I was rocking and nursing Caroline this evening, while Kev was on the phone with Eepa. I sang her "Everything Possible," the lullaby I sing her almost every night and then started her prayers. When I said "Thank you for good food to eat." She pulled off and started pointing to her cheek. The sign for apple? So I said "Apple?" And she said, for the first time ever, "abble." And signed again and said it again. So we came out and she began gnawing on that great big apple all over again- to her great delight!
Communication is a marvelous thing!
Course sleep is also good... and wired child is showing no signs of being ready for that...
Monday, March 15, 2010
this just in...
... Caroline is tired of having apple cut into bits or even slices for her. She wants the whole thing. And does a pretty good job with those teeny, tiny teeth of hers gnawing at a great, big apple!
... Caroline is able to rock steadily on her Pa's rocking horse, which is fairly high off the ground! She grunted towards it this afternoon and pointed at it eagerly. I got it down and put her on it and she started rocking, and rocking. She curls her little feet as if to cling on, and sometimes wraps her legs around the front. She's such a big girl!
and the biggest news of all?
...Caroline slept A FULL NIGHT in her crib last night. She awakened early, but... no earlier than we needed to this day. She cried out a few times and seemed to be waking up, but Kev went and checked and she was crying in her sleep. She had good long stretches in her Godsister's crib this weekend. The first night back was not a great night for sleeping, but last night... golden!
... Caroline is able to rock steadily on her Pa's rocking horse, which is fairly high off the ground! She grunted towards it this afternoon and pointed at it eagerly. I got it down and put her on it and she started rocking, and rocking. She curls her little feet as if to cling on, and sometimes wraps her legs around the front. She's such a big girl!
and the biggest news of all?
...Caroline slept A FULL NIGHT in her crib last night. She awakened early, but... no earlier than we needed to this day. She cried out a few times and seemed to be waking up, but Kev went and checked and she was crying in her sleep. She had good long stretches in her Godsister's crib this weekend. The first night back was not a great night for sleeping, but last night... golden!
Friday, March 12, 2010
sigh...
... so long as we're up, i might as well take this opportunity to share a few things.
we've been in atlanta the last few days so that kev can participate in a conference for his birthday (today!) this means i've been full time caregiver for the better part of the last 48 hours. we arrived here around 11 on Wednesday night (10 our time). caroline had been asleep, at that point, for two hours. kev is usually pretty good at helping her stay asleep through transfers. her godsister's crib was at the ready for her... she woke up... and realized there were new toys (lots of them) and A DOGGIE (who is so afraid of Caroline, though she's mostly gentle... if loud... around her). sleeping? not happening. it was a terrible night. she got maybe 4 interrupted hours of sleep, me 2.5. Kev... a bit more. at one point in the wee hours i got up with her because she wouldn't settle. and she set to exploring the house. there were PLENTY of toys in the living room with which she could play legitimately, but NO she HAD to play the with noisy, musical table in the kitchen, just outside the room in which her Godfamily was sleeping. I kept redirecting and blocking the passage way... and she kept moving blockades away or melting down. Until she found an alluring piece of electronic equipment with buttons to push, again... redirect, MELTDOWN. for two hours in the wee hours...
and the next day of just the two of us... oh my goodness... when did my sweet girl become a monster? two SHORT naps and lots of insistent pursuit of that which was not o.k.. and many meltdowns.
i decided tonight that she's demon possesseed. when i left the restaurant with her tonight because she NEEDED to move and there was LOTS of space just outside the restaurant, and yet not totally outside (hard to explain) in which she could run and burn energy. but... repeatedly... on our trips out there, she fixated on the doorway to the parking lot at the end of a LONG hallway and HAD to get out there and into the parking lot. nothing else would do. would not be redirected. would not be cuddled or carried. HAD to run into the lot full of cars, some of which were moving. of course i didn't let her do this. at one point though, I walked out into the lot with her, picked her up and carried her to a median where she could safely walk a bit more, she turned around and pushed for the lot. and TOTALLY fell apart when I picked her up again. what is up with the obsessive compulsion to do the one thing it is not safe to do? and my goodness she has an impressive memory and attention span at moments like this.
