Christmas Trees

Today we went with some friends to pick out their Christmas tree at a tree farm. 

 Callie was very happy to carry Mike's coffee around.

 Petting the "little tree" as she called it.  Then she turned around and saw the "big tree" behind her and starred in awe.

Callie's new "smile" for the camera

 This was the first Christmas decoration to come out.  She walked around with it and cuddled it until we finally convinced her the bear could sit and watch us. The bear is really cute and does read "The Night Before Christmas" to you though.

Investigating how the nutcracker works and pointing out all the nutcracker's body parts to us.

Callie's First Haircut

After trying to avoid it for a very long time, we finially decided to take Callie in for her first haircut.  She was great!  She loved playing with the toys and getting a "bow" at the end. 

 All she cared about was the Elmo computer, and didn't care what the hairdresser was doing.  She occasionally looked up to see what was going on.

My First Attempt at a Family Photo

I decided I was going to try and use the tripod and the timer to take some family photos of the three of us. 

It was a humorous experience as a random dog joined us.  And it was a freezing cold day with quite a breeze, but I really wanted "fall" pictures.

 Hello random dog.

Just the three of us, with Callie looking at the camera.

Belated Halloween

When looking at pictures, I realized I never posted any Halloween pictures, so here they are. 

This year Callie loved carving the pumpkin, including scooping out the guts.  She really enjoyed sorting out all the seeds.  She "helped" draw the face before Mike carved it.  She also picked out the shapes for the eyes and nose.

Callie was able to go trick-or-treating with Maya,  and she had a blast.  She has fallen in love with Maya, unfortunetly, Maya lives in Vienna, so we won't be having too many play dates.

Callie Will Do It

"Callie will do it" is a very common phrase in our house right now.  This means anything from Callie will climb into the car and into her car seat, Callie will climb up onto the changing table, Callie will put her own shoes on, Callie will try to put her socks on, Callie will take a dish to the kitchen sink, Callie will walk down the stairs without holding any ones hand, and many other things.  And if Callie says "Callie WILL do it" with a very strong emphasis on the will part, she fully expects to be allowed to do it all on her own.  And she is adamant about this.  We are working on learning that if Callie will do it, then Callie needs to do it in a timely manner.  We don't care if it takes her a while to do something, but you have to actually do it.  She likes to say Callie will do it while climbing into the car or onto her changing table and then stop midway and play.  So she now has from 10 to 0 to make it happen.  Today when I told her Callie needs to do it, she replied "Mama count." And I did and she happily climbed in.

Callie also has a new obsession with washing dishes after dinner.  She takes a plate out to the kitchen, and climbs up on her stool and starts washing.  She would stay there all night if we let her.

"Reading"

Callie continues to love books.  One of her current favorites is "Duck and Goose: A Book of Feelings."  There is one word, a feeling, on each page along with a picture that illustrates it.  Callie has started "reading" this book to us.  You can watch her here.

Two Eyebrows

My "conversation" with Callie while she was eating a snack before dinner.

Callie: Mama help.
Me:  Okay, Mama will help.  ( I lean in as I reach for her fork)
Callie: Mama eye. (She reaches out and touches my eye)
Me:  Yes Callie.  That is Mama's eye.
Callie:  Mama's eyebrow.  (She reaches and touches my eyebrow)
Me:  Yes Callie.  That is Mama's eyebrow.  (I think, when did you learn this?  Most kids know body parts like eyes, ears, arms, and you know rib cage and eyebrows)
Callie: Two eyebrows.  (She touches both of my eyebrows)
Me:  Yes Callie, Mama has two eyebrows.  (I'm thinking really? Where does this stuff come from?  We have said two eyes before, but apparently that wasn't good enough)