"What's you doing?"

Caroline (seriously) must ask me at least 50 times a day, "What's you doing, Mommy?" I"m glad she is curious and interested in what's going on, but I have to tell you, after about the fourth time she asks me within a 5 minute time spam, it gets a bit frustrating! I think, actually, that she doesn't even realize now how much she is saying it now it has become such a habit. I even will ask her back sometimes, "What's Mommy doing?" and she'll tell me exactly what I'm doing ("folding laundry", "driving the car", "Feeding Baby Eleanor", etc...) I talked to her today about some other ideas/questions she might want to ask Mommy, like, "How are you doing today?" or "What did you do today, Mommy". By five o'clock today after the 42nd time (give or take!) I told her to ask me some other questions instead, so from five until bedtime, she kept asking, "How are you doing today, Mommy?". I guess my idea backfired! Any suggestions, anyone? : ) The funniest part is though, that earlier today, I tried to playfully turn it back around on her and kept asking her "What's you doing, Caroline" every couple of minutes and she got really frustrated and said, "No you talk to me, RIGHT NOW!".

Creative Imagination

It seems that Caroline's imagination is starting to run wild. This week at nap and bed time she has requested such books as "Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak, "Where are the Monsters?" (a cute little open the flap book with pink fuzzy monsters) and "Birthday Monsters" by Sandra Boynton (again, cute little fuzzy monsters are involved). Now, for the last two days when she is downstairs in the living room, she'll run down the hallway and come back to me and say, "Mommy, there is a monster in that hole!". WHen I ask her "Where?" she points towards the front door. Yesterday Brett even went on a "Monster Hunt" with her and even looked under the door mat, but no monsters were found in "the hole". When Brett said there are no monsters under the mat, she ran to the window and said, "THere outside then!" So Brett and Caroline opened the front door and yelled, "Boo!" and scared the monsters away.
Yesterday morning when she first woke up, we heard her on the moniter say, "No you monsters! You go away right now!" SHe wasn't scared though, just saying very confidently and matter-of-factly.

Christmas Confusion

Caroline has decided that she wants a fishing pole, "a phone to call her shapes" and "Diego Go candy" for Christmas. We have no idea how she came up with the fishing pole or the "phone to call her shapes" but she saw some Go Diego Go! themed candy in Toys R' Us and wanted it and I told her she had to ask Santa. We were at the mall today and it was all I could do to try to explain to Caroline that she does not need to ask Santa for something everytime she sees him somewhere and that when you ask Santa for something you do not immediately recieve it from him. It is a very hard concept for a 2 1/2 year old to grasp that you ask Santa for what you want and then you have to wait for a long time to actually get it from him! Brett keeps reminding her that Daddy gets presents first on his birthday and then Santa will bring Caroline presents (even though she will not actually see Santa bring her the gifts!).

Fashion Statement

I think I'm really in trouble now...Caroline has started having an opinion about what to wear each day. Now in the mornings, I need to try to explain to her why she can't wear just "bloomers" for her bottoms with a fleece sweatshirt top! She has really taken to a pink baseball hat that she has and says she "looks just like Daddy" when she wears a hat.

Big Girl Room Completed!

Caroline's room is finally done! It looks so sweet. Grandma (or "Ganma" as Caroline calls her) made Caroline's quilt, pillow sham, curtains, and night stand covers. Thanks, "Ganma", it looks incredible! Now we get to work on Eleanor's...

Big Sister Things

"Give her space, Caroline!"
Giving her little sister some encouragement during "tummy time".
Big hugs Getting ready to kiss Daddy's head before going upstairs to bed.

Caroline is still very much loving her little sister. She says and does the funniest things when it comes to Eleanor.

-When Mommy or Daddy starts talking to Eleanor, Caroline immediately interrupts us and says, "Talk to her!".

-Her preschool teacher told me that they hear all about Eleanor at school b/c Caroline is constantly talking to the classroom's babydolls as if she were me and the doll is Eleanor. "Good, job on your bottle Eleanor. Now I have to burp you. Do you have a poopy diaper?"

-Caroline is now referring to Eleanor as "Baby Eleanor Grace" at all times.

-When Caroline goes to bed at night, she gives Eleanor 2 kisses on top of her head. THen she comes over to Brett and I and grabs our face in both hands, pull it down and kisses the tips of our heads two times, too!

-We must hear at least 20 times a day "I don't want my baby to cry!", even if Eleanor is not crying!

-She loves to talk and sing to Eleanor, but gets so close to her that we are STILL reminding her multiple times a day to "GIVE HER SPACE!"

It is so much fun, though, to watch Caroline with Eleanor and see how excited she is to have a little sister.

Eleanor 6 weeks

Eleanor at 6 weeks trying to smile. Mommy didn't cut her nails in time and she scratched her face!

Eleanor now weighs in at 11 lbs. 2 oz. She is a little chunka monka, but cuter than ever! She is obviously a very heathy baby; she has two very big chins now! She is trying harder each day to try to left her head up while lying on her tummy. She does it great when she is lying on me but when she is flat on her tummy, it is much more difficult for her. I think she is getting ready to smile soon. When you talk to her, she will lift up the corners of her mouth, but no real smile yet.

Eleanor 4 weeks

I brought Eleanor to the Dr.'s at four weeks when she had her stuffy nose and she weighed 9 pounds 6 oz. She is still drinking 5 oz. bottles.

