Nico can now successfully eat his own toes!
Also, he has sprouted two teeth over this last week and barely blinked an eye -- what a guy! And what a thankful mama.
Next step: real food!
Monday, November 28, 2011
Friday, November 18, 2011
Quick status update
At 5.5 months, Nico is just over 18 pounds and hitting the 75th percentile in all categories. He began rolling over from back to belly this last week and is constantly, desperately trying to eat his own toes.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Welcome to the Hotel Caselli
We don't have mirrors on the ceiling or pink champagne on ice, but we've got kids' toys on the floor and a big jug of sauvignon blanc in the fridge. Couple that with a big guest room upstairs and you've got the perfect recipe for inviting guests galore!
In recent months we've hosted a slew of family members visiting to see new baby Nico, plus John's best bud Ted from Colorado, my dance friend from Bend, our old neighbors and their daughter from Bend (twice, I think), a friend from Alaska getting ready to move to Portland, my sister and nephew, and in our craziest hosting event to date, the entire Danilava-Smith clan moved in for several days when they moved to Portland from Alaska (two parents, three young daughters, and one non-English speaking Baba -- at least their cat stayed in a kitty motel!). It's been chaotic but all sorts of fun. I love that we're able to welcome so many of our loved ones into our home!
Besides all the hosting duties, Nico (aka Little Dude, Tank, Chuckles, Tiger, Milkshake) has suddenly gone from a newborn to practically half a year old! When did that happen? Oh right, over the last five months. We don't currently have an official weight, but as of his last checkup about two months ago, he was already almost 15 pounds -- that's half of his big sister's body weight!
The Little Dude is something else. He charms the socks right off of me. Nico began smiling very early and hasn't stopped. He loves seeing the faces of his favorite people, and is always ready to greet you with a lopsided grin and a chuckle. And boy oh boy, is he a boy! What a loud little kiddo. His current favored time for joyful yelling and squealing and grunting is between 5-6 a.m. Awesome.
He's trying so hard to roll over, and he is one strong guy. But he's got quite a bit of mass to heft around, so I don't expect a roll to be imminent. He's also got a faucet for a mouth, drooling more than any bib can keep up with. The first time I called him "Drool Bucket," Sofia promptly went and found a little bucket and held it under his chin :) The crazy gumming and chewing has commenced, so I'm sure teeth are pretty close around the corner.
Oh, am I one lucky mama. Each night I stand between the two doors of my sleeping kids' rooms and enjoy a silent little moment of awe at the family John and I have created. How can I love two kiddos any more? I treasure those little innocent moments, because I can see now how quickly they fade, and grow fewer and farther between. I see Sofia becoming independent, creating space between herself and Mama. I deal with her emerging temper and willfulness. I listen to the new phrases she picks up from her friends at school, and wonder what she experiences when I'm not there. I can't help but look ahead to the teenage years...
Back to the present, here a bunch of unordered photos posted in an attempt to catch up (Aug.-Oct.):
Sofia and Aidan at the Alaska Zoo during our Sept. visit:
Randomly bumping into my best college friend, Emily, at the Alaska Zoo:
Father and son, chillin:
Back at the zoo, Sofia bustin a sweet move:
First day of VBS for Sof!
This is what happens in the backseat when I'm not looking:
Sofia and her friends found an awesome dirt pile to play in while at the Soap Box Derby on Mt. Tabor (which was super duper fun):
Laughing guy!
Sof getting silly with Mommy's boots:
Sofia began her first ballet classes this summer:
Cannon Beach with Uncle Keith and Aunt Toni -- Sofia learned how to fly a kite!
She also completely encrusted herself in sand:
She is such a great cook. She serves me a glass of wine before she begins, and makes things like strawberry-vanilla-carrot soup.
Cannon Beach again -- we're getting better at building sand castles! I did the bulk of the construction with Nico in the Moby wrap, making it more impressive than it looks...
Back in Alaska, at Shawna and Jeff's beautiful Chickaloon wedding:
Sofia and Shiva:
Cousins Cody and Nico:
Glow stick and necklace party at Grandma O's:
Most of the dancer crowd at Shawna's wedding:
Back in Cannon Beach, family shot at our favorite place to eat, JP's. The family who ran it closed it down this season, sadly. The owner/chef/grandma was kind enough to hold Nico and take him on a tour of the restaurant while we ate!
