Zoo Lights

We went to Zoo Lights at the National Zoo with our good friends, Frank, Kirsten and Zinn.  We had a great time and wondered why we waited until we had kids to go.  It had lights and a few exhibits and other items for the kids and adult beverages for the parents.  Will definitely need to be an annual tradition.

10 Months

The most exciting news for this month is that Caroline can now feed herself (and she has decided that solid food is pretty fun when we can do it by ourself)!  She has also started to want to move.  Before she was quite content to just sit and play, but towards the end of the month, she started reaching and scooting a bit.  Other notables include her first Thanksgiving and two road trips to Pennsylvania and Delaware (so she now has been to more states than Spanky had visited at the time he graduated from high school).  Here are a few pictures from her 10 month photo shoot:

You may have noticed the addition of the stuffed duck as a prop. Without it, I got a lot of pictures resembling the one below where she's reaching for the camera - no more sitting still for her - we're in trouble...
 

Stache Bash 2012

THANK YOU to everyone who donated to Mustaches for Kids!  Spanky was awarded Most Fundraisingest Stache and raised over $11,000.  In total, the group raised over $30,000 for Children's National Medical Center.  The Stache Bash was on December 14th and Spanky dressed as Cliff Clavin from Cheers.

All the growers with the check to the hospital:

 



The winners including most fundraisingest, sweetest and creepiest stache:

 

Enjoying a celebratory drink from the trophy:

 



 

Top fundraisers - both raised over $11,000!

Weekend in Pennsylvania

We went to a resort in Bedford Springs, PA with our friends, RL, Jennifer and Emmy Condra the second weekend in December.   We had a great time at the indoor pool.  We also tried to visit with Santa - you'll see how successful that one was below.  Of course the weather was perfect for the guys' golf game in the morning then turned ugly when Jennifer and I wanted to head into town for some shopping.  Nevertheless, it was a nice weekend away and great to spend time with friends.

Tia Jo's Visit and Thanksgiving

We had another fun family visit in November when my sister came down from Connecticut for the weekend.  We really showed her all the sites of DC - Trusty's, La Lomita, the local Thai restaurant...  At least we did make it to the Kennedy Center for the San Francisco Ballet's performace on Romeo and Juliet.  We were terrible about taking pictures and only got one that was taken right before Caroline headed off to bed on her last night in town:

We decided not to fight everyone at the airports this year so stayed local for Thanksgiving.  Luckily our friends, Mike and Sandra, invited us to their house outside of Wilmington for the feast.  We went up for the day and it was great to spend the holiday with them and eat wonderfully delicious food.  Again, terrible with the pictures and have one from them of Caroline relaxing after her Thanksgiving meal:

Three Quarters

It's hard to believe that Caroline is already 9 months old!  She had a doctor's appointment this month and weighed in at 15 lbs 10 oz and 25.75 inches tall (both are in the 5% so she's a little peanut). 

Notables this month:
- Improving her wave (so less straight arm salute and we get some movement)
- Imitates almost all hand movements so can clap and do the "rolling" for Patty Cake
- Shakes her head "no" a lot and does an occasional "yes" nod
- Loves to stand, but not too fond of her belly and really not interested in crawling yet
- Talking more and more - again, mostly "dadada", "yayaya" and "bababa," but we occasionally get a "mamama"
- Responds to her name
- Still not fond of solids and much prefers the real food over the pureed stuff - really likes pears, peaches and watermelon
- Introduced the sippy cup, but still getting the hang of it
- Has 5.5 teeth - the last one is barely poking through

Here's a few photos from her 9 month photo shoot:

Happy Halloween

Caroline was a ladybug for Halloween.  She wore her costume to the Razorback watch party on Saturday and again on Halloween.  We had a few people over to the house to hand out candy in the front yard.  Caroline was too excited about Halloween to nap that day so she was a little grumpy for the trick or treaters.  She also didn't really cooperate for pictures, but here are some attempts at a good picture in her costume.

Nana's Visit

My Mom came to visit in mid-October.  We had a great visit and managed to get in a trip to a pumpkin patch and the zoo.  We also attempted to get Caroline's picture made in a dress that both my Mom and I wore, but the photo shoot did not go well - the pictures are pretty funny with lots of crying and really mad faces.  Since the nana-paparazzi was in town, I have tons of pictures.  Here are just a few:

Note the "I Love Nana" outfit:

Super cute pumpkin outfit borrowed from her friend, Emmy:

 



At the pumpkin patch:

 

In the dress that I wore home from the hospital:

 



 

At the zoo (the trees were so pretty):

 



And here's one with Grandad.  He has been able to visit every month thanks to work trips and I finally remembered to take a picture.  We're so glad that he's able to visit!

8 months

Some notables from the past month:

- Sits well without support
- Can wave bye-bye (more like a straight arm salute)
- Shakes her head "no"
- Talking away - lots of "dadada" and "bababa"
- Sleeps through the night (about 10 - 11 hours) - yay!!!!!!! (although she is still a terrible napper)
- Attended her 10th Nationals game
- Attended first MLB playoff game and witnessed a walk-off homerun
- Getting in one more tooth - just breaking through (top right)
- Still finicky with solids
- Wearing 6 month clothes

She had a new tooth coming in on her birthday so didn't get any big smiles, but here are a few with the birthday cupcake outfit:

 

Here are two from two days later - I think that the headband and flower are a bit much - looks a bit like an old lady trying to keep her hair rollers in...

Messy

So, in one picture, I fed her peas and in the other picture, Spanky fed her peas.  Can you guess which is which?

Like Father, Like Daughter

Uh oh, she's taking after Spanky in a few areas:

Loves the remote:

 

Enjoying a cold one at the baseball game:

 

Cheering on the Razorbacks at Trusty's: