Lazy Sunday

Sunday was a day of relaxation. We supported Auntie Courtie with our breakfast choice (a little golden arches) and played until Uncle Charles had to take Papa to the airport.

Giraffes!!!

After a delicious breakfast at a restaurant that my dad swore existed and only took a few U-turns to find, we headed to Brookfield Zoo. It was a great day for the zoo, slightly overcast, but warm and almost all of the animals were out and active. One polar bear in particular put on quite a show. He paced back and forth at the front of his habitat, looking as though he was going to jump out and eat someone, then dove into his little pool and swam around briefly before resuming his pacing. It was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, I didn't charge the camera battery before going to the zoo so we didn't get very many pictures.

When we got home, Carolyn and Papa played with blocks and had story time before bed.

The rest of Friday

Friday was a gorgeous day in the 80s so we had some fun playing in the backyard with Papa and Daddy.

Uncle Charles arrived in the afternoon and we had our first outdoor dinner of the year.

Breaking glass

Friday morning we awoke to a lot of noise. There was breaking glass, loud booms and sounds of heavy machinery. We opened our blinds and saw that the house next door was finally (it was originally scheduled for the 14th)being knocked down.

Here is the rear of the house that I took after they cut down their trees the week prior.

demolition

Carting away the rubble

Before knocking the house down they did allow three local fire departments to train newbies in window smashing, window frame removal and other indoor lessons. It was cool to watch them practice. We will now endure about a year of construction. Thankfully Carolyn's room is on the other side of the house so it isn't as loud for her.

Thursday cuteness

Papa had to go to the city for some meetings so we went for a walk over to Grandma Dolly and Papa Chuck's house before heading to the airport to pick up Daddy.

Tuesday and Wednesday

Last week was a social one for us. Tuesday we saw Katie, a friend from small group, and met her two-month-old Austin followed by a visit to Grandma Dolly and Papa Chuck's house.

Wednesday we had lunch with Elizabeth and now six-week-old James. He is getting so big! After lunch Wednesday we visited my cousin Geralyn and her girls (here she is pictured with Jackie) for a few hours before heading to the airport to pick up Papa Dave (pics of his visit to follow).

9 months and counting

It is crazy to me that Carolyn is already nine months old. She is quickly becoming a big girl. Milestone-wise she hit two today: mastering the sippy cup and sitting in the big girl side of the bathtub. (You can kindof see her tooth in the second picture, lower left)

We have been working on the sippy cup off and on for a few months. Since she never took a bottle, my hope was for others to be able to feed her this way in the event that I was not around. She never really liked it, but seemed to be coming around when I reintroduced it last week. I removed the piece that controls the flow of the water and helped her to take a few drinks during her dinner. She seemed to like it. Yesterday I put the flow-control back in and, with my help holding it, she took a few drinks. Then today, she grabbed a handle with each hand and did it all by herself.

The bathtub thing isn't as big a deal since Auntie Courtie has done this with her before, but I today I decided that she should always sit on this side (well at least until she goes into the big tub which isn't that far off). The tub is designed to go from infants to toddlers.

For Uncle Brendan:

We started today with a 5am trip to O'Hare to drop off Daddy. We returned home for a quick nap before heading to the library for the last Read 'n' Rhyme Romp class of the session. Carolyn was particularly active today, not wanting to sit in my lap at all. She crawled over to Miss Dana, the librarian, to read one story, then crawled over to a little boy who was lying on the floor to poke him in the eye (his mother said that his big sister does it all the time, so it was okay) and then tried to stand up using a felt board (which was not promising since it isn't anchored very well, so I quickly rescued her). After class we went home, ate lunch and Carolyn took a nap. When she got up we played, had bath time (which usually happens before bed, but was midday today for pictures), took pictures, played some more, went for a walk in between bouts of rain, ate dinner, read some books, played and then, around 8, she uncharacteristically fell asleep sitting on my lap. I transferred her to her crib where she is currently. I'm hoping that this is the start of an earlier bedtime.

Busy weekend

We were lucky to have both Uncle Brendan and Uncle Charles come to visit us this past weekend. On Thursday we spent time with Uncle Brendan, Grandma Dolly, Papa Chuck and Brendan's friend Chris. Carolyn seemed to be pretty comfortable with her uncle (and several other people throughout the weekend) so I think we are making some progress on her mommy attachment issues.

Friday night we all got together for dinner at Grandma and Papa's house.

Everyone, except the two of us, went to the Cubs game on Saturday, so we hung out at Auntie Courtie's house. I also desperately needed a haircut and since my stylist is in the city, I took advantage of the opportunity to go. Carolyn was happy in her stroller until about halfway through it when the other stylists could no longer entertain her. Thankfully my stylist managed to finish the cut (without any noticeable issues) with Carolyn sitting on my lap.

Desi's cousins are getting married in Hawaii in May and had a pre-wedding bash Saturday night. We were a little late since the Cubs game had gone into extra innings, but made it. The only family pic from the evening is horrible so here is Carolyn crusing around.

We concluded the weekend with a family dinner at Portillo's before Uncle Brendan went to the airport and Uncle Charles drove back to South Bend.

Crawling down the hallway

So this isn't my best camera work (sorry about all the shaking, not sure what my deal was), but it is a good example of how Carolyn talks to herself, some more fun crawling and Carolyn's trademark happy/excited gesture: the double wave. This is from a week ago when she was getting used to crawling on different surfaces. The pounding and sawing noises in the background are from the crew cutting down three trees next door (in preparation for tearing down the house next door).

Happy Easter!

Carolyn had a busy first Easter weekend.

We went to church very early and then stopped by Grandma Dolly and Papa Chuck's house so they could see Carolyn in her Easter dress. Here Grandma is singing Carolyn's favorite, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

Carolyn and her Daddy took a nice long nap before we headed over to Uncle Bob and Auntie Geri's house.

Cousins Jason and Jaclyn brought their dog, Roscoe, who was excited to play with someone his own size.

Just when we thought she was out of energy, a new favorite activity emerged.

Just for fun

Meeting Baby James

Last Wednesday, Carolyn and I went up to Evanston to meet James, our friends', Elizabeth and John, new baby. Carolyn made a few attempts to steal his pacifier, but was otherwise very gentle. She studied him intently, crawled over and touched his head and tried to hold his hand. It was darling. (Thanks to Elizabeth for the pictures and for having us over!)

Hippity Hoppity

Carolyn went to visit the Easter bunny yesterday. She was calm and more curious than anything else, which was surprising (but nice) considering her recent separation issues.