My Baby is nearly a Toddler.

I am feeling nostalgic and emotional and excited and happy and in a blog-writing mood. Be prepared for a LONG blog filled with TOO MANY pictures, because that's how I roll!

As I mentioned before, Caroline is turning ONE on Monday. We have known her for almost a YEAR. Of course, we have "known" her for longer than that... she was the little glow worm on my first ultrasound, the tiny thing on my second ultrasound that waved her hands in the air like she just didn't care, the baby in my tummy that had constant hiccups, and the owner of the tiny foot that found a permanent position visibly poking the right side of my tummy throughout the last month of pregnancy. She has been a perfect baby since before she was born. She not only waited until after our Thanksgiving feast to make an appearance, she listened to her daddy and waited until after the FSU game the following Saturday to make her appearance. Within two hours of the game she was like, "welp, I guess I'm good to go now." 

She even waited until after I had a chance to run into the bathtub before making my water break (which I'm sure wasn't her choice at all, but truly appreciated). I'll never forget standing in that tub, blind as a bat because I left my glasses on the nightstand, asking Josh if the splashing I heard was my water breaking. He said "yes, we're having a baby" and I have never felt so excited, panicked, happy, and nervous in my entire life. I'll never forget shaking as we got ready, wondering when the contractions would start (and they soon started, and I wondered why I was ever in a hurry for them, ouch). I sat on a towel on the way to the hospital because HOLY COW they never tell you how much water comes out, but I was like the freaking Niagra Falls... I think I lost twenty pounds on the way to the hospital. I even had to walk into triage with my towel around my waist because, yep, still leaking EVERYWHERE.

Being in labor was another stream of multiple emotions - pain, excitement, nervousness, impatience, etc. This roller coaster of emotions included back labor, an epidural that worked on only half of my body (stupid scoliosis), and Caroline being pulled out via suction cup. It may not have been the most graceful way to enter the world, but we were SO EXCITED she was here and HEALTHY! Holding her was the best feeling in the world, seeing Josh's face was the best thing in the world, being an official family of three (well, seven if you count the furry members) was THE BEST.

Admittedly, the first few weeks were tough, yet amazing. The tough part was undoubtedly the breastfeeding. Moms-to-be, future-moms-to-be, anyone with boobs: prepare your nipples because they're in for a rough ride! I think every tear I shed in those first couple weeks had to do with the pain I was in. I don't know what I would have done without the support of my mom, Josh, and the almighty breast-pump that first week. The amazing part: EVERYTHING ELSE. I'm not sure that love at first sight truly exists between men and women, but it certainly exists between a parent and a baby. I had never held a baby until they threw her on my chest, and the maternal instinct kicked in that second. I love my little Caroline sooo much I miss her when she's sleeping two feet away. It's an amazing love.

Holy moly, I guess I was a lot more nostalgic and emotional than I thought; I didn't intend to recount that much of the past, but I'm leaving it there. It just goes to show how unforgettable it all is; I remember every small detail like it was yesterday, when in reality it was all around a year ago. Moving on to the present...

This first year with Caroline has been absolutely wonderful. I cannot believe she has already been around for an entire year, but at the same time I feel like we have known her forever and I cannot imagine what life was ever like without her. I remember when we used to be excited when she would acknowledge our presence, and now she won't leave us alone. I remember when we used to be excited that she could hold her head up for more than 5 seconds, and now she's running around the house like the wild child she is. I remember when we were excited when she started cooing, and now she can say mama and dada, has almost perfected the word "dog," and just this morning pointed at Parker and said, "tat." It is amazing how much a baby changes, learns, and accomplishes in their first year.

Caroline is strong, healthy, slightly enormous, extremely smart, and PERFECT. She loves to clap, dances with her daycare friends, gives the best hugs, climbs into our laps to read a book, has actually learned to properly pet the dogs and cats, walks to Josh saying "dada" and walks to me saying "mama," laughs at odd things just like her mommy, closes doors for us (I have almost gotten closed in the pantry many times), throws pancakes at the dogs, makes sure we have bath toys during our showers by throwing them in the tub for us, "sings" for me in the back of the car, carries her "purse" (easter basket) around the house and puts toys in it, waves at other children but rarely adults, plays peekaboo, holds our hands and walks us around the house, hides in corners waiting for us to come attack her with tickles, and is all around just the sweetest little girl in the world. Writing all of that and realizing how much she can actually do now makes me realize that she actually is a toddler now, and not a baby. HOLY EMOTIONS, BATMAN.

My babbling is complete, and I will now flood this post with some of my favorite pictures of my sweet little Caroline Quinn. Enjoy the trip down memory lane.

