14 Months

We celebrated your 14 month birthday by putting together "boxes of HOPE" for the kids of Joplin that were affected by tornadoes in May.  You had fun finger painting pictures to put in the boxes!  For more info on "boxes of HOPE" go to http://kids4mo.com/boxes-of-hope/. 

Caroline:

• You are walking/running everywhere now!  There are occasions when you still crawl, but you much prefer to walk. 
• You get into EVERYTHING!!  No place in the house is safe.  Some of your favorite things to do are unplug cords, play in the tupperware drawer, and get into Cooper's food and water.
• You current favorite word is "hi."  You say it all the time, especially if someone has failed to acknowledge you. 
• Some of your favorite foods are watermelon, homemade fruit smoothies, goldfish, cheese, and peanut butter sandwiches.  You also enjoy eating various kinds of meat! 
• You are very particular when it comes to eating your vegetables and some fruits, so we try sneeking them into different foods.

She Did It!

Caroline walked! This post was orignally started on May 5, and I guess it's a good thing I never got around to finishing it. Caroline did "walk" for a day or two at the beginning of May, but really did not make much progress until this past Thursday (6/2). She would take a couple steps, but didn't have much interest in walking. For the past week (minus a weekend of being spoiled and held), Caroline has been getting better at walking and doing it more often. Here is a video shot yesterday of our little girl in action.

Happy Mother's Day!

Our plans for Mother's Day were to go strawberry picking.  This didn't work out because they aren't open for the season yet.  Our next thought was to hit up the Zoo, which I'm sure would have been a big nightmare due to nice weather and the weekend.  We figured if we went early though, we oculd beat some of the chaos.  Caroline apparently had plans of her own.  She woke up on the wrong side of the bed.  Very crabby and clingy!  Just what a mom wants on Mother's Day.  Nothing like making you feel loved...ha!  Needless to say, Joe and I did not want to deal with driving all the way downtown only with having to deal with meltdown after meltdown.  Plan C...downtown St. Charles.  After having Subway for lunch and running a few errands, we enjoyed walking down Main Street.  Caroline played on the old train depot, we shared some yummy ice cream, and even dared to enter a few shops along the way.  All in all, it was a nice day.  Here are a few pictures taken with my new camera, which was my Mother's Day gift from Joe and Caroline.

One Year Stats

Height: 28.75 in. (34%)
Weight: 20 lbs. 10 oz. (40%)
Head Circumfrence: 46.5 cm (85%)

Other than having a big head, which she's had since before she was even born, Caroline checked out just fine.  She had two shots, one in each leg, and had to get blood drawn to check for anemia.  The doctor said she was good to switch to whole milk and also recommended keeping her rear-facing for the time being. Her ears are doing great, and we don't go back until July for her 15 month check.

Happy Easter!!

He is risen!  He is risen indeed, alleluia!  Easter was spent in St. Louis with both Joe and my families in town (due to Caroline's big day!).  We attended 8:00 a.m. church at Our Redeemer.  Caroline was exhausted by the end, which is evident from most of the pictures. 

 

After church Caroline enjoyed playing with some of her new toys before our family came over for lunch.  Needless to say, our day was filled with candy, food, and most importantly love.

 

Dear Caroline...

It's hard to believe that you are already a year old.  It doesn't seem like that long ago that we found out we were expecting you (ha!).  We can't possibly imagine what our lives would be like without you in them, and we are thankful everyday that God blessed us with such a beautiful baby girl.  It has been such a joy watching you grow, and we look forward to what the next year has in store for us.  Happy Birthday, Sweet Caroline! 

Some fun one-year facts:

• You now have a total of 5 teeth, getting 3 of them in one week (3/28, 3/30, and 4/2). That made for a fun week!!
• We made a trip back to the doctor on 4/13 where we found out that you had your third ear infection in the past 3 months. This one is in your left ear again, so they aren't sure if it ever went away from the one you had in March. You are finishing up your third round of antiobiotics tomorrow, and we go back to the doctor at the beginning of May to make sure this problem is taken care of once and for all.
• You weigh somewhere between 20-21 pounds. We will find out for sure on 5/2.
• A growth spurt must have taken place. When we measured you at 11 months, you were only 27.5 inches, but our most recent calculations put you at 29!
• On 4/8 you were able to go from squating to standing without holding on to anything. Surely you will be walking soon! All the skills are there. It's just a matter of whether you want to do it or not.
• Most recently, you have enjoyed climbing. Some of your favorite places to climb include on the dishwasher and in the cabinets.
• You are beginning to throw more tantrums when you are upset or don't get what you want.  It's actually quite entertaining to see you folded in half with your head to the ground and crying...haha!
• On the other hand, you laugh and show you are happy a lot more.  Sometimes, we aren't sure what makes you crack up, but it makes us smile to see you this way:)

Love you!
Daddy and Mommy

Happy Birthday, Princess

Enjoying her first shake at Steak 'N Shake.  Caroline and I met daddy picked daddy up for work and headed to Steak 'N Shake for lunch.  Caroline thoroughly enoyed a few sips of a strawberry shake.  Unfortunately, we ended up having to get our lunch to go since it took over 30 minutes to bring our food.  Hopefully daddy didn'tget in too much trouble for taking a long lunch break!

First pedicure at K Nails.  Caroline actually did pretty well getting her toes painted.  Too bad she couldn't keep her feet still enough after the fact.  Her right foot ended up having to get repainted three times.  Oh well!  They turned out super cute!

 

Yummy chocolate sundae at Applebee's.  For dinner, Joe, Caroline, and I went to dinner at Applebee's with Joe's parents and brother and my parents and brother.  It was quite an eventful evening as tornadoes touched down in the St. Louis area, hitting Lambert International Airport. 

Happy Birthday, Caroline!  We love you, princess!!