Mystery solved!

Caroline has had a rough week. Thus, Mommy and dear Aunt Katy have had a rough week. It's been filled with Caroline's fevers, aches and pains, diarrhea, nights of interrupted sleep and fussiness. At first I thought this was all due to the round of vaccinations she just received but as the days wore on, I wondered if it was something more. I managed to get her a doctor's appointment last Thursday and he suspected it was a combination of something viral along with teething in general. (Her 8th tooth, next to her top left tooth was coming in.)

The past couple of days have been kinder to Caroline. She still isn't 100% or even 75%, but she is a little better. Today was the first day in almost a week that I got a full on giggle from her. Plus she danced for a while, chased her dog, played peekaboo and in general seemed to feel a little bit better. As an added bonus, the diarrhea is almost gone. Let me tell you about that by the way... on Wednesday night, her diarrhea was so bad that it shot out of her diaper and poured down and off her highchair. Thank goodness she was just about done eating, because I had to take her straight to the bathtub for a massive clean up! Enough of that, back to the update.

Today, while my heart was singing because Caroline was feeling better, I caught a glimpse of a MOLAR! That's right folks, a molar! No wonder this week was so rough for her! I know the molar likely wasn't her only problem, but it sure helped explain a lot of the fussiness and moaning. Poor girl! My friends have assured me that the first molar is the worst. I can only hope that is true!

Can you believe that Caroline is 31 inches tall now?! They commented at her doctor's appointment that she is very tall! This new height means that she, at 15 months old, can reach stuff on the kitchen counters, folks. It brings a whole new round of childproofing to the forefront!

Benjamin is doing really well on his deployment. He loves the flying, thinks the other guys and gals on the deployment with him are awesome and the time is flying by for both of us. We couldn't ask for a better experience thus far for either of us, although we do miss each other dearly. We are able to email fairly regularly and I even get an occasional phone call! Caroline seems to be doing well with the deployment too. At first, she would jump excitedly and look towards the door whenever she heard it move (like if the winds were strong and made it rattle.) I knew she was looking for Dada. She doesn't do that anymore, so I think she's learned not to expect him. But she loves to give her Daddy Doll (the doll with Benjamin's picture on it) lots of hugs and kisses while saying "Dada!" so I know he's not been forgotten.

Bentley seems to have also caught on that Benjamin's not coming home soon! He also used to jump up and run to the door at every little noise, but he's finally relaxed. Unfortunately, he doesn't have a daddy doll.

This is about as happy as Caroline can muster for the camera. Sorry! We had just returned from a charity fundraiser held outside and were both hot and victims of the humidity.

As you're about to see, getting all three of us looking at the camera at once just wasn't possible.

Oh well!

Me and our furry child.

Here's a picture of Caroline with her Daddy Doll! (And her awesome and beautiful Aunt!)

Look what else is new for Caroline.... luscious curls! Thanks, Guam humidity! Hers curls, mine frizzes. Katy's always looks fabulous. :)