Our perfect first moments as a family.

Ready to go home.

The first few weeks of life at home.

First Christmas!

Meeting her favorite auntie.

Enjoying a visit from her memaw and pepaw.

Rocking out all holidays!

Growing up SO FAST.

Constantly making us smile.

Being a natural beach babe.

Being the goofball she was destined to be.

Traveling to far off lands like Virginia.

And generally just being the sweetest thing ever.

Caroline's Last Week as a 0 Year Old.

In a week she'll be a 1 year old, so this is her last week as a 0 year old. That sounds weird, but I'm going to go with it. So what has miss almost-1-year-old been up to? She is a busy bee these days. 

Friday, she had her first day in the infant-toddler transition room at her daycare. She did so well and I think she's going to be extremely happy in there. Apparently she only cried a few times when her old teacher came in the room and left (silly separation anxiety baby). She had a meltdown when I walked in to take her home and didn't pick her up right away (an every day occurrence). She saw me, screamed, and fell backward onto a xylophone in a tantrum of rage. But when I picked her up she was instantly happy again. Goof.

Playing with her friends all day was exhausting!

Friday night, we went to Outback for another shot at a birthday dinner (thanks for the giftcard, mom and dad) since Bonefish was a delicious disaster. Outback was AMAZING. Caroline was such a good girl while we waited, munching on one of her fruit/veggie pouches. When we (finally) got a table she was so well behaved. She ate some bread, baked potato, and steak, and drank from a kid's cup with a straw like a big girl! She was absolutely exhausted by the time we got home (as was I... that much food + a big bloke beer = tired old lady). I managed to stay up to watch The Purge, which gets a Kaitlin rating of "eh."

Hurry, mister beeper, I want STEAK.

Saturday, we had our pancakes and bacon and then headed to LabCorp while Josh cleaned the house. I was prepared for the worst but instead she was wonderful. She entertained everyone in the waiting room by using the coke machine as a set of bongos. She then sat on my lap while she got her blood drawn and didn't even flinch. I think she was too distracted by my keys to even realize there was a needle sticking out of her arm. I'm so so so so proud of her. 

Garfield band-aids are for tough little girls.

We then had a TJ Maxx/Trader Joe's adventure, ate curry chicken tenders for lunch, and "watched football" with daddy (I think she napped and I cleared her closet of summer/too-small clothes, so sad). We had pizza for dinner nom nom nom (I actually ate potato skins and Josh ate pizza. Caroline ate pepperoni).

Being a big girl is hard work.

Sunday, we had our pancakes and bacon (SHOCKING). We went on a family Target run where we got Caroline four pairs of pants, slippers, diapers, food, ibuprofen, yadda yadda yadda, and like nothing for us. SPOILED. The pants/slippers are birthday gifts that I'll wrap up and let her unwrap. Caroline loved exploring Target and was entertaining everyone by walking around and talking. We then went to Newk's for lunch, got my parents a super cool Christmas gift at Homegoods (bwhahahaha, secrets), and headed home to relax. I had mommy bathtime with wine and Upside Down on Netflix (it gets my rating of "predictable romantic film"). Later, Josh and Caroline went to Best Buy while I walked around Kohls and got absolutely nothing. We then had a pork roast from Trader Joe's for dinner (DELICIOUS) and had a lazy evening at home.

Mr. Doggy, what are you doing at Target and not at home?

In a week, Caroline turns ONE and we fly to New Hampshire for Thanksgiving - ahhhh, exciting things ahead!

Vampire Baby!

Yes, I failed to do a Monday update this week... honestly, it was a perfectly boring, relaxing, uneventful weekend, so there really wasn't excitement to share anyway.

I would much rather share this gem. Caroline got her first incident report this week. She bit one of her friends. I feel like she has officially grown up and become a baby-biting toddler. I feel awful for the baby she bit, though, and wonder if they got an accident report sent home that says, "your baby's friend bit him/her." Check this out:

I talked to the teacher about it and she said to not worry, it's completely normal. Apparently babies like to bite their friends to 1. see their reaction, 2. see how they taste, and 3. ease the pain from teething. Ohhh, Caroline, you're a crazy little munchkin!

I gave her a talking to on our way home, telling her we are not cannibals and do not try to eat our friends. She retaliated by biting me as I put her into pajamas. But, honestly, how can you ever be mad at this little thing? She is oozing with adorableness and innocence and has no clue that cannibalism is not a socially acceptable action.

