I do believe Caroline may be my last child. She is almost three and we haven't gotten pregnant again, so I think God may have decided that four is enough for us.
Well if God didn't decide it, Caroline did.
This kid is hard to handle. We love her dearly, but man she's a handful. She is like the energizer bunny on crack. Serious.
It could just be that we are getting older, but I don't remember our other kids having as much energy. It could be that she is the spoiled baby but I don't remember the other girls having as much personality. It could be that she is just Caroline so I can't remember my other girls being as cute. {I can say the same thing about all my girls}
Last night as we were having family prayer, Caroline was making us all laugh. It's a common occurrence. She doesn't have to do much but be herself and we are all in stitches. Last night she was just smiling. That's it. But she kept doing it right as we were about to pray. She would get all serious when dad told her to be reverent but as soon as we were about to pray she would smile all huge. Of course none of us can take our eyes off of her.
There are so many things I want to remember about this kid that I haven't written down. When they happen I think I have to write that down, but as soon as I sit down to type, they are just gone.
Caroline's hair is out of control. We have always just let it be because she pulls out any hair thing as soon as we put it in. Her hair is always in her face. Lately she has taken up the preference for it to be out of her face. She will say, "I think I need a haircut." That means I need a hair thing. The other day after Abigail had put her hair in pigtails she said, "I think I need two haircuts."
She just got potty trained and she will say, "I think I need to go potty." Not "I need to go", but "I think I need to go."
Every night after we lay her down to bed with her milk sippy she insists on bringing the sippy to dad when she is finished. I can't take it from her, she has to give it to dad. She is such a daddy's girl, but all of our girls have been daddy's girl. I can't say that I blame them.
She is a social butterfly. She loves other people. She especially loves her sisters and their friends. The other day while Abigail's friend got in my van Caroline sat at the window blowing kisses shouting, "I love you mom. I love you Katie." What a dollface.
When we transferred her from bottle to sippy cup she was all confused. We were so bad and didn't even do it until after she was two. Then my mom came to visit and introduced her to chocolate milk when she liked her plain milk just fine. Since then she has always requested her "chocolate milk bottle sippy cup." All five words have to be used. End of discussion.
When she poops in the toilets she gags. I am assuming it's the sight and not the smell that bothers her because she only gags when she looks. It makes me laugh.
She hates bugs. I never thought I would have one of those but she is downright freaked out by them especially if they are the kind that can fly.
She talks all day and sings ALL day. She makes up songs all the time. Her favorite song lately. "I love my mom. I love my mommy." That's one I can't hear enough.
She always wants to color or paint. Nothing unusual about that, but I have to watch her good because she doesn't stop at the paper. She has to use her body as a canvas and will even try to paint anything else she can get her hands on. One night when LG and I went for a date she got her hands on nailpolish. Nailpolish has been banned to the garage as we've found that she is deadly with it. I was glad that Katie was over because it forced me to keep my cool. We had to scrub scrub scrub carpets, walls, furniture and even all of Caroline. I think we got it all cleaned up, but it was NOT fun.
She always wants her pink blanky, AND her yellow one, AND her green one, and any blanky that she sees. "Mom, I need my blanky. I need my blanky with the flowers. I need my red one.." The girl is articulate and deliberate.
Getting her off the paci was painful, but after about three attempts over 6 months, she finally gave it up. She is also stubborn.
Piper is her best friend, and so are any other children that she happens to meet at the grocery store or ChickfilA or the park.
She wants to wear her church shoes everywhere. They took the place of her rain-boots that she wore for the whole year of 2011. She wore those until she literally couldn't get her feet in anymore.
She is obsessed with eating bubblegum and using make-up. I can't keep enough pink bubblegum or lipgloss in my purse. She finds them no matter what I do, and she uses as much as possible. The one good thing about this is that I always have a way to pacify her. At least for a few seconds.
She refuses to be contained. She doesn't want to stay in the shopping cart or the stroller or even the bike trailer. We had to upgrade to her own seat on the back of dad's bike because she was pulling the titanic on family bike rides. She had no trouble wiggling out of her seat belt and climbing to the top with her arms wide open so she could feel the wind on her face. She is the only child of mine that I have actually found myself justifying those crazy parents with the leashes.
She loves to play on "Phia's i-pod" or "Bella's i-pod" or "Abigail's phone" or "Dad's phone" or "Mom's phone". She also likes to leave all of these in impossible to find locations throughout the house and even in the yard if we don't watch her close.
I am sure none of you are actually still reading this, but it makes me feel better to get a few things down so that in two weeks or two years but especially in 20, I will remember what this little girl was like.
Dear future Alice. I know you haven't forgot. This kid was a handful and 1/2. And yes, she really was that cute too. Thank goodness. God knew what he was doing when he put that huge spirit in such a beautiful body.
The First Husband by Laura Dave
