As a team, Caroline and Emma create far greater havoc than the sum of the parts. They're usually pretty cool for the first 10 or 15 minutes of shopping, and then realize that with just a bit of whining, they'll be able to get out of their seat in the cart and run around. Then the real test of boundaries begins, and nothing is safe. Here, with the promise of some sweet Costco berry smoothie, they take a break and plot their next move.

After a fabulous trip to The Little Gym, where Caroline got to do some bar swinging, and some forward rolling, and some sad boy comforting, we enjoyed a cuddle on the couch before she cuddled up with her baby doll and her bears and went to sleep, where she gets to be a viking.

Caroline got her first taste of death this morning. Carny, the Dixie Classic Fair goldfish, expired sometime overnight. Tasty, her betta, has been on his last fin for a while, so we were a bit surprised at the Fish Reaper's choice. After a brief memorial service this morning, where Caroline was obviously distraught, Carny had a proper burial at sea.

Today, Caroline and I enjoyed some quality time giggling and laughing on the couch. While she was cackling, I happened to notice that her bottom 2-year molars have poked through her gums way, way in the back. My attempts to feel around for the top ones were thwarted by her bites, but I bet those are soon to appear.

In other news, Caroline went with Emma, Ethan and Owen to the Children's Museum today. Emma is upset here, but we couldn't figure out why. The other three pictures taken today were far worse.

After spending about an hour this evening chatting with Gab and Rose via webcam, Caroline suddenly became camera shy when I wanted to take a still shot for the blog. She was pretty lethargic most of the day, likely recovering from a late night and the biting. However, once she got into the videoconference, she was a talking machine.

Happy Thanksgiving! Nicole and Ben cooked up quite a delicious feast over at their place, and we were happy to eat a bunch of it. Their home was packed to the gills with adults and children under 5. The kids had a great time running around in the 66 degree weather, which none of them were really dressed for since the local weather forecaster undershot the temperature by a good 20 degrees. Thanks, Inaccuweather. Luckily, most of us parents had layered, so no harm done.

Anyway, after Jay and I gorged on the tasty, tasty victuals, Caroline got into a bit of a tussle with Alanah over the day's hotly contested ridey toy. Caroline lost when Alanah gave her a super-nasty face chomping. I tried to tell her not to mess with a kid who's got 6 months on her, because might makes right and violence wins arguments. Maybe next time, she'll heed my advice.


The bite didn't break the skin, but as you can tell from the pictures, it left quite a painful looking mark.

My poor wee one. You can see every toothmark.

We delighted Caroline by inviting Emma and her parents over for a pre-Thanksgiving dinner tonight. The girls spent a lot of time stealing matching items from one another and shrieking with glee/anger. They also did some serious reading on the chair before scaling the kitchen cabinets, blindly searching for knives on the counters.

It's been cold and rainy, and Caroline has been restless. We got out of the house for a few shopping trips over the last two days, but haven't had nearly enough outdoor activity to keep her happy.

While I gathered dinner, Cheryl got some good exercise carting Caroline around on her back.

Caroline woke up about 45 minutes earlier than normal this morning, thanks to Friday's loud pre-dawn garbage collection. Thankfully, she took 4 hours of quality naps with us today. She's pictured with her new favorite stuffed animal, a Care Bear, that she swiped from me (it was an anniversary gift from Cheryl). I'll give her another day or so before I swipe it back.

A winner! At the suggestion of Dr. Kribbs, we've introduced some Kraft Singles into Caroline's diet. She ate two full slices right before bed, adding 140 calories and 10 grams of fat to her diet today. We're hoping she keeps with the cheese love, not just for the calories, but because everything's better with cheese.

The daytime high went from 75 yesterday to 50 today. Caroline's been fighting a mild cold the last few days, so we skipped an outdoor playgroup this morning. Instead, we went to the Children's Museum with Emma and Alanah, and the three girls tore the place apart.

Caroline and Emma hit Costco this afternoon. Caroline quickly finished her sundae while Emma savored hers. Caroline remained a delightful tot all afternoon and into the evening, before seriously losing her composure in the few minutes between the end of her bath and her bedtime.

