We are Due with #2... again!

I figure it's about time I start writing about this pregnancy.  A series of pregnancy losses and a 13-week miscarriage really puts a damper on one's excitement about another pregnancy.  This pregnancy has been exciting, but more so anxiety-inducing and terrifying on a near daily basis.  And it's been difficult to let myself get excited about it, and share my joy with others, for fear of losing another baby.  For fear that jinxing is really a thing, and I'll bring more heartache on myself if I let myself be happy.  So I've been pretty quiet, and reserved, and just not my usual self this go-round.

But things are going really well.  And we're REALLY happy.  And I'm 18 weeks along.  So it's time to share, and let joy in.
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When I found out I was pregnant last May, I wrote this post.  It's been sitting in here since then, and I hadn't been able to face it after the loss, nor able to write about anything else since.  I've revisited it a few times during this pregnancy, not sure what to do with it.  I considered deleting it, but it doesn't feel right.  So I've left it, in it's entirety.  When I read it, it makes me feel silly, and naive to have thought that everything would go as smoothly as with Callie.  But I remember how incredibly overjoyed I was to find out I was pregnant.  And I don't want to delete that and pretend it never happened.

I lost this pregnancy below at just 5 weeks on May 5th.  I got pregnant again in July, and carried until 13-weeks, and ended up losing that pregnancy on October 3rd.  I was pregnant again in December and lost it again at 5 weeks on my birthday, January 3rd.  All told - 2 "chemical" pregnancies, and one miscarriage.  So... we are still very fertile.  My body just had a hard time holding on to them.

Anyway, to be a good steward of my past joy, here's the post from the first pregnancy last spring.
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Just yesterday, I found out I am pregnant!!!!!!   (I don't think I can put enough exclamation points on that sentence, so this aside will hopefully drive home the point that I'm SUPER excited!)

I am almost 4 weeks pregnant (calculated from last menstrual start date) and #2 is due January 15, 2016.  It's no secret that we were going to try for baby #2 after we got back from our cruise, but I think it'll be a surprise that it happened so quickly.  Lesson learned - we are super fertile.  Be careful!

I had actually been testing since the middle of last week with EPT's.  I took 3 of them last week a few days apart from each other, and they all came out negative.  I figured with that many negative EARLY pregnancy tests, I was probably not pregnant.  But I didn't start my period on Tuesday, and even on a shorter 25 day cycle, I got suspicious.  I took a regular test Tuesday night after I got home from choir, and initially the control line popped up in bright pink, but nothing on the test line.  If not for my friend's story about throwing away her positive pregnancy test because she hadn't given it long enough to result, and her husband finding it in the trash, I would have thrown that test away, too!  But I left it on the counter and came back to it a few minutes later, and sure enough, there was a suuuuuuuuuper duper faint line on the test strip.  I texted a picture of the test to a friend to see what she thought, and she basically text exploded with joy that I was pregnant and said that ANY line means it's positive, no matter how faint.  So, I did another test yesterday morning (just as faint a line) and I went in to my PCP clinic to get a confirmation of pregnancy test done.  Even the clinic had to test it twice because the lines were so faint, but they said I'm definitely pregnant and it's just really early.  Lesson learned - EPT's are total crap and a waste of good money!

Doesn't this look negative to you?

Test from Tuesday night, and another test from Wednesday morning, a few hours later.  

It's funny how different my reaction to this pregnancy is from last time.  It took me a few weeks to get over the "Holy Effing Sh*t" aspect of being pregnant last time.  But this time I am just plain excited.  Joyous, even!  Soooo looking forward to being a family of 4.

I feel like now that I'm a mother, most things just aren't a big deal anymore.  I feel like I can handle anything that gets thrown my way.  When I found out I was pregnant with Callie, it had seemed like a good idea, in theory, to start a family.  But when that became a fast reality, it was a little tough to get over the "how the hell am I going to be responsible for another human being?!? I'm barely an adult myself!" reaction I had at first.  But I've been there, done that, survived to tell the tale.  I know #2 will be different, maybe harder, but I know I can handle it.  I know WE, as a family, can handle it.

I surprised Bryann with the news last  night by putting Callie in a "Big Sister" shirt.  He didn't notice at first and was wondering why I kept staring at him strangely.  I had to ask him if he liked her outfit.  He turned to me and said "Are you really pregnant??!" and ran over and gave me a big hug.

