A Little Exercise

Lest you all think that Caroline just sits around and looking cute (though she is quite good at that) we thought you should see some of her exercise routine.  Caroline worked hard the other day getting a hold of her little red monkey on her play mat. She hasn't quite mastered the art of the pull up (or the fact that it requires two hands).

She also is getting better and better with her little head. Here's a clip of her working on holding it up from a few days ago. She gets a bit frustrated near the end, but otherwise she's quite the champ.

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One Full Month

One month ago today, little Miss Caroline made her entrance into the world. We thought that it was good to celebrate the occasion. Our birthday candles seem to have disappeared, so we had to improvise. But, we thought the tea candle did the job just fine on the top of Caroline's celebratory brownie. Of course, since she is too little to eat it herself, her parents were kind enough to help her out.

We are starting to see more of her personality these days. (For instance, she tries not to fall asleep if it appears anything interesting is going on she doesn't want to miss.) She has started to take a great interest in the little toys hanging from her bouncy seat. She is also very excited about any toy that is bright and makes noise. We are starting to see lots more smiles out of her too.

Tomorrow we go to the pediatrician to see how well she is growing! We know we are biased, but we think she gets cuter by the day.

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The Deputy Under Secretary's Smallest Visitor

Today was Jack's last day at the Pentagon. So, he had to bring in Caroline to show her off. So, Caroline and I headed over to the Pentagon with Jack late this morning. We met with the new Comptroller, who is a very nice man. The office had put together a surprise party for Jack to wish him well on his new endeavors. 

Even though she was clearly the cutest person who went to Pentagon today, she still had to go through security. So, we got her own little visitor badge.  Of course, the need for the escort sort of went without saying. It didn't seem likely that Caroline would wander off on her own. 

Everyone rightly thought that Caroline was completely adorable. 

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Out for a Walk

Today was the day to get out of the house. This morning a lovely and wonderful woman from our church came over and watched Caroline for an hour and a half. I ran all of my errands (a feat of speed both because I was on my own and because there is no traffic during the weekday).  It was pretty exciting stuff for this new mom. 

Later on today, Caroline decided that she didn't need a nap. So, I put her in her stroller and took her out in the absolutely beautiful spring day we are having here. I pointed out all of the beautiful flowers and bushes that are just starting to bud and bloom all around us.  Spring is truly amazing in D.C. But, apparently watching me push her around tuckered out Caroline.  She eventually gave in to the nap. So, here's a picture of her fast asleep about half way through the walk. 

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Adventures in Late Night Parenting

Last night Caroline decided that sleeping was overrated and unnecessary for little baby girls.  Instead, she did what many babies the world over have done--she fussed until her parents resorted to creative measures.  We put her in the car seat to sleep. 

However, even in our sleep deprived state, we came to the realization that laying on the floor to rock the car seat was really not particularly comfortable.  So, we raised the car seat to easy reach--inside the crib.  Crazy as it looks, it worked.  You know you're new parents when the most exciting thing that happens all day is when your child sleeps from 1:30 to 5:30. Even more exciting is when she gets up, eats and goes back to sleep until 9:15.  The Koller household is now much happier.

We thought the shenanigans of the night were so funny in the light of morning that we would let you all see. 

For the Irish among you, please note that Caroline is sporting green celebrating her Irish heritage.  Happy St. Patrick's day!

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Preparing Caroline for the Future

We found Caroline deeply entranced in the Economist reading, along
with her mom about the bear market-she liked the references to the
animals.

However, when she read the front page article on the jobs crisis she
started to get fussy-so back to Goodnight Moon we go

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Some Time With Dad

Caroline has been having a great time hanging out with her Daddy lately. She obviously can't talk yet, but I think that the little half smile that she has is evidence that she likes hanging out with him. 

Most evenings when Jack gets home, he spends the evening hanging out with Caroline. Falling asleep curled up on her Daddy is pretty much Caroline's favorite way to take a little nap. (She zonks out curled up that way faster than almost any other way). 

But, she doesn't always sleep when she's hanging out with Jack. Here is a pretty cute picture of her earlier this evening just chilling. 

She was pretty happy just sitting with him.  She sat like this for quite a while tonight.

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And Now A Word From Our Sponsor...

We interrupt this blog to bring you some startling news...Caroline has ended her contract with Cheez-it crackers.

As many of you know, Caroline had a different name when she was in utero--a nickname really. We called her Cheez-it.  While she has a new name, there are many who still think of her affectionately by her former name The "Cheez-it."  

Our great friend Gayatri came over a few nights ago and brought Caroline a little present from her husband, an homage to her former name.  We thought it was so fun that we would take a picture.  We hope you think it is as cute as we do.

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Home Alone

Yesterday was our first day home alone without Nana, Grandpapa or Daddy. So, Caroline and I got to hang out together. But, Caroline is still pretty little so she wasn't up for much more than sleeping away the majority of the day. But, she was extremely cute as she did it. 

Of course, as with all first time moms, I had to take a ridiculous number of pictures of her being so absolutely adorable. 

Sometimes she slept in her crib.

 

Sometimes she slept in the bouncy seat.  But, in general, Miss Caroline just thought it was fun to sleep yesterday.

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Happy Birthday Nana

So, this is a little late, but Happy Birthday to Mom/Nana. Her birthday was on March 8, but we celebrated a little bit early so that we could celebrate with her. So, here are some pictures of the little celebration at our house (cake courtesy of our favorite little pastry shop around the corner).

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A Full Week

Miss Caroline is now a whole week old! She went to the pediatrician today and she has regained much of her birth weight. She passed all of the other pediatrician's marks with flying colors. So, Mom and Dad are pretty happy with that.  As you can see from the picture below, we're pretty enamored with her.

She had more visitors today, which was great fun. D.C. got a bunch of snow last night (by DC standards), prompting a snow day for most of the local schools.  So, our friend A.T brought her kids Murray and Griffin over to meet Miss Caroline. They are both really good with kids. Caroline was particularly fond of them.

We continue to enjoy having Nana and Grandpapa around. Though, last night Nana decided that Caroline needed to have her first experience at watching basketball. I suppose it is a good thing to have some Hoosiers around to train her up in such things!

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Nana and Grandpapa

Two sleep deprived parents are very happy to say that Nana and Grandpapa have arrived.  After a rather long night with Miss Caroline we were so excited to realize this morning that we could feed her and hand her off to her doting grandparents...and go back to bed. Life in the Koller household is very good.

Along with some really wonderful looking food, Nana and Grandpapa brought the family bassinet.  The bassinet, Nana thinks, was made by Caroline's great-great-great Grandfather and has been used by several generations of Julie's family.  Of course, the mattress and sheets are of a newer vintage than the bassinet itself. Caroline's great aunts were wonderful and got everything that she needs. As you can see from the picture, she likes it very much!

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