a tutu, a visit, a ponytail, fun with play dough, a birthday party...

One last pic from our visit to the boat at the beginning of the month. I went shopping with Debbie one day and picked up this outfit for her. So cute.


We had a great visit from Godmama Katie and Godsister Abby early in the month. There were some aspects of having two two year olds together for a weekend that were exhausting for the parental units, but... others were quite delightful. Abby loves her bath so Caroline decided to love it too! And we haven't had bath issues since! They had a blast in the bath together.






Some post bath books...




Unfortunately I don't have any good pics from the puppet show we went to together at the library. This was the first time we went to a library show and Caroline stayed quiet and focused the whole time. She loved it! Abby was frightened by a loud moose that popped up early in the show so, unfortunately, she wasn't able to enjoy the show with us. She remained afraid the rest of the day that a moose was going to pop up and scare her. Poor dear. The girls had fun together while we were waiting for the show however.

I also don't have any pics from mellow mushroom or ben and jerry's. Two great treats enjoyed immensely! C's first taste of ben and jerry's. She wants to go back!

Saying goodbye...



Caroline's been having a lot of fun with the playdough kit Uncle Dan and Aunt Lauren sent along. She is very into cutting at the moment. She spends a good deal of time at school cutting paper. At home she cuts playdough. Kev thinks she's been making some delightful things so he took these pics.





A ponytail!



And just yesterday we helped to celebrate the first birthday of Caroline's dear friend, Alistair! Caroline is VERY into birthdays at the moment. She keeps wishing us a happy birthday. And talking about who's birthday is coming next. She asked if we could have cake for Uncle Daniel's birthday (next week) even though he lives FAR AWAY. That's the next family birthday, so surely there should be cake! Happy Birthday, Alistair!





As of today Caroline is 2 and a half. She (and we) had a rough night last night... she got sick in the night. Taking it easy today. Hoping she'll be well enough for school tomorrow. She's going three days a week now!

More updates are needed, but this is a start!

A Whole Bunch more Pics...

Twirling in her new polka dot dress...






Random cute shots.






Score... out for dinner at a place just after a birthday party wraps up! Balloons!





First sushi and use of chopsticks!



Caroline is finally warming up to folks at church. She made herself at home with Ayinka this particular Sunday, to Ayinka's delight! Ayinka had a cool phone to play with during church...



Several sleepy shots.




Look, Ma, no cast! Cast removed Friday, May 6th, just in time for our boat get-away! Hooray!


All caught up! Phew!

First Shampoo at a Salon!

Thought Lindsay was going to see a scarier side of C... as she is not a fan of having her hair washed. But... she's a smart girl and she quickly realized that this IS the way to get one's hair washed. She did great! And we can see her eyes again! Woohoo! Both of us were LONG overdue for haircuts.

First Protest!

Last Sunday we were grateful that our church worships at noon as we were able, therefore, to participate in a morning protest at the state capitol against a bill before the State Senate being called "Don't Say Gay." The bill would make it illegal for teachers or other public school employees (working in grades k-8 to talk about any sexual orientation other than heterosexual, under any circumstances. If a student were being bullied because s(he) was gay, can't talk about it. If a kid asks a question about someone having two moms or dads, can't talk about it. Etc. Etc. Ridiculous. Worth protesting. So we did. We met a nice mom with twin two year olds who joined C in decorating and then holding a sign.





Here's to a lifetime of witnessing for justice!

Easter 2011

The Saturday before Easter I decided to take Caroline to the zoo for an Easter Egg Hunt. Daddy thought he had drum practice so it was just the two of us out and about on a gorgeous spring day. When I first pulled out this dress to put it on her (first time ever worn) I said "Do you want to wear this pretty dress with Pooh and flowers?" She said with wide eyes "Yeah! Sure!" She likes to show off whatever she's wearing or about to wear to whichever parent is not dressing her (actually, she's taken to a dramatic, slow prance out of the bedroom to show off her style. Pretty hilarious.) When she showed the dress to Kev she said "Look! It's Pooh in a field of flowers!" No idea where she even heard the phrase "field of flowers" before... ah the mysteries... Anyhow... LOTS of other people had the same idea as us and we sat in traffic for a LONG time and missed the first 2 year old egg hunt. So we had lots of time to wander the zoo. While wandering we ran into some friends of friends and had some company for awhile. In the first pic here C is with that friend of a friend. Others were taken during or after the egg hunt. There was also a bounce house/slide set up which thrilled C... until she got in... and discovered the pain of hot plastic under bare feet. She went back in in socks a bit later, but that was the first meltdown in an entertainment venue resulting in removal from said venue that we've experienced. I remember once screaming in a haunted house at the state fair until someone came to take me out. It reminded me of that moment.





The next morning C opened a bag of goodies from Mamie and an Easter basket from us. In the Easter basket was a large egg with a small stuffed bunny, a lightning mcqueen toy cell phone, several jelly beans and small malted chocolate eggs, and a reeses peanut butter egg. There were also many small eggs each with a few jelly beans and one chocolate egg each. Our hope was that she would enjoy the contents of the large egg on Easter and then one small egg a day until they are gone. I wasn't at all sure that such self-restraint would be possible for her. But... we figured it was worth a try. And guess what? She is GREAT with it. She didn't consume all the contents of the large egg on Easter and the next day she took several small eggs and placed them back in the basket each time saying "This is for later..." One egg even split open and spilled and she restored its contents, put it away saying "This is for later..." She even put the clear ziplock bag with jelly beans (from Mamie's bag of goodies) away saying "This is for later..." She then pulled out the large egg and finished the half reese's peanut butter egg and other candy she hadn't finished the day before. And left the rest for later. And she has been GREAT about just having one egg a day ever since. Last week she got home from school and I was in my office, where her Easter Basket is stored, she came through the front door saying "My egg! My egg! My egg!" And came into the office with Kev, retrieved the basket, and chose her egg for the day... and never noticed I was in there... (Oh, and she LOVES her new cell phone... it makes sounds like it is taking pictures and she has been making us say "Cheese!" a lot!)





And lest it seem like we forgot and suggested Easter is just about eggs and baskets, we did attend two church services on Easter (and services Thursday and Friday as well!) And here she is just before church... hat and purse courtesy of good friend Ella! The bunny was in her Easter basket and the little notebook she's carrying was in her basket as well.






Easter evening we went to Brad, Heather, Ella, and Alistair's house, joining several of their other friends, for a lovely meal in their backyard. The kids had a blast together. Here's Caroline with a little boy who is very close in age to her.