I'm not sure when we'll tell our friends and family.  We have Wine & Dine this weekend... I'm not sure I'll be able to get away with not drinking and not raising suspicions.  I'd like to be at least 6 weeks along before we share the news.  If I miscarry I will probably tell a few of my friends, but maybe everyone in my social circle doesn't need to know.  We'll see how long we can play it cool.  My face basically explodes with joy every time I think about it...

To the Baby I'll Never Get to Hold -

Yesterday was your due date.  April 10, 2016.  I knew this day would come.  And I knew it would be painful for me.  And the day after is painful as well.  As is every day since I lost you.  And as will probably be every day to come.

I will never get to hold you.  I will never get to meet you.  But I have faith that your soul was not meant for that body.  And I hope that whatever your soul was made of will find its way in to another life.

We planted some camellia bushes in our backyard yesterday to celebrate your memory.  I've loved you every day, since the moment I knew I was pregnant.  And I will love you every day until my very last.

20 Months and change

Ok, let's not kid ourselves and pretend I wrote this at 18 months and "forgot" to publish it.  I am a slacker, and life has been busy, and I just haven't felt like writing.  But man, oh man!  Time is a-flyin' by, and this little gal has grown so much these past few months, I need to document it!

Stats:  At her 18 month visit in February, she was 20lbs, 8 oz and 30.25 inches.

Health:  Callie has had an off-and-on cold all winter long.  Basically she's been a snotty mess every other week.  We went in to the clinic a few times just so they could make sure it wasn't pneumonia or an ear infection.  Since the sun has come back out and spring has begun, she's been less snotty and generally more healthy.  But she's a daycare kid, so she'll continue to get every virus that comes along!  Better now than when she's in school.

Sleep:  This sleep thing really is a bugger.  Until we finally got her off the bottle completely, she was waking up at least once if not two or three times a night, and nothing but a bottle seemed to calm her down.  We finally went cold turkey in March and nixed the bottle from our lives.  It only took one night of hell and then she was sleeping through the night again!  I've had several weeks of un-interupted sleep now, and I'm feeling great!

Clothes/Diaper Size:  She is finally fitting in to the clothes that correspond to her age.  Up until a few weeks ago, she was still in 12 mo (and even some 9 mo GASP) clothing.  Now she's only in 18 month, 24 month, and even some 2T clothes!!  We're finishing our supply of size 3 diapers and moving to size 4.  We've already started doing size 4 at night so she doesn't leak through them.

Diet:  Baby girl loves her food!  She basically eats whatever we eat for meals.  Lunch staples are PB&J, cheese sticks and fruit.  She's learned to use a spoon recently and loves eating from a bowl!


Nicknames:  Boo (and variations thereof) is the one that seems to have stuck around for good.

Favorite Songs/Lullabies:  Lately... Annie's song, Billy Joel's Lullabye, Baby Mine, Moon River

Milestones/Firsts:  We've seen a HUGE language explosion over the past month or so.  She uses sentences now!  SENTENCES!  "I wanna watch Pooh!" is a pretty common one.  She's also running now, using a spoon, holding a pen with her fingers (not her fist) and drawing scribbles.  She can count to 10 (with some prompting) and can sing some of the ABC's.

Likes: Singing and counting and dancing, eating with a spoon, running, Pooh and Mickey Mouse, squealing at the top of her lungs, giggling and being tickled, giving zerbits, and getting hugs

Dislikes:  Not getting her way, someone else feeding her, not being excused from the table to play when she's done even though everyone else at the table is NOT done.

Things I Don't Want to Forget:  Oh goodness... I'm going to have to come back to this one.  Life is just so joyful right now.  I don't want to forget her laugh or her squeals of delight.  I don't want to forget the smell of her hair after a bath, or the way she cuddles into my shoulder when I'm putting her down to bed.  I don't want to forget how she grabs my face and points to my mouth, eyes, nose, mouth, teeth so proudly.  She has sooooo many amazing faces, and I want to remember all of them.

15 Months

16 month photo... because I'm a slacker and didn't get her 15 month photo in time...

Since the changes aren't coming quite as fast and furious as they did during her first year, I'm going to update every 3 months or so.  However, we've seen SO much developmental growth these past few months, it will be hard to document everything!

