So Much....

So Mommy has been behind on updating the blog...a lot lately. The busy schedule of the season is partly to blame, on top of the fact that I've feel like we've been running around like crazy. As most know, Daddy came home on Tuesday. It was a great day for us. Caitlyn thought it was so neat to see the boats and everything that went along with the submarine coming home. Everything was going great, until she saw Santa standing on top of the boat as it came in. From that moment on, she was on a lookout to make sure that A) he was no where near her and B) that Mommy wasn't trying to get her near him. So when it came to our first hug, somebody of course had mentioned Santa not but a minute before, so Caitlyn was more worried about that then Daddy. After all the comotion died down, she was loving up on her Daddy. She even had her first debut on TV!! They interviewed Mike and Caitlyn got in on the scene. It was a great moment to say the least.

Adjusting to Daddy being home has been a little hectic. As much as she loves Daddy, and will love him up with kisses and wants to show him everything, Mommy still has to do everything. Only Mommy can get her out of her carseat or push her in the store. Not the end of the world, but it is something I hope passes pretty quickly, not only for my sake, but for the sake of Daddy's feelings. He seems to be taking it pretty well though. So one day as a time for us.

Santa came and brought Caitlyn so much. Wrapping paper was no match for Caitlyn. First, all the bows came off, and then, piece by piece, every gift was ripped open. Santa's only mistake was putting the box that came with six pairs of shoes in the front. We were mesmerized by it and of course, had to put on a pair that matched. And of course as the day went on and the outfits changed, the shoes did too to match. Such a girly girl. But it went great and she is still enjoying all the gifts that were sent her way. Thank you so much to everyone who contributed to make this Christmas so wonderful. We all appreciate it.

I promise to post some pictures later once the camera battery is charged. I know, bad Mommy. Caitlyn sends her love to all!!

A Birthday Movie!

Thank you Allison!!!!

Caitlyn's 2nd Birthday

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We had a wonderful day!! Some friends joined us to open gifts and eat cake. Caitlyn had a great time. Mommy still cannot believe her baby already turned 2!!!

Only My Child

There are many people who laugh when I say my child is evil or stubborn or just too darn smart for her own good. I forever will know better. Take for example a maybe 45 minute part of my evening today. It started off innocently. Caitlyn asked for some M&Ms in her coffee cup. And yes, she has her own coffee cup that she painted, so she carries it around and thinks that only M&Ms can go into this cup. So I gave in and gave her some. I go sit down, then look at her as she is staring at me, going "ow, ow" while she is trying to shove a red M&M up her nose. I quickly snatch it away against her better wishes and try to explain ever so nicely (aka without screaming) that we do not put things up our nose. She stalks off and wants to go sit on the kitchen counter. Yes, that is one of her favorite things. For some reason, she thinks it is only fitting to eat at the coffee table (she has chairs that sit her up perfectly by it, so I don't mind) or on the counter. She had some of her dinner with her, and I didn't think anything of it. Mommy at that point hears the microwave turn on. Mommy takes her time to go turn it off, I mean, what was the worst she could have done, put her dinner in there? But, that was a duh Mommy moment, because I opened the microwave door to the smell of burning plastic. I had received a free computer game in the mail. Did you know that a CD can melt in less than 30 seconds? I do now!! So I remove her from the counter, once again ever so nicely tell her no, and I return to the living room. I hear the fridge door open, which is not uncommon since Caitlyn likes to pour her own glass of water, and I hear her say "eggs." Little did I know (once again, I believe this is a trend now) that maybe, just maybe, I let her bake a little too much with me. She brought me an egg. Fair enough. No harm. Then she turns to the coffee table, hits it down, and cracks the egg right on the table. I clean it up, returning to the nice no conversation I have had with her several times by now in the last 30 minutes. She walks away (bad Mommy for not following) and next thing I hear is her once again saying eggs, while she is cracking them in the garbage this time saying "no mess." Mommy has to appreciate that one....although there went breakfast. lol. So for the few of you left that still doesn't believe me that my child is evil, stubborn or too smart for her own good, I dare you to challenge it. :D

My Child Is Strange!

