Tutu TWO (a few days early)

Mommy guilt has set it...we will be out of town WITHOUT kids for Callie's birthday on Thursday (woot woot! and sob at the same time), so I'm doing this post now to make me feel better about missing it.  Hard to believe this little peanut is going to be two already.

Tiny Callie in the hospital.

 Meeting big bro for the first time.

 First birthday.

 Celebrating her second birthday early at Mima's house.

 Mmm...cupcakes.

 My bro got her this helmet, and she immediately asked, "Where's my bike?" Uh-oh. Probably need to get her one, huh? Poor second child.

 Cheering on the Jayhawks for March Madness.

 Two year check-up. 90%ile for height (not including top-pony), 55%ile for weight. Long and lean still!

 Park play during Preston's soccer practice.

 St. Patty's Day

Our little Callie Rose is something else. Always full of energy, always a spitfire. I've started writing down things I love about each kid in their own little book, which I will give to them some day. Here are some of the things I love about my Callie.

At 14-21 months: You smile at me every day in the morning. You eat cottage cheese with your hands and get it EVERYWHERE. You hug my leg.You turn your back to me, slowly back up, and plop down on my lap. Sometimes when you throw a ball, it goes behind you. Everyone is "DADA." You body-slam pillows. You love to hug/pet/try to sit on the cats. Your giggle makes me smile. You have no hair. You put your head on my shoulder when you are really tired. You say "AHHHHHHH" after taking a really big drink. You love to be Superbaby on my knees.You call  Preston "BOBBY." You are stubborn. You give me the stink-eye when you are in trouble. You walk on your tippy toes and giggle at yourself.

At 22-23 Months:  You love dip and eat it with your fingers. You love butter. You SOMEtimes say "Preston", but still call him "Bobby" most of the time. You love to read books at night. You love your lovey blanket. You love to go to Preston's soccer games and run around like a MADwoman. You play "Do I love you THIS much?" with me. You pose and say "cheese" for the camera. You do everything Preston does. Always. When I pick you up from Steph's you hug me and say, "MOMMY! HAPPY TO SEE YOU!" You love to paint. You wear a cape and mask and run around yelling "SUPA CALLIE! I'M SUPA FAST!" You play the piano and say "What's that song, Mommy?" and giggle when I make up an name for the song.  You push your doll in the stroller while clutching your purse to go pretend shopping for more dip. You love hummus and french onion dip, hence the shopping trips. You are opinionated about your clothes -- already. You FINALLY have enough hair for a top pony, and you love it! You say, "Wook, Mommy! My ponytail!" When I ask you questions about a book we are reading, you tell me wrong answers on purpose and giggle at yourself. You love to make people laugh. You talk in complete sentences. For real? For real. You like to stomp snow -- and eat it. You spin in circles until you fall down and laugh the whole time.You spend a lot of time in time-out, just like your big bro.

And, most importantly, you love me -- even with all of my faults as a parent.

Happy Birthday to you, sweet girl!! I couldn't possibly love you more.

Chatty Callie

It has been a verbal explosion over here recently with our Callie Buttons. She never seems to stop learning new words these days. I would say she has hundreds of words in her vocabulary now, and she has started stringing two and three together.  My favorite is when I ask her to do something and she says, "OKAY, MOMMY." I'm sure that won't last forever.  I also love when she walks into a room and says "WHA YOU DO-ING?"  Despite the tremendous increase in her word power, she still refuses to call Preston by his name. I'm pretty sure she'll always call him Bobby. Truth be told, I'VE started calling him Bobby, too.

The beginning of the video is just a typical evening here. The fun never stops!

Smarty Pants

Preston has been working REALLY hard at his preschool, and he has taken some significant steps lately. He has started doing math (what?!) AND reading (double what??!). We're thrilled that he seems to really enjoy both. I can.not.wait until the day he's reading full books to me! (And the day he can read to Callie. Then I can drink a glass of wine, sit back, and relax. HA!)

Just what you want to see...

Some cuteness in general from Callie. She cracks herself up when walking on her tippy toes now, and is talking up a storm.  Sometimes it makes sense, sometimes it doesn't.  She still says NO or UH-UH when she means YES, but we're working on it. She has become quite the comedian and loves to make people laugh.  The second part of the video was shot with the intent of showing her talking, NOT taking a number two. But, alas, she had other plans. (She HAS used the potty on numerous occasions, but no consistency. I bet if I had stopped filming and taken her upstairs, she could have taken care of this business on the pot. But then you wouldn't get to see it!)

SUPER Party!

We celebrated Preston's fourth birthday in style this weekend. What could be more perfect for him than a superhero training party?? I did a little research online, stole some ideas, tweaked a few, and came up with this. First, I sent out the invitations below about a month ago, complete with Super Hero pictures. (Sorry, I can't get the spacing right on this part.)

