Kid! Be careful - that's a grate!

The question has come up from a few as to the origin of the title of this blog. Please, rest assured - Caroline has not been playing with a bag of glass. The title refers to a recurring Saturday Night Live skit with Dan Aykroyd and Jane Curtin that goes something like this.

No, Caroline has not been playing with glass - and please also know that no Carolines have been harmed in the filming of this blog. Usually, I will spot her on something at least once or twice before I grab the camera to document.

Back to our regularly scheduled post:

In keeping with the theme for this week (socialization), Caroline and I ventured out for a neighborhood playgroup on Friday. While we had gone to this playgroup once before, that was back in November. My winter hibernation and classes (and such) have prevented us from attending ever since. I was intrigued to see how Caroline would fare with these older kids now that she, too, could move about the room.

Knowing that I could never convince Caroline to get in the stroller for the 5th &6th times that day, I strapped on the Ergo and hoofed it to 91st St., about 1/2 mile away. There, nine children playing with 15 parents supervising seemed like 18 children with two. It was crazy and complete with wine, cookies and cheez-its. After an hour, Caroline was falling all over the place, a sure sign she was too tired to continue. So, we started to hoof it back home. We got about two blocks before she repeatedly lunged for the ground (her new signal that she wants to walk). We worked out a comprise where I would let her walk on two conditions: 1. That she walks in the general direction of home and 2. That I carry her across the streets where the vroom-vrooms go.

This worked for three additional blocks before she discovered her first sidewalk grate. Caroline's a sucker for a new surface, so I let her cross back and forth about 5 times before taking a picture. Once she started picking at the grate, I decided it was time for us to move on. She voiced her disagreement with this for one additional block before we came across a party store. Here, we picked out a small Grover of our own to take home and finished our trip home back in the Ergo.

Wow - this post has certainly meandered a bit. Cutting to the chase, the thrusts of it are: 1. Caroline discovered her first sidewalk grate on Friday and 2. It took us a full hour to get home.

Ever feel like you're in a Family Circus cartoon? All this socialization has gotten me tired.

Blocks!

I've learned to recycle Caroline's toys to keep her freshly entertained (and the Living Room floor from being completely covered). It also helps when there's a toy she can't quite master. Such was the case with the blocks. A thoughtful gift from Bri/Mir/Liz, when the blocks arrived they were mostly regarded by Caroline as 120 uniquely interesting objects to be put in the mouth. For Clay and I, though, they provided endless hours of fun building castles, boats, etc. after she went to bed. After about a month, the blocks were removed from the toy mix.

Flash forward to yesterday and the recycling of the blocks. Caroline caught on to stacking them almost immediately and was quite excited (first picture). Then, she remembered they were also uniquely interesting objects to be put in the mouth (second picture). The third picture shows her trying to stack two with all her might (aka. pushing really hard with two fingers). Tomorrow? Trying to get her to understand that you can stack more than just two at a time.

The Common Language of Genius

Eureka!

Believe you me, I am not the kind that likes to get bogged down by my own minutiae - and I like even less to read about someone else's. However, there's something so incredible about kids' 'firsts' (first ice cream cone, first mouthful of dirt) that I just can't provide Caroline with a story of her early years without including the little details.

So, feel free to skip the minutiae of some posts (labeled 'Eureka'). Like this one-

The Introduction of the Cherry Tomato

Caroline tried cherry tomatoes for the first time yesterday. They were decided to be explosive, and therefore exciting (first picture) - they did not, however, replace mac-n-cheese as her favorite food (second picture).

Lucky #13

Caroline & AJ, best friends ever since Caroline started sharing her meals, now have some else in common. They both have canine teeth! As best as I can tell, Caroline's lower right cuspid broke through sometime during her nap today, causing her to scream. A lot.

This tooth has been plaguing my evening slumber for about a week. This is how the story goes: Sometime between 1 - 3am, Caroline awakes and chats (aka babbles) at length, finally culminating in screams. I respond and am met by Piglet at the crib rail. He has little to say. Caroline, meanwhile, continues her presentation for the others, who are assembled in a circle surrounding her. Only after hugging Piglet, Lamb and Hippo (and sometimes Ernie or Bear) am I allowed to give Caroline a glass of milk. This is followed by some Tylenol and an optional diaper change before returning her to bed, where she sleeps until morning.

Congratulations, Lucky 13.

Climb every mountain

On Tuesday, Caroline scaled the coffee table for the first time, proudly strutting across before realizing she didn't know how to get down. I sure hope she learns soon so I don't have to sit on this thing all summer.

Wednesday night, she learned how to take her shirt off all on her own. This discovery was made at approximately 1:30am, and was immediately followed by the discovery that it is very cold at night without a shirt on. I finally wisened up when I replaced the shirt a second time (around 3:45am). The new, short sleeved shirt stayed on for the remainder of the night.