Stats:  Callie now weighs 19 lbs 2 oz (6th percentile), is 29.75" long (31st percentile) and her head is 18" in circumference (49th percentile).  I was disappointed that her weight percentile dropped from her 12 month visit, but our pediatrician says that happens a lot when they learn to walk and become more mobile.  At least she's still gaining weight, following her growth curve, and hitting her developmental milestones. When we went in for our 15 month visit, the MA and the Pediatrician were both impressed by her vocabulary!  My girl IS a talker!

Health:  Callie has caught a few colds here and there over the past 3 months.  Just a few sniffles, a bit of a cough every now and then.  Nothing serious, and nothing I've ever called the RN line about.

We held off until her 15 month visit to try giving her peanut butter since I didn't want to deal with an anaphylaxis reaction at home.  So I gave her a few crackers smothered in peanut butter while we were in the waiting room, she gobbled them down, and she didn't have any reaction!  Thank goodness.  Being able to give her peanut butter sandwiches will make lunch time so much easier!

Sleep:  Damn, it feels good to have a 1-year old!  Calista sleeps beautifully.  She is still taking 2 naps a day for between an hour and two hours, although I suspect she's working on phasing out the morning nap.  She goes down for bed around 7pm, and wakes up around 7am.  Sometimes she'll wake up at 5am, but we usually go in and give her a bottle and she goes right back to sleep.  When she's teething, she'll wake up earlier in the night (10 or 11pm) crying but she goes back down pretty easily with a bottle and "Goodnight Moon" recited to her.

Clothes/Diaper Size:  I know I said I'd get rid of clothes that were 6 months too young, but we are still using 9 month onesies...! But we are also using 12 month onsies and shirts and ONLY using 12 month pants.  We just recently bought her an 18 month winter jacket, and it's only slightly too big for her.  I think she'll be in size 3 diapers for quite a while to come.

Diet:  Calista is a great eater for the most part.  She usually eats what we're having for meals, or she at least tries the food we give her.  I always put at least one thing on her plate that I KNOW she'll eat, just in case she decides that our dinner is not to her taste yet.  Her favorite foods are banana, frozen peas and corn, fresh diced tomatoes, cheese, ritz crackers and goldfish, and any sort of pasta with cheese or tomato-based sauces.  She always gets some sort of fruit or berry for desert and even when she says "All done", when I put the berries on her tray, she gobbles them up and asks for more.  Callie likes to use utensils to eat, and especially likes to use a spoon to eat yogurt with.

Baby Gear Love:  The Ergo continues to be a sanity-saver.  I still use it when we go places she can't walk around (like the home-brew store, or out wine tasting) and she does very well in it, which is surprising to me considering her desire to explore and be free.  I'm also quite happy that we purchased a travel/collapsible high chair a few months ago.  We've been able to use that at friend's houses for dinner, out camping or at picnic tables, at the beach house, and at restaurants.  I would put it on a list of Must-Have items for any baby registry.

Nicknames:  Callie-bear, Callie-bug, Baby Boo, Boo-Boo, Boo-Boo Bear, and variations thereafter

Favorite Songs/Lullabies:  She loves all music, all the time.  We have several toys that play music or sing songs and she knows how to push the buttons to get the toys to sing.  She even knows which button to push on my keyboard to get the demo song "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" to play.

Milestones/Firsts:  She had only her 2 bottom teeth when she turned 1, but she has sprouted 9 more teeth in the past three months (four of which have come through in the past 2 weeks alone).  We are calling this Teethvember!

Callie learned to walk just before the 13 month mark.  She had been taking 2 or 3 wobbly steps at a time before lowering herself down and crawling the rest of the way for a few weeks.  But with some practice and encouragement walking between mommy and daddy at the beach house, we got to see her and record her taking her first walk across the room!  After that, she seemed completely steady and confident.  She never toppled over and banged her head on the ground or on furniture.  Callie has always been a very physically cautious child, and it seemed like if she sensed she was in danger of falling, she would just bend down instead.

We've seen a lot of other motor-skill development as well.  She's been able to bend down and pick up a toy for awhile now, as well as pass a toy between both hands.  She can stack the rings on the pin, put large shape blocks in their respective holes (with guidance on which hole it goes in).  She puts items in a container, and she even puts spoons in milk-jug holes (now to retrieve my spoons back...).  Callie also likes to help open and close the refrigerator and the microwave, and help turn on and off the light switches. Sometimes she helps dress herself by putting her arms in her jacket, but she's really much better at undressing herself...

