Sunny day on the playground

The girls had a fun time on the playground this afternoon at their future elementary school.

Thanks for leaving a day early, Hurricane Danny!

I'm 6 months old

Happy half-birthday to me! Here's what's happening in my world:

*I'm still a little wobbly when I sit, but I can stay up without falling for a long time now!

*I've made it through all of the cereals, and I'm now eating sweet potatoes.

*Mommy and Daddy say I'm a chatterer. I do like to squeal and let everyone know that I'm here.

*I just discovered how much fun it is to splash in the tub.

*I can put my binky in my mouth by myself.

*I can pull Annabel's hair now too. I also like to pull Mommy's and Daddy's lips, ears, cheeks, - whatever I can grab.

*I love my exersaucer. I also love to pull on the things hanging from my activity mat.

*I'm strong! I can sit in my bumbo seat and scoot across the room by pushing up on my legs.

*I still pretty much only cry when I'm hungry (or Annabel sits on me!)

First day of school

Monday was Mom's first day back to work, and the girls first day at school! Caroline liked it from the get go, and the report from her teacher is that she spent the afternoon smiling and sleeping.

Annabel, however, did not like it nearly as much as her first day of school last year. The drop-off was hard on Mom as Annabel cried real tears and screamed "Momma, Momma" while reaching out for me. I could hear her wailing as I got Caroline settled in her room far down the hallway. I made the mistake of returning to the scene of the abandonment and the wailing intensified. When Scott picked her up, she was having a great time in the gym with the gigantic exercise balls. When I dropped her off yesterday, she immediately started climbing on the playhouse and slide, and then stole a chicken nugget from another kid's lunch bin in the fridge. Completely back to being Annabel! So here's a second day of school picture.

I'm One and a Half!

I decided to update my sister's and my blog today because as you can see below, I'm pretty good with the computer.
Here's a quick update on all the things I can do, now that I'm One and a Half.

I know these parts of my body: Nose (inside and out), Head, Ears, Tummy, Knee, and Toes. And sometimes Eyes and Elbow.

I can say lots of words if mommy or daddy or someone else says them first, but here are the ones I say all by myself: baby, book, bottle, binky, doggie, uh-oh, yes, no, weeeee!, ball, Sophie, Mamma, Dadda, cookie, knee, banana, water. There are a lot of other things I say, but mommy and daddy seem to just nod their heads and smile when I say them.

I'm pretty good at these things: dancing, running, wrestling with/straddling/pulling on/loving on Caroline, Sophie, Oscar, and Lucy, giving big hugs and kisses complete with sound effects of aaahhh and mwah, reading, gathering sticks, climbing, pretending to go down the stairs frontways, swinging, sliding, paddling in the pool, throwing balls, licking rocks. I could go on forever, because as mommy and daddy always say, I'm very "busy."
(Me looking to get into trouble at the walking path next to the lake at Bear Mountain)

Caroline's first haircut

Caroline had her first haircut one week ago! She didn't didn't cry, but she didn't love her first beauty treatment that much either. I think Mommy likes the Before hairdo better, but at least I'm not washing the cereal out of her hair after every meal anymore!

Love from Grandma and Grandpa

Just like her sister, Caroline now has a beautiful dollhouse bookcase lovingly built by Grandpa B and painted by Grandma B. They built the bookcase in Grandpa's shop in Marble Falls, TX and shipped it in pieces to NJ. It included special assembly instructions for Daddy and his first assistant (Mommy) and even included jobs for the 2nd assistant (Annabel) and 3rd assistant (Caroline). We think the instructions should be amended to hire a 4th assistant (babysitter) so that Daddy and Mommy can get it put together in the estimated assembly time provided by Grandpa of 12 minutes.

Thanks for such a special gift, Grandma and Grandpa. We love you!

New toys

The girls are very lucky to have a big boy neighbor across the street (he's 5!). He's given them lots of great toys, but the biggest surprise was the slide and playhouse. It has an ATM, a grocery, a tunnel, a gas pump, chalkboard, and a soccer goal and basketball net. Annabel retrieved the basketball from the pool to practice her jump shot.

Taking a dip

Friday was the perfect summer day - low 80s and no humidity, and one family offered to host playgroup at their neighborhood lake. Mommy forgot her camera but managed to take a few with the cellphone. It looks like she also forgot Annabel's bathing suit, but she went running for the lake before she could change her. In her typical "no fear" manner, Annabel quickly dunked her face in and then made a beeline for the slide. Maybe next time, she'll take the kayak out. Thanks to the other mommies who helped take care of Caroline while Annabel was splashing about.

Caroline's sits down for dinner

Caroline had her first meal of rice cereal last night! As you can see, she enjoyed herself. Maybe now my formerly good little sleeper will go back to sleeping through the night instead of demanding a 3 am bottle!

Big sister Annabel was jealous and threw a little tantrum, so we had to put some mashed potatoes in a bowl and feed her like a baby. She soon took over with the spoon herself though, so hopefully she'll remember she's a big girl now.

Swimming with Dad