There's a First Time for Everything

The Bader family has been experiencing many firsts this summer. Caroline experienced her first bath, which she thoroughly enjoyed. Please avert your eyes as the photographer accidentally included her unmentionables in her bathtime photos.

She also enjoyed her first trip to the park and her first weekend with Gran while the rest of the family enjoyed a trip to Atlanta with Ryan's little league team. Anna and Luke had a blast with Mom & Dad at a Braves game and Six Flags.

Anna and Luke kept Ryan company while he fed Caroline one of her first bottles. Beth is back to teaching ballet a couple times each week, so Caroline enjoys some bonding time with Dad while Beth gets a nice break to dance and make a little cash to boot!

Anna is now a big time first grader, complete with two missing teeth. She is very proud of her accomplishments. She'll be six very soon and is anticipating a great birthday.

Luke is missing his sister and has filled the empty hours by having some play dates with his friends from school. He looks forward to starting at First Presbyterian Preschool after Labor Day, where he will be in a four year old class three mornings per week.

What a great summer of firsts it has been for the Baders. We look forward to many more!

Blogging Delinquent

So I'm proving to be a pretty poor blogger. I have no pictures to show you today, but I thought an update might be helpful to some of you living in places other than East Tennessee.

Caroline is continuing to make her mom and dad happy by sleeping and eating as well as a junior high boy. Last night she slept 8 hours through the night at just over five weeks old. When you wake up you're not sure whether to be thrilled with a full nights sleep or panic-stricken because your baby didn't wake up during the night. After three kids, though, it's a much quicker transition to thrilled. She's also smiling a lot now and showing us her pearly whites...or where her pearly whites will one day be.

Speaking of children with no teeth, Anna is about to loose her first tooth, and surprisingly, is quite excited by the entire enterprise. As of yet, she doesn't seem to know that loosing teeth requires ripping bone from flesh. I'm not going to be the one to tell her. She also started the first grade yesterday, which is enough to make her mom and dad a little nostalgic.

Luke is a trooper. He continues to be unfazed by being outnumbered by the girls. He is still a few weeks short of starting preschool, so he spends his days reading books, playing outside and missing his sister.

All in all, life is good. I'll see if we can't upload some pictures in the next few days.