Callia Lee Riden

We went camping over the weekend of Callia's birthday and it was so much fun. She and I got down there about 5pm on a Friday, staked out a campsite and started setting up. She ate some snacks and made multiple trips over to the nearby playground, but really got into it once the tent was up. She ordered me to take off my shoes and come play inside with her. We had a blast.

When it got dark she said, "ok, let's go inside" and I told her we were sleeping under the stars in the tent. She said, "I can't sleep HERE!" as if it was a ridiculous notion. There was a group of old people square-dancing under this covered area we could see from our tent window.. Callia watched them for a while. She loves to dance, so we decided we'd go over there and join in. As soon as we got our shoes on, we heard them say, "all right! That's it for the night. Thanks everybody, we'll see you tomorrow for breakfast." So, once again my timing was perfect.

About 40 minutes after we laid down and she went to sleep, Laura arrived with my brother Kirk and his wife. They'd driven from Knoxville after getting off work, so Laura met up with them at the house and led them in since it was going to be dark. By then, most of the campers in our area were sleeping so we all just crashed out.

The next day we had a little party for Callia and a bunch of relatives came out and grilled burgers with us. Grandma Sara and Laura's Paw, Laura's sister Jessica and her husband Duncan and there were a few more from her side of the family. Kirk and Erin were already there and Grandma Perry and "Crazy Old Man Riden" (or "Papaw" as Callia calls him) drove from Johnson City where they'd attended Ashley Edmonds' high school graduation. Laura had gotten Callia a Dora the Explorer cake & the fam pulled thru with tons of presents. I got Callia the same thing I get her every year: a bottle of Jack Daniels and a lottery ticket.

That night, my parents had rented one of the nearby cabins, but hung out in our campsite with us and Laura's sister and her husband after everybody else left. There's something about sneaking around with booze in a state park that makes me feel like a kid again. I dunno.. It's just naughty. (owww! Wild man.. I'm outta control!)

Sunday morning we ate breakfast and broke camp. All in all, we only had three or four ticks.. Guido didn't bite anybody.. Laura didn't kill me in my sleep.. And Callia seemed to have a pretty good time, so I count it as a win.

So, today has been a really exciting day in the Riden household. One of us has learned how to go potty. I am still working on Chad, but Callia is officially on the way to burning those diapers and feeling the freedom cotton can bring. She has also taken it upon herself to train Dipsy, her Teletubbie. He wears a pull-up now, too. This is endlessly amusing to me. I am a simple woman, I know.

Potty training has been interesting to me because I have never seen a child be so scared. Now, I have heard all of the Psychology behind the precious bottoms, so I have let her lead the reins the whole time. I encourage and remind and we leave it at that. So, she is learning the signs such as the pee pee dance. But, if she doesn't make it, she gets really upset. I have told her over and over again that it is okay and that we are just learning right now and so on. She still seems distraught and I feel bad for her. You can tell that it has taken her a long time to understand what is happening even though it has been happening for a long time. She just now seems to feel some sort of shame in it, and as corny as this sounds, it is just a little bit heart breaking to watch.

She has been very proud of herself though and ran to tell her daddy immediately so that he would be proud, too. So, I am sure that this is just the beginning, but it is a good sign that we may actually find out what it is like to be without diapers in the near future.

My favorite thing that Callia has done lately is bring Dipsy down to Chad and explain to him that "Dipsy is hurt, he has a boo-boo on his tail (which is actually an antenna), and he needs a band-aid, please". How freakin' cute. My other favorite thing that she has been saying to me lately is "don't get me mommy" when I act like I am going to chase her. Her laughter has got to be my favorite sound in the whole world.

She has been trying to play our guitar, too. I hope she learns how to play because despite our best attempts, Chad and I still can't get it. She plays all of the classics on it. And, she'll look at us and ask "how bout......old mc donald"....hmmm...hmmmm..... and then she claps for herself. She sings "momma's gonna buy you the rocking bird, and if that rocking bird don't sing, momma's gonna buy you the rocking bird".

There are a lot of things making us smile these days, but she is very sleepy now and wants my undivided attention, so I will end here.

WE LOVE YOU!!

Laura