2-fer Bathtime

A Pullem Family first! Two girls in one tub! I started with Caroline, and once she was soaped & rinsed, in went Jordi. It was fun for all, and quite a timesaver, too! Which I'm glad to discover, because I'm sure that as we continue to spend more time outdoors, they'll both need cleaning more often!

Working Lunch

One of our favorite places to visit is Daddy's office. Here is a picture from last Friday of Jordi having a working lunch while sitting at Dad's desk. She feels it's necessary to sit in Dad's special chair because, as she says, "I have to get some work done." Precocious!

Splish Splash

Caroline loves the bath! Once she was able to sit up in the tub, she discovered that splashing was lots of fun. Here is an "action" shot (taken this past weekend) in which you can see the actual water drops mid-splash! (We hope this indicates a future love of swimming so we can spend lots of time poolside this summer!)

Happy Birthday, Nana!

In the Pullem family, March is a banner month for celebrations as Judy's birthday is exactly one week after Chris'. Here is a picture of Nana & the girls, eagerly anticipating having a piece of that beautiful (& delicious) birthday cake! 

More Fun at the Mall

Beep beep! For the under-2 set, the Ashland Town Centre Mall is more than just a place to play on large breakfast foods (see the "After Dinner Fun" post from 2/1). So, on certain occasions (such as this past Saturday night), we go all out and spring for some big fun: a rolling ride in a yellow kiddy car! For Jordi & Caroline, it's 50 cents well spent!

Welcome Spring

Although the temperature was only near 50 degrees yesterday morning, the sun was warm enough for Jordi & me to enjoy some time outside during Caroline's naptime. The forsythia is peaking, and something about seeing those bright yellow flowers makes me want to get outdoors and DO something! So, first we picked up the big sticks in the front yard, and then we checked out this bush near the edge of the side yard. Fun!

Say Ahhh

Caroline's nine month check up was this past Monday, and I took this picture in the exam room while we were waiting for the doctor. She got an overall clean bill of health & development, with just a minor concern in the gross motor skills area (she's not crawling or pulling up yet, so the Doc asked us to come back next month to check on those things... we immediately instituted daily baby calisthenics!) For those of you keeping track, Caroline now weighs 20 lbs 12 oz, is 28.5 inches long, and has a head circumference of 18 inches.

Daddy's 36th Birthday!!!

I just wanted to add this picture of Chris and Jordi blowing out the birthday candles. Jordi has been practicing really hard at blowing out candles so she can be ready when her third birthday arrives!!

Girls Help Themselves

Yesterday was Chris' birthday, and we celebrated by taking a Pullem Family roadtrip to Huntington, WV, to eat at Uno's Pizzeria. We had a wonderful time, which is no small feat considering we got 6 people & 2 carseats into one vehicle, drove 25 minutes each direction, got seated, waited on, & served, and then were able to not only eat but actually enjoy our meals! Anyway, one strategy for success is to keep the little ones involved in some sort of activity in which they rewarded with something tangible... like food! So, as you can see, we used this technique on Caroline by encouraging her to hold the bottle all by herself, which she seems to enjoy. And the "make your own" kids' cheese pizza was a big hit with Jordi, too. She did a great job spreading the sauce & sprinking the cheese, with minimal help! All in all, it was a very pleasant evening! (except for the last 10 minutes of the car ride home, but that's a story for another posting!)

Jordi Rides her Trike

While we were outside enjoying the breezy warm weather today, Jordi decided to get on her tricycle and try and pedal. And, lo & behold, she did it! We gave Jordi this trike for her second birthday, and while she loved to ride on it (while being pushed by Mom or Dad, of course), last fall she showed no interest whatsoever in grasping the concept of self-locomotion. Well, what a difference 6 months has made! I only had to show her once before she was off, slowly but surely! Next concept... steering!

Motor Skill Milestone

Congratulations to Caroline on reaching this developmental milestone! She now has the ability to pick up very small objects (like the banana puffs pictured here) with a pincer grip and put them in her mouth. Before this, Caroline could only gum on a cracker or piece of bread while held tightly in her fist. She's been working diligently at it for awhile, and just achieved her first sucess a couple days ago. Now, as you see, not only can she pick up the tiny treat between her thumb and forefinger, but also get it right into her mouth! Alright! we're on the way to dinner table independence!

Toe-licious!

Caroline is now 8.5 months old, and any chance she gets (such as during diaper changes), any toe she can manage goes right in the mouth! And doesn't she look happy about it? But Caroline is not merely a happy baby... she also shows a genuine sense of enthusiasm for any task at hand, whether it's snacking on toes or whatever! It's a very endearing quality, and usually quite entertaining!