Every kid has their quirks. It's bound to happen. Caitlyn is borderline crazy. Instead of having a lovey, such as a blanket or a stuffed animal, Caitlyn has decided that balloons are the way to go. Unfortunately for Mommy, every store seems to have all their balloons that they own blown up and on display. Me, trying to be a responsible Mommy, tries to explain to her no, we can't have every balloon. That also means I usually have a screaming, temper tantrum throwing, stubborn, and bullheaded toddler staring back at me saying "BALLOON!" Don't get me wrong, I do give in occasionally. I mean, how can I pass up a thing that costs a $1 and allows me to shop in peace. Maybe not the best tactic, but sometimes necessary. But I do try to hold my own. Somehow, and how I do not know, Caitlyn somehow possesses some special ability to have others say yes when Mommy says no. And I'm not talking about the Grandparents. I'm talking about perfect strangers who think it is so cute that she wants a balloon and look at me with a look in their eyes, like how can you say no. I want to tell them, take that back, I do tell them, that we already have one (or two) at home or in the car because she likes to take them with her, and that she doesn't need any more. At this point in time I also want to add that she sleeps with them and showers with them, which also means Mommy showers with balloons. Maybe it's the holiday spirit in them, or Caitlyn puts some spell over them, I don't know, but it never fails. Someone, if not Mommy, gets her a balloon. This week alone we have come home with 6 balloons. Mommy has bought 2. She just loves her balloons. Luckily the good mylar ones last for a good time, but those basic ones bite the dust pretty quickly. Who knows, maybe this phase will pass quickly. It could always be something more strange that she is in love with. I don't know. But thank you to all those lovely people who spoil my child. I really do appreciate it. But I can't help but secretly wish they would all pop one night so I can take a shower without them. Of course I would instantly go get her more, but just one shower...

Cookies with Santa

I took Caitlyn to the Norfolk Botanical Gardens to paint a plate and coffee mug for Santa. Caitlyn being an old pro at painting pottery went right to it. She loves anything artisitc, such as painting, singing, dancing. And anything in which might end us in the emergency room, like jumping off of things to "fly" or randomly walking into walls and tripping over things because she is so clutzy. It was bound to happen. She is my child, poor thing. But she had a fun time at NBG and now I have something to keep for years to come.

December Swimming

Yesterday we had a lovely game playdate for the Mommies in our Mommy Network at Jennifer's house. As I've previously stated, Jennifer's house is kid heaven. The kids do not go without or have any wants. Take example yesterday. It was a chilly 45 degrees out with wind. The weather you cuddle in the house wearing your sweats. Well, what did the kids want to do? Swim. Yes, swim. So, as to not disappoint, the kiddie pool was brought in and the kids went swimming. It made my day, and hers. At least I know she is having a fun filled childhood. She's healthy and happy. That's all I could ever ask for. :)

1...2...3...JUMP

This fairy might not fly, but she sure tries!

Talking to Daddy

Finally, after a month and a half, we finally heard from Daddy. Only 17 more days until he gets to come home. We are so excited. What was even more exciting was the phone call we got at 7am. I knew instantly who it was, so I answered and a wave of joy and comfort came over me. Caitlyn was still sleeping at the time, but before long she must have heard me and she woke up. I grabbed her up and brought her into bed with me, still enjoying hearing Mike's voice. Caitlyn being as smart as she is, (and also stubborn), said "phone, phone" meaning she wanted the phone. This is not unusual for her since everything is hers now, and she is in love with talking on the phone. Anyway, I told her to wait a moment, since Mike had to go, and told him she wanted to talk really quickly. Mind you, I hadn't yet told her who was on the other line. I handed her the phone, and she said clear as day "Hi Dada" and continued to tell him something that I didn't understand. It melted my heart. She knew instantly. I told her that soon daddy would be home and she kept saying "soon, soon" and smiling. She misses her Daddy but she really has dealt with this well. I can't say it would be this smooth in the future, but we won't ever have to know.

