More teeth & bye bye bottle

Caroline has achieved two more milestones in the past couple of weeks. She is officially bottle free! A little over a week ago, it hit me that it would really be a pain to travel with bottles this summer. She was almost 15 months old, so it was time anyway. That night I just gave her a sippy cup of milk instead and there were no ill effects over night, so I didn't give her a bottle the next morning and the rest is history! She was down to only one in the morning and one at night anyway, so it wasn't that big of a deal, just had to rip off the bandaid!

She also sprouted her 4th, 5th and 6th teeth in the past couple of weeks. Her front two have this little gap and her toothy grin is really funny :) She was a little fussy with them coming in, but it wasn't too bad.

She also had her 15 month checkup this week. She is still 22 lbs (75th %) and she is only 55th % for height and get ready for the head- 95th %. She is definitely smaller than Meredith was at this age, but she is healthy and happy and that's all that matters! She got 3 more shots at the appointment and poor thing was so upset, she didn't even take a breath to let the cry out until after the nurse had already gotten the 3rd one in. She recovered pretty well and didn't even have a fever.

Caroline is my little snuggle bug. She loves to be held and the only other place she lets me put her down is her high chair. She doesn't even always expect food, but it seems to be her 'safe place' and is pretty happy there. She is a pretty good eater too. Her absolute favorite thing right now is blueberries or really any berry. She's pretty good about veggies, but meat is not her favorite. She might eat it if it's mixed up with rice or something, but not just straight up meat.

She's been walking for about 2 months now and is really hustling everywhere now. She bolts for the stairs whenever the gate is down and made it almost all the way upstairs once before I caught her- she's quick! She often stops right on the bottom step and looks back with a mischievous grin bc she knows she's doing something she's not supposed to. She also adores going outside and will stand at the back door reaching for the knob and pointing to her swing.

Meredith finished Kindergarten last week and is now officially ready for the first grade! Hard to believe! Both girls are at home with Chris for the summer now. It makes me a little jealous every year, but then again I'm not sure I'd want that job all summer either! Meredith also had her dance recital last weekend. She was a beautiful fairy in Sleeping Beauty. She has decided that she is done with dance for now. I think that ballet was just a little boring for her this year...she likes more action! She has really been enjoying her gymnastics class, so I think we'll keep her in that for now. Who knows, she may be back in dance next year, but we'll see.

We leave for Aruba in just over a week to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary! The girls will go to Tennessee to stay with Chris' mom and we'll pick them up and head straight up to Michigan for my cousin Susan's wedding reception. It will be a crazy couple of weeks, but I'm really looking forward to it!

Walking!

Today was the big day that Caroline officially took steps! I got a text from her daycare provider that she took 3 steps this morning. I have to say that I felt kinda sad that I missed the first time, but I know she will be running before long! I was happy that she also took several steps tonight too! It's like something literally changed overnight with her, she is a moving maniac! She didn't take just one or two steps, she took like 4 or 5 and she did it 2 or 3 different times. Oh, life is really going to change now!

She also has gotten her 4th tooth-the 2nd one on top. It's been coming in for a few weeks and it's almost fully there now, but she has had this cute little grin with 3 1/2 teeth for what seems like a long time. She is so darn cute! Her hair is also curling up in the back. It also seems to be quite a bit lighter in color than Meredith's was. I definitely wouldn't say she's blonde, but it is a very light brown.

She is talking up a storm these days too. There is very little that actually sounds like a word other than Mama, Dada & Baba (usually for her bottle). Mama & Dada also seem to be a bit interchangeable, but she clearly seems to understand that those words have meaning. She just jibber jabbers away, but she is still fairly quiet overall. Even her chatter is a bit reserved. Now, she can definitely get going when she wants to and generally it is during church or sometime when she really should be quiet!

Caroline and I are also officially done with nursing. We made it to almost 13 months and she had frozen milk for the full 13 months! I have to say that this accomplishment is something I am really proud of. It has been a bittersweet ending since I know this is officially the end of babies for me, but nice to feel like I officially have my body back too. I never imagined I would make it so long, but I ended up really enjoying it so much more than I did the first time around.I loved our morning snuggle time and felt like we really have a great bond because of it, not to mention she got the best nutritional start possible!

