Baby Steps

As I have mentioned, Caroline is walking more and more. I keep trying to get a picture of it, but of course, I can never quite catch her in the act. I got these the other day and they are about the best I can get.

Trying to figure out which way to go....

It always helps to have something to chew on

It almost looks like she is pointing her toe here ha!

I know it will be no time at all before she is running all over the place. It is so crazy how she just doesn't seem ready to do something, and then one day, BOOM! It just happens. Crazy.

Basket Case

As if I'm not crazy enough, I have also turned Sweet Caroline into a basket case. The other night, I was in the laundry room doing what one usually does in the laundry room: laundry. I was having a hard time getting clothes from the washer to the dryer etc. because a certain little some one was under my feet and had to be in the middle of EVERYTHING I was doing. I had Caroline's laundry basket from her room in there, so I just decided to put her in it to see how she would react.

Thinking Mom is crazy (please excuse my PJs)

But, as with most things, this didn't last long.....

"Ok Mom this isn't funny any more..."

She decided to climb me to get out-almost worked too.

Caroline 10 Months

Well folks, Caroline has made it into the double digits. She is 10 months old! Even more mind-boggling is the fact that she will be ONE in less than two months! (And don't kid yourselves, I have already been working on her b-day party-duh).

There is so much to say about everything that she has been doing that I don't even know where to start.... Let's see. Walking. She took her first steps without holding onto anything about a week before she was 9 months old, so she has been working on that. Fortunately, she has been pretty cautious about the whole thing. She has fallen a couple of times which I think instilled a little bit of fear in her and I am very thankful for that. I don't need a little dare devil running around-I'm crazy enough as it is and heaven knows I don't have the nerves for a crazy kid. When she does walk, it is strictly on her terms. She will start out holding onto the furniture and totter 5 or 6 steps into the middle of the floor. All of a sudden she will stop and you can almost see the recognition of what she is doing flash across her face and she sits down. I try to get her to hold my hands and walk between my legs, but she absolutely will not have it. My mom bought her a little walker a couple months ago, and she won't use it. I think we have a little Miss Independent on our hands (I can't imagine where she gets that). Her preferred method of getting around is still her goofy crab crawl, which honestly, I will probably be sad when she stops doing it because it is just too darn funny (I really need to post a video so you all can share in my amusement).

Caroline has become quite the chatter box as well. I actually kind of love it. Hearing her babble on and on makes just makes me smile because it is such a happy noise. When we were in Lafayette over Christmas, Sugar (Steven's mom) was amazed at how noisy she was. She even made the comment that she has never heard a baby that is as chatty as Caroline. And coming from Sugar, that means something because she has bounced and rocked more babies than... Well, anyone else I know (BIG Cajun family). Caroline, as I mentioned a month or two ago said "Dada" first, and she has also been saying "Mama" here and there, but the only time that she really uses it is when she is standing up in her bed crying and refusing to go to sleep. Go figure. I also think she has been trying to say Fred and Jack. Some times when she sees Jack, she will say "Ag". Ok, I know that she is totally missing the "J" and "ck" sound, but she is trying.

With all the jabbering she does, she has also started to talk with her hands. She will rattle something off to me and hold her little hands up like "I mean, am I right?". Caroline points at everything now, jabbers something about it, and then turns around to look at me like I know what she is talking about. Upon seeing her point, my mom, the sweet woman she is, taught Caroline how to shake her finger. So now, I have a tiny tyrant in the making, shaking her finger at me when I am not getting her food ready fast enough or at people in the grocery store. Thanks Mom!


She is in perpetual motion, and this was the best pic I could get of her :( She NEVER sits still. Sugar (Steven's mom) even said that he wasn't quite as busy as she is and that he would at least stop and study something for a little bit. Not Caroline. The only thing/toy that she will play with for longer than 30 seconds at a time is a book. She has a lot of the little board books with the flaps you can lift up and she will play with those longer than anything else.

Still just can't leave the blue bird alone

I have been trying and trying to teach her how to clap her hands, but she just was not interested. I had all but given up, and just a couple days ago she got really excited about something and started clapping her hands! Just goes to show you that they will do things in their own time. At the end of Stroller Strides, we always get the kids out of the strollers and sing a goofy little song for them. There is a part at the end of the song where you clap. Yesterday, Caroline was busy exploring the mall and wasn't really paying much attention to the song as usual, but when we started clapping, she stopped and looked around. Her eyes lit up and she started clapping with us. I am starting on her admissions essays to Harvard as we speak, because clearly she is a genius.

Caroline can definitely tell the difference between the dogs now too. If you ask her "Where is Jack?", she will point to Jack and the same for Fred. She is getting better at "Where is Mommy/Daddy?", but she isn't quite there yet. I think she probably knows the names of the dogs better because she hears me yelling at them reprimanding them all day.

STILL drooling like crazy. Two of her top teeth popped through on my birthday (New Years Eve), but now she is working on another one that is just right under the surface. I will be so glad when these teeth are in.

