last week

Last Sunday the Kulps invited us to the Panthers game against Arizona.  On the 6th row (which was actually the first row just above the tunnel where the players (Arizona unfortunately) run into and out of.  The Panthers pulled out a victory that seemed unlikely in the first half and we had a fabulous time.  Thanks Kulps!

Then on Monday Adam and I had some grilled chicken salads that looked so yummy I had to take a picture of them. I love it when Caleigh squats like this... She has been standing on her own a lot lately (just for maybe 15-30 seconds at a time).  Often she stands there playing with a toy but in this case it looks like she is reading a magazine or the paper. While I am in the kitchen Caleigh will often play in 'her' cabinet which is the one we keep all of the tupperware in.  She enjoys taking every single item out of the cabinet and recently has started climbing into the cabinet.  She takes a little slide in this video but notice how she is fine and doesn't cry until I ask her if she is okay.  Hence the reason why we hold our breaths when she falls and wait to see if she is going to cry before making a peep.

all in a day's work...

Just some photos from one day last week -

Playing outside on a gorgeous day with her riding lion.

Kissing the baby... And spending plenty of time perfecting her favorite pasttime... opening the wipes container and pulling them all out!  

"Mom, I don't know who pulled out those wipes, I'm just sitting over here playing with this bag." "Well, ok mom, I was really just opening and closing the lid on the wipes container." "Ok, I'm guilty, you caught me in the act." "Now you really caught me... but I don't really care because I am actually pretty proud of myself."

Clearly it didn't happen this time but usually when I catch Caleigh doing something that she doesn't think she is supposed to she will jump a mile out of her skin when I say her name.  This time she is just so proud of herself.

smarty pants (at least we think so)

Caleigh will be 11 months tomorrow (I can't believe it - didn't I just do her 10 month update?) and this is SUCH a fun age.  It is so neat to watch her mind work and discover new things about the world everyday.  She just learned (maybe during the last week and a half) how to put things back in.  ("put in, Caleigh" - we've been saying that forever but she just started doing it!).  Watch...

Caleigh is also quite the budding reader.  Well, to clarify she actually doesn't read but she does spent lots of time sitting at her book pile and flipping through her picture books.  Here she is enjoying a classic...

In the past month (especially the past week) Caleigh has really taken to standing on her own.  She will often pull up to stand and then let go and play with whatever she is holding.  The most she can do is maybe 20 seconds... I still can't imagine her walking that soon though - she is just not a risk taker.  Caleigh is also very into handing us things ("thank you, Caleigh").  She is such a sweet little goose and we have absolutely LOVED these past 11 months - what a gift from God!

panthers game!

Adam and I went to the Panthers game on Sunday (sans Cals).  It was PERFECT football weather - beautiful clear blue skies - high of 64... and we got to see an excellent game! (Panthers 30, New Orleans Saints 7).

See what I mean - beautiful Sunday in Charlotte... It was a little chilly, as you can see we were in the last row... not the last row on the lower level but the last row in the whole stadium.  We actually had a great view of the game and it was awesome to not have anyone sitting behind us.  The negatives may have been the wind (cold!) and the 95 steps or more it took to reach our seats - my legs were burning and we were both a little out of breath each time.   The location of our seats reminds me of senior year in college when we FINALLY got to go to the UNC-Duke basketball game and where were our seats?  You guessed it - very last row touching the wall - although the air was not as brisk there - we were actually kind of suffocating and could literally touch the ceiling above us... and if I recall correctly we lost the game in the last minute or so.  Great memories!  I am going to try to find that picture and scan it in :)  does anyone have it?

funny bone

On Saturday night we had dinner at my parents' house and Caleigh was pretty moody - she started out by crying her eyes out when she sat down and put the first bite of food in her mouth (maybe she didn't like it? - who knows) and then she was fine for the rest of the meal.  At the end of the meal Karen started throwing Yasmin's food to her (Yasmin is my parents black lab/boxer mix) and Yasmin was jumping all over the place and catching it in her mouth.  Caleigh must have gotten her funny bone tickled because she laughed hysterically for at least 5 or 10 minutes.  We were able to catch some of it on video!  It was seriously the hardest I have ever heard her laugh.

playdate with maggie

Yesterday we spent some fun time hanging out with Carrie, Maggie, and Henry.  Caleigh and Maggie had a blast together as usual and I captured some of it on video...

more hair...

Caleigh's first hair sprout...

walking and waving

Such a cute video.  Caleigh is still at around the same stage of cruising and she does enjoy walking with her lion - though I can't say that it looks very natural for her.  

Once again - check out the hair... sometimes it has a life of its own!

henry's debut

Welcome to the world Henry Lewis Dirks!  8 lb 12 oz and very punctual - he arrived on his due date.  Congratulations Dirks!  (This baby could never be one of ours - look at the dark hair!)

Group picture, outtake #3.  Maggie is cheering in an effort to get a picture without her thumb in her mouth and in all the commotion Caleigh is very concerned about what is happening behind her. The men and their sons - well Adam only has Elmo for now... maybe a male heir one day.

nice hair

at the park

We love living close to so many parks in Charlotte and the fall weather has been so beautiful that we have spent a lot of time there!  Here are some pictures of Caleigh playing.

Mom, don't interrupt me - can't you see how busy I am?

Actually I think I am going to just head on out of here. But wait, how do I get out? Oh, maybe it is this way.

not yo momma's bath time

Caleigh loves her bathtime and it is a necessity after meals.  Caleigh is into raising everything over her head right now: her bottle when she is done with it, her silky (as seen in the previous post while playing peek-a-boo with herself), keys, toys, etc... This trend has continued into the bath tub and so she spends a good bit of the bath accidently rinsing herself.  So cute!

So excited! Caleigh is also into dropping things right now.  This is especially unfortunate when I walk to my car carrying at least 5 bags and Caleigh and I give her my keys to play with... not a great scene when I have to put everything and everyone down to pick up the keys that she dropped.  You think I would have learned. :)  She is into dropping food off of her tray when she is done with it (not allowed by the way), dropping toys, and getting bath toys out of her way...

Caleigh is also mesmerized by the water - she is a little confused as to why she can't grab it.  Notice the tongue out while she is concentrating - she has also been doing that a lot lately.  For no reason she will just stick her tongue all the way out.  The phases and stages she has gone through are so fun!

10 months old!

Caleigh Grace was 10 months old last Friday!  I can't believe that it has been 10 months already.  She seems so much like a little girl to us and so much less like a baby.  Overall one word I would use to describe the past 2 months is busy!  Caleigh is into everything and she is so fun!

At 10 months Caleigh is:

-taking 2 naps a day, at 9 and 1 and each one lasts about 2 hours and then asleep for the night from 6:30 or 7 pm - 7:30 am

-all done with baby food - we are creatively trying to use the rest of the baby food that I made since she won't take anything from a spoon from us

-Caleigh is now eating pretty much everything that we eat and loving it - mealtimes are a mess!

-still taking 4 bottles a day - Caleigh will take water and juice from a sippy but not formula - the transition may be a little tricky

-saying 'dada' and 'all done'... when she is done eating she will arch her back and say 'ahhhh duh' which we think it all done - she is also babbling all the time and it sounds like she is just talking to us - very cute

-crawling (her version of crawling with one leg more like a scoot)

-cruising everywhere

-has great balance - will stand alone for several seconds

-will walk when she holds our hands but she is not a big risk-taker so she probably won't take her first steps for a while

-loves climbing on anything and everything - stairs, toys, chairs

-loves swinging at the park

-doesn't really clap yet or wave bye-bye... she will raise her hand to wave when we say bye-bye but that is about it; doesn't sign anything yet

-loves playing with nesting toys and taking them out of each other 1 by 1 with her pincer grasp - also likes doing this with tupperware containers and the clean silverware in the dishwasher

-loving her silky (blanket) - she would prefer her silky to comfort her more than us - one of our nicknames for her is 'silky lover'

-loves reading books

-has 6 teeth total: 4 on top on 2 on the bottom

(disclaimer about this video: we took this video so that we could remember the way she cries and then sounds like she is telling us everything that is wrong - it is only a few seconds of crying without us getting her - don't worry)

Also at 10 months Caleigh has turned into quite the joke-ster.  Here is her new favorite game - playing peekaboo with herself and laughing hysterically.  It is really really funny.  She is so speedy with it she is hardly covered up for long...

