The medal count that...um...counts.

There's no stopping the inevitable.

I don't think anyone ever doubted that the U.S. would demolish the medal count.  Sure, they may have gotten nervous in the first few days, when China ran ahead on the backs of people who spend their lives falling gracefully, but such nervousness was unnecessary.  After all, the U.S has a long history of winning the overall medal count.  You have to go back twenty years to shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union to find them anywhere other than at the top.  In the end, I'm pretty cool with that.  It's kind of expected.  What I'm less cool with is stuff like this:

I guess I can't blame certain individuals for spiking the football.  I know I would, if I had the chance.  I don't care how Uncanadian that would make me.  The trouble is, winning summer olympic medals also appears to be somewhat Uncanadian.  We tend to be relatively humble about it.  So humble, in fact, that we set for ourselves the lofty goal of placing 12th in the overall standings.  And how did that go?

Close but no cigar.

Don't get me wrong.  Canada deserved every one of those 18 medals.  We were also heartbreakingly close to a lot more, with 14 fourth and fifth places finishes, along with a demoralizing disqualification for the men's 4x100 relay.  I'm proud of what Canada's athletes were able to do with what they had.  

Still, it doesn't seem quite fair for the U.S. to lord the medal count over the rest of the world.  After all, if a country as populous and well off as the U.S. didn't walk away with that many medals, something would have to be injuriously wrong.  For Canada, on the other hand, with just under a 10th the population of the U.S. and a fraction of it's political and economic clout, getting just under a 5th of the U.S.'s medals should count for something.  I decided to crunch a few numbers and find out just how much something.  Here's the top 20 reorganized and adjusted according to population.  That had to put us somewhere in the top 5.

Well.  Look at that.  Mission accomplished?

Hmm.  How about GDP?  If I just keep adjusting for crap it'll work out, right?

Frick.  This isn't helping.

Sigh.  Oh well.  I guess my dream of olympic victory via statistical manipulation will go unfulfilled.  Seriously though, what are they putting in the water in New Zealand?  That just makes me feel like a sack somehow.  Anyway, at least I have one small consolation:

Oh.  Hello Americans.  Didn't see you down there.

Rings, horses, and dancing

In case you haven't noticed, it's that time again...!

Need a second hint?

It's OLYMPICS!

I have a vague obsession with the Olympics. Not as bad as my sister, but I love them. One of my favorite things about this year is that we currently have (free) sports package cable, so there is at least one channel (if not 4) showing Olympics 23 hours a day. The rest time is 1-2 AM. I get to watch things live, people! Um, sorry, not to brag. Another awesome thing? Since I'm in Canada, I don't have quite as American-skewed coverage. We still see plenty of Americans (one of those four channels is actually NBC from Spokane), but we also see Canadians and lots of other nations. Way fun. The absolute best thing about the Olympics this year is watching this little girl:

She loves the Olympics, too! The equestrian jumping made her giggle. I think horses must look very entertaining to her. Also making her laugh? Crashes in the BMX racing. Apparently she has a mildly sadistic streak. Her favorite event seems to be gymnastics (above is men's all-around), particularly the women's floor routine. And why not? They play music and dance... very crazy-impressive, way-difficult dancing, but dancing nonetheless.
Which means Calista dances.

Oh, boy, do I love this baby girl!

For the love of a good book

As I mentioned in a previous post, Calista loves reading. 

In the first year of her life, she has read the following books, many of them more than once:

1. One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish
2. Colorful World
3. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
4. Mouse Tales
5. Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories
6. Clifford the Big Red Dog
7. Clifford’s Family (which did not include me, oddly enough)
8. My World
9. The Runaway Bunny
10. Goodnight Moon
11. Fox in Socks
12. Blueberry Girl
13. Goodnight Moon ABC
14. Goodnight Moon 1, 2, 3
15. If You Give a Moose a Muffin
16. Eyewitness Books: Skeleton
17. Baby Love
18. Ella Enchanted
19. Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?
20. I Want To Be A Doctor
21. Bottom’s Up
22. Noisy Nora
23. Horton Hears A Who
24. Rhyme & Discover
25. Adventures with Nicholas: The Missing Cat (English
and Spanish!)
26. Gideon: The Youngest Wagon Driver
27. Davy’s Dream
28. Huevos Verdes Con Jamon (Green Eggs and Ham en Espanol)
29. The Sneeches And Other Stories
30. Dealing with Dragons
31. Gideon’s Baptism: A Day to Always Remember
32. Holes
33. The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe
34. Good Night Oregon
35. Learn the Alphabet
36. Flip-O-Saurus
37. The Book of Mormon
38. Whooo loves you?

I think the next novel we might read will be Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Or should it be Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone? Such tough decisions.

One tired baby girl

What happens when Calista decides not to nap when she's supposed to?

...yeah, she'll fall asleep during her snack instead.

The past year: a Calista retrospective

The last year has definitely been an interesting one for me and Kyler. We both quit our jobs, moved to a different city (in a different country), Kyler started grad school... Obviously, the biggest change was Calista being born into our family. We are so blessed to have this beautiful baby girl in our care. She has brought us so much happiness... and some heartache. But the good far outweighs the bad.

Calista is definitely starting to have quite a personality. She has definite likes and dislikes. Here are some of her favorite things:

Books - these are the ones she pulls out almost every day, and always smiles when you begin reading them:

• Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?
• Blueberry Girl

Toys - the ones she pulls out of the toybox again and again:

• Saxophone
• Balls of any sort
• Monkeys in a Barrel
• Stacking Rings

Color - as learned on her birthday, while we played with a wire block maze at the mall and she repeatedly reached for the blocks of just this color:

• Orange

Food:

• Spaghetti
• Bananas
• Goldfish
• Cheese

Inanimate objects:

• Shoes
• Kitchen utensils
• DVDs (pulling them off the shelves)
• Remotes and computer mice

People:

• Mom
• Dad

Chore:

• Laundry!
• Sweeping

Words:

• Dada
• There

Pooping positions:

• Standing up, shoulders scrunched
• The Plank pose

Animal:

• Puppies
• Gryphon

Activities:

• Dancing
• Reading
• Playing piano
• Nursing
• Eating!
• Bathtime

Park play structure:

• Swing
• Teeter-totter

Calista dislikes:

• Crawling on grass
• The vacuum
• Being "abandoned"
• Shots

And, now, the year in pictures:

First month:

Second month:

Third month:

Fourth month:

Fifth month:

Sixth month:

Seventh month:

Eighth month:

Ninth month:

Tenth month:

Eleventh month:

Twelfth month:

What a year it has been...!