She has developed quite a bit of language in the past 3 months as well.  I think when she was a year, we were mostly hearing "mama" and "dada"  Now, she has a whole vocabulary it seems!  Her favorite words are:  Mama, dada, nana (banana), teetee (kitty), bye-bye, all-dah (all done), ah-beh (strawberry), bite, pea, teeth, shoes, mo (more), puppy, then Gab-gab (meaning Gabby, but Isaac says Gab-gab and this is what Callie calls all dogs now...) Iya (Isaac), ba (bath), Auntie, no, yeah, up, down, out, and (our favorite) nom-nom.

Calista's social skills have grown, too!  She's starting to take interest in other children.  She LOVES playing with Isaac and Hannah, and she'll interact more and play with children at day care as well.  Katee (Isaac's mom) calls the two of them "Monkey-see, monkey-do" because it doesn't seem to matter which one instigates, they both copy each other in whatever they are doing.  It's so fun to watch them play!

Likes:  Books!  All kinds of books.  All the time.  Books, books, books.  She'll bring a book to us, and sit in our lap, and turn the pages for us, and point to pictures.  She's not so interested in the story but at turning pages and pointing to things so we'll say what they are.  And pointing back and forth 8 billion times to the same two pictures, and we repeat 8 billion times what they are...  When I got up last Saturday morning after Bryann had let me sleep in, I sat down in the living room and Callie brought me "Eating the Alphabet", Bryann says, exhausingly, "Oh yeah, she loves that book this morning.  We've read that 10 times already..."

She also likes exploring everything, pulling tissues out of the kleenex box, playing the piano and dancing to jitterbug, walks outside, playing with other children, playing "peek-a-boo", Kitty, climbing on things, being tickled, being pushed down on the bed or couch and landing in a pile of pillows.

Dislikes:  Having whatever she wants to play with that she's not allowed to play with taken away from her, being told "No", being moved from an area she's not supposed to be in - basically not getting what she wants all the time.  I usually just let her tantrum and tell her "We don't get everything we want.  I know it's hard and very frustrating." and then ask her if she wants mommy hugs (which she usually does after a good cry.)

Things I Don't Want to Forget:

Callie's favorite toys are not actually toys, but boxes. Whenever we do a Costco run, the box flats get recycled into toys for Callie. She LOVES to climb on things so any new box presents a new climbing challenge. In, out, up, down, repeat!

30 Day Photo Challenge: Day 1 - Self Portrait

So I'm starting a 30-day photo challenge with my friend Annie to get me out of my comfort level and get me practicing with some of the settings outside my comfort level on my new DSLR camera.  We will share pictures on Instagram or Facebook, but I also wanted to document here as well so I could remember what obstacles I was dealing with when choosing different settings.

Day 1 - A Self Portrait

What?  Not every day involves bokeh and taking pictures of my baby??  This challenge is already challenging me to get outside my comfort zone.  Who knew that self-portraits with DSLRs were so difficult?  Well, they're enormous cameras with no front-view, so I guess it's somewhat obvious.  

I went two different directions with my self-portrait.  One I took in front of a mirror, and the other I went outside and held the camera in my left arm as far away from my body as I could, and took about 8 billion pictures swirling around in a circle because I wasn't sure where the light was.  

With both photos, I gradually pushed by aperture up from f/1.8 until I got the focal length I thought looked best.  

For the picture outside, I took the ISO off auto after awhile, and set it at 800 because I wanted a brighter picture than the auto setting was giving me, so the background is a little grainy.  The ISO is super high on the mirror photo.  I knew I was putting this in black and white, and I like a little grain in BW so I didn't bother meddling.  I would have had to go full manual mode and bring the shutter speed down to adjust for exposure, and I'm not ready for full manual yet.  

For the photo in the mirror, I set the focus on my left eye, and then flipped the photo post-production so the Canon label wasn't reading backwards.  For the photo outside, since I was taking it in true selfie style, I put it on auto-focus and hoped for the best!  

