Words

Carolyn has been quite the chatterbox lately, most of which I've failed to capture on camera, but here are two attempts from this evening of her sharing some words. This week has been mostly about Ws, mainly wows and whoas. She also says bubble, papa, mama, and of, course, dada. I think she knows that I'm mama, but she doesn't always correctly associate Desi and I with Dada and Mama.

Wiggleworms

I don't usually take pictures during class, but I had a good opportunity Tuesday when Miss Kara had the kids come up and play her guitar. Carolyn's "friend" Piper is to her left and Kaia is to her right. Miss Kara is in the middle and the lady on the right is Libby's nanny. She is the only nanny in the class, Genevieve comes with her grandma and everyone else comes with their mom. In addition to the maracas and scarves we normally play with, Miss Kara brought out a parachute this week. Carolyn loved watching it go up and down, but wasn't very interested in crawling underneath it or on top of it.

WSSC

at the pool

splashing around the baby pool

in her cover-up

finishing the day with dinner on the deck

We had a wonderful start to Memorial Day weekend on Saturday. The predicted thunderstorms stayed away and the sun shined brightly. We took Carolyn to the Western Springs pool for the first time. She was a bit nervous at first, but quickly warmed up to the water. She didn't even mind the big kids splashing her (accidentally, of course...their mothers kept yelling at them to get away from the baby).

P.S. Thanks to Uncle Chuckie for letting us borrow his camera. Ours stopped working on Friday, so it is on its way to Canon to be repaired.

Happy 10 month b-day!

We had an exciting day of a Newcomer's meeting, a trip to the mall and a walk to the pool to pick up our passes (we are extremely excited for it to open this weekend!).

I'm in the mood for clapping

On the eve of her 10 month b-day, Carolyn snuck in one more milestone. We're still working a little on the stomping part.

Favorites: 9 months

nudity

I've washed the changing pad cover more in the last few weeks than I did in her first 8 months, because it seems that as soon as she rolls away sans diaper, it is time to pee (I realize it could be worse).

climbing stairs

The gates are going up this week.

hiding under tables

eating bows

I used to be able to put a bow in her hair and it would stay there all day looking so adorable. Now I have to sneak one in when she is distracted, knowing that she'll discover it shortly, pull it out (leaving her hair all disheveled) and eat it.

my phone

She knows that this is not a toy, but she also knows that I am addicted to it, so it must be fun. This is the first object that she really grasped object permanence with. I'd hide it, but she knew to crawl around me, look under a pillow, or somewhere else close by, because I'd never let it be far away. Now it is handy when I want her to sit still for a picture.

drummin'

Tooth #2

Carolyn's second tooth (left bottom) broke through last Wednesday.

My first Mother's Day

As Desi pondered what we should do for Mother's Day, his coworkers advised that he pick an activity/place that we don't normally enjoy doing together. This didn't help, as there are few activities that fall into those parameters. Finally on Friday we came up with something: a White Sox game. They were in town Sunday playing the Rangers. This was Carolyn's first baseball game. (She'll see her Daddy's Cubs in June) Our section was pretty crowded so we moved a bit further down the third base line to an empty section where Carolyn could wander around. She seemed to enjoy looking at all the people until around the 5th inning when she fell asleep. There were a few sun showers that sent us for cover, but overall it was a lovely afternoon. I think Desi even managed to enjoy himself:)

First Communions

Congratulations to Jack, Colin, Carolyn and Maria who all had their first communions in the last few weeks! Saturday we went to Carolyn's party (the other Carolyn Sendaydiego who is our Carolyn's second cousin) and then Sunday we went to Maria's party. My camera didn't make it Saturday, so I'll have to get some pictures from other attendees. Here are some highlights from Sunday.

Our attempt at getting the three cousins pictured here in August together again.

Carolyn and Ryan (there was no screaming match this time, but they seemed to find each other to be excellent back rests)

Getting muddy and playing with Papa's shoe. We learned that tucking one's dress into one's bloomers makes it much easier to crawl.

Catching up from last week

Monday: Stroller Strides

I finally went back to exercise class after a few months off. Needless to say, I was in a lot of pain on Tuesday. It was great to catch up with the other moms, though, and everyone was amazed by how much Carolyn had grown.

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Tuesday: Wiggleworms

Carolyn's first day of her new music class, Wiggleworms. It is run by the Old Towne School of Music and meets at the Presbyterian Church of Western Springs. It is similar to her library class except that the teacher, Miss Kara, has a guitar and there are no books. Lots of songs, many silly, with hand motions, maracas, scarves etc. There are 6 babies in Carolyn's class all 7-10 months. She quickly became friends (i.e. crawled over to and tried to touch her face) with a girl named Piper. They spent much of the class crawling around the room kindof together. I didn't pull out my camera at class, but this is what she wore. We went to visit Grandma Dolly and Papa Chuck after class since they live so close to the church.

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Wednesday: Life as Carolyn

Hanging out around the house

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Thursday: Waiting for the mailman

Showing that she can stand up against flat surfaces. I think there were some trucks going by that drew her to the door.

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Friday: Shopping at Target

This was her first time sitting in a shopping cart.