The nose knows

Sofia has discovered that Daddy's nose is ever-so tasty and just the right size to suck on:

And two new skills -- she's starting to give "hugs," and she's almost figured out how to clap her hands. Genius!

"Lucy, stop licking my bear poop!"

Ha! I bet you were expecting the next post to be "Baby's first Christmas," or something equally cliche. I'm not claiming to be immune from the cliche and mundane, but I like to keep you on your toes.

Christmas in the Caselli household was as lovely as ever this year, with Sofia playing in the paper and ribbon and Lucy trying to get into everything -- hence the post title. John filled my stocking with chocolate items closely resembling bear poop; Lucy seemed to like these best.

We were truly blessed this year, spending both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with family. Not only did we get to go to church to see the kids tell the Christmas story, we also spent hours laughing over games and freshly aerated wine (courtesy of my parents' slick new instant wine aerator). Johnny whipped up an amazing prime rib and some spicy Italian soup -- I'm still stuffed.

Without further adieu, our Christmas in pictures:

Sofia's first present with Grandpa O on Christmas Eve:

Christmas morning:

Sofia skis!

Today, the coastal trail was graced with three generations of skiers at once. Mom, Sofia and I took the Chariot ski trailer out for its inaugural run, and Sofia got her first ski run under her belt...er...Huggies.

Though it took me about an hour of wrestling with the Chariot, figuring out how to fold it up, attach and detach the poles and skis, get it in and out of the car, etc., the effort was well worth it. Sofia loved it, and even slept the second half of our run. The rest of the afternoon she was as smiley and giggley as I've seen her -- apparently it agrees with her!

I can't wait to get out again. That is, once my muscles have recovered...

Ma-ma-ma-merry Christmas

Sofia has progressed from saying "babababa" to "mamamama." Merry Christmas to me!

Another one for the puppy love gallery

Sofia has always loved the dogs, but the thrill has apparently kicked up a notch recently. She squeals and giggles with sheer delight when she touches them, and loves watching them shake their ears, growl at each other...pretty much anything. And Lucy clearly returns the affection.

In other Sofia news, she has mastered the letter "b." Our house is almost constantly filled with a lovely baby chorus of "babababababababababa." This is then, of course, followed by John saying "dadadadadada" and me saying "mamamamamama." Not that we're competitive about this or anything.

Because no Caselli should be without one, Sofia just received her first punching bag from Grandma Caselli. It's a toss up as to who actually enjoys it more -- Sofia or the dogs. Either way, it's a great toy and good for lots of giggles. Thanks Grandma!

Then and now

I found a few photos from this time last year. I was somewhere around 20 weeks pregnant, and we were celebrating Johnny's big 4-0 in Seattle. How can we ever top spending his birthday at a Seahawks game??? Sharp contrast to today, when his birthday plans revolve around when we can get a babysitter. Not that I'm complaining -- could life be any better with this smile?

A very Caselli Thanksgiving

First, it needs to be said that I'm sick. There is so much pressure in my head that it feels like my brain is twice the size of my skull. My eardrums have not popped in three days and two flights. That means I get a free pass for any spelling and/or grammatical errors or strange tangents in this post. Something also needs to be said about the effect that a 70-some degree swing in temperature can have on a person. It's not fun going from 75 sunny degrees to TWO FLIPPIN DEGREES. Anyway.

So we just returned from our week in Vegas. Apparently it's become traditional for us to get sick when we go to Vegas. Sofia caught the bug first, and of course promptly covered us in her germ-ridden drool. She's just fine now, but John and I are down for the count. Both our ears are completely plugged. It's pretty sad listening to us try to talk to each other right now -- neither of us can hear the other.

Besides getting sick, it was a fantastic week. Sofia was an angel for her first Thanksgiving! And, like the post title implies, it was a Thanksgiving in true Caselli style -- complete with pasta, cannoli, pool, boxing and lots of loud people. It was one of those weeks where, given enough wine, I might be persuaded that living in Vegas would be all right. Seriously, our Vegas family is amazing, and it's getting tougher and tougher to leave them. 

Here's our week in pictures...

Johnny got to catch up with his buddies:

Sofia got to meet her Papa Caselli:

Aunt Toni and cousin Anthony taught Sofia all about the speedbag:

The cousins turned Sofia into a pool shark:

We got lots of quality family time:

Sofia played the piano and made friends with all the Consiglio dogs, including the two brand new pug puppies, Rocky and Bella:

And last but not least, Johnny and I got a night out on the town. We caught the La Reve show at the Wynn, watched the fountains at the Bellagio, and just generally enjoyed wandering around the strip together:

Swimming with the fishies

Or rather, swimming with toddlers. Lots and lots of toddlers. Today Sofia and I met some friends at H2Oasis, the local indoor waterpark, for her first swim. We discovered that apparently the parent-toddler session is quite the popular event around these parts -- the place was packed! Now I know where I'll be getting my social time during the winter...

