Biscusting!

When my oldest niece was two or three, she would look at something she found gross and exclaim, "That's biscusting!"  Oftentimes, it was something her baby brother was doing that she, as the resident Big Girl, simply could not fathom (drool, poopy diaper, etc).  We would calmly explain that whatever he was doing was just "what babies do", until she was convinced enough to move past it.

Now that CJ has reached the solid food phase, I find myself constantly battling my inner two-year-old.  Because seriously, it is DISGUSTING!  Slimy banana pieces and blueberry juice are just not my favorite accessories.  Every time she eats I have to fight the urge to wipe her up after every bite, feed her myself with the spoon, or just puree everything and let her drink it with a straw.  I know she has to learn, and it is good for her motor skills to practice eating different types of food.  

Still, every meal is an inner battle of: "That's biscusting!" vs. "That's what babies do."

A New Word

Tonight, my 1 year and 4 day old baby pathetically cried "Moooommmmyyyy!!!" from her crib a few minutes after I laid her down to go to sleep.  Normally, I'll let her cry a little before I go get her.  Tonight, 3 "Mommys" was all it took.

Me: Andrew, did you just hear "MOMMY"?
Andrew: Yep.
Me: "MommY", not "Mama"?
Andrew: Yep.
Me: ...I'm just gonna rock her for a few minutes and calm her down.

I rocked her until she was just shy of asleep.  Then I came downstairs and reveled in the fact that my baby can say Mommy!!



I don't really believe a baby can be "spoiled" by too much attention, or "too much love" as I call it.  I want her to know that when she calls me, I will come.

Now, if only I could get her to call me by my name when she isn't upset...

We have a 1 year old!!

Height: 30.3 inches (86th percentile)
Weight: 20.2 lbs (38th percentile)
Head circumference: 17.7 inches (49th percentile)
Eye color:  brown
Nicknames: CJ, Claire Bear, Claire-a Beara Boo Boo, Boogies, Boogs, Munchins, Munchies
Clothing size: Mostly 12 mos and 12-18 mos. We use both, and some just fit a little too big.  She also still wears a few 9-12 mos things, but they are too short. She'll sometimes wear the pants as capris under a dress or the dresses as shirts.

Her birthday dress was a size 18 months.  It was a little too big,
but I wanted her to be able to wear it longer while she is still 1!!

Teeth:  6, and 2 more on the way!  She has 4 on the top (which have ALL come in in the last month), 2 on the bottom that she has had for a while, and 2 more on the bottom just now coming in.

Check out those teefers!!!

Eating:  She still likes mommy milk the best, but we're working on adding more things to her menu.  She (consistently) likes bananas, blueberry puffs, mum mums, and bread/croissants.  I just bought Greek yogurt, avocados, peaches, sweet potatoes, Annie's mac&cheese, and clementines for her to try.  We'll see how it goes!  (Update: We tried the yogurt today and she seemed to like it okay.  Go Claire!)
Words: Her favorite word right now is "uh oh".  She will drop things on purpose just so she can say uh oh.  It is adorable.  She has also said Dada, Mama (only when she is reeeaaally upset and tired), and hi.  She can sign "more", "eat", and "all done".  She will also sometimes wave hi and bye.
Favorite things:  PEOPLE - she is always up for smiling at a funny face or giggling for a game of peekaboo, even when she is exhausted.  She also loves blueberry puffs, going for walks in her stroller, the library, Mommy&Daddy, giving hugs, trying to pull Piper's hair, crawling, wind, being rocked, eating all of her toys, and visiting Daddy at work.

Hugs for Grandma at Daddy's softball game!

Dislikes: Going to bed, being by herself, being taken from Mommy, and trying new foods.  She's also not a fan of having "fun toys" (i.e. cell phones, coat hangers, plastic bags, etc) taken away from her.
Sleep:  Bedtime is normally around 6:00 and she sleeps for 12+ hours, usually waking up 1-2 times to eat.  She also usually takes one nap for 2-3 hours, and sometimes lays down again for quiet time in the afternoon (if she woke up earlier than usual or her nap was cut short, or if Mom just needs a break).

Ya know,  just fell asleep while I was trying to escape. No big deal.

Milestones: CJ is a crawling pro.  She also loves to pull up on furniture and "cruise" along it.  She can walk holding one hand, and has even taken a few steps on her own!  She could take off walking any day - we know she has the muscle control at this point, but she's still working on developing her confidence.  She's also constantly babbling, and her babbling is starting to sound more like words!  She really is learning and doing new things every day.

Today Claire got to drive the cool cart at the store!
Being 1 (a big girl!) has its perks.

Exclusive Dining Establishments of Europe

Andrew's parents came to see us for 24 days!  That's almost a whole month!!  While they were here, we were able to visit the ancient sites of Rome, Italy, the peaceful beaches of Barcelona, Spain, and the bustling attractions of Paris, France!!  I will be writing posts about each of those places (with pictures!), but this post is about some of the places CJ got to eat along our journey, which is something I am likely to forget if I don't write it down soon (since there are no pictures...).

Since we're still breastfeeding, CJ got to dine at some of the coolest sites in the world...FOR FREE!  If the thought of breastfeeding in public is weird to you, just move along.  This is something I think is worth remembering, and this is my blog!  K thanks.

