was wide awake almost the whole time. But she was happy, squealing and playing the whole time.








Callie also had her first trip to the beach. The first thing she did was grab a handful of sand and put it in her mouth, which she did not like. She also did not like us trying to wipe the sand off if her face. Once we got the sand out of her mouth, she decided warm sand was pretty cool. She kept running her hands through the sand and picking it up. But she learned her lesson and never put it in her mouth again. The water was still pretty cool, so we just dipped her feet in, and didn't get much of a reaction. There were showers at the beach, and we had totally slathered her up in sunscreen, so we went to wash her off. She did NOT like the cold shower at all. But it was entertaining for the people around to watch. She got lots of laughs.




















We stopped at Sprinkles on the way back for some cupcakes. Even though Callie didn't get to eat any of the cupcakes, she sure was excited about them. If you notice Mike is holding on to her arms for dear life because she was reaching for the cupcake and already had gotten some frosting! She is definitely eager to try one. It may be hard for her to wait another 6 months until her first birthday.

Callie's favorite part of the vacation may have been the Long Beach Aquarium. She stared at all the fish and animals in the tanks. She loved it so much that we now have a membership to Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium.The first tank we looked at.
With Lindsay and the Jellyfish.
Trying to eat the Jellyfish. It is a good thing she couldn't reach them!
Pure amazement at all the fish.
There was no way we were going to get her attention for a
picture when there was sea life to look at and admire.

And lastly, some random pictures while we were relaxing around the beach and hotel.

So here are the pictures to follow up to yesterday's post...



We have a little laundry helper. Well helper might not be the right word. She grabs clothes and chews on them faster than we can get them folded. And there is the drool/slobber issue...clean clothes are no longer clean.





One of Callie's favorite activities has been walking to the park. Not only are there lots of people to watch, but there is a swing! A big swing, not the annoying baby swing which she hated. While swinging she will kick her legs around, often hard enough to make herself bounce up and down int he swing.



Callie has also taken an interest in books. She is far more interested in chewing on them than having a story read to her. She does like to look at the pictures and gets VERY mad if she can't touch the pages. Therefore anything that is not made of cardboard is not an option right now.

Callie got her first wadding pool.

Loving being in the water (and smiling at Grandpa)

Figuring out this splashing business.

Deciding that Grandpa's shoe looks pretty cool.
And that was a lot of work. She needed to rest her head after all that exploring.

A Great Summer

So I apparently can't keep up on blogging when I don't have a regular schedule. Needless to say, we have had a very busy, fun filled summer. So here is the quick version (but not too quick):

• Callie got a wading pool that she loves. She enjoyed splashing and it helped to keep her cool on the hot days. Although the heat didn't seem to bother her during the day, but she woke up a lot when it was hot at night.
• Lindsay and Brian came to visit and we got to play tourist in Seattle for a day.
• Callie started making lots of sounds. They come and go. Some days are quiet, some are not. Her favorite is a rather loud squeal. We think it is cute, but the rest of the world may not, so we are trying to to respond to this noise so she won't do it is public as it is rather loud. She has one series of sounds that sounds just like "Hey Dad." The first time she "said" this, Mike was leaning over her getting ready to tickle her. Of course it has no meaning, but it made us laugh.
  
• We went to visit Lindsay and Brian. Lots of firsts for Callie...plan ride, staying in a hotel, aquarium, playing at a warm beach, and admiring cupcakes.
  
• Callie started swimming lessons. She LOVES the water! She squeals and splashes the whole class. I am as wet as she is at the end from all her splashing. She amazes me with how quickly she picks up on things. She knows that when we get to the side of the pool, we hold on and then climb out. She knows when she is about to go under water. Some of the time she knows what to do when I say "paddle, paddle, paddle" or "kick, kick, kick." All this from a 6 month old who doesn't always seems to have control of her limbs, yet she picks up on the routines so quickly.
  
• Callie started eating solids. She is not a big eater, and wants nothing to do with grains. Her favorites so far are sweet potatoes and carrots. Green beans are second. Peas and avocado are okay, but much better if mixed with an orange food. Rice (both homemade rice mush stuff and rice cereal) are definite nos. She won't even open her mouth for them. But I am glad she likes her veggies! She loves to grab the spoon and shove it into her mouth. It makes for one messy meal, but I am hoping this is a step to being able to feed herself.
• Callie quickly masted the army combat crawl. 6 weeks after starting this, we still keep thinking she will be crawling any day now. She has officially taken 3 crawling "steps," but then got frustrated and dropped to her tummy and get where she wanted to go. I figure she is waiting until I go back to work so she can give Grandma a run for her money.
  

And of course, as soon as I set out to do this, and upload pictures, the camera battery dies. And the spare was not charged. So I plan to be back tomorrow to add pictures of our summer. And then I plan to try and update every weekend. We'll see how that goes.

Sitting!

Callie is starting to get the hang of sitting She needs help getting positioned, but will then sit for 30-60 seconds! It amazes me how much enjoyment all the adults in her life (including Mike and I) get from this simple task and how long we can spend "helping" her sit. She also seems to have mastered rolling from her back to her stomach to both the left and right. The right side took a little longer, but she has it down now. She has rolled from her stomach a few times, but I am not sure if it is intentional yet, or random chance.


Callie's new favorite toy her her Jumperoo. It took her less than a week to figure out how to really JUMP in that thing. She can get it going so hard the plastic shakes. And then only one more week to figure out if she gets it jumping and then pulls her legs up, she will bounce up and down effortlessly. I will try and get a video of it because it is hilarious to watch.

In an attempt to get her to not inhale her bottle with Grandma (because this results in overeating and then a large quantity of spit up that often requires a new shirt for Grandma) we introduced rice cereal. Some days she loves it and others she isn't to interested in it at all.



Callie got to spend some time with her cousin Josiah last week. He was so gentle as he reached out for her and kept touching her. I know he enjoys her and I think she enjoys him as well. I see some fun times in the future!









A few weekends ago when it was nice out, we took Callie down to the waterfront and plopped her down in the sand for the first time. There were some serious looks at the sand. She sat there forever with her "I am trying to figure this out" look. Mike and I learned that you don't put a baby in the sand with a romper on unless you plan on a bath when you get home. There was sand everywhere!

Summer is almost here and that means more Callie time. One more day of school, then a week of science stuff and Callie will be all mine! Such an exciting time to get to spend with her and she learns so many new things.