Bill & Cat's Blog About Calla

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

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

New Picasa Web Albums Activity

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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

Calla Videos

Calla's Favorite Videos