Some Family Pictures...

Just Caroline with some of the family... Sitting with Gran and Grandad at Lake Guntersville State Park in early November; Sitting on Daddy's lap at Karen's wedding reception on November 18; With Aunt Sara, Mommy, and Uncle John at Thanksgiving.

A Very Cool Trip!

My friend Kara and I took our toddlers to the Creative Discovery Museum in Chattanooga... and we sure found a winner of an attraction! There was a lot of stuff for all ages, and also a lot that held the attention of our little ones! The most notable places were the Toddler Room (which had a huge kitchen, a train table, dress up clothes, and more) and the water tables. Now, these aren't your ordinary basic water tables! they have fountains and waterfalls and plenty of cups for pouring and boats for floating! Caroline could've played here for hours, I think... and that's not like her at all! So here are some shots of them playing in the water... and Caroline tasting the water - yuck!

Happy Halloween!

Caroline had a fun day this Halloween. She wore her clown suit all day long. we had a playgroup party in the morning, complete with indoor trick-or-treating and an inflatable slide! Caroline played with her friends Matthew, Alex, and Alexandra. That evening, we went trick-or-treating with Alex (who was dressed as Spiderman). Here is a photo of the two toddlers by our jack-o-lantern. Caroline had fun experiencing doorbell-ringing, although she didn't eat any of the candy herself! Chris and I ate a piece each, but we actually had to give some of it to trick-or-treaters - we'd never come even close to running out in years past, but there must have been more kids out this time! And then he took the rest of the candy to work, so we wouldn't be tempted!

Potty Success

I had been asking Caroline if she wanted to sit on the big potty. "No!" was her emphatic answer. I just thought I'd ask, since she'd been telling us when she pooped recently, and when I asked her, "Where does poop go?" she would point to the potty. Well, somebody gave this little potty to Gran, so she brought it to us. Since Caroline was so adamantly opposed to sitting on the big potty, I wasn't even going to bring this one out for awhile. But she found it and began to play with it... so I told her it was a little potty for her. She opened it and sat down , and I said something along the lines of, "If you were going to go pee pee on the potty, we would take off your diaper." Well, she started pulling at her diaper, trying to get it off... so I went with her cues. Surprisingly, she wasn't wet at all (she'd just gotten up from a nap, and supposedly this is a good time to get them to pee in the potty anyway). She was fascinated with sitting there, standing up occasionally, then carefully sitting back down, all the while holding little bits of toilet paper. And after ten minutes, what do you know? She actually peed in the potty! Not bad for her first try!

Pumpkin Patch

Caroline enjoyed hugging the pumpkins at the Pettit Creek Farms pumpkin patch. We went with Gran and Grandad, who had come to visit. Caroline also enjoyed the hayride and looking at the animals (we weren't about to pay $5 for a 3 minute pony ride, though!). I am also including a photo of our little anal child picking up pumpkins that were purposely spread out on the ground... she thought they needed to be cleaned up, apparently! We had nice weather that actually wasn't too hot for an October day in Georgia! After the pumpkin patch, we all went out to eat at a new restaurant, which was quite yummy!

Pensacola Beach

Well, I haven't posted anything in quite some time... We went to the beach recently (Sept. 10-15), and I thought that warranted an update!
We waited until September, hoping for fewer crowds and bravely facing hurricane season (which didn't happen - take that, people who say last year's hurricanes are a sign of horrible results from global warming!)... and Chris couldn't take off until August anyway, so we just waited the extra month. We had rain a few mornings, but it cleared up by mid-morning each day and was beautiful the rest of the time!
Caroline had never stood in sand or touched the waves before. She loved throwing things into the water as a wave came in, and then turning and running back up the shore as the water got her feet wet! She also liked playing in the sand with shovels and buckets, especially when I dug a big hole that she sat in as it filled with water. For a child so concerned with being dirty (she sees a speck of something on a toy and automatically kicks into obsessive-drive, saying "Duh duh duh!" (meaning "dirty") or "Beeeeee!" (meaning "bee," of course - she remembers her wasp sting incident quite clearly!), she sure didn't mind sitting in wet sand! She also liked chasing the seagulls, although it frustrated her when they wouldn't stay still, much like the neighborhood cats who run out of the yard when they see Caroline coming!
A big highlight was the pool - of the hotel next door. No, we didn't crash the other hotel; there was a sidewalk joining the two together. The next door hotel was a Hilton, which is owned by the same company that owns Hampton (which was our hotel), so guests can use both hotels' pools. The Hilton pool area had a kidie wading pool with fountains in it. Some were way too powerful for an 18 month old, but Caroline enjoyed the small fountains in the inch-deep water.
She didn't get sunburned - just a bit pink. Wish I could say the same for her daddy, who had the telltale line across his shoulders proving that I apply sunscreen more obsessively (and therefore more effectively) than him. His back was fine - the part I did - but his front was burned after the first day. Caroline did end up with a fever on our last full day there - so maybe a little too much time in the heat. But she was fine by the following afternoon.
And in case anyone cares *(I do because it involves food!), the continental breakfast at this Hampton was extremely generous. Hot items every morning! Caroline was pleased to have eggs several mornings.
Perhaps I should go back a post-date some entries so there will be something on here in between June and September!
So in the photo, do you think she has a crossbite? I had one that had to be corrected, and Caroline's smile very clearly isn't quite lined up in this photo!

Busy!

Some random pictures of Caroline "helping" around the house... sorting cookbooks at Gramma's house and vacuuming in the sunroom! Dates on these are September 3rd and 1st (sorry, they're not in chrono. order).

Labor Day Cookout

We had a backyard cookout for Labor Day weekend and invited several families with babies around Caroline's age. In this picture, she's splashing in the pool with her buddy Alex, who lives right down the street from us. He's just 2 weeks younger than her. She also had her friends Matthew and Alexandra over as well - they were all so active that we never got a shot of all four of them together! We had the sprinkler going as well, and Caroline's swing was another main attraction.
The adults just got to hang out and watch/help the babies play while eating burgers and hot dogs and yummy side dishes brought by everyone. Caroline's Aunt Sara and Uncle john came, whi she hadn't seen in awhile - but she warmed right up to them! She really is becoming so much more outgoing in the past couple months.
The fun lasted from 3:00 in the afternoon until after 7:00 when everybody decided that the babies were getting cranky! It's so much fun to watch them all together at this age!

Make Believe

Caroline is in the very early stages of make-believe play. She carries her stuffed animals around the house all the time. Each has a name: "Bah (bear - there are two of these)," "Bee-Bah (Pink Bear)," "Boo-Bah (Pooh Bear)," "Me (Piglet)," "Bah... Dee (Bear from Uncle Stephen)," and "Dah (Cat)" are among her favorites.
I thought it was just too cute when she started sharing her snack with "Bah" in this photo! She also lays her animals down and says they are "Eeee (sleeping)." What fun it will be when she can pretend even more and make them talk!

I made a plain frozen yogurt popsicle for Caroline on day. It was really hot, and I had to do some things in the kitchen. I was hoping that this would keep her occupied for a while... and she loved it! I made it in one of those Tupperware "Ice Tups" molds. She made quite a mess of herself and the floor, but most of it ended up in her mouth. I gated her in so she wouldn't leave the kitchen and drip anything on the carpet. I will be sure to do this more often on hot summer days. I only hope she will always think that plain frozen yogurt is what a popsicle is supposed to taste like! if not, I'll have to add some pureed fruit to it to make it sweeter!