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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Friendly Girl

Last night we watched our neighbor Charles Henry so his parents could have a little bit of a night out. As you can see, Caroline was pretty excited to have a friend around. I thought when I was taking this picture that she was going to try to take the book from him. That's not what she was up to. She patted the book and then tried to reach for Charles Henry's hand to pat. She then went for the board books under the coffee table and found her own to play with. The best part of the evening was when Charles Henry first came over. I set him down in front of Caroline and she just started giggling with delight. It was too cute.

It was a good weekend all the way around for date nights. On Friday Caroline's day care stayed open until 10pm. For a fee less than we would pay a babysitter, we were able to leave her and go out to dinner ourselves. It was great. I took her over to the Natural History museum and showed her the mamal exhibit (she was more interested in the people walking around than the big lion though). I fed her dinner, and then Jack came and played with her. She went down shortly after we left and we got to have a really lovely dinner.

We spent the rest of the weekend getting projects around the house done. In a house that is cozy like ours you would think you could get all the projects finished. Ah well, it makes for good family time over the weekend.

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New Toy

Caroline has a great new toy from Nana and Grandpapa. It flips up so that as she starts pulling up she can use it to try to start walking. For now, she likes banging on it and playing with all of the things that spin. She's a little confused by the fact that it moves (she doesn't yet understand that wheels make things roll).

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Lest we forget

We have to share the most exciting thing that Caroline has done recently--CRAWL. She took her first few little "steps" while she was at my parents house. She's still working out the details, but she's getting there.

She does a better job in the basement where there is all carpeting, but she's getting there on the hardwood floors. (Her little knees get red from bouncing around on them!).

Also, Caroline has one tooth that has cut her gums and another that is just about through. She's changing by leaps and bounds every day! (She won't sit still long enough for me to get a picture of the little tooth yet, maybe soon).

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More Updating

Caroline and I spent last weekend with my parents in Zionsville (also known as Nana and Grandpapa). Somehow we managed to make it out of the weekend without a picture of Nana and Caroline!!! But, I can assure you that Nana and Caroline together makes a pretty adorable picture.

My mom had her knee replaced about a month ago, so we went home to hang out with her and cheer her up. Caroline was particularly sympathetic since she knows what it is like not to be able to move as fast as you would like!

As with many grandparents homes, my parents have a few toys that are much better than the ones that Caroline gets to play with at home. This plane was a big hit. Caroline was a big fan of making the front spin all by herself.

Nana had a particularly good time making sure that Caroline got all of the food that she needed too!

While we were there my Dad and I walked down to the main street in Zionsville to let Caroline see a longstanding tradition--the Fall Festival. I hadn't been in years, so it was fun to see.

You can see the beginning of the parade in this picture. For some reason I was thinking that the sirens might scare Caroline.As you can see, she was completely unimpressed. It was only once I saw this that I realized that this kid lives in the DC area. She's in day care 3 blocks from the White House. She hears sirens ALL the time. So, not only was she not scared, she thought the flashing lights were pretty fun.
The only Fall Festival tradition that Caroline didn't really get to enjoy is the candy that is given out. Here's a picture of Olivia walking in the parade. I got a bit of candy from her, but sadly I couldn't share with Caroline.
While we were home we also went up and visited our neighbor, Mrs. Paris. She has always been a wonderful neighbor. I used to spend hours at her house when I was a child.
When I was there, I used to look at the many antiques in her house. Caroline apparently thought that she should carry on the exploring tradition by checking out under the couch.

All in all it was a great trip. Caroline was good on the plane. We missed Jack, but were really glad to have some time to see my parents!

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Wow are we behind

We are really sorry that we are behind in our blog posts. We've been pretty busy. We've got a few pictures that we can share. Hopefully that makes up for our lax posting.

Over labor day we went camping with our friends Amanda, David and their daughter Ruthie. Ruthie is four days older than Caroline. So, Amanda and I got to walk through our pregnancies together.

You can see above a picture of Caroline and Jack in front of our tent at the camp site. Caroline has a much smaller tent of her own that fits inside of her tent. So, she slept in with us all cozy in her own space.
You can just barely see it up at the top of this picture, but David's parents have an RV which they graciously let us all use that weekend. Amanda, David and Ruthie slept in there and we all enjoyed running water while we camped.
Caroline has been in pools and, of course, the bath. But, this was her first introduction to sand and that mud that can only be found at the bottom of lakes. She thought that it was pretty fun. She ended up getting so wet that we had to take off her onsie (luckily it was a pretty warm day).

Ruthie thought the whole adventure was pretty fun too. We had a nice walk around the campground on Saturday, played in the lake and generally relaxed. On Sunday of Labor Day weekend we took a five mile hike/picnic. The girls did pretty well, falling asleep in their respective carriers on the way home. All in all we thought it was a successful first camping trip with babies. They ate a little dirt and got a little dirty as kids are supposed to. The adults relaxed, played bocce golf, hiked and generally enjoyed the outdoors. Everyone was happy!

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