home is where one starts from

super rat

yesterday calliope refused to sleep during her nap. she barked and played,
and yelled "no night night!"

calliope and noah

the rat

walking, saying "nana" for banana, and finally saying "papa"

heading out:

calliope started walking on this trip, climbing lots more,
and as a result, busted her lip up pretty bad today.

saying goodbye to the grandparents and aunties...

grouper therapy

the sand-eater

calliope loves the sand. she eats it. digs her toes into it.
and breaks up sand clumps with her pointer finger.

us three

grandma and calliope

aunt mar

aunties carson and bay

the kite flyer

walking with papa

mermaid bay

mar and tart

at seaside village

grandpa and grandma

sweet bay

at the beach house front door with tartyboo

watching mar through the gate

(for the week)

seaside

one week until we are on this lovely lovely beach. cannot wait.

tiny

photos from my phone:

surprisingly, i like how these pictures turn out. my phone captures some of my favorite moments with tiny.

storybook calliope

calliope and gemma

calliope in her new crib

thank you aunt lica!

helping with laundry

talking to neighborhood cats

grocery shopping

after a bath

a rare treat: asleep in mama's bed

fairy princess queen

this evening after his sister was done dressing up, my nephew eliot put on her costume. he said he was a fairy, a princess, and a queen.

this crazy muse

cowgirl

aunt kelly and uncle greg

calliope and noah

muffin

micah

micah's dad took this picture of him this past thanksgiving. i love it because this is his ideal situation: on a porch, in the countryside, in the cold, coffee in hand, reading a book(and not sleepy). i could go for all those things, except sitting in the cold. i hate to be cold. lucky for micah, calliope also thinks cold air is thrilling a great.

bicycles and sushi

sushi nabe:

calliope's first encounter with sushi

fish eggs

valentines

calliope and i are spending the day with amy's kids, marlow and eliot, since she is now in germany visiting michelle for a week. fun, fun. we've made lots of valentine deliveries around the neighborhood so far. making bread this afternoon.

marlow is wearing ALL pink today. pink dress, pink shirt, pink pants, pink socks, pink shoes, etc...

a new year

calliope turning one feels more like a new years experience to me than january 1st did. i'm realizing i've had this little person around for a whole year now, and pretty much just breathed calliope. my thoughts (except those devoted to micah) have been consumed by this little munchkin. some days it hits me that i have spent most of the day looking at calliope, whether watching out for her, responding to her demands, playing with her, or just enjoying watching her every movement. so now that i have a one year old, and still no more children on the way, and no future plans for children on the way, i am starting to think of other things. like the fact that micah and i wrote a story months ago, and i want to start the illustrations. and i am thinking about grad. school-- actually i am currently applying, which is big for me, because i think about a lot of things, and rarely do any of them. so maybe in 2 years i will be teaching art to kids, and micah will be back in school full time. that is the idea. i'm excited about these thing, but still my favorite, is my little muse. i feel a little boring sometimes, but i can't think of anything better to be preoccupied with:

the cake

more of calliope and her cake:

a very big one

we celebrated calliope's first birthday yesterday, and it was a pretty perfect event. Lots of family, lots of cake, lots of presents, and one sweet puppy...

too much calliope....

calliope's new face:

she is almost one (five days to go):