Visiting Santa

I took the girls to visit Santa at the mall yesterday. Amazingly, we managed to get a picture with BOTH of them smiling! Check out Caroline's "Marilyn Monroe" pose!



They also visited Santa at our church a couple of weeks ago. Actually, both Santas were "Santa's helpers", since Anna mentioned that they didn't look the same! Oops! We got some pretty good pictures of both the girls on Santa's helper's lap, as well.

4 Months Old!

Well, Caroline is officially 4 months old today! I can hardly believe it's been that long since we brought our tiny baby home! She went to the doctor today, so I have the new official stats: 14 lb 8 oz, 26 1/4 inches long. She's even longer than I thought! That puts her in the 75th percentile for weight and over the 97th for height. Wow! Her head is also in the 90th percentile -- plenty of room for that big, smart brain!

The doctor asked if Caroline was still happy on her liquid diet, and he was quite happy that I wanted to wait on solids. He encourages most moms to delay solids until around 6 months, but many are anxious to start earlier, so he always asks at the 4 month visit and lets them start if they're super eager. I'm not. I don't need the hassle! Caroline is very content on just breastmilk at this point, so there's no rush to add solids to the mix. I love the convenience of just being able to take my baby and my boobs and go, so I'm all about waiting!

We had big day yesterday. It was Baby Dedication Sunday at our church, and Caroline was dedicated. She did really well and didn't cry at all. In fact, she blew some bubbles for us while we were up in front of the church! My parents were able to come in for the dedication, which was wonderful, especially since they couldn't be here for Anna's dedication six years ago. Here's a picture of Caroline receiving her blessing in front of the church.



Right after the dedication, Anna and I sang a duet. It was Anna's first time to sing a solo in church, and she did a GREAT job! She was so poised and calm. She wasn't nervous at all! She sang her part perfectly, and her rhythm and pitch were impeccable. It's a miracle I even made it through the song -- once she started singing, I got all choked up! I don't think there was a single dry eye, especially in the choir. Anna has been the choir "mascot" practically since she was born, so everyone was amazed at what a big girl she has become. After we sang, she looked up at me and said, "Mommy, I want to do it again!" So I guess I need to look for more reportoire for her to sing in church.

I hope to get an audio recording of the service in the next week or so, and when I do I'll post it here for your listening pleasure. Until then, here's a (rather blurry) picture of the two of us singing together.

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'...

Caroline is rollin'! It's actually been about 2 weeks since she started doing it. I put her on her tummy time mat one day, turned my back for a second, and then when I looked back at her, she was on her back. So I flipped her back over and watched her do it again. After that, she was a rolling fool. The next day, I managed to get this video:



She also loves to stand and bounce. I'm working on getting her one of those stationary bouncer things so that she can bounce to her little heart's content. I have a feeling she'll love it! In the meantime, she'll have to be happy with standing and balancing on Jimmy's hands. Check out this video!



Also, an update on her stats. Caroline is now weighing in at a very healthy 14 pounds, which puts her somewhere around the 50-60th percentile for weight. I also got out the tape measure the other day and discovered that she's between 25.5 and 26 inches, which would put her squarely in the 97th percentile for height. She's my tall and skinny girl! She loves to babble and is starting to make some "ga" and "ba" sounds in addition to the generic "ah" and "uh" and "oo" sounds she was making before.

Caroline is also starting to recognize people, I think, and with that is coming a tiny bit of separation anxiety. At Sunday school yesterday someone was holding her, and she was perfectly happy until she heard my voice. Suddenly, she wanted ONLY MOMMY! She's also reserving her biggest smiles for Mommy, Daddy, and Big Sister (whom she seems to adore recently!). Here's a picture of my beautiful girls together!