that said... last night she slept through the night- from 10:30-6:30. i got almost seven straight hours of sleep. that is the most sleep i've had in a LONG time. and today she took two long naps. and was sweet as pie until our dinner adventures. she even blew a kiss at me today (and maybe even once yesterday). this is the first she's ever done that. we really had fun together at times today. she colored a card for her daddy. he loved it. (trying to get the crayons and card away from her when we were done was another one of those screechy meltdown moments and she tried to take the card back from kev after he opened it, but... the coloring time was awfully nice!) it was a good day for her especially because the dog is more afraid of rainstorms than of her and so the dog would press to be near me when a storm would blow up and would bear with c petting her and pushing her a bit which absolutely delighted c. the dog, not so much, but it was better than the storm. c becomes a dog here, it seems. remember the dog bowl incident? well... i made a birthday cake for kev and was working on frosting it today with whipped cream frosting when a dab of it fell onto the floor. caroline was standing by, but didn't seem to notice at first. then lulu, the dog, came over and started licking it up. the next thing I know caroline is down on all fours trying to do the same. gross? yes. but funnier than gross.
and tonight... its 11:10 here now. WAY past her bedtime- in either time zone. and every time i've tried to rock and do the bedtime routine she's pushed down and off my lap and run away. rinse. repeat. and we didn't give her any cake. yes, she had a bit of whipped cream frosting this afternoon, but... meh.
seems like maybe she's finally settling.
other news? she's a climbing fiend. she'll climb most anything. she's had some impressive climbs the past few days. we really need to get her to a play ground!
i love her like crazy. even when she's driving me crazy.
cue music- i will love you forever. i will like you for always. as long as i'm living my baby you'll be.
we've been in atlanta the last few days so that kev can participate in a conference for his birthday (today!) this means i've been full time caregiver for the better part of the last 48 hours. we arrived here around 11 on Wednesday night (10 our time). caroline had been asleep, at that point, for two hours. kev is usually pretty good at helping her stay asleep through transfers. her godsister's crib was at the ready for her... she woke up... and realized there were new toys (lots of them) and A DOGGIE (who is so afraid of Caroline, though she's mostly gentle... if loud... around her). sleeping? not happening. it was a terrible night. she got maybe 4 interrupted hours of sleep, me 2.5. Kev... a bit more. at one point in the wee hours i got up with her because she wouldn't settle. and she set to exploring the house. there were PLENTY of toys in the living room with which she could play legitimately, but NO she HAD to play the with noisy, musical table in the kitchen, just outside the room in which her Godfamily was sleeping. I kept redirecting and blocking the passage way... and she kept moving blockades away or melting down. Until she found an alluring piece of electronic equipment with buttons to push, again... redirect, MELTDOWN. for two hours in the wee hours...
and the next day of just the two of us... oh my goodness... when did my sweet girl become a monster? two SHORT naps and lots of insistent pursuit of that which was not o.k.. and many meltdowns.
i decided tonight that she's demon possesseed. when i left the restaurant with her tonight because she NEEDED to move and there was LOTS of space just outside the restaurant, and yet not totally outside (hard to explain) in which she could run and burn energy. but... repeatedly... on our trips out there, she fixated on the doorway to the parking lot at the end of a LONG hallway and HAD to get out there and into the parking lot. nothing else would do. would not be redirected. would not be cuddled or carried. HAD to run into the lot full of cars, some of which were moving. of course i didn't let her do this. at one point though, I walked out into the lot with her, picked her up and carried her to a median where she could safely walk a bit more, she turned around and pushed for the lot. and TOTALLY fell apart when I picked her up again. what is up with the obsessive compulsion to do the one thing it is not safe to do? and my goodness she has an impressive memory and attention span at moments like this.
that said... last night she slept through the night- from 10:30-6:30. i got almost seven straight hours of sleep. that is the most sleep i've had in a LONG time. and today she took two long naps. and was sweet as pie until our dinner adventures. she even blew a kiss at me today (and maybe even once yesterday). this is the first she's ever done that. we really had fun together at times today. she colored a card for her daddy. he loved it. (trying to get the crayons and card away from her when we were done was another one of those screechy meltdown moments and she tried to take the card back from kev after he opened it, but... the coloring time was awfully nice!) it was a good day for her especially because the dog is more afraid of rainstorms than of her and so the dog would press to be near me when a storm would blow up and would bear with c petting her and pushing her a bit which absolutely delighted c. the dog, not so much, but it was better than the storm. c becomes a dog here, it seems. remember the dog bowl incident? well... i made a birthday cake for kev and was working on frosting it today with whipped cream frosting when a dab of it fell onto the floor. caroline was standing by, but didn't seem to notice at first. then lulu, the dog, came over and started licking it up. the next thing I know caroline is down on all fours trying to do the same. gross? yes. but funnier than gross.
and tonight... its 11:10 here now. WAY past her bedtime- in either time zone. and every time i've tried to rock and do the bedtime routine she's pushed down and off my lap and run away. rinse. repeat. and we didn't give her any cake. yes, she had a bit of whipped cream frosting this afternoon, but... meh.
seems like maybe she's finally settling.
other news? she's a climbing fiend. she'll climb most anything. she's had some impressive climbs the past few days. we really need to get her to a play ground!
i love her like crazy. even when she's driving me crazy.
cue music- i will love you forever. i will like you for always. as long as i'm living my baby you'll be.
Friday, March 5, 2010
15 months!
First of all, my beloved sister, Caroline's fabulous Aunt Katherine, is now a Certified Professional Midwife!!!! She passed her board exams! She graduates in June and Caroline and I will be out there to celebrate. 15 months ago her presence made a world of difference at C's birth. We are SO proud of her! Not surprised at all, but SO PROUD! Go Aunt Katherine! Catch some more babies!
Here's our beautiful girl earlier this evening shortly after she climbed up on a trunk at the end of the bed and then up on to the bed! She then laughed with glee!
Such events are common lately... moments when she takes it upon herself to make something happen... turning things on and off, opening and then closing doors, drawers, what have you, banging on drums or piano keys, and perhaps the most delightful... feeding us! Rather than dropping food off her tray when she's tired of eating, she motions to us to lean in and feeds us bit by bit. She won't take "all done" from us though. So long as there is food on her tray, she wants us to eat it! She's big into closing doors, including car doors. When Kev gets her out of the car she starts grinning and leaning in. She puts an open palm to the window and pushes (with a bit of help from daddy) the door closed.
The word of the week this week seems to be "Sock." It sounds like "Sssah" and she uses it to refer to socks and shoes. She looks at us like we're silly when we try to teach her "shoe" and then says "sssah!"
She tends to greet Kev or me, after being separated for any length of time at all, with a big "Ha-ee!"
She seems to have grown immensely. I've very curious what we'll learn at her next appt. Her 12 month footed pjs are almost too short. She wears 18 month clothes now just fine.
Caroline seems to have great rhythm. She'll dance or pat her leg to a steady beat along with something she's listening to. She also occasionally seems to sing along with music. Other times it seems she sings to herself. It is so sweet to see.
She had her first middle of the night puke session about 2 weeks ago, on a Saturday night. She then seemed fine, but spiked a fever a few days later. And the last few days she seems to have come down with a cold. Her sleeping was very messed up the first night of the cold. Kev bore the brunt of it, bless him, getting only 2 hours of sleep the whole night.
Last night was better... we can only hope tonight will be better yet. Though she fell asleep on the drive home from picking me up and is fighting bedtime tonight.
Caroline is just starting to have some interest in the potty. With some encouragement from us she peed in the big toilet this evening and seemed to know what the toilet paper was for. Shortly thereafter I put a diaper on her. The next thing I know she has run out of the room, run into the bathroom in which her potty sits at the moment, and closed the door behind her. When I got in there she was trying to sit on her potty. I took her diaper off and sat her on it. She peed a bit. She then stood up and peed all over her pjs and the floor. Oh well... and least she's showing some interest.
With her occasional illnesses her eating has been a bit erratic, but if there's chocolate in the house she seems to have a magnet for it and will not relent until she gets some... the past few days she's really been eating well again (and feeding us well, too!)
Below are several pics from the last month. Thanks for your patience. It is SO hard to stay on top of blogging these days.
One fine Sunday...
A cozy afternoon with daddy and a book...
In Christmas PJs on Valentine's Day just after eating a V-Day chocolate... Aunt Katherine seemed horrified that we let her have one... she was not horrified at all... she was quite pleased. It was Valentine's Day. There were three in the box... She only had one.
