Bill & Cat's Blog About Calla

Gender: Female
Name: Calla Sophia
Birthdate: October 11, 2008

Thursday, December 31, 2009

POTY: Photos of the Year

Looking back at 2009. Mostly POTD photos here...

Christmas Morning

Three minutes of video from Xmas morning. Calla opening her presents. Mama snapping photos. Dad helping open gifts.

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Friday, December 25, 2009

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Monday, December 14, 2009

Warm Coat (pic)

Photo was missing from the earlier post. Oopsie!

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Fwd: POTD: Thanks to Ms Kentura for my warm coat!



Sent from my iPhone.


Begin forwarded message:

From: "Catherine H." <crosscat@gmail.com>
Date: December 12, 2009 9:22:41 AM CST
To: "Ketura.Nolan@Trumbulllabs.com" <Ketura.Nolan@Trumbulllabs.com>
Subject: POTD: Thanks to Ms Kentura for my warm coat!







Sent from my iPhone.

POTD: Driving

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

No Food on the Floor! And Potty Progress!

On this day, Calla ate three meals from her high chair without tossing any food or eating utensil onto the floor! Remarkable!

In EC/potty learning news, Calla's semi-potty strike appears to be ending. Now she is actually beginning to verbally communicate whether or not she needs the potty. For a week or so, she will respond to "Do you need to potty?" by repeating the word potty until we put her on the potty. Last night she actually sat on the potty (while wearing a diaper), and we asked if she needed to potty, and in fact she did.

Today was the first time she's actually initiated a request for the potty verbally; she twice said "Potty?" then peed in her potty afterwards. Very nice! I hope this trend continues.

I've been meaning to post about all her new words, but gosh there's just so many! ;) I love this stage of her development, there is so much going on!

Monday, December 7, 2009

rockNromp

Calla wore her hat for most of the show. She NEVER wears a hat!

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Monday, November 30, 2009

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Monday, November 23, 2009

Walking Video

In case you haven't seen it on our YouTube channel, here's some video of Calla walking.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Friday, November 20, 2009

Teton Trek Lodge

POTD: Upside Down

I get this view a lot lately.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

First Steps! November 13, 2009

It was Friday the thirteenth, and Calla surprised us by taking her
first steps last night! She was playing in the kitchen with Papa Bee
and took three steps toward him! He shouted out to Mama, who was
turning down the bed, to come see!

Mama tried in vain to get video of Calla walking, missing another
three steps while fumbling with her phone!

Then, finally, Calla demonstrated her new walking skills to Mama,
stepping toward her mother all on her own!

A few happy tears were shed, and cheers of "Yay, Calla!"

Also of note: First somersault today!

I'll try to post soon with a list of all her many new words! And I'll
keep trying for video of her strutting her stuff.

---------
Sent from my iPhone.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

POTD: Evicting Spices

Moving the Little People Animals in.

Monday, November 9, 2009

Friday, November 6, 2009

Peach Raspberry Smoothie

She likes it.

POTD: New Shoes!

Calla likes her new shoes, but I think they may be a bit too big.
When she saw them, she clapped and said, "Shoes! Shoes!"

Thursday, November 5, 2009

POTD: Calla on the Caterpillar


Love this photo taken today by Aimee.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Friday, October 30, 2009

POTD: Shopping

Checking the list at the grocery store.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

POTD: Breakfast

Cake

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l68Je11ro6s&feature=youtube_gdata


Sent from my iPhone.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Monday, October 26, 2009

Where's Calla?

We are having too much fun today!

VOTD: Rocking Caterpillar

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8Q-11zdysg


Sent from my iPhone.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

POTD: She Doesn't Know...

I put a tiara on her head!

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Saturday, October 17, 2009

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Zoo Boo 2009

Here are a few photos from our trip to Zoo Boo last night. Calla was a LOLcat for Zoo Boo. If you don't know what a LOLcat is, you should check out http://www.icanhascheezburger.com.

We met Calla's beloved Aimee along with her little Miss Elise and Chris there. We also joined up with Calla's pretend big sister, Zoe C. and her mom, the lovely Cheryl. We were pleasantly surprised to run into the Vandiveer gang there, as well.

Calla loved seeing all the people, especially the kids. Even though her afternoon nap had been a bit brief, she was pretty chilled out and happy to be there. I'm sure Zoo Boo will become a fall tradition for our family. Next year, I hope Poppa Bee and I can find time to dress up, too!

