Message from Mommy

OK -- here's a quick update and snapshot of Calista at 19 months old. As some of you may know, we have switched childcare situations. Our nanny Michelle, who we still adore, got offered a job working for her brother she couldn't refuse. After much thought, we decided to join a nanny share care with some friends who live across the street Monday-Thursday. We know it's temporary, since they are having another baby in January, but we're crossing our fingers it will last as long as possible, because it's working out so well! Whenever I tell Calista she's going to play with Claire (new nanny) and Eden she enthusiastically says, "Yeaah!" We found a darling Brazilian woman to watch Calista on Fridays.

Little Missy has managed the transitions, and multiple babysitters/nannies with so much grace. She is really good about accepting new situations with new people. We are very proud of her, and grateful that everything is working out so far.

We feel that she is learning so much in the share care. Since the other little girl is older (Eden will be 2 next month), Calista is inspired and challenged to grow and develop verbally, socially and physically, while still maintaining her sweet disposition, love of reading, love of singing and gentle nature. They do a lot of art projects together, and learn the art of taking turns/sharing. In addition, Calista is growing in new and exciting ways:

Calista can walk backwards
Calista can open the front door all by herself (Oops! we now dead-bolt our door all the time!)
Calista pretends she is a kitty or a puppy
Calista sits on her potty and wipes herself (Oh, I am so looking forward to the day when she is potty trained!)
Calista knows her colors (If you ask her to pick out the white crayon from a pile she can do so! And pretty much every other color too.)

She is putting more two-word strings together:
Call Daddy
Daddy airplane (can you tell Scott's been gone for a week on business?)
Oh no (from reading Pancakes for Breakfast)
I'm sorry
Mommy up
Mike Weezie Boat
No mine (from her first day of share care - wonder where that came from - ha!)
Froggie bed
Night Cookie (her lovie Cookie Monster)
Diaper off

She picks up more words every day. I jotted down some of new words she learned this week (~30!):
Beach
Bed
Black
Feet
Froggie
Girl
Help
Hot
Hunter (Sara's baby boy)
Lap
Lorie
Melon
Oatmeal
Orange
Phone
Please
Potty
Read
Ribbit ribbit
Sand
Sara
Sausage
Smiling
Strawberry
Sweater
Tweet tweet
Walk
Water
Wet
White
Wipe

Finally, I should add that we are in the thick of preschool applications for Calista to start in September 2009. We will find out in February/March where she is accepted. It's a highly competitive process in this city...so we're hoping that she gets into a great school! I'll keep you posted...think good thoughts for us!

More September Photos of Little Missy

First, I want to thank Mummy and Grandpa Michael Vannice for the darling outfit Calista is wearing in the top photo. She looks so grown up in it! We have been brushing Calista's teeth every night for a long time now, but more recently we have upgraded to a real toothbrush (after she chomped down on my finger I had marks that were so deep I decided no more finger rubber toothbrush for Calista!). She's pretty curious about our Sonicare toothbrushes...as well as the TP or "wipes" as we call them. Anything "grown up" seems to be especially appealing. I love the photos of her on the guest bed -- you can see her holding Cookie in one of the shots too. Goodness gracious she is growing up so fast.

Weekend Treats Galore

The other weekend we met up with Tyler and Nathalie for brunch (congrats to them on their "twin-size" news -- woo hoo!). Calista had Foreign Cinema's brunch for babies - best brunch menu ever created for toddlers -- don't let the secret out! As Scott so succintly said, Calista tried chocolate ice cream for the first time and saw God. (The photos say it all...) The next day, Scott and I took Calista to the zoo. She was mesmorized by the penguins swimming, but a little alarmed by the choo choo train. She kept proclaiming "bye bye choo choo!" Sweet girl, I just know when she's a little older she will get such a kick out of going on trains!

Congrats Sharon and Tim!

Over Labor Day Weekend we went to Sharon and Tim's post-elopment bash at Foreign Cinema. Congratulations again! We love you!

More Recent Photos

I laughed out loud watching Calista trying to eat olives before and after (yes, she figured out how to put them on her fingers all by herself!). Here's a still photo of Little Missy on the bike (see video below for the full effect), and a classic picture of Calista looking at a photo album. Yes, we really do talk to her about our friends and family every day. She loves and misses you lots, as do we.

