Fun with food

Like most other children, Caroline sees food as both something to keep her going and something that should be played with at every opportunity. Normally when she starts playing with it, that's a sign that she's had her fill. Evidence of her creativity with her food is attached. One is with a banana peel, the other is what you can do with mashed potatos. Yes, we know she'll get even with us one day for posting these. Also included is a video - the bottle she chose to drink out of was a little big.

Dancing

Music has always attracted Caroline's attention. She loves the birthday cards that play music, music books and the TV or the radio gets her going. Her dancing is improving and she's adding new moves. Here's a demo. She kept this up for about 20 minutes.

Play time

Caroline loves her bikes. She has a smaller one and a larger one she received as a present but is only now big enough to ride. Here's a video of her after she bumped into the wall with it. She wanted some privacy.

Unfortunately for the dogs, she likes to climb on them too. Barkley runs away when she gets close. Bella, being the mild-mannered one (and a bit braver), stays put. Not sure she will keep it up as Caroline gets older. The second video shows why.

Snow storms

Hi,

We've had 3 snow storms since we've moved and another is due tomorrow. Fortunately, not a lot of snow in the first ones but the high winds made things difficult to ge around. We were warned our area gets higher winds since we're on a prairie area. Here's what it looked like.

Update from Colorado

HI,

Sorry for the delay in updates. The house is starting to resemble an actual living space and not a box collection. The computer is up and running so here are some pictures in no particular order from the last month or so.

Walt and Cindy

Giving Aunt Rosie a kiss!

Giving Grandpa a kiss

Caroline meets Lucy

The VCR bit me!!

I just gave my lunch to Barkley ;)

Now that I'm in here....

Think I can get up the steps before they know?

Caroline with her cousin Cassidy

Caroline's 1st Birthday

Hi,
Some way-delayed pictures from Caroline's 1st Birthday are below. She enjoyed her cupcakes immensely.

Moving status

Hi All,

We're set to move at the end of the month. Movers come for an early shipment of stuff on Monday with the rest being picked up next week. The first shipment will be basic necessities...aero bed, pots/pans, some dishes, some clothes etc. Basically what we'd need to survive.

Friends we have in CO are lending us baby stuff like a high chair and related stuff which will lighten our airliner load significantly. We already dropped off a duffle bag of winter clothes when we were there last week. They have a month to get our stuff there but I don't think it'll take that long.

The current plan, subject to change, is we fly off the island on Aug 27th. We'll be working out a direct flight to Denver so we don't have to worry about switching flights with the dogs. It's an issue in itself but when you add in the summer heat, not a good idea. Naturally, wrestling with the AF approvals requires extra work since we won't fly directly to C-Springs.

Walking

Caroline's walking abilities are improving with each day. I'll admit it's pretty funny watching her walk after she wakes up from a nap - balance isn't there. Once she's awake, she's pretty confident. The video below was taken this week in our back yard. The trip you see is about the 4th lap to the gate and back.

New House

Hi all,

Our househunting trip was successful. After seeing nearly 30 houses in 2.5 days, we put in an offer which was accepted. The house is in a town called Peyton CO located east of Colorado Springs. We walked away with a great deal, tt had everything we wanted and is only a 15 min ride to work for me.

If you want to look at the details and a virtual tour, the details are at the links below. We literally double the living area compared to our present house, get a very nice plot of land for the dogs to run around and (really important) a huge garage that'll handle our cars and probably a guest's as well! No more digging the car out of the snow after a storm. For visitors, we'll have 2 guestrooms. So you don't have to wait, here's a picture of the house.

FYI, Caroline did a great job and didn't get too upset despite getting in/out of the car every 20 min. She did have a mild meltdown the night before we left but with all that went on and having 2 new teeth coming in, no big deal.



http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/7203-Sylamore_Peyton_CO_80831_1107716519

http://tours.bo9.net/public/vtour/display/4052?a=1&

SHE'S WALKING!!!!

Yep, Caroline is mobile in every way!

The day care folks said she'd taken a step or two and we'd seen her try but it seemed to be more like the step before/during the impending fall. Tonight she changed all of that.

Caroline took 3 steps from her push cart to the coffee table this evening without any prompting from her parents. She did it again a couple more times later on so it's not a fluke. Our guess is when she thinks too much about it, she falls. The first steps we watched tonight were all driven by the need to grab her Dad's flying magazine on the table.

