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!

A Little Late . . .

Please forgive our tardiness with the latest blog posting! We just don't get to the computer like we used to. We're all busy taking care of Caroline.

I have been a good helper-- I help with bottles and baths and whenever Caroline cries I yell "Baby's crying!!!" to make sure everyone is aware (how helpful!).

Caroline went in for her last weight check today and weighed a healthy 8 lbs. 15 oz. (up from 8 lbs 6 oz. last Wednesday) so the doctor is pleased with her progress. We discovered that she has a small birthmark by her left eye. We asked about it last week, but Caroline was screaming her head off so her whole face was red and the pediatrician couldn't see what we were talking about! She said it will probably grow in size and then fade by the time she is 2 or 3.

We were busy this past weekend. We went to Indianapolis for Aunt Jen's baby shower on Saturday. Caroline and I were terrific in the car. She slept the whole way and I happily played with my surprises from the treat bag. Us girls stayed with Dad, Poppy and Uncle Buddy while Mom, Jen and Grandma went to the shower. We headed back home late that afternoon and Caroline had another wonderful nap. Mom thinks she might drive to Indy every day so that she can sleep that well!

On Sunday we went to Columbus to have lunch with Lorie who was in town from PEI. This car ride didn't go so well. Caroline napped, but I did not and I was quite vocal about not wanting to. Once there I was so excited to see Lorie, but got a little ornery during lunch. Lorie kept saying "Suzie, you stop it" because I reminded her of my Aunt Suzie when she used to babysit for Jamie, David and Suzie.

The second photo is of me modeling some of my Big Sister presents. Mom's friends Ricia and Joy got me special gifts- a big girl necklace and fancy princess slippers.

Mom had a great break today. After the doctor's appointment, Dad came and got Caroline for a few hours and Mom got a long nap and then Daddy brought dinner home. At least someone in this house is a good napper! We're looking forward to the long weekend and hope our new double stroller that we ordered arrives in time to break it in at the parade on Monday.

Firsts

First let me tell you that I am officially 2 and 2/3 years old now. I am adjusting to the big sister lifestyle, but have had my demanding moments.

Caroline is doing well and we're enjoying all her firsts. Grandma and Poppy helped with her first sponge bath last week. For the most part she liked it-- especially the sound of the running water. Her cord fell off on Friday, so once the stub heals up we'll be able to give her a real bath and I can't wait to help.

We took our first family ride in the minivan together and that went pretty well. Caroline has had a lot of medical visits this week, so she's no stranger to driving around in the van. She had several weight checks and two blood tests for jaundice. She reached her birth weight as of Saturday and her billirubin level was down as of Friday, so we're all clear on the jaundice now, too.

We're settling into some routines, but every day seems to be different. Lily is exhausted from working the night shift with Mom. She lays on the floor in the nursery while Mommy feeds Caroline, so she needs to nap during the day when she can.


Here is Caroline sound asleep in her crib (patterened pajamas). Doesn't she look like me in this photo?

On Sunday Mom and I had some mother-daughter time. We went to buy some new shoes (for me, not her) and went to pick out a new lunchbox. I selected a Hello Kitty lunchbox/backpack and am quite smitten with it!

At Home

We welcomed Caroline home on Friday and the adjustment has begun. Friday night was rough! I was up crying. The baby was up crying. And I think there were times when Mommy and Daddy were crying! We made some adaptations on Saturday (got me to sleep with my door closed and bought a new white noise machine with beach sounds so that I feel like I am back at JJ and SuSu's house) and had a much better night.

I am enjoying being a big sister and constantly want to know where my baby is and I love to give her hugs and kisses and help out. She brought me a present home from the hospital- my own baby doll, so I have her to take care of, too.

We got one of those funny storks for our yard (I call it a duck) and I am very excited about it! Someone in our neighborhood had two in their yard several weeks ago with the arrival of twins and I really wanted two of them for our yard, but I was still excited about one pink one.

Aunt Jen and Uncle Buddy came to meet Caroline on Saturday and Mom and Dad and Poppy and Grandma were we happy to have some new alert people in the house, so that some napping could take place. They are expecting my cousin in late October.

Things have gotten better with each night. Last night Caroline had a five hour stretch. Mommy couldn't believe it when she woke up and looked at the clock. It turns out Poppy paid Caroline a special visit at 1:30 to settle her down and that was enough to get her from 10 until 3 AM! We're hoping we can repeat that performance tonight. Caroline went to the pediatrician today and she is doing a good job gaining back to her birth weight. She is 50-75th percentile in everything (weight, height, head circumference). She is more alert now and Mom sees a lot of the expressions and mannerisms that I had as a baby.

Poppy and Grandma are planning to go home on Wednesday. I will miss having them here and Mom and Dad will miss the help. Hopefully we'll be able to get settled into something of a routine soon.

Introducing Caroline Elizabeth

My baby sister is finally here! She arrived early on Wednesday morning-- at 5:16 a.m. to be exact. Her name is Caroline Elizabeth and she weighed 8 pounds 4 ounces (a full pound less than me!) and measured 20.5 inches.

Mommy and Daddy left for the hospital on Tuesday evening for Mommy to be induced. They thought things might take a while, but Caroline was ready to arrive-- quite punctual at just 6 hours past her due date. Grandma was here with me and I was so excited to wake up and find out that I was a big sister. Here is our last family photo as a "party of three."

After receiving the news, Poppy arrived on Wednesday and that afternoon Poppy and Grandma went to the hospital to meet Caroline. Then Daddy got me from school early so that I could finally see her. I was shy and very excited all at once. I did a great job being gentle and loved touching her face and hands and giving her kisses. I was quite worried about her hat falling off and very protective of her. I also wanted to know where Mommy's big belly went!

Caroline seems to be a good baby, but Mom and Dad are quickly realizing the days of their "man advantage" are over. We'll post some coming home photos soon, but we wanted to get these up today. Thanks for checking in on us! I have to go be a big sister now!

Not yet

We've spent the weekend keeping busy while waiting for Little Miss Purple to decide to arrive. Nothing yet. We should have a plan after Mom goes to the doctor tomorrow morning.

Grandma is here helping us get ready and I have ben busy testing out all the baby equipment. All of a sudden I like walks in the stroller again and have been getting some good exercise in the baby play gym! I also like playing with my doll in the "baby room" which is actually the dining room, but the current headquarters for all baby merchandise.

Hopefully, we will email tomorrow with an update!

No News . . .

. . . is boring. For those who are just checking in, Mom went to the doctor yesterday and there has been no change since last week, so we don't know when the baby will arrive. Grandma is here on standby and our house is really getting clean while she's waiting! Mom goes back to the doctor on Monday and they will decide if and when to induce then.

The good news is that Mom and Dad will get to keep their anniversary dinner date scheduled for tonight. (They were married eight years ago on Tuesday!)