10 Months!

This has been an AMAZING month for Caroline!   We finally managed to get her well, continuing her breathing treatments (Pulmicort) twice a day, and she is doing great.  What a relief!

In her tenth month she has gone from crawling to walking and can really get across the room.  She was taking four or five steps at Christmas and by New Year it was ten or more.  Now she is beginning to get her bearings and stand from pushing herself up.  She likes to GO GO GO!

We have been feeding her solid foods every night and she likes pretty much everything we cook… cut up spaghetti, carrots and zucchini, pancakes, mashed potatoes, black eyed peas and greens on New Year’s Day, Gerber ravioli… She is eating it all!  At this point we are still feeding her baby food – cereal and fruit for breakfast, veggies and fruit for lunch – but she is slowly graduating to table food.

Probably the biggest accomplishment of the month is… drum roll, please… CAROLINE IS SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!  No night bottle.  In bed by 8:30.  Awake around 6:30 (sometimes later!).  WOW.  We are so excited!!!  This very likely could have been accomplished earlier in her life, but she was used to her night bottle and when she got sick this was the only bottle that we knew for certain she would take, so we didn’t stop giving it to her. (Especially considering she lost weight while she had bronchitis for eight long weeks)  Per our doctor, when she was finally well, we gradually reduced the bottle amount until one night – the weekend of New Year’s Eve – we stopped.  And she didn’t wake up!  HOORAY!!!

Fun stuff that Caroline loves:

• High five!
• Mimicking us… we make a noise, she makes a similar sound.  I give C her rubber ducky and say, “Caroline, here is your duck!”  She says, “dah!”  I say, “this is your yellow duck.”  She says, “ya-ya” (Yes, that means yellow!)
• Push toys – she runs all over the house pushing her musical farm and dinosaur toys!
• Books – she loves to turn the page and she knows what to reach for on all of her touch-and-feel books
• Dancing – now that she’s on her feet, she wants to move all the time!  She has several toys that play music and she loves to bounce to the beat.  She definitely has her daddy’s rhythm!
• Giving hugs!  She loves to grab her animals and squeeze while she buries her head in them.  SO CUTE!!!
• Acting sheepish… our girls is going to be a mess!  She looks at you, then turns her head down and to the side, then looks up.  Melts. Your. Heart.

And a few things that she isn’t into:

• Shoes – OMG.  This girl cannot stand anything on her feet!  She pulls her socks off and throws them.  And shoes… You can forget it!  Mamark and I took her shoe shopping a month or so ago and got a couple of pairs of shoes to dress up in.  I needed something for her to wear to the park that could get dirty, so we stopped into a local boutique to pick up a pair of soft leather-bottom shoes.  It took FOUR OF US to get them on her!  She curled up her toes and wouldn’t relax until we stood her up on her feet.  She’s gotten much better, but I’m not sure it’s really worth the battle!
• Stage 3 baby food – maybe it’s a texture thing, but she likes pureed baby food and vegetables and other foods that we cook and cut up, but the in-between, stage 3, she absolutely refuses
• Anything that holds her down – the car seat, high chair, getting changed – she wants to move and doesn’t have the patience to sit still

We are headed to the doctor on Tuesday for the second half of Caroline’s flu shot and for a weigh in to make sure she isn’t losing any more weight.  I’m sure she’s not!  In fact, I am willing to bet she’s over 15 pounds by now!  Love!

Caroline's daily report card - December 27

Time to baby-proof!

Laid back...

Art project with friends (Chris, Roxy and Mason, who is two)

She found this on Pinterest (love!)
We are currently searching for frames so that they can hang in C's room, but for now they will be proudly displayed on our refrigerator! 

Walking!

Big Girl!