2 Months!!!

Caroline is 2 months old today which absolutely amazes me. It's going by so fast! We started out the day with our check up at the pediatrician's office, complete with her first set of shots :( She did pretty well, lots of screaming, but not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. She is healthy and doing well! She weighs 11 lbs. 12 oz. (75th %tile) and is 22 1/2 in. long (50th %tile). Apparently she takes after me, because her head circumference places her in the 97th %tile :). We spent most of the day napping after our traumatizing morning, but all in all it was a great day!

Here are few things about Caroline at 2 months...

-She still doesn't love tummy time, but we continue to push through. Her dr. says her head shape is still nice and round, so we must be doing ok :)

-She loves her mobile and her rain forest play mat. She also loves her swing and bouncy seat. She really just loves to sit and look at everything around her.

-Still loving the paci for sure...Don't know what we'd do without it!

-She is still getting up once at night to eat, but she has slept through the night a couple of times. We are hoping it begins to happen more frequently very soon!!!

-She smiles and coos and goos all the time, and I LOVE it!!! So sweet :)

-She has already been on several road trips...to the lake house in Corsicana, Dallas, Waco, Fredericksburg...She is a great little traveller.

-Nicknames-Punky, Chunky Punky (she is almost 12 pounds!;)), Punkadoo, Pumpkin, Pumpkin Bean, and Daddy's favorite...Pumpkin Butt

Here are some pics of Miss C... Playing with Daddy...he blows in her face and she thinks this is pretty hilarious.

Sweet sleeping angel. I love it when she is swaddled with just her little head poking out. So cute! She is quite the Houdini, though as she manages to wriggle our of her swaddle blanket (aka baby straight jacket).

The dr. also said he thinks her eyes will stay blue and that her hair will probably continue to get lighter. She is growing and changing everyday...we just love her so much!!!!!!

Fun in Fredericksburg!

Over the weekend we headed to Fredericksburg to visit our friends, Kyle and Megan. We made sure to attend the Wine and Food Festival while we were there :)

Having fun with the girls...Megan (who is expecting Baby Staudt due in May!) took such good care of Caroline :)

The boys sporting their wine glass necklaces...really cool, right?



The whole gang. (Kyle is pointing at the wine stain on Jon's shirt...apparently the wine glass necklace isn't spill-proof;))

Thank you to the Staudt's for a great weekend!!!

Just Hangin' Around...

Not too much to report around here! Here are some recent pics of Caroline :)

She smiles all the time, and I am obsessed with trying to catch it on film :)

All dressed up for our dinner date with Daddy...We went to Maudie's...Yummy!!!

Here eyes are still looking very blue, I wonder if they will change??? (I obviously need to adjust the red-eye thing on our camera)

She LOVES her Daddy...Can you tell by the huge smile on her face? :)
Happy!

Serious.
Little Flirt!

A sad day for football...

Our Saturdays typically consist of watching College Football all day long. Yesterday was no different.

We started out by watching College GameDay on ESPN (which was broadcasting from right here in Austin :)) We were pretty excited when Kirk Herbstreit picked Baylor to possibly upset Oklahoma State! Unfortunately that didn't happen, as the Bears lost to the Cowboys. BUT, I have to admit I am happy to see OSU having so much success!!! I come from a long line of Okie State Alum...my mom, dad, grandpa, the list goes on...so if we have to lose, I guess I don't mind losing to them ;)

We were hopeful that even though the Bears couldn't pull off the upset, Mizzou would be able to pull off a win against UT. Jon's brother, Steven, played football at Mizzou, so the Erickson clan always supports the Tigers! Not to mention, despite being Austinites, we are NOT Longhorn Fans. So, we put on our trusty Mizzou t-shirts and heading to our local watering hole to watch the game with some friends! It's actually a pretty sweet set up...they have a huge big screen set up on their patio. It was a beautiful day and we were ready to talk some trash as the only Mizzou fans in the whole place...

Unfortunately, an upset wasn't in the cards for Mizzou either...they lost...big time. SO SAD!

Here we are with our Longhorn-Lovin' friend Philip.

Jon decided the scarecrow was probably a Mizzou fan, too.

For the record, the place we went to watch the game is actually a very family-friendly establishment :) Caroline is at this great age where we can basically take her anywhere, and she just sleeps! We are trying to enjoy it as much as possible, as I am sure the older she gets, the more difficult it will be. For now, she is content in her little carrier wherever we go.

Caroline's First Baylor Game!

Caroline attended her first Baylor Football game this past weekend! On our way back from Dallas, we decided to stop in Waco and watch Baylor play Iowa State...Or should I say, watch Baylor BEAT Iowa State :)

We made sure she had the complete Baylor Football Expereince...

At the George's Tent before the game...

In the stands just before kickoff...

Eating dinner in the Letterwinner's Lounge (Notice she is mid-spit up...Awesome)...

In the SkyBox with Uncle Bryce and Aunt Elizabeth (and the next Baby E, due in March :))...

She loved riding in her Baby Bjorn carrier with Daddy! Somehow she managed to sleep through most of the game, even with Mommy and Daddy cheering and screaming for the Bears :) All in all, her first game was a big success! We are looking forward to Homecoming in a few weeks!!!!

SIC 'EM BEARS!!

The Pumpkin Patch

Mimi and I thought it would be so cute to take Caroline to the pumpkin patch to take her pictures. She had the perfect "Little Pumpkin" outfit to wear, so we were all set!

Well...she fell asleep in the car on the way there, and was not too happy when we began propping her up every which way to take pictures. Enter, The Paci Technique, which goes something like this...Put the paci in, let her get calmed down, count to 3, Mom removes the paci while Mimi snaps the picture.

Here is an action shot...not sure if the paci is on its way out or on its way back in.

Whew! We had to take a break after all that hard work!!!

Happy Fall!!!

Adventures in Dallas...Part 2

We continued to have such a great time in Dallas...

We hung out with Mimi and Papa Al...

and Minnie and Papa...

and Grammy and Grandpa...

Cousin Emma learned to be "gentle." She LOVED giving Caroline hugs and kisses!

And we had lots of smiles for EVERYONE!

We are glad to be home, but we sure do miss all those loving arms!!!!

Adventures in Dallas...Part 1

So far, we are having such a great time in Big D. We have been going non-stop since we got here!!!!! Here's a recap of the fun we've had...

Thursday, we stopped by the Vietti's house to see our BFF Matelyn. Kristin was visiting, and we were so excited to spend time with her, too!

The girls enjoying some bonding time during their naps...Gotta love the coordinating Baby Gap outfits!

Aunt Kristi and Caroline

When we got to Mimi's house, everyone was waiting for us! Caroline's great-grandparents, GGma and GGPa, couldn't wait to hold her again :)

Friday, we spent the day shopping with Mimi...so fun!

Saturday, we had lunch with Aunt Elizabeth, and watched some of the BU game. Then we ventured to Frisco to have dinner with Aunt Brittany and Emma at Gattitown!!!!

Sunday was Uncle Day!!! Caroline got to see all 6 of her uncles in one day...

First, it was lunch with my brothers...

Uncle Brian, Uncle Justin, and Uncle Paul.

Then, dinner with Jon's brothers...

Uncle Bryce, Uncle Steven, and Uncle Clark.

We feel so lucky to be so loved by all our Dallas friends and family, and we are looking forward to the rest of the week! :)

Thanks, Dr. J!

Caroline went with me to my dr. appt. yesterday. She wanted to tell Dr. J "Thank You" for taking such good care of us and helping to bring her into the world!

I love Caroline's expression...she is really curious about this whole situation!

One Month Old!

It's hard to believe it's been a whole month since Caroline was born. In honor of the occasion, we had a little photo shoot this afternoon. I was able to capture a few of the many faces of Caroline...

Daddy gave her a bath and picked out her outfit all by himself today...even with matching socks!

Sweet girl! Her hair is definitely getting blonder (and I think some of it is falling out...doesn't she look a little balder???)BIG yawn!

A rare tummy time moment between screams...note the Cowboys game on in the background.She is either pooping, or she is seriously upset that the Cowboys lost.

A few things about the life of Caroline at age 1 month...

-She loves her pacifier. I had a little bit of anxiety and resistance about giving her a paci. I guess it's the Speech Pathologist in me. I didn't want to create a "paci addict" but as my mom so kindly pointed out.."It's not crack cocaine, it's just a pacifier." I actually think she was wrong about that...the paci is very addicting! But I was CRAZY to think we'd survive without it!!!! :) So we have ourselves a paci girl...

*Daddy even picked a matching paci to coordinate with our outfit...he's so good!

-She loves sleeping on her tummy. "How would you know this?" you ask..."Haven't you heard of the Back to Sleep Campaign?" Well, yes, but while I am terrified of SIDS, I am also terrified of flat heads! SO, we have been taking some of our daytime naps on our tummy, but only in the living room under the watchful eye of Mommy. When in the crib, we're on our back...I promise. :)

AHHHHHH!

-Although she loves sleeping on her tummy, playing on her tummy is a whole different story. "Tummy Time" is not Caroline's idea of a good time. She typically writhes around and screams, but I am committed to having tummy time daily anyway. We are working on that upper body strength! I figure the more she squirms and wiggles around the stronger she is getting... :)

Yuck! I hate tummy time!
Why do you torture me?

-She eats every 3 hours during the day...Breakfast at 7 am, a mid-morning snack at 10 am, lunch at 1 pm, happy hour at 4 pm, dinner at 7 pm, and a bedtime snack at 10 pm...Daddy gives her a bottle for the 10 pm feeding each night, and right now she is taking 5 ounces! That usually tides her over until about 3 am when she is up for her late night snack, and then we start all over again at 7 am the next day! We are trying to follow a routine of "eat, play, sleep," and it seems to be working. She just sort of naturally fell into this little schedule...being the planner that I am, I LOVE IT!!!!! We'll see how long it lasts...

-Between feedings we are having progressively more and more awake time. We have "circle time" in the morning, where we sing songs and talk about our plans for the day. (Remember, I worked with preschoolers for 5 years, so I can't help myself) The rest of the day consists of playing with our toys, reading books, having the dreaded tummy time, possibly running errands, and of course napping! She makes lots of eye contact now and will track objects (especially faces) when you move them in front of her. She seems to do something new every day!

-She already has several nicknames around here...Little Pumpkin (my personal favorite), Punky Doo, Little Bird (she makes the funniest bird noises sometimes...hilarious), Little C, Stinker (she gets that from her Dad), and CP (for Caroline Paige...CP stands for "Command Post" in the Army, and according to my Papa, CP is a very appropriate nickname for a first born baby...In the Army, everything revolves around orders from the Command Post, and in a new family, everything revolves around orders from the baby! My Papa is a very wise man!!!!)