Also since I forgot to give them at 9 months here are her 9 month stats:

18 lb 5 oz (42%)

28 inches (67%)

10 months old

Caleigh is 10 months old tomorrow!  How is she so close to 1 already??

past week or two

Here are some updates from the last week or 2.  Playing under the desk in our kitchen.  She loves to play in 'her' cabinet (the tupperware cabinet) in the kitchen and help me unload the dishwasher.  Her version is of unloading the dishes is to climb on top of the dishwasher and pull out the silverware. 

She got into my lipstick already!  Just kidding.  She must know her lips are bright pink because she sure is striking a pose.  In reality we are trying to use up the last of the homemade baby food since Caleigh is so over being spoon-fed.  She usually eats everything by herself except for the yogurt that I feed her once a day.  On this particular day I mixed the yogurt with some beet baby food I had made and wah-lah pink lipstick.  She actually liked the combo I think... well she at least opened her mouth for it. Partaking in her first Ritz cracker.  Look at that long messy hair! Welcome to the big leagues Caleigh!  She has officially outgrown her baby carseat and so we graduated to a cowseat or a cals-seat... I love that it looks like a cow and it looks pretty cute in our black Pilot.   Caleigh does not appear to be super impressed by her new ride - she actually was pretty annoyed to be strapped down while in the house and with a perfectly full basket of toys just a couple of body-lengths away. Striking a pose while (messily) eating some mac and cheese for the first time.  She devoured it.

silly goose

she is a big girl!

I feel like we haven't posted in so long!  I need to take more pictures in general.  I meant to do a 9 month update but Caleigh will be 10 months on Friday - I am so behind.  Things have been so busy with us lately - I have been working so much the past couple weeks.  Here are a couple of pix that I do have.  

I took this to try to get another picture of this girls crazy hair - it is getting so long!

She looks so big here.  Honestly she seems so much like a little girl now.  She is talking a lot and cruising and climbing everywhere.  Overall she is just so busy!  I will do a 10 month update soon. Just a little clip - not very exciting.  Caleigh must be a little camera shy because in general she shuts her mouth when she sees the camera.

spaghetti!

Caleigh had her first taste of spaghetti last week.  (I threw in some peas for a little color).  Caleigh loved it!  She has really transitioned from baby food and now eats pretty much whatever we eat.  Last week she also enjoyed some sloppy joes. 

Caleigh likes to eat with her fingers in her mouth - I think it helps her taste it better :) After the spaghetti she needed a bath big time!  As Caleigh's hair gets longer it makes for some interesting hair styles.  A mohawk in the bath - 

Labor Day

On Labor Day we heard there was going to be free food at Chick-Fil-A so we donned our college apparel and headed out for lunch. 

The real Carolina (UNC obviously) was greatly underrepresented.  Sam's watching Maggie give Caleigh a kiss to cheer her up.   Caleigh enjoyed splashing in the water on the playset.  She looks like such a big girl in her first (of many) UNC cheerleader outfits. Family photo op - Adam didn't get his arm out of the way in time.

women's beach trip

This past weekend Adam took daddy duty and graciously allowed me to go to Isle of Palms with a bunch of women from Uptown.  We drove down on Friday, hit the shops and the beach on Saturday, and headed to Poogan's Porch in Charleston for dinner on Saturday night.

me, Mary, Kim Macurda, Anna Mendenhall, Melissa Hunt, Lexi Frost, and Lisa Ellis

On Sunday we headed back to our families but we had a great time of fellowship over the weekend (and Caleigh did great - I missed her like crazy!).