Home again, home again

It was definitely bittersweet to come home -- we were so excited to see Trent (daddy) and Aunt Laurie and Uncle Crispin but sad to leave my parents and sister. Caroline was very confused at first with leaving and then coming home. But, she got very excited when she saw all of her "new" toys at home. (Just the ones she hadn't seen in a couple of weeks but they were new to her!). These are just some pictures of her since she came home. We also put a small slide in the backyard courtesy of our neighbors. She thinks she is a big girl going up and down the slide. The video at the bottom shows her strutting her stuff. And don't ask me how she got in the basket in this picture. I just found her that way and the towel, well you can thank Aunt Katie for starting that game!!

Visit to St. Louis

Caroline had an opportunity to stay with my parents while Trent and I enjoyed a weeks vacation in the British Virgin Islands with Laurie, Crispin and a few other friends.(I attached one pic from our trip) She had a great visit at my parent's house where I'm sure she was spoiled. She learned to "run" while I was away and she moves her hips back and forth like an Olympic walker but her feet don't always keep up causing her to fall. She is getting better and better all the time! She also learned to color with Grandma and Grandpa and I have to say she has quite a talent for scribbling (and eating the crayons!)

While I was there with her we went to the Butterfly House with my friends and their kids, we went to the zoo where Caroline loved the penguins and she got to play with all of my cousins kids where she learned to play kickball (or run the bases after the older kids playing). Needless to say she had a great time and it seemed that Mommy needed to pay extra attention to her when we got home as she was used to having every need and want answered by all of the helping hands in St. Louis!

Happy Mother's Day

Mother's Day #2 for me was spent in St. Louis as Caroline had spent the week in St. Louis with my parents as Trent and I got away for a fabulous vacation! Caroline had been preparing for Mother's Day all week and on Sunday morning I had the best present ever -- first I got to see Caroline for the first time in a week and she had a great gift for me as evidenced by these pictures. Enjoy!

Gaga and Papa's Visit

Over the weekend, Gaga and Papa came to visit from Florida. Caroline loved having all of the additional attention and audience to perform for. She danced, talked and walked all over the place. I think she was a little lost when it was just back to her and I! Over the weekend, we went to the botanical gardens and it was gorgeous walking in the woods and meadows and Caroline loved all of the flowers! These are some pictures of that day.

As Caroline has learned to walk, she is always trying new things... she spent a good 10 minutes (long time in baby life) trying to walk off the step of the fireplace. And her other new thing is that walking always you to carry things in your hands everywhere and try things on. The other video is of her trying on her "scarf" aka the blanket tie -- she wears it everywhere and talks about it the entire time. Enjoy!

Sunny Weekend

Caroline had a busy weekend - it was 85 degrees here so we spent most of the time at the beach where she discovered ladybugs. She already loves the sand, playing in it, crawling in it, walking on it, etc. The water -- that's a different story -- the ocean is very cold and she was not very excited to even have her big toe in it. I don't blame her; my feet were numb in seconds as well. As she is walking everyone now, she likes to take her own walks around the neighborhood, which, much to my dismay, do not include the stroller. These are a couple of cute pictures.

Does this go on my head??

Well this week we are back to normal, sort of. Caroline had a rough week last week as she got her first ear infection and I thought all along it was teething. A slight fever, waking up in the middle of the night unconsolable -- who knew? Anyway, she is on her fifth day of antibiotics and though she is still a little fussy, she seems to be feeling and sleeping much better. She is into clothes now, not necessarily her own, but anything she can try to put on or carry around. She says "shoes" though Trent does not believe me and you saw from the last video that she knows how to try and put them on. This picture is of how she thinks her bib would be better worn -- on her head! She has also taken a liking to a swimsuit top that I have with some stones on it. You can see it on the video below. She carried it around the house and finally put it on after about 2 hours yesterday. Hilarious! The others are just some assorted pics from a b'day party.

Daddy's Day

Caroline spent all day Sunday with Daddy checking out the sites in Ventura. Looks like they had a great time but I can't seem to get her to tell me what she did. Hmmm.... I can tell from the pictures that they went to "C" Street in Ventura and stopped by a surfing competition. Daddy is starting her young! And they went to Grant Park which overlooks the entire city -- gorgeous views and a great place to crawl around. Caroline is walking about 60% of the time right now which is very exciting. Sometimes she gets so excited that her walking feet don't move as fast as she wants them to and crawling turns out to be the best option to get her there! She's also learned some great dance moves (maybe from her Uncle Crispin??) but I don't know where she picked up the hand in the air that you will see in the video. She actually turned on the stereo and played this song (notice it is Sweet Caroline!). Video is at the bottom.