first day on skates

I'm not sure which made me smile more today...
a) Gage making her first strides on the rink
b) Gage running around naked with a bucket over her head and running into the wall... and then laughing hysterically!

Unfortunately, we only have video from the rink!

tag sale finds!

The tag sale at the school down the street produced some great Gage finds... ski boots and a bike - Gage wanted to use them both at the same time though!

Gage's ghost moo

This week Gage learned quite a bit. She learned how to say "no" and how to whine "no" and how to scream "no." Luckily for us she also learned some more pleasant things. She's got most of her animals down (although her cow sounds more like a ghost) and proudly sticks up her one pointer when you ask her how old she is. She's having a bit trouble transitioning back to a full campus but is starting to get the hang of it and seems to eat up the fact that wherever she turns a student says "Hiiiii Gage." She also has the coy wave down too... I caught her making her animal sounds in the video below. The other is a photo just for fun - she picked out the outfit.

Late Summer Fun

Just thought I'd add some photos from our recent trip to Duck Point and Gage's first enjoyable encounters with the ocean. Last year the waves were a bit scary but this year she loved the warm water and hanging out with her grandparents, aunts and the Worth clan. Life continues to be tranquil in NH and we are all moved in to our new apartment in Deerfield. The new spot is wonderful and Gage is loving having a playroom all for her! We'll post photos soon. I've also added a couple photos and a video of Gage clowning around for the camera. In the video, Gage shows off her new trick of sitting on the baby potty and reading. Normally she grabs a People magazine but apparently she was feeling a bit more cerebral today!

rain or shine, summer is great

Rain definitely more than shine in New Hampshire this summer but we'll take the vacation time in our home either way, happily! We've been busy with projects more outside than in but have blueberries, apples, tomatoes, peppers, and basil growing outside this summer. Gage is at a funny stage where she seems to understand much more than we ever think. Probably because she can only say ten words or so, we forget that she can understand so much more and is taking in more each day. The pictures sum up some of our recent adventures (to Liz's in Rochester, to Santa's Village and Story Land in NH). Gage has been a ball of fun. This morning I found her sitting (with her clothes on) on her potty reading a magazine (upside down)... don't know where she picked up that one. We'll check back in in August!

trip to San Francisco

Gage and her Mommy traveled to San Francisco this past weekend to see Aunt Lindsey, Aunt Heidi, and Alexis. (girls weekend!) Gage loved her cousin and was spoiled by her aunties! She also got to sneak in a bit of play time with Oliver.

Gage and her best friend

Gage likes to "woof" when she sees a dog. I caught her on camera here.

It's been known for awhile in our house who Gage loves best. She now sees him and says what we think is "luca" but sounds much more like gawca. close? Gage is dressed up here for the Deerfield graduation. The seniors are on their way now - just underclass exams to go.

Check off the list

We can officially check off on the list that Gage has had her first sickness. She came down with a stomach bug last Monday and was a little fighter but it hung around till Sunday (taking Mom down with it). Thanks to daily phone calls to Grandaddy and the wonderful nurses at the school’s health center, she’s finally turned the corner. Pedialyte is her new drink of choice – she does the “cheerio” dance as soon as she sees it and we’re ready to advertise it as the second “liquid gold.” She’s a new kid today though with her old sense of humor and her giggle back. When we walked by the farm together she barked at the dogs, and quacked at the ducks. (Then she also quacked at the sheep and quacked at the cows…oh well) Other milestones we can more happily check off: Gage can point to her eyes, nose, ears, tongue, and most excitedly, her belly button. She will say “bye daddy” and blow kisses when Rich leaves the house and pronounces “gar” as cars go by the front of the house. She thinks flowers are a riot for some reason and shrieks when I point them out. She then will waddle over to them and stoop real low and giggle and point. Her pile of collected sticks by the door is getting bigger and bigger – maybe she has grand plans? Two more weeks of classes and a week of exams to go! We can’t wait for summer!

"where's your tongue Gage"

Girls' weekend

Rich was gone this weekend so Gage and I spent the first real weekend of spring (85 degree weather in Mass!) on our own. We met up with Julie (whose husband was also out of town) for Gage's first picnic of the season, watched a baseball game (Deerfield beat Exeter in the bottom of the 7th in a 7 inning game) while enjoying an ice cream cone, and went biking through the farm roads behind Deerfield. Gage loves to sit on the back of the bike and say hi to the cows and the sheep as we go by. We're sounding like some real country bumpkins! Our little flirt enjoys blowing kisses now (even to the cows). But her most favorite activity of the weekend and really of the entire spring is stick collecting. Every trip outside ends with a handful of collected sticks. She gives me the little ones (the duds?) but keeps a tight grasp on anything crayon size or bigger. One of the pictures below catches her "in action." The other was taken at our picnic.

spring

Spring is here! No snow to to make steps difficult and no ice for Gage to slip on. It's a good time to be a toddler. Afternoons at the baseball games and riding behind Daddy's bike in the trailor. Its been rainy this past week though and we're hoping that all these showers WILL bring May flowers. Here's a few pics from playing inside today.

It was a perfect spring day in NH yesterday... some sun, 45 degrees out, and plenty of snow still on the ground. It was a great day to try out Gage's skis in the back yard. While the video is short because we were too low on camera battery, we captured some fun still shots to share too.

Gage Carly's walking... sort of

Gage surprised us all early this week with her first steps. She put five together and clapped for herself. She did it again a few days later, but has since been on strike. In an effort to capture them on camera we have these two videos. But, capturing Gage on video is easier said than done. As soon as she sees the camera, she drops to her knees and makes a crawling sprint for the camera (as seen in the first video!) Hopefully the strike will end one of these days and we can give it another try!

Wintertime notes

The months of January and February have flown by. Gage is getting taller, toothier, and more hairy (on her head) but has yet to take those precious first steps. She likes pointing to things (her favorites: Luca, book, light, and tongue) and is finding her lungs. Shrieking loudly during meal time is her new trick - especially in the dining hall. We are constantly being assured that she is "not that loud" but we feel like she is going to begin clearing the dining hall when they see her coming. She had a chance to visit with GF in New Hampshire and has spent several mornings with Gran and Grandaddy while we have skied. We're holding tight to that morning nap but I'm afraid it will disappear soon, as Gage wants more and more time to explore. The wiggle worm doesn't like to sit still. Life is good.

Gage's first birthday

On January third it was again close to zero temperatures and we could easily remember our cold morning trip to the hospital to welcome Gage a year ago. We celebrated with good friends of ours and their kids and Gage wore the dress that I wore on my first birthday. Gage LOVED the cake and frosting and Noah Overton helped her blow out the single candle on her cupcake. The four little kiddos at the party left the Calhoun house for Cannon mountain to see some fireworks (up close!) and watch the season opening torchlight parade. Gage was mesmerized... or just cold! Thankgoodness for onepiece down snowsuits! (We wished we all could have had one). She went sledding down Cannon's baby slope under the lights with Daddy though, and was all grins.