That is our other good news. After this deployment, we will only be away from Daddy for one week at the end of January and a couple of days in February. That is it. We get to have him all for ourselves. We finally get to celebrate both of our birthday's together, anniversary and we even get New Years this year! On top of it, we just found out Mike got advanced to 1st class, so woohoo Daddy. Caitlyn is so much like her Daddy and I know she is truly blessed to have such a wonderful father in her life. I can't wait to see them reunited on the pier in a short 17 days. Please don't let me forget the camera!

Singing Off Key

Caitlyn loves to try to sing. I have a video of her "singing" her favorite country song. But her all time favorites right now are off of my "Twilight" soundtrack. Mommy can't complain about that! :D I hope you enjoy the lovely attempt of Caitlyn trying to sing. I get to enjoy it every time we are in the car. She shouts "song song" until I put on her favorites. At least it is something we both enjoy. Now I have someone to sing loud and off key with me. Daddy won't like this!! hehehehe.

Long Time No Post

Ok, so Mommy has been slacking. We have been so busy that I've gotten way behind on updating the blog. Sorry. It's good that the time is seeming to be going relatively quickly though. We only have 23 days until Daddy comes home!! But that also means we only have 17 days until Caitlyn is officially 2. How sad and exciting is that!! I have mixed feelings. It feels like only yesterday that I had her, let alone the fact that she will officially not be a "baby" anymore. My how the years fly. So, I guess I should sum up all the fun and exciting things we've done since the last post. We have added new words to our vocabulary, including grandpa. Sorry grandma's. Caitlyn seems to know to suck up to the men in her life. It did take her until recently to finally say Mama even though she has been saying Daddy forever now, even with him gone. I've always said she's a smart girl. lol. We have almost broke the garbage disposal by putting pennies in the sink. Thank goodness for the lovely maintenance crew we have at the apartment complex. Mommy has also tried visiting Santa three times. I get about the same reaction to that as I do taking her to the doctor. And that is not good. She screams, hides herself in my shoulder and just says no. She will give him a high 5 though, just don't make any other moves as if you might pass her off to him. I tried to convince her it was Grandpa in a red suit. Caitlyn just looked at me and said "no, no grandpa." Yeah, so that didn't work. Maybe next year. Here's to hoping.

And against Mommy's strict ideas of when Christmas decorating should start, we decorated early. I was hoping to get pictures for Christmas cards, but Caitlyn would have nothing to do with it. She made it into a crying festival, with tears and all. I have a few other ideas in mind to try. Once again, here is to hoping. But I must admit, it is nice to have the decorations up. Makes the house feel all cozy. Not to mention that right in the middle of the holiday season next year, we will be moving, so no Christmas decorating next year until we get into our new home. So I guess we will enjoy the most out of this year that we can.

So many more things have happened, many hilarious moments, but I guess I should keep up with this blog more so I don't have to write a book to update. Mommy promises to do better in the future.

Why?!?!?!?!

I love my child. I truly do. But why must she insist on sticking raisins up her nose? And then to make it worse, she eats them when they fall out. WHY?!?!?! I think I'm going to get sick....

How Cute

As usual, things do not go the way they might have before I had a 2 year old with her very own opinion and mind. We had a photo shoot with Cyndi this afternoon. She does some of the best work I've seen. Truly awesome. Here is a link in case you don't know. http://www.colorfulheartphotography.com/

Anyway, we met up this afternoon at the Court house area near our home. It is beautiful there. First off, Caitlyn slept longer then expected and we were running late. Before we even left the house, she ended up breaking my new necklace. Granted it was costume jewelry, but gesh. So we get there, and luckily we weren't really late. What I apparently did wrong was let her sleep too long. She wanted nothing to do with sitting and posing. Oh no, Caitlyn wanted to run around like chicken with it's head cut off. All I could do was stand there. If Cyndi got any good shots, she is better than great. I can't even put a name to what it would be. But it would be outstanding, whatever she could get.

Here are some of the other problems we ran into. Caitlyn at first didn't want to part with her beloved bagel. I had to secretly steal it away and dispose of it before she could find it. As the session went on, she being the ever clever child that she is, discovered her shirt under her cardigan was the same as Mommy's. So she insisted on taking it off and then wearing what necklace I did have on. We looked like twins. Great, maybe. But after the photos when I gave in and went to Cold Stone, I think I matched the color of the cardigan Caitlyn was previously wearing, nice and red. As soon as we walked in, we heard "How Cute!!" I wasn't sure why, forgetting that on a normal day she looks like my little mini-me, but now we are dressed the same. All the way down to the shoes. So of course, the first one to point it out also figured out that we took pictures today. And then they all have to comment. Not a bad thing, but something I'm not as used to as Caitlyn seemed to be. She was a princess wave away from starting her own parade. She seems to love the attention, as long as Mommy is holding her, just in case. At least I know she's not completely ready to ditch me yet. :)

"MAMA!!!!"

The past few days, Mommy was sick. So sick that I couldn't move off the couch, let alone sit up right. But my ever so beautiful and caring baby, laid on the couch with me almost the entire time, not once bugging me to get up as she usually would. Caitlyn would even get her own water and would try to feed herself by eating out of cereal boxes. My poor baby. I felt like a terrible mother but I couldn't do anything. But she was by my side, being the caring loving child she is. And during every moment she just cuddled with me or sat there reading a book to me, I knew exactly where she got this from. She is so much like her Daddy and she doesn't even know it yet. Sure, I can say I helped my child becoming this way, but instinctively she got it from Daddy. He is the most caring person that would do anything for anyone, that sometimes he gets hurt along the way. Now, I do not think Caitlyn will quite have that problem, because she also has a lot of Mommy in her, but I do see so much of Daddy, and I think that has helped Mommy make it through this deployment.

But along with this sickness, came new words. And the one I have been waiting for, complaining about forever was "mama". I was so jealous when other children would say it, or Caitlyn insisting on saying Daddy. It was cute, but goodness, I thought I deserved some loving too. Well, she has added it to her vocabulary, and now I am almost regretting it. Why would anyone ever say that? I remember my mother would tell me that she changed her name (the mom one) and that she couldn't respond. And now I know why. At first it was an occasional "mama" just to see that it worked. I of course responded right away, afraid that if I did not, she would decided to not use it. Fast forward a couple of days, and everything is "MAMA!". If someone has a toy she wants "MAMA" If she cannot see me but doesn't want to look, or wants to know what I am doing, "MAMA" If she is confused or just mad at something she sees on tv, she'll point and of course "MAMA". And I must add it is never said in the singular fashion. It's usually comes out in a string, just in case I may miss it the first 100 times she screams it. I know this will never stop. I still repeat Mom numerous times when I go home to visit. Especially when she is not in the room and I can't find her and I want to know what she is doing. I guess everything always comes back to you. Thank goodness she is so cute. :)

"Kicking" Playdate

We went to a play date at a new Mommy Network member's house today. Caitlyn settled right in no problem. Felt right at home. I was so glad. Usually she clings and starts to act all shy. She is a good judge of character though. She always picks the people who are truly the most caring to suck up too. Yeah, she tries to use her cute little ways to convince them to hold her. I think she is trying to do it sometimes to try to show the other kids that she can win over their mommy. Such evilness, but then again she is a girl. And we all know women try to do this with guys, even if they have no interest in them. I feel bad and anxious about the teenage years. It's going to get ugly. But on a light note, Caitlyn did have a great time.

Caitlyn is also talking more now, much to my relief. She said "mama" today!! It was because someone had something she did not want them to have, but it was still my name, and I'll take it. But this is how I know my kid is a little smartie pants. I tried to count with her this evening. The first attempt went like this:

Mommy: "One", Caitlyn: "two", Mommy (now very excited): "three", Caitlyn: "two"

Yeah, so she only knows two. So I was telling Grandma Sheila about this. I told her to listen.

