Family Trip

We recently had a vacation - President's Week. Penelope was able to enjoy 24 hr/day milk buffet for 9 whole days, and Matt and I took the opportunity to take a family vacation and visit friends in Humboldt. We stayed in Manila with Carlos and Miranda (thanks again for the awesome hospitality!), and had a great time.

Penelope played in the sand for the first time. I'm not sure if she loved it, but she was definitely amused by it. I kept waiting for her to eat it, but she never did. I found a sweet spot on the beach for her to play - right next to a huge old-growth stump. She played with the sand and climbed on the stump and had a great time watching Stella and Trinity play.

Matt and I left Penelope for the first time and went to the Swedish hot tubs at Cafe Mokka - it was sooooooooooooooo hard, at first. The whole way to the tubs we felt wrong leaving her - even though we felt safe that Miranda was watching her. Pretty much as soon as our feet hit the water, our fear and anxiety evaporated, the water was super hot and relaxing. We didn't dawdle though after our time was up, we definitely missed Penelope and were ready to get back to her. We were greeted with an adorable sight when we walked into the house - Penelope was fast asleep on Miranda's chest. Such an adorable sight! Miranda, thanks again for watching her and also being so patient with all the advice and info we threw at you about watching her.

Overall, it was a wonderful trip. We were able to visit with friends we haven't seen in a long time and also enjoy time together as a family without the stresses of life (i.e. jobs).

Here's a little video of her being adorable the other night.

She might have a future as a professional eater...what do you think?

A typical late night evening

One of the "fun" things Penelope's been doing lately is going to sleep at her normal time, but waking up about an hour later, ready to play. The video above is some footage of one of our nights.

Our little monkey turned 9 months old today! 9 months! Crazy! Some of the things that characterized the last month with her include these late nights. She's started dancing to music, well, bouncing up and down. Whatever it is, it's definitely adorable.

Her top two teeth are definitely in. She's enjoying eating a little bit more. Her favorite flavors include banana and mango. She still loves baths - Mommy and her take them together now since she loves standing and it kills Mommy's back to constantly lean over the tub, keeping her down.

She loves walking with Daddy. They go for walks almost everyday, depending on the weather. Matt and Penelope walk through the redwoods and look at plants and listen to the birds in the forest. They go to the park nearby and Penelope loves to get out of her pack and play on the benches. We recently invested in a Kelty hiking pack for her. It's great. She's up high and can see out and her limbs are all safely tucked inside. And it's comfy.

She had her first busted lip the other night. She face planted and came up bleeding, but was a trooper and stopped crying just a few minutes later.

She's close to walking. She can easily stand from a sitting position and balance for a few seconds. She's gotten a lot faster at crawling - we can't take our eyes off her for a second when she's on the loose.


Stay tuned for some cute 9 month pics...

8 months old

Enjoy the pics - all are of Penelope, 8 months old. Some videos will follow, hopefully sooner than later.

A whole bunch of firsts

The Calamond's have experienced a whole lot of firsts this holiday season. We flew together to TX as a family. We had our first Christmas together as a family. Penelope bonded with Great Granny, Grandma, & PawPaw. Matt had his first vacation at home. Penelope and Cort flew solo back to Cali. Penelope climbed a set of stairs all by herself! Peeps had her first Harley ride (ok, she just sat on one). And....Penelope had her first taste of formula (not a fun first, but she triumphed in an unfortunate situation).

