We're on the wetlands boardwalk in Bethabara Nature Preserve here.

The family just got back from a walk in the Bethabara Park trails. Here we're in Stranger's Graveyard, because it's Halloween. There were a few tombstones and many more gravesites marked with the pictured wooden stakes. The graves date from the mid-1700s. Caroline does not appear too concerned about the ghosts of the dead.

It was a pretty lazy day at Caroline's house. Last night we were unable to follow through on our plan to ween her from sleeping with us, so consequently we were all pretty tired this morning. I took her for a walk over to the school this afternoon. It was 80 degrees out. The football team had won their game so students were throwing toilet paper in the trees on the quad. Caroline does not approve of such wasteful behavior, at least until she's old enough to participate.

The family walked over to Cheryl's school's happy hour. Caroline's outfit was quite the hit. There are a mess of pictures with classmates holding her, but I like this one the most. Cheryl went out to dinner with some of her classmates while I walked Caroline home. She took a bath and went to sleep with little protest. This picture is dedicated to Grandma Libby with the hope that she will update Grandpa Ira's cell phone outgoing voicemail message - the content is fine, but Verizon recorded it poorly.

Although it's only October 29th, Caroline won't be appreciated by others this weekend, so we've put on her halloween outfit for today's happy hour. I'll take a better pic this afternoon after she wakes from her well-earned nap - getting carted back and forth to the school twice already is tough work.

Just like her daddy, Caroline prefers the DP.

As I type, blood-curdling shrieks are echoing down the hall from Caroline's room. Her sleeping has devolved into 30 minute stretches of rest punctuated (loudly) by these yelps, wails, and throat numbing screams. Why, Caroline? We fed you, changed you, and gave you Tylenol to ease the pain of the newly erupted teeth. What happened to ruin your full nights of slumber? Was it something I said? Is there a boo-boo ghost in your room that wakes you up? What is it? Huh?

Jay has either "rescued" her from her crib, or she's given up. We're attempting to simply reassure her that she's ok now when she cries instead of picking her up. The internet offers no other suggestions that we're willing to take.

Nothing to report - Caroline and I slept in the living room last night to give Cheryl a better chance at restful sleep. It's damp and dreary out today and Caroline is currently napping on my lap, so we probably won't go on any adventures.

It was rainy out this afternoon, so we went over to the mall. I have a new favorite outfit - this waffle onesie I picked up at Old Navy. Once she's big enough, Caroline will be wearing it nearly everyday, just like her daddy and his waffle shirts.

A reluctant celebrant wishes Aunt Cristen a happy birthday!

Caroline was not a happy camper last night. She slept very poorly until about 9:30 this morning. I fed her 4 ounces at 10:30. After she ate, she talked to Grandpa Ira on speakerphone.

Another bad night for Caroline - but we think the worst may be over soon. This afternoon, Cheryl pointed out a tooth breaking through the lower gums. Caroline and I tried to vote again after lunch - we went to the main election office where the lines were reportedly much shorter. The reports were wrong. Instead we took a walk on the Strollway through downtown to Old Salem where this picture was taken.

When letting Caroline gnaw on my index finger earlier today I felt something awfully sharp on my skin. Upon further investigation, I discovered that her lower right gum had parted a smidge, and a shiny little tooth was beginning to poke through the surface.

Is there a greeting card I should get her to commemorate this momentous day?

Someone isn't going gently. This was taken a few minutes ago.

Old Town Park, Caroline looking dignified, even in a bib.

While Cheryl did her school work, I took Caroline to Old Town Park to check out the foliage. We encountered many many mosquitos on the .5 mile walking trail. Here Casey is holding her in front of some very colorful trees.

Jay and Caroline are out hiking. I'm taking five from reading and taking notes 175 pages of mind-numbingly dull and repetitive interviews that I have to use to construct a 3-page section of a paper that my team has to turn in on Friday. Not fun. Today I turned in a write-up of a case for my Quantitative Methods class that should earn me a guffaw or 19 from my professor. My partner and I worked on it for nearly 20 hours over the weekend, yet we failed to come up with an analysis we found satisfactory. Oh well. Tonight I get to meet with my study team at 8 pm to work on another project we have to turn in tomorrow morning.

I really, really hope Caroline sleeps for at least 4 straight hours tonight. I'm so tired I'm nauseated.

I know, I know...call the waaaah-mbulance. :)

Caroline has been extremely needy the last few nights, so we've been in a sleep-deprived haze. She's been sleeping a lot during the day to compensate for keeping us up at night. We went to the tailgate for the homecoming game on Saturday, but I have no photos to prove it. Yesterday she mostly napped. She's hanging out in her playpen now and we plan on going for a hike later - it's supposed to be much warmer today than it has been for the last week. Since about Tuesday, she's been sitting up in her playpen and picking up her stuffed animals and toys with increasing dexterity. I think she'll be ready to start stuffing envelopes and assembling pens and generally earning some money very soon.

It's homecoming this weekend at the school, so the family walked over to my old fraternity. There was only one alum that showed up that I knew, my grand big brother Jason Conley, pictured here with his wife Sandra and a curious Caroline. I don't know if Jason has the most experience holding babies; of course I still hold non-Caroline babies like this.

We walked over to the early voting place, but thanks to my impatience, were disenfranchised again. This picture was taken about 5 minutes before the site even opened - the wait is about an hour and a half. Is there some sort of ballot shortage that I'm unaware of? I can understand the retirees waiting around, but there were plenty of people around my age, some with little kids. Caroline voted no on the decision whether to stay.

Caroline and I went to go vote yesterday afternoon, but the line ran around the building. Kinda defeats the purpose of early voting. So we bought a fish. We'll try to vote again today.

Caroline ate about 6 ounces starting at 10:30. Unfortunately, I wasn't quick enough with refilling the bottle, and she wasn't pleased. She's cool now.

Caroline was in max-crankiness mode last night; perhaps she really is a Yankees fan. She's sleeping now, but not well.

Flipping* Red Sox.

*Euphemized for Caroline's protection.

Since tonight could be their last game, Caroline is showing support for Cheryl's favorite team. Strangely, Caroline appears happy to be in this outfit - can she be rooting for the evil empire as well? And from the why-didn't-we-get-one-of-these-five-months-ago department, we now have a pacifier clip (the pooh bear in the center of her outfit) to prevent the frequent floor trips for her unfortunate cryhole plugs.

Caroline woke up about 9:45. She ate 4 ounces, using a new fast flow nipple, starting around 10. She dribbled 1 ounce, using a new fast flow nipple, on her face, pajamas and couch.

I thought this picture captured the increasing entropy of our home appropriately. I took Caroline over to the school for an afternoon feeding. We then took Cheryl's car to get the driver's side window fixed, and the estimated hour for the job ended up lasting closer to three. Caroline was not happy being strapped in her stroller; I tried to walk around the building to calm her down, but there were quite a few showers that moved through the area. She only managed a few short naps this afternoon, and was super cranky by the time we got home at 5:15. I fed her a little more rice cereal tonight, which she seemed to enjoy but was unable to swallow much. Her favorite sense continues to be taste - everything she grabs gets a licking - so putting a spoon in her mouth isn't very difficult. This picture was taken immediately following her feeding about 6:15 - Cheryl wasn't home from school yet (very busy this week) - and Caroline had me on the ropes. The house is in disarray; there's been little time to clean since returning on Sunday, but hopefully that will change tomorrow after a thorough recharge tonight.

Caroline napped from 8 until about 10, then ate 6 ounces starting at 10:15.

Such a milestone gets two pictures. We fed Caroline solid food for the first time this evening. She ate like an intoxicated champ, putting approximately a tablespoon of rice cereal in her mouth before spitting approximately a tablespoon of rice cereal out.

After staring at us eat for a couple weeks now, we decided she could join the fun. Caroline "enjoys" her first solid food.

Caroline is back on schedule after a wild weekend. She went to bed about 8pm last night and only asked for one night time feeding. This morning she took her normal long nap, and was all smiles when she awoke. We walked over to the school around 11:15 for some fresh milk. She took her usual short naps around noon and around 3. This picture was taken about 3:30 on the path between the school and Reynolda Village where we went on an afternoon walk. Made her giggle for the first time by lightly bopping her in the stomach with an empty water bottle. She's currently sleeping on my lap, where she's been out since about 4:20.

Caroline was nearly perfect on the plane ride home, only crying a bit on the descent. Her cries were easily overshadowed by another shrieking baby, thus making Caroline the good baby. And she wasn't a sour pea on the car ride from the airport, like she was in NJ.

Caroline with the Atlantic Ocean behind her - she's visited both coasts now.

Immediately to the south of the Silver Apple is the Sawmill bar and pizza stand, where a young and inebriated pre-Caroline couple wasted many brain cells. In the background on the left is Kupper's French Fry stand, where I worked for a few summers.

While all the women were getting their hair done for Aunt Carrie's wedding, I took Caroline for a walk on the Seaside boardwalk this morning. She seemed more interested in chewing on her hat than checking out her parents' former hangouts. Here she's in front of the Silver Apple Surf Shop, Cheryl's place of employ for many summers. In the center background is Miss Lillian, a psychic with a store front a few feet north of the Silver Apple. When I was 18 or 19, Miss Lillian gave me a palm reading - she said I'd get married when I was 28 (correct), and I'd have 3 boys (although not technically incorrect yet, very very unlikely now). I said hi to her when we walked by, but she did not indicate she remembered me. Briefly considered getting Caroline's palm read.

We're going away this afternoon and returning Sunday, so this is probably the last post until then. Hopefully Caroline will sleep on the plane. She woke up around 8, napped from 9 until 9:40, and ate 6 ounces at 10. We danced and sang, then I read her a book before she started this nap around 11:50.

