Hello? Hello?

Calleigh loves my cell phone. I would say it is her very favorite object above any of her toys. I keep it on "locked" of course, so that she can't make any errant calls. I'm trying to get her to say "phone" but no luck so far. But today, she did do something new that you can see in the video. She started to say "Hello" although it sounds a little funny. She also started putting the phone on her shoulder as if she's talking on it. She's obviously watched me enough times that she's started to copy what I do. I must say I'm a little apprehensive about letting her continue to use the phone. A few days ago she broke my sunglasses (thank goodness Duncan has the same pair and I was able to steal them) and I'm imagining the phone could be next. However, the one good thing is that I have a cell phone that is used by the army so it's very sturdy (yes, people make fun of how big it is but I love it and I guess I have the last laugh since it works perfectly for Calleigh).

Going back a few days...on Wednesday afternoon I paid a visit to the dentist while Elaine stayed with Calleigh. Besides a cleaning, I was supposed to get a fix up done on one of my veneers that has problems but the dentist wasn't there. Not too happy about that. I now have to go back on the 28th. I have had some serious problems with these veneers so anybody who is thinking about getting them, think twice. Just so you know, I got mine not for vanity (okay, maybe 5 out of 6 I did) but because one of my front teeth was dead and turning black. I want to ask the dentist why I'm having so many problems and give him a multiple choice options - - (1) It's normal to have many problems (2) I'm having really bad luck (3) He did a poor job. On Christmas Eve, my left front tooth veneer broke in half while I was opening a bag of M&M's with my teeth. That made for some pretty ugly pictures and some strange stares while I was out in public. Not a nice sight.

So Elaine tried putting Calleigh down for her nap while I was at the dentist and she just cried hysterically. Even when I got home a few minutes later, I couldn't get her calmed down. I don't know if she didn't like someone else putting her down or what. Anyway, I finally gave up on the nap attempt and just let her stay up. By the time it got to be around 7 pm, she was exhausted and I put her on the boob. And she fell right asleep about 10 minutes before Duncan got home. I had just put her in her crib when he walked in the door and he was so disappointed. He didn't get to see her. I know that he looks forward so much to seeing her so I felt very bad but there wasn't much I could do. It's amazing how much you miss that little bugger when you haven't seen her all day.

Megan and her friend, Jillian, arrived her on Wednesday evening. Jillian immediately left first thing Thursday morning. I don't know if Calleigh remembered Megan from last time, but they became instant good friends. Calleigh loves hanging out with Megan on the toy box in front of the window or sitting on her lap on the couch. Megan has a little niece in California that is about a year older than Calleigh she has some experience.

Nothing too exciting went down yesterday. We had our weekly trip to Walmart. We did have to do it in the late afternoon because of Calleigh's nap schedule. I would say about every other day she doesn't take either her morning or afternoon nap. If she misses the morning nap, then she goes for her afternoon nap almost right after lunch and it goes for a longer period of time (thankfully!) We just adjust our schedule accordingly. Today she missed the afternoon one again...

Today we went to the Altamonte Mall so she could spend time in the play area. This is the first time she's been there since she's been able to walk. I do think it was more fun for her. She was climbing up on everything and all the big kids running around her didn't phase her a bit. I had to stop her a few times from crawling into someone else's stroller and taking their nuby but that's okay. She was also infatuated with someone else's baby doll. She kept walking over to it and saying "baby" over and over again.

When Duncan got home, he took her for several nice walks. I say several because she's going bonkers over being outdoors. As soon as you get her inside, she stands at the door and starts banging on it to go back outside. I'm sure it's much more exciting than being cooped up in here and looking at the same toys over and over again. At least today was mostly sunny so we could go out when we wanted too. It's been terribly rainy all week.

One thing that I haven't mentioned about Calleigh is that she has definitely learned the word "No." Of course, with any toddler, you know it's eventually coming. I just didn't realize that she would already learn it at 13 1/2 months. Indeed, it is the key word of her vocabulary. Oh sure, she knows many other words but "no" is easily her favorite. One thing that she likes to do is turn the power button on and off on our TV (not that we have on that much when she's around!) There is a little red light next to it that I think attracts her attention. Naturally, we don't like her doing this so we tell her no. She mostly ignores us and then we have to direct her attention somewhere else. Then, when we aren't paying attention to her, she'll go back over to the button, look around to see if we're looking at her and then as she repeats the word "no" over and over again, she'll press the button. Don't tell me she doesn't know how to use that word and that she doesn't know that she isn't supposed to be pressing the button!

Our Aero Garden has sprouted a tiny tomato! Yay! We've been watching the plants grow for weeks and now we have something that confirms it's really a tomato plant. It's very small - - about the size of a big blueberry. But of course, they are cherry tomatoes so it's not like it's going to grow into a giant tomato anyway. Calleigh is going to be super excited once she realizes what's happening. Tomatoes are just about her favorite food. She's takes after Papa in that regard. The best part about the plants is that they SMELL like tomato plants. I know that sounds funny but we had a garden growing up and just catching a whiff of that smell reminds me of being a kid.

Have a Happy Sabbath!