Calla as a LOLcat. Her caption says: I can has candy?

Here's a real LOLcat. How'd we do? ;)

Best view of the costume, although she's not wearing the mask here. Look at that pretty red hair, though!

Calla with Poppa Bee at Zoo Boo.



See the entire Picasa Gallery of Zoo Boo photos!

Well Baby Visit - 12 Months

NEWSFLASH: Calla is no longer in the 99-100 Percentile on the growth charts. She is now a petite 95% in both height (31 inches) and weight (26.5 lbs). WBV went great. As always, she is healthy and happy.

Calla's First Birthday Party!


We had a huge party to celebrate Calla's first birthday back on 10/10/2009 (one day before her actual birthday). You can see all the photos here. I hope to have the video edited soon!

Friday, October 16, 2009

POTD: New Book

Checking out the new book that arrived today from the Imagination
Library.
Don't act like you don't read on the potty, too!

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

VOTD: Dada!

After several takes of trying to get her say hi to dada at the hotel.
It was nice to meet Baby James and visit relatives, but we're ready to
go home to Dada now!

Monday, October 12, 2009

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Calla's Birth Story

I wrote this in a rush on my phone, so please be forgiving as you read it. Thanks.

First, a confession: Once upon a time, I was terrified of the idea of giving birth. This terror was so severe that I even felt a bit uncomfortable being around pregnant women. I was so full of fear, I thought I would never have any children of my own, even though I have a special connection with children, and a lot of love for them. Why I felt such hopeless fear is a topic in itself, and still a bit of a mystery to me, so now is not the time to explore that question. 

One thing is for certain, though.  I wish I had heard just one birth story like mine when I was forming my initial impressions about childbirth.

I eventually decided I wanted to become a mother. And, after randomly discovering that the length of time between Bill's date of birth and my own happens to be equivalent the human gestation period, I had this little superstitious epiphany that he and I were meant to create a baby together. And so, a few weeks after Bill's birthday, I discovered that I was pregnant! I'm sure that the announcement of my pregnancy was the best Valentine's Day gift I will ever be able to give Bill.  

About three weeks before Calla's October 13 due date, during a prenatal visit, Dr. Anderson announced, "Calla will probably be born before the end of this week." She repeated this statement at the next two prenatal visits!  Her "any day now" predictions were based on her estimate of Calla's size, position in my pelvis, etc.  In fact, prior to going into labor, I was 75% effaced, 3 cm dilated, and Calla was already at 1+ station.  I was very lucky to already have completed a bit of the work of labor without even experiencing labor yet.  And I was also very lucky that I still felt great.  I really had a charmed pregnancy, with no major complaints (other than nausea during the first and second trimester) right up until the end.  

And the end began with early labor mid-morning on October 10, 2008.  I wasn't sure I was in labor, but I was experiencing some bleeding.  I had the tiniest contractions, which were irregular and felt no different from the painless Braxton-Hicks contractions I had experienced frequently throughout my pregnancy.  Bill decided to come home, just in case early labor had begun.

In spite of not being certain if I was in labor or not, I felt very calm and unworried.  Bill and I made brownies and cookies to share with the hospital staff.  I kept in touch with my doula, Melissa, throughout the afternoon via phone.  She reminded me to eat well and get plenty of rest.  And so I lounged a bit, Bill cooked a very hearty meal we enjoyed, then we went to bed.  

Soon enough, around 8pm, the contractions had intensified enough that I knew the baby was coming that night.  Bill was very gentle and loving as he helped me relax through the contractions.  He kept in touch with Melissa by phone and timed my contractions.  When they seemed to be about four minutes apart, we asked her to come over.  When she arrived, I was completely effaced and dilated to about  8 cm!  I was very pleased to hear that because while the contractions were intense and demanded my attention, they were not painful, I knew then for sure that I was going to be able to handle the contractions.  I hadn't even used many of Hypnobabies techniques yet, out of curiousity about how contractions would feel.  I didn't want to dull the experience if it wasn't necessary.

