My second most popular post ever is the totally easy, no-sew baby tutu I made for Caroline’s monthday photos during her first year. (Also, ermahgah guys, look at TEENY TINY CAROLINE in that tutu tutorial. I can’t even. I think I need another baby.*) If I had known how much the internet loved tutu tutorials I might have made it slightly less…sarcastic. But in the long run 99% of people seem to have found it helpful rather than rage-inducing. And may I suggest that if a tutu tutorial makes you really, really angry perhaps it is time to reexamine your life?

Anyways, since both Caroline and Evan have beat the crap out of that tutu for the last 18 months, I thought I’d add some “how has it held up?” photos to the old post and publish them here too so my mom doesn’t miss them. The answer is: Pretty well!

Tulle has a tendency to attract dog hair/lint/fuzz/every single crumb within 100 yards so looking back, white might not have been the best option. But it’s also pretty easy to brush off and/or lint roll and/or spray with a water bottle and shake out.

The tulle has gotten pretty tangled from being so well loved (and also stored bunched up in a corner) but can be smoothed out if I comb through it with my fingers. Although the sort of bunchy look isn’t really a bad thing – I feel like it really fits Caroline’s personality. Her nickname is Little Mess. Plus the whole “floating on a cloud” look is why I like baby tutus.

The ribbon waist was a really great idea, since she still fits in it easily. Even though Caroline is still tiny peanut munchkin toddler, Evan has definitely gotten bigger and the tutu still fits him (although her wouldn’t agree to post for pictures). And it’s easy to slide the tulle knots around to make it even.

Have I talked you into making a tutu (or another tutu) yet? Have you seen through my admittedly extremely weak premise and ignored this whole post in favor of just going “Awwww” over Caroline in a tutu photos? Either way, BOTH things can be done if you check out the tutorial here:

*Yeah, I said it. Gimme until after BlogHer, OK? Also, please ignore the giant booboo on Caroline’s head – she got a face rug burn at Target (I don’t even). Maybe I should wrap her in bubblewrap before I consider having another.

I take back everything I said about 8 months being my favorite baby age. And 9 months. And 10 months. My new favorite is 11 months. 11 months rocks. 11 months is where it’s at. It’s the BEST. Oh, I know, blah blah blah my baby is awesome blah blah blah so cute blah blah blah you should see her blah blah barf.

Whatevs, dude. As a mother, it’s my right to say these things. I get to change my mind every single day…although based on how 2 1/2 is going with Operation Ginger Dominance 1.0 I doubt I’m going to be saying “I love this age the best!” forever. So I am enjoying the crap out of 11 months.

Like I said yesterday, Caroline is headstrong and independent. She can hold her own against her big brother and has even started initiating games, such as “Lie on your sister until she squeals”, “Oh no run away the baby is coming!”, and “Use the dog as a step stool to climb onto the couch”. She can also be exceedingly stubborn when it comes to holding onto things (keys, my phone, my camera) that she shouldn’t have, and will wail hysterically if you take them away. You’d think I’d tried to take a toe instead of a dirty key fob. Most of the time I just give in – both because I am a pushover and because I am TIRED.

Caroline is still not sleeping through the night – although I’m not SURPRISED I am ANNOYED – and it’s exhausting. She is easy to put to sleep, which I so appreciate. But she is up 2-3 times a night to nurse and I no longer think she needs to be. I talked about night weaning Little Evan a lot but he sort of ended up doing it on his own, so I’m going to have to either make a better plan or keep being tired for a few more months. I will probably just be tired, because doing anything that might make her unhappy is out of the question. See above, re: pushover.

She has a zillion teeth with the other zillion about to come through. She has gotten taller, and is finally fitting into 9 month and even some 12 month clothes. She has big feet for a little baby, and is already in a size 3 or 4 shoe – which is fantastic, because we have a whole closet full of adorable hand-me-down shoes in size 4. She has totally stopped crawling, which is kind of sad since her funny monkey sideways shuffle was so cute, but it means now I can put her down in the mall and the aquarium and most importantly on the bathroom floor when Little Evan has to potty without her hands touching the floor.  It also means I rely a LOT on my friends to help wrangle my TWO TODDLERS in public, which is incredibly unfair of me but I’m kind of a crappy person and I keep letting it happen. I’ll make them all some nice cookie platters for the holidays and continue begging for forgiveness.

Caroline’s favorite things include cheese, walking, climbing onto benches, bouncing on things, sliding, grapes, chewing on electronics, sitting in her brother’s chair, talking, hugs, smiling, dancing, splashing and drinking bath water.

