The One With The Anecdotes

Things have been pretty busy around here!  And not without a few colds and some serious teething... maybe molars?  Potty training has been on hold for a while due to some extra grumpiness, but Caroline still manages to tell us she has to go potty sometimes!  Last week we had a #2 in the potty!  Hooray!!  Our plan is to start up again this week - I don't want to get too far behind since we've made great progress!  She totally knows what the potty is for, how to tell us, etc.  Such an intuitive little cub!  :)

Caroline is developing into such a smart, quirky, beautiful little person!  Here are my Top Ten favorite things that she is currently doing at 18 months old:

10. When I tell her I'm going to vacuum, she grabs her favorite books and puzzles, runs to the couch, and pats the cushion... which means "lift me up!"  This is her viewing post!

9. Caroline loves to feed Diego.  She has to give her brother his treat every morning after breakfast.  Not just put it on the ground or in his bowl - actually feed it to him.  During the day, she will spontaneously run to Diego's cupboard to get a cookie for him.  So cute.  Here's a recent pic of "Brother."

8. Caroline gets really excited about laundry!  She likes it when I hand her clothes from the washer so she can put them in the dryer... one at a time.  :)  After they're dry, she loves to put all the clothes in the laundry basket... for Barry to fold.  I detest folding clothes... I don't know why?  It's one of my least favorite chores, so Barry almost always does it, which is awesome.  Maybe C will love it too when she gets older!

7. Caroline loves to clean up and put things away!  Poor thing gets cleaning tendencies from her mommy AND poppie... she's definitely got some OCD in her blood.  Some funny examples: When I'm feeding her yogurt and accidentally drip some on her highchair tray, it must be cleaned up before she will continue eating.  (It's different when she is eating finger food and makes her own mess).  When Caroline sees clothes on the floor (which are only ever there when we undress), she immediately carries them to the hamper in the bathroom.  She is also in charge of throwing away junk mail and other items.  She'll throw away anything I hand to her and say, "Can you please throw this away for Mommy?"  Here's a little video I took on our walk the other day:

6. She cannot get in the pool fast enough before swim class.  The second we walk in the door, she starts stripping off her coat, shoes, and clothes.  Caroline is a natural in the water and loves every minute in the pool!  She has an amazing back float, loves to dive, and can use the foam floating noodles all by herself now!  We got to class a little early the other day and had to wait a couple minutes for a class to finish before getting in the water.  She wasn't happy about it.

5. Caroline loves to pretend to cook, especially at Grandma's house.  She is allowed to get into the cabinet where my mom keeps her measuring cups.  After getting them all out, she drips some water in them from her sippy cup, stirs them up with the fork from her singing picnic basket, and then pretends to eat what she has made.  It's adorable!  Her singing teapot is an excellent addition to this scenario...

4. Our cub loves to play with balls!  Caroline is currently enrolled in a gym class with her friend Annie.  Even though Annie is 4 months younger, she is jumping, bouncing, and climbing all over everything - it's awesome!  Caroline, on the other hand, hardly leaves my side.  She is pretty timid in group settings, at least initially.  However, when the balls come out, she comes to life!  That little girl has picked up an 8-pound ball from the floor to a standing position!  And she can run across the mat with a 6-pound one.  Amazing!  After that, she relaxes a little and starts to enjoy the class.  I'm considering discontinuing the class because she doesn't really LOVE it, but I think it's good for her.  It helps her socialize, try new things, and she is definitely improving with every class.

3. Caroline loves the camera and smiling for pictures.  She will grab my phone, hold it out in front of her, and smile!  Here's her first official self photo:

And some more that I took, per her request:

2. Caroline loves ANY kind of music!  She even bops to the "Friends" opening theme song!  We sing all the time - she has incredible rhythm!  Her favorite music is the songs by the Giggle Bellies.  She dances, claps, and twirls to their upbeat tunes.  We have both the DVDs.   Moms out there, you have to check them out!  www.gigglebellies.com.  You can view them on YouTube too.  I can't wait to start piano lessons and dance classes in a few years! 

1. Our cub LOVES LOVES LOVES to read!!  She loves her books more than any toy.  Seriously, we spend a large portion of our day reading!  Her favorite books are Itsy Bitsy Spider, Oops-A-Daisy, Orange Pear Apple Bear, Blue Goose, any book that has lift-up flaps or plays music, and books that have funzy things to touch/pet.  We take books everywhere... even to Panera to visit Poppie!

Hope all is well in your households!  Lots of love from Caroline & Company!  A couple of my favorite photos in closing and a video clip from the park today!

