Keeping up with Caroline and Jackson

Dance Recital Time

2010-07-15T21:19:00.000-07:00

Caroline has her first dance recital this weekend. She's so excited and seems to be really enjoying the production of it all. The most recent video is a close up of her from dress rehearsal this afternoon. And here she is with her girlfriends waiting for their time to practice on stage and one of the "final bow" practice with everyone on stage (this pic shows about 1/3 of the stage).

Birthday Boy

2010-05-06T14:08:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Jackson's 1st Birthday on Sunday, April 25th. I can't believe he is already one!

He is such a happy guy - he's crawling fast, pulling to a stand and cruises around pretty brazenly. The falls don't seem to faze him very much. He babbles a lot - "mama" remains to be his favorite word but he also says "dada, gaa-gaa (which I think is what he calls Maggie), kaa-kaa (for Caroline)" and a number of other mostly "aa" ending sounds. He claps at everything - particularly at mealtime which makes eating slow since he claps after every other bite he feeds himself. He just started waving to people and himself in the mirror this week.

At his well-baby doctor visit he still measured very large - 32" tall (95th%), and I think he weighs about 27 pounds (they had him stand to weigh him and he was supporting himself on the wall so it measured lower than I know it to be). His head is still in the over 97th% and the doctor even measured MY head at his appointment to make sure we're big headed people (which we apparently are - but mostly it's from Josh!).

It was just us on his birthday so we had a very simple little party at home. He loved the cake, but didn't care for the icing (which is the only part of cake that Caroline eats - so they make a perfect pair).

Giggle video

2010-04-14T18:54:00.000-07:00

This afternoon Caroline (dressed in her ballet gear) was "sweeping" the patio with her magic wand and Jackson just thought it was the funniest thing he'd ever seen. She makes him laugh more than any of us - it is just so sweet. He's cruising so sometimes if she wants to run around out in the backyard, I'll set up the ottoman in front of the screen so he can cruise on over there and check out what big sis is doing. That's the story behind the latest video.

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T14:28:00.000-07:00

We've had a wonderful day here. Lots of traditional Easter fun. Caroline participated in the egg hunt at church and found our yard scattered with eggs upon returning from brunch. The Easter Bunny put a book of Easter knock-knock jokes in her basket, so we are sure to have our fill of those over the next week or so.

Spring break is this week for us and we have lots of things planned to fill the preschool void. Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!

Egg-stravaganza

2010-03-27T13:22:00.000-07:00

We went to our playgroup Easter Egg-stravaganza this morning. It's a beautiful day and the kids had a good time. Jackson didn't participate in the egg hunt, but he had fun watching all the chaos with Dad from the hillside.

Caroline, true to form, got some prime real estate for the group pic right next to the Bunny!

Little man on the move

2010-03-27T13:02:00.000-07:00

Jackson is desperately trying to stand and get a little more mobile. I put a new video up today of some of his antics. He likes to play hide and seek in the drapes, so excuse my talking so much in the beginning and sounding like a total goof.

Recent happenings

2010-03-23T19:12:00.000-07:00

Well, we don't really have anything too exciting to report - just regular goings-on around here. Spring has definitely sprung (January and February were actually pretty rainy here - although I don't expect any sympathy from anyone given how hard winter has been on the rest of civilization!). All that to say, we have been enjoying more of our usual outdoor activities - park time and Legoland.

Jackson got his first haircut last week. He did pretty well and Caroline got the full "Barbie" treatment to boot.

Birthday Girl

2010-02-19T12:31:00.001-08:00

Caroline turned 4 last week!

She had a great birthday. Between the Valentine's party at school last Thursday, going to Legoland and a friend's birthday party on Saturday, more Valentine's celbrations at Sunday school, her Pump It Up birthday party on Monday and celebrating her birthday at school on Tuesday, it has been quite an extended celebration to say the least.

I was able to be at school with her on Tuesday as that was my parent-teacher conference day to observe and meet with the teacher. It was a great experience and Caroline received a wonderful report. She is really outgoing, seems to play well with all the kids and definitely tries everything. It's amazing all the things she does in 3 hours of school - I was exhausted just trying to keep up with her!

Jackson's 9 month stats

2010-02-03T19:11:00.000-08:00

Jackson turned 9 months at the end of January. He is now 31" long (98th%), 23 lbs. 5 oz. (84th%) and continues to have a noggin that is in the 99%ile which makes t-shirts almost obsolete as the necklines do not fit over his head.
He is a force to be reckoned with now... crawling backwards and lurching forwards (he's SO close to getting it down!), rolling wildly to get where he really wants to go and has mastered the tattling scream so I always know when Caroline has committed some crime against him (usually just stealing whatever is in hand or the sanctified pacifier). He has 2 bottom teeth, although I swear about 6 are about to pop out at once, and a head full of blonde/almost white hair. He started babbling a few weeks ago and has mastered "mama" and otherwise sounds like a leading role from Avatar.
He continues to be a ridiculously happy and content kiddo and enjoyed his first play date yesterday when I watched Caroline's BFF's younger brother, Keaton, so his mom could go to the parent-teacher conference at their preschool. Keaton is about 6 months older (although Jackson is bigger) so it was fun to see what we have ahead of us... boys and girls are so different!

Warning.... really long overdue post to follow!

2010-01-09T14:37:00.000-08:00

Well, it's about time I updated the blog. I guess it shows how our life has changed with the addition of Jackson!

Let's see... October: Jackson was baptized in October at our church - St. Michael's by-the-sea Episcopal Church. All the grandparents came out - it was a really fun weekend. Then, of course, Halloween. Caroline was Sleeping Beauty AND a ladybug (depending on the day and event). Jackson was a pumpkin, although it was so warm and his suit was pretty warm so most of the time he just wore the black & white striped under piece and looked like a prison escapee.
Caroline enjoyed preschool this fall - two mornings a week. She comes home singing new songs with lots of artwork to share and talking non-stop about her classmates. She pretty much talks non-stop about anything these days! Three has definitely been a very chatty age!!

November: Jackson's first two teeth broke through and he started really rolling and playing a lot on the floor. He is such a happy baby and very content to tag along to all of Caroline's playgroup outings or a walk... he pretty much goes with the flow (thank goodness!).

We also discovered a couple of local charms as far as family fun goes - our two new favorite spots are Legoland and the Botanical Gardens, particularly the children's garden with its wonderful tree house. Needless to say, we joined both and will be frequenting them a lot in 2010. As as side note, in measuring Caroline's height to see which rides she can do at Legoland, we realized that she has grown 6" since last December! She's the tallest kid in her class and is all legs and elbows these days. Jackson remains in the top 90% of all growth categories and I just switched his clothes over to all 12 month or 18 month sizes. Caroline only outweighs him by about 9 pounds now.

We had a quiet Thanksgiving at home, just the four of us which was pretty much the calm before a wild frenzy of travel, holiday stuff and hosting family in December.

December: We had to get the Santa visit in pretty early in the month as we headed to Hawaii on Dec. 12th. The Santa visit was awesome though! Caroline has a history of traumatic Santa encounters, but she was totally into it this year and Jackson was fine with being set in the jolly man's lap.

So we headed to Honolulu (Josh had a week-long conference there so we tagged along) and enjoyed the Hilton Hawaiian Village's many pools, cafes, gardens and beach. The kids did great on the long, thankfully direct, flight (close to 7 hours) and we were all up at the crack of dawn the first morning literally waiting for the sun to come up, and more importantly, the Starbucks to open! But we had a great view from our suite and had a wonderful stay there.

My parents joined us at the end of the week and then we all flew to Kauai for a few more days to enjoy its beauty. Christmastime in Hawaii is really special if you ever get the chance (plus it's not too bad spending your days in 80 degree weather either - and we thought we were spoiled in SoCal!!).

We returned home late on the 22nd just in time to make the last preparations for Christmas. Caroline was very into Santa this year and "Jingle-dum," our Elf on the Shelf, even made it to Hawaii and back with us. On Christmas Eve, Caroline sprinkled the lawn with reindeer food that she made at school and we laid out cookies and milk for Santa. Caroline decided that she should probably share the milk with Santa, so she took a few sips for good measure before heading to bed.

The day after Christmas, Josh's mom, sister and her three girls arrived! Lots of cousin fun ensued as you can imagine.