A visit from a Div Student who has a vision of starting a L'Arche community in Nashville. Sometimes now C warms right up to strangers... (She's doing her sign for eat in this pic!)
A recent visit to the zoo with friend Julie... though Julie isn't in any of these pics... how did we manage that? Many of the animals weren't out because it was too cold for them, but the goats in the petting zoo, Caroline's favorite animals thus far, were out! Hooray! She pet one and as she did she said "Sof." She definitely knows "soft!" She also seemed to pay attention to other animals more on this visit. She really watched the meer cats scuttling about and keeping up their posts. She even giggled a bit when they'd come close to the glass.
Another great picture Julie took while visiting last weekend...
Several random pics from daddy's cell phone...
Here's our beautiful girl earlier this evening shortly after she climbed up on a trunk at the end of the bed and then up on to the bed! She then laughed with glee!
Such events are common lately... moments when she takes it upon herself to make something happen... turning things on and off, opening and then closing doors, drawers, what have you, banging on drums or piano keys, and perhaps the most delightful... feeding us! Rather than dropping food off her tray when she's tired of eating, she motions to us to lean in and feeds us bit by bit. She won't take "all done" from us though. So long as there is food on her tray, she wants us to eat it! She's big into closing doors, including car doors. When Kev gets her out of the car she starts grinning and leaning in. She puts an open palm to the window and pushes (with a bit of help from daddy) the door closed.
The word of the week this week seems to be "Sock." It sounds like "Sssah" and she uses it to refer to socks and shoes. She looks at us like we're silly when we try to teach her "shoe" and then says "sssah!"
She tends to greet Kev or me, after being separated for any length of time at all, with a big "Ha-ee!"
She seems to have grown immensely. I've very curious what we'll learn at her next appt. Her 12 month footed pjs are almost too short. She wears 18 month clothes now just fine.
Caroline seems to have great rhythm. She'll dance or pat her leg to a steady beat along with something she's listening to. She also occasionally seems to sing along with music. Other times it seems she sings to herself. It is so sweet to see.
She had her first middle of the night puke session about 2 weeks ago, on a Saturday night. She then seemed fine, but spiked a fever a few days later. And the last few days she seems to have come down with a cold. Her sleeping was very messed up the first night of the cold. Kev bore the brunt of it, bless him, getting only 2 hours of sleep the whole night.
Last night was better... we can only hope tonight will be better yet. Though she fell asleep on the drive home from picking me up and is fighting bedtime tonight.
Caroline is just starting to have some interest in the potty. With some encouragement from us she peed in the big toilet this evening and seemed to know what the toilet paper was for. Shortly thereafter I put a diaper on her. The next thing I know she has run out of the room, run into the bathroom in which her potty sits at the moment, and closed the door behind her. When I got in there she was trying to sit on her potty. I took her diaper off and sat her on it. She peed a bit. She then stood up and peed all over her pjs and the floor. Oh well... and least she's showing some interest.
With her occasional illnesses her eating has been a bit erratic, but if there's chocolate in the house she seems to have a magnet for it and will not relent until she gets some... the past few days she's really been eating well again (and feeding us well, too!)
Below are several pics from the last month. Thanks for your patience. It is SO hard to stay on top of blogging these days.
One fine Sunday...
A cozy afternoon with daddy and a book...
In Christmas PJs on Valentine's Day just after eating a V-Day chocolate... Aunt Katherine seemed horrified that we let her have one... she was not horrified at all... she was quite pleased. It was Valentine's Day. There were three in the box... She only had one.
A visit from a Div Student who has a vision of starting a L'Arche community in Nashville. Sometimes now C warms right up to strangers... (She's doing her sign for eat in this pic!)
A recent visit to the zoo with friend Julie... though Julie isn't in any of these pics... how did we manage that? Many of the animals weren't out because it was too cold for them, but the goats in the petting zoo, Caroline's favorite animals thus far, were out! Hooray! She pet one and as she did she said "Sof." She definitely knows "soft!" She also seemed to pay attention to other animals more on this visit. She really watched the meer cats scuttling about and keeping up their posts. She even giggled a bit when they'd come close to the glass.
Another great picture Julie took while visiting last weekend...
Several random pics from daddy's cell phone...
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