A quick Meredith update- she officially has her first loose tooth! Actually, I think she has 2 loose ones now- the bottom two. It's so crazy that Caroline is just getting her teeth and now Meredith is losing those same teeth! I bought her a cute little tooth pillow and look forward to playing tooth fairy, but it is also making me incredibly sad at the same time. Just like when I got teary eyed today when Caroline walked for the first time, these loose teeth are an official sign that my first baby is really growing up. She always assures me that she'll always be my baby, but I know those days are numbered. I love my girls SO much!

Happy birthday to my girls!

Meredith turned 6 last month and Caroline just had her first birthday yesterday!

We kept it pretty simple for both girls this year. We sent in some treats to her class and then just had family over for a small get together. We had been on the fence about having a big party for her and unfortunately, she had a few more issues at school, so part of the consequence was no party. I will say that she has really turned things around at school and has done an amazing job of making better choices in how she behaves. So, even though we had a rough couple of months, I am really hopeful that it is behind us now. She is really starting to pick up on more words and seems to really enjoy math. She is still taking ballet, but isn't quite as taken with it this year. So, she'll do her recital in June and then she may take a year off from dance or try a different type- I think she'd love something like hip-hop! As part of her birthday, she received money from a few people to take gymnastics. She had gone to several birthday parties at the gym and really loved it, so she took her first class last week and was thrilled! She seems to have hit yet another growth spurt. She is one of the tallest kids in her class and has really lost any baby face. She is a beautiful young lady and I get glimpses of her as a 'big kid' all the time. I still can't believe she's 6!!

Miss Caroline is now 1! How in the world did this year go by so quickly? Judy & Joe came into town to help celebrate & Mom, Papa & Allison (she had just gotten off the plane from China!). Of course, Caroline could have cared less. I also came down with some sort of stomach bug, which kinda wiped me out. I was really sad that I was sick on her big day :( We let her dig into a little cake and it took a bit for her to really dig in and then ended up enjoying feeding it to Meredith instead of eating it herself. It was really cute! Allison brought both girls beautiful dresses from China, she got some bath toys & clothes from both Nana & Mimi. Honestly, we didn't get her anything- she's one, she doesn't care! She has still been off and on with her sleeping at night. She will sleep for a couple nights, then be up for a night or two. I made it for the full year nursing, so I really hope she starts sleeping since I am basically stopping now. It is really convenient at night, but I'd much rather she just sleeps! She is really active now, which would make you think she'd sleep better. She started crawling at 10 months and 1 day! Almost immediately after that she was pulling up and cruising all over the place. No signs of walking yet, but I bet it won't be too much longer. She is most definitely a Mama's girl, which makes me feel good, but can be challenging to get much done when she is always wanting me to pick her up! She has one more tooth on top that finally cut through about 2 weeks ago. It seemed to cause her quite a bit of pain- it was this giant bulge on her gum for the longest time. So, right now she has 3 teeth and I wonder if her 1 year molars are pushing too. She is so sweet, but seems to get grumpy so easily lately. She pretty much refuses baby food these days, she has major food envy and always wants what is on your plate. Since she only has 3 teeth, I'm still a bit tentative about what I give her, but she thinks she's ready! Now that she's hit the year mark, I don't have to send food to daycare anymore, which will really make the evening bag packing easier! I'll use up the frozen milk, which should hopefully last another couple weeks and then move her right to whole milk. She has her 1 year checkup on Wednesday, so we'll see where she falls on the charts, but I have a feeling she isn't quite as big as Meredith was at the same age.

Meredith Grace

Since I dedicated an entire post to our sweet Caroline, I thought Meredith deserved an entire post too since she is blossoming into a lovely young girl!

Meredith will be 6 in less than a month, yes, you read it right, 6 years old! That number scares me a little. I guess anything 5 and under still sounds like a little girl, but 6 is the entrance into big kid stuff! She started Kindergarten in August at The Franciscan School, AKA Daddy's school. Chris teaches her PE and it seems to be going pretty well so far. He takes her every morning and I love that they get to share some special time that most parents and children don't get to have. I just turn her over to school every day and don't get to see the little things he does, but it does make me feel better to know that he's there, one parent is better than none! My mom is also just down the hall from her, which makes me feel even more reassured! Meredith is learning so much and is incredibly eager to learn how to read, but that is definitely taking some time. I know she'll get it, but she does seem to be taking a shine to numbers! A child of mine that likes numbers, yes! I think I will take the route of fostering that preference even though it isn't a particular favorite of mine. I told her the other day that Mommy uses math at work all the time and that totally confused her. By her response, I could tell she thought I was counting things and doing worksheets like she does. I guess in a way, that is exactly what I do! Ha!