Super fun trip to Sunriver with Vegas friends Micah, Lisa, Grace, Joey and Cheyenne:
Sofia's first day of preschool! So proud...
Loving the hammocks in Chickaloon:
Rare Jo/Johnny shot:
Nico in the Chariot:
Real men sit in pink Bumbos:
A gloriously hot day at Mirror Lake:
Sofia's first field trip! Lee's pumpkin patch:
Cousins!
Sofia helped me get my costuming ready for a photo shoot:
Mets fan at the pumpkin patch:
Hooray for trampolines!
Fabulous gene pool:
Hey. You talkin' to ME?
Halloween party at school for our Pink Flower Fairy (costume by Mom):
In recent months we've hosted a slew of family members visiting to see new baby Nico, plus John's best bud Ted from Colorado, my dance friend from Bend, our old neighbors and their daughter from Bend (twice, I think), a friend from Alaska getting ready to move to Portland, my sister and nephew, and in our craziest hosting event to date, the entire Danilava-Smith clan moved in for several days when they moved to Portland from Alaska (two parents, three young daughters, and one non-English speaking Baba -- at least their cat stayed in a kitty motel!). It's been chaotic but all sorts of fun. I love that we're able to welcome so many of our loved ones into our home!
Besides all the hosting duties, Nico (aka Little Dude, Tank, Chuckles, Tiger, Milkshake) has suddenly gone from a newborn to practically half a year old! When did that happen? Oh right, over the last five months. We don't currently have an official weight, but as of his last checkup about two months ago, he was already almost 15 pounds -- that's half of his big sister's body weight!
The Little Dude is something else. He charms the socks right off of me. Nico began smiling very early and hasn't stopped. He loves seeing the faces of his favorite people, and is always ready to greet you with a lopsided grin and a chuckle. And boy oh boy, is he a boy! What a loud little kiddo. His current favored time for joyful yelling and squealing and grunting is between 5-6 a.m. Awesome.
He's trying so hard to roll over, and he is one strong guy. But he's got quite a bit of mass to heft around, so I don't expect a roll to be imminent. He's also got a faucet for a mouth, drooling more than any bib can keep up with. The first time I called him "Drool Bucket," Sofia promptly went and found a little bucket and held it under his chin :) The crazy gumming and chewing has commenced, so I'm sure teeth are pretty close around the corner.
Oh, am I one lucky mama. Each night I stand between the two doors of my sleeping kids' rooms and enjoy a silent little moment of awe at the family John and I have created. How can I love two kiddos any more? I treasure those little innocent moments, because I can see now how quickly they fade, and grow fewer and farther between. I see Sofia becoming independent, creating space between herself and Mama. I deal with her emerging temper and willfulness. I listen to the new phrases she picks up from her friends at school, and wonder what she experiences when I'm not there. I can't help but look ahead to the teenage years...
Back to the present, here a bunch of unordered photos posted in an attempt to catch up (Aug.-Oct.):
Sofia and Aidan at the Alaska Zoo during our Sept. visit:
Randomly bumping into my best college friend, Emily, at the Alaska Zoo:
Father and son, chillin:
Back at the zoo, Sofia bustin a sweet move:
First day of VBS for Sof!
This is what happens in the backseat when I'm not looking:
Sofia and her friends found an awesome dirt pile to play in while at the Soap Box Derby on Mt. Tabor (which was super duper fun):
Laughing guy!
Sof getting silly with Mommy's boots:
Sofia began her first ballet classes this summer:
Cannon Beach with Uncle Keith and Aunt Toni -- Sofia learned how to fly a kite!
She also completely encrusted herself in sand:
She is such a great cook. She serves me a glass of wine before she begins, and makes things like strawberry-vanilla-carrot soup.
Cannon Beach again -- we're getting better at building sand castles! I did the bulk of the construction with Nico in the Moby wrap, making it more impressive than it looks...
Back in Alaska, at Shawna and Jeff's beautiful Chickaloon wedding:
Sofia and Shiva:
Cousins Cody and Nico:
Glow stick and necklace party at Grandma O's:
Most of the dancer crowd at Shawna's wedding:
Back in Cannon Beach, family shot at our favorite place to eat, JP's. The family who ran it closed it down this season, sadly. The owner/chef/grandma was kind enough to hold Nico and take him on a tour of the restaurant while we ate!
