The Grahams

Callie loves to babble...often, you just look at her, nod your head and smile. Just recently Preston and i are starting to understand and recognize her babbling, and have been amazed at what she is actually saying. Her independent streak often has resulted in her grabbing a book off the shelf, saying Callie's turn, and babbling away. We just realized that she is actually reading the book - or, saying the parts of the book that she remembers. Her favorites to read are the best nest , go, dog, go , and the potty book . Here is her reading go, dog, go  (the board book version - who knew the real story is soooo long).

Preston's busy time is in the middle of February so Callie and I decided to leave town and head to the mountains. Unfortunately it ended up not being the best time to leave town but we made the best of it. I was a bit nervous about the 6-8 hour car ride ahead of us but we bummed a ride with Grandma and Grandpa and Callie was a star the whole ride - having me in the back with her I am sure helped. The week started off a bit chaotic - the Jones, Sarions, and Sinclairs joined us. Maybe not the best nights of sleeping for some but all the kids had a blast! Mom was a trooper and took all 6 kids for a day so that everyone could go skiing (not quite sure how she did it). Everyone left on Tuesday and Callie got some one on one time with Grandma and Grandpa (I think she is now going through withdrawal). Ready for the long car ride....  Sunglasses....check! The clan - all the kids are at a perfect age! They had a blast together. Bennett, Maeve, and Maya attempted to tr...

I can't believe that Bennett is four! For his birthday we headed up to the mountains to go sledding. What a perfect day is was! It was a fun way to get away from the city and see the kids in a totally different setting. The little ones were quite bundled up - little marshmellows Laurel was SO fearless on the hill. She was all about the sledding - all she could keep saying was more, more, more Amy, Clara, and Callie went for a ride - Callie never really looked like she was having fun but at the end of the hill kept saying more Someone had this great idea to let the three little kids go down the little hill all by themselves - yup, ended just as you would expect. A pile of girls at the bottom! Laurel was laughing the whole time. Maya wasn't so thrilled about the sledding but helped push everyone down the hill. Laurel was the first little girl to try the big hill - she, of course, loved it! Bennett and Carter lucked out and had someone pull them ...

We have just recently started to see a change in our weather. This week we had some "sunny" days in Washington and Callie and I took full advantage of it. Keep in mind, sunny in Washington means peaks of blue sky throughout the day. We headed out to the park and did some sliding, climbing, and feeding of ducks. Heading out the find the ducks She loved feeding the ducks until the seagulls showed up. The seagulls were a bit too brave for her liking. She is quite fearless on slides and caught sight of the huge tunnel slide which it took a lot for me to get her off it. There are only so many times I can go down the slide with her.

It is amazing to me how quickly time has passed with Callie. She is no longer a baby anymore - just recently I have realized she has turned into a little girl. Since we are using this as her baby book here's some updates: We are amazed at her language - we spent a few days with some bad sleeping and every since her language has gone crazy. Although I am not sure people ever believe us (besides day care) because she never talks much in front of people. She can count to ten, she knows her colors, knows her shapes, she is stringing multiple words together. It is so nice having her be able to tell us what she wants (instead of us guessing). Car rides are a bit more pleasant now. She knows what she wants and when she wants it. We now hear her say - "no, Callie" which means she is going to do it on her own. Often she will pull a book off the shelf for mommy and one for Callie. Don't think about trying to read her the one she picked for herself. She now asks for hugs!...

This weekend we headed up to Hoodsport. We were lucky enough to have the Wagners come up to spend the weekend with us. It was a perfect weekend of relaxation - it was nothing but family; no work, no worries, just kids, good food and a Superbowl game. Callie was in heaven having the Wagner boys around her for the weekend. We spent some time outside digging We also went for the usual walk in the woods - Eli was our fearless leader I love this picture because Eli is working so hard climbing over the fallen tree - while Pete, Wyatt, Rachel and Cale are just walking around it There were many fallen trees on the path Saturday we made the mistake of allowing Callie to bring the shovel with her on the walk. We stopped every 10 feet or so to dig. Luckily the boys were super patient with her. Cheese! (I don't think I'd ever be able to say no to that face - good luck Rachel!) We tried to make very kid friendly meals, so our meal on Saturday was homemade ...