Caroline was frequently mistaken for a boy today despite the tiny flowers on the legs of the pants. I had to wake her up earlier than normal, around 9am, to run some errands. She was pretty lethargic, but well-behaved. We got home around 11. She ate 5.5 ounces starting about 11:15. After some torturous karaoke (although she seemed to enjoy, leading me to suspect she's tone deaf), she napped from about 1:20pm until 2.

Caroline just finished 5 ounces starting at 10:30am. She napped from 8 until 10.

Caroline is 5 months old today!

Caroline slept from 2 to 3:30pm. She ate about 4.5 ounces starting at 4pm.

In a development sure to please her mom, Caroline refuses to sing along to Cheryl's least favorite karaoke song, Love Shack; instead, not surprisingly, she prefers to lick the microphone.

The symptoms of teething here describe our Caroline perfectly. She was an angel at dinner tonight with our friends, but a few minutes after we returned home, she started shrieking. She's been in bed for about two hours, and has already been rocked back to sleep once. Maybe I should just plan on being awake most of the night...

Caroline was again very fussy last night, but we didn't hesitate to bring her to bed with us when she refused to fall back asleep in her crib at 6:30am. We all got up around 9:30. Here Cheryl and Caroline check their email together.

Caroline and Jay are out for some shopping while I work on a take-home exam. Blech. This exam stuff would be a lot easier had I gotten any sleep last night. Caroline seems to require little if any shut-eye after 2:30am these days. What happened to the blissful full nights of sleep she used to give us back in month #4? Also, she has discontinued the cute, contented cooing that would summon me to her room in the dark of night in favor of blood-curdling shrieks. There is no difference in my response time, and my reaction to the yelling is decidedly more negative, so I'm wondering what the cause of this could be.

Perhaps it's high time to begin the Tylenol/Orajel medicating in earnest. So far we've held off, but those little gums are looking more and more swollen with teeth...

We failed to time Caroline's napping correctly, and she got tired before we wanted her to go to sleep for the night, so we decided to give her a longer bath. Here she's preparing for her bath, in her helpful diaper change position - she grabs and lifts her legs to help us out. Hopefully tonight she'll sleep in past 6:30am.

Caroline is stoked for the pig races, the big draw for the Dixie Classic.

Caroline missed the cat portion of the pet circus, but since this trick here where the cat is going between platforms on parallel bars was worth the price of admission alone, I'm posting it for her future enjoyment.

Here we had just explained which of the canned foods had won ribbons, and Caroline was obviously surprised with a few of the judges' selections.

In the Education Pavilion, we viewed the artwork, photography, and of course, canning competitions.

We ran into one of Cheryl's classmates and his 13 month old boy at the fair. The relationship between Caroline and Aaron may not be off to the best start.

Cheryl has fall break today, so we're going to the Dixie Classic Fair!

Next time, I need to bring a photographer - I took about thirty pictures of the two of us by holding the camera myself, and there were maybe four usable shots.

Some of the hike failed to hold her interest.

Caroline and I went on a 2 hour hike on Bethabara Trail and Bethabara Greenway. On the way back, she started getting antsy, so I figured (correctly) it was time for a diaper change. Within a seconds after putting on the one clean diaper I brought along, she soiled it something fierce. The remaining 30 minutes back to the car and more diapers was not pleasant for the little one. Lesson learned.

Caroline in the parking lot as I prepare for our hike, wisely packing only one diaper.

She fell asleep. We're sitting on the glider now. Hike this afternoon.

Caroline woke up around 9am. She just finished eating 5 ounces, starting at 10:25. If she isn't sleepy, I'm going to take her on a hike.

Caroline napped a bit and played a bit this morning. She got hungry around 10am; I was heating her some milk when I took this picture. She ate about 3 ounces because Cheryl will be home around 11:30 to feed her again.

Cheryl was around for most of the feedings, but we were cutting it close here, as our hungry Caroline began to get a bit grumpy. Minutes after this picture, Cheryl came home with a new driver's license and registration, relieving a lot of stress, and Caroline was happier for it too. We took a very long walk through campus after she ate, and then had some quality peek-a-boo playtime. For the last couple days, whenever we cover her face with a sheet or her bib, she gasps, and when we remove it she's all smiles. Super cute - I'll have to get some video of it.

I'm itching to take Caroline for a walk, but she's been asleep for about an hour and a half now. Entertain me, wee one!

We tried to get Caroline to take some longer naps today so we could take her to a family friendly party after her normal bedtime, but she was having none of it. Took her shopping for an hour this afternoon, where she was able to score us food for the week using only her good looks and my credit card. The frog hand puppet/washcloth is the current sure-fire way to get her to stop crying.

Caroline caught up on a lot of sleep today - perhaps she's having a growth spurt. She napped much of the morning and afternoon. She had all fresh milk today, so there was nothing to report to Cheryl, ostensibly the purpose of the blog. We went to the mba happy hour(s), where she got plenty of attention. After her bath this evening, she's currently sleeping on me in the glider while I'm watching random videos on atom films and writing this update.