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!!

Our First MOVIE!!

That's right folks. Caitlyn officially went to a theater to see her first movie on the big screen. Mommy took her with her two friends Karleigh and Shaelyn and their Mommy to see Wall-E at the Cinema Cafe. We ordered some food and miraculously made it through the entire thing. Caitlyn really seemed to enjoy herself as did the other girls. One small step that I'm sure Daddy will be proud of. I know he misses the big screen himself. Mommy's little girl is getting so mature. But the best part of it all is that I got all kinds of kisses out of it!!! Go Mommy!! :)

Cool Day at the Zoo

We went to the zoo today with our Mommy group. The weather was nice and cool and we had a great time. Caitlyn actually realized there was animals there this time. Not that there is many at the so called "zoo" here, especially since most of it is under construction. On our way there, Caitlyn was playing with a tag from her shirt. When I pulled in, I realized why Caitlyn had been quiet the entire way there. She stuck the tag across her mouth. Where she came up with it I'll never know. I do know that people probably gave me weird looks the entire way there, as I was singing along to the radio. lol. While at the zoo, today was the first day the train was up and running. It gave a short trip around the zoo with a nice tour guide. Now I know we'll be able to go without the stroller, considering Caitlyn doesn't want much to do with it anyway. She is so tired, and to think we have a playdate almost everyday for the next week. This girl is more of a party animal then I am. Mommy just gets to go along for the ride, or really, be the chaufer. :)

**Thanks for some of the pictures Sharon!!

Running Ourselves Skinless

For those of you that keep up with the whole Cabrera drama, you know that I have been running nearly everyday since Caitlyn was 2 weeks old, not counting the few months I was not physically able to run, in which we did long fast paced walks. Anyway, Caitlyn is the perfect imitator. Unlike many other 2 (or almost 2) year olds, she not only imitates the usual cooking, cleaning, brushing hair and teeth, and just about anything else, she also imitates me when I work out. Caitlyn can do pushups, squats, lift 5 lb weights, and she is even moving on to jumping jacks. But, for these past two years, Caitlyn has sat in her jogging stroller (sometimes very reluctantly) and enjoyed the view while Mommy huffed and puffed pushing her. Well now that the weather is nice and cool again in the evenings, we have started walking around the lake behind our apartment complex again. A nice half mile track, with the lovely view of mutated ducks. Before the hot summer days, the walk would take us a good 45 minutes, with Caitlyn stopping at every twig, rock and goose poop she saw. As I said before, she imitates. So our walks are no longer slow peaceful walks around the lake, but a 20 minute run with stops on the benches. And not only does she run, but Mommy has to too. And sometimes I really do have to jog to keep up, and other times, I must practically run in place and swing my arms or risk being yelled at. I truely mean yelled at. She is very stubborn and persistant about it. On these runs, also include many falls, as she trips over everything still. After just the walk yesterday, she fell 5 times and skinned her knees. Did this stop her today? Of course not. But I do think she is my future athlete, who happens to be getting on a very early training schedule, with mom in tow.

More Fall Crying Photos

So, last year, same time, I tried to get some nice fall shots of Caitlyn. I think it's gorgeous with all the leaves changing colors and of course I can get her in prettier outfits. :) Well, same as last year, she started to melt down and cry. Once again, I have the crying child photos. As cute as they are (and yes, I really do love them), I intend on trying again to get some with her smiling. These shots were taken today during our trip at the Hunt Club Farm. I plan on going back, so hopefully we'll get some better, or should I say, happier, pictures next time. :D

Farm

We went to the Hunt Club Farm today to enjoy the fall activities with our Mommy group. Caitlyn was in a bad mood, so our stay wasn't as long as I was expecting. She got to pet the animals since they have an entire area for petting. There are chickens and goats and all kinds of other animals. Then had a huge hay pile in the middle that Caitlyn actually enjoyed playing in surprisingly. We will definitely go back again when we are in a better mood.

Leftover Pizza

Caitlyn loves pizza, especially the crust. Caitlyn ever so nicely helped her self to a slice of leftover pizza Sunday. Just like Mommy, loves leftover pizza cold. Only difference is that she likes to eat it backwards. :)

Gotta Love...

Little girls and their "pretties." Caitlyn had her two friends over today and her and Shealyn decided to show off their sunglasses. Too cute.