Busy Busy Busy!!!

Wow, we have had such a busy, busy weekend!!! We're exhausted now, but it has been fun. :)
Yesterday we had lunch at Heather and Rachel's house with Lenore and Caimon. It was a fun "girl power" day since Aidan couldn't be with us (his gp's are in town :))



Highlight for Carolyn was tasting her very first chocolate chip cookie. I only gave her half- but how can I deny Carolyn one of the chief joys in life. The cookie met (predictably) with a favorable, but messy response. :)
Last night Brad and I went to a banquet to honor the graduating residents and interns at his hospital. The banquet part was good, but the speeches were a tad on the long side for me- we didn't get done with the "programming" until 10pm, and after that we didn't feel much like dancing, so we went home. Carolyn had a wonderful evening enjoying pizza, bathtime, and story time with our good friends Matt and Katie Miller (who are expecting TWO of their own in a few months!) We were so glad they could come over and watch her since the idea of asking an unknown teenager to watch our most precious little girl still makes me nervous!

This morning we went Out For Breakfast at a local diner to enjoy some delicious greasy pancakes and bacon (by my request :)) Carolyn especially enjoyed little tastes of Mom's orange juice from a straw. :)
And today was first birthday party day! We started at Rachel's party... Rachel was a bit apprehensive about Cake at first... she did more throwing than eating... but soon warmed up to the idea. It was funny to watch her chucking the cake everywhere. :)
Carolyn and Aidan enjoyed lunch side-by-side in their matching travel high chairs. If you have a small child, you really must run out immediately and purchase one of these! They are so convenient- we have already used ours several times and have only had it a few weeks.
Carolyn's favorite part of lunch was the Baked Beans. :)

Carolyn's Daddy has been training her in Walking Holding One Hand. She can actually do it! Her balance is greatly improving and so is her courage.
We're pretty proud of our little star, and she is pretty pleased, too. :)
After Rachel finished demolishing her cake, we left to drop by Caimon's party for awhile. We felt sad we couldn't stay long, but we did get to have some fun in the pool while we were there. We really might as well have just stuck around for longer because we left early in order to provide Carolyn with a nap that she flatly refused to take!
We went out to dinner tonight with some friends- a celebratory dinner for one of Brad's fellow residents, Kim, and her husband Brian and their kids Lily and Preston, who will all be moving to Ohio shortly so that Kim can begin her OB/GYN practice down there. We will miss her!

Carolyn missed a nap today so she was a little "edgy." But she did get a real kick out of banging the spoon against the plate and seeing what a nice loud sound she could make... when that got old she started knocking the plate to the ground to hear it crash... fortunately, she didn't break it, but after that, she didn't get to play with it anymore, either. :)
We did a lot of this, the floor at a restaurant being unsuitable for crawling. Our good friend Sarah was glad to pitch in with a couple of fingers for Carolyn to hold on to. Even just today with all the practice she got it, I could sense her improving! Maybe it won't be too terribly much longer before we have a little walker on our hands?! But I think probably we're at least a couple months away. :)

After a lovely dinner, we all went over to a local ice cream place which was a favorite haunt of ours in college days- Captain Sundae. Here are Carolyn and I with the Captain. I put this picture in because I so rarely get a picture of myself that I find suitable for allowing anyone else to see. :)
And now you've made it to the end, and I've saved the best for last! Our little stander is SOOO BIG!!! She stood tonight all by herself quite a few times- for up to about 15 seconds! I couldn't believe her balance! Good work, Carolyn! I'm so proud! :)