The Summer Finale

It's September already and the summer has come to an end.

We just returned from a short trip to the Bay Area over the Labor Day weekend.  Matt's mom celebrated her retirement with a big party, Kalista started her first day of school last week and Bella had a blast at the doggie hotel.

Grandma Evelyn's retirement bash at the Cliff House

 Bella enjoying playtime and making new friends at the pet resort

We got this emailed to us from the pet resort on Labor Day...Bella is too cute!

 Kali enjoying her last few days of summer vacation before her first day of school

Kalista also sat on the airplane for the first time over this past holiday weekend.  She did a great job on both flights.  She said "whoa whoa whoa" upon take off and then slept for the remainder of the flight. Whew...we were so glad that we did not end up a victim of those crying kid airplane stories.  She did a great job!

Here are a few pictures from our trip up north visiting friends and family:

 Having dinner with Great-Grandma (Jen's Grandma)

 Hanging out with Great-Grandpa (Matt's Grandpa)

Kali borrowed Auntie Jeanette's Barbie mobile with Grandpa's help

 Kali had to show off her new bathing suit. It hides her belly bump well!

 Enjoying pool time with dada

 Poolside party with the cousins

Because we haven't updated our blog over the past few months, we have plenty to talk about now.  Kalista is growing leaps and bounds.  Her speech and vocabulary has expanded and she talks non-stop.  her new favorite phrase is: "What is.....????"  So she asks us all the time: "What is a bird?  What is Brobee?  What is Muno? What is dada? "  Kali is still a big lover of Yo Gabba Gabba and asks about Brobee and Muno on a daily basis.

Bella has adjusted to life without Joey and is enjoying all the attention she gets from all of us in the house. She loves cuddling with Kali and I think the feeling is mutual from Kalista too. We will sometimes find Kali laying on Bella as if she was a pillow.

 Summer chalk art classes for Bella - Kali is a good teacher!

 Mastered the pursed lips pose for blowing bubbles

Enjoying plenty of time outdoors

We just celebrated our five year anniversary and will celebrate the monumental milestone in the next few weeks while we are on a long vacation.  Matt is working hard at the Marriott still, but Jen has decided to leave private practice after almost 7 years to join the optometry team at Sharp Rees-Stealy, a larger medical practice, as their pediatric specialist mid-October. It has been exciting news and a big change!

Update on Kali's medical status: We have been placed on hold from any surgeries until we wean her 100% off her g-tube.  Which might be a good thing since she is so petite.  We have seen the GI department and our nutrition team quite a bit over the summer because we were not gaining weight as quickly as we should have.  With a little adjustment in the calories and quantity of tube feedings, we are back on the growth chart with good progress. We had to bump back up to Boost 1.5 formula with some extra calories from Duocal, but we broke the 20 pound mark FINALLY sometime in mid-August.  Yay!! 

We have a feeding team evaluation coming up in the next month and a half to assess where we are and figure out our next plan since we are at a standstill with oral feeds again. Kali will get hungry...stuff food in her mouth....but won't swallow it and then gets frustrated and taps her belly for her tube feeding. She is too smart for her own good!  

We are just blessed that she is doing well overall and growing into such a little woman.

Boo!!!! Family gone...

Kalista got to spend more time with her Uncle Bill this weekend

We had a fun and relaxing weekend with Grandma Susan (Pau-Pau) and Uncle Bill. It was a short visit, but we are so grateful to have them here, even if it was just two days. We even had Kalista's great aunt and uncle visit too this past Friday.

Hello Auntie Sue and Uncle Chick Fai!!!

I think Kalista is a popular gal! What do you think? Family from different parts of California all at one time!

Although this weekend was meant to be relaxing, there were a lot of out-n-about activities for the wee little one. We did a few shopping trips, some to the grocery store and some for retail therapy...which meant a lot of fun car rides around San Diego. Kali really does not mind the car rides at all since it jiggles her to sleep (...sometimes...most of the time).

Fun is my middle name!

Jen has also started the fitting process for Kalista's Halloween costume. It is her Project Runway Halloween challenge! We have decided on "Boo" from the movie Monsters Inc. and the cute monster costume she wore during half the movie. Jen has a Sully costume that has been put to good use in the past and this will yet be another year that she gets to enjoy wearing it. We'll post some pictures at the end of the month.

Kalista is sporting the beginning stages of the costume's headpiece

The weather is starting to warm up once more and we are breaking out our summer clothing once again. Kalista is not fond of these days since she breaks into a sweat so easily and hates the feeling of being sticky. If you think she is a quiet child, you have not heard the heat holler yet....ow wooo!

This Bumbo almost makes her look like she was in the jacuzzi

We are getting very sleepy from the weekend of excitement and are ready to head to bed. See you early in the morning for our nutrition appointment!