We went to the Oceanside Pier... we went to the Botanical Gardens... we went to Legoland... Pat took the little girls to see Princess & the Frog... I took Haley, Amy and Jackson down to Coronado to see the Hotel Del and lunch at La Jolla Cove on our way back up one day... we went to the beach at sunset... we rang in the new year... it was a packed week!

We had a few extra days with Josh's parents after Amy and the girls left and celebrated Nana's birthday with her before they headed back to the frozen tundra of Indiana on the 5th.

Now we're finally sorting through the pictures and getting back to our normal routine! There is a new video at the top of the page that pretty accurately depicts our daily life with the two kiddos. You'll have to excuse my laughing and shaking the camera, but my kids just really crack me up sometimes!! Jackson has started semi-crawling... he can move a little but is not at full steam yet.

Five Months

2009-09-25T19:46:00.000-07:00

Jackson is five months old! Where does the time go??

He is a man on the move now with his back-scoot maneuver. He can cross the room before you know it. At his 4 month check-up he was in the 95th percentile for weight and 90th percentile for height, so he's still "thriving" to say the least. Last night he had some peas with his dinner - first solids beside cereal and to no one's surprise, they were a hit.

Caroline started school last week and loves it. I think her favorite part is that they have a class pet, a guinea pig named Rocky. My favorite thing is her impression of him shivering with fear in his purple plastic castle within his cage. If I were a guinea pig facing 15 3-year olds, I'd be shivering in my castle too!

We've been spending our afternoons outdoors mainly in an effort to occupy Caroline since we've given up the nap. I know I've mentioned the nap ditch before, but this time it's officially happening. After several 9:30 bedtimes post-nap, I've thrown in the towel and we're happily back to a 7 p.m. bedtime. But boy, are we all exhausted at 7 p.m.!

We traveled to San Francisco earlier this month and had a great time. On the horizon is Jackson's baptism in a few weeks, so the grandparents will be coming in for that soon. Now we just have to hope Mr. Pudgy can fit into the baptismal gown....

Recent happenings

2009-08-26T13:43:00.001-07:00

Well I've been terrible about keeping up with the blog, but here's the run down of our late summer...

We had lots of visitors in June & July - mostly by the grandparents but also Josh's Aunt Pam & Uncle Andy and my Aunt Jan & Uncle Mike. I think Jackson has spent half of his life at the beach so far, between going at least once a week here at home (plus extra visits with guests) and then spending two weeks on the Gulf Coast in August, he is quite the beach baby. But it fits him, he continues to be a very laid back kid.

Caroline loved her month of preschool (a warm-up for the fall) and then had a blast spending two weeks at the beach. We had a great week in Destin with the McDowell's - having all the kids together was a hoot!

Our week with my family in Seagrove was really special too. I can't remember the last time I've seen my parents and sister at the same time since she's lived overseas. I wish her husband, Steve, could have been able to be there, but we had margaritas in his honor everyday!

Jackson continues to thrive. He rolled over for the first time at the beach with my parents and has also started eating some solid food which is a big hit. I won't have his 4 month stats until his appointment Sept. 10th, but he's been pretty much in the 95th percentile for height and weight so far.

We are off to San Francisco for an extended Labor Day weekend soon - Josh will attend the hand surgery meeting and then we'll visit with my family in the bay area with Mom for a few extra days. Should be fun!

First Day of Preschool

2009-07-07T16:43:00.000-07:00

Caroline started preschool today!
Her new school has a summer program for the 3 year olds to participate in and get used to the school before the fall.
She had a great time and there were no tears, by either of us! Several of the other kids seemed to have a hard time with mom or dad leaving, but Caroline is Miss Independent and barely looked up from what she was doing to say goodbye to me (although I did get an enthusiastic response at noon when I picked her up).
Her teacher said she had a nice time and enjoyed dancing during music time (big surprise there!). Here are a few pictures from the first exploratory moments when we first arrived.

bath time

2009-06-18T15:29:00.001-07:00

So round, squishy and happy.....

So sweet!

2009-06-12T08:20:00.000-07:00

This picture is actually from last weekend when Jackson turned 6 weeks old. He is such a cuddler and so sweet and plump, I just had to post it!

Caroline has been enjoying a lot of outside time in the backyard since we haven't been going out quite as much as usual (because I'm still getting the hang of this going out with two kids thing!). Fortunately, our little yard is a perfect play place for a three year old. Here she is doing a little sidewalk chalk on the patio.

Jackson is smiling!

2009-06-03T16:23:00.000-07:00

Whew!
These past weeks have flown by... busy, busy. Jackson is growing like a weed and has started really smiling at us - so sweet! Caroline gets a big laugh when he smiles for her.
We think he's about 12 pounds now but we won't get an official weigh in again until his 2 month checkup. He is noticeably heavier, fills out his 3 month sized clothes and I always get comments when we're out like "how many months is your baby?" - he's just huge! Such a difference from Caroline who is still a string bean.

the last few weeks

2009-05-17T10:11:00.000-07:00

The last three weeks have flown by! Josh was home with us for a week and we enjoyed some family time.

Jackson is growing like a little weed. His weight was up just over 9 pounds and he had grown two inches by his two week check up! He continues to plump up and is becoming chubalicious - the double chin is in full effect. His personality continues to be very chill and he rarely fusses or cries but is very chatty as far as babies go (lots of coos).

Caroline started t-ball and has had two "games" with her team, the Green Frogs. It has become a family affair, although Jackson usually sleeps through the whole thing. She is still taking swim lessons and is doing great with those. She has taken pretty well to becoming a big sister - she's very sweet and caring with Jackson, she asks to hold him all the time and likes to be a part of diaper changing and baths for him - overall, she's quite the helper. We are so proud of her!

The little man is here!

2009-04-28T09:13:00.000-07:00

Jackson Kenneth Moss made his entrance on Saturday night, April 25th, at 9:37 p.m. at Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton. He was 7 lbs, 12 oz and 19" long. We got home yesterday and are both doing great. The picture above is from Sunday morning. Jackson is sporting the hat knitted by ladies from the Red Cross for military babies.

Caroline is very excited about him and loves to hold him. She's already a great helper!

New McDowell baby boy!

2009-04-14T07:29:00.001-07:00

We are so excited to hear that Jack & Charlie have a new baby brother, Hank! He was born last night and from the picture mail Chip sent us, he is adorable (as would be expected!). Now we're even more anxious for our own little man to get here so Hank will have a new playmate. Congratulations Andrea & Chip!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T15:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter everyone! Caroline had a good experience with the Easter Bunny last week ... our first positive mall meet-and-greet with a holiday figure. I think we're finally past being horrified by them!

Quick return trip to Disney

2009-03-30T10:45:00.000-07:00

We used our last day of our 3-day passes to Disneyland on Sunday for a quick day trip. It did not disappoint. Here's the proof!

Easter Fun

2009-03-28T17:52:00.000-07:00

Caroline's playgroup had a big Easter party this morning with games, crafts and an egg hunt. It was a beautiful day and the kids had a blast. I was skeptical of how an egg relay race would go with a bunch of preschool/toddlers, but Caroline seemed to get the gist of it and had fun. The egg "hunt" was a hoot since the eggs were basically scattered in the grass and you practically had to avoid stepping on them and they made bunny shoe covers to hop along with them.

Girls' Morning

2009-03-24T14:53:00.000-07:00

Caroline and I visited the Carlsbad Flower Fields this morning after swim lessons. I didn't think this would be something Josh would be too interested in, so we had ourselves a little girls' outing to enjoy the beautiful day. The pictures don't do it justice. It is just beautiful, set on a hillside overlooking the ocean. We took a wagon ride through the flower fields, enjoyed some fresh squeezed lemonade and played on the playground after walking through the gardens.

Back from Disney

2009-03-23T16:30:00.000-07:00

Whew... what a weekend! We had a blast at Disneyland. I think we covered all the ground riding everything one can ride when they are under 40" tall. A lot of things were just as we remembered when we went as kids (Dumbo, the tea cups, it's a small world), but there was a bunch of new stuff too. Here are a few pictures....

Dumbo was clearly a favorite - she had to ride that more than once. Other favorites included the Mad Hatter's tea cup ride and also the lady bug ride (from A Bug's Life). When we went to Toon Town, Caroline got to meet Mickey Mouse and also Minney and Pluto. We caught the end of Mary Poppins and Bert singing a number on main street, but didn't get to meet them (which caused a few distressing moments - that would have probably been the highlight if we could have pulled that off). We had street sightings of the Mad Hatter, Goofey and the evil witch from Snow White (a little too scary for a photo op!).