Another development that isn't so cute is Caroline's new game: dropping/throwing anything and everything (She had just dropped blue bird in this picture). Steven and I are both about to pull our hair out. I would say that this is the first "behavior" issue we've had. It is the most frustrating thing in the world, especially for a control/neat freak like me. The most irritating part is that she will take something in her hand, look right at you with this "Yeah, what are you going to do about it?" look and just toss whatever she is holding over the side of the high chair/crib/stroller/carseat etc. We're trying really hard not to encourage her by paying attention to it and of course, when she does it, we do not give the item back to her. But still! This little habit has put her finger food eating on hold. She gets the biggest thrill out of feeding Fred and Jack. Anything I give her, she throws in the floor and then giggles as the dogs freak out and slurp it up. I think Fred eats more Baby Mum Mums than Caroline these days. Oh well, as with everything, this too shall pass. I'm sure I'll look back on this "adorable" behavior some day and miss it.... But probably not ;)

Whew. I think that is about it. As you can tell, Caroline is changing more and more every day. Gotta run-I've got a first birthday party to plan! ;)

Happy Birthday Grandpa Jimbo!

January is the month of birthdays in my family. Today is my stepdad Jim's birthday! We tried a different approach to holding the sign.... And it still didn't work out. Caroline isn't really a big fan of the Bumbo these days :( But, we still wanted to wish Grandpa Jimbo a happy birthday! Hope you have a great day! We love you lots!

Happy Birthday Papa Ed!

Today is the one and the only Papa Ed's birthday! Caroline wanted to wish him a happy birthday, but it was really hard to just sit and hold a sign. Nevertheless, we hope you have a great birthday Papa Ed! Love you Daddy-o!

Caroline's "Room"

When we went to see my parents over Thanksgiving, Steven and I made the decision to put Caroline in a separate room to sleep. We all (Dumb and Dumber Fred and Jack included) just end up distrubing each other when we are in the same room and no one sleeps, which results in some very cranky Broussards. At first, I voted that we put Caroline's pack n' play back in the spare bedroom, but then we would have had to sleep with the monitor and Steven absolutely can not stand sleeping with the monitor on (our house is teensy-tiny and our rooms are literally right across the hall from one another-therefore, we do not sleep with a monitor on). So, the only other option was for Caroline to sleep in my old closet.

Now, before you get all judgemental on me, let me clarify. Before my parents added on to their house when I was in high school, the room that is now "my" room used to be the master suite, so it had a huge walk-in closet (Yes, I am 28 years old and still refer to a room in my parents' house as mine). I think that closet is actually bigger than my dorm room was my freshman year in good ol' Drummond. That being said, space would not be an issue when it came to setting up a pack n' play and having a quiet dark place for Caroline to sleep. It wasn't like she was going to be playing in there.

The entire trip, my mom just kept going on and on about how she couldn't believe we had put her in the closet. Granted, there was a treadmill and many other things in said closet, but like I said, Caroline just needed it to sleep. As I mentioned in a previous post, we went to see my parents the weekend after New Years. Steven and I just assumed that we would utilize the same set-up that we had over Thanksgiving, but Grandma Daisy had other plans......

I give you, Caroline's Room:

Yes, that's right. My mom turned a closet into a "room" for Caroline. She just couldn't stand the thought of her being a "closet case", so she got busy. You know my mom is running out of "projects" and rooms to re-do when she starts revamping closets. (P.S. That little wooden rocking chair is mine from when I was little).

Caroline loved her new room!

That is my old doll buggy, and in it is my doll Jingles. Jingles was glued to my side when I was growing up. Yes, my mom still has just about every toy I ever owned (that Barbie Dream House is going to come in handy some day!). Good thing I was OCD and anal even as a kid because most of my toys are like new, even though I think they would actually be classified as "vintage".

A bunch of my old stuffed animals, mostly my Easter bunnies that I received for Easter every year.

Getting to know Jingles

I still think my mom is crazy, but I have to say, it was nice for Caroline to have her own little space right off of our room (yes Mom, you told me so).

"Thank you Grandma Daisy! I can't wait to come back to your house and play in my closet room!"

First Wagon Ride

As I mentioned in one of my billion Christmas posts, Santa brought Caroline a wagon for Christmas. We didn't get to try it out in Lafayette because it was so rainy. But, once we got back to Wichita Falls, we decided to take the whole family out.

Getting ready to go. Fred was really excited, naturally.

Ready for a ride in her new wagon!

I think it goes without saying that Caroline LOVES her new wagon.

She had SO much fun

"You coming Mom?"

I'm sure this was just the first of many wagon trips ;)

Christmas at Grandma Daisy's

So, two weeks after Christmas, we finally made it up to my parents' to do Christmas with them. We were originally going to go up for New Years, but after driving 7.5 hours home from Louisiana AND getting in a little wreck in the process, we decided we needed a weekend at home before we jumped back in the car for another 4.5 hours.

Here are the highlights:

Caroline enjoyed checking out the presents and all the pretty tags and bows that Grandma Daisy used, but she wasn't too interested in actually opening them.

Got a little distracted....

And back to the presents

Getting some help from Grandma Daisy, and of course Fred had to check it out

Caroline got a snazzy new pair of red sunglasses.....

Buuuuttttt.......

They didn't last long :(

This was by far the biggest hit from Grandma Daisy and Bump: a big Elmo!

Telling Daddy who was in the box

Checking Elmo out....

Annndddd proceeding to chew on him. Go figure.

Finally getting the hang of opening presents