Welcome to our homepage! You can come here to read the latest news about Keith and Maribel Kruepke. (Oh, yeah...and Jordan too!) The links along the top and bottom also point you to other information available on this site. We would like to recommend a browse through our photo gallery.

The photo to the left was taken in our backyard in January 2006. (Yes, I am sure it was January, even though there is no snow.)

Caroline has had a few milestones lately. Over two weeks ago (4/18, I believe) she had her first laugh. At least that is what we think it was. We were able to get her to laugh a few times in a row, and it was cool that it happened at a time when Maribel and I were both able to experience it.

For about a week now, Caroline has been reaching out and touching things. It is still fairly casual and does not necessarily involve grabbing much yet, but that cannot be far behind. It started one day when Maribel noticed her touching one of the toys attached to her bouncy chair. Of course, she had touched things before, but Maribel watched and saw her do it a few times. Ever since then, it has gotten more routine, and she has done a little bit of grabbing things when she touches them.

For a little while now, Caroline has been sucking on her hand at times. It started out being an occasional thing, and it has become quite routine now. It always seemed to me that she was not all that happy with how little of her hand (usually in fist form) fits in her mouth. The last few days she seems to have finally figured out how to suck on her thumb.

Unfortunately, Caroline has been mildly sick the past several days. It is just a cold, but she can get pretty cranky about it. Saturday was my first time being alone with her for an extended period of time (over eight hours), and she was not very pleasant that day. She really reacts negatively when we attempt to clean out her nose. Telling her it is for her own good does not seem to help; I doubt that will ever change. Overall she has been pretty good about being sick even though she has her cranky moods.

Finally, Caroline seems to be exhibiting some independence lately. There are times when she starts fussing while we are holding her, and putting her down somewhere makes her happy. Of course, we try not to take that personally, but we are sensitive parents. We will have to see if this is the start of a trend.

- Keith

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