The One With A New Valentine's Day

I am so happy today!  Not because it's Valentine's Day, but because I just feel good.  :)  Barry got up with Caroline as he usually does, and then they brought me coffee in bed.  Even during the week, we try to spend a few minutes each morning all piled on the bed together... Diego too!  I was pleasantly surprised with a thoughtful card and spa certificate from my hubby.  Somehow Valentine's Day has become a gift certificate holiday for us (this year I got Barry a gift certificate to his favorite local cigar lounge), and we love it!

Barry worked locally today, and Caroline and I headed out to my mom's.  C got to spend a few hours celebrating Valentine's Day with her grandma while I attended my first Nutrition Education class with the Oregon Food Bank.  I was there to observe but actually got to do a lot of hands-on cooking with the participants.  It was so awesome!  Here's a blurb about the Nutrition Education program from the OFB website: 

Oregon Food Bank's Nutrition Education program offers hands-on cooking and nutrition education classes to low-income community members by partnering with community organizations and social service agencies serving limited- resource clients. Classes are taught in English and in Spanish and may be targeted to serve kids, teens, young parents, adults, families or child care professionals.

Classes challenge students to reconsider food preferences and habits and teach cooking methods, nutrition, food safety, practical shopping and meal planning — skills that increase food security and quality of life. 

Ultimately, I would love to be a chef instructor.  I really enjoyed working with the class participants today one-on-one.  The simplest things make a difference in their lives.  I was working with one young woman in particular, about 25 years old (maybe younger) and a single mom of a 4 year girl.  We made chili today, and I spent time showing her how to chop a green pepper and cook ground meat in a skillet.  We talked about how she can easily change the recipe to her liking when she tries making it again at home this week.  She was shy but so appreciative.  I can't wait to continue working more with people like her, sharing the skills and knowledge I have gained through meal planning and cooking for my own family.  Food is a necessity, and no one should be without it.  The people in these classes aren't lazy or "undeserving" of help.  They are trying to take care of themselves and their families as best they can... just like the rest of us.  My final step is a 5 hour training next week, and then I will be officially qualified to work in my own class!  (as an assistant at first, but hopefully eventually an instructor!)

Semi-related... here is our book club volunteering at the food bank this past Saturday.  We were bagging pasta.  We meet monthly and are going to include volunteering once a quarter!

After the class, I picked up Caroline, and Barry met us at home late afternoon.  We gave Caroline her Valentine's gift - a veggie chopping play set - and enjoyed the evening together.  The best part of the day was watching Barry and Caroline play on the floor with her new toys while dinner was in the oven.  Caroline had already had her dinner earlier but wanted to eat again when our salmon was done.  She has FINALLY started putting food in her mouth and eating it... the magical food ended up being pancakes!  So I popped a mini pancake in the toaster for her, and we all ate together - it's so cute how proud she is of herself that she is figuring out how to eat on her own!  Then clean up and bedtime... what an awesome day!  I'm just upset with myself that I didn't take any pictures!  :(

It's hard for us to recognize the process of changing or maturing as we experience it.  We don't realize what has happened until it's over.  I find myself thinking about past Valentine's Day celebrations and then comparing them to the one I enjoyed so much today.  I think this was the first Valentine's Day in several years that Barry and I had dinner at home.  We even went out last year - Caroline was 6 months old, and she slept in her car seat carrier next to us while we enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Fenouil in downtown Portland.  But now I have a new kind of great day - helping those in need and spending time with the people I love... at home.  Don't get me wrong - I loved every minute of the 3 hour insanely-priced dinners Barry treated me to at restaurants like Jardiniere and Aqua in San Francisco, and I will cherish the memories forever.  I loved those times, but I don't really miss them or desire to do them again (except for maybe a rare treat).   :)  Does that make sense?  Life's experiences change us; and tonight as I reflect for a few moments, I am thanking God that it has led me to where I am now.

A couple recent pics of Caroline the Cub.  She loves her books and puzzles!

The One With Boot Camp, Part 2

I think Day 1 of Boot Camp was just beginner's luck!!  Days 2 and 3 were big, fat potty ZEROS... despite all the time we spent in the bathroom!  I guess the good news is, we've been reading up a storm!

Boot Camp is not all just hard work - it's fun too!  We have been enjoying beautiful weather (in January!) with family walks with Diego.

We live 4 blocks from a great used book store called Second Glance.  Caroline and I decided that we should add some new material to our library with all the reading we've been doing! 

By the end of Day 3, I decided that I am going to give this potty training thing 2 weeks of solid effort.  If we're not making any progress, we're going to take a break and pick it up again in a few weeks.  I think that sounds reasonable? 

