January, or month fifteen

January was all about SNOW IN DIXIE! Late on Sunday night January 9th it started snowing – big wet heavy flakes careening down from the sky. Now this was serious snow for the south – Buffalo or New England would barely have blinked -- and we were impressed. By Monday morning, nearly six inches of snow was on the ground, and school (and work!) was definitively cancelled. We spent a wonderful day outside playing in the neighborhood. Caroline made her first snowball, learned that walking is a little more treacherous when there’s white stuff on the ground, and did her first “face plant” in the snow. Best of all, she watched the bigger kids – including her brother and dad – do some serious sledding down driveways and streets on all sorts of unlikely contraptions, including pizza trays and laundry baskets. I KNOW she wishes she was bigger so she could have gotten in on the act!

By Tuesday morning, the six inches of snow turned to rock solid glare ice, and the rest of the week was history. Without plows, salt, or sand, Atlanta relied only on Mother Nature to remove the snow. We spent the rest of the week housebound, waiting for a thaw and hoping our groceries (and sanity!) held out. Luckily, Mother Nature came through, five lost work days later.

On MLK weekend, with the snow receding, we celebrated “January Missmas” with Nonna and Big Pop. A giant box full of presents preceded their arrival – thank you all for thinking of us at Christmas time! We had a blast opening presents, eating good food, going out to dinner, goofing around, and even doing some bowling. We missed Christmas at home greatly, but Missmas was an awfully fun substitute.

With all the Christmas festivities and the impromptu snow breaks behind us, Caroline settled down to the serious business of transitioning classrooms at her school. She left the infant room behind and “graduated” to Toddler 1A – a bigger room with bigger kids. She was wary at first, and there were some tough morning goodbyes, but she quickly realized that there were better toys and more fun to be had in this new setting. She’s doing great now, and I love what she does when I pick her up in the afternoons. She drops what she’s doing, runs to get her coat from her cubby (often swerving around my attempted hug and kiss to get there), and heads straight for the door, waving and saying “bye” all the while. Clearly, she’s ready to go!




Caroline’s language development is surging forward. She narrates the world now, talking nearly all the time. The tone, cadence, turn taking, and rhythm of speech are all in place – the only thing missing is the words! Instead of crying in the morning right when she wakes up, she lies in bed and practices talking (and sometimes singing) to herself. It’s lovely to listen to on the monitor. She’s got some words – bye and hi, mama, dad, ball, sock – and more are clearly coming.

She is a big and strong toddler. She visited the pediatrician at 15 months and got three shots. She weighs 30 pounds and is 34 inches long. I should disclose, though, that those are approximations –she took great exception at the weighing and measuring process and fought like a crazy woman! Caroline also went back to the neurologist for a final skull xray and examination. She was cleared completely – the doctor said that it was like her skull fracture never happened. Thank goodness!

January was a wonderful month full of new experiences and big transitions. Every day Caroline seems to master something new –whether it’s mimicking a new word or showing off a new physical skill (like running everywhere she goes!) I know I’m biased, but I have to say that it’s amazing watching her grow up and develop.

December 2010

December was a month filled with “ups” and sprinkled with “downs”, but overall, we had much, much, much to be thankful for this holiday season.

On January 6 (Three Kings Day!) Caroline turned 15 months old and December was filled with all sorts of new developments! In terms of motor skills, Caroline walks like a big girl now – the penguin waddle is mostly gone – and she can RUN. She does this often, and with great vigor.

Verbally, her repertoire of noises, signs, and “words” is a pretty effective way of communicating. She uses the words “up” and “hi” correctly and frequently. “Up” sometimes stands in for an all- purpose demand, much like “mamamamama” is an all-purpose complaint. She points and also uses the signs for “more” and “done.” She also communicates instrumentally – she signaled that she wanted to nap the other day by getting her blanket and a book. She handed me her plate to signal that it was time for dinner, already. And when Eric took a little too long to come upstairs for bathtime, she headed into the shower herself, water off and fully clothed, to wait for him.



Caroline has learned to color with crayons, and right now it’s her favorite thing to do. She sits with great concentration at the art table upstairs, going through the crayon box and making scribbles on the paper. We’ve worked hard to reinforce that she only uses crayons while sitting at the table, lest there’s an accidental redecorating of the walls. In addition to her brother’s matchbox cars, crayons are her favorite toys. She only eats them sometimes.

We had great fun during the build up to the holidays. On “Christmas holiday hoedown Saturday”, we bought a giant tree and decorated it like crazy. The bottom third of the tree was left bare except for lights to prevent any ornament breakage or disappearance – we called it the Caroline-line of demarcation. We made cookies and shopped for presents. We listened to WAY too much holiday music. And we enjoyed every minute of it




The kids came with us to the KDHRC holiday party – we had cocktails and hors d'oeuvres at a hotel across from the office. Caroline made the rounds of the party with her new fast walk, scamming cheese and crackers from anyone who would hand them down to her and holding her sippy cup like Dean Martin held a martini glass. Jefferson was a perfect gentleman, making conversation with the guests, sipping Coca-cola, and sampling the treats. It was a very fun night.

Our trip home to East Aurora to see family for the holiday, though, didn’t go as planned. Walking into airport security, I slipped on wet spot and took a bad fall. Caroline was in the pack on the front of me, and took the brunt of it. We rushed to the Children’s Hospital where we learned that she had a concussion and a fractured skull – but luckily, the “best” kind of fractured skull a baby can get. It was a terribly stressful and scary day, but we were seen by some excellent doctors and got to come home the same day. That same night, she was belly laughing and splashing in the bathtub – and you’d never know anything had happened now. Kids really do rebound quickly. Of course, her dad and I have been crazy vigilant – and Caroline has become adept at peeling our fingers off of her when we insist on holding her hand when she walks over any non-carpeted surface. The doctors said her skull will heal in two to three weeks, and she’ll be fully cleared after our followup appointment on January 24.

The accident prevented us from making the trip to East Aurora, though, and we missed Christmas with the family. A small trade for a safe and healthy baby, but such a disappointment – we really really missed you all!

Nonetheless, Santa visited Caroline on Festivus, when Jefferson came back to the house, and left a new big wheel and a GIANT helmet. Fortuitous timing, huh? We pondered making her wear it all the time!



And once we were cleared by the doctor to travel again, we took off for some winter weather and fun in Chicago. We went to museums, ate Greek food, saw a hockey game, and generally had a great time. Caroline wasn’t entirely convinced of the benefits of hats and mittens, though … you’ll see them missing from most pictures because she perfected tearing them off and throwing them out of the stroller when we weren’t looking.

So it was a busy month, filled with much to be thankful for. Hope your holidays were happy – can’t wait to see you soon!