She has had a bit of a rough time with a few behavioral things. Around Thanksgiving, she started getting frowny faces for being a bit to aggressive with her friends- pushing, hitting etc. We had a couple of rough weeks, even visited the principal's office and had to bring her home one day. Mommy had lots of tears that day :( She tends to be a kid 'herder' in the sense that she wants to bring kids along with her to do whatever the activity she wants to do- sometimes literally pushing or pulling people. She is also one of the tallest kids in her class (boys or girls) and I think it works to her disadvantage sometimes since she is just so much bigger than the other kids and she can 'get her way' more easily. It is never anything malicious or ugly, but I've decided that it's really her leadership coming out, but we definitely have to nurture it in a way that isn't so physical. She really is such a good girl and it makes me sad that we've had to go through some of this stuff, but it's all a learning experience and we're just doing the best we can! Fortunately, she hasn't had any issues since she's been back from Christmas break- it's only been a few days, so hopefully she can keep it up.

She was on a soccer team with the Saint Francis parish league in late summer/early fall. This was her first soccer experience and let's say it may not have been her best performance ever! No really, she has just never played and I'm not sure that the coaches really spent a lot of time on teaching the game. Of course, Chris was overly critical of that and he tried to spend some extra time with her, but that extra time is hard to come by sometimes. It also didn't help that the weather was bad and a lot of games and practices ended up being cancelled, so there wasn't a lot of consistency. She wavers every time you ask her if she wants to play again next season, so we'll see!

She is in ballet this year instead of her tap/ballet combo she has done the past 2 years. We gave her the choice and she picked just ballet. I think she had this vision of being an instant ballerina (hello, I was exactly the same way!), but has been a little underwhelmed with all of the basics you have to learn with ballet. She is such a free spirit, I'm not so sure that ballet is the exact right fit for her, but glad she made the choice and we'll see if she sticks with it again next year. She was ultra excited this week when she found out she'll be a fairy in this year's recital (Sleeping Beauty). Chris takes her after school, so I haven't gotten to peak in the studio to see how she's doing, but she enjoys it and is getting some exercise at the same time, so it's all good!

Now that a lot of her friends are starting to lose teeth, she is dying to have a loose tooth and has me check them on a regular basis to see if they are wiggly yet. I guess that's another right of passage I am not looking forward to. It just changes a kid's appearance so much and that baby face is gone for good when those scraggly big teeth come in.

Meredith is such a good big sister. We have only had very brief, if any evidence of her being jealous of Caroline. If anything, she wants to be in her face ALL the time. She always wants to hold her or play with her or do something with her. It is really very sweet, but at times, it can be difficult since Caroline seems to cry a lot when said things are going on! My new mantra for all of this is that I hope she always loves her this much. I worry sometimes about their age difference since I hear of a lot of people who have siblings that they barely interact with because they are far apart in age. Having such a close relationship with my sisters makes me want the same thing for my girls and I really hope they do always love each other and have a good relationship :)

So, that's my big girl. I'm sure I've missed something, but I'm going to try in this new year to be better about posting! I'll post another time about the holidays and try to get some pictures up too.

9 months and other fun stuff

I'm almost embarrassed about how long it's been since I have posted. My sweet Caroline is getting jipped! Really, she is such a sweet thing, I feel bad that I haven't posted in her last several months. My work schedule has made it so that I don't get home until much later than I had been, so the minute I walk in the door, it's go time and I don't have any free time until both girls are in bed and by that time, I'm ready for bed :)

Well, what has happened in 4 months?! Caroline started daycare in August with the same lady who kept Meredith when she was little. She was the only baby for a brief period, which made me happy, but then another little baby started. I'm not sure that we'll keep her at this daycare as long as we kept Meredith there, but it works for now. It is also a big part of why my work schedule is messed up. I can't get her there until 8:30 am, so I don't get to work until close to 9am, which clearly pushes the end of my day much later. Caroline is doing well though, at that's what matters.

Caroline has been such a different baby than Meredith was. I try not to compare, but that's my only other experience, so it's going to happen. Caroline didn't really sleep consistently through the night until she was about 8 months old...that was rough. She would go for a few days or even a week and then she'd be up in the middle of the night again for several days/week. Another difference is that I'm still nursing Caroline. It has gotten so much easier now that she is older because she only nurses about 4 times a day and sometimes she doesn't even want it then. I now regret that I quit at 5 months with Meredith-mother guilt for sure, but it was also a different time for me since I was in school at night etc. Ok, can't dwell on that. Anyway, I'm not sure if that contributed to Caroline's sleep habits, but I'm happy I've been able to make it this far and at this point she is over 9 months old, so I think I can make it another month or so and I have so much frozen milk that she should make it to a year without formula! Woohoo! I honestly never thought I'd be able to say that!

