We (and every other family with a toddler) have had these Target boots for ages but because Little Evan has such tiny little feet (he’s wearing a size 5 or 6 shoe at almost 23 months) he never wears them. They’ve just lead to a lot of falling down and frustration.

Little Evan recently found them in his closet – I think I pulled them out of storage when I was struggling to find snow boots, thinking at least they were waterproof and would be better than nothing – and he started carrying them around saying “BOOT! BOOT! BOOT!”

A couple days ago he got bored with just holding them and wanted to wear them. He’s definitely gotten the hang of walking in them but because they’re kind of big they fall off a lot. It was a constant battle of on-off-on-off-on and eventually I told him I was done playing Prince Charming to his Cinderella with lost boots.

So when I saw him sitting here with the dog, wearing his boots again I was a little surprised.  Did he…put them on himself? How awesome is that?! And how terrifying – he cannot possibly be old enough to put his own boots on. That seems like such an advanced skill, such a grown up ability, so much more of a KID thing than a TODDLER thing. It made me a little teary-eyed. If he doesn’t even need me to help him with his boots, how much longer before he hardly needs me at all?

Of course, he hardly ever gets them on the right feet. So maybe he still needs me for a little longer.

Our week started super well and ended very, very badly. I was sick (probably kidney related) on Friday and horribly terribly sick on Saturday, the kind of sick where you cannot function beyond breathing and even that seems like maybe too much work. It doesn’t help that ALL of us are snotty and coughing too – but at least kidney infections aren’t contagious so I can be as sick as a dog and not worry about passing it to the baby.

Sunday:

Poke poke poke Hey Daddy do you like this? Poke poke poke

Retribution!!!

See that? That's as polished as my sink gets. I have to admit it feels good to come down to a clean sink in the morning.

Monday:

Stroller Strides was cancelled for a snow day so we stayed home and baked The Pioneer Woman's Angel Sugar cookies. DELICIOUS.

E had the day off too, so I had the chance to get some knitting done. My, Monday sure was domestic.

Tuesday:

Playtime after Stroller Strides. All the running in circles leads to a GREAT nap.

9 weeks old and she's already bored with me. Blah!

Little Evan thought maybe she wanted to call someone and report me for being so lame.

Wednesday:

Hey girl, I'll share my dope ride with you!

"Cat, not dog" is a concept lost on Little Evan. I put the poor kitty back in the basement for her own good.

I spent the evening putting together the favors for Little Evan's 2nd birthday. I figure if I do one thing a week for the next month I can throw a pretty good party even with a lot less free time than last year.

Thursday:

Someone thought maybe I should do some laundry.

It wasn't freezing cold so we spent a few minutes playing is the dirty dirty yard. Also, I think I know why the ends of his sippy cups keep falling off.

I ate way way way too many of these.

Friday:

Evan was feeling very loving today towards his sister...

...and towards his Brutus. (Taken with Instagram)

Little Evan eating his Trix. For lunch. At 3 pm. I felt too lousy to care.

E had to work late (of course) so we made it through the evening with lots of reading.

Saturday:

Yeah, wear whatever you want kid.

What, don't you use your baby carrier to tote around your laptop? If you look in the background you can see the house slowly deteriorating thanks to my inability to stand up.

Thank God sleepy baby was sleepy. We just curled up on the couch most of the day and nursed.

I’m feeling a little better today, well enough to look at my computer screen at least, and I’m loading up on the Motrin and fluids so hopefully by the time I’m back to solo-parenting tomorrow I can function. I think planning on Stroller Strides might be a little optimistic – but hey, a 104 degree fever combined with a constantly nursing baby means I’ve probably lost 5 pounds since Friday anyways. Uh, yay?

Did you take any camera phone photos this week? Link up with one or lots using the linky below and grab the code (so it shows on your blog too!) over at Amy’s. It’s really fun!

We are still in the sleepy infant stage of Caroline’s babyhood and I have to say it’s such a nice, peaceful time. She likes to sleep, will sleep anywhere, sleeps through noise, sleeps in your lap, sleep sleep sleep. Every once in a while she has an ESPECIALLY sleepy day and I sort of…forget I have a baby. I’m secretly scared I will actually forget her one of these days and drag a the screaming toddler, giant diaper bag, four hundred bright plastic musical toys and enough snacks for a pack of rabid wolves off to Stroller Strides…only to realize Caroline is still at home strapped in her car seat sleeping soundly. The chances of this happening are greatly reduced by my slightly obsessive worry that it could happen – it’s hard to forget a baby when you check to make sure you didn’t 40 times for a 10 minute car ride.

When she’s not sleeping like an angel, Caroline is happy to just look at people. Smiling is her favorite. Even when she’s upset if you just smile at her face enough she’ll mirror it back. I don’t remember Little Evan ever caring this much about my attention – maybe it’s a second child thing – but it makes me want to spend hours and hours just staring at her and smiling. It also makes the daily 5 am feeding a lot less sucky.

For a 2 month old, she’s put herself on a pretty strict schedule. I swear I am an on-demand type of parent (mostly because I am too lazy to enforce anything else) but she is a baby of habit. She’s awake for an hour or so in the morning, sleeps through Stroller Strides, wakes up around 11:00 for a snack and some smiling, goes back to sleep around 12:00 (just in time for Little Evan to take his nap – HORRAY FOR DUAL NAPPING) wakes up a few times in the afternoon for eating and pooping and then spends the evening throwing a baby party. Sometimes it’s a loud party, but even at her worst she’s no where NEAR colic/reflux/omg whyyyyyyyyyy levels of screaming. She’s down for the night around 11 and usually sleeps SIX FULL HOURS until that 5 am feeding/diaper change. It’s so…predictable. I like it.

Stats from last week’s appointment:

Height: 22 inches (50th percentile)
Weight: 11 pounds 15 oz (75th percentile)
Head circumference: 40.3 cm

So that’s what Caroline is up to at 2 months old – Sleeping, smiling, pooping, sleeping. And get ready for a zillion pictures (scroll down for milestones if for some reason you hate adorableness):

Thigh rolls! Finally!

Jeez Mom, enough already!!

2 Month Milestones (from BabyCenter, as usually)

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
Vocalizes: gurgles and coos – I swear she says “goo goo gaga” just like a freakin’ cartoon baby.
Follows objects across field of vision – Yes, with BIG GIANT EYES.
Notices her hands – She’s always been amazed at her hands but she’s still not doing anything with them.
Holds head up for short periods – Up from what? My shoulder? This permanent bruise on my cheek where she keeps whacking me while trying to look around says yes.

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
Smiles, laughs – Smiling’s her favorite! No laughs yet but we’re close.
Holds head at 45-degree angle – Maybe they mean from the ground? Then no, I don’t think so.
Makes smoother movements – Ehhhhh, she’s still got a lot of that OMG WHUT? jerkiness to her flailing.

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
Holds head steady – STOP ASKING ABOUT HER HEAD. I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN.
Can bear weight on legs – Sometimes. I’d actually forgotten babies didn’t always do this.
Lifts head and shoulders when lying on tummy (mini-pushup) – Uh, I dunno? I guess we need to do some tummy time. Evan HATED it so much we almost never even tried but maybe Caroline will tolerate it better. Yes! I put her on her belly. She does better push-ups than I do!

My plan worked! Or at least, I’m going to pretend is was my genius idea on Wednesday that lead to our current thaw and the chance to play out on the porch yesterday. Thank God for that porch y’all, because the yard is still 80% snow but the other 20% is mud and even though I’m trying to keep up my good attitude regarding my housekeeping responsibilities it would be madness to encourage a toddler and a dog to play in the dirt and then run through the house. MADNESS I TELL YOU.

We took advantage of the 50+ degree weather to try out Little Evan’s new bubble machine. I asked Twitter for suggestions and although everyone agreed the cheap kind tend to break down after a lot of use I only need it to work until the beginning of April, so for $11 I’m willing to buy another if need be.

Because really, this much fun is totally worth ten times that much.

We hid this car on the porch for the winter and now it's like having a BRAND NEW TOY. Brilliant.

This picture has not been edited or retouched in any way. Holy ginger child, Batman!!

Portrait of a child who knows a cage when he sees it...even if it is full of bubbles.

I think the Navy should install bubble machines on all their submarines. It would certainly make them more fun. Doesn't E look like he's having fun?

Ok, now for a vote. Which picture do you think I should use on Little Evan’s birthday invitations?

#1 - Smiling child

OR

#2 - Amazed at the bubbles child

Either way it has to be cropped so the proportions are opposite – portrait instead of landscape – so his face and the bubbles around his face are the most important part. I can’t decide which one I like. I AM, however, getting super duper excited about the party. It’s not going to be *quite* as epic as last year’s circus party but still pretty fun.