Caroline is a really independent baby. She would rather figure something out on her own than come to me for help. She’s amazingly smart. She doesn’t need me to carry her much (because of ALL THE WALKING), she doesn’t need me to feed her snacks, she doesn’t need me to climb the stairs (which is good because I died dead of a heart attack last night when I found she had climbed a full flight to my bedroom even though she’s never even LOOKED at them before), and she doesn’t need me to rock her to sleep. She likes me well enough, but if you have an empty lap and arms, she will happily come sit in it and hug you.

Just ask the very surprised woman at the play place yesterday who was wrestled into cuddling by one very insistent baby. LOVING BABY GIVES YOU LOVES WHETHER OR NOT YOU WANT THEM. I’m not entirely sure the woman was OK with the situation (although that’s ridiculous because who wouldn’t want the most adorable baby ever to cuddle with them?) so I rescued her by letting Caroline chew on my phone (sidebar: Has anyone seen my volume button?)

I love that Caroline is so brave. I love that she’s fearless. I love that she’s a red-headed spitfire and nothing can stop her. But it is equal parts terrifying. If she’s this headstrong at 10 months old, what’s she going to be like at 3? Or 8? Or (God help me) 16? It also hurts my heart a little bit because OMG MAH BAYBEEE. It’s happening too fast. I need time to slow down, to give me more moments with my little munchkin before she becomes a kid.

How many more cheese-face, belly roll, butt crack days do I have left? Today I am thankful for ever single moment.

BONUS PEEK-A-BOO VIDEO!!

Today I am thankful for our family, in duck form (which Little Evan lined up and named all by himself during bath time)

Sunday:

We have pretty lax house rules on Sundays

We put on pants long enough to hit up Target

And acted like mature adults at BJ's

Monday:

For the first time in 25 weeks, I have NO pictures from a day. I was too sick to care if my kid wore clothes or ate anything besides jelly beans, which means I was definitely too sick to carry my phone around taking snapshots of things like the doctor’s office or the back of my eyelids.

Tuesday:

I was still sick so I asked Brutus to babysit

I don't think he's going to say yes next time

I braved taking both kids to the ped for Caroline's 4 months check-up, and Little Evan was the best behaved 2 year old ever

Wednesday:

I spent an hour looking for just the right thing to make with this yarn but haven't found it yet

Little Evan put boots in one bag and shoes in the other and told me BAH-BYEEE!

Caroline is shocked he wants to leave. "But they have so much MILK here!"

Thursday:

This face was because I wouldn't let him ACTUALLY put on mascara instead of pretend to put on mascara. It was a rough morning.

But things got better after some orange slices and water in a big boy cup

Brutus was thrilled there was finally a patch of sunlight to lie in

Friday:

The Evan's check out the touch tank at the aquarium, where we had a playdate with bloggy friends!

I taught Caroline to stick out her tounge when I stick out mine

Evan and I took a super fun solo-trip to (shocking) Target at BJ's. I love going places with JUST ONE kid.

Saturday:

We went to Home Depot to look at paving stones, but it was POURING & the stone were outside

Caroline modeled one of her new headbands

And a onesie to celebrate her first Easter

The rest of Saturday we hid inside, partly from the rain, partly because Little Miss Caroline is teething and NO ONE wants to hear the noise she makes when her teeth are bothering her. I am seriously considering buying earplugs. Tomorrow I get to surprise the kids with Easter Baskets, whip up a batch of cheddar-rosemary scones and head over to a wonderful friend’s house for Easter dinner and toddler play time.

Amy’s busy planning for Parker’s big 1st birthday so there’s no linky today. But hopefully we’ll be back next Saturday!

Linky is up! Better late than never!

I have three actual blog posts 75% written and was planning to finish at least one up last night but I went to bed at 9 with a horrible pain in my kidney (AGAIN) and woke up with a fever (AGAIN) so I’m going to spend the day popping antibiotics and chugging water in bed. Because I am single parenting Tuesday and Wednesday I NEED to get better by tonight so I don’t lose my mind. (Call me spoiled if you want but the best part of my day is when my husband gets home from work and is actually excited to spend time with the toddler I’m 30 seconds away from selling to gypsies.)

So instead of words today, please enjoy these pictures of the kids.

It's like a game - can you spot two kids in this picture?

They found each other!

She's topless, he's pantsless, together they're almost a fully dressed kid!

This is how we amuse ourselves - playing "how long can we let go of the baby before she falls over?". Don't worry, we catch her.

Love

Apparently Dada is a lot more interesting than I am.

If adorable feet were a cure for illness, I'd be the healthiest person in the world.

Three months in and Caroline is still the happiest, smiley-est, cutest baby ever in the whole history of the world. Obviously I’m a little biased but seriously, she gives newborns everywhere a good name. I should rent her out to people who are scared that having a baby will be super hard. Of course, then their baby will end up being all colicky and refluxy and screamy and they’ll hunt me down and punch me right in my smug face. To which I will just say I paid my dues, suckers, and his name is Baby Evan.

For the record, Toddler Evan is pretty awesome. But Baby Caroline makes me want a dozen more babies.

Unfortunately, we don’t have a 3 months well-baby check so I don’t have real stats for height and weight, but she is definitely big and chubby. We’ve moved up to 6 months sleepers and dresses and I’ve already started a pile of too-small stuff to put away. I’m super excited that spring is almost here so I can start putting her in the dozens and dozens of adorable barely worn hand-me-downs my friends and sister-in-law have given her.

Caroline is now awake for a lot of the day, but will fall asleep if we go anywhere in the car or if we wrap her up and bounce her in the bouncy seat. She sleeps for an amount of time that is technically considered “through the night” by baby-sleep experts but still involves feeding her at midnight and 5 am. Which is fantastic, as long as I get an occasional nap to make up for those couple of lost hours. One of these days we’ll work on moving her to the co-sleeper or the crib – or a new crib, if I can convince E we need one – but for now she’s still sleeping the the swing most of the time. Ok, all the time. No judging unless you’ve lived with a baby who gets up every 90 minutes to nurse for 8 months straight.

Favorite things still include smiling, looking at people, sleeping, and making adorable baby sounds. Dislikes are gas bubbles and having onesies pulled over her head.

And now for the gratuitous picture section. Milestones are below:

Ah! It's trying to eat me!

Bebeh feet of the month

2 Month Milestones (from BabyCenter, as usually)

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
Recognizes your face and scent – Yes, although I’m afraid if I ever start taking regular showers again I might confuse her
Holds head steady – Yes, there is definitely less slamming of her head into my face when I try to hold her on my shoulder
Visually tracks moving objects – Yes, which I find ridiculously adorable

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
Squeals, gurgles, coos – OMG the noises she makes are the absolute cutest noises ever in the whole world
Blows bubbles – Yes
Recognizes your voice – I think so, she definitely smiles the most when I talk to her
Does mini-pushup – Yes, she’s super strong!

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
Rolls over, from tummy to back – YES! She did it for the first time right on her 3 month birthday. She can also go halfway from her back to tummy but can’t get over her arm
Turns toward loud sounds – Sort of. There are a lot of loud sounds around here. They only bother her about 50% of the time
Can bring hands together, bats at toys – Yes and yes, I’ve started giving her small toys to hold, which doesn’t last very long but she likes to try

Aaaaand one more picture for the hell of it. I was trying to catch her smiling but this is actually more awesome: