Play Date

Caroline was very lucky to have two play dates with her friend Connor in one week. First we stopped by his house, then a week later they came over to ours. Connor is the closest baby in age to Caroline, so it is fun to watch her interact with him. The babies checked each other out and watched Baby Einstein, while the mommies talked and ate dessert from Baker's Sweets.



Connor and his mommy Carrie. Isn't he adorable!!

"Who is THIS?!"

"Why are you crying?"

Holding hands and watching Baby Einstein. So cute!!

I wasn't born in Texas, but...

When I was growing up, my grandparents had a bumper sticker on their car that read:

"I wasn't born in Texas, but I got here as fast as I could!!"

Caroline wasn't born in Texas unfortunately, but I know that she will live there one day and love it as much as we do!!! We consider her a Texan, of course, and friends and family have made sure that she is properly dressed. Here are a few of her cowgirl outfits:

Photo shoot

I haven't taken many pictures of Caroline lately, so I recently tried to snap a few while she was wearing her pretty blue dress. The photo shoot didn't go very well, but I was definitely laughing in the end. BTW - Since she started teething, she has been OBSESSED with sucking her fingers all the time! It drives me a little crazy, but what can you do??



Sucking her fingers

Sticking out her tongue

Playing with her foot...doing everything else except smiling at me!!

More photos

"What's over there??"

"Here's my close up!!"

"Now I'm just trying to get away!!!"

After this I realized that the photo shoot was over!!!

5 months!!!

Caroline is 5 months old!!! Since she cut her first tooth just days before her 5 month b-day, she was chewing like crazy on everything (including her fingers). This was the best picture I could get!! There's a smile somewhere under there!!!

Baby Food

Since Caroline started eating solid foods, I've been making all of her baby food; sweet potatoes, applesauce, peas, carrots and banana (which is really just mashing it up). It makes me so happy to see that she loves the food I made her, and it looks/smells/tastes much better than the jarred kind. Yum!! Here are some pictures to give you an idea of how easy it is!! This is 2 sweet potatoes that have been steamed:

My mini Cuisinart used to process the food

Freezing the baby food in ice cube trays

Sleeping Baby

I thought this picture was really cute! Look how red her lips are! I'm so jealous :)

Caroline now has TWO teeth!! The second popped up on Monday! Another few days of fussing and grumpiness, but it is all worth it! I can't believe how fast she is growing. She is now trying to crawl and sit up on her own. I'm still trying to get a picture of her teeth, but it's hard enough just to get a glimpse.

We signed up for "Aquatots" which is swimming lessons for babies/children 6 months through 3 years. There are some other squadron wives with children older than Caroline, but under 3 yrs, so we can all take the class together! It starts Sept 8th. I bought a new bathing suit for Caroline and we practiced today (our "practice" was getting into the pool with out crying) at Fort Jackson. As soon as we start the class I will post pictures. We are so excited!!

That's all that's going on this week. Check out Caroline's new totsite at www.totsites.com/tot/cep.

First Tooth!!!

Caroline has her first tooth!! On Sunday she had a big white bump on her bottom gum, then Monday morning it was poking through! This week has been a little rough, but we are trying to ease the pain with a frozen teething ring, frozen apples (in this cool mesh bag so she won't swallow them), baby orajel and tylenol. I think the one next to it is trying to come up too!! Big week for us!!!

I will try to take a picture and post it!!

She loves to eat!!!

Caroline is such a great eater!! I am amazed at how she eats up everything I give her! This week we tried peas (her first green food) and she ate all of it! She was even mad when we finished.

Here is a cute video of Sean feeding her sweet potatos. We were all laughing because she was trying to talk and eat at the same time!!!

Update

We have been VERY busy over the last week. Last Thursday Caroline had her 4 month well-baby check up (even though she is already 4 1/2 months). She weighs 13 lbs 1oz (50th percentile) and is 26 1/2 inches (OVER 97 percentile!!!). She is eating solid foods which include rice cereal, sweet potatoes, bananas and carrots. She is not a picky eater and has NEVER spit anything back out!!! She can hold her head up really well but cannot sit by herself yet (soon!!). She is grabbing at everything and is entertained by holding anything you give her (watch your food, she will steal it from you!!). She is starting to show signs of crawling and gets frustrated because she doesn't go anywhere. Just a matter of time...

On Friday we made the trip down to San Antonio to visit Sean's family and to have Caroline baptized. Even thought this was Caroline's second plane ride, it was her first on Southwest Airlines (Sean's dad is a pilot for SWA). She received her first pair of wings and was wearing them when we met Gigi and Grandad Penrod at the airport.

We had a wonderful visit and saw so many friends and family members. Below are some pictures from our trip!!!



Caroline at 4 1/2 months!!!

Bunny

Build a Bear (actually a bunny)

While we were in San Antonio, we visited the "Build a Bear Workshop". Caroline was excited to build her first stuffed animal and "chose" a bunny (we put a couple in front of her and she kept looking at and touching the bunny!). We had so much fun creating it and even included a recording of our voices.



Mommy and Caroline

Watching her bunny being stuffed. You can see she is totally into it (she's chewing on her foot!!)

Leaving the store with her bunny

Taking a nap with her new friend

Future golfer

Sean and his dad were able to play lots of golf while we were in town. Caroline and I visited the golf club a few times to see how things were going!!



Visiting Grandad at the club after a long afternoon of golf

Caroline and daddy

Watching the boys hit golf balls

Sean practicing

Family

After the baptism, we had a very nice lunch at Sean's parents' house (Caroline was wiped out from the busy morning, so she slept through it!!). Here is Caroline later hanging out with the family.



Great Pops and Gigi Penrod

Smile!

Checking out the dress that Mimi bought for her!!

Mimi and Pawpaw Painter

First swim

Sean's parents have an awesome pool in their backyard, so we took Caroline swimming. It was the first time she actually got in the water. She didn't really like it, but hopefully it will grow on her!!

Baptism

Caroline was baptized on July 27th at St. Mark's Presbyterian Church in Boerne, TX (the church that Sean's parents are members of). It was a very special day and Caroline looked beautiful in a dress that her Gigi Penrod bought for her. She also wore a bonnet that was given to her by Debbie Goodson. Other family members attended: Mimi and Papa Painter, Great-Aunt Carol, and (Great) Pops and Gigi Penrod.



Getting dressed

The family

The minister that baptized Caroline, John Watson.