Happy Birthday Calleigh!

Today Calleigh is 1! So hard to believe that one year ago I was in labor and then out came this little baby girl. And now we can officially call her a toddler. Wow! Incidentally, you can see in this picture she has her hand on her head. This is a new thing she started yesterday. She'll put both hands on top of her head and grin. In this particular case, I was trying to get her to do it with both hands but she wouldn't let go of the chair.

We had a nice day yesterday with Shawn. For lunch, I packed up a picnic lunch and we went over to Lake Lily in Maitland where we met up with Duncan. Calleigh was intrigued with a bunch of white birds on long legs that were stalking us. They were looking for food handouts, no doubt. Anyway, the weather was very pleasant and we had a nice time. A train went through right by us and Calleigh stared at it as it went by.

Last night, Aunt Shirly and Uncle Dick came over for dinner. Aunt Wanda would have joined us but she was under the weather. I was able to do some cooking since Duncan and Shawn had taken Calleigh over to Ron & Elaine's in the afternoon to go swimming. That was Shawn's one goal while he was in Florida - - go for a swim. Mission accomplished. Aunt Shirley brought a present for Calleigh. Some new clothes! She is going to wear the new sundress tomorrow. They stayed until about 9:30 and then I went to bed soon after they left.

This morning, Ron & Elaine came over and we rode with them over to Forest Lake Academy (next to the church). We waited out in the hall while sabbath school finished up. Calleigh was sitting on the floor and then Duncan had her try to stand up. And she stood up for quite awhile. That triggered a whole day of Calleigh standing up on her own. I don't know if she suddently thought to herself "Boy, now I'm a toddler. I really need to step it up a notch" or what but I've never seen her standing on her own as much as she did today numerous times. So that was pretty exciting for us. Elaine told me today that Duncan started walking at 13 months which is the same age as I did so maybe Calleigh will be the same.

So Calleigh lasted about the first five minutes of Shawn's sermon and then I had to take her into the classroom across the hall. Too bad because the sermon sounded very promising. After the sermon was over, we headed over to Cradle Roll. We were excited because we knew that they would sing to Calleigh for her birthday. Sure enough, she got called up to the little rocking chair at the front and they brought out a plastic cake with a real lit candle. And then Calleigh started bawling. Oh boy. It was like she saw Santa Claus again. So I don't know if she has a thing against candles or if she doesn't like to be the center of attention or what. I quickly removed her and we went back to our seats and she was fine.

After Cradle Roll, Duncan went home with Calleigh, Ron & Elaine. The plan was that he would give Calleigh lunch and then put her down for a nap. He would then bring her back for the 4 o'clock session. That left me at the church with Shawn and Aunt Shirley. I did want to be there because my friend Estela was there from work and I thought I few others might come by as well. We had a potluck and it was very good. I talked to Estela for quite a while. Shawn then spoke again at 3 o'clock and I was glad to be able to listen uninterrupted. I enjoyed his talk very much. There were probably about 25 - 30 people there in the afternoon. Duncan did come with Calleigh and I took her in the training chapel to nurse and play. All and all, it was a succesful day and it went very smoothly.

The final stop of the day was home. Tim and Magally Putt (Tim is an old friend of Shawn's and we know them too) came over and so did Uncle Terry who had come up from his parents in Avon Park. We ate tacos and Tim took some pictures of Calleigh. Right after they left, Aunt Shirley came over and we played some cards and watched the Red Sox game (which is still going on).

So there you have it. Tomorrow is a busy day with a Track & Field event in the morning. We're having Calleigh's party in the afternoon. And now we have to squeeze in a game 7 for the Celtics since they can't win on the road.