A crib no more

This last week, another milestone in the life of Calista has come. In an experiment, I removed the side of her crib, transforming it into a toddler bed. I wanted to see if she could get up into it herself. The result:

 Yes, she can definitely get up.

And she looooves being able to get in, and out any time she wants.

Thankfully, she still sleeps like a baby, even without the side.

Sweet Sixteen

Baby girl is sixteen months old, and she loves it! She is becoming more independent and able. She can get into the pantry...

open the box of Cheerios...

and enjoy! All by herself!

Of course, this means sometimes we end up with a bit of a mess...

She's also understanding what we say when we tell her she can do something after we do something else. Example: One night, she was asking for milk. We told her she could have some after her bath. Then she started asking for a bath. Good one, kid. We told her that Kyler had to finish cleaning up the kitchen first. The result:

Please, Dad, let me help you!

She's not really speaking words yet, but she is most definitely communicating. She has a sign language vocabulary of about 10 signs, and understands basically everything we ask of her. Calista also is starting to learn the parts of the body and can point to some of them when asked. Or she's try and poke your ears or nose, which isn't quite as good...
The two words she has really gotten down are "Daddy," which she's been doing a while now, and new this month, "ball."

Because the Babe loves to play with balls!

Ready for church on a Sunday.

Calista is getting pretty good at folding her arms at least at the start of the prayer. Now, keeping the folded, staying still and quiet... that she's still working on. Still, we're pleased she even tries. In fact, after a prayer is done, we often praise her for doing a good job and being a good girl. When Calista does something worth praising, Kyler often claps his hands. As a result, the Babe claps her hands at the end of every prayer. It's adorable... and a habit I want to break her of. Oh well.

At church, when she hears the organ start playing, she frantically reaches for a hymn book, even when, say, it's a choir number instead of congregational hymn. Ah, well. We let her hold the hymn book anyway, and she's happy.

We've been meaning to put her old carseat out in the garage, but she simply loves to crawl up in it and sit.

For my birthday, we made a fort in the front room, ordered Chinese take-out, and watched a movie. It was great.

And Calista loved the fort. I think she wishes there would always be pillows and blankets to climb all over in the front room.

We've posted about Calista liking the piano before, so all I'll say is it's still true.


She will actually stop and smile for the camera when I pull it out, which means I can get really cute pictures.

It also means if she's not in the mood to have her picture taken, she waves her arms, pushing away the camera and then turns and runs away.

She's starting to have her preferences.

Neurotic? My daughter? Only slightly. Calista gets very used to routine. She's decided that bibs are definitely a good thing, and so will go and get a bib when it's time to eat. And then, often, a second and third. She will insist that we put them all on her, and why not humor her? At least she's wearing a bib!

Also, whenever we leave the house, she needs to have her boots on, and tries to insist we put them on her even if she already has shoes on. Her hat is something else that she needs. We often bring a blanket into the car to help keep her warm until the car is heated up... she will grab it in the entry way and hand it to me to make sure I don't forget it. All of these things she does even if it's warm enough she doesn't need them, and again, we humor her. Why fight over wearing her warm hat to church or not? I'm picking my battles, and this isn't one of them.

A battle I do pick is Calista biting me. Sometimes Kyler, but mostly me. My sister says Calista is a little Sunny Baudelaire, which is cute... but not when she bites me and it hurts. She gets in trouble when she does.

Still the cook's helper, with honey and a measuring cup. Good thing the lid is tightly on and she can't get it off yet...

Sleep! Blessed sleep! I haven't mentioned earlier, but Calista is actually really easy to get to go down to sleep now! She nurses, I sing a song, I rock her for a minute (more because I want to than anything. I like cuddly sleepy baby!), I put her in her crib and pat her back a little bit (because she is totally a tummy sleeper), and I leave. She turns her head to see me walk out and shut the door, sometimes babbles a bit to herself, and then goes to sleep. Hallelujah!

Happy 16 months, Baby Girl! Do you have a book out for every month you've been alive? Or even more?

It's a NEED!

We may have an addict on our hands, people.  Calista is only allowed her pacifier at nap and bed times. We attach it to her pajamas so when it's time to get her in them, she is all ready for bed.

And she definitely knows where her pacifier is.

 And she will do just about anything to try and get it.

What? There's nothing to see here, Mom.

Yup. Definitely an addict on our hands, the little whiner.

Boo!