Melissa went to the front of the house, leaving Bill and I to continue in bed.  Around midnight I felt nauseated.  As I was vomiting, I felt a tiny gush in my underwear.  Had my water broke?  There wasn't much fluid, maybe it was from my bladder?  Again, there was that uncertainty that continued to surface throughout the day.  Using her PH-paper thingie, Melissa was able to determine that it was in fact amniotic fluid in my undies.  She explained that the bag of water had probably resealed itself.  She checked me and discovered that I was completely dilated.  It was nearly babytime, and that meant a car ride to the hospital.  Although I was reluctant to leave my quiet calm house for the hospital, I was in enough of a hurry that we left without the treats for the nurses.  Oops!

I listened to some hypnobabies scripts on the way to the hospital.  I remember feeling very focused.  We arrived at the hospital around 1 am on October 11.  I guess I was in transition.   

Things got a bit dramatic at the hospital for a while, which made it not so easy to focus on staying calm and relaxed!  Unfortunately, there was no copy of my prenatal records at the hospital! This made the little interview they do before they let you get started having a baby (it's a bit ridiculous, I have to say) last a LOT longer, since they didn't have any information about me.  It's never fun filling out forms, particularly when you are having contractions!

I was patient.  I was calm.  But it took effort!  Eventually I was in a room with one nurse asking me questions for the interview.  These questions get ridiculous.  Example:  "Were you ever sexually abused as an infant, toddler, or child?" So as I was doing my best to quickly answer these baffling questions so I could push out my baby, I noticed another nurse coming at me with an IV.  That's when I realized they didn't have my birth plan!   I asked them to please get a copy of my birth plan from Bill or Melissa.  This is when the nurses got into a spat.  If only I had remembered those brownies!  

Mean Nurse didn't want them in the room until she finished the ridiculous interview.  Nice Nurse wanted the birth plan and to let them come in the room.  It was a bit surreal.  I played peacemaker and everything eventually got sorted out.  I later learned that Nice Nurse had to tattle on Mean Nurse to really get it sorted out.  I could have done without all that drama, but I didn't let it ruin the experience. 

So after the interview and cat fight, I was very happy to be reunited with Bill and Melissa.  The doctor on-call, examined me.  We decided to break (re-break) my water.  While she did that, Melissa phoned my doctor, who arrived within minutes.  I was very pleased to see her there and know that this woman who respected and supported my birthing preferences was going to be there to help me give birth.

It wasn't very long after that until I started pushing.  This was the part I had always feared the most, but it did not hurt!  Go figure.  It was, however, a lot of work.  It required so much effort.    After about twenty-five minutes (Bill's estimate), I was told "Look at your baby!  You can see her head!" I tried to see, but my belly was too big!  One more push and Calla Sophia was born at 3:58 am on October 11.  My little flower.  My early birthday gift.  

We were elated.  Her father was crying tears of joy and, for my part, I knew sheer bliss.

She weighed 8 lbs 7.5 oz, she was 20.5 inches long, and her head was 14.5 inches in circumference.  I did not require a single stitch after her gentle, natural, unmedicated birth.

The most treasured moment of my entire life was looking into her eyes for the first time.  They were so beautiful, calm, and wise, yet full of quiet wonder.      

Happy birthday, Calla.  You are so loved.

         
  
    
     

Party Animals

POTD: Helping make the frosting!

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Mmmm and other new "words"

Calla has started saying "Mmmm" about food occasionally. Tonight she saw her dad decorating a practice cake for her upcoming birthday and she reached for it and said, "Mmmmmm." I agree, Calla!

She also now makes a monkey noise ("oooh eee eee" or just "eee eee"), when she sees monkeys or hears the word. That's not a word, but it's cute. As I probably already mentioned, she also says "mooo" for cows and "buzz" for bees.

No new signs, but she is showing a renewed interest in "all done" lately. I think she's been signing "cat" for a while, but it's hard to be sure.

She is refining her standing and balancing skills, along with working on getting into the standing position on her own. She's become a bit more adventurous when cruising. I've seen her go from one piece of furniture to another a few times.

She still loves her books, music, and dancing. She hums often, and sometimes sort of hums along with songs that are playing. We take her to the Levitt Shell to hear live music outdoors, and she always gets so excited. She bops her head, bounces to the music, and claps her hands.

She's also a little clown, who loves to laugh and giggle. She makes me laugh all the time.

One week until she is a year old!

ETA: Oh I forgot to mention that she says "ass" a lot, but I'm hoping that's a coincidence. She also can say "hop" because that's what her bunny does - hop hop hop.

