Two Caroline-isms

1. Caroline has picked up the phrase "leave me alone" somewhere recently, but in Caroline-speak it is translated "leave my alone." I'm not sure where she heard it, but when she is frustrated or doesn't want to go somewhere, the latest response is: "no, leave my alone." Kind of funny, but of course we can't laugh. I just tell her, "Caroline, that is not nice to tell mama to leave you alone." I'm sure this is just one of many undesirable saying that we'll have to deal with, but for some reason she seems especially attached to this one. Every once in a while she'll say "stupid" (and honestly she hasn't said that in a few weeks), and all we have to tell her is that that is not a nice word and she can say "silly" instead and she stops saying it. This one is different, so I think we have many days of "leave my alone" ahead of us.

2. She also has many very sweet things that she likes to say - I don't want to dwell on the toddler defiance too much! She is so good about wanting everyone to participate in whatever activity is going on. If I tell her that we are going for a walk or going for a ride in the car, she always says, "Papa coming too?" Or if we offer her a treat or ask if she wants to go get yogurt, she says, "You want treat too?" As she says it, she cocks her head to the side and smiles really big. No matter what she asks you want to say "yes!" just because of the sweet way she asks.

A Study in Irony

Very interesting comparison of two hot topics receiving strikingly disparate treatment in the media . . .
http://theanchoressonline.com/2007/11/01/iraq-war-global-warming-a-study-in-irony/trackback/

Trick or Treat!

We took Caroline trick-or-treating last night at my Dad's. She had a great time. It was so funny how surprised she seemed at each house we went to that they were giving her "more candy!" She would run away from every house saying, "I got more candy!" as if in disbelief at what was going on. Jeff and I had fun watching her excitement. Here are a few pictures:







Last week we took her trick-or-treating on Sorority Row at LSU. All of the sororities hand out candy the Wednesday before Halloween. She had a great time there too. She loves the girls at the Kappa house and they always endear themselves to her with sweets, and last Wednesday was no exception. Here are pics from that night:

I don't think we can expect to see this play in the LSU v. Alabama game

Amazing.

"Spell check is not your friend"

"Let me give you an example. Recently I graded a paper in which a student listed the kinds of jobs traditionally held by women. They meant to write 'nursing, teaching, etcetera', as far as I can guess; what they ended up with was 'nursing, teaching, excreta.' Now, this might well sum up the social position of women in much of American history, but I don’t think it’s what the author meant to say." http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/eliminate-common-writing-mistakes.html

Read the whole thing; it is hilarious (if others' grammar mistakes give you kicks like they do for me). Of course, I'm not putting myself out there as one who never makes such mistakes, I just like to laugh at them.

Gearing back up

Okay, so I've been busy? I haven't been here in a while (almost a year, actually). But, I am ready to start over! I guess the best place to start is where we are right now. Caroline is now two and very talkative, very inquisitive, and so much fun to be around. We are expecting baby number 2 on April 22 and if you believe in old wives tales (or true tales from what I hear from some), then this is a girl too. The baby's heart rate was 155 at my most recant appointment. I'll know for sure whether we're having a boy or a girl on December 3 and I'll be sure to end the suspense for everyone else then too.
Caroline is extra-excited about dressing up in her Halloween costume this year. She is a ballerina and she really looks precious. I'll post pics from the big night. We have opened a door to the world of candy though - she never knew this world existed before now (or at least in such abundance). We are now deluged with "more candy" requests at all hours. When we refuse the 7:00am call for M&M's, we get "my cookies?" in response. We have a long road ahead of us! Caroline is a strong-willed little girl who doesn't want her expectations thwarted! It really is fun watching her each day though - I can hardly believe that two years ago I had a newborn. I know it's a cliche, but Time Flies.

Caroline's Christmas

Caroline's second Christmas has come and gone and she really made it so much fun for all of us. Her first Christmas was rather uneventful as she was only four months old at the time. This year she was excited about opening presents and playing with toys. Santa brought her a wagon, which she absolutely loves. She loves to be pulled around in it, but she knows that the big people doing the actual pulling of the wagon and that is her new endeavor: pull or push the wagon around the yard. Santa also brought a baby stroller and she loves pushing that around the house. I guess the theme of this age is independence and doing whatever it is Mama and Papa are doing.