Curtis Christmas 2008

Meeting cousin Lily for the first time.

Daddy and Poppa

Aunt Julie

Cousins Catherine, Virginia and Lee

Santa Train

I took Caroline to the Santa Train up on Signal Mtn. last week. Hadley and her mom joined us. Caroline really enjoyed playing in the train-- pretending to drive and ringing the bell on the fire engine car and the hamming it up in the window of the engine car. It was VERY cold and windy that day, but it didn't seem to bother her at all. I think these pictures show her personality really well.

First Haircut

Caroline had her first haircut last Thursday. Her bangs were hanging down in her eyes, so I decided it was finally time. She did great! She sat in my lap and tried to grab the comb and scissors, but the stylist did manange to give her a good all-over trim. No crying, no tears. None of the horror stories you hear about kids' first haircuts. It was really very pleasant. The only bad part was that I forgot my camera. I was able to get one picture with my phone but have yet to attempt to transfer it to the computer.

Thanksgiving

Caroline is starting to want to wear our clothes and shoes. Here she is with mom's fleece on.

Caroline and Pop. She likes to take his glasses case out of his pocket.

First visit with Santa at Chattanooga Market.

Geez. Boys are such wimps! C'mon Sam-- it's just Santa.

Life Lessons

I often find that I underestimate Caroline's understanding of her world. The other night, we were having a particularly challenging time with her at dinner. She was just generally unhappy about what was put in front of her to eat, despite the fact that I had prepared some of her favorite things. It was a night of taking a few bites, crying, throwing food, yelping, howling and pulling her bib off. After about the sixth time she pulled her bib off, I decided it was enough, and that she must not really be all that hungry. So, I took her out of the high chair and put her down on the floor and off she toddled toward the playroom. I said to Chris, " Well, I guess she would rather play than eat." She disappeared around the corner and, no more than 3 seconds later, she turned around and made a beeline toward the kitchen. She went straight to her high chair and stood by it with her arms outstretched, bouncing up and down. I asked her if she would like to finish dinner, and I picked her up and put her back in her high chair. Much to our surprise, she calmly and quietly scarfed down the rest of her food. Of course, we prasied her and told her what a good girl she was for coming back and then proceeded to chuckle about the whole situation for the rest of the night.
I have always said that I would not be a short-order cook for my children. If you don't like what's put in front of you, then you can wait until the next meal to eat. I think Caroline realized that it was a really, really long time until breakfast!

Trick or Treat

Caroline was a ladybug for Halloween. She was so cute in her costume and had a lot of fun trick or treating with the other kids in the neighborhood.

Pumpkin Patch

We visited Guthrie's Pumpkin Farm in Riceville. TN today. It was a great trip. The farm had lots of activities-- several different types of mazes (corn, hay, etc.), petting farm, hayrides and, of course, the pumpkin patch. Caroline loved playing with the pumpkins, trying to pick them up, roll them around and pull on their stems. She also enjoyed the hayride with the wind blowing in her face and hair. We had a really fun day and hope to make this an annual event.

Pumpkin Patch

Pumpkin Patch

Pretty Dress

This is one of my favorite dresses on Caroline. She wore it to mommy's friend Ms. Lesley's birthday party last weekend. We got new shoes from Stride-Rite last week too (see second picture). She had already worn out her first pair of Pedi-Peds that we got back in August-- and she needed something sturdier. Caroline likes to hold the hairbrush and try to brush her hair (see third picture), which is a big help to Daddy who sometimes forgets that little girls need to have their hair brushed (see first picture). She is a VERY busy little girl these days. She learned to say "belly button" in the bathtub last night and will look down and point to it if you ask her where it is. Her favorite game right now is to go all around the house opening drawers and cabinets, taking things out of one and putting them back in another. It also apperars that she is working on her sixth tooth, which will probably appear in a few days.

Cottage Cheese Face

Caroline's favorite food is cottage cheese

Caroline and Grammie. She visited last weekend.

Waking up from her nap. She loves to play with her pacis.

The end

I nursed Caroline for the last time tonight. And I'm sad. I have thoroughly enjoyed nursing her, and I'm proud that I have made it to over a year. There is a lot of satisfaction in knowing that I gave her the best that I could for the entire first year of her life. She has never had formula and that's something that I feel really good about. When Caroline was born, and I decided to nurse, what I didn't know is that nursing is so much more than just a way to feed your baby.

My approach to weaning was a gradual one-- slowly cutting down from three to one sessions over the past month. We have been down to one session, bedtime only, for a week now. And so I decided a week was enough time to not make the transition too abrupt.

We went about our normal evening routine-- dinner, bath, pajamas and nurse-- before bed. As Caroline finished nursing, we were sitting in the glider with the light dimmed. She turned her head and looked up at me with the sweetest, angelic expression. I stroked her cheek, and she smiled at me with her little four-tooth grin.... and then the tears started rolling down my face. What a precious gift it has been to have this relationship with Caroline for a year. To see it come to an end is bittersweet. I'm ready to be done, but I know I will miss it terribly for a little while.

Funny Day

I found myself laughing out loud at several things that happened today.

First, something that made me laugh at myself. Today, I put Caroline in a cute little dress because we were going out to lunch to meet a friend of mine. When she woke up from her nap I got her dress out of the closet and grabbed a pair of her monogrammed diaper covers out of the drawer and dressed her in a big hurry. I started to put her in the car seat and had a hard time getting the straps tight enough around the dress. We had lunch, came back home and she was sitting in my lap. I had my hands around the waist of the dress, which felt odd, like there was some extra material inside the dress. I put my hands up the dress, and, to my surprise, there was the matching diaper cover that came with the dress, still attached. I wondered to myself-- haven't I washed this? I clearly remember washing everything before I put it in the closet back before Caroline was born. And then I looked at the diaper cover and still attached to it was the tattered price tag that I had also left on when I washed it. They always say pregnancy causes you to lose part of your brain function, as well as motherhood causes the phenomenon called "momnesia". I think this is clearly a case of both!

Now for a couple of funny Caroline stories......

Caroline got a Little People airplane from Aunt Helen for her birthday. I have "helped" her play with it, by making it fly through the air and adding airplane sound effects. This morning, she picked up the airplane and started carrying it around, making the "whoosh" sounds that she had heard from me in the past days. I thought it was funny that she remembered and then exactly repeated the sound.

She also happened to get a hold of Chris's cell phone charger. She was playing with his suitcase and the charger was in the pocket. She pulled it out, held it up to her ear and said "hello" and proceeded to have a conversation. Then, she held it up to my ear. I was really laughing out loud at that one.

A Big Step for Mom

I have finally gathered the courage to leave Caroline with someone besides other family members. Up until this week, her only "babysitters" have been her grandmothers. My mom has kept her for pretty much everything I/we have needed to do. Chris's mom has also kept her a few times when she has been in town.
So, this week, we had a real babysitter on Tuesday night. She is the daughter of Chris's high school soccer coach and is a freshman at Covenant College. She has 4 younger brothers and sisters, ranging in age from 10 to 16, so she definitely has childcare experience. Chris and I went out to dinner and had a nice evening out.
Then, this morning, I started going back to spinning classes at the gym, and Caroline stayed in the nursery for an hour. The nursery is great, so I had no doubts that she would be in good hands. It was more the doubt about whether she would cry when I walked out the door that was the difficult part. And she didn't... cry.... at all. Whew! When I finished class, I walked back in and she didn't see me yet, so I watched her playing happily for a few minutes. The nursery ladies said she did great-- never cried and just played independently or with her little friend Hadley who was also there.
It is a good feeling to be able to leave her with other people. It has taken me a year to be able to do it, but I wouldn't have had it any other way!

Chipped Tooth

There is a reason why they say that glass tables are not safe for babies.........

Caroline chipped one of her top teeth on Friday morning. We have a small glass top table in the playroom (that I have been saying we need to move for several months now) and she lost her balance as she was standing in front of it, trying to bite it. It was one of those things that happens in slow motion. I saw her getting too close to the table and as I reached to stop her she just fell and I couldn't get there fast enough. She hit the table hard and left a bit of white powdery residue on the table-- what I soon figured out was a bit of her top tooth. She was fine after a couple of minutes of crying. And then I could see and feel that the tooth was indeed chipped.

As it just so happens, this was the same day that I had scheduled her one year pictures. Figures! The good thing is that the chip really isn't noticeable unless you point it out. Needless to say, the table has now been moved.

12 month check-up

Caroline had her 12 month check-up yesterday. Weight: 21 lbs, 4 oz. Length: 29 inches (although Chris thinks she got cheated on the length measurement). She is now in the 50th percentile for both height and weight-- "perfectly average" to use the doctor's words. She had her first finger stick for a blood test to check her hemeglobin and lead levels. Both tests were fine and she didn't even cry with the finger stick. She's a tough girl! We also got another round of immunizations, which don't seem to be getting any easier for her or me. All in all-- she is a healthy girl!!!

Caroline's 1st Birthday Party

Big cake above and smash cake below.

Caroline and Hadley

The party was a blast!! We had a small gathering of friends and family at our house. Caroline thoroughly enjoyed her cake--- again!
And she got lots of wonderful gifts that she will enjoy for months and years to come. It was a great first birthday party! (please note-- there are several posts of her party pics)