Then Day 4 today... SUCCESS!!  This morning we had a poop in the potty!!  Hooray!!  Just the one event, but STILL!!  How awesome?!  Caroline was so excited to pick out her stickers and place them on her chart - it was so cute!  If we can get just a few more "hits" in the next few days, I think we'll be on a pretty good roll!

Getting rid of the bottle has been surprisingly easier than I thought.  Caroline has been eating breakfast instead of the morning bottle; and in lieu of the night night bottle, we snuggle in the rocking chair for a few minutes with her blankie and passie, and then she hits the sheets and passes out!  Our cub has always been an amazing sleeper... even from the very beginning!  I think she gets it from her mama.  :)

We are also working on transitioning Caroline to more solid foods.  She still doesn't have enough teeth to "chew," but I'm trying to get her to eat foods with a chunkier consistency.  This has been extremely challenging!  She really likes everything pureed (which includes a lot of veggies), and she LOVES yogurt.  I would love any ideas on finger foods for her - most fruits, Cheerios, etc have been unsuccessful to date.  It drives me nuts that she will eat almost anything I add pureed banana to, but she won't eat fresh banana!  And it's practically pureed as it is!  Ugh.  We made slight progress yesterday when she ate a little bit of cheese (the little triangle pieces that you buy in a wheel), but I think most of it ended up smeared all over the highchair and her bowl...

Barry gets home tomorrow, and Caroline can't wait to see her poppie!  She's getting to be such a big girl!  His conference in Vegas has gone well, including his presentation on stage!  Genentech hired Katy Perry for tonight's entertainment!  Poppie works so hard for us... :)  Just kidding.  He definitely deserves it!

Caroline had a playdate with her friend Annie this morning at The Playground Gym.  Although the girls were a little overwhelmed, I think they'll really love it as they keep developing and growing.  Maggie and I signed them up for class every Thursday morning!  Tomorrow we've got a museum date with Will who just turned 2 and lives across the street - Caroline is such a social butterfly!  :)  If all goes well, maybe I can sneak in a trip to Costco tomorrow afternoon?!  Looking forward to enjoying some outdoor family fun in the SUN this weekend!!

The One With Boot Camp, Part 1

Well, it's finally here.  Barry is out of town for a conference all week, so Boot Camp has commenced!  This phase of Boot Camp involves the beginning of "serious" potty training and NO MORE BOTTLES!  Caroline has been down to a 2 bottles a day for several months now - one first thing in the morning, and one in the rocking chair right before bed.  I had planned on getting rid of all bottles after her 1st birthday in August... which got postponed until Christmas... which got postponed until right now!  I am adamant that she is off the bottle by 18 months old (which will be February 10th), and since Poppie is gone (he's the bigger softy of the two of us), the time is now! Couple pics below of Barry and Caroline the day before Boot Camp!  (You can't see it really well, but Caroline has her legs crossed on the couch, like she's just lounging.  So cute!)

 Our cub loves to clean up and put things away, so I thought she should put her bottles away.  Here's a little clip:

This morning, Day 1 of Boot Camp, Caroline had her very last bottle.  We had a FANTASTIC day of potty training.  She peed in the potty for the very first time and then two additional times after that!!  I made her a sticker chart to reward all her good work (great idea, Mom!) - 1 sticker for pee, 2 stickers for poop (in the potty).  After one of her successful potty sessions, she toddled across the hall into her room and stood next to her crib, wanting to get in.  I lifted her in, she snuggled up with her favorite blankie and passie, and then slept for an hour!  Is this girl for real?!  I have a feeling God is going to make me pay... either during her teen years or by making baby #2 (no, we're not even close!) impossible!!  

Anyway, I was dreading night night time... with no bottle.  But she was so awesome!!  No crying or anything.  She pointed to where I used to keep them, but I told her they were all gone and reminded her that we put them away yesterday.  I picked her up and carried her upstairs to her crib.  She sat there for a second, looking slightly shocked, grabbed her blankie and passie again, and then was out like a light!!  (No-More-Passie Boot Camp is going to be a nightmare).  Tomorrow morning we are going to eat breakfast first thing in lieu of the bottle.  I'm crossing my fingers that it will be as uneventful as this evening was!!

Here's a pic of C checking out her sippy cup cabinet... instead of bottles.

The One With Upcoming Challenges

Wow, it's been way too long since my last posting!  I need to get back into a weekly groove.  It's the new year, the Chinese Year of the Dragon, and I feel my mojo coming on!