First Haircut

Caroline got her first haircut while Kelly was here. Her curls in the back were really uneven and I just wanted things cleaned up a bit. She did a great job and sat still the whole time. Of course, it makes it a lot easier when they immediately gave her a lollipop in the chair and turned on a little video for her to watch. She even got a little thing of Play-doh at the end as a prize.

A Cold Already?

Poor little Eleanor has a cold already! I can't believe it. The poor little one has been snorting away with a stuffy nose and sneezing fits! I feel so bad for her, although it is quite cute when she is snorting little a little piglet! I brought her to the pediatrician and they are not worried since she doesn't have a fever. We did find out though that she gained over a pound and a half in just two weeks! Obviously all those 5 oz. (yes, she is still drinking full 5 oz. bottles!!!) are catching up with her. More pictures soon...

Girlfriends

What would I do without my girlfriends, Kelly and Molly?? My friends Kelly and Molly came down for a visit to give the Oswick family a helping hand. Both of them left their own little ones at home for what they called "a vacation"! I guess when you don't have to take care of your own little ones it can still be a vacation, even if it entales helping me take care of a two and a half year old and a newborn! Kelly came down about two weeks ago from New Jersey and Molly came down this week from Boston while Brett was away for the week on business in D.C. I can't even tell you what an incredible help it was to have both Kelly and Molly here. They both put up with lots and lots of poopy diapers (Sorry, girls, that Eleanor is such a pooper!), lots of dish washing and lots and lots of entertaining Caroline! Both Aunt Kelly and Auntie Molly came bearing gifts, which immediately made Caroline their biggest fan! I can not thank you enough Kelly and Molly for the HUGE amount of help that you were while you visited! Tell Brian and Josh thanks, too, for letting me steal you away!

Eleanor, gee, we think you're swell!

Eleanor is doing great! At her two week appt. she weighed 8 lbs. 4 oz. She is a very laid back baby so far and seems to enjoy sleeping and eating (still) most of the time. When she is not eating, she is enjoying her big sister singing to her or just looking around quietly. She usually only cries when she is beyond hungry or needs a diaper change. It is so nice that she gives us some warning before she gets hungry by starting to quietly squirm around so that we can usually get her bottle ready before she gets upset (Caroline used to immediately get so upset the second she felt hungry that this is a nice change of pace!). Caroline is really enjoying her little sister and wants to be close (usually too close) to her all the time. She tends to get regular reminders to give her little sister some space! She is a great help in getting things for Mommy and Daddy to help with "her baby" and won't go to sleep at night without giving her a kiss goodnight. Not only can Caroline sing her own song, "Sweet Caroline" she has now learned the lyrics to "her baby's song", "Eleanor" by The Turtles, too! "Eleanor, gee, I think you're swell. And you really do me well. You're my pride and joy etc."
We'll have to put up some video of her singing both!

Halloween

Climbing the ladder at the park with Nana

Caroline's bestest buds Amelia the pirate and Tigger Brian.
Clara the Fairy, Amelia the Pirate, Caroline the Disshelved Duckie, Audrey the Ballerina, Tigger Eli, and Bumblebee Allie
Nana and Papa with the girls. Note the lack of tights! GOod thing it was about 80 degrees!
Mommy and Daddy with their girls!

We had a wonderful Halloween! It was so much fun to watch Caroline get so excited about her costume and trick or treating. Brett's parents (Nana and Papa) were here to celebrate with us, too. Caroline dressed up as a duck, although she refused to wear the hood part of her costume for more than 5 minutes. In the morning we went to the park in costume and had snacks and lunch with all of our friends. We wereonly there for about 10 minutes before Caroline put a hole right in the middle of the knee of her orange tights that I had special ordered to go with her costume! Like one of my girlfriends said, "How TWO (years) of her!" Caroline had a great time though climbing the ladder at the playground while Nana helped, but I think her favorite part was eating the chocolate mummy cupcakes that our friend, Sara, made!

In the evening, we went back to the park for our neighborhood party and then left from their to go trick or treating in our neighborhood with Caroline's little friend, Clara. We brought Eleanor with us in the Baby Bjorn and she slept the entire time! Once we got home Caroline had just as much fun opening the door for trick or treaters and putting the candy in their bags. She completed her night by chowing down on pizza and some candy. Caroline keeps saying now, "Halloween is coming soon!" We keep telling her that Thanksgiving is coming next, but she just doesn't seem as excited about a holiday that centers around eating turkey!

School Halloween Party

Ready to go to my party!
See my painted pumpkin and my pumpkin with the boo-boo?!
Checking out the loot from my school party!
TWO lollipops! One Dora and one Diego!
Do you like my decorated pumpkin I madeat the party? It has my name on it!

Here is Caroline with her pumpkins in her Halloween dress. Note Caroline's purple painted pumpkin and the band-aid on her pumpkin on the right. She dropped the pumpkin getting out of the car and it "got a boo-boo and needed a Band-Aid to feel better"!

Caroline was so excited for her school Halloween party. She got all dressed up in her special Halloween dress that Grandma gave her. When she got home she kept talking about the party and how she decorated a pumpkin with foam stickers and that she got two Dora and Diego lollipops.

Hat Parade

Caroline had to work on making ahat for a hat parade at school. The hat was suppossed to be based on a book or books that the student enjoys. We made a hippo hat since Caroline loves the Sandra Boynton books and she uses the hippo frequently as some of her characters. Mommy did the cutting and most of the glueing, but Caroline did most of the coloring.