The Little Lady Turns 2

Can it be true? Is she really two? Excuse me while I get myself a box of tissues. This little lady is just as adorable and pleasant as ever and we just can't get enough of her. She charms every person she come in contact with with those mile long eyelashes, big round hazel eyes and her bouncy curly hair. She is just so darn cute. And she knows it too! She'll say to me, "You like my curly hair mama? you like my curly hair?"  In addition to being absolutely beautiful, Caroline is the sweetest and most lovely little personality you will ever meet. She just melts my heart with her shy smile, and her easy going attitude. She is generally a very happy girl and is rarely in a bad mood, and when she does get upset she's really quite easy to calm down. She is just the best! Oh and did I mention she is as smart as a whip? Yup. This girl is the whole package. 

I must admit, she looks much older than 2. Her hair is so long and full it make her look more like a three year old. But man she is cute. (side note: notice the little dress Caroline is wearing. I sewed it for her from an old dress of my own. It was my first sewing project since my 4H days nearly 20 years ago! I think it turned out so cute) 

Always has a sparkle in her eye. 

Caroline is quite a feminine little creature. She is very into dressing up and loves wearing tulle ballerina skirts. she always says, "Put my ballerina skirt on mama!" one day she saw I had a white tulle skirt in my closet, and she perked up in excitement and said, "Mama! A white Ballerina skirt! Wear it! PWEASE!" ha ha unfortunately it wasn't really in my dress code for the day of doing laundry and scrubbing floors so I had to decline the request.

She is a very playful little girl. She loves jumping on the trampoline. Though she still hasn't really figured out how to jump. She kind of just gallops and bounces. She first referred to trampolines as "Jump-o-weens" but she has learned now the correct pronunciation.

She loves to accessorize with necklaces and she always has to pick out her shoes. Here she is fast asleep after church. Thomas always says, "Caroline looks so ADORABLE when she is sleeping!" And I heartily agree. 

My sister had a little star wars party and had Caroline dress up as a ewok. She is the cutest.

She was helping me with the laundry the other day and I was impressed with her preciseness and with how deliberate she was with the towels. Definitely not like her tornado brother.

She is just about at cute and dainty as a girl could get and I just love it! 

These two little rascals have become quite the little pair of friends. It makes me so happy to hear them laugh together and to see them play so well. They really seem to like each other most of the time. Caroline thinks Thomas is hilarious, and Thomas of course loves anyone who thinks he is hilarious, so its a good combination! Of course there are moments of tension and what not, but I'd say in general they get along pretty well. Its strange, I can even let them go downstair and play for a bit and get some housework or cooking done! That hasn't happened since I became a mother almost 5 years ago!

I like to get Caroline dressed up for church, she is like my little dolly. I got this little dress for her in a vintage children's shop in Paris. I love it! I had to snap a pic before church. This picture cracks me up because Thomas demonstrates here how he usually looks for church, No tie-EVER, pants are always a bit too short (He refuses to wear the longer ones) And he is always wearing a "secret" shirt under his collared shirt. And usually it doesn't match or coordinate at all. My little wild unkempt man. They are so opposite!

Another Sunday example! Well they are both so cute!

A few thins about Caroline at 2 years old

She has a very impressive ability to verbally communicate. She talks in full, well structured sentences exclusively. For example she said to me the other day, "I am not very happy with you right now mama!" Another sentence, "Thomas is not a cutie tootie! I am a cutie tootie!" "No mama, I don't want  cheese, I want hummus!" And she has the cutest little voice in the world. She will always say thank you twice, "Thank you mama! Thank you!" And my personal favorite which she picked up from Thomas, was the other day our pantry was pretty empty and clint finished off the last of the cereal before the kids woke up. This did not sit well with Thomas who for the entire day was lamenting Papa's poor decision to eat the cereal. The next morning when Caroline woke up she said, "The cereal is all gone. Papa ate all of our food. Papa made a bad decision." Ha ha! Honestly there isn't much she can't say!

As I mentioned, Caroline is so charming, everyone around her thinks she is the cutest thing alive. We have some elderly neighbors who have taken a liking to her and one day she say the husband, Lee walking his dog from the window.  She yelled, "Lee! We are eating breakfast! Come on over!" Ha ha! Of course he couldn't hear her through the glass, but I later told him about it and of course he found it equal parts hilarious and adorable.

She loves pink. She frequently informs me, "I like pink a lot mama. I like pink a lot."

When she wakes up in the morning I always ask her what she dreamt about. It is always some variation of, "Sheer Khan wearing a pink diaper going to the moon!"

Sometimes Clint will pretend to play that he is a bear or a monster or something and come and try to catch the kids. They laugh and run and think it is all kinds of silly. But if Clint try to pretend to attack me, Caroline freaks out! She thinks I am in real danger and just screams and cries! One day Clint ws pretending to be Mr. McGregror form Peter Rabbit. Caroline got a little scared and said, "Oh No! Mr. Cracker going to put me in a pie!"

She loves the Jungle book and the little mermaid. She loves pretty much anything that Thomas loves, except Mighty Machines, she hates that show! But she can sing the Paw Patrol theme song and she sounds so cute!

She loves books, she knows most all of her letters, she can count to 15, she has been able to identify her colors correctly for a long while now. She is a very smart girl. I am teaching Thomas to read during lunch time and I half joke that Caroline will probably just teach herself to read from learning from our lessons.

She is a very friendly and social little girl. One day we were playing at the park and she joined a ground of little girls who were a few years older than her. They were playing and pretending to build a nest out of leaves and grass.  I came up to her and told her it was time to leave and she said, "No Mama! I'm playing with my Friends!" Then one of the little girls, who was probably about 5 said, "actually, she's making it worse..." Ha ha! I had to laugh a little bit about that one.

She is a pretty picky little eater, which I think is largely influenced by her big brother. She is not quite as extreme as he is, but she still eats very little. She will eat hummus, ranch dressing, chips and salsa, beans, broccoli, soup and eggs which Thomas has never even considered, so I figure she is probably pretty typical. And she loves Pizza! She tends to have less of a sweet tooth than thomas. Which I am pretty happy about.

She sleeps everynight with a pink swaddle blanket she has had since she was born and a little baby doll that she has put a little sock on its legs. She calls is her "Baby Mermaid" and its her favorite little toy. I'm actually surprised the baby mermaid isn't in any of these pictures. She follows caroline arounds all day!

There are so many more stories of the little girl, I wish I could remember them all! I try to jot down notes so that I can preserve as many memories of her and Thomas as possible. I was reading some stories about Thomas when he was 2 and I totally had forgotten most of them! So its so important for me to document them here on the blog.  When I was looking at Thomas's 2 year pics I saw one that brought a tear to my eye. It was a picture of him hugging clint in a way that he no longer does, and it made me realize how fleeting this time is, and that it won't be long before the little girl grows out of some of the things she does now. If only you could freeze time! I honestly really enjoy this stage of Caroline's life.
Caroline, my darling daughter, you are a light in the life of all those around you. You bring a spirit of calmness into our family that no one else could bring. You are smart, sweet, bright, loving and kind. In short, you are the most wonderful little girl we know and you are deeply loved. Happy birthday!