C's 2nd Birthday brunch
- Personality 101- C is as sweet and stubborn as they come. We are continuously amazed at how she can be so frustrating one moment and melting our hearts the next. She is definitely into testing the boundaries and seeing what she can get away with (especially with mom and dad) but we wouldn't trade her for the world. (We do hope that baby brother is a little more go with the flow though- just for the sake of comparison, obviously)
- Food Habits- C is a typical toddler and eats better some days than others but we are really lucky that she really does love to eat healthy foods overall. Some of her favorites include: strawberries, carrots, peas, broccoli (she literally steals broccoli from the grocery store), yogurt, green beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, black beans, cheese, blueberries, oranges, greek yogurt, and hummus. She also LOVES milk and chocolate. She has also taken a liking to chocolate glazed doughnuts, iced tea, and ice cream cones- probably somewhat correlated to her mom's cravings this pregnancy. She also cannot go to bed without a fresh glass of water with her in bed.
The Broccoli thief
Chocolate doughnut
- "I wanna do it myself" is a common phrase that we hear in our household. She is an ironic mix of independence and wanting to still be treated "like a baby". This is especially true the closer we get to baby brother arriving.
- "The little helper"- Carolyn tends to thrive best when she is engaged and feeling like she is contributing to whatever is going on. Obviously this has its benefits and drawbacks but we are trying to really capitalize on this desire to help and teach her some good habits for the future. Some of the things she likes to do most are: help with laundry, put things in the trash, watch food be prepared and taste test it, wipe up things (helping with dusting and wiping the floor after dog-dog gets water all over it), putting lotion on after bath time, helping mom get ready, and getting herself in the car. We are not always as successful with things like picking up toys, putting clothes in the hamper, etc. but hopefully that will come. I am sure that we will find that she is very interested in helping with little brother once he arrives.
- Paci Fairy- The paci fairy came a few weeks ago and we were shocked with how well she took giving up her pacis. She had only used them for sleeping for awhile but we were really anxious that getting rid of them would mean weeks of sleeplessness. We explained that she needed to give her paci to other babies and that she would get a gift in return for being such a big girl. So we went to Target and bought an envelope and on the designated day the paci fairy enticed her with a little gift at the front door. She got a note from the paci fairy saying that if she gave up one paci now she could keep the Daisy stuffed animal. She took the bait and was happy as a clam until nap time. I will be honest, I thought she would have fought longer and harder but after 15 minutes of crying for paci she took a nap and never really cried for it again. She was awarded after nap with a bigger gift and she was extremely excited about it.
- School and Camp- C loves school and was very sad when it ended. She still asks when she can go to school and about her friends and Ms. Megan and Ms. Debbi on a regular, if not daily, basis. Luckily we enrolled her in a camp this summer that she is having a great time at that is helping her with being away from school. It is an 8 session camp for two days a week and each week they learn about different types of animals. She is having a great time and we are really glad that we could do something special for her this summer since we will be devoting a lot of attention to baby brother here shortly. She also is going to be switching day care locations when school resumes in the fall and many of her friends will not be joining her so we are glad to have the opportunity to have her experience something new and different before having to make that transition this fall. We are lucky that Carolyn's teachers have all said what a joy she is and also how confident and happy she is while at school. She is a curious little girl so we are glad that we can offer her those opportunities to be engaged and learning with others her age.
Little 500 at school
First day of camp (she loves getting to use her new lady bug lunch box she picked out) & camp crafts and report sheet!
- Other big girl accomplishments and experiences from the past few months for C include:
- Flying- she loves it - Just ask her about it! She will tell you how the planes go up in the sky and come back down.
- Traveling solo with daddy to Arizona to visit family
- Swimming lessons- she loves to swim with her puddle jumper now
- Big girl bed- she now sleeps in the toddler bed
- Pretend playing
- Running like crazy, jumping, kicking and throwing balls, etc. we know these are normal but a lot of people have commented on how good she is at these skills so we think she must be pretty good at them.
- Puzzles and navigating other apps on the iPad or iPhone
- Vocabulary and concepts
- She repeats everything and is really getting good at piecing together concepts and applying them in different situations or days later
- Current Likes and Interests
- Minnie and Mickey
- Reading
- Conner Prairie
- Planes
- Swimming
- Arts and Crafts
- Preparing food in the kitchen
- Going to Target (she literally asks to go to Target every few days- obviously mom is buying her too many things when we go)
- Dog-dog
- Doing the "hot dog" dance at the end of Mickey's club house
- Her water table
- Playing baby dolls- relatively new interest but hoping that it will help when brother arrives
- Taking clothes out of her dresser
- Bubbles
- Farmers Market (C especially likes her new job of picking doggy out a treat to give him at home and helping select the vegetables)
- Kitty cats
Helping with the garden
Obsessed with the water table
Practicing being a big sister
