On A Roll!

One of my favorite new developments so far is Carolyn's rolling! She's been rolling over for months and has always seemed to enjoy it, but just in the last few days it seems that she has discovered that rolling can get her somewhere! Now she rolls with a goal in mind. Today she was so funny, rolling back and forth- one way, then the other, pivoting a bit- in order to reach the tempting objects I placed a few feet away from her.

Snow Carolyn

So it's been a pretty "mild" winter so far, but we woke up this morning to a fresh blanket of snow. It made me wish we were in Taos skiing! But we got Carolyn all bundled up for a few pictures in the snow. :) Enjoy!

Pears, Pebbles, Peas, and Peekaboo :)

Saturday we continued our foray into the world of fruits by introducing Pears. She seemed surprised by the flavor- I guess they're a bit stronger in flavor than the veggies she's had before- or even bananas- but by now she's accepted them into her diet- though she still makes a sort of sour face with the first bite. :)
The new hairstyle is really growing on me. :)

Last night, Carolyn stuffed got a bit more Peas and Cereal than she could handle... and out it came! She was happy to have made such a mess. :)
Fun times after Bathtime tonight- playing peekaboo with the towel- she really fills it out now- I remember when she seemed to almost drown in it!

Fun and Games

I made too much spaghetti for dinner on Monday... so Carolyn got a chance to experience the thrill of squeezing and mashing and attempting to devour an entire handful of spaghetti! :) It's really fun to watch her explore new textures and sensations and just see her little mind beginning to learn and expand even with such simple experiences.

Carolyn's first fruit! We tried bananas for the first time on Tuesday and they met with the most favorable response I've seen yet- not surprising, I suppose.

Well, the bumper pads in the crib had to go. :( I was sad because I think they are so pretty... but lately we have been finding Carolyn like this when we go to pick her up from her naps and in the night. The other night she was on her tummy with her face near the bumper pads... so they had go to. It makes me very nervous to have her sleeping on her tummy at all... but I can't seem to prevent it... so we have just tried to reduce the risk as much as we can and be thankful that she does know how to roll back over- although her favorite direction for rolling is blocked by the side of the crib!

Tell me, you experienced, seasoned mothers of the post-"back-to-sleep" era- Did this ever happen to you? Did you feel anxious about it? Was everything fine?
A new favorite game. Carolyn learns about containers. I put a bunch of her smaller toys inside this clear plastic bin and she just loves to take them out one by one- or sometimes to pour them all out at once.

A New Hairstyle

So today I went to the mall and bought some little ponytail holders and we tried a new "do" today. What do you think?
Or maybe two?

What's your vote?

Weekend Fun

This was my weekend to work, so Grammy and Papa Craig came to town to watch Carolyn. Everybody had a great time. This was my fourth time to do this, and it has gotten a little easier every time, though I'm always glad to come home at the end of the long days, and always so, so thankful that Carolyn has her loving grandparents to spoil her while I'm gone. It is a great blessing to leave at least relatively near family. I hope we can stay in the general vicinity of our families when we find a "real" job for Brad in a few years. :So happy to see my little girl!
Some toys never go out of style- I had one of these ring stackers when I was Carolyn's age- though her top ring has some rolling beads in it, and I don't think mine did. :)
Happy giggle fest with Grammy. :)
Carolyn loves to lie on her back, arch backward and look at you upside down. She'll smack her little legs down on the ground when she's especially happy- and can make some pretty decent distance around a room like that! :)
Grammy says it's time to get Carolyn's hair out of her eyes! So she tried the Pebbles look on Sunday. I think it looks cute! But I miss the big bow!

Carrots

So Carolyn tried carrots for the first time on Saturday night. She's kind of not been into the whole solid food thing as much lately (enjoys it for a few bites but then gets tired of it) and didn't seem to appreciate the carrots as much as we thought she might.

She got tired... started rubbing her eyes... and the inevitable happened. :)

We thought she looked like she'd been painted with war paint!!!

They're Growing

This Friday we had our little playgroup over to our house. I went to a breastfeeding support group with these gals and their babies (Aiden and Caimon) over the summer, and we've remained friends. It is amazing to watch these little ones grow up together. They are all within a week or two of each other (Carolyn is the youngest), and it's cool to see how different they all are. Aiden is already crawling and pulling up on stuff and the two girls (and their mommies) were very interested to watch him demonstrate his progress!