Calling All Superheroes!!

Mark this date on your Super Calendars:

June 8th from 6:30-8:00 PM

Preston needs your help! We must unite to defeat the forces of evil! Please meet at headquarters (The Main Shelter at Antioch Park by the playground equipment) to prepare for the invasion. We must defend our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of cake. If you can join us to defeat our enemy — and eat cake — please respond as soon as possible with the following top secret information.

No special equipment will be needed, just wear clothing that is appropriate for outdoor superhero training. Your participation is vital to the success of this mission!

RSVP to SuperMom at marie_hooker@yahoo.com or put the info below in Preston’s cubby.

**Do not feel obligated to bring a gift for Preston, but you can bring a small toy for us to donate to Children’s Mercy Hospital — Superheroes love to do nice things for others!

___________________________________________________________________________________

Yes, you can count on me! ___ Maybe-I'll see if my cape is back from the cleaners ___ No, I have to help others that day! ___

My secret identity:

My superhero name:

Total number of superheroes and superparents coming:

The day of the party, the kids arrived at the park to see these banners, and I had some super music playing on the Ipod to set the mood.  

Clint helped me create these signs for the training stations.

 There were 6 stations they had to complete in order to receive their training completion certificate at the end. The Little Supers received a sticker on their shirt/costume/cape as they completed each task. 1)Fast as Flash-run as fas as Flash does- duh. 2) Web Master- climb across a big web on the playground equipment. 3) Capture the Kryptonite- as the kids were getting their instructions from me, a Bad Guy appeared, dropped some Kryptonite, yelled something about ruining the party, and then disappeared. (I missed this part on the video, but did manage to capture the kids' reaction- priceless.) Kids had to put the Kryptonite into the "Hazardous Waste" container using a teaspoon (you can't touch it with your bare hands!) 4) Magnificent Minds- guess how many pieces of candy are in the jar. The closest guess gets to take the jar home. 5) Leap Buildings in a Single Bound- use teamwork to create a building out of blocks and then take turns jumping over it. 6) Mighty Muscles- lift a VERY heavy weight over your head (pictures from this are going to be our thank you cards).

Super Friends ready for action.

Little Supers awaiting instructions for the training stations.



Too small for training, but still a cute little hero!



Fierce and ready to train.



Mighty Muscles



More Mighty Muscles



Mighty Muscles again.

Leaping buildings in a single bound.

Getting stickers after proving they are as Fast as Flash.

Capturing the Kryptonite.

Training complete! The Little Supers got their certificate (signed by Supernom) and super bubbles...just in case the Bad Guy returned.



Attacking the Bad Guy- he returned just as we were preparing to go eat cake. He said he wanted to steal the cake and spoil all of the birthday fun! Luckily he was ONLY afraid of bubbles. Good thing we had some! 

Best part of the party- Clint came to help haul the Bad Guy to jail, and the kids squeaked, "OFF TO JAIL! OFF TO JAIL!" while following behind them. This is my favorite part in the video. Seriously cute.

Bravo, Little Supers. Bravo.

They deserved this cake after all of that hard work defending it!



What a SUPER day for this little guy!

 

The Little Supers agreed to allow the Bad Guy to come to the party...as long as he didn't try to steal the cake again. Thank you, Jason, for being the perfect Bad Guy! I'm sure the random people at the park were a little leery of the creepy man wearing a costume hiding in the parking lot awaiting his signal to crash the party.

Video footage...we never could have pulled this off without the help of friends and family!

Saturday morning we took the toys to Children's Mercy Hospital. Preston really got a kick out of it. He received a toy there during his stay last summer, so it was only fitting to pay it forward.



Phew! Next year we will be having a small party at home with only a few friends and family. I swear.  

Baby Steps

Stats from her one year check-up:

Weight- 19lb 11oz- 25%ile

Head- 17.5in- 50%ile

Height- 30in- 75%ile

A Full Year Has Passed...

A full year has passed since we welcomed our Callie Rose into the family. She brightens our days and is proving to be an active/determined/stubborn child, just like her brother. As challenging as parenthood is, there is nothing better than a one year old (Gasp! Is she really one?!) giving you a big hug and patting you on the back every morning and falling asleep on your shoulder at night.  These are the moments I wish I could bottle up. But, alas, they keep growing.

Some of Callie's milestones over the past year:

2 weeks- hold rattle

4 weeks- smile

3 months- roll over

4 months- eat feet, eat cereal, laugh

6 months- give kisses, army crawl

7 months- sit up, clap, first tooth, first word (MAMA!)

8 months- regular crawl, wave, second word (Dada- this is also her current favorite word.)

11 months- cruise

Still not walking yet, but she's close!

 Here's a little trip down memory lane.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Callie!!