Caroline hits the bit 2 point 5

Caroline is 2 and a half today! Happy half-birthday to you (and to Mike, though 34.5 is perhaps a bit less exciting than 2.5). She is totally adorable and fun, when she's not being a holy terror :)

She says some pretty funny things, many of which I can't put on a blog, but if you see me in person, ask for some stories. A few funny ways she says words:
"Juli-lanne!", "my mow-lawn" (lawn mower), "afterday" (yesterday).

She is a great big sister. She is always putting blankets or toys on her sisters, and loves to come watch them smile. It is perfectly adorable.

She is recently obsessed with her pink poodle, my little pony, and anything related to Dora. She still loves playdoh and her sandbox. She loves putting stickers everywhere and has temporary tattoos of princesses which turn out to be more long-lasting than we'd like...She plays lots of dress up. Her favorite books, of late, are "Alice the Fairy" and "Blueberries for Sal." She's very cute at storytime and the library dance parties, and she is doing great when she goes to the pool with Nana. She is always hopping or spinning all over the place. When we put her to bed, she always wants "one more book!" So we've taken to singing her songs after the books. Daddy usually sings actual songs, albeit random ones, like the banana boat song "DAY-O...". I usually make up random songs about whatever she tells me to- her poodle, her grandparents, the dance party at the library, everything under the sun. I'm pretty good at making up these songs, if I do say so myself :)

She has very good manners, and will often say "Thank you for coming over" or other sweet things without being prompted. This makes me inordinately happy. As do her hugs. She'll just squeeze you so tight. She tells me she loves me and about how she cries when we go away because she misses us. It is super cute!

And now for the terrible twos... She is supremely whiny. It is about the most annoying thing ever. I WAAAAAANT ANOTHER SHOOOOOOOW!!!! (yes, she watches too much TV, but hey, we have twin babies. What are you going to do?!) She has also started shouting "NO" while making a mean face, and sometimes throwing things. Ugh! Poor child is getting more than a few time-outs lately. She is still very clingy to me and often tells me to put down the babies or not to feed them. But otherwise she's very nice to her sisters. She is still working on her sharing skills. She does usually have a big fight during any given playdate, but after a while she gives up and goes back to playing nicely.

But luckily, there are many more good times than bad and we love this girl to death!