The list of skills Caroline has mastered is pretty long, but the list of skills she THINKS she has mastered is hilarious. She’s like a walking internet meme. Eating yogurt? NAILED IT (as long as you don’t mind that she’s covered from head to waist in just as much yogurt as she got in her mouth). Dressing herself? NAILED IT (even though both her legs are in one leg-hole of her pants and her shirt is on backwards). Reading books? NAILED IT (all our books go like this: “One day…kitty, uh oh, look! The end.”) Torturing her brother? NAILED IT. For real. Every. damn. time.

Because of the snow plus more snow, this is only Caroline’s second week at school but so far she loves it. When I picked her up today she told me she loves her teachers and loves baby school and wants more. I’m thrilled she is happy there and thrilled I don’t have to even pretend to feel bad about enjoying my childless mornings twice a week. My hope is she has the opportunity to be a leader in her class, since at home she get bossed around when it comes to play time. I’m trying to make sure she gets to develop as her own little person (especially since the brother-copying at home as gotten OUT OF CONTROL in both good and terrible ways).

As well as Caroline tolerates winter (she is a true New England December Baby) I am so looking forward to the adventures we’re going to have when the weather warms up. Now that she’s big enough to walk/eat human food/drink from a regular cup/stay out all day without a nap we can go on longer and more interesting day trips. It’s like hanging out with an adorable little friend instead of dragging around a reluctant baby. She can still be a major handful (Confidential to the people at Target the other night: SO SORRY. AGAIN. SORRY.) and is by no means an angel but she can be reasoned with 75% of the time. And by reasoned with I mean bribed, mostly. Some weeks are better than others but there are whole entire days where I don’t have to scold or put her in time out because she listened to my requests and followed through. I suspect this is just an up-phase and we’ll be back in a down-phase of listening soon – but at least in a few weeks we won’t be trapped in the house anymore.

I think she’s finally gone through a growth spurt, since her 18 month clothes are officially too small. We’re moving up to all 24 month stuff but even some of her 2T clothes fit. She’s still squeezing her feet into her size 5 sneakers, but I think they’re probably too small. Don’t tell her that though, because girl NEEDS her ” pink ‘parkly shoes!!”

Likes include apples, oranges, grapes, strawberries, peanut butter, noodles, drinking from a straw, The Backyardigans (she knows all their names), singing, dancing, shouting, Brutus, Blushes, her brother (mostly), Daddy, splashing, reading, puzzles, swimming, princess skirts, eating snow, rock’n’rolly music, school, Monsters Inc, cuddles and pretending to be a kitty cat named Ninja who meows instead of talks.

Dislikes include nightmares, cleaning up, wearing hair clippies, being hungry and not getting her way.

26 Month Milestones (from BabyCenter, as usual)

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
Stacks six blocks – Piece of cake.
Walks with smooth heel-to-toe motion – She’s too busy skipping, running and dancing to do much walking.

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
Uses pronouns (e.g., I, me, you) – Me me me me me me mine me mine allll day.
Washes and dries own hands – Like a champ.

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
Speaks clearly most of the time – Other parents can understand her. Childless grown ups less. Her teachers understand more than I do.
Draws a vertical line – She’s must more interested in coloring in the entire page blue (ALWAYS BLUE) than drawing a stupid old line.

(I let Little Evan use our waterproof/shockproof Kodak video & photo camera)

This is the first month I actually had to count on my fingers to figure out how old Little Evan is, which then sent me into all sorts of fits of emotion. He is officially old enough that I just say “He’s two” when people ask his age – and more importantly, HE can say “TWO!” when people ask his age. And then I die a little from the cuteness.

I have already forgotten why I even MENTIONED seeing a speech therapist to the pediatrician. Evan is talking constantly now, with new words every single day. Some times he still needs a little mommy translation when he’s talking to strangers, but after just a few days with him my parents understood 90% of his speech. He also has a really good memory, which is something I guess I didn’t know about toddlers. He talks about things that happened days or even weeks ago – and is going to be heartbroken EVERY MORNING for the next few weeks when Mormor and Bamba and Hersh (their dog) aren’t here to play with. So I guess his memory isn’t exactly perfect.

Little Evan is now MORE of everything. He is more fun and more loving but also more trouble and more tantrumy. He wants things but then he DOESN’T want them. He loves things but then he HATES things and then he LOVES THEM SO MUCH HE HATES THEM. It’s a little bit exhausting, the mood swings, but I’m getting used to them. It’s good practice for when he’s a teenager.

Favorite things include: sippy cups of milk, his blue blankets (which he calls buh-byee), talking to his sister, hockey, bubbles, his grandparents, dancing, pretending to drive the car, sleeping (SERIOUSLY. HE LOVES TO SLEEP) and helping daddy get a beer. Least favorite things include: being told no, being tired, sitting in the shopping cart, boo boos (especially on his feet), and seeing either of us leave the house.

Look at those eyelashes!

26 Month Milestones (if you’re super perceptive, you’ll notice these are the SAME milestones as 25 months – apparently BabyCenter got lazy after 2 years old. WTF BABYCENTER?)

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
• Stacks six blocks – Do Legos count?
• Walks with smooth heel-to-toe motion – Yes. And he runs in a smooth motion too, instead of the crazy high-knees march, which makes him look SO MUCH OLDER.

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
• Uses pronouns (e.g., I, me, you) – I’ve never heard “you”, but he uses names (mama, baby, Mormor, dog) combined with another word. And he identifies himself as “I”, his things as “mine”, and uses his own name “Ef-ahn”.
• Washes and dries own hands – He can wash and dry his own SELF, including emptying the tub, putting away his bath toys, and drying his hair.

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
• Speaks clearly most of the time – A lot more that he used to, but not “most of the time.”
• Draws a vertical line – He doesn’t really like drawing, unless it’s on the walls. But some of the lines are pretty straight.