As every parent knows, from moment to moment, the mood at home can change. As sweet snickers leave her lips, a teeny air bubble is jiggled loose, causing abdominal discomfort and the only way the babe has to communicate is to wail in pain. Classic example of "happy to sad." The same is true the other way around. In the middle of an excruciating teething episode, she throws her head backwards, arching her back... then her eye catches a glimpse of "our boys," Franklin and Parker, sitting on the rug. Staring. At. Her. She stops. Gives a "hhmmmm" vocalization to show she sees them. Pulls herself back up. Stares back into my eyes. And the screaming explosion begins once again.
Ah. There's simply nothing like it.
What I always try to remember is an entry in a book I read early on in pregnancy. It went something like, "A baby's cry is the only form of communication she has. Whether she has a sharp pin stuck in her rump or she realizes she can't see mom anymore... the response is the same. WAAAHHHHHH!"
With that, here are some of the emotions we experience in our house on a daily basis. Of course, I've tried to include more smiles than.... the alternative!
Eating.
Eating at the Beck household is serious business...
Well, not THAT serious!
In fact, sometimes it's downright silly: 
Teething.
Teething = Drama. Our poor bean takes teething pretty hard. She flails her arms, throws her body backwards, turns her head from side to side, sometimes grabs her ears... and ended up with double ear infections during our last teething pass. Ugh. Poor thing. The good thing is that we all got through it. It's just a matter of time. Until the next ones pop through.
I'll spare you the "drama shots." We'll focus on "the goods" - two shiny (and SHARP) ones here:
And practicing our "aahhh"s before we "brush" our teeth (with a washcloth so far) 
The Car Seat. Now here's a not-so-happy little lady. She's never been a fan of her car seat. But she's to the point now where she nearly pulls out her "strike" sign when she sees it. She makes her body as stiff as a board, sometimes making an arch out of her back in protest. When she is in, the wiggling begins. It's a struggle, but we keep telling her it's safer than the luggage rack. She'll come around.
Once we actually get her strapped in and secure, the goal is to provide something interesting to occupy her hands (and thus, brain) so it's not so awful to be confined. Here, a bottle did the trick. And that brings us to some growth... self feeding. She's always eager to help toys, her feet, my arm... whatever's handy... directly into her mouth. I suppose she's looking to introduce everything to her new teeth!
Valentine's Day.
My Pal Violet. That's her newest toy's name. Though, it's not just any toy. First, daddy picked it out. Sweet.
Second, Violet knows Calista's name and shares her favorite color, animal and food with her. She sings, talks, giggles and plays music. If only Violet could change a diaper!!
Big Birthday
Though Calista just turned seven months, Grandma Rabe just turned the big 5-5. We celebrated in style in Minnesota by throwing a little party. Lots of food, fun and, best of all, family. Here, Great Uncle Jim helps Calista into one of her favorite positions - a true monkey, she loves to view the world upside-down!
And here, Great Aunt Bev holds Calista carefully after noting how "freakishly strong" the little champ is! And it's so true... she packs a lot of power into her 14 pounds!! Calista looks very interested in getting her hands on Great Uncle Don. 
No trip to MN would be complete without a bit of play time with Uncle Paul. Here, he's made a true circus act out of the bean - teaching her to balance a plate on her head while sitting up and clapping. As evidenced here, Paul's only capable of handling two of those three skills at once :) 
General sweetness.At the end of the day, nothing is better than curling up with Daddy!
7/26/09: Chris and my sixth wedding anniversary! We couldn't have asked for a more perfect angel to celebrate!
8/5/09: Franklin borrowed Calista's bib. They're great pals, eh? What's ironic is that Frank is more than three times Calista's size :)
And here's a couple with the newest Beck member:
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