Both photos were taken with my 50mm lens in Aperture mode.  Some day, my goal is to shoot in manual mode, but Day 1 of my photo challenge is not the day.  

f/4.5, 1/80s, ISO:3200

f/4.0, 1/2000s, ISO:800

12 Months

Stats: At her 1-year wellness visit, Callie clocked in at 18 lbs, 4 oz (12th percentile), 28.25" tall (31st percentile), and toting around a 17.42" noggin (also 31st percentile).  Her weight was up from the 6th percentile during an illness check up in June, so YAY!  Growth!!

Health:  Callie had a bit of a runny nose this past month - not sure whether due to teething, or she had a cold - but that's about it for health issues.

Sleep:  We continue to enjoy sleeping through the night.  Occasionally she'll still wake up hungry around 4 or 5am, but for the most part she goes down without a peep around 7 pm and wakes up around 7 am.  During these last two weeks, she's been waking up around 6-6:30 am.  Which is fine when we're both going to work and up getting ready anyway.  It's less awesome when I am working from home and looking forward to "sleeping in" until 7;30 am...

Calista also still naps twice a day.  She goes down for her morning nap from about 9am-10 or 10:30, then for an afternoon nap from about 1pm-2 or 2:30.  I don't expect her to switch to one nap a day for QUITE some time!

Clothes/Diaper Size:  Embarrassingly enough, I had still been putting Callie in 6 month onesies.  I'd promised to box those up on her birthday though, so I had to sniffle a goodbye to some of my most beloved clothes.  She's also wearing 9 month onesies, shirts, and dresses/jumpers, and 9 and 12 month pants.  She'll probably still be wearing 9 month clothes for a bit longer.  Maybe I'll make a new rule to box up clothes that are 6 months or longer behind her actual age...

Diet:  Gone are the days of jarred baby food.  Calista gets a bottle of formula when she wakes up, before both of her naps, and before bed.  She also gets solid food for breakfast around 8am - usually banana and cheesy scrambled eggs, lunch around noon - some sort of vegetable, cheese, and/or leftovers from dinner the night before, a snack around 3pm - frozen peas are her fav, and dinner around 6pm - usually whatever we're eating.

Baby Gear Love:  We still use the Ergo when we're out and about in areas where a stroller may not fit well or be convenient.  I still love the Bob stoller, especially since I started jogging again this summer.  I still use her swing when she's fussy.  She's loving the walker lately, and it's fun to just let her roam around without having to keep a close eye on her.  We installed a swing on our lower deck, which she LOVES, so we've been putting her in the swing while we BBQ dinner or just sit outside and enjoy some beers together.

Nicknames:  Boo-Boo, Callie Bug, Bugger-Boo.

Favorite Songs/Lullabies:  We've (well, I've) been listening to country all summer long (summer = country music season) and she's been enjoying all of the residual singing and dancing in the house.

Milestones/Firsts:  Callie took her first steps by herself this month!  We're counting down the days to when she will be full-on walking by herself.  She's very cautious, and doesn't like to fall down, so I think it still may be awhile, but Bryann keeps saying "any day now!"

She's getting some words, too.  I can definitely distinguish "hi" and "bye-bye" along with "mama" and "dada".  She talks aaaallll the time, to herself, to people, to the kitty, so I think we'll be able to distinguish other words soon!

Likes:  Talking, Kitty, bath time, meal time.  She'll eat anything with marinara sauce, and strawberries, bananas, and cheese are her favorite foods.  She loves getting kisses from mommy and daddy, and LOVES seeing her grandmas!

Dislikes:  Falling down, parties with too many people, being tired, not getting what she wants immediately (we're starting to see tiny-tantrums... uh-oh...)

Things I Don't Want to Forget:
Calista is a talkative little girl.  When I'm working from home, I set up shop on the dining room table, and Callie plays in a contained area in the living room.  She crawls around the space or walks along the perimeter (usually with a toy in one hand that she carries all over with her) and she talks the ENTIRE time.  Usually some connection of "doo-doh"s and "ha-da-da"s.  She talks while she's reaching into the toy bin to pull out a new toy, she talks while she bangs her hands (or her toys) on the window, she talks as she's walking or crawling around.  I swear, if this girl grows up to be a non-stop talker, I will NOT be surprised.  She has SO much to say! When she's on a particularly long run of "duh-doh"s, Bryann and I start saying "Hodor" back to her. We MAY be trying to get "Hodor" to be one of her first words...