We're off to Disneyland!

2009-03-19T17:16:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow we are taking Caroline to Disneyland for the weekend. We decided to do something really fun with her before baby brother arrives, so we have 3-day passes and we're making a weekend out of it (who says you can't stay in a hotel an hour away from home?!?). I'm not sure who is more excited, Caroline or us. Loving the Disney years!

Birthdays and such...

2009-03-13T17:16:00.001-07:00

Josh's birthday was last week. Mimi and Pappy were here for a visit at the time so they took a quick family photo of us behind the delicious but simple cake I made for him (I think I've made the same cake for him every year for 10 years, come to think of it).
As always, my mom wanted a pic of the girls. We did a little self-timed thing so it really should be cropped, but in case you want to see my ever expanding waistline... here it is. It's actually not so bad from the front view, but he's all in front and my profile these days is ridiculous. Six weeks and change to go!

Visit to the Firehouse

2009-02-24T13:23:00.000-08:00

This was actually from a couple of weeks ago but I just got the pictures from one of the other moms who actually thought to bring her camera (unlike me!). With fires being so prevalent here, you can imagine that firemen are all the rage with the kids... superheroes in the flesh. Our playgroup visited our local firehouse to meet the firemen, see all the engines and get a tour of the firehouse.

Swimming

2009-02-23T07:52:00.000-08:00

Caroline has been taking swim lessons since the beginning of the year and is really making progress. One great thing about living at the coast is they really know how to do swim schools here. She has been going to Murray Callan Swim School in San Marcos and loves her teacher, Marcie. She takes lessons with one of her good buddies, Mikey, and his mom took some great pictures of them recently during their lesson.

I'm 3!

2009-02-13T20:43:00.000-08:00

Happy 3rd Birthday to Caroline!

She had a great day today. This morning we had our playgroup Valentine exchange party at a playground and finished our day with an evening at Chuck E. Cheese's (her first time to go). She has been very excited to tell everyone that she's 3 now and enjoyed getting lots of birthday cards in the mail over the last few days.

Here are a few pictures from the day: a little girl talk on the slide with friend, Sophia, and livin' it up at Chuck E. Cheese's with Dad.

Happy Birthday to our little Valentine!

Birthday Bash

2009-02-09T15:53:00.000-08:00

We had Caroline's 3rd birthday party on Saturday. It was lots of fun (although the weather didn't cooperate so there was no bounce-house to be enjoyed) with her playgroup friends. Here's a picture of the birthday girl about to blow out her candles...

Later in the afternoon, high on all the sugar, she was running around with her "cape" being Super-Duper Caroline. I think this is a cross between Super Grover and the Wonder Pets... not quite sure, but we caught her on video so that is the latest video at the top of the page. (I'm not sure why her hair looks so red in this picture below... something with the light, I guess.)

Big Girl Room

2009-01-15T15:23:00.000-08:00

Caroline moved into her "Big Girl" room after Christmas to make room for her "bwotherw" to take over the nursery in a few months. She has done very well with the transition and spends a lot of time playing, reading books and best of all, SLEEPING, in her new space. We finally got the last piece of the puzzle today (her bedskirt) so we thought we'd post a few pics.

Ballet Class

2009-01-06T18:34:00.000-08:00

Caroline started ballet class this afternoon. She was very excited and had fun getting into her leotard and tutu before class. Parents aren't allowed in the class so I was only able to get one stealth photo through the window. She really likes her teacher, Miss Mary Ann (who can't be more than 17), and the girls followed her instruction surprisingly well. Should be a fun month of ballet!

Wild Animal Park

2009-01-04T17:11:00.000-08:00

We went to the Wild Animal Park which is part of our zoo membership today. It was a beautiful day (60 and sunny) so we decided to check it out. The last time Josh and I went was about 8 years ago when he was doing an away rotation at medical center Balboa in med school and we went in August when it was about 100 degrees. The park is in the desert about 30 miles east of our house, so it is subject to the desert extreme temps in the summer that we are spared by living on the coast.

Anyway, it was amazing. The zoo in San Diego is 100 acres, and the wild animal park is 1800 acres large to give a little perspective. The animals roam in large areas that really do simulate the African environment. We took a tram ride through that part and then walked around some of the exhibits. They keep the lions separate (for obvious reasons) and their area has some glass viewing spots. All the animals were pretty active since the weather is cool and one of the lion cubs (about a one year old male) decided to check us out. That's the closest we've ever been to a lion (or care to be!).

On a different note, Caroline has adjusted really well to her new big girl room and has been sleeping well with very little getting out of bed. She is excited to pass on the nursery to her "bwotherw" as she calls him.

Holiday

2009-01-01T07:34:00.000-08:00

We had a busy Christmas week with a few more activities here and then our trip to Indianapolis on Christmas Eve.
We visited the Holiday of Lights display in Del Mar which is supposed to be the largest lights display in SoCal. It was pretty cool and Caroline loved it. Our favorite was the surfing Santa. I took a picture but it didn't turn out too well since he's moving, so I'll spare you my blurry photography.
Santa came a little early to our house (he's so accommodating!). Caroline is very excited about her new "big girl" room and bedding. She slept in her big girl room for the first time last night and it went very well - here's to hoping this is not a difficult transition.

We were off to Indy on Christmas Eve day and although it was a long day of travel, our flights were on time and Caroline was a good traveler so we can't complain. We kept ourselves on west coast time so we had a lot of late nights and slept in, but it made for lots of good family time for Caroline since she was up until 11 p.m. every night. She had a blast with her cousins as usual and they had lots of fun playing with their new Bitty Babies and the band set that Aunt Amy got for Caroline.

Josh and I made it to a Colts game while we were in Indy. The new stadium is great and it was fun to see a lot of records being broken, although the game wasn't much of a contest.

We are back home now and enjoyed some New Year's festivities at LegoLand - our first visit there. They had a Kids' New Year's Eve bash with a lego brick dropping to the countdown (at 6 p.m.) followed by fireworks. We went early in the afternoon to enjoy the rides and check out the park. It was very crowded since this is pretty much the "thing" to do with little ones here for New Year's, but Caroline and Josh got to ride about a half dozen rides and we saw all the miniworld lego displays which are pretty impressive. We'll have to go back again when it's not so crowded to ride more rides.

Christmas songs

2008-12-19T20:17:00.000-08:00

Caroline has caught on to several Christmas songs. Her favorites are Jingle Bells, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman. I got her to sing Frosty on camera this morning so that is the latest video above... she mostly repeats the first verse.

Santa Playgroup Party

2008-12-19T08:52:00.000-08:00

Our playgroup had a party last weekend with a visit from Santa. He was really good and the kids seemed to be mesmerized by him. He's the only Santa that I've ever seen do magic tricks and sing songs!
Even the kids like Caroline didn't seem terrified of him as usual and she even sat on his lap (of course, there was the promise of a candy cane and bag of goodies, so I'm sure that sealed the deal).

Nativity

2008-12-12T13:35:00.000-08:00

It seems like it must be happening with all the kids Caroline's age but she's really into our nativity set this year. Josh's parents have been giving us pieces to this Fontanini set since we've been married and I always thought it was beautiful but I'm really enjoying the practicality of it too. All the pieces are plastic (although they are painted so nicely they look porcelain) so Caroline can play with them, drop them, etc and they don't get hurt. Just thought I'd share the website in case anyone is looking for a kid friendly, but also attractive enough to display, nativity set.

SeaWorld

2008-12-09T15:34:00.001-08:00

We went to SeaWorld on Sunday for the first time. The dolphin show was great and they had a Sesame Street kids' area with rides that she rode with Josh.

We also went to a 4-D Elmo movie which she was really excited about and loved wearing the glasses, but we only made it through the first 3 minutes because as soon as Elmo sprayed everyone with a hose and we really felt water drops, she totally freaked out and we had to make a swift exit.

The arctic exhibit was spectacular and they had these white arctic walruses who kind of resemble whales with similar tail fins that we really enjoyed watching. Caroline got a souvenir stuffed white walrus to take home and we ended our day seeing the Clydesdales they have there since one of the major sponsors is Budweiser.