Probably the best part of the whole experience was how incredibly cute Sofia was in her little swimmer diaper and surfer-style swim top. Sorry, no pic this time, managing an infant in a swimming pool doesn't lend itself well to photography. I'll try to get one next time.

Anyhoo, Sofia rocked it. She wasn't sure what to make of it at first, but after about 10 minutes, she was enjoying being shuttled around the surface of the water and watching the hordes of kids around her. And then...after mustering my courage for about half an hour...we dunked! And dunked again! Sofia's only reaction was a few blinks. Of course, I have to thank my mom for the tip about blowing in her face to get her to close her eyes. Worked like a charm!

So now I'm looking forward to my weekly swimming date with my girlfriend and her son. And of course, this is all for Sofia's benefit and has nothing to do with the luxury of lounging around in a nice warm pool on a cold winter day. Obviously.

I guess she likes solid food

In a previous post, I crowed about Sofia using a spoon to feed herself a few bites. Well, seems her eating habits have deviated a bit, and I'm not sure if it's for better or worse. On one hand, hey! At least she's enthusiastic about eating. On the other hand...well...

You can leave your hat on

It seems that Sofia has an affinity for wearing things on her head. Perhaps, similar to the wet willy, it's merely a strange new distraction. Whatever the reason is, it's highly amusing. Especially when what's on her head also has something that dangles in front of her face, much like the proverbial carrot on a stick. So, without further adieu, I present to you...bookhat!

No hat post would be complete without a shot of Sofia and her beloved Mets hat:

And finally, a long overdue shot of Sofia and her favorite hedgehog for Sarah. She loves playing with it, and giggles every time I bring it out:

How big is Sofia?

Big enough to sit up on her own. According to her latest stats, she's grown 7 inches and gained 8 pounds since she was born. What a bruiser!

Six months old and a south-pawed self-feeder

For probably the last two months, Sofia has been fascinated with watching us eat. And, surprise, surprise, she seems particularly taken with chocolate. I guess the chocolate gene is a powerful one. But I digress. She's so into this eating thing that yesterday she grabbed the spoon from me and I let her have at it. And she fed herself. Now, I do have to admit that anything that makes it into her hand automatically goes into her mouth, but I'm still going to say she fed herself. The proof? Is in the pictures:

Daddy has also finally gotten into the feeding game, which is, needless to say, very nice for me!

40 is the new...senior citizen?

A whole slew of my girlfriends are having birthdays this week, their ages ranging from 29 to 51. They're all handling their advancement in age gracefully, which I admire. And then, whilst waiting for my coffee at Kaladi Bros., I was treated to the view from the other side of the age spectrum. Behold this conversation between two young hipsters about the hiring situation at the coffee shop:

High school age customer: So you guys aren't hiring anymore? Did a lot of people apply for the job?

High school age barista: Yeah, a bunch of high school kids applied, and a 40-year-old lady.

High school age customer: Whoa. If she worked here and I walked in, I'd be like, whoa. That's weird. That's just weird.

High school age barista: Yeah. I mean, are there like no other jobs for her age?

High school age customer: And how was she...uh, physically? I mean, did she like know you're on your feet all day?

High school age barista: Yeah, I dunno. She seemed, like, a little shaky.

Really? I mean, really? I guess when I was in high school, 40 DID seem old, but I don't think I ever thought of 40 year olds as semi-senile seniors tottering shakily around. Then again, who knows how accurately I'm remembering anything in the dotage of my late 20s.

Oh well, I'd take 40 over 16 any day. Orthopedic shoes and all.

The freakish contortions of young people

This picture slays me. This is Cody and Bradyn at their mom's wedding...they got special permission to go up and look at the church's organ. This was the result of the excitement of such a special occasion. Sugar may have been involved, too.

We be pirates, yar!

Sofia and I are pirates for Halloween this year...like everyone else and their brother. But hey, it be fun being pirates, matey! John's costume (not a pirate) is still in the works.

Here's a closeup of Sofia's skirt and awesome skull and crossbone leggings:

These pics were from the big bellydancer Halloween party, which John managed to get out of. I don't blame him :)

Time to start saving for braces

'Cause she got her first tooth!

I'm actually a bit late with this post, I made the discovery on Thursday afternoon when she was chewing my finger. She's been in an awfully good mood for someone who's cutting teeth. We're counting our blessings on that one!

She thinks she's a seagull

Sofia's latest noise sounds exactly like a squawking seagull. Hilarious.

*Calling myself out: Yes, I just had to look up "squawk" in the dictionary to remember how to spell it. Guess my brain still hasn't returned to its normal size...

Return to Chickaloon

This weekend resulted in two new goals for me: learn how to make cranberry ketchup, and build a sauna in our backyard. Chickaloon will have that effect on a gal!

Sofia, Lori and I headed out to visit our friends out in Chickaloon on Saturday, arriving in time to don our big dance skirts and join the party in progress. The boys were in their groove, putting out amazing music with drums, bass guitar, acoustic guitar, sitar and sarangi. We immediately joined in the dancing with the girls, with Sofia very happily observing the whole thing from her bumbo chair on the couch.

This girl is destined to be a musician and/or a dancer. Usually she crashes hard at 8 p.m. without fail, but this night she stayed up in happy party mode until midnight, just listening to the music and watching the dancers.

After crashing in the cabin known affectionately as the "Love Shack," we woke up the next morning to a fresh blanket of snow, and it was still coming down. There's just nothing like the insulated quiet of new snow in the woods. We bundled up and hiked over to the main cabin, where Melea was fixing pancakes, coffee and potatoes, served with her homemade cranberry ketchup!! Yum. I'm obsessed with this ketchup and must make some for myself.

Breakfast was followed by a stint in the sauna, complete with an essential-oil-infused sugar scrub. Perfect way to detox for the drive home!

Again, no Chickaloon pictures, which is a shame. I had a prime photo opp of Sofia swinging in the indoor hammock. But these weekends just don't lend themselves well to hauling a camera around. Next time.

The grand Plume-Bah

Another look at the flower hats:

Botanicals, belugas and other miscellany

We made our grand return to Funky Town last weekend, this time for the Seward Music & Arts Festival. The sun ended up shining the entire weekend, a miracle of enormous proportions. With the snowcapped mountains and orange and yellow trees, the scenery was spectacular!

The festival itself was a fine, fine time. Hubs took care of Sofia while I performed, and got some time to mingle with the other Bellydancer Baby Daddies. Or, as he's otherwise known, Eric. How cute are the dads with their little girls? They spent the entire time in the beer garden, so I think they had fun.



I did a fun gypsy-esque number:

And another sassy little ditty:

After the festival, the bellydancers + entourage took over Ray's. I also happened to bump into my high school physics teacher, Mr. Ennis. He's still my favorite teacher -- how could he not be? He got me to like PHYSICS, for crying out loud.

The next day John was kind enough to go solo with Sofia for a while so I could soak in Lori's hot tub with her and Shawna. Mmmm. It was just what the doctor ordered!

Sadly, the weekend had to come to an end. The drive home was another classic Alaska road trip. We stopped on the arm to watch a para-surfer (I have no idea what that activity is officially called), and while we were stopped we saw nine beached beluga whales. Lest you worry about the whales, the tide was coming in quickly, so they were safe:



And, just before pulling into town, we drove past Potter's Marsh, where a number of swans were sunning themselves. Beautiful!

So that brings me to this weekend. It was just another usual Friday night for me, wearing a five-foot-tall flower hat. You know, nothing new.

This was actually quite a hoot. Shawna and I modeled these crazy creations at the big Sono fasion show at the new convention center. I think we were a hit, of sorts.

And finally, my sister Jess tied the knot this weekend! It was a quick, private ceremony with just family in attendance. So now Sofia has a new Uncle Pete! Yay!

The little details

So, I recently learned that pregnancy physically reduces the size of a mother's brain. With that in mind, I'm going to record a bunch of little details that I know I'll forget otherwise. Bear with me, just because I get a kick out of this stuff doesn't make it riveting blog material...

I love...
- The way she pushes herself up using the back of her wrists instead of the palms of her hands.
- The way she carefully holds her hands in front of her face and inspects them.
- How my annoyance at the 5 a.m. wake up call can so quickly fade as she coos softly in her singsong voice.
- Her fascination with her feet, and how she now enjoys sucking her toes.
- How she lunged for the food dish with mouth open as soon as she saw the spoon go into the bowl.
- How she has fallen for Lucy. Last night she busted a gut for a good five minutes watching Lucy and John play tug-o-war.
- The way she screeches for the sheer joy of screeching.
- Racing her on the changing table to see if I can get her hands through the sleeves before she tries to suck them. I always lose.
- The way she fusses, then stops to shoot us a sidelong glance to see if we're coming for her. She's smart...
- How the sight of Daddy when he comes home never fails to get a grin and a giggle.
- How she is so good at rolling from her back to her belly, but still hasn't gotten it the other way, which is easier. Will this be a pattern in her life? Always doing things the hard way?
- How well she fills the role of centerpiece in her bumbo chair on the dinner table.
- Her extreme snugliness in the mornings.

I think I'll leave it at that for now.

Unorthodox parenting

I wonder if we're the only parents to use the "wet willy" technique to quell fussing?

At least we don't have to use it all that often these days.