The flight to TX was really enjoyable. We were delayed way longer than expected, but Penelope was awesome. She loved looking at everyone and actually slept in the airport and on the last flight. We conquered messy dipes on the last flight - not as bad or messy as I thought it would be. She was just as awesome with Mommie on the way home. We had another messy dipe experience, a bit more traumatic than the first one, but we made a nice friend on the long flight to San Jose, Rusty, who Peeps just loved to flirt with.
At Great Granny's Christmas Eve and at Cort's folk's the next day, Penelope spent a lot of her time bonding with Great Granny - at the expense of Mommie not bonding with Granny. It was really cute to watch. Granny would get Penelope in her lap and then tell me to get out of the room. I spent a good half hour hanging out in the hallway watching from afar as Peeps and Gran played. Penelope really enjoyed hanging out at Gran's too. Granny has a couple of footstools perfect for her to use for standing.
Grandma and PawPaw were amazing! I pinched a nerve on December 30 and spent the morning of New Year's Eve in the emergency room. I ended up on muscle relaxants for 2 days and Penelope had to take formula. She had a hard time at first, but adjusted really well. It's an understatement to say she was happy to get back to Mommie's Milk when I stopped taking my meds. Grandma and PawPaw were awesome with her. They had so much patience and understanding for the situation and surrounded Penelope with lots of love. We are very thankful for their help. Below is an example of how they spent their time while I was in bed.

Penelope can climb stairs! Grandma and PawPaw have pet steps for KiKi to get up and down the couches on her own. They proved perfect for Penelope. She got really quick at climbing up to the couches. It still amazes how quickly she learns something when she sets her mind to it.
A first for the Calahan's occurred the weekend after Christmas - we had a grandkid sleepover at Grandma & PawPaw's. 5 of the 6 grandkids roasted weinies and marshmallows (ok, Penelope didn't, but she was there), and slept over. A sleepover at G & P's is never complete without a wrestling match with PawPaw. I think PawPaw almost met his match with the boys, and might have actually been whipped if McKenna had been there.
Matt flew back to Cali soon after Christmas and spent some time with his fam in SLO. He had a wonderful time with his Dad, Hols, B, Lils, and Oz. Matt then spent some time at home with Moby working and relaxing, then picked Peeps and me up in San Jose.

Penelope also had the pleasure of meeting her Aunt BeBe and Camdyn for the first time. Brook and Cam drove down for a day and we were able to hang out and catch up with each other and Andrea at our playdate (another first for Penelope). It was really nice to see Brook and Andrea and catch up, and to see our little families together. Very special, and something I treasure - the time we get together is much to little and spaced very far apart.

Overall, we had a great experience over the holidays.

Penelope's first Christmas is almost here! It's going to be such fun watching her play with all the boxes and wrapping paper. =)

We continue to be amazed at how fast she's growing. She's a pro at crawling now. And she's really quick at pulling herself up from a sitting position. One of her new favorite games is to just stand in front of something, like her jumperoo or a wall, and amuse herself with the toys or just scratching her nails against the surface. It's easy entertainment for all of us and lasts for pretty good stretches.

We've introduced solids. It's crazy how just a tiny bit of strained bananas or water-downed oatmeal can clog up her system. We have introduced prunes - yummy. She's not a fan of solids yet; milk from mommy is still a favorite. We're working on it. We all eat dinner together in the evening. Penelope gets her own spoon and has a ball "eating" along with us. Bathtime of course follows dinner.

Enjoy the holidays - we hope to see a lot of family and friends this season! Granny, we're looking forward to spending Christmas Day with you!

All Grown Up!

It's almost mind boggling at how quickly babies grow and learn. We had no idea when we began this journey how much energy our baby would put into just surviving.

At Thanksgiving last week, Penelope officially crawled for the first time. She's been rocking and rolling for some time, but hadn't truly put one hand, then foot after the other consecutively. Matt tempted her with a beer bottle (it was empty =) while she was sitting a few feet away from him, and she just rocketed herself towards him. She's done a few more times since, but it's hard to determine if she's fully aware of the process. So amazing to watch her work at it. We've definitely gotta baby-proof the house now.

This past Saturday, I had Penelope in her infant tub playing with a toy while I milled about in the back closet/bathroom, and watched her actually pull herself up into a standing position! She toppled forward very soon afterward, but she pulled herself up! We had no idea she was already strong enough to do that.

And one more significant step - she's got a third tooth coming in. She's got her first two bottom teeth, and a top one is starting to pop out.