Caroline had a rather traumatic visit with Dr. Kribbs (formerly Dr. Myers) this morning. If the two innoculations jabbed into her thigh weren't enough, a finger-prick hemoglobin test definitely pushed her over the edge. She shrieked and flailed for a good 20 minutes, fighting Nurse Amber's attempts to bandage her finger. Despite the pain, Caroline reluctantly accepted a toy duck from her sworn enemy, Nurse Amber, as we left the office. After a quiet car ride home, Jay reported that Caroline passed out on the couch around 10:10 and napped for about an hour and a half.

She is currently all smiles and rainbows, playing with some change that she's putting in and out of her jeans pockets. It seems she's not holding this morning's torturous events against us.

Oh, yes. Her 18 month stats:

Head: 18.75 inches - 75th%ile
Height: 32.5 inches - 75th%ile
Weight: 20 lbs. 6 oz. - 3-5%ile

We have plans to add more fatty, cheesy goodness to our little one's diet.

Despite having a little cough and a runny nose, Caroline was a bundle of energy today. We kept her indoors to hopefully have her recovered in time for her vaccinations on Tuesday, but she tore the place apart. Her new game today was emptying out a cabinet in our living room entertainment center, climbing in, shutting the door, and babbling to herself. It was very cute.

Today, Caroline is 18 months old, and she's cuter than ever. Despite her being uncharacteristically taciturn at today's tailgate (Wake was whupped by Miami(FL)), my classmates were still ooh-ing and aah-ing over her unassailable adorableness. I don't think we have pics, but she wore a rather awesome green, flouncy jogging suit today that Aunt Roberta gave her the last time we were in NJ. Even Joan Rivers would have plotzed.

Caroline and Aaron got a good workout at the Children's Museum this morning.



Cheryl and Jay got a good workout on a long walk this afternoon.

Caroline was a sweet, sweet angel for 10 minute periods today, broken up by good long stretches of irrational crankiness. We went to playgroup this morning, and she really enjoyed the slides and the toy truck she's holding here.

This evening we went out to Mexican food with Emma (also cranky) and Aaron. Crayons were eaten and soda was spilled. Good times.

In what will likely be the last nice day (80 degrees) for a bit, Caroline hit the park for a few hours this afternoon with Aaron, Emma, and Matthew. Caroline got another healthy coating of dirt for the fourth day in a row, and all the exercise is doing wonders for her bedtime routine.

Following a swell morning nap, Caroline and I walked over to vote in the thrilling local elections. There were only two things to choose, the mayor and a councilman for our district, and the mayor was running unopposed. I think I chose that one correctly. Anyway, the polling place was empty - at 2pm, we were the 80th voter - and Caroline amused the bored attendant.

Another weekday, another trip to Costco with Emma. The girls had some smoothies and ran around a bunch before descending into crabbiness and whining.



After a good afternoon nap, we hit the playground, where the Potts twins and Riley also happened to be hanging out.

Caroline and I hit the park this afternoon; she coated herself in dirt while getting a great workout. Here we're cooling down and posing for some pictures in front of the brilliant fall foliage.

Tonight Emma brought her mom and dad over for dinner. Caroline enjoyed chasing Emma (or as she says, "Memma") all around the house. We adults enjoyed my delish baked ziti and some Karaoke Revolution competition while our girls enjoyed a Cookie Crisp feeding frenzy.

The family joined Emma and her dad at Indian food for lunch. The girls pretty much ignored their food and concentrated on which one could make the most noise. However, to my delight, after years of declaring Indian food disgusting, Cheryl actually enjoyed quite a bit of it - so there will likely be future trips back to the restuarant for Caroline to get her feed on.

This evening Caroline got to stomp around the house in her fly boots.

Caroline and Emma at playgroup today.



Caroline and Emma holding hands at Emma's house.



Caroline loves putting on my sneakers. Caroline woke us up at about 5:45am, and although she went back to sleep and later took a nap, I didn't. Hence the lame captions.

Caroline and Aaron hit the park this afternoon. Besides wrestling with Aaron and getting covered in sand, Caroline had a fantastic time running up the jungle gym and sliding down the big slide on her own.

We also spent some significant time practicing words. One word Caroline won't do is "yes". Every question, even non-sensical ones, are answered with a "no" and a shake of her head. For far too long, Caroline has found this quite amusing.

Caroline joined Emma and Aaron at Costco this morning for a sample-eating binge, and then hit the Little Gym this evening with Matthew. Sadly, my digital still camera has gone missing, so I'm stuck with poor quality stills from the video camera, and it didn't make the trip to either activity.