Not Gone!

We're not gone... just not feeling well... On Friday Carolyn came down with a fever that lasted through the night and into yesterday. I took her to the doctor on Friday but they told me that she probably had one of those viral illnesses of childhood and to just try to keep her comfortable until it passes... The past couple days (and nights) have been hard ones for her because after the fever finally went away, she broke out with at least two or three little canker sores in her mouth and on her tongue. These (along with the molars that are coming in) seem to be causing her a lot of discomfort, so she hasn't been sleeping well or feeling like herself the past couple days. I had to work all weekend, so I missed being there to take care of her, though Grammy and Papa and Daddy did a great job.

The thing they don't tell you about becoming a mother is that when your kids get sick, you're not always immune! I've been sick more the past year than I can remember ever being since I was a kid myself! Now I think I have what she has- sore throat and a low-grade fever myself. At least she seems to be starting to feel better so there's a chance I might get to sleep through the night tonight. And I'm so exhausted that I'm going to bed - without even posting pictures from our fun outing to the Frederick Meijer Gardens on Friday. I'll try and get those up tomorrow. :)

For now, I leave you with this picture. Carolyn discovered the Kleenex box this week. :)

For those who wonder

This... is "Cousin Itt" from the Addam's Family. I have never seen the show either, but "Cousin Itt" is a colloquialism in some parts of the country in some age/gender strata (okay well maybe just my friends in high school) for being a person with your hair in your face; hence, my using it to describe Carolyn's hairstyle of several days ago. :)

Park Fun

Yesterday my car was in for service on the other side of town, so we spent the day with Grandma and Grandpa. I totally needed a break from my usual surroundings, and Carolyn seemed to enjoy the change of pace- and all the attention she received from her numerous admirers. :)

We went for a walk after lunch to the elementary school where there is a playground suitable for supervised toddler when there aren't any big kids around. :) Carolyn crawled enthusiastically up the ramps and stairs.
She especially seemed to enjoy attempting to climb back UP the slide. :)
Last night I was just struck all over again with how much Carolyn has changed. Something about her hair being down yesterday since I forgot to bring a bow that matched :) made her look so much older! Even in the last several weeks, her face has continued to "grow up" and her expressions are no longer the simple babyish ones of a few months ago; she is settling into the facial features of a toddler who will so quickly turn into a little girl. She's really into this cheesy grin right now whenever she's happy. It makes me smile. :)

The "Cousin It" look. :)

Group Pictures

Finally, JC Penney sent us the link to the 1-year pictures we had taken almost a week ago! You'd think that in the "digital age" that the pictures would be easy enough to upload and have available the same day they were taken (or at the very least, the next day...) but these folks consider 7-10 days afterwards to be sufficient. Ah well, at least we didn't have to pay the $5 it normally costs!

And, the pictures turned out GREAT! Especially since all together we paid $60 and each of us got several prints.
First we had the kids dressed in somewhat coordinating outfits- and I think the bright colors in their clothes look so cool with the white backdrop! Carolyn's room decor has all these colors in it, so I got these two shots in a 5x7 to put in white frames on her wall. I think it's so nice to have all 4 of the friends all together for pictures this time (last time Rachel couldn't be there, so we missed her!)

We thought we'd try and see if we could get them to stand around this bucket to sort of document their current developmental stage- well, that didn't exactly work, but I love how this sort of candid shot turned out.
The big part of this experience was the Cake Smash. I made a chocolate cake for the babies to dig into and boy did they make a mess! But I think it made some great pictures!


Oh, if by chance you want to order prints from this order, let me know in the comments or email me and I'll send you the link so you can order from JC Penney's site.

Keeping Her Entertained

Carolyn has discovered how to turn the water faucet on and off in our bathtub... this provides her no end of entertainment. :)
The babies have left the nest! This is the last picture I got of them- today I went to check on them and there was just one left and he jumped out of the nest and flew/hopped away as soon as he saw me! Amazing that after less than 2 weeks they can already be ready to be on their own!! I'm glad I get to keep my baby girl longer than that. :)
Carolyn got her 1-year shots yesterday (4 shots and a blood draw for a lead level and anemia test) and has been running a low-grade fever all day today and feeling pretty fussy and a bit high -maintenance, so I was getting a little desperate for things to do to keep her happy. Since she liked the sand so much at Lake Michigan, I decided to create this "mini-sandbox" in our kitchen with a pan of cornmeal and some cups and spoons. She really liked the texture of the cornmeal and playing around with the cups and spoons. It kept her entertained for at least 15 minutes- that's pretty good for us at this stage... :)

Carolyn enjoyed her first bubble bath today and found great delight in the bubbles. It's fun for me to share my favorite things with her- and I know few comforts greater than a nice warm bubble bath... if it weren't so hot right now, I might just run one for myself! :)

More, Please!

Carolyn has made a significant cognitive leap in the past week or so- she started signing "more" to us! I really haven't worked very hard on sign language since she was about 6 months old... didn't see results then, so I kind of stopped doing it much, but last week, just casually at the grocery store, I signed "more" when I was asking Carolyn if she'd like some more fruit leather and lo and behold she signed it back to me! She has quickly figured out that if she puts her hands together like this, more good things come! I think she's excited to have found a way to communicate her wishes to us more specifically. She also knows how to sign "milk," though she hasn't done it in front of the video camera yet. Check out this little clip from dinner last night. :)

Climber!

Okay, so I knew it had to happen sometime... last night I looked up from my phone conversation to see Carolyn all the way up on the tv stand- and pleased as punch with herself for getting there. :) I took a picture before I removed her and kindly requested that she not repeat the performance... yeah right. :) I've got a climber in the house now! :)As if to continue the theme for the night, when we went to the laundry room to get some clothes, Carolyn quickly saw the stepstool that was still out for no apparent reason and availed herself of the easy opportunity before her. :) While one of us stood behind her to make sure she didn't fall, she had a blast banging her little hands on the dryer. :)
I think she's starting to look more like her Daddy, don't you?