So, our holidays were great, Happy New Year, and all that jazz...  2012 is off to an amazing start!  My dad came up to visit us from the CA central coast this past weekend.  He hadn't seen Caroline in over a year and just loved seeing how much she's grown and how fun it is to watch and play with her.  We had a great visit, and I hope he is able to make it back soon.  Kids need to know their grandparents.  I think it helps explain their parents.  (That's a can of worms I'll leave unopened for now).  Anyway, it just makes me so happy that we all had some good quality time together!

As a mama, my challenges are growing - I hear that's what happens as kids get older!  I am struggling with getting Caroline to eat "chunkier" solid foods.  She still likes things reasonably pureed.  In her defense, she only has her 2 middle teeth in on the bottom, and there are four on top that have only just poked through.  At almost 18 months old, she's nowhere near getting her molars (I don't think?).  I know some of you are thinking she can "gum" foods like banana, cheerios, etc.  I have tried all that, and she ends up gagging all over the place and then feeding everything to our dog.  She'll get there on her own time.  I guess I can't complain too much at this point.  Overall, Caroline is a great eater - lots of green veggies, fruits, and whole grains.  (For those of you wondering - she gets protein from whole milk, whole milk yogurt, lentils, split peas, wheat berries, brewer's yeast, beans, and tofu).  If I can say I know I'm doing one thing right - it's her nutrition!  Ok, yes, I'm a little psycho about it (and yes, it's definitely a time and organizational commitment), but C loves mealtime, and I love that she only eats homemade, healthy food.  I figure she's got the rest of her life to eat chips, mac n' cheese, fries, etc.  Right now, she's still mine!  :)

Another upcoming challenge... potty training.  We're still in the early stages, but my goal is to have her somewhat trained by the time we go to Maui in April.  She'll be 20 months old then.  I think she gets the concept, so I'm hoping if I stay disciplined about it, we can make it happen.  Here's a pic of a recent morning potty session.

This is a repeat for my Facebook friends, but here's a funny potty story: Caroline sits on the potty while I get her bath ready.  I roll up her diaper and set it next to her clothes on the floor - everything gets cleaned up at the end.  Well, tonight as I'm getting the bath ready, she gets up off her potty (completely naked, BTW), picks up the rolled up diaper, and toddles across the hall to put it in the trash can in her room (despite the trash can there in the bathroom).  I think she would have put it in the diaper genie if she could reach it!!  My poor baby.  I hope she doesn't have OCD like her mama. Or, worse, like her poppie!!  For now, I think she's just the cutest, and I love the power of DNA!!

Our most pressing challenge at the moment is actually giving up the bottle.  We're going cold turkey starting Monday morning, January 30th.  Barry will be in Vegas all week at a conference, so I thought that would be the best time.  He's not so good about having an unhappy baby.  I guess I'm not much better, but I really feel that the bottle needs to go.  I don't think she'll miss her morning one all that much, but I have to admit, I am dreading "night night" time next week.  :(  Since she loves to clean up and put things away, I'm thinking of having her help me pack away the bottles on Sunday night.  Not that it will make a difference the next night... Ugh!  I'll keep you posted!

Other news from the Company: I attended an orientation today to become a volunteer in the Nutrition Education Program at the Oregon Food Bank.  It was so interesting, and I can't wait to get involved!  I am scheduled to observe a class in a couple weeks - I'm really looking forward to it!

Signing off for now.  Thanks for reading, and please feel free to post comments and questions!  In the 

meantime, please enjoy a mish-mosh of pictures I'd like to share...

Just messin' around!

I think I'm still carrying some holiday weight...

"This Little Piggy" with Uncle Bo... who ADORES this cub!

Insisted on wearing her favorite hat for storytime.

Caroline & BFF Annie at the Children's Museum!

The One With The Holidays And Barry's Scotch

First thing's first... How cute does Caroline look in her new Uggs?  While catching up with Sleeping Beauty... she's an avid reader!

We have been having a lot of holiday fun over the past few weeks!  Our tree is up, lights are on the house, and spirits are festive!  Julie, Bo, Barry, and I celebrated my mom's birthday on December 5th with a night out!  We had a delicious dinner at the Ringside Fish House and then walked through Pioneer Square to check out the beautiful Christmas tree!

Since Barry and I got a babysitter for Caroline, we decided to maximize our big night out with an after dinner drink at Departure.  Happy birthday, Mom!

