Hiding

Caroline has recently started "hiding" from us. We'll say "Where is Caroline?" and she'll pop her little head out and start laughing. I know I say this all the time - but I just love this age!



Silly girl hiding under the table!!

14 month post coming later this afternoon!

Going Bananas

We have discovered that Caroline loves bananas. She has always liked banana flavored things (like yogurt or popsicles) but wouldn't eat the actual banana. She'll eat them now, but only if you break them into chunks or give her large pieces. She doesn't like them cut into slices - you have to actually break them with your hands or she won't eat them. Not sure why, but as long as she's eating them I don't really care.

Here she is at breakfast stuffing banana into her mouth.


She wanted more!!

Water Fun!

I'm behind on blogging...big surprise! In the past couple of weeks we have had a sick mommy, sick baby, out of town visitor, and a packed calendar so blogging got put to the back burner. I have several posts to catch up on, so check back over the next few days - there will be a bunch!

Last week we had a fun water playdate with some of our friends. It's been so hot that we can't be outside much, so this slightly cooler day was a much welcomed break.

Caroline « Simple Color | Southern Wedding Photography

Caroline « Simple Color | Southern Wedding Photography

Here's a sample of some of the amazing pictures from C's one year photo shoot!

Doughnuts

Ever since Caroline turned 1, we have been struggling with her eating. I have read over and over (and heard from friends and our doctor) that this is completely normal. She's not growing as drastically so she doesn't require as much food either. We have found a few things that she seems to really like (although these can change at any given moment) such as strawberries, blueberries, toast/bread, broccoli, black beans, cheese and sweet potato. She loves ice cream and pizza like a typical little kid. Some days she seems to really love certain foods. I get excited and as soon as I go buys lots of it, she acts like she hates it. I decided to buy those little powdered doughnuts to give her a treat. She almost never gets sweets and I feel like I am always forcing fruits and veggies on her. I thought she was going to love it. She seemed to like it at first. She ate a few bites, got it all over her and even asked for more. I gave her another one and she gave the entire thing to Daisy. I tried giving her a small piece and she started crying and shaking her head no. Since I couldn't let them go to waste, I ate the entire bag. :)



One day we'll get her to eat better!

Silly Girl

For the past several days Caroline has been carrying around this little bucket that some blocks came in. She'll empty out the blocks on the floor and then put something else in the bucket. We've had fun finding out what the "item of the day" is. Today it was her sippy cup. Apparently it's easier to carry it around in a bucket. Some other items she's carried around lately: cell phone, mylicon, Daisy's harness, hair brush, and goldfish...basically anything but the blocks.


She had just woken up, thus the pj's and messy hair.

Smile!

Now that Caroline is the proud owner of 5 beautiful teeth (although 6 and 7 will be making their appearances soon) we figured it was time for her to have her first real toothbrush. She's been using an infant tooth and gum brush for the past several months but this girl isn't an infant anymore!

I went to go and get some supplies (aka - toddler toothbrush and training toothpaste)


And then we got to brushing!



She thinks it's a game and tries to bite down on the brush and then won't let us take it out. I think we have been able to actually brush her little pearly whites though...hopefully.

Daisy Love

I love you so much it hurts!

I always thought that the phrase "I love you so much it hurts" was silly. Isn't love a good feeling? Why would it hurt? Hurting isn't good. Then again, I always tend to over analyze common sayings. Today was the first time in all my 26 years that I finally understood that saying and I don't think it's silly at all.

After C's afternoon nap she has a hard time waking up. She's always a little sleepy and likes to sit and rock with me for a few minutes before she fully wakes up. It usually only lasts about 4 or 5 minutes, but I love those precious few minutes. I really feel that she needs me. I know she does need me - I change her, bathe her, feed her, entertain her, and fulfill all those types of needs, but in those few minutes she's like a sweet newborn who really needs her mommy and not a toddler whose independence grows every day. Today I went into her room after she woke up. I scooped her up and we went to sit in her chair. As soon as I sat down, she wiggled to get down and ran out of the room. I waited a few seconds before getting up. I walked into the living room and there she was - toys in hand and ready to go. She had run out to get her new foam sword and a few other random items (she picked up the sword at Target the other day and since it was the first time she "asked" for something I got it). I bent down and attempted to give her a hug. Denied. She was too busy playing with her stuff. That's when I felt it. My little girl no longer needed me to comfort her as she woke up. She's big enough to do it for herself. I felt an amazing sense of pride - at only 13 months she's incredibly independent and eager to learn and try new things. I want my girl to make friends easily and I want her to be comfortable on her own. But I also felt sad because I realized that I would not have Caroline as a little girl forever. She's growing up and today I could really see that. It hurt knowing that I would not be able to have this moment forever. Rocking her every afternoon has become such a ritual and I didn't think that it would come to an end so soon.

I know the point of having children is that they grow up. There are so many wonderful things that cannot happen unless she grows up. We wouldn't experience having other children, watching her first dance recital or soccer game, taking her to Disney World, and all those other amazing things. I am raising a child, after all, and not maintaining a child. I know it will be wonderful, but why does it have to be this fast?


**I wrote this post last Friday and as of today (Tuesday) she still has not wanted to be rocked when she woke up. She really did outgrow that!

A few of her favorite things...foam sword, Daisy's harness, mylicon bottle, raspberry teether. You know, just the normal stuff.


Adam and I thought this was hysterical. She carried around the sword and mylicon for hours.


She's really into holding lots of things lately.


Her Monday post afternoon nap things to hold - a fly swatter and the whisk attachement to the stand mixer. (Sorry for the blur, she was running!)

Happy 4th of July!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July! We sure did! We had wanted to go to the beach but we weren't sure what Adam's work schedule was going to be like so we kept on waiting to make a decision. When Caroline's surgery got scheduled for Friday, July 1, we decided that we were going to have a nice, relaxing weekend at home - something that we don't often get to do, so this was a real treat for us! We had an amazing weekend and an even better Independance Day, filled with relaxing, BBQ, and fireworks!!









Thunder on the Mountain
July 4th, 2011

Splash Pad

Yesterday afternoon we took Caroline to the Gardendale Splash Pad. It was so much fun and I cannot believe that it took us this long to go! She pretty much spent the entire time at the piano thing (see pictures below) but started to warm up to the other fun things toward the end. It was the perfect thing to do on such a hot day. I'm sure we'll be going back soon!