Winter Wonderland

We waited for a nice, warm night to see the lights on the square. Thomas and I enjoyed watching her reactions to the beautiful lights.
That just reminded me of one of my favorite movie quotes "The little lights aren't twinkling, Clark..." Google it if you don't recognize it! :-)

Caroline took peek-a-boo to a whole new level last week.

I was putting away clothes in her closet and I saw her "toddle" away and into the living room. I knew I had a few seconds before I needed to check on her. When I finished, I realized with a slight blood pressure increase that it had been extremely quiet in the other room. I ran in calling her name, after not seeing her immediately, I checked all of the usual "hiding" spots, behind the couch, behind the big chair, in the kitchen...no Caroline. Purposely deciding not to panic yet, I call her name and I hear in response, "Huh." So at least I know she's able to make noise. I hear it coming from the kitchen, so I look again. No Caroline. I say it again, "Caroline!" "Huh." Is her response again. This time I think maybe she's found a spot beside our sideboard in the dining room. No Caroline! One last time, "CAROLINE!" "Huh." again. I hear it directly behind me, but I don't see her.
We have the accordion style doors to hide our washer and dryer in the kitchen. The left side is open, but the right side is closed, flat. I peek behind the closed door and in between the washing machine and the closed door, in about a foot gap, is Caroline standing there very still, smiling broadly! She managed to squeeze in while it was open and then pushed on it to close it.
Our first Hide and Seek game...I may re-name it to Hide and Give Mommy a Stroke game.

Some other things that I don't want to forget!

• Caroline can climb onto anything that she can reach while hiking up her little leg. It started with the door to the dishwasher.
  
• She has amazing balance. She climbs on Thomas while he's on the floor and stands on his back.
• She waves goodbye squeezing and opening both hands simultaneously. One hand is not enough.
• Every time I put her in her "baby" bathtub she opens the plug to drain the water without me seeing her do it. Stealthy.
• When we ask her any question she vehemently shakes her head, "no" from side to side. It started when I asked her if she was ready to get out of the bathtub, now she does it when asked if she likes Houston Nutt or if she wants to go to Disney World.
• She smiles after every sneeze.
• She grabs both ears while she drinks her bottle.k
• We say, "ahhh" when we hug on a baby doll and now Caroline will hug on blankets and babies and say, "ahhh."
  
• Last night I was rocking her to sleep and I kept my eyes closed to try and make her think that hers should be closed as well, (I'm sure everyone tries this at some point with their baby) when I felt her sit up and look at me. I squinted at her to see what she was doing and she was waving right in my face trying to get my attention. It was so cute I couldn't help but laugh and then she started laughing. She's so much fun.
  

Rewind to Fall

Now that it feels like winter, I am posting these pictures from early November of our family field trip to Hobbs State Park (specifically the Van Winkle Trail.) It was a beautiful day. Thomas and Caroline had fun throwing rocks into the stream.
As you can see Thomas is answering Caroline's questions about why leaves change color. It's a little more complicated than you might think!
Caroline and I enjoy afternoon walks when I get home from school. On this particular afternoon, she did not find my commentary very stimulating.

Thanksgiving!

I am so thankful for everything that God has given us. We have such wonderful family and friends. What a fantastic year with so many new babies and marriages! God is so good!

On the 7+ hour drive home from a Texas Thanksgiving, I had lots of time to just watch Caroline sleep. I love looking at her tiny hands, fingers and even fingernails. I watched her tiny eyelids twitching during a dream and wondered what she was dreaming about. Maybe she was dreaming about this boat... Caroline loved playing with William and riding in his boat!

Thank you Grandma Tracy for her homemade sock monkey!

She is truly changing every day. Her new fun thing to do is to use a laundry basket as a walker and push it around the house. I love watching her get it stuck some where and then making baby aggravated noises until she problem solves how to get it where she wants it to go. She now walks a lot more than she crawls. Grammy, Thomas and I have even see her run and hop! She is loving Christmas music and she is always in the mood to dance!

She loves taking clothes out of her drawers (or bowls or tupperware or anything in a non-babyproofed cabinet!) I watched her finally start to realize she can put things back in the drawer/cabinet! Hallelujah! Are we well on our way with having her clean her own room? I doubt it, too.

Video of Caroline Laughing

When I hear my sweet baby laugh it takes my breath away. I think it is an overwhelming feeling of being blessed.
We love her so much! Enjoy the new video!

Caroline Walking!

I know everyone has been checking Caroline's blog every hour just waiting for the video of Caroline walking! The wait is over! Here it is! Our sweet, just turned nine month old daughter-WALKING! She's growing up so fast! (Click on the little triangle)
Disclaimer: Don't worry. I usually insist on Caroline wearing pants, but it was almost bath time.
Disclaimer #2: I know that she probably should not be drinking while walking because of the chance of choking, but--Wow! She can drink and walk at the same time! :-)

My First Halloween

Caroline had her nine month checkup yesterday! Where has time gone? She's 20 lbs, 27 inches. She now tucks her chin down and smiles shyly when we clap for her! She can take around 7 steps now! Hopefully video will be posted tomorrow.
Caroline, Lakyn and Canaan dressed up for bible study/Halloween! We had an animal theme (bee, bat and frog!) More pictures to come!

Caroline two-steps!

Caroline took two steps today completely unassisted!! We have three witnesses! She'll be 9 months on the 2nd of November! I had to document the momentous occasion with a post today. I could not post without a picture. This is Caroline last week after church. She likes to talk to her reflection in the fireplace glass.