Silly

My daddy is so silly! He is always making me laugh! Especially during lunch time! I love my daddy!

Aunties

I just have to say that Caddie is one lucky little girl. She has the coolest aunts ever! Aunt Claire may have squirted her with a water gun, but she loves her so much. She even called her on the telephone twice! Aunt Erin is always buying Caddie the cutest clothes and the coolest books and toys. And Caddie really loves her new cousin Maggie. She tells me all the time that she can't wait to see them. (And Uncle Rob too!) She points at Aunt Erin's picture on our wall all of the time and says "na!"
And then there's Aunt Bridget. Caddie loves to play with her and her cell phone. Aunt Bridget is loud and fun and crazy and Caddie loves it. We're going to miss her so much when she moves to New York. Caddie is so lucky to have such great aunts around!

Fun in the Sun

Summer is underway here in Michigan! The weather has been wonderful, so we have been doing lots of oudoor activities. Yesterday, Brendan, his sisters Bridget and Claire, Caddie, and I went swimming at our friend Carol's house. She loved splashing in the pool with everyone! Caddie has also been playing with her wading pools that she got for her birthday. She doesn't really like to go in them yet, but she loves to splash the water and play with her water toys.
Caddie just generally likes being outside, whether it's at the park, the pool or in our own backyard. She just loves to have the space to walk and explore. Sometimes she even finds treasure!

New Job!

Brendan got a new job! He was working at the Better Health store in Lansing as the produce manager. As we all know, Brendan is much more interested in art than produce! He was offered a position at Retroduck, a t-shirt company in East Lansing. He is currently training and in August will start running the shop. We are all so proud of him and know that he will do great things there! You can check out retroduck.com to see some awesome t-shirts and designs!

Babies and Books!

Today, Caddie and I went to Babies and Books at the library. We go every Thursday morning. We read stories, sing songs, and play with toys. It's also a really great opportunity for Caddie to socialize with other babies.
Caddie loves to read and play with others, so she loves coming to Babies and Books every week. It is hard for her to sit still because she always wants to turn the pages of the books herself!
At the end of the hour, Linda (her teacher) takes out a big box of toys for all of the babies to play with. Every week is a different kind of toy. Today it was musical instruments. It was loud, but fun!

Doctor's Visit

Caddie went to the doctor today for her one year check up! She is just the right height and weight and is doing everything that a one year old is supposed to do and more. She stacked blocks, walked, and showed the doctor all of the words that she knows. She did have to get two shots, but she was very brave and seemed to be just fine when we got home. Brendan and I are so thankful to have such a beautiful, happy, healthy, baby girl!

Our Day at the Gardens

Yesterday, we took Caddie to the MSU Children's Gardens. It was a beautiful and sunny day, and we just couldn't stay inside! It was so amazing to watch her look at and touch the flowers. She was so fascinated with the colors and the textures. She just walked around the whole place and touched everything! Her favorite part was splashing in this little pool they have and watching a clay toad spit water at her. And she loved playing in this wooden train! What a fun day!

First Steps

Caddie has always been a very active baby. I could hardly keep up with her when she was just crawling! But now she is walking. She took her first steps about 2 weeks before her first birthday. She didn't really show any interst in walking for a long time. Then, about one week after her birthday, she decided walking was her preferred mode of transportation. She walks more and more everyday, and now she hardly ever crawls! It is so exciting to see her walking around the house, outside in the yard, or just holding my hand when we are walking around the mall or the store! I guess she's a toddler now!

The 4th of July

We had so much fun celebrating the 4th of July! We went to the parade downtown and Caddie was completely awestruck with the people and noises. The big booms scared her a little bit, but she had tons of fun. They passed out little flags to all of the children and Caddie waved hers with everyone else. Her Aunt Claire was in the parade too. She squirted Caddie in the face with a water gun, but Caddie forgave her in the end. We didn't get to see any fireworks (they're past her bedtime), but we did barbeque brats and played in her new swimming pool. It was a fun day!

Caddie's First Birthday!

On June 28, we celebrated Caddie's first birthday. We had the party at our house in the backyard. The theme of the party was bubbles and balloons. There were tons of balloons (which Caddie loved!), and bubbles for everyone. Caddie had so much fun at her party. She didn't like her cake very much and wouldn't eat any, but she did have fun picking the candles out of it! She got tons of presents from all of her friends and family and she even opened them by herself! I made her birthday dress from a pillow case (thanks Aunt Erin!) but it got very dirty early in the party which is why it is not seen here. She also got 2 swimming pools from her Grandma Judge and Griffin and Martin, a customized play car with the Cadillac logo on the hood from Pat, lacrosse sticks and a ball from Aunt Claire, and tons of books, puzzles and blocks too! Her favorite part of the party was playing in this swimming pool that Marybeth brought with her. She loved to splash in it and played in it for most of the party! It was a truly special day and we are so thankful to everyone that came and celebrated with us. We'll always remember it!