Caroline's First Birthday

Caroline turned one on March 21st, but we celebrated with family on March 19th. I made Caroline her own special applesauce cake for her to destroy. It was made from two little 4 inch cake pans. She only tasted a couple bites, and she smushed the rest of it and dropped it on the floor!

Caroline had lots of guests for her special day. Gramma and Grampa came from Atlanta and brought Uncle Mike and Uncle Stephen with them. Uncle Stephen brought Dutch, Caroline's favorite dog! Uncle Tim had a play, so he couldn't come. Gran and Grandad came the day before from Nashville, and then Gran stayed with us a few more days to visit more with her favorite grandbaby! Aunt Sara and Uncle John wanted to come, but Aunt Sara was sick :(

Caroline enjoyed all the attention and excitement. She happily roamed the den as we ate, going up to her guests and showing off her new skills - she is walking quite well now, and she's fast! She especially liked hanging around Uncle Stephen - maybe because he brought the dog! Caroline also had lots of fun opening her presents. She got the Fridge Farm magnets from Mommy and Daddy, a wooden farm puzzle and The Very Hungry Caterpillar book from Gran and Grandad, and two outfits and college fund money from Gramma and Grampa. What a lucky girl!

She's growing up so fast... one year old already!!!

Walking!

She's walking! Caroline took her first unassisted step in mid-February, just before she was 11 months old. By the time she was 11 months, she was taking a few steps at a time when we encouraged her... maybe up to five steps before falling down.
About a week later, Caroline could take several steps at a time - around ten or so - when we encouraged her. And now she will take steps unprompted.... for example, if she's pulled herself to a stand by the couch, she might take a few steps from there to the coffee table all on her own, without us prompting her. Occassionally she will walk partway across the room, just because she was standing when she decided that she wanted to go somewhere. So, she is still using crawling as her primary means of transportation because it is still faster for her, but she clearly enjoys walking and is pretty pleased with herself about doing it!

About to Walk...

Caroline is getting ready to walk. She's been able to stand on her own (not stand up from a seated position, but pull to a stand and then let go) for a couple months now. But lately she's actually remained standing for more than just a few seconds, and so I was able to get this photo of her standing the other day. Before, she would sit down so quickly that I never had the chance to snap a shot!
A week ago, Caroline took two steps and then grabbed onto my leg while we were at a La Leche League meeting. I was so excited! Since then, she's taken a few more steps here and there. Over the weekend, Chris and I were encouraging her strongly, and she took FIVE STEPS IN A ROW! And then she fell backwards, startled by my maniac-sounding laughter and other delighted sounds. We got a few steps on video.
So our little crawler will soon be a walker! I am now watching EBay for soft-soled shoes! 

Dishwasher Obsession

Caroline LOVES the dishwasher! Whenever she sees it opening or hears us putting dishes in, she shrieks with delight and races across the kitchen. Once she has reached the dishwasher, she will pull up on it, examine the Jet Dry dispenser, pull the bottom rack out and then push it in and out (repeatedly), taste the rubber gasket, walk around the open door, and practice opening and closing the dishwasher door. All the while, she is squealing excitedly, a big smile on her face. She acts like we've given her the greatest gift ever - o wondrous dishwasher, love of her life! And when we have to close it, she cries until we've distracted her with something else. What a weird kid - but hey, she is my daughter, after all.

Cloth Diaper Obsession

Who would think that cloth diapers could be so much fun? I was so excited when my first package of prefolds and covers arrived, and we've since added to the collection. EBay is great for getting a few of different varieties to try out without breaking the bank... but it's easy to overdo it! Caroline has plenty of diapers in her current size now, but she will outgrow them eventually and need larger ones. We get most of our new diapers from Baby Naturale - free shipping on orders over $50!
Currently, my favorite dipes are Kissaluvs fitteds. We have the pretty color ones! They are the blue, green, and yellow diapers in the picture. We use them with a Bummis Super Whisper wrap cover, and they contain messes wonderfully! I'm hoping to try Growing Greens fitteds soon, as they supposedly fit babies 5-35 pounds!!! We wouldn't need to buy a variety of sizes if those work!
Okay, it's probably a little weird to get excited about diapers, but I've always gotten excited about lame things. And based on her face in the photo, Caroline loves her cloth dipes as well!

Little Explorer

Caroline is getting so confident in her explorations! She can now climb down the step from the den into the sunroom without any hesitation or assistance. She will play alone for as long as an hour, checking in with me from time to time, but then continuing with her adventures. She enjoys opening the cabinets where her toys are stored, and ususallu she ends up in the cabinet herself! You can tell she's had an active day by the number of toys scattered beyond the cabinets and across the den.
She's getting so self-confident, she will even crawl all the way down the hall and into her room all by herself. I will go after her, where I will almost always find her pulling books off her bookshelf. She'll also go into the bathroom on her own if we've forgotten to close the door! Basically, anywhere with cabinets she can open is interesting to her. Caroline is definitely on the move!