Super fun trip to Sunriver with Vegas friends Micah, Lisa, Grace, Joey and Cheyenne:
Sofia's first day of preschool! So proud...
Loving the hammocks in Chickaloon:
Rare Jo/Johnny shot:
Nico in the Chariot:
Real men sit in pink Bumbos:
A gloriously hot day at Mirror Lake:
Sofia's first field trip! Lee's pumpkin patch:
Cousins!
Sofia helped me get my costuming ready for a photo shoot:
Mets fan at the pumpkin patch:
Hooray for trampolines!
Fabulous gene pool:
Hey. You talkin' to ME?
Halloween party at school for our Pink Flower Fairy (costume by Mom):
Monday, August 29, 2011
Cherishing those little details
We've always been very proud of Sofia and her language skills (come on, she talks about food going down her esophagus). I get the biggest kick out of sitting around and chit-chatting with her; watching her mimic adult tendencies. I love watching my little girl grow up this way.
But no matter how proud I am, no matter how much I love watching her grow up, I just know my heart is going to break a little the day she stops saying the following:
Ploby = probably
Bip, robop = bit, robot
Wery = very
Lellow, lell = yellow, yell
Free = three
Grow up, Sofia, just not too fast, please!
But no matter how proud I am, no matter how much I love watching her grow up, I just know my heart is going to break a little the day she stops saying the following:
Ploby = probably
Bip, robop = bit, robot
Wery = very
Lellow, lell = yellow, yell
Free = three
Grow up, Sofia, just not too fast, please!
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Psychedelic conversations, part 2
There is no context to this conversation, this is literally how we jumped into things:
Sofia: That's the soft package we take on the airplane.
Me: Um, what?
Sofia: We take the soft package on the airplane and put it in the trash.
Me: Oh, I see (read: complete incomprehension). Then what?
Sofia: We put it in the trash, and when it comes out it's a beautiful butterfly!
Me: Wow.
Sofia: With a shell. And a ladybug.
I wish I could remember the conversation about the bubble who wants to be monkey king, but I've forgotten the pertinent parts. Because, you know, otherwise it wouldn't make any sense.
Sofia: That's the soft package we take on the airplane.
Me: Um, what?
Sofia: We take the soft package on the airplane and put it in the trash.
Me: Oh, I see (read: complete incomprehension). Then what?
Sofia: We put it in the trash, and when it comes out it's a beautiful butterfly!
Me: Wow.
Sofia: With a shell. And a ladybug.
I wish I could remember the conversation about the bubble who wants to be monkey king, but I've forgotten the pertinent parts. Because, you know, otherwise it wouldn't make any sense.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Psychedelic toddler conversations
This whispered conversation just took place with Sofia. Why it was conducted in whispers I have no idea...
S: The volcano exploded so we are going on a Capri Sun vacation.
Me: That sounds like fun. How will we get there?
S: We'll drive there. In Mommy's car.
Me: OK. Will it take us a long time to get there?
S: Yeah, it will take us...like five minutes.
Me: What will we do when we get there?
S: We'll go see the waterfall, but we won't go under it. It's a new one.
Me: Then what will we do?
S: Go see the armadillo.
Riiiight. This is just one of many similar conversations. And I have to include her question the other day as we were walking and we were passed by two bicycles:
"Mommy, was that a peloton?"
Parenting is a lot of things, but it's never boring!
S: The volcano exploded so we are going on a Capri Sun vacation.
Me: That sounds like fun. How will we get there?
S: We'll drive there. In Mommy's car.
Me: OK. Will it take us a long time to get there?
S: Yeah, it will take us...like five minutes.
Me: What will we do when we get there?
S: We'll go see the waterfall, but we won't go under it. It's a new one.
Me: Then what will we do?
S: Go see the armadillo.
Riiiight. This is just one of many similar conversations. And I have to include her question the other day as we were walking and we were passed by two bicycles:
"Mommy, was that a peloton?"
Parenting is a lot of things, but it's never boring!
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Another exercise in anachronism
We're going back in time here to highlight some more milestones. During Aunt Lisa and G's visit, Nico was baptized! Also included are shots of Sof's buddy Hannah's birthday party at our house, Grandma Caselli and Auntie Jess.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
