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.