Good Habits Start Young

We thought you all would appreciate a preview of Halloween at the Kollers. Since many parents work flex schedules at her day care, they did a harvest festival (a.k.a. Halloween party) today. Every year they do a parade around the building which many non-parents attend (because really, kids in costumes are cute). Caroline is too young to pick out her costume for herself, so we did what any good parents would do. We decided to start her off in life right--with good loyalties and character. We dressed her up as a Steelers cheerleader. As you can see, Caroline likes her look.

O.k. what I mean by Caroline liking her costume is really that Caroline is a big fan of the pompoms I made her. Of course, as you can see to the left, this includes putting them in her mouth (repeatedly).

Later on in this ride Caroline had black fuzzies all over her mouth. (She probably had yellow ones too, but they were harder to see).

Brayden is the little boy to Caroline's left in these pictures. His mom Ariana works across the hall from me and I probably see her twice a day or so. I came down at lunch and caught her trying to teach Caroline to root for the Redskins. I am happy to report that Caroline immediately broke down into tears. (And, really, in light of their season this year, I think that shows a great deal of maturity on Caroline's part).

More pictures of our Steelers cheerleader on Saturday.

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Annapolis

This past weekend we had the great fortune to have a dear friend from college Hilary and her husband Chris in town. We took advantage of their presence and went to Annapolis for the afternoon/evening on Sunday. One of the things we did while we were in town was to go on a tour of the naval academy. While I thought it was fascinating to hear about some of the traditions and see a mock room, Caroline was much more impressed by the well manicured lawns. She was very excited to crawl around and put leaves in her mouth. We're working on trying to get her more interested in historical sites! :-) But, it was a wonderful time to catch up with Chris and Hilary, hear about their children (Anatoli, Micah and Gideon) and their lives in Los Angeles. We are really thankful to be in a place were many people come to visit so that we get to see them!!

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Caroline Does Guapos

Tonight we decided to get brave and crazy. We decided to try taking Caroline out to dinner. She's eight months old today. And we took her out to celebrate.

We picked our place carefully - loud, quick, seemed to be kid friendly, and close to home. Guapos is a fun mexican place just across the way from our house. Of course, the last time we tried taking Caroline out to dinner (5 months ago) it was to Guapos. Just as we were getting finished up with dinner and she started SCREAMING. Luckily, we were outside and made a very, very fast exit. We hadn't been brave enough to try again till now.

But, now she's got some finger food skills. (The way she "chews" you can tell Caroline is convinced that she's got a full set of molars, even though she only has two little bottom teeth). The waiter was nice enough to bring her some grilled corn. Between corn and puffs (I'm not sure what is on her tongue in this picture) she was pretty happy. We'll work on table manners later.

Right now we're just excited that she looked like this the majority of the time. She was really distracted by the ladies at the next table. I have to say, I think that they thought she was pretty cute too. (And, clearly, they were right).

So, all in all, a successful evening! We may even be brave enough to try this again!

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A Literary Misstep

Well, there are no pictures to go along with this post. But, I have a confession. I think we've got a problem on our hands. Caroline was not excited about the library today. It was a sad day for me. I took her there after work (she had just gotten up from a nap, so I can't blame it on her being tired). Caroline hasn't sat through any book except for Olivia's Opposites (which she really just likes because of the sounds I make when I read it). The Big Red Barn is a total bust (though I love it). Even Brown Bear Brown Bear is just too long for her. I thought maybe we could spark her interest with some new books.

Nope. Nothing. She was bored one book in. She tried to backflip out of my arms with the first one. Big colorful pictures--no interest. Lots of motion words and sounds? Nothing. Sigh. We'll try again (and again) as she gets bigger. But, not an auspicious start. :-) She was SUPER happy with the idea of trying to climb up the shelves.

But, then again, perhaps she's just saving herself from my fate. As my family members know--I am the queen of library fines. I'm concerned that she is too scared of library fines to enjoy books. :-) I'm going to work on it.

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A Fun Little Pumpkin Adventure

Caroline and I took advantage of my day off and went out for a little pumpkin patch adventure. I drove us out to Hollin Farms about 45 miles outside DC. As you can see from the big smile we got in this picture, Caroline had quite a fun time. (She made friends with the lady who worked there, which is who she is smiling at. She doesn't quite understand that she's supposed to smile at Mommy when that black box called a camera is around).

It is a quiet little place out about an hour from hour house when there is no traffic. Given Caroline's early rising tendencies, we were able to make it out there about a half hour after they opened around 9:30 (and without any traffic).