She knows it's cool too - you can tell she knows it'll get her more places and more stuff. The cheers her parents let out sort of encouraged that view.

We'll try to get a video shot and load it up. Just wanted to let you know we'll be working even harder to keep up with Caroline.

Hope all is well.

Update

Sorry for a lack of updates...been a bit busy.

A short-notice trip to Colorado Springs for work set up a house-hunting trip at Uncle Sam's expense. We didn't put in any offers of course but did manage to find out what the area has to offer and have our eyes on a couple of candidates. The average house is above 3K square feet and costs around $300K for what we want. Twice the house at half the cost of Hawaii! We'll definitely have room for guests. Our plan is to do a serious house-hunting trip at the end of July. Hopefully we'll find the house we want and know where we're living before we move...imagine that!

Caroline continues on her high-speed ways. She climbs the steps without hesitation now which means the gates definitely go up when we're downstairs. She's not quite ready to take that first step. It's a matter of balance and not strength. Give her a couple more weeks. Until then Caroline is happy to pull everything she can off the coffee table, shelves, etc. She LOVES electronics, particularly remote controls (Dad gets the blame on that one).

Caroline's new favorite game is dropping food off either side of the high chair. As you can guess, Barkley and Bella LOVE this game. Her parents...not so much. But at least the crumbs get cleaned up by the dogs.

Cindy and Caroline gave Walt a massage for Father's Day at a resort in Ko Olina (where the NFL stayed during the Pro Bowl). We may make a day of that since the resort has man-made lagoons perfect for little kids. Caroline spent more time in the ocean last weekend at the beach on base. She loved it and was splashing away like crazy. She wasn't thrilled by the occasional wave that splashed her face but got past it pretty quick.

More later. Hope all is well in your world!

Breakfast with Caroline

Just a little clip to show you what life is like in the morning with Caroline and her fans.

Learning to walk

It should come as no surprise that Caroline is pushing hard to walk. As you can see from the video, she's getting more mobile thanks to her walker. She can't really control direction but likes the speed. The dogs are learing to get out of the way.

When not using the walker, she's quite happy to walk along anything to get around. Yesterday, her Dad held her hands as she walked through the living room and all the way to the kitchen.

Colorado

As most of you know, we've received transfer orders to Colorado Springs CO and expect to move at the end of August. As you can guess, we're looking forward to the move. Compared to some choices (Shreveport LA?)...well, there's a reason this was our top choice.

I don't know anything about what I'll be doing yet. With the changes going on in the AF, I could be moved around from one spot to another (long story). No matter what though, we'll be in Colorado Springs. Fortunately, Colorado grants reciprocity for PA-registered attorneys so Cindy won't have to take the bar again. NOTE: she has sworn NEVER to take it again and wasn't kidding.

Fair warning: those who want a last trip to Hawaii and free accommodations should plan quickly and let us know.

Walt

Latest from Caroline

Caroline now has 6 teeth with more on the way. She taught both of her parents they're very sharp. She also figured out how to drink through a straw in about 10 seconds. Caroline really likes drinking out of a cup so this helps a lot.

The commando crawl is a thing of the past. Caroline has learned crawling on her hands/knees is much faster...and so have her parents. We're getting good at heading her off before she gets to the dog food bowls, bathroom, etc. The box for a toy she received turns out to be more fun than the toy itself as you'll see in the video.

Caroline has also figured out that if you press buttons on the electronics, lights turn on. Her parents will be buying a new, enclosed, entertainment console when we move to Colorado.

Some other random pics attached.

Australia

Hi,

The work trip for Australia went well. Most of the time was spent in Newcastle, 2 hrs' drive north of Sydney. Very industrial/blue collar town...think Baltimore with a lot nicer people and no slums. We did get in a round of golf...the kangaroos on holes 1-3 let us play through. Spent a day and a half wandering around Sydney before the flight back. The Sydney Opera House is an amazing place. If you ever get the chance, Australia is worth the trip. Some pics attached.

Walt

We're in trouble now

Caroline continued her overachievement maneuvers this morning. She started climbing the stairs. The first was kinda tough - slipped on the floor. After that, she was ready to go.

Fortunately we had the camera nearby. We bought an extra baby gate to cut off the kitchen and dog food from her. We put in an order for another one - time to rush it!