Mommy "one" Caitlyn: "two" Mommy: "three" Caitlyn: "two" Mommy: "four" Caitlyn: "FIVE"

What the heck?!?! So apparently she really does know more than she is letting on. May I have strength to make it until Daddy comes home! :)

Although I know this is a blog about Caitlyn and her daily adventures, I think it is about time I added some pictures of the people we regularly spend time with for those of you that do not know who I am talking about. It always helps me to put a face to a name. Hope you enjoy some of these very fun pictures. Especially the crazy ones we took when we were bored!! There are a lot more, but I'm starting off small. lol.

Nanette Jennifer

Jennifer
Nanette
Loni
Allison
Katherine

Smiling!!

We went to a lovely play date today at Melissa's new house. It was gorgeous and all the kids seemed to have a great time. Nanette luckily was taking pictures and actually got some of Caitlyn smiling!! I couldn't believe it. Mommy has been keeping us home a little bit more with all the physical side effects I'm having, but I'm trying to keep it all fun for Caitlyn. Apparently she had a good time today. She loves when she gets to spend time with her favorite friends, Katherine, Allison and Loni. And of course Mommy loves their Mommies too! The Mommy Network has really been great and we have met so many great people that we truely care about. And they have helped the time fly by with Daddy gone. Only 43 days left!!

Happy Halloween

I took Caitlyn to the Pembroke Mall to do some trick-or-treating this evening. Our friends Nanette joined us with Allison and Katherine and their Daddy, Richard. It was fun. Caitlyn as always turns into a mute out in public and refuses to speak. She was very good at sticking out her candy bucket for the treats though. About half way through, her bag was getting heavy, so she would make Mommy carry it in between shops. As soon as we got home, she dug right in. She ripped off all the wrappers to the suckers and the tootsie rolls. Don't know why, but that's just what she did. Luckily for Mommy, they didn't pass out many of my favorites, or I would be on a sugar high. Caitlyn was so cute in her costume. It is now part of her dress-up wardrobe. Fun times. Anyway, Happy Halloween everyone!! :)

Pumpkin Carving

This morning we finally carved our pumpkin. If you know me from way long ago, you will know that although I love Halloween and Easter, I am horrible at carving and dying eggs. It's the lack of patience. But I found that now that Caitlyn has ever pushed me on my patience limits, carving the pumpkin wasn't as bad as I was expecting. Caitlyn loved it. As soon as we carved out the bottom, she tried to eat it. She did this last year too. Not sure what the fascination with it is, but she wasn't that thrilled with the taste so we moved on.



Next was gutting the pumpkin. Caitlyn was more worried about getting all the seeds into the bowl then what Mommy was doing. I guess my cleaning constantly has rubbed off on her. After the pumpkin was gutted, she then decided to help clean it out. I guess she thought it was ok since it was already clean. ;)



So came the big part, what to put on the pumpkin. I was unoriginial, and really wasn't planning for this sudden pumpkin carving idea, so we did a plain jack-o-lantern face. It came out cuter than I expect. Caitlyn was more excited about the permanent marker that I used to draw on the face. She made the pumpkin "pretty" and I must admit, it's quite a bit of art work.


It was during my cleaning of the seeds, that we had only one "catastrophe" and that was that Caitlyn got permanent marker all over her fingers. It was the end of her world until we cleaned it off. Overall, it was a great experience. I love sharing these moments with my little babydoll.