During the Braves game in Seattle, we had walked down to a left-field bar to have a drink with some of Jeff and Amber's friends, and Callie was getting fussy because it was way past her bedtime and she hadn't napped well in the carrier.  During the 7th inning stretch, the song "That's What I Like About You" was playing, and while she was sitting on my hip, I grabbed her left hand and I started singing the song and dancing around the bar with her!  She giggled and smiled and bopped her head along with the rhythm.

11 Months

It is getting nearly impossible to get a photo of C in that chair!

Stats: We weighed her both on our bathroom scale and the Schlyper bathroom scale, and she came in at 18 lbs at our house, and 18.6 lbs at their house.  So she's gained weight and percentiles and is now somewhere between 13th and 16th percentile!

Health:  We had the sickness from hell this month.  On the last Sunday of June, at 4 in the morning, Callie woke up crying and definitely running a fever.  We spent the following 4 days dosing her with Tylenol or Ibuprofen when her fever went above 102, on and off the phone with the RN line when her fever spiked above 104, and when she started convulsing from fever shivers, and when her lips turned blue and her cheeks flushed with veins from who knows what.  We went in to the clinic twice since her fever never went down and we had no idea what it might be.  The two pediatricians we saw suspected either the Roseola rash or Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease, but she never broke out in a rash, so we never figured out what was wrong.  It was a pretty rough 4 days.  Needless to say, she didn't sleep well and she gets really clingy when she's sick, so we were up a lot holding her and rocking her, or she was in bed with us laying on top of us to sleep.

Sleep:  Callie had a 10.5 month sleep regression where she woke up around 10:30 pm and 3 am for a feeding.  She might have been going through a growth spurt, which would explain the extra percentile growth we saw in her weight this month.  But that only lasted for about a week.  She's normally down between 7 and 8 pm, and up again between 6:30 and 7:30 am.  Sometimes if she's up or around 6:30, we can feed her and she'll go back to sleep for awhile, but she's pretty regular.

She also takes two good, long naps a day.  She'll go down for about an hour and a half to two hours around 9 am, and again around 1pm.  She's cut out the 3rd evening cat nap for the most part, and will stay up, playing, and happy from around 3 until her bedtime at 7.

Clothes/Diaper Size:  Calista is still fitting nicely in her 6 month clothes, which is good because I have soooooo many adorable clothes in that size, and I don't feel like I got to use them all enough!  She's also fitting into 9 month stuff, but the onesies are a little loose and the pants are a little baggy, so I'm happy to keep those clothes in the 9 month drawer and wait to use them until she's too big for the 6 month stuff.

She's wearing size 3 diapers, and I think she'll be in those for some time since they're rated from 16-28 lbs.

Diet:  We've been having so much fun with solid foods lately.  Because she chews her foods now, we're able to cut down on the baby foods and the purees, and give her more of the foods from our plates.  She loves small chunks of meat - chicken, hamburger, pork, salami, salmon, it doesn't seem to matter.  She'll also eat just about any fruit or vegetable we put in front of her.  She went through a 5 lb box of strawberries in under a week.  This month's experiment was cherries since they're in season and soooooo delicious.  They're a bit of a pain to cut up for her, but she loves them.  Some food staples for her are bananas, avocados, cheese (lately she prefers the Smoked Gouda and Creamy Havarti from our cheese variety pack), scrambled eggs, and cheerios.

She's also getting bottles of formula throughout the day.  We offer her a full bottle before and after every nap, which sometimes she sucks down and sometimes she only takes an ounce or two.  I've stopped keeping track of how much she's eating since it was stressing me out too much, and since we're offering her food so often, I feel confident she's taking in what she needs.

Baby Gear Love:  We had a little "keeping up with the Schlypers" purchase a few months ago, and bought a high chair/shopping cart cover and it has really come in handy now that Callie is no longer content in her car seat while we go shopping.  I love it especially because Callie is at this awkward stage where she's too small to fit comfortably in the shopping carts or high chairs, so this kind of packs her in more securely and she doesn't try to wriggle out of them any more.

We also recently purchased a portable high chair that screws on to any table, and we've gotten a ton of use out of it since we bought it.  It was a little spendy at $60 new, but it's weight max is 37 lbs, so I know we'll get a few years use out of it.  We bought it after our beach house trip last month and not having a high chair for her, and we've already gotten a lot of use out of it.  We used it at the Yacht club in Klamath, at friend's houses when we visit for dinner, and at the picnic tables while camping.