Friday, October 2, 2009

VOTD: Wawowwawawawowwawa

Wow! Zippers are so awesome!

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Dang Baby

Not sure how this happened. I had a reasonably tidy dining room. I
went to the bathroom. I returned to this little disaster.

Calla is currently munching on some Cheerios. I'm sharing a laugh
with you instead of putting her up for adoption.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Sunday, September 27, 2009

New Words and Signs

Miss Chatty Calla has a few new words. She says "moo" (I admit it
sounds very much like how she says "more", but she says it when she
sees cows). Tonight, she pulled her bumble bee stuffed animal out of
the toy box and said "buzz buzz buzz".

She says the first syllable, or maybe phoneme is a better way to
describe it, of tons of words now. Upon viewing the enormous tiger
mural at an Indian restaurant, she kept pointing at it and repeating,
"Tah. Tah!". She does this first phoneme thing all the time lately.

This evening I noticed two new signs. One was "baby" and the other was
"drink". Cute, because just two days ago I remarked that drink was an
easy sign, so I didn't understand why Calla continues to just look at
her cup and whine instead of just signing drink!

"More" continues to be her favorite word and sign! I hear "more" all
day long. She's getting the R sound in there a lot more frequently,
too.

She's a very happy baby. Standing and balancing for linger periods of
time now. Pulling up more, as well. Will she walk in time for her
first birthday? Who knows?


------
Sent from my iPhone. (Forgive typos. It's hard to blog by phone!)

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Friday, September 25, 2009

POTD: Calla's Hat

Since You Asked... Calla's Birthday Wish List

I hope this isn't too tacky, but several people have asked what Calla would like for her birthday or what sizes she's wearing now, so I thought I'd post a little list here.

First of all, I asked Calla and she said you don't have to get her anything because there is nothing she really needs and she's not very materialistic (yet?). That said, here are some things that she likes, doesn't have yet, or could use:

1. BOOKS - This kid loves books. Her favorites are the ones with lots of color photographs of babies or animals. Board books are preferred because she eats books with paper pages. This reminds me, she'd probably love a board book copy of Pat the Bunny (she ate most of her copy a few months ago).

2. Signing DVDs - She already has these: Baby Signing Times (First Signs), Baby Einstein (First Signs), My Baby Can Talk (First Signs). She is bored with the First Signs type of DVDs, she needs something with some new signs.

3. Puppets - She really likes puppets but doesn't have any good ones right now.

4. Musical Toys - She already has a drum, maracas, jingle bells, etc. She would probably like a xylophone, though.

5. Stuffed Animals - She loves cuddling stuffed animals. She is fascinated by baby dolls, too.

6. Balls

7. Pull Along toys

8. Cars/Toys with Wheels - One of her favorite toys is a fish with wheels, so I think she'd enjoy other toys with wheels too.

9. Blocks




If you were interested in her clothing sizes, here they are:

Clothes - 2T is the safest bet, although 18m in some brands fits well now.
Shoes - Her feet are getting too big for her size 3s, so I would go with size 4.

Current Weight and Height: 26.5 pounds and 30.5 inches

Clothes preferences:
Fall and Winter clothes. Jacket, coats, maybe some hats (which she will undoubtedly pull off her head). She could definitely use some small "training pants" too. Oh yeah, she desperately needs socks that will fit her big (but cute) feet (shoe size 4). Maybe some of those gripper socks would be nice, since I'm sure she will be attempting those first steps any day now.

Note: Since Calla uses a potty at home, dresses or t-shirts with Babylegs (legwarmers) are easier than pants or onesies. We still love cute pants and onesies, which she wears when she goes out, though.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Sunday, September 20, 2009

VOTD: Calla is NOISY

Making noise while we watch the video for Duck 4 on You Tube.

What's new with Calla?

A few notes on new stuff Calla has been doing...

New signs
I may have mentioned a few of these in earlier posts, but here are her more recent signs: "where", "thank you", "cat" (though it's barely recognizable at this point), "fish", and maybe "poop".

Speaking
She has been mimicking or attempting to mimic some words lately, "pig" and "bunny" and "buzz" come to mind. She babbles a lot, too.

Hugs
My favorite - Last week she started hugging her stuffed animals. So sweet!

Friday, September 18, 2009

Calla Videos

Calla's Favorite Videos