Most Destructful Thing

Mother Nature is a force to reckon with. Hurricanes, tornadoes, snow, hail, etc. Not good and the damage can be astronomical. But I think she has a thing or two to contend with. What is that you ask? Well, to any mother that has ever had a 2 year old, you know that these creatures can do damage that I'm sure could well exceed anything you could ever imagine. And they don't need long to do it. If you have ever left a toddler alone for 5 minutes, which is extremely dangerous I might add, any Mother is afraid to look at what might have happened while they weren't looking. Today was a perfect example. We had just finished dinner, and I was cleaning off the table. Caitlyn ran off to her room, which usually doesn't worry me since I consider her room to be pretty kid friendly. Next thing I hear is this absolutely loud crashing noise, one that makes you run to see what's wrong since it's not a normal crashing noise. So I ran into her room just to find her sitting in the middle of a pile of books with her reading one of them. She had managed to pull her book shelf off of the wall to reach her favorite book. Didn't even phase her since she felt she was victorious for achieving her goal. Not only are toddlers destructful, but they have a one track mind, and make sure that above else they get what they want, no matter the consequence. I guess that doesn't change much, but all I can say, is that if we left a few thousand toddlers alone in one city by themselves, maybe they couldn't do the water damage that Katrina did, but I do see many faucets on and toilets overflowing, things thrown about. Damage that Mother Nature must be in competiton with. Bless every mother and what she deals with on a daily basis. You have to love kids to do what we do. And it's worth every minute of it!!

Cheese Puffs

As you can tell, I shop at Sam's Club. Everything is in super bulk. On our last trip, Caitlyn insisted on getting these cheese puffs. Now, she'll ask for it and go "cheese please." So last night I let her have some, but of course she wanted the whole container. My little independent baby. I guess I should say little girl now. :( Spoiled little girl. What happened to me? So much for Daddy being the pushover, it looks like I've taken that role. But if it makes it a little easier without her or anyone getting hurt or going over the line, why not? :) They are only young once.

And then there was POOP!!

It is that time. The dreaded potty training. Before, I couldn't wait. The thought of no diapers was a blissful thought. But no one warns you when you become a mother, how hard and time consuming it will be. In pre-kid days, I guess I just assumed they magically did it one day. They would say, "go potty" and that would be it. No one warns you that there are some kids that have fears of the potty or that before they talk clearly and say "Mommy, I have to pee" they would want to do it. Caitlyn decided it was time, and I (now used to the ease of just towing her around without worring about the potty) had to go along. First day was rough. She didn't quite get the sensation. We peed on the litter box and in the middle of the living room. By day two, she knew, but when it came to pee, it was not long enough to get her to a potty. She would say "potty", squat to look at her girl parts and just watch the pee come out. Nice visual, right? But poop, aka "eewww" was something else. She would ask for diapers or a pair of panties to put on. This of course being the only time my nudist child wanted clothes.

Well, today is day three. We had a small pee accident, getting the second half in the potty. Caitlyn later insisted we sit on the potty. We read three books, but nothing. So I figured she was just wanting to read stories, and I told her we only go "pee or eewww" on it. I left the bathroom, set up her little potty seat in the living room and started to work out. About 10 minutes in, Caitlyn was sitting on the potty, and I hear something and I see her stand up, look in her potty and say "EEEWWWWW!!". Sure enough folks, there was POOP!!!! You would have thought you just told me I won the biggest lottery jackpot of all times. We were screaming and jumping and I think she was more excited to flush the eewwws down the potty and get a sucker. I put on the biggest show for about 5 minutes, or longer, I don't know, I was too excited. Not only did she poop, but it was without me prompting her to sit on the potty. I'm still grinning about it. Now, I know this is just the beginning, and there are many accidents still to come. But for now, Mommy is living in the moment and celebrating the small victory. Watch out future "eeewwws," we are ready to flush you down. :)

