We're The Battens: Caroline Happenings...

Hi Everyone! We have been so busy with so many new adventures that we haven't had the chance to share...SO finally here we go...sit back, relax and enjoy reading and seeing "A life in Caroline" over the past month!

It's amazing how much you change from week to week, or sometimes even day to day when you are only 16 months(on March 8). It's a good thing that the aging process seems to slow a little as you get our age...well at least I hope!! After a full day of playing, I sometimes feel as if I am aging as quickly as my own daughter! :`) You know what I mean!

Well I am going to begin the journey...is it Spring yet? Even though we just had our biggest snow of the season, yesterday (3/2/09)...yes, as you can see I started this blog a few days ago and I am just now returning...things happen, and if you have kids you know what I mean.

The month of February was busy with spending some time enjoying our nice spring like weather at the park, a special Valentine's Day, Caroline's first Little Tyke's Gym class, and finishing Caroline's playroom! YEAH!!

First things first...

Caroline absolutely LOVES being outside. We visited Ida Lee Park a few times (which is in walking distance of our house). It's a great park facility, with swings, sliding, and lots of green space to run and explore. We are SO looking forward to the opening of the renovated library, which seems to be beautiful as well as the BRAND NEW pool complex that will be opening Memorial Day weekend, which are all a part of this great park. It looks like the pool is going to have everything you can imagine, from a lazy river, to all types of slides, children's play area, snack bar etc...we can't wait!! Ida Lee Park has so much to offer for families. It's great to live so close to all of the happenings. Oh, by the way, since pool season will be upon us before you know it, I will be enrolling Caroline in a Mommy and Me swim class to reacquaint her with the swimming pool. I think she is going to LOVE IT!! She loved the pool last year (6-9 months), so I can only imagine how fun she will be this year...I'm just as excited to see as Caroline. I love our new adventures. The only thing I am dreading is getting into a bathing suit...my diet starts now!! As you can see, Caroline enjoyed all of her park adventures...she loves watching all of the other kids play as well....laughing when they laugh!! Playing with Grandma and Grandad at the park was waaay fun...she's too cute!!

On to the next adventure of the month... Ahhh...Valentine's Day! Yes, we made sure that Caroline knew that she was our favorite Valentine!! Daddy bought her a teddy bear to snuggle with on that special day. And lets not forget the stuffed animals and gifts that she received from her grandparents and Aunt and Uncle...she's a LOVED little girl!! But I will have to say, her most favorite gift that day, probably were the heart balloons given by her Daddy and I. Well, if you didn't know, balloons could be her most favorite thing. In fact, when visiting our local Home Depot store recently (no, not on Valentine's Day...but I could see that happening if Brian is involved! ;~)), their store displays were decorated with balloons. Caroline ran to each one of them and pointed up to them as to say, "these are for me, right?" Who knew she would think that ALL balloons are created for her!! ;) Needless to say, we had to try and avoid all other balloon displays to keep our little toddler happy. We ALL had a nice Valentine's day together.

Her daddy and I spent our evening at the movies at our church. "Fireproof"' was the movie of choice. It was really good...I would definitely recommend it for couples!! It was a great Valentine's day viewing. Our little Caroline spent the evening with her Grandma and Grandad dressed in her Valentine's dress, playing with her balloons and all of her Valentine's...her stuffed animals! Giving kisses and hugs all around!! She's such a loving little girl. She will ALWAYS be our little Valentine!

And the next...

Caroline's first Little Tyke's Gym class. This is a class offered by the Parks and Recreation here in Leesburg at the Olde Izaak Walton Park in town. This particular class is for children 8 months to 18 months old. We've only been to one class so far, but Caroline had a lot of fun! It's just a big open space...lots of room to run...which is nice. At the beginning of class, everyone sits in a circle for songs and then they are on their own (well with their Mommy's help of course) to explore all of the gym equipment...pint size just for them!! ;~) There are mats, tunnels, slides, and even an uneven bar. Our little Caroline had to try that one out...maybe she will be a gymnast one day... The class ends with a bubble machine blowing bubbles all around and the teacher gives each little gymnast a stamp on their hand at the end of class...a Mickey Mouse stamp at that. Caroline was AMAZED! She just kept looking at her hand and showing it off. Unfortunately, the stamp washed off in the bath that night, but if you ask her about her Mickey stamp, she will still point to her hand, as if it was still there. SO CUTE!!! I've posted a couple of pics from her class below so you can see our little gymnast in action.