Summer Photos

In the spirit of catching up from our busy summer, here are some more cute photos taken in July and August. Classic photos of mommy and Calista reading in her room, trying on shoes and playing with her lovie Cookie Monster. I should note that Calista LOVES her "Cookie," or as she says, "Uhkee." She sleeps with it every night. Thanks so much to Laura and Munir for giving her this very precious gift. Who knew she would love it so much, have to take it everywhere, and sleep with it every night? Who knew she would try and give it milk, put diapers on it, use her tushie wipes on it, brush its teeth with her tooth brush, try and put it down for night night, ask for it all the time? Who knew it would be "Soggie's" best friend? ("Soggie" is Froggie, Eden's lovie. Eden is the little girl we are doing the share care with now. They live across the street -- I actually went to Haas with Matt, the dad. Small world, and we are loving it.) Also, I would like to note that Cookie also loves Elmo. Thanks a million, Eloise and Mike, for sending it our way! Cookie and Elmo are inseperable when Froggie is not here. Phew! Every lovie needs more than one BFF!

Calista Summer Film Festival

Here are some darling shorts of Calista, taken between July 22 and September 7. Enjoy!

Calista playing with Mommy's shoes July 2008:


Calista drinking water with Mommy August 2008:


More shoes! August 2008:


Calista putting on sunblock August 2008:


Yes - more shoes! The girl is seriously channeling Carrie Bradshaw. August 2008:


Calista singing softly September 2008:


Calista climbing on a bike September 2008:


Calista playing with a camping chair September 2008:

Message from Mommy

At long last, I've got a minute to write some cute things Calista is doing these days. First, though, pretend I an writing all this down as if she were 18 months old (instead of 19!). Calista talks more and more every day. Here are some new words she has learned:

aah aah (monkey noises)
baah baah (sheep noises)
bike
blue
brrm brrm (motor boat noises)
byes (lullabies)
cookie (pronounced "uhkee" for Cookie Monster - her lovie)
down
elbow
Elmo
Ernie
eyes
hat
knee
Matt
me
milk
moon
mouse/mice
neigh (horse sound)
night night
Nonnie
off
on
pool
pretty
sit
sock
something
stars
suit (for bathing suit)
swimming
tutu
tweet tweet
Weezie (for Grandma Eloise)
whoo whoo (Owl noises)
She also made up her own noises for mice and penguins! And she opens and closes her mouth for fish and turtle noises too. Very clever.

Sign language:
airplane (she thinks this is where daddy lives!)
baby
bear
boat
book
dinosaur
fish
go
hot (she made this one up herself!)
monkey
please
shirt
sock
thank you

If you ask Calista where her body parts are (e.g., leg, foot, knee, toes, fingers, hand, arm, belly, back, head, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, cheek) she will point them out!

I've started asking her to point things out when I read her books, and it's astounding what she knows, even if she can't say the words. Like castle, snowman, penguin and elephant, for example.
Here are some more fun updates on Little Missy's life:

If you ask Calista a question she will understand you and answer, very emphatically, "No," or "Yeaah!!" Her enthusiasm is 100% contagious! Sample questions could include, "Do you want oatmeal for breakfast?" "Yeaah!!" Or, "Do you want to put on socks and shoes and go outside?" "Socks and shoes. Outside. Yeahh!!" Or, "Do you want broccoli for lunch?" "No!" You get the picture...

She LOVES looking through photo albums and we point out and talk about everyone in the pictures.

She's started to put two words together, like "daddy shoes," "hi quack quack," "oh no" (from the "Pancakes for Breakfast" book) and "no mine" which she learned on her first day of nanny share care!

She can blow kisses which is very fun.

She learned how to climb up on her high chair and a bike (see video) so apparently she has Scott's rock climbing genes in her.

She can also drink from a cup, which I saw for the first time on September 5, but which our babysitter Sara said she had been able to do for a while. You learn something new every day, I tell you.

She sings songs by herself, and especially likes the melody of Little Surfer Girl. We have changed the lyrics to "Mommy loves you, yes she does, Mommy loves you oh so much, Yes your mommy yes your mommy loves you, oh so much, yes she loves you oh so much." Then we rotate the lyrics with all our family members, Kiki loves you....Daddy loves you...Nonnie loves you...Weezie loves you...you get the idea! She is also a huge fan of the interactive "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" song, and likes to chime in with all the animal sounds.

Summer Lovin' - Happened So Fast

Yes, I am referencing "Grease," one of my all-time favorite movies and soundtracks. I could tell stories of my trampoline choreography, but that would be a serious digression...

It seems like eons ago that we were happily lazing about on vacation. (OK - lazing about is a stretch when you have a 1 1/2 year-0ld, but still, being in Connecticut with lots of family to pitch in was incredible!) We wrapped up our 10-day vacay with another stay on Rogers Lake with the David Bradys. Calista practiced kayaking and proved her prowess on the baby laptop. She even tried to show her mommy how to update the blog more frequently, but apparently that didn't work out so well. (Did I mention that she figured how to do a 3-way call on my cell phone with my mom and sister -- something I still don't know how to do? Honestly, kids these days and their tech savvy!) Daddy played airlplane with her for the first time and she enjoyed it so much she still wanted more even though she could barely walk afterwards - poor sweet girl.

She had so much fun with Weezie, Mike, David, Pat and Shannon, and all in all, it was the perfect way to end our summer of fun! Thanks again Mike and Eloise for making our stay so enjoyable!

(Post scrip -- since we've been back in SF all I have to say is, "Grandma Weezie and Grandpa Mike," and Calista responds with a resounding, "Boat!" This is still going on a month later, obviously since I am finally updating the blog! Um...thanks again everyone for your patience!)

Summer Treats

This darling pink outfit is from Scott's Aunt Carol. I love it. Calista loved getting popsicles, and who can blame her? On Thursday, we had a picnic at the Madison Shore. Every week during the summer Mike and Eloise have dinner with friends there, so we tagged along and invited some friends of our own! Scott grew up with Brian, and he and his wife Noreen have two darling kids. Calista was fascinated, naturally, by their stroller! Scott's Aunt Pat, Uncle David and cousin Shannon also drove down to spend the weekend with us, so we had quite the festive evening.

Boston Tea Party and Then Some

Mike and Eloise watched Calista overnight so Scott and I could have a whirlwind get-away to Boston. (Thank you again!) We took the train, business seats are fabulous, and stayed at the Copley Mariott thanks to Priceline. We started off with lunch with our friend Joanne (went to Haas with Scott) and her darling little girl Adele (Ellie) in the North Side, had coffee with Scott's friend Ben (former co-workers at Boston, who is partly responsible for Scott and I meeting in the first place - long story), stopped by Tapeo on Newberry for some quick camarones since it is Scott's all-time favorite Tapas restaurant, met up for dinner with Joanne, Mike and Ellie back in the North Side, and then grabbed a drink at the Oak Room with Valerie and Boston friends. The next day Scott and I did a long walking tour of Boston and took the train back. (Note the eagle on the statue.) Talk about a vacation!

Water Baby

Although Scott claims that Calista's self-preservation instincts haven't kicked in (because she liked to dive head-first into the waves), we still had a great time at the beach in Madison. The reports of jellyfishes galore are true too -- just in time we saw an enormous jellyfish making its way toward shore. Alas, with the warmer water, the effects of global warming are definitely showing.So we headed for safer water back at Grandma and Grandpa's pool. Calista was in hysterics - we made up a game whereby when she beeped someone's nose they made a big splash. She loved it! She is taking after her daddy big-time with her love for the water (unlike her mommy who hated swimming lessons - but still managed to get certified for scuba diving with Scott, I must add!).

Rogers Lake Day 2

Sorry about the delay in posting these vacation pictures! Since school started at Urban, my schedule has gotten much busier. So without further ado, here are some more fun photos of our time at Rogers Lake in Old Lyme, CT last month. As you can see, Calista was in heaven running around outside in the warm weather, going for dips in the lake, seeing lots of quack quack ducks, and having endless fun with Weezie and Mike (which she can say now - apparently much easier than Gma and Gpa altho we are still trying) and Kiki. One funny story...when she saw the waterskis on the dock she got this wide-eyed look and proclaimed, "Boots!" with much enthusiasm. Yes, even I went for a couple of rounds of waterskiing this year, we got Kiki up for some really good runs, and Scott impressed us all with his dock launches! (He claims it's nicer not getting wet first!)