Happy Birthday to me

I am not feeling old these days...though my age is creeping up, this baby girl makes me feel fresh and new. Which is very nice.  The weather this week has been amazing so we definitely took advantage after work.

We started off my birthday weekend with a trip to the park in the Palisades.  We are so very lucky to have a nice park within walking distance.  Caroline had her first go on the baby swings. She is a huge fan.

I love watching Caroline get enjoyment from her day.  She also gets enjoyment from COUSIN TIME!!!

Shelley, David and Cousin Genny were in town this weekend. Yesterday we hung out uptown with the rest of the Nichols clan.  There was lots of playtime and Caroline enjoyed hanging out and often napping in various arms.

Dad was squeezing her legs, chunky these days. It makes her laugh. The big girls played in the sun and sand.

Nana Lu and Genny giggling about something.

Of course the doggies were in on the action.  Gracie out and about, and Nigel holding down the fort, watching over the kids outside.

Sunday we had brunch for my birthday at our house.  I love hosting, as you may know, so it was nice to have everyone over to inspect the new paint colors.  I didn't take any photos but it was a good time nonetheless.  This afternoon we attempted (and failed) to do our 4 month photo shoot.  It was a lot of this:

And not much this:

Then it was on to regular Sunday activities, exercise, play etc.  Result:

A nap in the sun.  I so love this girl.

SPRINGGGG!!!!!

The weather is finally nice!  After work now Caroline and I can spend some time outside.  Of course I took advantage of the awesome light to take some photos.  She seems to love being outdoors, which works for us.  Now I just need to locate some old quilts to throw on the grass for playtime.

For now the deck will do (I of course picked her up before she could get a big splinter).  Since Caroline sticks everything in her mouth, the shots of her on the grass did not turn out great.  She was quite smily on her blanket though.

And for good measure, some poses in the pink chair.  We have a lack of props and since she cannot sit yet, we make due with what is in the basement.  And what is clean.

Fingers

Oh how Caroline loves her fingers, now that she knows how to stick them in her mouth.  It is hard in fact to get a shot without her fingers in her mouth!  Makes her drooly but also very happy.

As her fingers make it to her mouth, they also make it toward other objects that interest her.  Today it was a coffee cozy.

On Friday we were very excited for John to come home.  So we dressed up in our new pink outfit (thanks JMC!) and looked all fancy.  Especially our hair.  Very fancy hair.

Caroline and I survived the week alone just fine, though we like it more when  Dad is home.  Finally, Saturday we got a few rooms in our house painted (I am just not a white walls lady) so we spent some time uptown with the MD Nanas.

xoxo

Little chair and FaceTime

John has been out of town all week long, so Caroline and I have been entertaining each other!  We go on walks and help each other get dressed.  Other than that we go about our daily business.  Sometimes our business is calling Auntina and cousins Sophie and Leah on the computer.

We love watching dinner time.  Those girls are too funny and we cannot wait to see them in a month as they turn ONE!

Sometimes we play in the basement (world of bad overhead lighting...I must say I am excited about the extra natural light daylight savings will provide).

And one time this week C tried out her special personalized chair!  This was a gift from John's office.  Look at how good Caroline is getting at sitting.

She was quite proud of herself and definitely enjoyed chilling out and examining her feet.  I am sure she will find them tasty once she figures out how to grab them.

Her grabbing skills have improved so much!  I am excited for her.  Now if only she can remember how to roll back onto her back in the middle of the night when she gets stuck on her stomach.  Ha.

Very excited for John to return tomorrow.  This weekend brings family time with the Clines, a new paint job for our living, dining, and guest rooms, and hopefully some nice weather.

xoxo

They all rolled over and one fell out...

Tried to take some shots of Caroline rolling all around!  I am not a great action photographer...especially in the basement where the overhead lights are terrible for pics!

There it is folks!  She has since forgotten how to roll back onto her back...so that is interesting.  She also busts out her new party trick in her crib, which just means we get to go rescue her once or twice overnight! We have mesh bumpered one side of her crib though, so she shouldn't get her little limbs stuck anymore when she is rolling about. At least on the one side...still trying to figure out the other side :)

Caroline loves sticking her hands in her mouth these days too, and is getting better at grabbing her giraffe as well!  She gets so drooly as a result.

And a few shots of awesome hair for good measure.

HUGE CHEEKS!

Stay tuned for a video of Caroline telling a story!  Once my phone decides to share it with my email I will get it up.  I have been waiting 4 hours though.  So I am not holding my breath that it will be tonight.