Strawberry

I knew this time would come soon. 

Tonight, while C was brushing her teeth, I was brushing her hair. As I swept her bangs to the side, her hemangioma peeked through. She stopped brushing her teeth, pointed to it, and said, "oh no! boo boo." 

I just said, "no, it's okay. It's not a boo boo. It's a mark."

She cocked her head to the side and asked, "mark?"

"Yes, it's a special mark. You can call it a strawberry." 

She smiled and confidently said, "strawberry."

She loves strawberries. I thought I'd give her a positive association.

It's not a big deal. It has gotten much lighter in color this year; and I know that in a few years, it will be gone. But, I also know that she is becoming more aware of how things should be. She is understanding when things are out of place or if something is wrong. She is learning social norms. And I can't help but worry that when she starts school this fall, someone will ask what the "boo boo" on her forehead is.

I only hope she smiles and confidently replies, "strawberry" with the innocence only a child can have.

Easter...One Month Later

So, let's just pretend I posted this a month ago.

We celebrated Easter at our lake house and, even though it was a little rainy, managed to squeeze in a quick egg hunt and bunny photo shoot.

Oh yeah, the Easter Bunny. C was NOT a fan this year. Last year, she couldn't get enough of him. This year, she refused to sit by him unless she was in my lap. Luckily, I actually showered and wore makeup that day. I'll count that as a win.

Looking adorable while terrified.

I didn't stress over Easter this year. She is not old enough to remember decorating eggs; and food coloring with a messy toddler sounded unnecessarily stressful. But, hunting for eggs was right up her alley. We go on "treasure" hunts all the time, picking up leaves, sticks, rocks, and other treasures from around the back yard. She loves to collect things. So, Aunt Mallory and Uncle Pete hid the eggs while I got her ready. We underestimated her abilities and made it way too easy. She's a pro.

She loved hunting the eggs; but when she realized they were filled with snacks, she was really excited! 

She LOVES "cwocolate"

The Easter Bunny did come visit. He brought new Croc sandals for the lake, a monogrammed beach towel, a few new books, and, of course, a new bunny. But after the Easter Bunny went to bed, CiCi and Poppa decided there was not enough chocolate in her basket and added even more. I'm not sure she noticed anything but the chocolate!

Feeding a carrot to the bunny

Bunny family

After she ate her weight in chocolate, I bribed her with even more chocolate to pose for some photos on the boat in the beautiful dress my mom made.

We spent our Easter weekend playing, going on boat rides, eating delicious food, and relaxing with family (and eating tons of chocolate). Not a bad way to spend a holiday!

Toddler Talk

C is a chatterbox, but there are some choice phrases of hers right now I just don't want to forget.

She calls her blankie her "gwankie"

Banks is often "Biiiiiiiiinks"

If she wants you to do something or play with her, she grabs your hand, leads you and says, "Come. I help you." If she wants to "help you," chances are pretty high you will be crawling into a tent, a cardboard box, or into a ball pit.

When she gets excited, she says our names in triplicate. ("Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!")

If you are sleeping or laying down, she will say, "Are you okay? Are you alright? Are you sad?" Obviously, sleeping is frowned upon.

She says she "loves" a lot of things (I love baseball; I love cheese), but just told me "Oh, Mommy, I love you" for the first time last night. Finally! (Sometimes, it comes out "wove")

"Thank you" is "Tank you"; "Please" is "peease"

If she doesn't want to do something (finish dinner, take a bath, have her diaper changed), she throws her hands up in the air and says, "all done" or "all clean." They are interchangeable.

For some reason, every meal is "breakfast". She says, "Yay! It's breakfast time!" and climbs into her booster seat for every meal. Whenever she feeds her babies or animals, it is always "breakfast time".

She has gotten really good at stalling at bed time. The other night, I was rocking her to sleep at my parents' house and she cried out for my mom ("CiCiiiiiiiiiiiiii") like she would save her. Then, she cried, "I need to plaaaaay." If Husband is home, she yells for him over and over again as I take her upstairs for a bath. Where did she learn this?

She loves to name body parts while pointing to them on herself and everyone else. Her favorites are eyes, lips, cheeks, nose, chin, hair, ears, hands, feet, and brows. When she points to them, she says "this is..."

If she wants something, she tells you what it is while pointing ("This is pickle," while pointing to the fridge).