First Words!

Caroline is quite a chatterbox lately! She repeats many words and says some things unprompted as well. She says, "Ma" for Mommy (which becomes "mamamama" when she's upset!), and "Dad!" for Daddy. When we read her family book that I made for Christmas, she repeats, "Ma" on the page with my picture, and then "Dad!" on the next page with Daddy's picture (although sometimes she gets so excited that she skips me and just says, "Dad!"). Then on Grandma's page, Caroline repeats the end of her name, "Ma." On Grandpa's page, Caroline says, "Bob!" which is very funny because that's actually his name! Sometimes it sounds more like "Bop," and lately she is making more of a "Pa" sound, so I think she's really trying to say Grandpa now too. Then we get to Gran's page, but Caroline doesn't know how to make the sounds for that yet. But on Grandad's page, she says the ending sound, "Dad" after we read his name. Then we get to the uncles and her aunt, but Caroline doesn't know how to say these yet, although sometimes she will say, "mu" after we read, "Uncle Mike."
Other things she says are "dak!" when I turn off the lights, and "aaaaah!" (ice) when I use the ice maker or hold a cup. She also says something that sounds like "dog" when we see dogs on our walks. Recently, she saw one of the cats at my parents' house and said, "Dog!" But when I say the word "cat," she will repeat, "Dat." She makes a "bu" sound for blocks, ball, and book. She says "ba" when we get her bath ready. She says "bap" when I am saying "snap" as I snap up her clothing. Caroline says "ha" when I put a hat on her head, and she says, "haw" when we get near the stove... unfortunately, I don't think she fully understands what it means for something to be hot even though she knows the word!
What's even cooler is that she understands a whole lot of words. If I say, "Caroline, sit down," she'll generally sit. Also, if I says, "Where's Daddy?" she looks right at him. If I say, "Wave, Caroline," she'll wave her hand, as well as when I say, "Say hi," and sometimes when I tell her, "Say bye." She also knows to hide her face and play peekaboo when I tell her to "hide." The other day I asked her to get her sock, and she did! And she knows what I mean when I say, "Not for Caroline!" She'll also turn pages in a book when asked.
And of course, she likes to squeal and make other loud noises with her voice... especially during church!
(Note: Photo was taken on December 21)

Caroline's First Christmas

We were in Tennessee for Caroline's first Christmas. We drove up to Chris's parents' house on the 23rd. On Christmas Eve, we went to Mass at St. Joseph's church, and then we went to Caroline's great-Granny's for snacks and gifts. All Chris's relatives got to ooh and aah over Caroline and how big she had gotten. She enjoyed roaming the room while we ate and chatted.
On Christmas morning, we opened gifts with Caroline's Gran and Grandad, along with Aunt Sara and Uncle John. Two of Caroline's favorite gifts were the 2-in-1 Activity Wagon and the Learning Walker car. Of course, she seemed to prefer the wrapping paper over anything!
That afternoon, Caroline's great-Papa came over with Margaret, along with Daddy's aunt and uncle. We had more presents and a meal together. Caroline was really racking up on the gifts at this point!
A few days later, we went to Atlanta to see my family. Grandma and Grandpa had gotten Caroline presents too, of course... and so did my brothers, her three uncles. So we enjoyed opening more gifts for Caroline and giving some to my family as well. Caroline got some pretty spring outfits from Grandma and Grandpa - and I got a Kitchenaid mixer!!!
The next day my uncle and aunt and my aunt's sister's family came over for dinner. Caroline got to entertain yet another group of relatives. We also showed off her new portraits, which were made that morning at The Picture People in the mall.
It was a busy time, but Caroline seemed to enjoy the new sights and people, and now we won't need to buy her any toys for about two years!

Cruiser

Caroline has been "cruising" (walking while holding on to furniture) for quite awhile! At six months, she pulled up on the coffee table, and she hasn't looked back! She's always seemed to want to be upright. It seems that she'll be walking before her first birthday...

Caroline loves kitties!

Like mother, like daughter. My little girl loves cats. She enjoys watching their movements, touching their soft fur... and grabbing them, of course. Lucky for her, my parents have stupid cats. They put up with this invasion of their personal space. One of them will actually cower in a corner and take the abuse, all the while remaining gentle with Caroline. The other one at least has the sense to escape to another room. The cats were really curious about Caroline at first - they probably thought she was some strange, hairless cat, what with the little mewing noises she made as a younger infant. Unfortunately for Caroline, her daddy is allergic to cats. So it doesn't look like she'll have one any time soon. She'll have to remain content harrassing Grandma and Grandpa's kitties for the time being.