Teeth

Does anyone's kid actually let them brush the teeth? Carolyn is more than willing to have a toothbrush and some toothpaste. She immediately sucks off the toothpaste and insists on more. Today, we had a compromise, she could carry around the mini tube with the cap on, and refill her brush to her heart's content. I never said she was the smartest kid in town.

Seriously though, for kids under 2, does anyone get real brushing in? My doctor just told me this is why we have baby teeth. At least he's not judging me.

Fun with Chan Chan

For those who don't know, Carolyn has a cousin who is a mere two months older than she is. She loves him. A lot. I could convince her to eat worms if that meant she could go see Chan Chan (better known as Chandler).

Now that Carolyn speaks, she asks for Chandler at least 4 separate times a day. And if I should accidentally say his name whilst doing something else, that is the one word she hears and she repeats it ad nauseum for the next 15 minutes, periodically tearing at my heart by looking out the front window to see if Chan Chan is coming up the walk.

So days like this one about two weeks ago are her absolute favorite. We went to the mall to enjoy a play structure. After lunch, everyone got milkshakes.



And then! We saw Chandler later in the day too. Not only that, but she got to share his swing.

Without so much as a learner's permit

Just so you know, I wasn't present for this. I ran into the store with Carolyn buckled into her car seat, safely tucked in the back seat. After picking up the few items on my list as quickly as possible, I returned to find Carolyn trying to take the car out for a spin. Aunt Bean is not the best chaperone.

Picking my tunes

Checking the lights

Taking this baby for a spin!

Siamese Swinging

I don't know if this video will embed properly. Hopefully, it will. We had a park trip with the Wildes and the little cousins got in some quality swinging time together. They swung for awhile and as soon as we got the video going, Chandler decided he was finished. You can hear Carolyn saying no as Angelina stops the swing. She wasn't quite ready to be done. WARNING: The video can be a little motion-sickness inducing. But it's still cute!

Shoe Shopping

Carolyn: Do you have anything in my size?

Chandler: You, my dear, are a perfect size 6.

Best Buds

Don't turn your back

Oh, how quickly this--

turns into this--

Fur Rondy

To celebrate swapping dead animal pelts, Anchorage throws a festival every February called Fur Rendezvous. This means we have a carnival in the dead of winter. We took Carolyn. She loved it, but apparently, even though she rode everything at Disneyland, she's too stinking short for most of the rides, even if I go with her. They wouldn't even let her ride the ferris wheel!













We found one guy who let Carolyn go for a spin, and she thought it was the best thing ever.















We caught some fish. We traded our animal pelts for a stuffed pig and lamb.

Party Girl

Getting ready for a night on the town

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Coming home

Good Morning Baltimore!

Angel wanted to document the three of us at Hairspray together

Why is she so bad at taking pictures?!

This will do.

We do have a picture of Kara, Angel, and me after Hairspray, but no decent pictures were taken before the show started. We had a grand ol' time at the show. Penny Pingleton is hilarious. I thought she was much better than in the movie. Who knew Broadway shows would rather tour to Anchorage than Portland?

In town square there are ice sculptures. Most are slightly melted and bear little resemblance to the artist's original intent. I was told this was supposed to be Mickey Mouse.

All I see is a blob with ears.

I got tired though so we had to go home.

PS: Dad, Carolyn is still cute.

Dancing Squid

This post is for Jeremy. We took this cute little video at lunch today. Thought you would enjoy it.

Did we really do this in public?

It's vacation, so we are going to all my favorite restaurants where I grew up. One big difference--I have a toddler now. One who even prior to this trip was trying to assert her independence/codependence at meal times. She has to be practically on top of me while she eats, but, aside from that, she will do everything herself--this includes eating ketchup with a spoon and picking up the goblet of water. My goal these days is to make it through the meal. You can see from my face that I was thoroughly enjoying the mess Carolyn was making. I wish we had a close up of her face from this picture. It is thoroughly slimed.




This was a cold turkey sandwich. Apparently, halfway through eating it, Carolyn decided it was too hot. She needed to cool it down.

How do parents get their toddlers to stay seated for meals? I understand it is asking a lot at restaurants because they don't have their boosters and it's something exciting and new. But at home? The first picture could have been taken at our dinner table. If we try to force her to sit in her booster, she cries and refuses to eat. Sometimes, like the days Jeremy works 14 hours, I can't handle listening to the crying and I let her sit on my lap. So do I just have to let her starve if she won't sit in her own seat? What's the deal here?

Sledding

Two things first. This trip was immediately a success because we were able to get Carolyn out of the house without the blasted binky. We are no longer a "only at sleeptime" family. And now she actually knows the word for it and looks under couches on a mission to find it. BUT, we did get some really cute pictures without it covering half her face. The second thing is that we are heavy on the pictures. That is what happens when Dad is still in Portland. These are for his benefit. But you may enjoy them as well!!

Taking Carolyn out for a ride

That's a tow strap through the toboggan handles--

very convenient for pulling

Carolyn enjoyed this little hill, but in the end it was too wienie .

We moved on to bigger, steeper hills. We are the small dots at the top.

Her pink snowsuit makes her much more visible than I am.

This is us mid-ride. I have no idea what Carolyn is doing,

but she "wheed" and giggled the whole way down

As soon as the sled stopped,

Carolyn was off my lap trying to head up for more.

On the way home. Mom is tired from carrying her up the hill and jogging across the snow.

This is by far Carolyn's favorite thing we have done this trip. She loved riding on the toboggan and going fast (this meant Mom was running up hills pulling her--that tired me out quick). We took her home against her will because it was bed time. I know people think the sun never rises here, but these pictures are dark for a legitimate reason, it was 7:30 pm when we left the house. We will definitely be doing more sledding while we are here.

Where a kid can be a kid!

Chuck E. Cheese's is my new best friend. Carolyn ran and ran to her heart's content today. We met some friends this morning and we played until nap time. Hallelujah. It kept Carolyn out of the kitchen and away from the floor installers. The floor is now in and looks great and won't be keeping Carolyn so restrained anymore.

More Snow!

My parents are remodeling their kitchen and the new floor was being installed today. This means that the living room is packed with furniture. With little room and loud noise from the installers, Carolyn and I decided to head outside.

Carolyn needed a snack before heading outside. The glove had to come off so she could have her fruit snacks.

Walking into the back yard.

The snow was only up to her waist, but it still made it impossible for her to move anywhere. Truthfully, she didn't really enjoy this expedition. I tried to let her run around the driveway after this, but she just wanted to go inside. Poor girl, she spent the rest of the day begging to "GO!" She's got a bit of cabin fever with the remodel going on. But she's doing quite well.

Fan Hair

A good friend has two treadmills, so I took Carolyn over today to get a run in without all the snow and cold. Between stops to keep her little body away and time for cuddles, I got in almost three miles! It felt nice to run again after my break for laziness. The fan set up to keep us cool was a big hit with the children. Here are some little pictures of Carolyn styling her hair with it.