Rice Cereal: Take 1

Tonight we decided to try giving Caroline rice cereal. I was a little nervous actually...I had visions of her spitting the cereal all over me, of her rejecting the spoon, of her making horrible faces and screaming/crying...

But she did awesome! We were pleasantly surprised. She probably ate a couple dozen spoonfuls which is pretty good for her first time, I think. It wasn't overly messy either (this time). I hope this means she'll be a good eater! Towards the end she was opening her mouth up pretty wide!

Earth's Best Rice Cereal: cereal of baby champions.

This video clip is of her first spoonfuls.

And here are a few snapshots...and also a cute one of her and Greg from the other day.

Caroline Goes to Conor O'Neill's

I know this post is a bit behind, but oh well. I've been a little busy. :-)

Last Sunday we took Caroline to her first bar. Why? Some friends were having a going away brunch because they have moved to Maryland. Everyone is sad that they're gone. But, what better way to have a send off than brunch at Conor O'Neill's? (Sara and Jason - I think of you guys every time we go there!) So this was a great bar for Caroline to go to for her first "bar experience"...

I was unsure about how the food would be, but I must admit that my corned beef and hash was quite tasty. And everyone was definitely enjoying the $2 bloody marys and mimosas.

Greg didn't understand why I wanted a picture of me and Caroline in front of the bar. I had to explain that this is for the blog!!! The blog causes me to take my camera with me as much as I can remember to, and makes me take pictures of things I never would otherwise. This is for your reading enjoyment, so you can keep up with our many....no, that would be infrequent... adventures.
So anyway, here we are!

Ok, so I wasn't ready for this picture, but apparently Caroline was.

Here is Melissa...one of our guests of honor who has since moved away. Her husband Chris is there too. Melissa is pregnant and due in October! We hope she'll be back this summer for a baby shower.

Here is Caroline sporting her Sunday best. What a cute little dress!

Have Cindy and Jeff had too many bloody marys? I think not...

Now it is a week later, and there's not a lot new to report. Caroline turned five months old yesterday. And she can sit up by herself for a few seconds now so that's a new trick. Yesterday we went to a bbq at a friends house...and I saw one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time - a 2.5 year old doing karaoke with his dad. Seriously hilarious. And they weren't singing kids songs either! He loved having the microphone and would dance around with it. So that was a fun party.

I hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend! Greg has unfortunately had to work for all of it, so we haven't done anything overly exciting. But Caroline and I have been hanging out which is nice. Gotta run- she just woke up from her nap!

Saturday at the Erie Town Fair

On Saturday our little town had their annual fair. There is a huge hot air balloon launch early in the morning (which we missed because we weren't up yet at 6am!) and then there are activites all day downtown. It was a beautiful day, and we decided to take Caroline out so she could see the sights. I think she might have liked the balloons had we been up at the crack of dawn. But anyway, it was kind of fun. If Caroline had been a few years older I think she would've had a great time. They had lots of stuff for the kids. Pony rides, a petting zoo, lots of inflatable slides and bouncy things, balloon animals and face painting.

I wanted to ride the slide!!!

There was also a car show with lots of old cars. Some were cool, some just looked like old pieces of junk. It was a fun day! Caroline enjoyed hanging out in the stroller and looking at all of the people and stuff. There was a lot going on.

Happy Wednesday

Caroline and I are both still sick, but it seems that we might be starting to get better. It's about time!!! We haven't been doing anything too exciting lately since we haven't been well, but with the beautiful weather we've had lately, I look forward to getting out of the house a bit more (without cough drops and a box of kleenex).

Here's a recent video of Caroline having some fun with dad. She's doesn't do anything overly exciting - she just acts cute! :-)

Yesterday I got a swim suit for Caroline - it is so cute. I just love it. I got it at naartjie on sale - woo hoo! She's gonna be too cool for the pool. Hopefully she'll fit in size 2 diapers though by the time we do take her in the water because so far I haven't seen any swim diapers in sizes smaller than 2.

Here are a couple silly pictures I took the other day...Caroline and I were hanging out in her room and I wanted to see if her baby sunglasses fit yet. They have a band that goes around her head and there is some velcro that make them adjustable...but even on the smallest setting they're still a bit big. But, when she's laying down they stay on!

Someone get this kid an umbrella drink! And one for me too, please. :-) Just wait til she has on her swim suit and these glasses. Too funny.

Well I think we're gonna go read and then try to get some of Caroline's ceiling decorated today. It's plain white right now and dreadfully boring to look at. But not for much longer!!!

Chatty Cathy Learns a New Trick

Today was supposed to be Caroline's first baseball game...the Giants are in Denver playing the Rockies this afternoon, and we had hoped to go. But since she is still sick, and I am now sick too, we decided maybe it wasn't the best idea. Hopefully the next time the Giants come to town we'll be able to go. It's such a nice day today...it's too bad it didn't work out! I was hoping for some great pictures from the outing too. Oh well!

Last weekend Grandma Mary was here visiting and I think she and Caroline enjoyed each others company. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures from the weekend - apparently all of the pictures that were taken are on Mary's camera and we have none! Oops. Lionel and Lisa also came up for dinner on Saturday and that was fun too. When Caroline woke from her nap I brought her downstairs to see everyone. At first she was like "who are all of these people?!?!" But after awhile she got used to it and I think she enjoyed the attention.

Caroline has been very verbose lately, which has made me start calling her Chatty Cathy. Besides all of the babbling, she has found that she can squeal. This is something that I'm not overly thrilled about. Usually it's exciting when she learns something new...and while I know that all kids squeal, it's not something that is all that enjoyable. :-) Yesterday we met Greg for lunch at the Huckleberry and she sat in the corner being quite loud, as if to make sure that everyone knew that she was there. Luckily no one seemed bothered by it!

But Caroline has learned a new trick that I am happy about! She keeps getting better with her hands, and is getting more proficient at getting the pacifier in/out of her mouth by herself. So that is good...though that's not the new trick. :-) Yesterday I had her on the floor in her room while I got her bath ready. I had her red monkey beside her and she was playing with it. When I left her she had rolled from her back to her side so she could better play with the monkey. Then as I was getting some more stuff ready in her room, I saw her flop over! You may be thinking, wait...I thought she already rolled over? Well yes, from her tummy to her back. But this was from her back to her belly! So I was very excited about that. Later when Greg got home, we put her down again and she didn't disappoint...after a minute or two she rolled over again so daddy could see! What a good girl!

I think that's about it! We're just hoping to get healthy soon. At least it's not the swine flu...oh wait, H1N1. The poor pigs are getting a bad name. :-) Seems like the mild hysteria about it has died down a bit...thank goodness. Last week a lady at the Target in Boulder took a shopping cart and filled it with every bottle of hand sanitizer in the store and bought it. This makes me shake my head. Yes, be smart and be cautious...maybe don't go to Mexico for awhile....but seriously. What is wrong with some people?

Since I don't have any new fun pictures, I will leave you with this one from last Sunday. Greg had to work all day unfortunately, but when he came home he and Caroline hung out for a bit.

Little Girl, Big Chair

Earlier this week, Caroline and I went out to the playground to swing for a bit since it was a nice day. As I was getting ready to go, I had to set her down for a minute. I decided to plop her in the recliner. She just sat there chillin'...with her arm up there like she was an old pro. She can't yet sit up by herself, so seeing her like this is amusing to me.

After the playground we came back and she had some time on the floor gym. She was really enjoying it this day...and was laughing and babbling to the animals as she played. In the afternoons now when I'm home with her, I put her on the floor to play and I read to her. What do I read? I'm reading the second book in the Twilight series. She obviously has no clue what I'm saying, and she likes to hear me talk so it works out for both of us. :-) Yes, yes, I know that the Twilight books are for teenagers. But whatever. They're entertaining. I compare my affection for them with that of Harry Potter...but don't get me wrong, Harry Potter was impossible for me to put down. These are very entertaining but I can put them down if I have to. What's not to love about a vampire love story? My point is that they're both supposedly for kids. It was funny actually...on Wednesday when we were in the pediatrician's office, another mom came in with one of the books and she and the receptionist were talking about how much they liked them. There are more adults reading them than I would have suspected! I'm glad Robyn told me about them awhile back because I have enjoyed it so far!


I signed up the wee one for her first swimming lessons the other day. They start the weekend after the 4th of July. It's not like she'll actually swim, but it'll get her used to the water. And it gives me an excuse to buy her a super cute bathing suit. :-)

Today we went to the work day at Caroline's daycare. I basically watched her the whole time, and wasn't able to really help. But they put Greg to work doing lots of manly things. I thought there would be a lot more people, but there were quite a few actually. It was nice to help out around the place (it's just a little old house in Boulder) and to meet some of the other parents.

Ah, the washer just buzzed. Don't you just love laundry?

Four Months Old

Caroline is four months old today. It's kind of hard to believe! Hopefully today will be a bit better day than the last handful have been. She's had a cold for almost 2 weeks now, and a low-grade fever since Sunday. She was doing better yesterday morning, but then we had her 4-month appointment with the doctor and she got three vaccinations. Later on, the fever returned but higher than ever! Luckily, not high enough to send us to urgent care. Thank goodness. Last night I did what I could to try to keep her cool, and after putting her to bed dressed in very little and with a fan on, I set my alarm clock for 1am when she'd need her next dose of tylenol if the fever was still present. She woke me crying at 12:48am (she's so timely!) but not because she needed more tylenol, but because the fever was finally going down and she was chilly! Whew. Big sigh of relief from me. So I dressed her in some socks and PJs as gently as I could so as not to disturb her too much. After that she slept for the rest of the night. She seems much better today so that is a good sign. Hopefully this pesky fever is gone for good and she can finally go back to daycare tomorrow and I can get in one day of work this week. I've missed work all week so far, which doesn't break my heart but does hurt the pocketbook a bit. :-)

But, the news from the doctor's appointment is that she's doing great. Her development is right on track and she's a healthy girl, aside from this cold. I was so curious about what she'd weigh. Turns out she's 11lb 15 oz, which is still 25th percentile. At least she's consistent! :-) They measured her length to be around 24.5" (55th percentile).

We've been having a lot of fun with her lately. She's learning new things so quickly. She holds her head up great, and I finally broke down and bought her one of these "Me in the Mirror" toys. I'm glad I did because she loves it. She likes looking at it when she's on her belly, and also when I hang it in her crib. Isn't she adorable? :-) Or is it just me and Greg that think so? haha...


She's also getting really good with her hands. She has a lot more control over them than she used to. And she's recently found her voice as well. She babbles and makes the funniest sounds. She's learned that if she sticks her tongue out while going "aaaahhhh" that the sound is different than when the tongue stays in the mouth. The sounds are so funny sometimes that it just makes us laugh out loud.
She no longer struggles to get her thumb in her mouth either. Or any of her fingers for that matter. Or four fingers. I don't yet think I've seen her with her whole fist in her mouth, though she's tried. She still likes the pacifier for sure, and when she's upset it calms her. But the thumb sucking is becoming a bit more common.

Not much else is new here. Oh, actually there is some news! Caroline is getting another cousin! Tiffany (Greg's sister) is pregnant and due in early October. Same time as Melissa and Chris's baby! So that is very exciting news. Congrats Tiffany and Benja! Now Caroline will have someone her age to play with at Grandma Mary's house. October is a good time for a birthday...I should know. :-)

Everything else is pretty much the same here. The weather has been beautiful and warm. The two days of rain we got a week ago have started making things look nice and green. Our yard is like wild kingdom with all of the birds, rabbits, and squirrels who seem very busy every day.

On a different note, I just had to share a picture of what will become our dinner tonight. It's just so pretty! :-) Who says crock pots are only for chili and stew? We've used the crock pot a lot since Caroline was born...it's just so easy and it can be really tasty too. I browned up some lamb shanks, and now they'll cook all day with some onion, garlic, tomato, mushrooms, red wine, and lots of herbs. Nice. It already smells great in the house.