This will forever be know as Caroline’s Hat Period. She calls it her Easter Hat, even though her actual Easter Hat was a cheap purple plastic thing from the Target dollar section and this is a very nice classy well-made hat from a boutique in Mystic.

EASTER HAT.

This will also be known as the I Should Really Cut Her Bangs But I Can’t Bring Myself To Do It Because I Love Her Hair And Anyway She Doesn’t Want Me To period. And if nothing else, this girl knows what she wants. She wants SPARKLY SHOES. She wants to wear SOCKS. She wants a DRESS today and PANTS tomorrow. She wants YOGURT NOW NOW NOW. She wants to sit on me, pretty much all the time. She wants to swing and if she DOESN’T get to swing she wants to throw herself out of the stroller onto her head and then cry for two hours. She’s just SO VERY TWO.

When Caroline misses something or someone she says she’s “worry bout” them. She says “I worry bout Daddy, I worry bout Brutus, I worry bout you Mommy! You were away from me! I worry bout you!” I keep reassuring her she doesn’t have to worry about anything, but now I’M worried she’s going to be a natural worrier. Is she actually worrying? Or is it just an expression she picked up (probably from me)? She’s a baby, I don’t want her to actually worry about things for a long, long time.

Despite the…challenges of being two, Caroline is such an adorable, well-spoken child she is a delightful person to spend time with. Even when she’s running away from me in the mall she says “Hi! Bye! Scuse me!” to all the people she tries to plow over. That hat doesn’t hurt either – she’s like a tiny celebrity at this point, with people pointing and awwwwwww-ing at her in restaurants and stores. If you take her to the grocery store you will get no less than FIVE free pieces of cheese. I think the cuteness is to help make up for the absolutely bat-crap insane fits she throws.

She tried to go home with another family at gymnastics last week because they had a daughter and she says she NEEDS a sister. I tried to explain even if she had one, it would be a baby but she said babies aren’t as fun as sisters. Now you know.

Favorites include HAT, shoes, running, jumping, shouting, singing, Mickey Mouse, Veggie Tales, swinging, books, her brother, pets, Target, the aquarium, boats, messes, puddles, food, ice cream, the beach, throwing stuff, juice, iPads, building towers, horses, princess things, pictures of herself and flowers.

Dislikes include not getting her way, not swinging, the word “no”, getting yelled at and when anyone besides Mommy does stuff for her.

28 Month Milestones (OMG BabyCenter changed their milestone chart so it’s just a list! 28 is actually the same as 27, but from now on I’ll have to use Evan’s old milestone posts to see specific months)

Jumps with both feet – Yes, although she mostly does a funny half-skip
Opens doors – Yes, finally. Now nothing in the house is safe.

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
Understands descriptions (e.g., big, soft) – She describes most things as “Caroline’s!” but I’m sure she understands lots of adjectives too.
Draws a vertical line – She really, really, really likes drawing circles.

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
Starts to recognize ABCs – Ehhhhhhhhh. She’s pretty good at numbers?
Balances on one foot – She can even “pop” on one foot, if she says “Pop pop pop”.

Bonus 28 months video!

I had to do the math TWICE to make sure 28 months wasn’t 2 and a HALF, but instead only 2 and a THIRD (and I’m still not 100% sure I’m right) because I am clinging to those extra 2 months like my life depends on it. Not that it’s doing me any good – my toddler isn’t even toddling anymore (he hasn’t really toddled in more than a year but whatevs) because he’s too busy running full speed into the deep end of the lake or away from me across the mall. Or into traffic. We’re working on “DANGER! STOP MOVING!” but unfortunately he seem to suffer from temporary hearing loss in parking lots. I suspect it’s a fairly common medical problem among toddlers.

Little Evan’s new obsession is TRUCKS. I am both pleased and saddened – I’m pleased I don’t have to hear about every single basketball net we pass in the car, but do you KNOW how many trucks we see on the way to…anywhere? Trash truck! Box truck! Trailer truck! Dump truck! Tow truck! FIRE TRUCK! FIRE TRUCK MAMA FIRE TRUCK!!!! He also knows where the fire stations are on our regular routes and starts talking about them as soon as we get in the car. I bought him a yellow dump truck toy at Target the other day and he slept with it during nap time. I ALSO bought him a pink baby doll stroller and a baby doll, since he freaked the freak out when he saw the “bebehs!” I hid them in the dining room and he forgot about them, so while I’m gone E can use the promise of brand new shiny toy to keep him in line. I suspect he will end up sleeping with both the stroller and the doll.

Little Evan has an excellent memory and great parroting skills – he’ll repeat anything (note: ANYTHING) you say and he loves to talk about things he did yesterday or last week or a month ago. I can understand his words about 90% of the time, although other people still have trouble. He can identify things by color now (ORANGE digger! BLUE bus!) and by size (BIG boat!) and sometimes brings me letters from his magnet set and tells me what they are. He loves to count “Five, six, GO!” or he says “Eight….nine…” when he’s playing Stroller Strides. I heard him count backwards from 5 to 1 the other day, but he won’t do it on demand. Apparently he doesn’t feel like performing as if he was my trained monkey. How rude.

We’re having a little trouble with his listening skills, but I blame that on being a toddler. The “I’m going to count to three” threat works REALLY WELL, although I’m actually not sure what I would DO if he ever let me get to three. Sometimes he also has trouble apologizing, even when he is literally hiding his face in shame because he know he did something wrong (and I am trying not to laugh because the face hiding is SO CUTE) but he both says and signs sorry and will give hugs and kisses to make it better.

Likes include all kinds of trucks, construction equipment, boats, water, Daddy, giving hugs, reading books, naps, his baby sister, sippy cups of milk, the farm, lollipops, the iPad, Angry Birds, the car carts at the grocery store, his two best toddler friends, running and jokes. Dislikes include holding hands, wearing sandals, sharing toys (unless he’s trying to trade for a better toy), being told he HAS to eat something, the baby touching his blanket, pooping on the potty (blarg) and being tired.

28 Month Milestones (from BabyCenter, as usual)

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
• Jumps with both feet – He can now jump with both feet INTO something, like a lake or the pool or my lap. That last one isn’t always so fun.
• Opens doors – Yes and loves to do it. If I don’t let him open the back door when we come home I risk A Tantrum.

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
• Understands descriptions (e.g., big, soft) – Yes, as long as it’s one he’s heard before, although he remembers most stuff after hearing it JUST ONCE.
• Draws a vertical line – Yes! He has JUST decided he likes drawing and I’m looking forward to his gorgeous, museum quality pieces. He’s currently in his Purple Period, which means he refuses to color with any marker but purple.

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
• Starts to recognize ABCs – We’re still working on it, but he’s definitely improved a billion percent since I started worrying about it several months ago. I don’t think I’ve doomed him to a life of illiteracy after all.
• Balances on one foot – Easily. If I ever do end up selling him to the circus, he’s a shoe-in for the tightrope act.