Christmas Party

2008-12-09T15:28:00.001-08:00

We went to a family Christmas party for Josh's work on Saturday night which was a lot of fun. There were lots of kids and Caroline had a blast with them. Santa was there! However, Caroline was still unsure about him and rather than sit on his lap, she chose just to go over and say hi with a pat on the leg. Oh well... at least there were no tears... we're making progress.
I thought I'd post the picture that someone took of all three of us too. I feel like we have very few pictures of us together because one of us is always behind the camera.

Thanksgiving Update

2008-12-02T09:04:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at our house with both sets of parents coming out to join us. Josh's parents came out the weekend before so we could go to the Colts vs. Chargers game in San Diego (which was exciting because they won it in the last 20 seconds!). Then my parents arrived on Wednesday and everyone was here through Sunday.

Caroline got LOTS of good grandparent time in to say the least. She had them all making all kinds of creations with her play dough, entertained them all day while I was cooking on Thursday and we all went out for a special dinner Friday night up in Laguna Beach (south LA) where this picture was taken at sunset.

A few from the group even made it up to LA for the Notre Dame/SoCal game - but that's really not worth mentioning the way they played. We've been decorating for Christmas the last day or so and Caroline is really excited about her very own little tree in the kitchen next to her table. We'll see Santa on Friday at a Christmas party (he's apparently making an appearance) so hopefully she won't be terrified of him this year if she's able to mingle with him a little bit first. We'll let you know how it goes!

Life is Good

2008-11-19T08:24:00.000-08:00

Just had to do a quick post to say life out in CA is pretty good.

We went to a playgroup yesterday afternoon at the beach. It's pretty cool to be in shorts on the beach in November and have a playgroup that involves a beautiful sunset (especially after news from my friend, Karry, that Cincinnati got their first light snow yesterday)!

I'm excited for our family to come out next week for Thanksgiving and enjoy the beach with us. Here are some pictures from the play time.

Playgroup fun

2008-11-15T09:32:00.000-08:00

Caroline has been especially busy with our two playgroups lately. We've found a lot of new parks in the process and she's made some new friends. Here are a few recent pictures...

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T10:25:00.001-07:00

There has been much anticipation for Halloween this year and Caroline is REALLY excited to go trick-or-treating tonight. She's been working on little projects over the last few weeks and made all kinds of decorations for our front entrance. We worked on the pumpkins this morning - one traditional, two little not-so-traditional but very festive.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Weekend in Nashville

2008-10-31T10:17:00.000-07:00

We went to Nashville last weekend for a Vandy med school reunion and homecoming. It was really fun seeing old friends and Caroline got lots of time with her grandparents. We even overlapped our stay by a few hours with Joy so we got to see her too!

Here are a few pictures from the weekend. Caroline went to her first college football game and really enjoyed the tailgate and game (even though we sacrificed the nap for it!). There were lots of kids at the tailgate and she quickly made a friend to enjoy a cookie with in between playing.

Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-15T16:11:00.001-07:00

We visited Bates Nut Farm this morning in Valley Center, CA (about 45 minutes east of us). They had a spectacular pumpkin patch and all the fun extras for the kids - petting zoo, pony rides, hay rides, corn maze, etc.

It got a little warm seeing as I forgot it's 10 or more degrees warmer in the valley, but we were just there in the morning so it wasn't too bad.
I took her to the pony ride station first because I thought this might be a big hit. We watched one group of kids go and then it was our turn. She panicked and wouldn't get on. So, we left the ring and watched a little while longer. After about 3 more groups had gone and she had cheered them on excitedly, I asked her if she was ready for her ride. She told me "Maybe in the morning, Mommy."
So we moved on. We explored the pumpkin patch, went through the store and took a hayride. I was starting to get a little hot and it was approaching lunchtime so we walked by the ponies again with our ticket still in hand and she decided that she was ready to go. And she was! She LOVED it!! I took a video too - now featured at the top of the blog (which is not all that exciting, but it seemed monumental after all the deliberation).

Pumpkin Ballerina

2008-10-10T19:20:00.000-07:00

Caroline selected her Halloween costume a couple of weeks ago (pretty much as soon as they were out in the stores). Since she has a budding interest in ballet, she said she wanted to be a ballerina and this orange costume was very appealing to her. She dresses up in it almost everyday and dances around. She was dancing this evening in it and I couldn't resist a photo - too cute.

Long time overdue

2008-09-27T11:50:00.000-07:00

Well, things have been very hectic with LOTS of company and getting settled in our new town. We've had visits from both sets of parents, the McDowells and my sister, Joy - all within about a three week span. It's been great! Who knew all you had to do to get people to visit you was move to Southern California.

We've gotten into somewhat of a routine as well. We've tried to get to the beach once a week or so - either to play in the sand and water or at lest walk along the boardwalk (a nice, non-gritty alternative).

Caroline has started back in a Kindermusik class once a week which we're really enjoying. I've joined a large community playgroup (with over 130 moms) that has all kinds of great outings, including this concert in the park from Hullabaloo (a local folksy "band" for kids - very cute original songs) that we went to when Joy was here.

Here's another picture of Joy & Caroline - I love this because Caroline wanted to wear a headband just like Aunt Joy.

The budding artist has taken on new mediums ever since she met Ms. Linda (who keeps her every Wednesday morning for me to have a little mom's morning out). They have made bracelets with beads, a scarecrow out of wallpaper scraps that is taller than Caroline, all kinds of fancy drawings with paint, feathers, pompoms and even equipped with googly eyes. Our refrigerator is covered!

We had her crib converted to a toddler bed for a while. All went well for a week and then it totally back-fired on us. She didn't nap for 4 days straight, it took about 100 trips of us putting her back to bed at night and then we threw in the towel deciding that she wasn't quite ready. We received no resistance putting the crib rail back up so we'll try that again after Thanksgiving, I think.

We have made leaps and bounds on the potty training though! This is successful day two of big girl panties (no diapers!). And NO accidents!! This was MUCH easier than I thought it was going to be... I should have made the switch weeks ago, it was just hard with lots of company and outings. Yay for my big girl!

I think we're gonna like it here...

2008-08-16T22:13:00.000-07:00

Caroline had a great week with Mimi & Pappy while I unpacked and Josh headed to work. She is already so happy having a real backyard and has discovered her new artistic endeavor - watercolors - which now adorn our fridge.
To all my southern friends - note the sweater on Caroline. It's August and actually chilly here at night. I think I can get used to this! ;)

Trek to California

2008-08-16T21:23:00.000-07:00

Well, we made it! Our 2,200 mile trek to California went very well and we are starting to feel settled with just a few boxes left in the house and even have some pictures on the walls. Caroline has adjusted far beyond our expectations and Josh has been working for over a week now.
So far, adjusting to "Navy life" has gone smoothly. It took a while to get into the system with car stickers and id's, etc., but that was to be expected. Everyone is really nice and I'm still getting used to being saluted when I drive on base (the marines salute the car because of the officer sticker no matter whose driving).
I will have to send out a kodakgallery slideshow of our trip because we have almost 60 pictures, but will put some of the highlights here:

Our fist stop was a short drive to Indianapolis to Josh's parents' house for a respite after the 3 days of pack-out from Cincinnati. Caroline got lots of good cousin time in. We arrived there Thursday mid-day, spent the afternoon with the girls in the pool, then took a short boat ride down to the marina for an Italian dinner with Josh's parents, sister and her family. We will really miss being so close to family!

Friday morning we got an early start for our longest day of driving... through Indiana, through Illinois, into Missouri and to our final destination of the day, Tulsa, Oklahoma (which I really wouldn't recommend for a stopping point for anyone not needing to stop there!). Our stay was fine but not noteworthy. Caroline and Maggie were troupers... no meltdowns, NO videos (can you believe it?!?) - we counted cows and windmills a lot. She took a good 2-hour nap mid-day. A very happy day of driving.
Saturday we made a quick stop in Oklahoma City to see Josh's cousin, Dawn and her family. Caroline enjoyed playing with Marian and Miranda - this picture is of the three girls making silly faces.

We ended our short 400 mile drive that day in Canyon, Texas at my aunt Janice's house. I got to visit with my cousin, Tamara, and Caroline played with her youngest child, Josh. It was a very nice stop and we got some good food, nice company and a good night's sleep.