As you can see, they had more than just a pumpkin patch. Caroline was particularly enamored with the chickens. I think it was because she could see them so close. (Though I was smart enough to keep her far enough back so that she when she tried to put her hand through the wire she was unsuccessful. She was less than pleased, but unpecked.) They also had two goats, though Caroline wasn't as excited about them. She really thought that the fast pecking of the chickens was more interesting.

The lady who worked there was also kind enough to give us some bad apples. So we walked through the pumpkin patch to the bottom of the hill to feed the pigs.

This is the face Caroline made when I tried to get her to say "here piggy." Clearly she was not up for such nonsense. But, she did think the pigs were rather fun. I couldn't get a picture while holding her, but she gave the pigs some winning smiles. As you can see they came over to say "hi, have any more apples?" They were rooting around in the fallow corn fields for food. So, the apples seemed to be a welcome distraction/treat.

Then we went out and found a pumpkin. (Well, we actually found three). This wasn't one of the final contestants--mostly because I couldn't cary this pumpkin and Caroline. I tried to get more pictures of Caroline looking up, but she was pretty enamored with the pumpkin. She patted it and talked to it. I'm not really sure what she was telling the pumpkin, but she definitely thought that it was fascinating.

All in all, I think it was a pretty fun morning. We have three pumpkins that are now sitting at the base of our stairs decking our house out for fall.

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U2

This is a bit overdue, but I thought I would put up a few of the pictures that I took with my iPhone when I went to the U2 concert a little bit ago. Cameras (i.e. the ones that the security people can pick out) aren't allowed, so I could only take pics with my iPhone. These are the best two.

A friend of mine works for the One Foundation, which is the foundation that Bono co-founded. At the last minute they were all given free tickets and the opportunity to buy one at face value. So, she asked me if I wanted to come. Clearly, I said yes.

As you can see, we were down in the standing room part of the concert. Being short meant that it was a little hard to see. But, we had a great time anyway. We sang loud, jumped up and down, screamed like teenagers and generally did things that are usually socially unacceptable. All good clean fun had by all. Thanks Gina for a fun night!

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First Fall

Caroline is getting to experience her first crisp days, her first pretty leaves and the first time that she gets to hear that fun sound that the leaves make when you crunch them.

Today poor little Caroline had to have a few shots (ick). So, I thought that she definitely needed a trip down to the swings (not that we need an excuse, but it is fun to have one). She had a first today -- she understands that she has to hold on so that I can push her without having her lose her balance.

As you can see in this picture she wasn't completely sure if she liked the experience at first. (She's used to one of Mommy's hands being a little closer). But, once she gained a little confidence she was pretty giggly about it all.

She was definitely a little confused by the leaves. She couldn't quite figure out how they were making noise. Caroline was a little disappointed that she wasn't allowed to put all of the leaves in her mouth. Life's rough when you're a baby. :-)

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Bling

This one is for my aunts who braved a crazy snow storm to come to my baby shower before Caroline was born. Somehow, this pacifier made it into the plethora of gifts that they bought. It was for six months and older, so I've been holding it in reserve. But she is big enough now, with what I think is a rather hysterical result.

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Teeth!

Today we hit another milestone (and this one, thankfully, did not involve the hospital). Caroline got her teeth brushed for the first time. She's had teeth for about two weeks, but they were such small little nubs they didn't really merit a toothbrush yet (just a little wiping off with a washcloth). But, they've started to stick up enough that we decided that we should start brushing her teeth.

Caroline was a little skeptical, but seemed to warm up to the idea. In the end, we got some good strokes on her little teeth. And a new part of the bath/prayer/bed routine has been added.

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A Little Unexpected Trip

Well, we have experienced yet another one of the ways that you get initiated into parenthood. We got to take a trip to the hospital for Caroline. She's fine. We're a little worse for the wear, but I don't think that counts. :-)

Caroline hit her head yesterday at day care. They called me and said she cried for a bit, but seemed fine. (She was trying to pull herself up on the play kitchenette and apparently learned the hard way that it is hard to hold onto a play stove, push the buttons and hold on with two hands). She generally seemed fine. So, I didn't think much of it.

Then a few hours later all the joys of the stomach flu started to rear their ugly little head. So we got to experience the joys of that at day care, in the parking lot, on the way home, etc. (I'm sure you get the picture). Sadly, bump on head plus lots of throwing up wins you...that's right ladies and gentlemen...a trip to the pediatrician and then to the ER. Very exciting.

Thankfully, in the end Miss Caroline stopped getting sick so that the doctor could determine that she in fact, just had the flu. Of course the fact that she got REALLY smiley when the doctor came by, wiggled her arms and generally looked happy might have had something to do with it. (I'm pretty convinced that she was just excited that she didn't have to wait any more).

So, after a pretty late night we're home in snuggly clothes recovering. Whew!

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