I started giving her a Hershey's kiss after bad tasting medicine. She now knows how to unwrap one all by herself. She loves chocolate and calls it "cwocolate."

She is really into hair and eye color right now. She knows that she and I have brown hair and blue eyes and that Husband's hair is "black" (even tough it's dark brown), but she can't figure out his eyes. They're hazel. It's confusing.

I'm sure there are many more, but these are some of my favorite Catherine-isms right now!

95th Percentile

C finally had her two year old check up last week and it could not have gone better. She is 36.5" long (95th percentile) and weighs 29 lbs, 8oz (75th percentile). So, she's tall. Her parents are 5'8" and 6'4". What are the odds?

She wears a size 7.5 or 8 shoe and size 2T in most clothes (3T in pants for length). She's in a size 5 diaper.

If she could only save one thing from a house fire, it would be her blanky (which she lovingly calls her "gwanky"). We don't dare go anywhere without it. 

I feel like she is changing and learning at warp speed these days. She really is turning into a little girl. We kicked the beloved sippy cup to the curb a few weeks ago. I'm not gonna lie, it was brutal. She basically used it like a paci full of milk. But, now, she's a big girl who prefers water (milk just isn't the same from a straw) from her cool new cup.

She has a new found love of dinosaurs. She got a pair of dinosaurs a few weeks ago and hasn't put them down since. They go on adventures. They sleep with her. Their names are Mommy and Daddy and they mostly kiss a lot. When they aren't kissing, they are "stomping." 

She is also obsessed with a book series about dinosaurs. We read them every night. She also likes to play with them and read them to her babies. We left them at my parents' house (because she hid them in a cookie tin) and they had to overnight them to us because she spent the past two nights crying at bedtime and saying, "oh no, dinosaurs!"

Other than dinosaurs, she loves her babies. She has a few, but plays with three all the time. Two are Disney Princess babies (Snow White and Cinderella) and the third is a Madame Alexander baby she got for her birthday and has lovingly named "Pink." She loves to push them in their stroller and feed them and tell them to sleep. She also likes to throw them on the floor and sit in their stroller.

She has become quite the movie buff lately. She is obsessed with Finding Nemo and Tangled. She asks to "watch Memo?" or "watch Punzel?" every day. Movies are pretty much my answer to cooking dinner without her attached to my leg or on my hip (which sometimes happens anyway). 

She has become a much better eater lately, almost eating anything I give her. She will at least try most things. Now, she gives me things and says, "try this, Mommy." Her favorite foods are still cheese, grapes, bananas ("manas"), pickles, and french fries. She actually cheers and says "yay, french fries" whenever she gets them. She's also been on an applesauce kick lately, but mostly because those squeeze packs are so so convenient!

She is busy. She is two. She loves to run and hop and bounce and spin all day long. She jumps from blocks to puzzles to dress up to balls to her play kitchen and back again. She loves to play outside, mostly on her slide. She has the sweetest heart and gives the best hugs ever. 

She's honestly so much fun. I love watching her imagination at work and having conversations with her in the car. I love listening to her sing her favorite songs or walk through room identifying everything she sees. This age is magical. And just when I think I couldn't possibly love her any more, I do.

Climber

C is a daredevil. She will climb onto, stand on top of, and jump off of anything she can. This is a trait that is in no way from me. I am safe. I am a scaredy cat. I am afraid of broken bones.

C, on the other hand, is Husband, who jumped off the high dive at the age of five, fearlessly copying everything his three older brothers did.

She has no fear.

She recently discovered that she likes to climb scary metal things at the park. We spent last Monday at the park, where I spent the majority of the time standing underneath her, arms outstretched in emergency catching mode, as she shimmied up a giant metal caterpillar.

Then, today, at a park in Montgomery, my parents and I all took our posts with arms in rescue stance as she climbed to the top of a huge metal jungle gym.

It's like she wants to give me a panic attack.

Then tonight, as we were getting her settled for bed in the pack-n-play, she discovered something new- she can climb out of it.

She did this over and over again, so proud of her new trick, as I frantically thought of toddler beds and middle-of-the-night freedom.

I am not ready yet.

Daddy's Girl

C: Watch puppets? (The Muppet Movie)
Mommy: No, it's time for a bath and bed.
C: Pleeeeease, Mommy?
Mommy: No, baby. It's bed time.
C: Pleeeeease, Daddy?

He's not even home. Impressive move though.