Hope all is well
Walt

Good morning

Quick update: the dogs are doing just fine. Bella is past her cough and the disposable razor Barkley ate seems to have traveled the length of his digestive system without harm. We found one part of the razor after hosing down his poop.

Irony: Barkley started Petco's obedience training this week. The trainer said he seemed pretty smart. None of us are buying it.

Caroline, as we've said, always wakes with a smile. Since she's started standing, we get that too. Here's a typical wake up.

Walt

Vet stimulus support

We told you some of this would involve the dogs. This week we got to provide our local vet hospital with our own form of a stimulus package.

On Sunday, Bella started coughing pretty badly. It worsened to the point that she started throwing up. So Monday at lunch, I took her to the vet for what turned out to be a 3.5 hr visit (no appt...stuck waiting). Whatever she had, it was like kennel cough. $300, x-rays and 2 bottles of pills later, we headed home. She has to take 3 pills in the AM and then PM for 2 weeks. After jamming them down her throat lost it's thrill, we moved to mixing the pills with wet dog food. Problem solved.

So Friday rolls around. I have to be in work at 4:30AM for a teleconference then a formation run with 800+ others. Finally making it home at 8AM for a shower, Cindy greets me with the happy news that Barkley decided to each my disposable shaving razor. It seems he was mad he didn't get his morning walk and was bored. Yep, off to the vet again. After waiting for a much shorter time (razor blades in stomach moves you up on the waiting list), the x-rays confirmed Sir Dipshit had indeed chewed/swallowed the razor. Fortunately, the blades were small so the vet's recommendation was just let them pass. 2 hours and $230 later, we went home. Now, in addition to giving pills to Bella, we have the lovely duty of inspecting dog poop for the next 3 days to make sure the blades pass. As Bella will occasionally eat dog poop, we have to constantly monitor them both. Barkley never changed his clueless but happy attitude even a little bit.

Cindy bought me a copy of the Marley and Me movie to commemorate the event.

How in the world did Golden Retrievers end up on a smart dog list?

Standing on my own!

So last week we thought, Caroline's getting close to standing up on her own, maybe we should lower the crib bed. The very next morning, she stood up on her own in the crib. The crib bed was lowered that day. The attached clip was taken not long after. Since then, Caroline has only begun to climb faster. She's also quite proud of herself.

A friend of mine told me about the high-water mark in his house, i.e. the level above which the kids can't reach. Ours just climbed!

Adventures in Babycrawling

Caroline is getting faster at crawling. She's not up on her hands/knees yet but her commando crawl would make a drill sargeant proud. Last night she crawled the length of the house from her room to our bedroom door, did a complete 360 and then continued into the room looking for toys (and found them too).

This morning she decided the activity ring would be far more interesting if she crawled into it from the bottom vs being lowered into it by her parents. Unfortunately, she couldn't quite get her way out of the ring and had to appeal to Dad for assistance. Bella elected not to get involved. Barkley was off eating one of her socks.

Hmm, what are those bowls for....

So Caroline was zipping around the kitchen doing the commando crawl thing when she came across something new...the dogs' bowls. Yep, you guessed it, she went exploring. Fortunately Cindy saw her with her hand in the food pile but before Caroline had a chance to dine on the Nutro Lamb and Rice meal dog food. The next day, Cindy saw her make a beeline for the dogs' water bowl located in our upstairs bathroom. Again, got to her before anything went awry. Unfortunately, she wasn't so quick Saturday morning. Caroline, it seems, has just enough strength to flip over a partially filled water bowl. The pic above is Caroline post-flip and post crawl through the puddle (she was happy to help re-create the incident). Her cute little pink outfit turned brown in an instant. Fortunately, it was time to get dressed for the day anyway...

Experiments with eating

Caroline has begun eating solid food with mixed results. We noticed she grew fascinated with our dinner and bought some basic cereal for her to try. It took a day or two for her to learn how to swallow and she didn't hate the concept. Maybe half of the food on the spoon makes it into her mouth. We've since tried alternating veggies with the rice. The results have been mixed. Carrots are NOT on the list of favorites but squash is...acceptable. Somedays she wants the bottle and only the bottle. Others, she's willing to try the solid stuff.

Fortunately, everything is washable.

Starting Up

Hi,

Thanks to the new cameras, we'll start posting pictures and video of Caroline, Bella and, yes, even Barkley. Maybe even a picture or two of us.

Here's one of Caroline to start off.

Aloha, Walt and Cindy