Sunday we had another long day of driving all the way to Williams, Arizona (just south of the Grand Canyon and in the mountains near Flagstaff). That was one of our more interesting drives through New Mexico (which has to be the most beautiful state we drove through) and through Arizona. A lot of desert and mountains with stops far a few between. We stopped in New Mexico and the gas station also served as the post office, there was a rooster at the pump which "cock-a-doodle-dooed" quite a bit AND Caroline decided that was the place to go to the potty which had to be the most disgusting bathroom we visited along our journey (but she still went potty..yay!). I think I actually Purelled her backside that visit even though I had lined the toilet with about 6 layers of toilet paper. Eck!
We spent the next day, Monday, resting from the road. We visited the Grand Canyon that morning and spent the afternoon at our ranch resort letting Maggie and Caroline have some outdoor time just running around the extensive grounds.
Our last day on the road, Tuesday, we drove into California and to our new home! The funniest thing was stopping at the first exit in California for gas and a restroom break. We saw our first palm tree and in the same shot, the exhorbitant gas prices! They're actually not that bad on the coast but it was a shock to see at the time.

Quick update...

2008-07-29T05:07:00.001-07:00

Well, the camera is packed so there won't be any pictures to accompany this quick update but just wanted to say that all is going well on the move front. We're doing our "lasts" in Cincinnati and running around like mad getting everything done while Josh is still working these last few days and the movers are doing their thing. They packed 80% of the house yesterday (they are so fast!) and just have the finishing up to do today before the loaders come tomorrow. Then Thursday we're off!
We will get to Oceanside on Tuesday night so we have close to a week of travel in the car with some fun stops along the way visiting family and seeing the Grand Canyon. Should be interesting with a dog and potty-training toddler. We'll have lots of pictures to post on the other side. Wish us luck!!

Coney Island

2008-07-13T18:09:00.001-07:00

We went to Coney Island (a water/amusement park along the banks of the Ohio river in Cincinnati) for the hand surgery group's annual picnic on Saturday. We got there about 10 o'clock and had a couple of hours to do whatever we wanted. Caroline wanted to go swimming first.

They had an enormous pool (they boast that it's the largest in the world, and it might be). It was mostly a shallow wading pool but had a big water slide in the center and then a deep area at one end with about 6 diving boards. Caroline wanted to, and DID, go down the giant water slide in the picture by herself! Josh walked her up the giant ladder while I waited at the bottom with my heart in my throat. She went down all by herself (with her little tube float on) and I was at the bottom ready to grab her. She came down without any hesitation but I think she had second thoughts about half-way down when she twisted sideways a bit and got pretty wide-eyed. No tears or anything, but also no requests to do it again. I still can't believe she did it. What can I say, the girl can't resist a slide!

Then we got into dry clothes and took her to the kiddie rides. She had only ridden carousels up to this point but she really liked all the rides (turtles, trains and rocket ships). She looked like such a big girl riding the rides all by herself and waved to us every time she came around to where we were.

painted piggies

2008-07-08T15:21:00.001-07:00

We hosted a "pool party" at our house the other day for Caroline's friends, and in the spirit of summer days, I painted Caroline's toenails for the first time. She sat still because she was so excited about it. You can kind of see it in this picture of her with her best bud, Maggie.

A funny something

2008-07-06T16:56:00.000-07:00

Caroline has started singing along with the radio in the car. I have satelite radio in the van and mostly listen the the Nashville station (go figure!) or "Flight 26" which has the top current pop songs (I'm desperately trying to stay atune to other things than the wiggles these days). Anyway, they are always playing the same top 20 songs and Caroline can now sing along with Gwen Stefani's "Sweet Escape" and Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love." This really cracks me up! You should hear her do the "Whee-Hoos" on the sweet escape song... it'll make you laugh for sure.

Friends reunite

2008-07-06T16:47:00.000-07:00

Our friends, the Wilkes, have moved to Cincinnati and we will be overlapping our time here with them by a few weeks. We ran into Trevor and Connor at the park today (while Karry and 4-week old Claire worked on unpacking the house a bit). Connor, was one of Caroline's first playmates (along with Miss Isabel, of course!) and it's funny to see them together now, just over a year later from when they last saw each other. They don't remember each other but they immediately were chasing each other and coming up with things to do together.

A side note - you can really tell in these pictures with another kid who is just 3 months younger than she is, how TALL she has gotten. She looks like she's on stilts with those legs of hers!

Fun in the pool

2008-07-02T17:21:00.000-07:00

This was actually from a couple of weeks ago when we went to Nashville over the weekend. It's the most fun we've had in the "big" pool with Caroline. We were in the water for close to 3 hours and she had a blast. I had gotten this little vest-tube float and it was her first time wearing it. It really gave her a lot of confidence in the water. She started off jumping in off the side and then she would "swim" to the steps, climb out, and walk to the spot where she would jump to me again. After a while, she was jumping off the diving board (with a little assistance to make sure she didn't bonk her head)! Josh and I were pretty tired ourselves after treading water under the diving board for a good while. We got a video of it but it's not cooperating so I'll have to try and upload it later.

While we were in SoCal...

2008-07-01T07:19:00.000-07:00

Caroline was with her Nana and Papa in Indianapolis. She kept her grandparents busy and got lots of good cousin time in as well. Mary Pat held her still for a quick photo op.

Our house in Oceanside

2008-07-01T07:08:00.001-07:00

Josh and I made a trip out to SoCal last week to find a place to live and check out our new town. We are so excited to move there! It didn't hurt that the weather was perfect our four days there (think sunny and 70 with no humidity and no bugs!). We found a house to rent and it looks like we can stay there as long as Josh is stationed at Camp Pendleton, so this is our new home!! Some of the best things about it.... it's a 6 minute drive to the beach and there are even bike trails from the neighborhood to the ocean (about 3 miles away)... it sits atop a bluff and overlooks the neighborhood so it has great views and faces south-west - lots of pretty sunsets... there's a dog park and park with a playground one block away. I think we're going to really like living here. I still can't believe we're going to have palm trees in our yard. Now we just have 4 weeks, a 2,000 mile drive and we're there!

I've been Krogering

2008-06-19T14:49:00.000-07:00

We ran into Kroger this afternoon to get a few things and Caroline charmed the check out man, as usual, this time scoring about 20 extra-fancy 4th of July "I've been Krogering" stickers. By the time we were out of the parking lot she had covered herself in them and I took a quick picture of her with my cell phone. The only problem was getting them off when we got home. It was like having 20 band-aids all over her face and legs.. ouch!

Just freshening up

2008-06-08T15:50:00.000-07:00

We went to the zoo this afternoon to see the new giraffe display and baby giraffes... it was sweltering out but we only stayed for about an hour. When we got home, Caroline went straight for her purse and proceeded to put on her lipstick, etc. I caught it on video too so that's the latest video. She is definitely a girly girl and always has been. She insists on having lipstick everyday before we go out, so I usually give her a little clear lip gloss in the bathroom as I'm getting ready and she runs to the mirror to check her self out. I can always hear her give a big smack to make sure it's applied all over for good measure.

Beach Fun

2008-05-30T12:03:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful trip to the beach with my parents. Caroline really enjoyed the beach and it makes me very excited that we will be within 5-10 minutes of the beach on a daily basis in just about 8 weeks... hard to believe!

She kept us in stitches with all her constant conversation. She speaks in sentences now and is picking up all kinds of funny little sayings along the way. If you ask her for something she'll respond with "Of course!" And when the phone rings she'll hold her hands out for emphasis and say "Who could it be?" She's grown significantly taller over the last month too. This has helped her with mastering the stairs... I've always been terrified of all the steps in our house but she's gotten very good at holding the railing and can go up and down pretty much on her own now.
Here are a few more beach pics to finish off...

Best Friends

2008-05-05T10:27:00.000-07:00

I've mentioned Caroline's friend, Sanjay, before but thought I'd post a few recent pictures of the two of them at the zoo.

We went together to a "Stroller Safari" class and packed a picnic lunch to eat afterwards. The kids wanted to see a few more animals so we walked over to see the zebras and hippos and they held hands. Josh gets heart palpitations at the thought of Caroline holding hands with any boy, but they truly are best friends and I think it's kind of sweet. We really lucked out with one of the other fellows having a child her age and she is really going to miss him when we move.

Caroline and I are headed to Nashville tomorrow and then to Seaside, FL with my parents for a week. We'll catch up on the blog when we get back!

Olivia

2008-04-29T08:47:00.001-07:00

Caroline has always enjoyed being read to and reading the same books over and over again. But recently she's started "reading" some of her favorites to herself - particularly Olivia.
She can recite almost the entire book and I caught some of it on video today (the new "Latest Video" above), although she got distracted by an airplane that flew over the house - but it's cute nonetheless.

Sesame Street Live

2008-04-27T16:34:00.001-07:00

We went to Sesame Street Live this afternoon. Caroline really enjoyed her first "concert" (I guess that's what you'd call it?). It was an experience to say the least. An arena filled with toddlers and parents, and grandparents... Elmo head balloons flying, popcorn everywhere, the kid behind us screamed "Elmo" the entire time he wasn't on stage.... it was something else! That kind of sounds like it wasn't fun, but it really was.
Josh and I really enjoyed Cookie Monster & Rosita's number, "Crum-ba, Rum-ba" - for those Sesame Street followers you can imagine... a spanish number about cookies. We caught it on video so we may post it if it's not too long.
Anyway, I would highly recommend it. Caroline was completely intrigued until the intermission and then when we came back for the shorter second act, she lost interest and we left about 10 minutes early. But overall, a very fun time!
Josh found this funny "review" of the show online and it's a good summary of the experience. If you're interested, here's the web address (you'll have to cut and paste it):

http://www.parentdish.com/2007/02/19/music-review-sesame-street-lives-
em-elmo-makes-music-em/

Zoo Blooms

2008-04-20T14:54:00.000-07:00

We made a visit to the zoo today since they have the "Zoo Blooms" going on right now. The flowers were very pretty so I thought I'd post a pic or two. Caroline's interest in the zoo/animals keeps growing, so I'm glad we'll have another great zoo in California to frequent once we move.

Our first earthquake

2008-04-18T05:13:00.000-07:00

We woke up early this morning to windows rattling and all the furniture shaking (just at a tremor). At first I thought Maggie was scratching up against the bed and we both yelled "Maggie quit!"... but then I saw she was laying quietly on her bed. It was startling enough that we both got out of bed to investigate. It stopped after about 3 or 4 minutes so we just went back to bed. Caroline didn't wake up at all. I was surprised to hear this as the first story on the Today show this morning, but it made me feel better to at least know what it was. Apparently it was in southern IL - 250 miles away.
I guess we better get used to them if we're going to be Southern Californians for a while. But I never thought my first earthquake would be experienced in Ohio!

Spring is here!

2008-04-17T15:01:00.001-07:00

I think spring is finally here! We've had several warm days in a row, all the trees are budding and blooming and the grass finally needs to be mowed. Horray!

We walked to our favorite park this afternoon and brought the camera. I have been bad lately about taking pictures, so we have some catching up to do. Josh got home early and we all headed out to enjoy the weather (even Maggie).
Caroline loves the playground - the swings are still her favorite but she will take a short break to slide a couple of times.
Her language skills seem to be exploding again. She's been consistently building her vocab, but now she's constructing full sentences and expressing emotions, which is pretty cool. Also, her love affair with the telephone continues. She'll talk to anyone willing and for as long as they'll listen. My favorite new development is that she's becoming very affectionate. She will spontaneously look me right in the eye and tell me "I love you, Mommy." Here's a picture of her cuddling with Josh in his leather recliner that we got him for his birthday.

Day trip to Keeneland

2008-04-06T07:20:00.001-07:00

We made a day trip to Lexington yesterday to take Caroline to her first horse racing event. Mimi & Pappy came up from Nashville to meet us.

It was a little chilly and overcast, but we had a good time. Caroline especially enjoyed running around the grassy areas with some of the other children and liked seeing the horses up close in the paddock area. The actual horse racing was touch and go since she was missing her afternoon nap. All in all, a very fun day trip!

Family news...

2008-03-24T15:04:00.000-07:00

We are officially moving to Oceanside, California! We are really excited and looking forward to making this our new home. There was kind of a bizarre twist last week and orders actually arrived today for Jacksonville, but we know with certainty that orders have been revised and Camp Pendleton is our destination. It's hard to think that Caroline won't remember NC or Ohio, but will probably think of herself as a Californian (that's a little strange for this southern mama). But we're looking forward to becoming beach bums and hope that we'll get LOTS of visitors. Here are a few cheesy local photos to hopefully entice you...

The only other thing to report is that Caroline has a new ride. I now drive a minivan! I NEVER thought I would say those words (and keep repeating them to myself to try and make it sink in), but this thing has all the bells and whistles and I'm really excited about it. The stars all aligned with Josh not being happy with the Volvo and a really good deal presenting itself here on the Honda, hence the timing. Plus, it will be great to be able to get our family plus visitors in one vehicle since all of our guests will be flying to see us. And no, I'm not expecting any new addition to our family at this time, so let's just put those thoughts on hold for a while. :)
Here's the picture of the new wheels... I don't typically park it on wood floors, but this was easier than walking outside and taking a photo myself. ;)

Visit to Nashville

2008-03-21T05:57:00.000-07:00

Caroline and I are in Nashville right now visiting with my family while my sister is back in the U.S. for a few weeks. The weather has been fabulous and the pear trees are in full bloom. We walked Caroline down to my parents' neighborhood playground yesterday for a little play time.
Later we went out to dinner and on the way home, Josh called my cell phone to talk to Caroline before her bedtime. Caroline talked the whole way home and another 5 or 6 minutes once we were in the house. Joy took a short video (the "latest" video) of Caroline talking on the phone. She misses her daddy terribly so she had a LOT to talk to him about after our dinner out last night.

Barack O'Boh-ohm

2008-03-03T10:11:00.000-08:00

Caroline says new things every day, but some of them really surprise me. Yesterday we were enjoying the spring like weather and went for a walk. I put on a hat before we left and she said "Nice hat, Mommy."
Then this morning, she really got me. I had just turned on the today show and one of the first stories was on the primary elections. Barack Obama's face pops up on the tv. Before the newscasters can even get started telling the latest, Caroline points to the tv and says "Barack O'Boh-ohm?" It completely took me by surprise. (I think she thinks his name is Barack O'Bottom, because that's how she says bottom - kind of in a british sounding way - she swallows the t's).
With the primary elections tomorrow in Ohio, the political commercials are constant, so I guess that's where she picked it up. When we got home from swimming lessons this morning, we had our third Barack Obama door hanger of this week waiting for us and Caroline brought it in. I captured her saying his name on video.

On an unrelated note, Caroline went completely under water for the first time today at swim lessons and did great... we're making progress!

the thaw

2008-03-01T06:45:00.000-08:00

I think it's finally starting to thaw out here... today is the first day I've seen our lawn not covered in snow since my last blog entry and we're going to be in the 40's today! Josh just laughs at me by how amazed I am at the winter weather, so to be true to form, I thought I'd post a picture of the snow mounds that are in all the parking lots. I've just never seen anything like this firsthand and know we certainly won't be seeing this next year! This picture is from our grocery store lot... they have plowed all the snow in piles throughout the lot next to all the buggy returns. Cincinnati is still 2 inches shy of their normal snow accumulation for the year too.

Snow Day

2008-02-20T08:31:00.000-08:00

We got our biggest snow yet early this morning. Caroline enjoyed exploring the yard with Maggie and was much more adventurous than past times. It was a complete disaster getting her to come back inside though with a full blown tantrum. I think it took me as much time to get her calmed down as was spent outside... still weighing if it was worth it or not. She's definitely a two-year old!

Swim Lessons

2008-02-18T09:30:00.000-08:00

We had our first swim lesson today and I think we're going to really enjoy them. Caroline was very excited to go swimming today and jabbered all about swimming on the way to our lesson this morning. It was a little strange putting on boots and coats over our swim suits, not to mention driving through snow to and from, but the indoor pool was nice and warm and our instructor is great.
Miss Monica taught us how to hang on the side of the pool, we worked on getting out of the pool using our elbows and knees, bobbing in the water until it came over our mouth, kicking, and she even went down a small slide into my arms several times. We ended the lesson with fun songs and Caroline did not want to get out of the pool. All in all, a successful first swim lesson.
I obviously couldn't take pictures and be in the water with her, so I took one to mark the occasion once we were back in the locker room getting dressed. I had just told her what a good job she did swimming and then snapped the picture - so her expression shows she was very proud of herself!

Two Year Stats

2008-02-15T07:07:00.000-08:00

Caroline had her two year check-up this morning. She is 34.5" tall (50-75%) and 26 pounds (25-50%) fully dressed. All is well, and the doc said we could continue to give her whole milk if we want since she's such a string bean and would live off dairy and fruit if we let her. She's still not a big fan of the doctor's office (other than getting stickers at the end) and was very happy to get back home to Maggie and her remaining balloons from the birthday bash.

Happy 2nd Birthday Caroline!!!

2008-02-13T05:54:00.000-08:00

Today is Caroline's 2nd Birthday! We had a little party for her on Saturday afternoon. All the grandparents, Aunt Amy, Uncle Rob, cousins: Haley, Mary Pat & Madeline, her friends Sanjay and Joey and their respective parents all joined us to celebrate. It turned out to be quite a crowd and with that many little ones, you can imagine the chaos. The decibel level in the family room reached a new high, I think. We had lots of fun though and Caroline has been asking us to sing Happy Birthday to her every night since then.

Here are a few pictures from the party....

Some of my favorite things she's doing these days are... Singing lots of new songs - Itsy Bitsy Spider is very popular right now as is Ring Around the Rosey. Saying "No Ma'am!" really loud when she's out of my sight and doing something that she knows she's not supposed to do (like stand up on a chair to look out the window) - which really cracks me up because I probably wouldn't catch her doing it if she weren't telling on herself as she did it. Saying "Com'ere" with hands waiving upward when she wants one of us to pick her up. Constantly telling Maggie that she's a "good girl, Maggie" like in the video. Also, she likes to tickle you and when she does she says "giggle-giggle-giggle" because that's how "tickle" comes out when she tries to say it really fast continuously.

Winter Outings

2008-02-05T10:59:00.000-08:00

The winter weather has pretty much kept us indoors the past 6 or 8 weeks, so we've had to be creative in finding fun things to do with Caroline so we don't get too stir crazy in the house. Fortunately, Cincinnati has a lot to offer in this department and we are taking advantage of it all.

We have made several trips to the children's museum, once last week and I took a few pictures.

It's the perfect size for a toddler because you can pretty much play with everything in a few hours time and get home to crash for a nice long nap! Some of her favorite things to do there include the toddler-only play area complete with a slide, playing "house," overseeing the construction zone, and trying out the musical instruments.

She made me laugh when she was playing house because when we arrived at that particular area, no other children were in there. She promptly rocked all the babies and put them ALL in one crib, covered them up with a blanket and then sat down for a little break for herself (after all, it's hard work tucking in four babies at once!).

You can see in the next picture, another little girl entered that area and pulled all the babies out of the crib - just check out Caroline's expression.... she was not pleased about this.

Today, we went to the zoo for a "Singing Safari" class. The instructor was wonderful and had them all very engaged in singing and dancing like different zoo animals. We got to see (and touch!) a lizzard, owl and rooster during the class too which was a first for Caroline. She was very interested to touch them and didn't cower at all like some of the other kids (and her mother!).

SUPERbowl

2008-02-04T06:33:00.000-08:00

We had a little super bowl gathering last night. Caroline represented the family's true colors and we weren't disappointed (even though it was the other Manning holding the trophy)!

Latest Video: Furry Pillow

2008-02-04T05:09:00.000-08:00

Caroline discovers how warm and cozy a pillow Maggie can be. Maggie, as always, is tolerant to the end.

Caroline's friend

2008-01-27T17:25:00.001-08:00

Caroline has spent a lot of her social time, during our stay in Cincinnati, with one of Josh's co-fellow's son, Sanjay. They have become fast friends. We get together with them about once a week - so he's a constant part of her life these days. During Saturday's playdate, she made an effort to become more affectionate. Caroline told him that she was going to kiss him and when he offered his cheek (like a gentleman), she went all the way around for the lips. In time, I'll be sure to teach her the art of BEING chased... in time...
Here are some pictures of them. They are very cute together and it's her first friend that she actually asks about on a regular basis.

Catch!

2008-01-24T07:57:00.000-08:00

Caroline's favorite game these days is catch. She was given a ball, glove and bat set for Christmas (that is pink with all the Disney princesses on all three parts) and has gotten really into playing catch. She insists that her catch partner wear the glove. Josh taught her to throw overhanded but her aim is still a little better underhanded. They were practicing last night and I couldn't help but take a picture... the pink glove just makes me laugh.

Catching Our Breath

2008-01-14T12:53:00.000-08:00

Whew! What a whirlwind month. December is always busy but somehow this one seemed even more jam-packed.
We had a wonderful Christmas! Josh was on call Christmas eve, but fortunately it was a quiet night, so we enjoyed being home. This was our first Christmas playing Santa in our house and my parents got a play kitchen for Caroline which we (well, Josh) put together.

Christmas morning with a toddler in the house did not disappoint. She was really excited to see her new kitchen by the tree and opened gifts with much anticipation of what would be unveiled. After we opened our gifts, we loaded up the family, Maggie included, into the car and headed to Indianapolis to spend Christmas with Josh's parents, sister, brother-in-law and girls. With all the little girls, it was like a pink explosion in the living room after all the present opening. We spent the rest of the week in Indy and headed home on Saturday.

On Sunday, Mimi & Pappy came to visit. We went to the zoo that night for the "Festival of Lights" since it was a fairly warm evening to walk around outside. We all enjoyed the lights and Caroline was completely tuckered out after walking all over the zoo by the time we got home.
We rang in the new year at home with my parents - I think it's the latest I've been up all year! - and they headed back after New Year's Day.
Sadly, later that week, Josh's grandfather passed away, so we headed to Memphis that weekend to be with all the family and attend the funeral. We managed to squeeze in a little Memphis BBQ while we were there and heard some live music at the Blues City Cafe. Caroline loved the music - she was dancing on the make-shift dance floor and the band noticed her and invited us on stage. Uncle Mike took a picture of us, but I don't have it to post yet... It was definitely an experience!
Hopefully now that things have calmed down, I can keep up our blog a little better - maybe as a new years resolution.
New things Caroline is doing at 23 months old... she sings lots of different songs now (most of which are fairly recognizable) - like Row, Row, Row Your Boat and many, many Wiggles songs. She's gotten really good at her puzzles and she loves to play catch (and can actually catch the ball about a third of the time). She's very into pretend play - particularly with dolls and stuffed animals and her kitchen, of course. And she's working on her two year molars, which have not seemed to pose too much of a problem so far. Here's a recent picture of her.

More snow!

2007-12-15T09:15:00.000-08:00

We had fun in the snow this morning and built our first snowman. Here's the proof!

22 Months

2007-12-13T11:14:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe that we are almost to the point of counting in years instead of months... so happy 22-months, Caroline! She is turning into such a big girl. I can't even count how many words she says now... she's moved onto sentences (very basic ones, obviously, but sentences no less). My favorite things that she does now are singing the alphabet, counting to 10 and when she takes a tumble she says "what happened?!" She's also become a lot more daring when it comes to climbing and running. I took her to an indoor playground in Mason called the Go Play Cafe (about 30 minutes away) with her little friend, Sanjay, and his mom on Tuesday since we've had such nasty wet weather all week. They have this 3 story set up of tubes and slides and climbing equipment big enough for adults to climb in too

- so we did, and she had a ball. I had to drag her out of there after two hours.

Otherwise, we've just been preparing for the holidays and trying to stay out of the cold, wet weather. We're supposed to get a pretty big snow this weekend so I know she'll have fun playing in that again. And this time I'm prepared.... we've got a snow suit, so hopefully we can last a little longer outside this time!

Snow Day!

2007-12-05T08:32:00.000-08:00

We had our first snow of the winter overnight and woke up to a little over an inch of very wet snow... and it's still coming down a bit. Caroline had lots of fun exploring in our back yard with Maggie. There was one minor topple that ended in a complete face plant in the snow (which surprised her, but didn't seem to upset her at all). We made a tiny snowman on top of our table and I had to drag her back in the house when I started to get cold and thought that she might be too. The city was prepared for it though and it doesn't seem to slow anyone down around here (except me - I've declared us home bound for the day because I'm still afraid to drive in it).

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-28T11:32:00.000-08:00

We all spent Thanksgiving in Nashville with my parents and my great Aunt Doris. Caroline's vocabulary has grown exponentially and she's getting really good at picking up names. It was cute to hear her call Aunt Doris by name and she loved looking at lots of family photos naming everyone in the photo (Joy - she says "Aunt Joy" when she sees your pictures now too!).

Mom and I attempted to get a photo of Caroline with Santa.... it went worse than last year (and I didn't think that was possible!). We got her all dressed up, stood in line for 20 minutes, she was waving to Santa and saying "Hi Santa" from the line, but when it was her turn things went south the moment I set her in his lap. Mom caught it on video - Josh and I are still debating whether it is blog material since it was not one of her best moments (but pretty funny video). So, there will be no picture in Santa's lap this year... this is as close as we could get her to the scene and still have smiles!

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Weekend with Mimi & Pappy

2007-11-28T11:27:00.000-08:00

Caroline spent the weekend before Thanksgiving with her Mimi & Pappy in Nashville while we went to Knoxville to visit the McDowell family and take in the UT vs Vandy game (so close...ugh!). She had lots of fun making up new games, playing hide & seek, sharing her favorite Wiggles' songs & an outing to the bookstore (and I was only away for 2 days!). Most of the pictures from the weekend are on my mom's camera, so I'll have to add more later.

First hair cut

2007-11-08T05:15:00.000-08:00

I gave Caroline her first hair cut last night. It was getting really long in the back so it was time... but I wasn't brave enough to take her to a salon (as much as she hates going to the dentist, I was just sure putting her in one of those chairs would not go very well). So, I took it upon myself! She kind of looks like a 1920's doll we've decided, and it was much easier to tame this morning.

Early bird

2007-11-06T04:43:00.000-08:00

The time change has been rough... Despite our efforts, Caroline's clock has not switched over yet, which means some early mornings. On the plus side, we were up to have a bowl of cereal with Josh before he left for work.

Twick o Twick

2007-10-31T08:13:00.000-07:00

Caroline went with Josh to about 7 or 8 neighbors' homes and said "twick o twick" then roared and had a blast. I sat on our front porch handing out candy to the other kids and she would yell up to me as they walked by the house "Hi Mommy!" She's getting to be such a big girl!

Earlier in the day...

I really should have started sooner, but Halloween snuck up on me this year, and and we have not taught Caroline much about the holiday. So, this morning, I have infiltrated her with Charlie Brown's Great Pumpkin (which she only half watched while she played), we had a dress rehearsal in the costume and I started trying to get her to say trick-or-treat. The closest we've gotten so far is "Twick o Twick". We've still got some time before tonight, so I'm sure she'll have it mastered. She's a quick study. ;)
Here's a pic from the "dress rehearsal." Her roar is getting more ferocious though... so watch out neighbors!

Play time

2007-10-27T16:50:00.001-07:00

Over the last few weeks as Caroline has gotten more comfortable on her feet and gained some confidence, our "play time" has changed quite a bit. She really enjoys the playground now and after some many attempts, seems to have finally decided that she likes the slide. This was one of our first positive slide experiences...

This weekend, Caroline's "Mimi" came to visit and like many visits from grandparents, some new toys entered the house. This time, it was a rocking horse that neighs and sings his own little song. He is very popular! (Lambie gets to ride a lot too.)

Weekend with the cousins

2007-10-24T06:24:00.000-07:00

Caroline's Aunt Amy, Uncle Rob and cousins Haley, Mary Pat & Madeline came to visit this past weekend. We filled the weekend with lots of activities and the girls (and adults!) had a great time. Thanks for coming to visit us!

With the fishes

2007-10-15T05:06:00.000-07:00

Sunday we all went to the aquarium for Caroline's new friend, Sanjay's 2nd birthday outing. This was our first outing where Caroline walked by herself and for that matter, refused to hold our hands at all, which is quite a change. And she's really taken off - she's running and quite a job to keep up with at times!
Here are a few pictures from the day...

Potty Time

2007-10-10T13:58:00.000-07:00

Caroline has become increasingly interested in the potty. I thought she was probably a little on the young side to start potty training. Then, last week when she was running a fever for several days and had no other symptoms, I took her to the pediatrician. (She's fine by the way - just a little virus that gave her fever for a few days and now is gone) The doc ruled out all the usual suspects and decided we should try to get a urine sample. I was a little worried how we would go about that exactly.

To make a long story a little shorter, they basically put a little bag inside her diaper and told me to just wait until we had some results. Well, we waited... and we waited... It had been about 20 minutes and nothing. And being the anxious patient she is, she just kept walking over to the door and saying "Bye-Bye! Bye-Bye!"

Finally in an effort to try to explain why we couldn't go bye-bye, I told her: "We can't go bye-bye until you tinkle." She gave a concentrated look and then I heard a small gush. She had done it! On command! And promptly pointed to the door saying one last emphatic "Bye-Bye!" again to remind me that we could finally go home.

Needless to say, we are now the proud owner of an Elmo potty that sits in our family room. So far it has been used as a seat to watch her favorite program (the Wiggles) and to hide small things. This will probably be slow going, but let the potty times begin!

All dolled up

2007-10-03T05:29:00.000-07:00

We're a little behind on our posts with traveling the last two weeks - first to Nashville for my sister's wedding and then Josh and I took a trip to Seattle for a conference/adult long weekend without Caroline. The official pictures aren't available yet from the wedding, but here's one that was snapped of our family on route to the outdoor pictures before the wedding. Caroline looked so sweet in her in her little silk dress (which will probably be making more appearances at Christmas/Easter/whatever other holidays I can squeeze her into it!).

Papa's hat

2007-09-30T19:03:00.000-07:00

In the video (check the archive on the left), witness Caroline sporting a hat in support of Papa's workplace. However, in the end she reveals her true allegiance.

First real trauma

2007-09-12T15:19:00.000-07:00

Well, it's happened. We've had our first traumatic incident. Caroline fell and chipped one of her front teeth - pretty good too. Of course, just in time for my sister's wedding and all the pictures to last eternity! The strange thing was, she wasn't even walking when it happened - just sort of stumbled when she was hopping around like a bunny and fell tooth first on the hardwoods. It even left a little dent in the floor (something to leave behind in Cincinnati, I guess). :(
We had a quick trip to Indy to visit our pediatric dentist and got a pretty good report - but still a 30% chance she may have to have a root canal if there was damage to the tooth - yet to be determined. She must be trying really hard to follow in her daddy's footsteps as he had a root canal as a 15-month old after repeated falls and bumps too - so it runs in the family. We'll have it bonded at some point, but I'm waiting until she's a better patient at the dentist so we don't have to sedate her (not such an amiable patient at this time).

It really just looks like the gap between her front teeth has gotten bigger more than anything, I think. I don't think anyone will notice much with all that hair anyway!

Independent Ambulation

2007-09-09T09:07:00.001-07:00

As you can see from the video above, Caroline has decided to venture into the world of unassisted walking (with a dance break sprinkled in here and there, of course).

18-Month Stats

2007-08-27T10:22:00.000-07:00

Caroline had her 18-month check-up today. She weighs 22 lbs (so she has moved up a bit closer to the 20% group now) and is just over 32" tall (moved down a bit towards 60%). This afternoon, she had a renewed interest in her Sesame Street stethoscope... she's had it on for about an hour now and it hasn't slowed her down from emptying the cabinets into the grocery sack or trying on her glamorous sunglasses. She cracks me up!

Merry-Go-Round

2007-08-24T09:27:00.000-07:00

Caroline and I ventured out in the heat and went to the county fair with my Grandma - one of her favorite things to do each year. It was quite an experience. We saw the "Pork Queen" pin the blue ribbon on the award winning pig,

ate fried bologna sandwiches and had lots of fun seeing the cows, chickens, ducks, horses and rabbits

and even had a turn on the Merry Go Round.

New Picture

2007-08-22T05:39:00.001-07:00

We had Caroline's picture taken yesterday for her 18-month portrait so I thought I'd post it. We go for her doctor's appointment next Monday, so I'll have new stats then. She is really getting the hang of talking and is acquiring quite a vocabulary. Some of the newest additions are either social or food related: bye-bye, baby, up (for when she wants to be picked up or go up a step), cracker, cereal, cheese, and all sorts of animal sounds. Other than that, I think the only really new thing is that we've discovered she loves popcorn shrimp.