Caroline has also taken her time with things like rolling over and crawling. She has been able to roll over for awhile, but never did it with much frequency until the past month or so. That is how she can really get around- that or her cute little butt scoot! She is very close to crawling now. I feel like she has just gotten the upper body strength to give it a whirl. She gets up on all fours and just rocks back and forth- super cute!

She popped her first two teeth at 7 1/2 months and I think she's working on her top ones now. I won't be surprised if they pop through in the next few weeks. She has been putting those teeth to good use with food! She loves to eat. I introduced cereal a little before she turned 6 months old and just gave her that for a while, then gradually introduced baby food at 6 months. She has really loved it. I think since I waited longer to give her the baby food, she was ready sooner for soft finger foods. She gobbles up bananas and sweet potatoes- tries to jam it all in at once sometimes. They have these new rice cracker things called mum-mums that she just loves. She grabs that thing and just crunches right into it.

Her other favorite thing to do is to blow raspberries...all the time, especially with a mouth full of food. She thinks it is hilarious! It really is her 'happy sound'. Poor baby had the croup last week (really her first real illness other than a couple runny noses) and she just looked at my crying because she felt so bad and sounded horrible (first sick visit to the pediatrician too), but when she finally started making her raspberries, I knew my girl was back :)

By the way, at her 9 month checkup she weighed a little over 21 lbs, which was 80th percentile and her length was 70th and her head was 95th! Meredith weighed the exact same, but was a little longer and her head was a little smaller :) I'll have to dig up her 6 month stats- I do remember she was more in the 90th with her weight, so her growth has slowed down a bit.

She has started babbling a lot more recently. For the longest time, she has just been a rather quiet baby. Her first real sound was Ba, which has moved to Da and now she is getting Ma more now. It was sad, but it actually really touched me the night she was really sick last week, at 3am she cried out 'Maaaa, Maaaa' in that sick raspy voice. I really believe she was calling for me :) She has also gotten the high pitch squeal down pat- she loves making noise, especially in church or reacting to her sister's silly antics!

I think this post has gotten long enough for now- lots to cover! I will post more about Meredith's comings and goings too!

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5 months and a few days

Somehow, the last month has flown away. Caroline is a precious little thing right now. She is smiley and sweet 90% of the time. It seems like her teeth are really bothering her sometimes now though. She constantly chews on anything and everything and drools galore! She officially rolled over for the first time today from tummy to back, but she really isn't in a hurry to do it again though! We still haven't started cereal yet. To be honest, I think a big reason is because our schedule has been crazy mad lately and it's something I don't want to rush. She is sleeping fairly well, but still has the occasional night of waking up at 2am, but generally she is sleeping 9-5. I wish it was a little longer, but it's not too bad. She adores playing with her feet lately too. She can even get those toes into her mouth! It is so cute to see those chunky little legs curled up over her while she plays with those kissable toes :)
A few weeks ago, we met Judy, Joe, Kaci & Evan up at Tweetsie Railroad in Boone. Meredith had an absolute blast riding the rides and would have ridden the big ones if she had been tall enough. She was dying to ride the one that just drops straight down, but alas, she wasn't tall enough! Next year, we might be in trouble! She went to Tennessee for the week and then we went up the next weekend to get her. The week was a little easier just having Caroline, but it definitely wasn't like in years past when Meredith was gone for the week when we'd go to dinner and movies and celebrate a week of freedom!
I hosted a big bridal shower this past weekend for Allison. It was a coffee theme and we had a coffee bar with hot and cold coffee and all the fixins. We had a great turn out and I think everyone had a really nice time. She is down to a month and a half until the big day!
Chris went back to school today for teacher workdays, so it is the end of Daddy Daycare for the summer. I am taking some time off, so Caroline won't start daycare for a few more days. She will be starting with Prissila and she will be keeping Meredith for a few days as well before she starts Kindergarten. I'm heading to Charleston this weekend for Allison's bachelorette weekend, which should be a lot of fun, but the timing is a little crazy! Meredith's first day of Kindergarten is August 24th, but then is off for a few more days due to the staggered entry.