Exclusive Baby-Only Dining:

- inside the Roman Colosseum
- St. Peter's Basilica (bonus: Vatican City)

- Prison of St. Peter

- Sagrada Familia (Barcelona)

- on a Spanish beach...sand included

- inside the Louvre Museum
- inside Marie Antoinette's Estate, Palace of Versailles

- Arc de Triomphe (bonus: Champs-Elysees)

- Eiffel Tower

She also ate on a lot of public metros and trains, since that was pretty much the easiest place to feed her if there happened to be an open seat.  I will miss the convenience of having ready-made, healthy food for her at my disposal at all times.

25000 Miles

Our car hit 25,000 miles!!!  This is the first car I have ever had NEW, so it is really cool to think that every single one of those 25,000 miles is ours!

In 25,000 miles (less than 2 years, in case you were wondering), our car has been...

  ...on two continents: Europe and North America
  ...across the Atlantic Ocean
  ...in 5 different countries: Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States
  ...in 5 states:  Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia

Pretty cool, huh?

At the end of 2014...

Name: Claire (nicknames: CJ, ClaireBear, Munchkin, Munchins, Stinker, Dinker, Dinkerdoo, Princess, Princess P, Princess Pete, Stinky Pete, Pete)
Age: 6 months
Favorite book: anything read by Daddy (Dr. Suess, Shel Silverstein, children's books) 
Favorite song: Mommy's voice (primary songs, You Are My Sunshine, made up songs - usually to the tune of Here Comes Peter Cottontail)
My teachers: Mommy and Daddy
My good friends: Cora, William, big kids at church
How I like to spend my time: rolling on the floor, bouncing in my seat, sitting in my high chair with toys, sleeping, chewing on everything
Favorite color: I like textures more than colors right now.
Favorite food: Mom's milk
What I learned this year: how to roll, smile, laugh, sit and stand with support, hug, reach for Mom and Dad, "talk"
Hardest thing of the year: growing teeth, missing naps, new foods, getting shots
Some of my goals: sitting up all by myself, trying new foods, crawling

Name: Amy, Mommy
Age: 23
Favorite book: Deep Cover
Favorite song: Love is Spoken Here
My teachers: Claire, kids in our class at church
My good friends: Family, Catherine & Stephen, Hanna & Aaron, Katina, Angie, Anne...
How I like to spend my time: playing with CJ, talking to Andrew, breastfeeding, reading, playing board games, shopping by myself, talking to friends and family, researching places to visit
Favorite color: garnet, silver
Favorite food: Dr. Pepper, chocolate, baguette with butter
What I learned this year: what it's like to be a parent, a little about military life, that Belgian butter is WAY better than American butter, that American steak is WAY better than Belgian steak, that I can do hard things
Hardest thing of the year: living far away from family (Andrew for the first half of the year and then everyone else for the second), adjusting to life as a stay-at-home-mom
Favorite memory: When Andrew surprised me with a visit for the 4th of July, 10 days after I had CJ.  It was the first time we were together as a family of 3.
What I loved most about 2014: spending time with my family, whether in person or using technology
Some of my goals: empty all the boxes, do what is best for my family, spend time on myself, blog more

Name: Andrew Lee Carroll
Age: Immortal
Favorite book: Ender's Game
Favorite song: have no clue...maybe Sparks Fly, Taylor Swift
My teachers: home teachers, Claire
My good friends: CATHERINE AND STEPHEN JEFFCOAT
How I like to spend my time: playing computer games and making my daughter laugh
Favorite color: GARNET
Favorite food: PB&J on fresh Belgian wheat bread with a Coke and Goldfish
What I learned this year: Being a dad is the coolest thing in the world
Hardest thing of the year: Being separated from my family for 7 months
Favorite memory: Surprising visit to my wife and newborn daughter while away at tech school
What I loved most about 2014: Getting paid...Tricare..hmmm...maybe getting to move to a new place with my family and start a treasure hunt an adventure!
Some of my goals: To be awesome!

Celebrating the New Year

I love this time of year.
Thanksgiving - a time for thinking of the good things in our lives.
Christmas - a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, as well as a time of gift giving and receiving.
New Years - a time to reflect on the past year, as well as looking forward to what the new year has to bring!

2014, what a wild and crazy ride it's been!  Andrew completed basic training and tech school for the Air Force, became a father, moved to Europe, and started working as a broadcast journalist at AFN.  I worked at 3 different jobs (at different times), had a baby, moved to Europe (with a 2.5 month old), and became a stay-at-home mom.  CJ was born(!!), learned to smile/roll over/laugh/squeal/etc, and is now working on "talking" and scooting across the floor!  She also made a trip to Wyoming to visit her cousins and moved to Europe before she was 3 months old!  She's had a busy 6 months.  Andrew and I were apart for 208 days in 2014, including the day CJ was born.  Those 208 days were hard (some more than others), but I feel like it has made me more appreciative of the times we are together.  It won't be the last time we are separated, but I'm definitely enjoying our life right now!  We love it here so far.  We have made friends quickly, and living in Europe is cool!  (Also, the butter, bread, and chocolate are delicious.)

We already have big plans for 2015!  We're planning a trip to Germany in January, I am going to Ireland with friends in February, Andrew's parents are coming to visit this summer, and my parents are planning a trip for the winter.  We also hope to visit Paris and Amsterdam (both are close) at some point this year.

I hope you all have had a wonderful holiday season and 2014.  If it wasn't your year, I wish you the best for 2015!