Least favorite things include falling on her head, accidentally touching the radiator, being set on the floor when she wants to cuddle, soap in her eyes and lying flat on her back for JUST A DAMN MINUTE so I can take her picture.

I am holding her down with my foot

Escape!

E took this picture while I sat on her legs. I'LL SHOW YOU WHO'S BOSS, TINY BABY.

No pictures please

Evan sat on her. She loved it.

Tutu fast

Cabled owl vest was a gift from my amazing friend Desiree

Third hand pink Converse - still practically brand new!

One more month until she's one and I CAN'T EVEN STAND IT.

11 Month Milestones (from BabyCenter, as usual)

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
Says “mama” or “dada” to the correct parent – Calls me mama, and I’ve heard her say dada a couple times but not often.
Plays patty-cake and peek-a-boo – LOVES peek-a-boo
Stands alone for a couple of seconds – Stands, walks, can get to standing from the floor without pulling up, can sit down from standing, can jump if she’s standing on the couch holding the back.
Cruises – See above.

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
Understands “no” and simple instructions – Understands no and hates it. Will come if you say “Come here Caroline!” Sometimes listens to other directions but mostly ignores me.
Puts objects into a container – Yes, which means my child labor force just increased by 100%.

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
Says one word besides “mama” or “dada” – She says “hi” sometimes, in context, totally correctly, but I’m still not sure she means it. She babbles so much it’s hard to tell.
Stoops from standing position – Have I answered your question fully?

I asked Little Evan what he wanted to be for Halloween and he said “DINOSAUR! RAWR!!!” Of course, that’s also what he said when I asked what he wanted for breakfast, what he wanted to do today, and why he kept trying to lick his sister. He’s a little bit obsessed with dinosaurs right now, thanks to that horrible Dino Dan kid (just shut UP already, NO ONE CAN SEE THE DINOSAURS. YOU MIGHT BE INSANE). Luckily, dinosaur costumes are cheap and readily available from every single costume store on the internet so I didn’t have to kill myself trying to sew one.

Instead, I pinned all my adorable handmade costume hopes and dreams on Caroline. And what’s more adorable than a baby in a tutu?

Can you tell what she is yet?

How about now?

Don't say "a yellow statue of liberty" because that doesn't make any sense

It would help if she was smiling

The headband is just felt cut and hot glued around a piece of elastic. The tutu I made with my own tutu tutorial on a piece of elastic instead of a ribbon (which was a mistake, because it’s a little too big and if I had used a ribbon I could just tie it tighter). The onesie was on clearance at H&M. BOOM. Sunshine baby.

I’ve been trying to take pictures of her in the costume for three days now, but she’s been a crying, snotty mess every time she was awake. I forced her into this photo shoot yesterday and couldn’t figure out why she was STILL such a crying, snotty mess until an hour later when I finally tracked down a thermometer (hereby officially labeled with a big giant black “R” for…well, you know how to take a baby’s temperature, right?) and discovered she had a fever of 103.6.

I’m expecting my Mother of the Year award to come in the mail any day now.

So we’re stuck at home today, not having photo shoots, hoping Caroline feels better soon and I don’t end up at the pediatrician and/or the hospital with a dehydrated baby. Little Evan is thrilled he’s not being forced to interact with humans and can watch all the Nick Jr he wants while I cuddly the sick-o and try to (literally) nurse her back to health. Thank God Dino Dan is only on once a day.

Happy 4 Months Baby Girl! You’ve celebrated this monthday by becoming a master at rolling back to front! Every time we put you down you flip over lightning fast. Your little baby muscles are super strong. Unfortunately, you’ve totally forgotten how to roll front to back (that’s supposed to be the easy way!) so once you’re on your tummy you’re stuck and that makes you Very Unhappy. VERY. So you’ve been spending a lot of time in the exersaucer and the bouncy seat so we don’t have to run over and roll you every few seconds. I tried to task your brother with the baby rolling but, uh, he’s not the most gentle – although he really wanted to be helpful.

You’re wearing 6 month clothes and I’m thrilled because we have SO MANY cute summer dresses in 6 and 9 months thanks to boxes and boxes of hand-me-downs. If only the weather would get warmer so I’m not putting leggings and socks and long-sleeved onesies under everything.

But I need to talk to you about that screaming you did on Monday night. SO.MUCH.SCREAMING. It was stung-by-a-bee or poked-with-a-needle screaming, although neither of those things happened. And even though it probably only lasted for 20 minutes it was the longest 20 minutes of our lives. NOTHING could console you. I had the doctor check you today for possible causes but you just cooed and him and made happy faces and made me look like a liar. Although I’m glad you didn’t give a repeat performance tonight.