Funny story I'll share about our visit to Departure... Barry decides to order scotch.  He asks the bartender for a scotch menu, which she does not have.  She rattles off a bunch of brands they carry, none of which mean anything to Barry.  So he gets on his trusty iPhone to look up "good" scotch.  After all, we are celebrating Mom's birthday!  Macallan sounds good, he's heard of that.  He orders Macallan.  The bartender offers 12, 18, or 25 years... they are out of Macallan 30.  Let's go with the 25 then, he says.  When his Macallan 25 arrives, he takes one sip, looks at me, and says, "Wow, that's good!  Honey, we need to start buying better scotch!"  When we are ready to settle the tab, it turns out that Barry's glass of scotch (which, as you scotch drinkers know, is little more than a few sips) is $90!!  What?!?!  $90?!?!  I was at a VIP Nordstrom's shopping event and did not buy one thing for myself, and Barry just ordered a $90 glass of scotch?!?!  Well, this will not soon be forgotten!  It's been a great story, at the very least.  Everyone we've told has had a good laugh!  And we've all agreed that a heads up from the bartender would have been nice.  Seeing Barry on his iPhone should have tipped her off that he had no idea what he was doing!!  (Julie has since looked up what a bottle of Macallan 25 would cost... somewhere around $800.  $1200 dollars for the Macallan 30).  Barry's 40th birthday is coming up if anyone needs gift ideas...

A week later, we all volunteered at the Oregon Food Bank.  Elizabeth joined us as well - it was awesome!  I had volunteered there once before when I was working at Academic Network, and it was a great experience.  I think I got the "bug" and just applied to their Nutrition Education program, which is a 3 hour/week commitment for 6-week sessions.  Hopefully I will be able to start in the January - March session, but we'll see.  If you are interested in joining me (or just learning more), visit http://www.oregonfoodbank.org/Volunteer/Individuals-and-Families/Nutrition-Education.

After volunteering, Barry, Caroline, and I attended Caroline's BFF Annie's 1st birthday party!  I don't think I've ever seen so many people under the age of 3 in one house... but it was so fun!  I'm hoping to get some pictures of this event to post soon!

The following we day, we joined the Dierdorff family to visit Santa!  It was a pretty traumatic experience for Caroline... I felt bad laughing when she was hysterically crying, but it was just too funny!  Doesn't every kid go through this at some point?

Then it's off to my very first cookie exchange!  Holly Dierdorff hosted a fun evening!  Each guest made 7 dozen cookies to trade.  I have to admit, even though I chose an easy recipe (Pumpkin Chocolate Chip with Cinnamon Glaze), it took quite a while to finish!  It was all worth it though - we had a great time, and it was fun to come back with several dozen cookies of all different kinds!

I think we're going to venture out to Peacock Lane tomorrow evening and hit Zoo Lights on Sunday!  Merry Christmas!!  We are wishing you peace and joy this holiday season!

The One With The Uggs

Caroline and I went for a walk on a gorgeous winter day yesterday!  And we're now looking forward to the week ahead with more of my favorite weather... nice and chilly (40's) and sunny!  I love living in a neighborhood where we can walk everywhere... both for fun and for household errands!  Thank you, Barry, for keeping us urban!

It was a day of great holiday fun!  Last night I had the opportunity to attend the Nordstrom's VIP holiday shopping event with my very dear friend (and Caroline's godmother) Elizabeth!  I have officially put Elizabeth in charge of Caroline's fashion education - we all know she won't get it from me!  How lucky am I that my Nordstrom's-shopping friend invited her outlet-shopping friend to such a special event for the third year in a row?!  I feel and look like such a ragamuffin compared to the other shoppers there, but I get over it pretty quickly... it's so much fun!  The store is closed to the public, champagne is flowing, music is playing, halls are decking... tis the season! 

So now what to buy?  I had a $20 Nordstrom's note (not really sure how I got it since I think the last time I stepped foot in Nordstrom's was last year at the same event), but nevertheless - I had it!  Anyway, I was kind-of laughing while perusing the beautifully decorated store... when I'm at home or out-and-about on a normal day, all kinds of things come to mind that I think I'd like to get for myself, depending on what I'm doing.  But when everything is displayed right front of me, I can't think of a single thing that I "need."  Well, somehow I ended up in the children's department... Caroline always needs something!  :) I didn't see anything spectacular on the sale rack but did spot a pair of very cute pink Uggs.  She does NEED slippers!  In a nutshell: I do not (and never have) own a pair of "real" Uggs, but now my baby does... for $20 off! 

Lots more holiday festivities coming up this month!  We're getting our tree this weekend, and I can't wait to see Caroline get excited about the lights and ornaments!  But until then... here are a few pictures from the Thanksgiving dinner we hosted.  We had a wonderful time giving thanks for the amazing people in our lives and how very fortunate we are.  Whether it's time or money, please give whatever you can to those in need.  Here's a start for my friends here in Portland.. http://www.oregonfoodbank.org/Volunteer/Individuals-and-Families.  Sign up now!