newhooners two years later!

Gage or Griddy?

At 6 weeks they look quite similar!

Happy Easter! Gage and Ber are getting to that great age where they find each other to be the best playmates. Without many words other than "Dada, Mama, Gage, and Ball" Ber still seems to find a way to communicate with his sister. He loves her attention and putting them to sleep at night (in the same room) cracks us up. They will carry on for a good while, giggling. Ber started walking just after his birthday and makes good use of his chubby legs! He sticks his belly out and struts after his sister. Gage's love for skiing this winter grew and grew and made us so excited. She finished the season in early April with a run down from the quad and some blue trail slopes. Her favorite day was watching the US freestyle Nationals though (one of the girls on our hallway was competing) after taking the gondola to the top and skiing down. Not sure how her little legs can handle the snowplow for that long - I know mine were aching. Despite a big belly, I was able to ski comfortably with her till the end of the season and can't wait to start back up again next winter. Gage has made some big verbal jumps lately. She runs to pick up the phone, pretends to read aloud, and won't leave any comment alone without asking "why?" Octupus is "poctatoast" and tells Daddy at night "I love you on the sun" (since he used to say, "I love you to the moon.") A few more months now till the family grows and things get a big wild again!

Christmas 2010 - traditions

Its the third year that the Calhouns have saved breakfast dishes on Christmas morning for the afternoon and put the kid(s) in the car and drove to Cannon. IT was fun this year because Gage believed she was the princess of the mountain since no one else was there (Cannon is closed on Christmas). With Gage and Ber in packs we hiked one of the easier slopes. Gage popped down on her own and for the first time skiied all on her own (no straps to attatch to Mommy). Ber loved his first turns, even if he was still in the pack. A fun tradition and a a fun time for all. We had tons of snow this year and the day was sunny. Happy News Years! We were blessed with a happy and healthy 2010 but are looking eagerly ahead to what 2011 will bring.

Halloween 2010

Gage was an owl and Ber was a sock monkey this year. It was Gage's first night out trick-or-treating and she loved it! We gathered first with several friends at our house and then headed out our night together. So fun to live in a neighborhood with great sidewalks and tons of doors open for business. Our group of kids included a ghost, pumpkin, yoda, cat, monkey, and spider man. We were quite a crew. Gage and Ber had a great night. (The first pic is from the field hockey Halloween practice - Gage and Ber joined in)

Gage and her bike

Gage took off this morning on her push bike to go to the dining hall - for the first time so fast that we couldn't keep up, while walking Ber. She will get her feet going and then glide with her legs up off the ground. So fun to watch her coordination grow. Gage and Ber gave Rich a camera for his birthday and we played around with it last night. Here are some of our shots. Still a lot to learn, but it will be a fun gift (for both of us ;) Ber is almost crawling... he gets up on his knees and arms and rocks back and forth but can't quite figure out what to do next.

Gage's first day of nursery school

This morning was Gage's first day at Old Deerfield Nursery School. The parents were asked to come and stay up to an hour to make the transition easier on the children. After five minutes Gage left me to play - when I said good-bye, she took a few seconds to give me a kiss but then went back to playing with her new friend, Greta. A good start! She spent the last two days with Gran while Rich and I were in faculty meetings. When I put her to bed last night and asked her what she was thankful for she told me "Gran playing trains with me." Thank you, Gran! Another year has begun - girls arrived on the floor yesterday and classes start in four days. Ber just had his 6 month appointment and is a healthy, little moose. (I am borrowing the term from a parent who saw him for the first time in three months yesterday when she came to drop her daughter off at school.)