Other items I STILL use on a daily basis are our BOB stroller, the swing, the Ergo carrier, the pack n play, and the command center and walker.

Nicknames:  Babers, Boo Boo, and Baby have caught on with Bryann and my parents.  Others that make their appearance include Callie Bug, Callie Belle, and Callie 'Laine

Favorite Songs/Lullabies:  Callie likes just about anything I sing to her, and I make up all sorts of songs all day long.  Mostly I just sing about what we're doing to the tune of whatever song I have stuck in my head at that moment.  Sometimes I think she sings back.

Milestones/Firsts:  This month, Callie learned to clap her hands, to wave hello and bye bye, and to show us how big she is.  She can stand up without pulling herself up on anything, and she can stand by herself without holding on to anything.  She's gotten much better at walking, though she's still not super interested in walking as a way of travel, and much prefers to crawl.  She's become much more vocal than she used to be, and is including "doh-doh" in her babbling repertoire.

This month she celebrated her first Independence Day (though she was sound asleep in the 5th wheel at my parents house during the fireworks), and went to one of her best friend's 1st birthday party, during which she played in a pool for the first time!

We also took her to her first baseball game in Hillsborro.  We met Tamara, Rian, and Hannah out there for a 7pm game because we wanted to practice and get a sense for how she would handle staying up waaaaaay past her bedtime when we went to the Braves games in Seattle in early August, and more Braves games in Atlanta at the end of August.  We had a great time with the Schlypers, fed her some dinner at the park, and she was fairly content playing in our laps until she got tired, and then she did well in the Ergo, but didn't fall asleep while we were at the park.  It was a nice first run since we could go straight home if things went poorly (unlike in Seattle or Atlanta!)

At the Hillsboro Hops game to practice for the Braves games later this summer

At the end of her 11th month, we took her on her first camping trip!  There was no cell service, so of course I turned off my phone and got zero pictures of the weekend, but Callie did SO great!  She napped like a champ in the Ergo, she slept in her crib at night in our tent (but only when it got dark.  We tried to put her to bed at 8 when it was still light out, and it did NOT go well!)  I put her on a blanket to play a few times, but she just crawled off and started putting rocks, and dirt, and bark chips in her mouth, so she spent most of the time either in someone's lap, in the Ergo, or in her portable high chair.  She ate mostly solid foods the entire weekend, since she prefers a warm bottle and wouldn't drink any of the cold formula milk.  We would heat the water up during group meal times for her, but if the bottle wasn't warm, she wasn't having it.  We also spent the day at the lake with Katee and Isaac, and Auntie Elizabeth, and she got to play in a lake for the first time.  This girl LOVES water!!  When we got home, we let her play in our shower while we showered the camping trip off of us all, and she had a blast crawling around in there, too.

Likes:  Climbing over obstacles, "wrestling" in bed aka being pushed over by mommy and daddy whenever she tries to get up and crawl away, chewing on stuff, going for walks, being outside, bath time, water play time.

Dislikes:  The end of bath time, the end of play time, having things she's chewing on taken away from her, being told "No, you can't play with that," being put down when she's having the greatest time ever squirming around in my arms, diaper changes with out Mr. Frog to entertain her.

Things I Don't Want to Forget:
All of her funny faces.  Her different smiles, her squinchy face, her laughing face, her concentrating face, her curious face, her furrowed eyebrows and pursed lips, even her sad face.  She's got SO much personality and I love all of her faces.

At Klamath Yacht Club for Independence Day weekend

Overlooking Klamath Lake

Tasting the binoculars instead of looking through them... Typical C

Walking along the docks with Daddy

Family photo

Callie with Aunt Whitley

Sleeping in her carseat

Swinging at Cook Park

Going down the slide at Cook Park with Daddy

Callie, Hannah, and Clara tormenting poor Murphy

Lasagna and Avocado night at the Schlypers!

Baby in a box

Still using the swing even at 10.5 months old!  Her eyebrows tell you what a fussy face she was.

Sword play at such a young age.  Uncle Nate would be proud!

Daddy and Daughter

Pool time at the birthday party

Splish Splash!