She does the cutest things, you guys. Check out this from yesterday. This is her helping me raid the dollar section at Target ($1.00 items plus a 20% off dollar spot items coupon = stocking stuffer central)! She refused to let go of her bottle, so I picked her up out of her carseat and she carried her bottle inside, held it while I buckled her into the shopping cart, and chewed on it the entire time we shopped. ADORABLE.

And I will leave you with another adorable moment from last night. She walked around the house eating her appetizer (she has a pouch to get her fruits and veggies when we get home, and then she eats dinner with us later). She finally learned that she can feed herself from these magical pouches and it makes life SO EASY. I can do dishes while she walks around getting her nutrients. I miss my tiny little infant, but having a functional, independent little baby-toddler is SO NICE. Look, she even "helped" me unload the dishwasher last night!

Yesterday was picture day at her school, and she rocked her shirt, teal skinny jeans with a pink belt, and favorite shoes. Her daycare had to postpone picture day for a lot of the kids because they were fussy and hungry and tired (story of my life) but apparently Caroline did great. I can't wait to see her pictures (please let there be a smile, please let there be a smile...). Tomorrow is FINALLY her first day in the bigger infant room. I think she's going to be so happy in there playing with a group of babies around her own age. She's such a giant baby she was starting to look silly lording over the smaller babies in her current daycare room (and if she's going to bite someone, she needs to pick on babies her own size).

ENJOY THE REST OF YOUR WEEK, EVERYONE!

Monday, Schmonday.

Oh. My. Gosh. I'm actually blogging on a Monday! This gives me the opportunity to remind you all that Mondays are evil and awful and cruel.

We ate pot roast Friday night, which was highly entertaining. How can pot roast be entertaining, you might ask. Well, with a wild 11-month old, the most commonly boring things can become highly entertaining. Caroline learned that the dogs like pot roast, and if she throws her pot roast off of her tray tables, they will eat it. Caroline found this HILARIOUS. She through every bit of her pot roast to the dogs and laughed and squealed every single time. She even fed Ellie pieces by hand which was SUPER HILARIOUS. It was a fun night of pot roast eating :)

Saturday, Josh made us pumpkin pancakes for breakfast, nom nom nom. Caroline remembered the fun she had the night before, and decided she'd much rather feed the dogs her pancakes then eat them herself, so on the floor they went. It was again highly entertaining. She actually took a good nap for once; I mean, we're talking a two hour nap! Josh got to go show his bow, and I got to do an arts and crafts project. When in Virginia, my mom gave me wooden ABC letters that were in my nursery as a baby. I painted them this weekend to match the colors in Caroline's nursery. They turned out great but I failed to take a picture, oops!

After Caroline's nap, we took her to the park to play, walk around, and play with the older kids. She had soooo much fun :) We then ate at Hurricane, the restaurant at the end of our neighborhood. Caroline and I had grouper tacos and I had a Yuengling. She had a blast staring and pointing at people (pointing is her new thing; she points at everything and everyone all the time). I feel like we went somewhere after lunch but for the life of me I can't remember, so it must not have been exciting. We came home and drank "Witch's Brew," a beer that has sat in my wine rack for years. It was DELICIOUS. We also chatted with my parents, and then watched The Walking Dead while Caroline took a rare second nap. I made buffalo chicken dip for a late dinner and then "we" watched the FSU v Miami game (I played on computer and went to bed by 9 - you're jealous of how cool I am).

Sunday, Caroline woke me up at 5:30am (her little body thought it was 6:30am - silly time change). We let Josh sleep in because he stayed up late watching the game. Caroline and I played and watched The Nightmare Before Christmas, and then watched daddy make pancakes and bacon when he woke up. Caroline once again wouldn't eat and fed her food to the dogs. We relaxed around the house before it was time to get lunch and went to Chipotle. She ate some of the chicken from my burrito bowl but was clearly still not feeling well. We're hoping she's just getting a tooth and isn't sick :( We had plans to go to the mall after lunch but decided to head home since Caroline didn't seem to be feeling well.

Staring at people at Chipotle... classic creeper caroline.

When we got home, we grabbed the dogs and had a very nice walk around the block! We had a relaxing afternoon. Caroline took another nap so I had "mommy bath time" complete with wine and Elizabethtown, which reminded me why I hate romantic comedies and don't watch them. We ordered pizza for dinner (and a salad for me) and had Caroline in bed by 7:30pm (silly time change).

Caroline was crying in her crib at 4am this morning so we got her a bottle, tried to put her back in her crib, heard more crying, so she ended up sleeping in our bed with us until 6am. She was SO ADORABLE cuddled between us, sleeping on her tummy with her head on our pillows. She definitely isn't feeling well because she never wakes up like that - please just be a tooth coming in, please just be a tooth coming in...

Have a nice week, everyone!