Cousin Fun

I was upstairs minding my own business instead of Carolyn when Gordon caught Carolyn and Chandler indulging in a little fun. Catch the video on Rachel's blog!

Elmo-wears!

Carolyn has shown numerous signs that she is ready to potty train. I really didn't want to start the process because of things like my giant belly, my aching hips, my extra sensitive nose.

The process started months ago when her cousin potty trained. She was fascinated watching him climb up on the toilet and would periodically ask to do it herself. We got a kid ring to go in our seat, but I never tried to get her to go. I finally decided that she was ready though when she messed a diaper, took it off herself, and climbed on the toilet to finish. Sorry if that's too much information for you all, but most of you are parents.

We went to Target to pick out underwear, and, surprise, Carolyn picked out Elmo ones. She actually calls them her elmo-wears. It is her favorite part of the day to pick out which Elmo design to wear.

She is doing fantastic. We've had accidents sure, but I never thought it would be this easy. It's been four days and two of those are accident-free. I know there's a lot more to do with nap time and night time, but she likes the potty so there just isn't the fighting I thought would happen.


She gets an m&m with each success we have, but this evening, she decided she wanted a Tums. Isn't it sweet she sees her mom eat them like candy right now and just thinks they are so delicious? When she asks for them, I give her the nasty green ones. Fewer of them for me to eat.

A Little Catch Up

We got a replacement AC cord so I can finally take the time to blog. I hope this one lasts longer than 2.5 months.

Carolyn has started swimming lessons at the pool. She loves it. I go in the pool with her and help keep her afloat. I didn't realize how heavy I was feeling from this pregnancy until I got out of the pool the first time. I really noticed the return to full gravity. Her lesson is right before nap time, so we always have a made dash to get her home and in bed before she turns into a beast. I don't think we've made it yet.

We've been to the zoo a lot in the past month. We got a membership pass, which was one of the best choices we made. Carolyn would go to the zoo every day if we let her, especially now there is a newborn elephant. We hear about him quite a bit. Although walking the zoo just about kills my hips and wears me out, it's worth it for Carolyn to take a good nap afterward.

Other than that, it's mostly survival until the baby comes. Unfortunately that's like 12 more weeks away! I think I forgot how big and awkward pregnant ladies get. Or I didn't really notice the first time because I wasn't trying to wrestle a two-year-old girl into a diaper. She is surprisingly strong while I have no core strength whatsoever.

Carolyn has done some adorable things lately, but I can't remember any of them at the moment. Here are the most recent pictures we have. They are over a month old from when Jeremy's parents were here for a visit. Apparently, while I couldn't blog, I also was not motivated to take pictures.

Busy Month

I'm not still in Utah. I made it back without all the drama of flying out there. But since then, Jeremy's parents were here and then my little sister. While she was here, our AC cord went out again for the laptop, effectively curbing my computer time. We are waiting for a replacement, and when we get one, more recent pictures of Carolyn will go up.

Quick Carolyn story before I try to get some sleep:
We were at a friend's house last night watching football when Carolyn climbed up on my lap to take a breather from playing. I asked her if I could have a kiss. She looks at me and thinks about it and tells me no. She then wiggles off my lap, goes over to her 3-year-old friend Mason, takes his face in her hands and plants one on him.

I thought traveling without a child was supposed to be easier!

I can thank my sister for actually amassing enough credits to graduate for my first solo trip. That means without Jeremy and without Carolyn. I love having Carolyn with me, but not the plane rides it takes to get places. The child does not sleep in public. She stopped sleeping at church at 4 months. She rarely falls asleep in cars. And planes, forget about it.

I was looking forward to a nice, leisurely flight down to SLC. I even packed a book in my carry-on to read on the plane.

We left with a little more than two hours until flight time. For those not in the area, that would have put me at the airport with an hour before my flight if we hit rush hour traffic. We didn't hit rush hour traffic. We hit a freaking accident that stopped all eastbound traffic on the freeway. Once we saw ambulances heading toward the site, we realized this was not going to clear up anytime soon. We were close to a light rail station, so Jeremy pulled off the freeway to put me on the MAX. No big deal. I should still get to the airport with 30-40 minutes to spare.

I don't want to bore all you outside Portland with the details, but apparently there is construction on the steel bridge going over the river that has thrown all the light rail lines out of whack. This means instead of getting directly on the Airport line, I would need to board one rail to go to the edge of downtown, hustle my pregnant booty off that rail to a shuttle to take me to the Rose Quarter where I then wait for the line that will take me to the airport. All of this changing meant I watched my buffer zone whittle away. At the Rose Quarter I had to wait 12 minutes before the airport line showed. I know 12 minutes doesn't seem like much, but when it looks like you might miss a flight, it is a long stinking time.

My flight was scheduled to leave at 5:50. The airport line showed up at 5:10. I was told it takes 30 minutes to get to PDX. Argh! We actually arrived at 5:37. Have you ever seen a 5-month pregnant woman booking it through the airport carrying her suitcase?! Well, it isn't very graceful. I managed to be at my gate at 5:47. Out of breath, with my calves cramping (I think the last time I ran was 5 weeks pregnant before the puking took over my body), I called Jeremy to tell him I actually made my flight. Last person on the flight. Was seated for two minutes max before the flight departed.

I will admit that I did pull my book out once I caught my breath twenty minutes into the flight.

Hallelujah for not trying to carry a two-year old through this ordeal! I optimistically believe the rest of this trip will go smoother.

Solo Prayer

Carolyn insisted on saying our family prayer without any assistance. This isn't verbatim, but it's pretty close:

Dear Father,

Thank you for dolly, water, blanket, pillow, Chan Chan, Papa, Baby, Aidan, Ethan, water, dolly. Jesus, Amen.

Saddle Mountain

Jeremy had the great idea to go camping last weekend. He also worked it out so I could plan and pack the whole thing while he just showed up to go after work on Friday. How convenient! We invited my brother's family and had a great time.


The kids were impatient for dinner and the trail mix ended up spilled on the ground. That didn't stop them from snacking. I believe the m&ms were eaten in about 5 seconds flat.


Once dinner was ready, it was delicious. This was my very first dutch oven cooking experience, unless you count girls camp when I was 11. It turned out great!


Ethan, after enjoying some s'mores.


This is Carolyn pretending to sleep in her sleeping bag. Trust me, it was not this easy to get her to bed. She thought the tent was the coolest thing ever and couldn't stop exploring. Jeremy ended up sleeping on the ground in Carolyn's assigned spot, while she joined me on the air mattress. And I ended up on the very edge of the mattress by the time the night was over. She definitely needs a crib to keep her confined while she sleeps!

Daddy-Daughter Bonding Time

Announcing...

Success!

Photographic evidence that Carolyn sleeps without her pacifier now. It was much easier than expected, but Jeremy and I were too traumatized to try again after the disaster in December.

Oregon Zoo

Beginning of the trip:

End of the trip:

Today's high was supposed to be 77. Well, we left the zoo when it hit 90. Carolyn is still recovering, but she at least she LOVED the elephants.

We are trying again...

Back in December we posted about Carolyn's ability to scream for almost 6 straight hours when we tried to put her down without her pacifier. Jeremy was the one who gave in that time and I admit to being so tired I didn't put up much of a fight. So for the last seven months, one of us has gotten up to give Carolyn dropped binkies at least once a night. Jeremy carried the bulk of this responsibility when I became pregnant and getting out of bed to move was enough to make me run for the bathroom. We're passed that stage, but I still let him get up. Saturday night he was up 3 times (I only heard one. I must have been tired). He finally decided he would withstand her crying and we would start to wean her from her pacifier at sleep times.

Sunday morning, she colored a box and we put all the binkies away so she could give them to the new baby. And she was fine. Until nap time. Then she was the saddest little girl I have ever seen. We didn't have a tantrum, just quiet crying while she asked for a binky. I didn't think she'd actually fall asleep. She never has before without a pacifier in her mouth. But she did. We got 20 glorious minutes. She also did a great job for her first night. It was not easy and I imagined trying to get through the day without any sleep at all. But I was able to sleep from 11-4:45. Not ideal, but it will get better. We are very proud of her. And Jeremy has promised not to give in.

Who doesn't want to look like a Disney boy?

Carolyn has what I call "Disney boy hair." It is the oh-so-flattering hairstyle where you comb your hair from the back of your head forward. I'm sure you've seen it. It's quite common these days, but usually not on little girls.

Exhibit 1: Some dude from a Disney show. He was also in Adam Sandler's Big Daddy, but his hair didn't look like this then.



Exhibit 2: Some dude from Hannah Montana. You can ignore the girl. Her hair looks fine.
As you can see, Carolyn rocked this hairstyle. There wasn't much we can do about it. Her hair just tended to grow this way. A comb was pretty useless, gel didn't have much hold. Pigtails worked great, but she tried to pull them out all day.


But last week it finally became time to give those bangs a trim. It's amazing it took two years of hair growth for her bangs to finally get in her eyes, but this was really past due.


Here's her hair before:


and after:


It surprised me how making her bangs a little shorter helped the rest of her hair part in a style I appreciate a lot more. We'll be trimming them again shortly because they grow fast and seem to be longer than this picture shows. But I am willing to give her a trim every few weeks just to keep the hair out of her face and make her look a little less like Zac Efron.

Family Photos

I am pretty sure I am done with picture studios. Carolyn's 18-month photos turned out so well without all the hassle of the mall, so we used my friend again for her 2-year photos. I just think Megan's better than the studios. Plus, Carolyn knows her and is willing (periodically) to let me step back and cheese for the camera by herself. How nice!





We even let Megan take some family pictures. It is not as easy to get cute pictures of the parents as it is to get cute pictures of just Carolyn.




And here, this does not look like I am only 17 weeks along, but, man, my daughter sure looks cute!

Popcorn Popping

For those who requested it (Uncle Joseph) and any one else too, here is a video of Carolyn singing to Popcorn Popping. It's not the best quality or her most enthusiastic performance, but it's so hard to get anything on tape anymore because she just cheeses at the camera or runs willy nilly through the house.