Caitlin's First Steps

Caitlin took her first steps tonight. She was trying to get closer to Aunt Jackie, who she had been playing with. I think she made Aunt Jackie's month! What a wonderful memory and how special that her first steps came on a trip to Fort Smith and when she was trying to get closer to Aunt Jackie.

Self Portrait by Conall

Conall drew this tonight. He told me "it's me, it's me!" I told him he should sign it. You can kinda make out his signature. I think he has talent! I love it.

Spoiled Little Princess

Caitlin is spoiled by everyone who spends any time with her. She is such a sweetie and such a snuggle bug, how couldn't she be? Here's a photo of her in the princess pajamas that NaNa bought for her. They say "If the Tiara fits ..." Boy does it! The second photo is of her spoiled princess self in her princess pajamas! When you look at the photo you'll see what I mean.

CHAOS

Conall put his caterpillar in his rolling suitcase to keep it from Caitlin. They spent quite a bit of time with her chasing him around in circles trying to get to the suitcase. Of course, he thought she wanted the Lego caterpillar! The video quality isn't very good -- it was hard to keep up with them, but you should get the idea.

Bananas

As Caitlin was sitting in her highchair today, she looked at her daddy and said banana. So, we got her a banana to eat. I can't believe she's asking for what she wants to eat now!

Caitlin's Cave

We've been doing some much needed cleaning and organizing around the house. We brought a storage box into the living room to go through and organize the things in it. Once it was empty, Caitlin made it into her "cave." She keeps climbing in it, turning it on its side and hiding in it, putting toys in it, etc. Here's a cute picture of her sitting in it and looking at me.

Our Princess

Grandma bought Caitlin this tiara/crown because Caitlin kept trying to put Grandma's bracelet on her head like a tiara. We figure Caitlin saw the one on Giselle in her favorite movie, "Enchanted,"
( http://adisney.go.com/disneyvideos/liveaction/enchanted/ ) and is trying to look like her. She seemed to really like it, but she did want to take it off and play with it, too.

Conall's Lego Caterpillar

Conall is still fascinated by caterpillars. He wants one so bad! And, after yesterday, he is fascinated by seeing his "squash movie" and wants to make a movie out of everything. Last night, he asked me to take photos of the Lego caterpillar he made. He also wanted to make a movie with it, which we skipped. He had the "caterpillar" in an old baby food container and was carrying it around. He told me it was going to make its chrysalis in the container, just like the caterpillars at his new school. This morning he has been pretend feeding it all of the foods that Eric Carle's caterpillar in "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" eats. He also made a mommy caterpillar from his oversize Lego's.

Here are the photos from last night. The other Lego's in the photo are leaves for him to eat.

Redemption and Squash Smoothie

After the chocolate chip pancake fiasco, Conall redeemed himself by asking me to buy him an acorn squash at the grocery store. I'm probably speaking too soon -- it is cooking as I type, which means he hasn't eaten it yet. He was so proud of the squash and held it all through the store. He kept showing it to people saying "look at my squash." As I was washing and peeling sweet potatoes, Conall took the squash seeds and insides and put them in the blender I had soaking in the sink. He told me he was making a squash smoothie. It was so funny and so Conall that I took a short video for everyone to see.

Conall and Tristan in the dirt

Here are the boys playing in the dirt.

Let us Out!

Caitlin's godfather, Matt, and his family came over for a visit Saturday. Matt had a 4 day break before he leaves for Iraq. We were happy and honored that he spent one of his days with us (we all know he just wanted to see Caitlin, ha, ha!). The kids are really close in age and have a ton of fun playing together. At one point the older boys went outside with the daddies to play in the dirt. The babies stayed inside with the mommies, but they both thought they ought to be outside in the dirt, too. They both crawled over to the door and banged on it to be let out.

Chocolate Chip Pancakes

For some crazy reason, I made chocolate chip pancakes this morning. What was I thinking? I really thought Conall would like them. Boy, was I wrong! I made them with 1/2 whole wheat flour and I guess his healthy food radar went off and overrode the yummy taste of the chocolate chips. Why do I even try? Caitlin made it all better -- she loved them!

Caitlin's Recliner

Aunt Amy got Caitlin this walker for Christmas. She has really enjoyed walking behind it on the sidewalk in the front yard. But, once inside, she has found another use for it. It is her recliner -- she's watching her favorite movie, "Enchanted," in this photo. And, of course, it didn't take long before Conall started pushing her around in it, sitting exactly like she is in this picture. I tried showing them the right way for her to sit in it while Conall pushes her, but neither one of them would have it. Who says we have strong-willed children?

Caitlin's Cast

Some of our friends and family that didn't get to see Caitlin with her cast on have asked to see pictures of her with it. It is a long story -- if you don't know the details, you'll have to ask. We're just glad it came off, she has healed and she is sleeping much better now.

The butterfly bush

We planted a butterfly bush earlier this week. Conall has been fascinated by caterpillars ever since we toured his new school (he'll start in August) and saw the caterpillars in the pre-K classroom. Most of the caterpillars around here have moved on, but he is still determined that he needs one. When I tried to explain this, he told me that we just need to go back to Jefferson school and get him one. He has an answer for everything! Anyway, we were hoping that he would enjoy the butterfly bush and all of the butterflies we hope it attracts. Stu pre-dug the hole and then we asked Conall, Caitlin and the two boys next door to help us dig the hole for it. Conall was excited and declared that we were having a "digging party." The kids started in on the digging, but Caitlin, who was sure she was helping, kept scooting into the hole. The other boys kept telling us she was in the hole. Conall didn't handle it so well -- just another time that Caitlin was in the way and getting all of the attention (in his eyes). Stu said that at one point he looked at Conall and was afraid that he was going to smack Caitlin on the head with the shovel. I was in charge of moving her out of the way. She kept inching forward and I kept moving her out. I finally figured out to move her further away so it would take longer for her to climb in. Here are some photos from the "digging party."

Conall and Caitlin and the rose bush

Here's a bigger version of this photo, as requested by Grandma.

Pop Pop Has Internet Access

Stu and I have been saying for years how nice it would be for my dad (or any of our Ft. Smith family) to have Internet access. We would talk about how wonderful it would be to be able to send pictures regularly and almost instantly, to be able to communicate through e-mail, send links to information, etc. Well, Pop Pop finally got a computer and Internet access! And, he's taking computer classes. We are so proud of him and so excited to be able to communicate this way. He doesn't have it all figured out yet, but we are certain he will soon.