And lastly...

Caroline's NEW playroom!! Yes, we are finally done...well we do still have a few little things to do. We still have to hang curtains, hang the alphabet letters around the room and a couple of odds and end things to do, but all in all we are done. When Caroline first saw her room, it was priceless! It was if to say, "Is this ALL for me?" Seeing all of her toys in one room makes you realize that she is definitely a lucky little girl to have all of these things...we are so grateful and I know she is too! We are enjoying playing in her NEW room each day...many, many, new adventures and happenings. Thanks Daddy for your hard work...we LOVE it!!

Here's a few happenings and highlights from Caroline's NEW playroom so far...

*She LOVES to read!! It's a good thing b/c she has SO MANY books...but we need a lot of books...especially pop-up books, since we have managed to rip out a few things...we haven't mastered that concept yet...we're working on it! We have a special designated corner for reading...she even sits in her little play chair by herself pretending to read...it is SO CUTE!!

**She discovered her own "play" diaper bag for her baby. It has been in the toy box in her room. She has just recently taken interest in it. She even got the pretend baby bottle out of the bag the other day and pretended to feed her baby...what a nice Mommy!! How smart is she!! ;~)

***My favorite has been JUST WATCHING her play. Going from playing with her "Little People" (which is probably her favorite of all toys), to reading in her chair, to seeing all of her many expressions and actions: swaying from side to side or marching in place to music, giving kisses and hugs to me and all her toys, waving hello and bye bye while holding Mommy's cell phone (yes, I know she is not suppose to have this but we like to pretend to be like Mommy sometimes).

****And last but not least, we are learning to try and clean up our toys as we go...or at least before we leave our toy room. She is becoming a good little helper! We are also practicing using the words thank you, your welcome and love you. These are just a few. Caroline makes sure to tell all of her toy friends bye-bye as we leave her room...I love it!! ;~)

So, I think that gets us caught up on all or most of our happenings this past month. As I mentioned earlier, we had our biggest snow so far this season on March 2nd. We all had a fun time playing out back in the snow...Caroline "our snow princess", Mommy, Daddy, and we can't forget Mattie...had lots of fun throwing snow balls, tasting the snow (yuck) and watching our doggie Mattie run circles in the backyard. Once inside we were all in need of a good nap!

Check out more pics of our little snow angel in the next BLOG post of pics. Now...we will get ready to lose an hour of sleep this weekend as we spring forward with our clocks...spring time here we come! FINALLY!!! Hope you enjoy these pics of our Sweet Caroline...Can you believe it...in only 2 months our little baby will be 18 months old...a year and a half...I can't believe it...where did my little infant go...toddler years are half over...then a pre-schooler...WOW!! So much more to come...I can't wait!

Ohhhh....I forgot one of the most important happenings...Caroline is sleeping ALL NIGHT in her crib...shhhh...we don't want to jinx it. Yes, can you believe it 10 hours of sleep in her own crib. She usually falls asleep by 8:45pm at the latest and wakes up around 645am. I would love to be able to say that we didn't have to purchase something to make this happen BUT we did. I think I had tried everything, except a sound machine. I knew I had to give it a try in order to say that I had exhausted all options, so I headed to Target to make the purchase. It is just a simple GRACO sound machine set on the "white noise" setting with nightlight built in...AMAZING!! IT WORKS!! Finally...I will have to say that I do miss snuggling with her at night...but getting a good night sleep is much needed these days...keeping up with our little toddler requires LOTS of FUN ENERGY!! Now we have to hope that "springing forward" this weekend will not throw us a curve ball. Please PRAY!

Love, Caroline's Mommy

Grandma and Caroline having fun swinging at the park.