14 months

Caroline, it seems that this month you have changed and grown up a lot. You are so much fun.

No longer are you a walker, you are now a runner. I am amazed at how fast you can get from point A to B.

You have also become quite a climber. This is something we are not used to as Katherine was very timid about climbing. You can climb into your own high chair, Katherine's booster seat, your rocking horse and even your play kitchen. You have also recently mastered climbing the ladder on the swing set in the back yard. You are able to get off of things like the bed and couch safely but you are also a daredevil when you should not be. At a playground you tried to walk down the slide. I have to be right by you for fear of your kamikaze ways.

Mealtime has become quite the adventure. When you are not climbing into your high chair unassisted, you fight sitting in it at all. Luckily, when you do want to eat, you eat well. You will eat almost anything put on your tray, usually shoveling in too much food at one time. If you decide you do not like it, you will remove it from your mouth and try to hand it to me. Ick.

You have started trying to feed yourself with eating utensils. We have a unique baby spoon that works with really sticky food. You actually are pretty good at using forks and spoons and getting the food into your mouth. It gets quite messy though.

I am so happy that you eat what we eat. In fact, you are better at eating what I cook than Katherine is. The only time I make you your own meal is if our meal is something that would be hard to chew like a steak. You think Hooligan is pretty funny at mealtime and like to feed her your food. You do still nurse too. The number of times is very sporadic but we are not close to weaning any time soon at the rate you are going.

You recently have discovered eating at a table and chairs. That is how you eat at school. So, a few times I have let you eat your food at our little table. You think you are such a big girl.

Your communication skills have really taken off this month. It is obvious that you understand us because when we say something you will point to it, try to say it, do the sign or follow directions. It is a lot of fun.

You babble all the time and that babble is starting to sound more like real language both in intonation and in using actual words. Some of your new words this month are

boo - bow

ha - hat

duh - duck

buh - book

bebe-baby

You also have started to say uh-oh all the time.

Your sign language has also really improved. You are doing the signs for more, all done, milk, dog, hat, and diaper.In fact, you have used your sign to tell me you needed me to change a diaper. Then when i asked if you wanted me to change your diaper you walked into your bedroom.

You love to imitate what we do. You will brush your hair, put on a hat, talk on the phone, pretend to stir a pot or make food, and copy anything Katherine does. You recently have discovered Katherine's love of playing dress up. You think it is great to wear those princess clothes. I do think though you are showing more of a tomboy side too. You love balls and are such a daredevil.

A new interest is shoes. Just 2 months ago when you started walking you hated the feel of shoes and would take them off as soon as I could get them on you. Now you are constantly bringing me shoes, sitting on the ground and holding them out for me to put on your feet. Sometimes you end up with a mismatched pair and often you want to put on someone else's shoes. The result has been that there are shoes all over the house and there are many times I cannot find the other half of a pair of shoes.

You have shown fine motor skill development in how you are able to put together puzzles and play with some of your toys. Your favorites are the stacking ring toy and the blocks. You love to stack the blocks but love it even more when I stack them high so you can knock them down.

You are certainly starting to test limits. You can have a stubborn streak. Our newest battles are getting you into the car seat and high chair. You arch your back and make it very difficult. You are also getting very curious about things that are plugged in. The worst has been that you are experimenting and testing limits by pulling hair, pinching and biting. We are working on being soft. If you don't get your way you are starting to throw little tantrums.

You are a very curious girl. You love to explore any open cabinet or drawer. Your favorites are the game closet where there are all kinds of toys, the drawer with all of the paper plates and napkins, and the pantry. You will find the gold fish and bring them to me.

You were able to explore several new things this month. You enjoyed play-doh, markers and sidewalk chalk but unfortunately you also enjoyed putting them all in your mouth as well.

You were sick for about a week this month with a tummy bug. It was not fun and took a full week after you were well to get back to normal sleeping and eating habits. The best part about a tummy bug was the pedialyte popsicle and smoothies.

Speaking of sleeping, you are trying to fully give up your morning nap and it is throwing everything off. There have always been days here and there where you only took one nap but now it is pretty much all the time. It is messing up our schedule and you often fall asleep at lunch time or while we are out. You also have been waking up at night more. I am hoping that this is still a lingering result of being sick and that you will not be waking up in the middle of the night anymore.

Your favorite person in the world is still Katherine. The older you get, the more fun she has with you. It is so fun to see you all becoming good friends. She is so helpful with you too. I see you emulate what she does and pray that she is a good example for you. She and I talked about how she needs to be a good role model because you are watching everything she does.

You love to dance. When I ask you to dance you will stomp your feet and spin around. It used to be just bending your knees. Sometimes clapping gets added in too.

A new thing you enjoy that is really precious is holding hands. You will reach up and want to hold hands when we are walking. The cutest is when you and Katherine hold hands.

Caroline, you continue to be such a joy We are so blessed to have you in our family.

Pumpkin Patch

Thursday we went to the Arboretum for the annual fall festival for the first of many trips. I love to take the photos in the pumpkins. Last year it was a challenge with a 2 month old but this year was even more of a challenge with 2 kids running around. Luckily it was not crowded. I notice that most of my pictures of Caroline are while she is walking and most of my pictures of Katherine have a cheesy smile and include her tiara (which did not match her cute fall outfit!).

Caroline looks like she is talking to the pumpkin.

Dancing in the pumpkins

The hay bale maze

With friend Eden

She always has to do her silly face.

We ran into a few friends from preschool and Sundee snapped a few cute pictures of Katherine. We wonder what she is doing in the first picture, ballet moves.

I love this one as it actually captures Katherine's real smile. I kind of wish she was not wearing her tiara but then again, that is my daughter at this phase so it perfectly captures her personality.

Cousins

Nana sent me with the assignment of getting a photo of all 4 girls. Considering we had a 5 week old, 1 year old, 2 year old and 3 year old this was a tough assignment. We have yet to capture a photo of the 3 older girls where they are all looking near the camera and smiling so adding a newborn to the mix did not have me optimistic.

Katherine wanted to hold Ally so we set them up on the couch.
Then Caroline wanted to join her big sister. 3 out of 4 is really good for us.
We then asked Sophia to join them and we started snapping away. They did not know that we were getting the coveted cousin photo.
We still don't have all 4 looking and smiling but we were close. Amazingly without planning it all of their outfits even coordinated and it wasn't just because they are girls wearing pink. They were actually in pink and blue!
And in less than 30 seconds it was over and Caroline was off.
The second attempt was planned. All of the girls were wearing matching shirts that Nana and Pops brought back from Italy. We did better than expected again. Poor Ally fell asleep in the one minute that we were taking photos.