A Girl's Best Friend...Her Fleece

Caroline has been insisting lately on wearing her fleece. She will bring it to us and stick out her arm, ready for you to help her put it on. The other night she was at home playing and only wearing a onesie. This is what her ensemble looked like.




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You also might like to see how much Caroline loves eating pasta!

Licking Ketchup

Tonight at dinner Ben was showing Caroline how to dip french fries in ketchup before eating them. She did a great job dipping, however, she decided that licking the ketchup off of the french fry was much tastier than actually eating the french fry. :) You can only imagine how soggy the french fry was by the time she was done with the ketchup!

Caroline has really gotten into immitating us. Lately when she stands in her little easy chair I have been motioning my pointer finger in a downward fashion as I tell her to sit on her bottom. She has managed to turn this into a game of sorts. Now when she stands in the chair she immediately looks at me and does the exact same finger motion as I have used with her. As a matter of fact, she won't sit on her bottom until she sees me motion her with my finger to sit down. I guess my request to sit doesn't matter unless I literally show her with my finger that she is to sit down!

Monkey See, Monkey Do

We are really beginning to notice what a little sponge Caroline is. She is so observant for a 17 month old. She also uses her imagination really well. For example, she was just playing in her play kitchen, pretending to cook, when she walked over to the sink, "turned on" the water, and pretended to wash her hands. :) She also loves to take her tea pot, bring a cup over to you, and pour tea. The cutest part of this is when she makes a "shhhh" noise as she pours, just like the sound of someone actually pouring something. I started doing this when she got her kitchen from Santa, and she has imitated it ever since!

Sometimes I'll look over at her and she'll have a sock or a dish towel she's pulled off of the oven handle and she will be on her hands and knees scrubbing the floor! Other times she'll dust a table or wipe off a chair. She also loves to hand us the dishes when we unload the dishwasher. I know at 17 mo. you would think she would break everything, but she is really gentle....and it is especially helpful to me now that I am 8 mo. pregnant. It's great to not have to bend over!

Since Caroline is always fighting a cold of some kind, I've tried showing her how to blow and wipe her nose. My intention was for her to do it as I held the tissue, however, she will actually do it herself. The not so great side of this is that she has been known to blow her nose into a sock (she won't keep socks on her feet so you can always find a sock on the floor somewhere) or into her own shirt! Now I am POSITIVE she didn't learn that from me...but I think I do know who she learned that from...no names mentioned of course. :) One day she was rummaging through a basket of clean clothes, pulled our a dryer sheet, and blew her nose into the dryer sheet. We will have to keep working on using a tissue!

With Sarah Anne arriving in about six more weeks (although I'm hoping it will be a teeny tiny earlier than that!) I have been using some of her baby dolls to show her how to handle being around a newborn. I hold the doll the way I will hold Sarah Anne, feed her a bottle, burp her, show Caroline how to be gentle, etc. She is great with the dolls, and I feel certain she is going to be a great big sister (I'm sure there will be moments). Lately she has been picking up her dolls and holding them so sweetly. Yesterday she sat for about 5 min. and just rocked Baby Darla (her doll that cries, laughs, calls for Mama). She was really gentle and just loved on her. :)
All of this has reminded me how much she is always looking and watching, listening and imitating. Just as I've learned from being a teacher, actions really do speak louder than words. :)

Happy Easter

We had a great Easter despite it being chilly outside. Caroline woke up and found that the Easter Bunny had hidden eggs in our dining room (because it was too cold to go outside), and he filled her Easter basket with books, bubbles, and a stuffed bunny. She loved finding her Easter eggs which were filled with either M&M's or jellybeans. We went to church where Caroline added flowers to the cross, and Ben's parents then came over for Easter lunch. Caroline was worn out by this time and didn't get to have lunch with us. She more than made up for it when she woke up from her nap! For a picky eater, she ate everything today! We found out that she likes deviled eggs (sliders) which surprised us because she has never liked eggs of any kind. Throughout the day (Caroline grazes...she never eats very much at any one time) she ate ham, green beans, grapes, cantaloupe, rolls, deviled eggs, scalloped potatoes and strawberry cake. She must be going through a growth spurt. Her little belly was rock hard and full by the end of the day. :) Everytime she would put something in her mouth she immediately, with her mouth stuffed full of food, asked for "more"...which she says when she wants more of anything...inclucing her Singulair tablets that she takes for her asthma! At least she isn't picky about taking her medicine. :)

Our Growing Family

I finally decided it was time to start our blog. With Sarah Anne's due date approaching (May 9th), and Caroline constantly entertaining, us I realized that this would be the best and easisest way to share the latest news and pictures with everyone. :) I'll post some more recent pictures soon! Here are a few for now. :)