Trick-or-Treat

What a week it has been! Non-stop play dates and get togethers. It is making the time go by until Daddy gets home. Yesterday I took Caitlyn to the Children's Museum with some of our friends for a Halloween themed day followed by some trick-or-treating in Olde Downtown Portsmouth. The weather turned out great. It stopped raining when we were done in the museum and it was a nice cool temperature. Caitlyn was dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood. It was so cute! She even let me put her hair in pigtails. This is a big accomplishment considering she pulls out all rubber bands almost immediately. She instead likes to try to wrap them around her fingers and gets them so tight, her fingers start to turn white, and then she comes and finds me to take it off, just to try again. Caitlyn loved getting the candy, but of course, wanted to eat it as we went. She never did say trick-or-treat, but she has a fear of talking in front of other people. When we are at home, I swear she talks so much more. If you've ever called me on the phone, you will know this to be true. Get her out in public, you'd think she can't do anything but scream and throw hiss fits when we have to leave somewhere. All in all, we had a great time. After, we headed to our friend Jennifer and Loni's house to play some games with her and Nanette. Caitlyn switched costumes and dressed up as Cinderella and got to swing on the big girl swing, that yes, is inside. Jennifer's house is a little princess' dream come true. Caitlyn stayed up until midnight and was still in a pretty good mood! She is more of a party animal then her Mommy!! She got to stay up late the night before too since she had Loni over while Mommy had a night out. She woke up this morning, begging me to put on clothes to go "bye-byes" thinking we would go back! Long gone are the days of spitting up and crawling. It was such a short period of time. On to the lovely toddler years. I know I'll miss it later, but as for right now, may God give me enough strength to live through it! :D

Naked Belle

Thanks to our wonderful friend Jennifer, Caitlyn has a new supply of princess dresses. As soon as we got home from our popcorn party (which I had to carry Caitlyn away from kicking and screaming she had such a great time. Thanks Lori!!), she stripped down and instantly got into her Belle costume. And when I say stripped down, I mean, naked. As it seems, this is a trend that is quite popular among her other friends. And of course the nakedness wasn't confined to the house, but she had to play outside too. She ended up mooning all the neighbors, inclucing the little neighbor boy next store. I think his mom was a little shocked when Caitlyn fell down and there was her butt airing out in the wind. But, I don't want her to feel uncomfortable with herself, and I think this will help with the potty training. So, sorry neighbors, I have a naked kid and deal with it. lol.

During a thrift store shopping spree this afternoon with Nanette and Jennifer, we found this wonderful rolling rack to hang Caitlyn's play dresses on. Caitlyn loves that she can browse all her options now. I love having a little girl!

Slide of Doom

After nap time, I decided to take Caitlyn for a walk since it was so nice out. It might be close to the last time. Why you ask? Well, it's usually really fun. She points out flowers, leaves, ducks, learns what animals say. You should hear her bark and quack. It's funny. Anyway, she is always fascinated with that little playground across the lake. I usually let her hang from the swing and maybe go down the little slide. Today was a different day. She decided to go down the 10-15 ft high slide. I figured she couldn't climb the ladder, but of course I was wrong. So I figured I'm not going to fight it, and Mommy climbed up extremely nervously behind her. We made it to the top and she sat down. I figured by this time she would get scared and that would be it. Nope. She just looked back at me and went. Mommy had moments of shear panic thinking of all the things that could go wrong. Like her falling off the side breaking something. Typical worried mom thoughts. But she made it all the way down, and then called to me and said "mom, down". So down Mommy went. I think I was more afraid. We did this for what seemed like forever, and then Mommy finally carried her away screaming and crying. Fun fun times. I remember loving those slides as a child. Now I know why they were taken out of all the parks near me. To help ease the minds of the other overly nervous Mother's like myself. It's amazing what a little child can do to you.

Cabrera Look-alike Meter

I saw this on someone else's blog, and I had to try. Finally, someone/thing other than me thinks Caitlyn does look like Mike! lol. :)

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Genealogy software - Pedigree

Bubbles

This evening, Caitlyn insisted that her and Mommy take a bath. We weren't doing anything or going anywhere, so I figured why not. I actually got some nice pictures since Caitlyn is finally deciding to smile for some pictures now. Getting past the caveman look slowly but surely.

Caitlyn has a new fascination with putting rubber bands on her ankles. Mommy dares not take them off, or be lashed at. The things they come up with, and from where, I'll never know.

Her other new love is that of jell-o. I bought it on a whim last week, and she loves it. I let her have it as her night time treat before bed. Everyday is something new, and I love every minute of it!!