Expressive Eleven Months

Help! Someone stole my little bitty baby girl and replaced her with a sassy little lady!  Just kidding...but seriously, where did my 7 pound little baby go? 

In a word, eleven months is FUN!  Caroline is such a joy to be around that I actually look forward to the moment she wakes up.  She's playful, cheery, full of laughs and just so stinkin' cute.  I can't stand it!

We've had a busy couple of weeks since our last check in.  We went to the zoo (along with the rest of Houston), went to some birthday parties, played at Grammy and Backe's and rolled around in the back yard for the first time.  She loves grass!  She loves it so much that she often tries to eat it.  I figure she'll learn one of these days that it doesn't taste good...until that day, I'll just keep scooping it out of her mouth.  We're about to invest in some outside play toys because it is just too pretty outside to stay indoors.  Poor Luc is scared about his beautiful grass dying as the toys accumulate.  Sorry, babe... :)

At eleven months, Caroline Jane is:

- pulling up to standing on furniture, toys, and me.  She's usually attached to my leg if we're in the kitchen.
- pulling everything out of drawers, cabinets, and diaper bags.  I wish she'd learn to put everything back IN the bag...
- Crawling on her hands and knees, although she chooses not to.  She's much quicker at the army crawl.
- Yelling at the birds and squirrels in the bird feeder.  The entire neighborhood hears her.  It's kind of embarrassing and adorable at the same time.  I'll post a video of this soon.  You can actually hear our neighbor from 2 houses down telling her hello.  That's how loud she is!
- Almost done with baby food.  She loves table food.  The only food she won't eat is the delicious strawberry!  I think they are too tart for her.  Her great-grandpa would not approve!  She does, however, LOVE watermelon.  We go through a watermelon in about 2 days.  I think watermelon and spaghetti are her favorite foods.  I only feed her baby food if she's playing during meal time and I need to make sure she gets something in her system.
- She has 3 teeth and is on the verge of adding the 4th.  In fact, I think the 4th one will be out by the time she wakes up in the morning.  Fingers crossed she'll sleep through it. 


Here are some pictures from her 11 month session:

I love this picture.  She's such a mess!

This is my favorite!  Her face is priceless!

I know it doesn't look like it, but her thighs are shrinking.  It makes me sad.

This is what my child does when you tell her no.

Bluebonnets and Boo Hoos

Texas is famous for its spring time Bluebonnets, especially in the piney East and central Hill Country parts of the state.  They usually bloom around April but the recent rain and warm temperatures tempted the flowers into blooming early.  It's a tradition for families to take pictures in the bluebonnets, especially families with young children.  On any given Spring weekend, you normally see lots of kiddies in their Sunday best sitting in the bluebonnet patches along Highway 105 or 290.  That's a long drive for us and I wasn't sure I wanted to try the trip with Caroline. 

Thanks to the modern day rumor mill that is Facebook, I heard about some bluebonnets right here in Kingwood.  I packed Caroline up and we headed to Mom and Dad's house for a photography adventure.  Mind you, the radar indicated rain was about an hour away, but I knew the rest of our week was busy and wouldn't allow for photo time.  Mom, Dad and I walked to where I thought the bluebonnets were, only to be disappointed and a little let down.  Mom was determined to find them, so we piled in the Tahoe and headed to the correct spot - again, thanks to Facebook for the correct location! 

As you can see in the photos below, Caroline was less than thrilled to be sitting in a field of pretty flowers.  I think it was a combination of the high winds, the rain sprinkles and her protruding top teeth that had in her sad spirits.  She only last for about 10 minutes.  I'm sure we'll go back next week and try to get some better shots of her in these Texas landmarks!

Caroline wasn't sure what to think about the Bluebonnets.

I put "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" on my phone and she was watching it.  Thanks to my Mom for holding the phone!

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"Dada! Come get me! These ladies are crazy!"

Poor baby!  She was so mad.  We took her home after getting this picture.  She was done!

Teething 10 Months

We've hit the double digits!  Caroline is 10 months old and quickly on her way to hitting the 1 year mark.  Along with her 10 months of life, Caroline has 2 teeth and 2 legs that are working so hard to stand and walk around.  Her 2 top teeth are poking through and therefore causing copious amounts of pain. These top teeth are a lot rougher on her than the bottom ones were.  I can only imagine the toll her molars are going to take!

She has mastered pulling up to her knees and she's very slowly getting to her feet.  She attempted to take a couple of steps last night while holding onto the ottoman!  She was very shaky, but I'm sure she'll be a pro by the end of the week. 

In addition to her teeth and mobility changes, Caroline is...

- trying to use a spoon/fork at dinner.  She puts the food on the spoon, then attempts to put it in her mouth.  She's got a long way to go but she's doing a great job so far.
- talking up a storm!  She babbles when she's really happy, or really mad.  It's so fun to listen to.
- tipping the scales at 25 pounds...and measuring just over 30 inches in length.  I fear the 18 month bubbles won't fit for very long!
- standing in the tub.  Scary!
- an iPhone master.  She now knows how to swipe her finger across the screen to turn it on.  I'm in trouble!

Here are some pictures from her 10 month photo session:

So cute!

She's not a fan of the sticker.

"Get this bow off my head, please!"

Paddington tastes so good!  She loves him.  It's funny...this is the only stuff animal/doll that she treats this way.

So big!  Her new trick - Up!

Happy baby with all her friends.

Sassy pants.  I've been getting this look a lot lately.

Can you believe she's gone from this:

To this:

I can't either!