Yes, it's Calista's second Halloween. But this is the first one that's been fun! Partially because last year I was horrible sick, but mostly because Calista is so much fun!

We started preparing by reading a Halloween book from the library, and dressing in Minnie Mouse skeleton shirts. Because, you know, why not?

Then we carved our Jack-o-Latern.

This year, a cantaloupe was our medium. It has made our outside entryway smell amazing, like tasty melon! Yum. Kyler's the designer and artist this year, by the way. Didn't he do awesome?

So, we've done enough prep. Now it's time to dress up and have Calista get told she is beautiful by complete strangers!

Calista was, as you can see, a butterfly. Or a fairy? I don't know. 

She did have a wand, though.

In keeping with the spirit of the day, we made monster faces with Mr. Potato Head.

Actually, who am I kidding? Every Mr. Potato Head face looks this... interesting when Calista is the designer.

We also had a dance party brought to you my the Sesame Street Saxophone.

And the letter H.

Then, we headed to the mall. In exchange for a small donation to the food shelter, Calista got a treat bag, a pumpkin to decorate, and the materials.

Calista's pumpkin!

There were also numerous stores that were giving out candy to trick-or-treaters.

Ready to go look cute in exchange for candy!

And off she goes! Wait up, Calista!

Watching her with the people at the mall was very entertaining. Calista loves people. She likes to be talked to and smiled at. She will walk up to someone... and then stop, once she is several feet away. From this distance, she will continue to smile and flirt... but from a distance. If the person comes to close to her, she retreats back further until she is at a "safe distance" again. The length of the safe distance changes depending on how well she knows you. People at church she will get much closer to, but generally will back away if they seem to want to pick her up. Some people, however, can pick her up. As Calista gets to know you better, your "safe distance" decreases. It's really cute. And rather sensible.

Pushing the stroller at the mall, because, you know, she's a big girl.

There was one woman at the mall Calista would actually take candy from. Calista would take a piece or two, and then immediately reach back for the bowl, drop her pieces back in, and grab two new ones. She did this over and over. The store clerk thought it was adorable... and it was. After she started chewing on the wrappers, though, I made her keep the candy and we moved elsewhere.

 She sucked on the candy wrapper for quite a while, finally managing to break it open and get to the good stuff.

 Yeah! Happy Halloween!

Oh, the silliness

It's another month gone, and it is becoming increasingly obvious that Calista The Baby is being replaced by Calista the Toddler. 

Except in pictures like this. It was a long day.
She is growing up so much. Her favorite things are still books, music, and food. That has not changed.

New Sunday shoes, tights, dress and book!
She loves to run around from one end of a room to another, hiding and playing.

She also enjoys coloring and playdough...

...though getting her not to eat the playdough and the crayons can be a bit difficult.

Dance!
She is such a silly babe.

Hiding behind her plate.

Wearing my shoes...
...and playing with a bucket.

So much fun!

Pretending to be Mommy.

Or just playing with her high chair.
Speaking of chairs...

One day I watch her roll the computer chair from its proper position all the way into her bedroom. She was so proud of herself!

On this day, she had us put on and take off every pair of shoes (or boots) she owns over and over again. So silly!

She enjoyed the Calgary Temple open house, and was relatively good for it. As good as you should expect a 15-month-old to be.

Calista enjoys "helping in the kitchen.

 I even let her wear an apron.

She enjoyed it.
She also enjoys getting into everything.

 Her closet...

The boxes under her changing table...

The diaper pail, What a silly baby!
In addition to being silly, she is also very deliberate. Case in point: Calista was playing with Kyler's phone today, and she handed it to me to hold for a little while so she should play with something else. When she put it in my hand, the phone ended up being face down. This simply would not do! She had to reach over and put it right side up before she could play with the other thing properly. A few minutes later, after playing with the phone again, she handed it to me and the same thing happened. Again, she had to set it right. I love that babe!

We've had some snow the last few days.

 Calista wasn't quite sure what to think.

The she tried to run down the driveway, so I decided to go for a walk with her.

Every once in a while, she'd bend down and brush at the snow on the grass. This went well until...

She fell over. You can even see her head print in the snow. Calista didn't actually cry, but I did decide our walk was probably done.

Now, for some more videos. These three videos I've called "Being Calista (1 and 2)" and one last one I called "Please." These all represent how the happy Calista spends her time.

Finally, she is 15 months today!

Happy day!