Groundhog's Day

Well we were all feeling a bit like the movie Groundhog's Day as we packed up the minivan and headed back to South Bend this weekend-- but this time it was for Aunt Jen's baby shower.

Mom, Dad and Caroline picked me up from school early and off we went. I found some random items and came up with this lovely ensemble for the drive and then we proceeded to battle the dueling forces of stop and go: I wanted to stop and go potty a lot (oh, the power I have!) and Caroline cried every time we stopped so we had to get going as quickly as possible. We had a record four potty breaks between here and South Bend. We have located some preferable places to stop, so at least we have that advantage. There is one particularly nice McDonald's in Van Wert, that I have come to like-- or as I call it "Old MacDonald's." Very clean restrooms and I get a milkshake while Mommy feeds Caroline in the van.

The shower was nice on Saturday. I visited a little and then Caroline and I headed out with the boys (Dad, Poppy and Uncle Buddy) for lunch. They joked that they were taking us to Hooters and Mom said Caroline would probably enjoy that as much as anyone! When we came back I spent a lot of time playing with Great Aunt Sharon and had a terrific time with all the goodies Grandma pulled out from her teaching days.

Caroline got to stay up late and watch some of the ND game. Unfortunately, I did not. Mom and Dad were glad that the Irish pulled out the victory, since they stayed up late and gave up precious hours of sleep (and this will keep our family/friends who are fans of MSU quiet this year after last year's outcome!)

On the way home, I entertained myself by putting my underwear on my head. Mom passed down Uncle Glenn's wise words from many, many years ago: "Don't put underwear on your head . . . unless it is clean."

"Go Irish"

Well, that's what we cheered, but that is not what happened. We didn't really get going at all, but we had a fun weekend in South Bend for the Notre Dame-Michigan game anyway.

Of course I donned my cheerleading uniform and tried to get Caroline hyped up for the game. It is quite an undertaking to get us all ready to go anywhere! We went to a tailgate with Mom's friends from high school. Caroline slept and I colored with chalk, ate lots of snacks and danced. Mom and Dad also had ND friends there, so they joined us for a bit, too.

I also experienced a big milestone in every girl's life: my first trip to the Porta-Potty. Mom thought I might freak out since I like a clean bathroom, but I followed some wise advice from one of Mom's friends ("don't look down"). I kept asking about flushing it. I am pictured below proudly smiling after the adventure.

After that Mom had to go feed Caroline in the minivan (an interesting experience for her) and then when they were done, Mom and Caroline tailgated together (see photo below) while they waited for Grandma and Poppy to meet up to take us little girls home.
We spent the afternoon with Grandma and Poppy while Mom and Dad went to the game and endured the torture of a bad loss. At least they had fun company with Meg and Sarah.

On Sunday we went to campus and selected some items from the bookstore and walked around. We took our annual photo in front of the dome. It's getting harder and harder to get everyone looking! We also went to the Grotto and Mommy and I lit a candle together.

I recognize the ND logo and say "Go Irish" and know what the Golden Dome is. I am also smart enough not to repeat things people suggest that I say such as "Go Michigan" or other silly things like that. Mom and Dad think all the subtle brainwashing might be working!

Things are Looking Up

We are happy to report that we are logging more sleep hours in our house. Caroline continues to have a regular five-hour stretch each night and I am sleeping until 7 a.m. again. The delayed sunrise has helped this! (Finally a bright side to the dark mornings- pun intended).

Caroline is getting bigger all the time. She was officially one month old yesterday. She is holding her head up some and even smiled for the first time this week. And guess who she smiled at? Me! We even have a picture of it!

Caroline had some outings this week. She went to a Rotary meeting with Mom and was quite the star of the show. She was introduced as an official (but tiny) guest and many of Mom's fellow Rotarians who are grandparents were lining up to hold her. Then on Saturday we all went to a Notre Dame game watch and managed to keep all parties happy through the first half of the game. And we were all happy with the final outcome!

Now to news from me. I continue to be a great big sister and am always saying funny things. We have had some rough bedtimes where I was very loud and have woken up Caroline. And I say, "I wake up Caroline, but just a little bit . . ." I also have been telling Daddy that he is "larious" (hilarious). And one day when Mommy called me "her little bug" I said "Bugs are yucky! I a yucky bug?" And now, every night when she says "good night, Bug" I say "I a yucky bug" with a big grin on my face (I think I am larious, too).

The Good and the Bad

Where did August go? It passed in a blur as far as we're concerned. We spent the first third of the month waiting for Caroline to arrive, the second third of the month waiting for Caroline to wake up and the third third of the month waiting for her to go to sleep.

The highlights of our weekend involved the potty and the hope of any one of us taking a nap. These are exciting times!

My news is that I made the trip to pick out big girl underwear. If you're wondering, I got Hello Kitty, Dora and princesses. I have been doing very well with potty training, but we have been waiting for things to settle down before making the official conversion. I have been talking about buying "panties" since last weekend and Mom and Dad have leveraged my excitement at every opportunity. On Saturday we had a few puddles on the floor, but Sunday and Monday were very successful. While Mom was busy with Caroline Sunday morning, Dad instituted the new "candy shop" reward system and Mom came downstairs to find me happy as a clam enjoying some treats sitting on a bar stool.

Now let me fill you in on the good and the bad of our week.
Lowlight: Mom: "Do you have to go potty" Me: "No" One minute later "Uh-oh, Mom!" (as a pool forms at her feet). Highlight: I was wearing Crocs (very washable!)

Lowlight: Sunday early morning, Caroline wakes at 1:30, 4, 5:30. I wake at 6, Caroline back up at 6:45.
Highlight: Monday early morning. 5 hour stretch of sleep from 11 to 4 a.m. Both of us sleep until 7:15.

Mom and Dad invent the timer game to get me to sleep until 7 a.m. and tell me that I have to stay in bed until my lamp comes on in the morning.
Lowlight: Saturday night. I reprogram the timer and get up at 6 anyway.
Highlight: With the bribe of donuts on the way to the parade, I play the timer game and sleep until 7:15.

Aside from all these fun things, we have been able to get on a little more of a schedule and have some more fun time. Today we all went to a big parade and I had a great time and Caroline had a great nap-- even when the marching band was going right by us!