Also, please poop soon. I’m not looking forward to what will happen if you wait another day.

4 Month Stats:
Height: 23 3/4 (25th percentile)
Weight: 14 lbs 1 oz (50th percentile)
Head circumference: 42.3 (75th percentile – girl has a BIG HEAD)

Poor Caroline, these pictures are just terrible. When we got home from the pediatrician she was sound asleep so I missed my chance at daylight. Plus she got shots in both legs and a special cream on her head for cradle cap (you know they can fix that now?!) so she’s basically just a mess. But I can’t take them tomorrow because TODAY IS HER MONTHDAY. I may be a little…stubborn about things like that.

Look at my leeeegs! My mommy is so meeeeean!

ALMOST a smile

nom nom nom

NOM NOM NOM NOM

Leg rolls! And also her totally crazy bald spot. It's so so sad.

4 Month Milestones (from BabyCenter, as usually)

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
Smiles, laughs – Yes! Unfortunately almost NEVER in pictures.
Can bear weight on legs – She loves “standing”.
Coos when you talk to him – Yes

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
Can grasp a toy – Yes! She can pull the handle on Evan’s old bouncy seat to make it play music too.
Rolls over, from tummy to back – As I said, she forgot that one. But she rolls the other way!

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
Imitates sounds: “baba,” “dada” – No I don’t think so.
Cuts first tooth – I can’t TELL. There’s a bulgy spot on her gums and she’s definitely drooling like crazy and will chomp all over my hand but it’s not one of the bottom 2 front ones, which I thought were almost always the first to pop out. Also? Cutting a tooth isn’t a SKILL.
May be ready for solid foods – We’re going to wait til 6 months to introduce solids.

She's a drooling mess. But a cute drooling mess.

Three months in and Caroline is still the happiest, smiley-est, cutest baby ever in the whole history of the world. Obviously I’m a little biased but seriously, she gives newborns everywhere a good name. I should rent her out to people who are scared that having a baby will be super hard. Of course, then their baby will end up being all colicky and refluxy and screamy and they’ll hunt me down and punch me right in my smug face. To which I will just say I paid my dues, suckers, and his name is Baby Evan.

For the record, Toddler Evan is pretty awesome. But Baby Caroline makes me want a dozen more babies.

Unfortunately, we don’t have a 3 months well-baby check so I don’t have real stats for height and weight, but she is definitely big and chubby. We’ve moved up to 6 months sleepers and dresses and I’ve already started a pile of too-small stuff to put away. I’m super excited that spring is almost here so I can start putting her in the dozens and dozens of adorable barely worn hand-me-downs my friends and sister-in-law have given her.

Caroline is now awake for a lot of the day, but will fall asleep if we go anywhere in the car or if we wrap her up and bounce her in the bouncy seat. She sleeps for an amount of time that is technically considered “through the night” by baby-sleep experts but still involves feeding her at midnight and 5 am. Which is fantastic, as long as I get an occasional nap to make up for those couple of lost hours. One of these days we’ll work on moving her to the co-sleeper or the crib – or a new crib, if I can convince E we need one – but for now she’s still sleeping the the swing most of the time. Ok, all the time. No judging unless you’ve lived with a baby who gets up every 90 minutes to nurse for 8 months straight.

Favorite things still include smiling, looking at people, sleeping, and making adorable baby sounds. Dislikes are gas bubbles and having onesies pulled over her head.

And now for the gratuitous picture section. Milestones are below:

Ah! It's trying to eat me!

Bebeh feet of the month

2 Month Milestones (from BabyCenter, as usually)

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
Recognizes your face and scent – Yes, although I’m afraid if I ever start taking regular showers again I might confuse her
Holds head steady – Yes, there is definitely less slamming of her head into my face when I try to hold her on my shoulder
Visually tracks moving objects – Yes, which I find ridiculously adorable

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
Squeals, gurgles, coos – OMG the noises she makes are the absolute cutest noises ever in the whole world
Blows bubbles – Yes
Recognizes your voice – I think so, she definitely smiles the most when I talk to her
Does mini-pushup – Yes, she’s super strong!

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
Rolls over, from tummy to back – YES! She did it for the first time right on her 3 month birthday. She can also go halfway from her back to tummy but can’t get over her arm
Turns toward loud sounds – Sort of. There are a lot of loud sounds around here. They only bother her about 50% of the time
Can bring hands together, bats at toys – Yes and yes, I’ve started giving her small toys to hold, which doesn’t last very long but she likes to try

Aaaaand one more picture for the hell of it. I was trying to catch her smiling but this is actually more awesome: