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.)

helicopter ride

As I write this, Gage is happily playing at home with Daddy. She's been singing all morning and ate a good plate of pancakes at Polly's. We've had quite a few days though just now and are so relieved and relaxed to be at home, the four of us. On Sunday night Gage fell off a counter at the grocery store and hit her head hard on the floor. After being evaluated and completing a cat scan at Littleton hospital, the doctor sent Gage on a backboard via helicopter to Hanover for further evaluations to be done. Granddaddy Bishop was there at our side and reassuring us the whole way that it was for precautionary sake and she would be fine and we felt so lucky to have him with us. Mom sat with white knuckles the whole way down but managed to get over her fear of flying by listening to Gage giggle at the EMT's pictures of doggies on his iphone in the back. Gage was a real trooper. She held on to her Dora sticker the entire ride to Hanover and through the entire trauma team's evaluation when we were ushered into Hanover. That night she was poked and prodded, and slept with too many wires on her and a neckbrace. I NEVER want to see her looking like that again. However, by 1 am she was singing twinkle twinkle little star and when they removed her neckbrace she was happy to see it on Rufus. She charmed us and the nurses and passed all tests the following morning with flying colors. A brain MRI was done to make sure everything was doing well and she sat through four mintues in the tunnel with mommy without flinching. We were proud of our little toddler. She has a fracture in her skull but the doctors think it will heal quickly and she'll be back to normal very soon. Here are some pictures to document the event. ...and a few more of Gage and Ber taking it easy at home the next day.

two new videos

two new videos - Gage learns her last name in the first one. You have to listen closely in the beginning though. The second one is catches Ber and Gage playing. Rich gave his exam today - summer begins soon!

Ber working on head control...

Matching shirts

This was all Gage... Daddy had left his biking gear out where she could grab it.

More fun in NH...
A video of Gage enjoying time with the Davidson duo (Deke and Cora are Gage's godmother's two sweet toddlers). She had her first sleep over party with them the previous night. The other video is the following night in NH. After watching Ber having his bath in the sink - she wanted hers there too. Our little (still so close to being in the 0 percentile for size) two year old is growing up quickly. Her brother seems to be sprouting too. He's more of our little giant though and we're taking bets on when he'll overtake his sister. Gage and Ber seem to have their own secret language these days. She'll lie next to him and grin and smile and gibber and he grins right back.

We are looking forward to summer days in a couple of weeks and our trip to see family in North Carolina in less than a month!