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Friday, February 24, 2012

Birthday Parties Are Snow Much Fun!


Last weekend Caroline and I were invited to Luke's birthday party. He is one of the most special, awesome little kids I have ever met. I was very fortunate to meet him and his mom after following their story for a few months. Take a minute and read about his and his family's journey over the past year. Long story short...Luke was really sick and in the hospital last year on his birthday, so his parents told him that he could do whatever he wanted to this year. Well, what else would a Florida boy ask for?? SNOW! In the form of a 70 foot snow slide and a big ol' pile to make snowballs in. How fun is that?? We borrowed some snowman attire from our friend, Kailyn, and headed out. Caroline was beyond excited and had been talking about making snowballs at "Wuke's" birthday party for a few weeks. She had a great time! She was very brave and went down the big slide by herself one time. After that, she wasn't so sure about it. Brandi (Luke's mom) talked me into going down with her (ok, I'll be honest...it didn't take too much talking; I really wanted to try it!). As soon as we were at the bottom, she asked "I go again, Mommy?". So we did. 5 more times. :-) Check out how awesome it was!
Sweet Luke











Brandi finally did it!



Monday, February 20, 2012

Circus Time!

Caroline and I went to the circus with our friends Julie, Todd, and Ella in January. Caroline loved the silly clowns and the baby elephant. And I was loving the lions and tigers! The girls did great during the long show and seemed to really love it! Here are some pictures from our fun day!





24, 25, & 26 Months




It is getting harder and harder to do these monthly updates. I swear Caroline learns something new every single day. She also fixates on something for a few days and then completely forgets about it (like saying "yes ma'am" to after almost everything I said to only answering "yeah"....did she turn into a teenager already??). Here are the growth stats from her 2 year appointment on 12/14/11:
weight: 26 lbs (45%)
height: 33" (25%--when she went to the ENT a couple of weeks ago, she was 33 1/2")
head circumference: 18 1/2" (40%)

Here are a few highlights from the past 3 months:
*She still is a terrible eater...unless it's a chocolate chip cookie. :-) She doesn't eat a big variety or very much of anything (except Multi-grain Cheerios...for about 3 weeks, she was eating about 3 bowls of them every morning). She will try just about anything I give her though and has started to eat more meat.
*She's on a kick now where she eats a couple of bites of dinner and then wants to get down. I make her sit for a little longer (hoping she'll take a few more bites), she gets down and plays, and then asks to eat more after the dishes have been cleared away. We're working on this...
*The tube in her left ear has fallen out but is still in her ear canal. The ear looks good though. The ARNP started her on a nasal spray once a day to help with some of the constant congestion that she seems to have.
*Some of her favorite sayings are: okey dokey artichokey, oopsey daisy, uh oh spaghetti-o, and whoa joe. Love it!
*She sings pretty frequently now and sometimes performs a mash-up (ABCEF...bringing home a baby [bumblebee] won't mommy be proud...twinkle little star up above....ABC--get the picture??).
*She is still such a little mommy with her babies--feeding them, putting them to bed, covering them up, going for a run with them in their stroller (monkey see, monkey do??). She's going to be a great big sister someday.
*The behavior problems have gotten better. She still has her moments, but the demon possessed meltdowns don't seem to be happening as frequently.
*People are really impressed with how much/well she talks. I graciously say thank you and admit that I'm a speech therapist. :-)
*Sometimes I wish she would stop talking. lol
*She can "spell" her name. While she was writing the other day, she busted out with "A R O N E". Not too bad for a 2 year old, especially for one with a long name!
*She loves to be outside to play with her balls, drive her car, "ride" her tricycle, and slide. I really wish we could put a swingset up in our yard.
*Her newest obsession is arts and crafts. She loves to draw, write, color, paint, cut, glue, string beads, put stickers on things and make things. I'm working on getting our craft cabinet stocked.
*She is really soooooo much fun (and then drive me crazy the next minute!), and I love our adventures we have!

More 2 year old fun:









Sunday, February 12, 2012

More Christmas Fun!

Before Christmas, we celebrated with some friends here in Jacksonville. We made Christmas plates and ornaments at a pottery place with Ella and Kailyn. The girls had such a great time! And then Kelly invited all of us over to bake cookies. Her mom had made the girls super cute Christmas aprons--loved them! She was super organized and the girls had a blast piling on the sprinkles, making handprint wreaths, and exchanging Christmas presents.










After Christmas, Caroline and I got to stay almost a week to spend more time with my family (and enjoy not paying for 2 plane tickets one last time...I fibbed while booking our return flight and said that her birthday was Jan 5 instead of Dec 5--don't tell on me!). We got to do a lot of visiting and spend more time with baby Thomas (love him!). Our visiting included a trip to Tupelo to meet up with my BFF, Amy, and her little boy, Charlie. It was so great to see them, eat lunch at one of my favorite places (Harvey's), and watch the kiddos play together.
They just grabbed each others' hand. So sweet!

styling!

playing at the mall

cookie time

cake pop from Ladybug Bakery--yum!

holding baby Thomas

My awesome secret pal (Kate) gave me this. We didn't get around to making it before Christmas, but it didn't matter--Caroline still loved it!