Ducks and Sweet Potatoes

This week we've introduced sweet potatoes. I saved them for the last of this group of veggies because I thought they'd be so sweet she wouldn't want anything else... but really she doesn't seem that fond of them! She gobbles green beans and peas and squash better than sweet potatoes!
The sweet potatoes might not be as delicious as expected, but this girlie sure does love her daddy!
Today we had a diaper explosion which required immediate intervention... so we got a chance to try out the new bathtub. She's outgrown the newborn tub and is starting to want to roll over on the little yellow foam mat we were using, and the big tub is just too big and slippery for Mommy to feel comfortable just yet... so here's Carolyn's new Ducky tub- a great $10 investment. She grinned so big when she saw it this morning. She can sit up easily, doesn't slip, and if she falls back, she'll hit the ducky's nice soft back.
Sitting up in the tub gives Carolyn a new vantage point for playing with tubby toys. Now she can catch them if she drops them and they start to float away!
Aaaah... this feels GREAT. I should explode out of the diaper more often!

Visiting Garrett

So yesterday we went to visit my friend Krysia (name pronounced like Trisha but with a K) and her son Garrett- Krysia and I work together (though we're both pretending that we don't work for Meijer right now because we'd really rather be SAHMs- internet lingo for stay at home moms). Anyway, we went over to visit little Garrett yesterday, who is three weeks old! It was so sweet to hold such a tiny little bundle again. We just stared at Carolyn and Garrett and wondered how in the world he would grow to be so big! But he will- and soon!

Carolyn was herself just three weeks old not really so long ago. How she has changed in just six months! Sometimes I find myself wishing for a tiny little one again (I never expected the Baby Bug to come around again so soon)- so sweet and soft and curled up and precious- maybe because it was so hard to appreciate all that at the time when you're all stressed out about getting no sleep and so desperately wanting to do things "right." But then I look at Carolyn and think of how much I am enjoying this season of our life together- and I snap right out of it and know that for now, things are just as they should be! It seems that I love her even better the bigger she gets.

But I loved her teeny tiny, too! :) This is Carolyn at three weeks old.
Anyway, she did the funniest thing yesterday. Garrett was sitting in his bouncy seat and he started crying- that cry is really tough to decipher in those first few weeks- not sure whether he's hungry or tired or uncomfortable or what- not exactly a scream but a pretty decent cry. Waaa! Waaa! Waaa! said Garrett- and in between each one of his "Waaa"s, Carolyn imitated the sound! At first I just thought she was making noise, but this went on for several minutes, and when Garrett altered the pitch or inflection of his cry, the noise that came out of Carolyn's mouth sounded almost exactly the same! It was hysterical! I wished I'd had the video camera to capture the moment. I've never heard her imitate sounds quite like that before. So funny!

Flying

I have heard that all fathers do this to their children- and mothers' hearts jump into their throats even as they grab the cameras to take pictures. :) And the fathers always catch the children as they come down- and the babies love it! :)

Perhaps my mother will be so kind as to forward me a scanned copy (if she has one) of the similar picture taken almost 26 years ago and we can discuss the similarity of facial expression between mother and daughter. :)

Little Cutie

Some more fun photos of our little darlin' I was asked tonight "are you going to put all those pictures on the blog?" To which I answered "YES- and when YOU get your OWN blog, you can decide what to post!"

Carolyn is at such a fun stage right now- she's so expressive and joyful and sweet. I love her more every day. What a great blessing it is to spend most of my time with her watching the miracle of her growth. :)
Thanks Uncle Doug, Aunt Katy and Cousin Emily for the cute outfit!
Considering Butternut Squash last night... and I think she ultimately decided that she liked it. :)
Carolyn has learned a new game- called Ball. Grandma taught her to roll the ball back and forth with her- unfortunately, none of these pictures from last night turned out so well- but here she is tonight playing with Auntie Laura (who came over for the special showing of "24"- our collective addiction- we have no time for tv anymore- but we make time for Jack- our hero. :))
What do people do who don't have little girls to dress up in Hats?! :)
Loving Auntie Laura

Bath Time

Grammy and Papa Craig watched Carolyn on Saturday night and got some great bathtime pictures! :)



Just floating along...

Squash and Sliminess

We tried Acorn Squash for the first time on Thursday.

The first bite. Any new taste requires a moment or two for consideration...
But the verdict was clear with Squash. She likes it!!! No adjustment period necessary (as with peas and beans, which she didn't embrace immediately, but now seems to enjoy). I don't blame her for liking the squash best- I tasted it when I smashed it up and it has a very nice, sweet, creamy flavor!
Today Papa Craig invited Carolyn to begin a trip down the road to Self-Feeding. LMC has been waiting eagerly for such an invitation from someone who doesn't care how much of a mess she makes or whether any of the food makes it into her mouth! :)
Hands on experiences are much more fun. It is much more exciting to be able to smash the food in ones fingers, smear it all over one's face and attempt to consume the spoon, the food, and one's fingers all at the same time. :)
Arms "akimbo" waiting for the next refill of the spoon.
Yum!! This is great!!
I love being a big girl!!! If you look very closely in this picture, you can see Tooth #1 on Carolyn's bottom left gum. :) Tooth #2 has not yet made it through the gum, but it's coming!!