Caroline is a delightful child, although she’s also what most polite people would call “strong willed”. I mostly call her “kind of a nightmare when she doesn’t get her way” but rarely to her face. She can go from lovely and smiling and laughing to screaming her head off in a matter of seconds. It’s pretty impressive, actually. She will ask so politely for a cup of juice and in the time it takes me to say “Of course honey!” and walk to the fridge she’ll start crying and thrashing and yelling “NO JUICE NO JUICE NOOOOOO JUICE!!!!!” Because obviously I’m trying to poison her. Of course as soon as I put the juice away she goes back to needing a cup of juice RIGHT THIS SECOND or she’s going to die of thirst. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if her head spun fully around one of these days – I’ve got a young priest and an old priest on speed dial, just in case.

But hey, she’s 2 and a quarter. This is not unexpected. And truthfully, she’s easier to reason with than Evan was at this age, just because she’s so very verbal and understands so much. When she does something naughty she KNOWS it was naughty. Of course, sometimes she doesn’t care (ain’t nobody got time for that when you have a whole aisle of cereal to throw on the floor!) but she does sit nicely in time out without a fight. Actually, that might be because she doesn’t truly understand time outs, but we’re working on it.

Mostly she’s wonderful. Super cute, so very very smart, and up for almost anything. The fact that she doesn’t nap anymore is actually nice, since it means we can run errands in the afternoons instead of fighting over going to sleep. She’s going through a cuddly phase and isn’t very discriminating about who gets the cuddles – she’ll sit in anyone’s lap who holds still long enough. Caroline still don’t great at school and we’ve had exactly zero tears at drop off. I love it. She loves it. Best decision I’ve ever made.

Likes include snow, mud puddles, boots, splashing, books, funny faces, drawing, ponies, unicorns, Legos, singing, dancing, Bubble Guppies, Mickey Mouse, mermaids, sliding, climbing, gymnastics, eating, drinking Mommy’s water, talking, screaming, shouting, stomping, kitties, dogs, fish, pirates, money, cookies, and making any sort of mess at any time.

Dislikes include wearing coats, looking at the camera when I say “look at the camera!” and everything on the “likes” list depending on which way the wind is blowing.

27 Month Milestones (from BabyCenter, as usual)

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
Jumps with both feet – The better to stomp as LOUDLY AS POSSIBLE.
Opens doors – HA HA! Something she mostly can’t do! But only because she’s too short!

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
Understands descriptions (e.g., big, soft) – Sparkly, pink, rainbow, look a pony! Yes.
Draws a vertical line – Beautifully, but only on my walls.

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
Starts to recognize ABCs – It’s hard to tell? She might just be a really good guesser and get lucky sometimes. But she will sing you the ABCs as long as you don’t mind the verse of Rock A Bye Baby in the middle.
Balances on one foot – She moved up to the off-the-ground balance beam all on her “own self” at gymnastics!

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.

Today I am dropping both of my children off and escaping. Hopefully the firefighters will find nice homes for them.

Caroline starts baby school today, 2.5 hours, 2 days a week, for a grand total of 5 whole hours. Putting them both in school now instead of at some mythical point a few years down the road feels like I’m cheating a little bit. I fully admit to being someone who has said things like “Ugh, stop calling daycare SCHOOL. It’s not the same” in the past, which makes me both a pretty big jerk and a hypocrite. (That’s pretty much all you need to know about becoming a parent – you will do tons of things that make you a pretty big jerk and a hypocrite. Also, at some point you will make up a song about poop.) But now that I am the one sending my barely-two-year-old to a “childcare center” a few hours a week I take it all back. I am sure Caroline will come home speaking three languages and reading full chapter books by the end of the month. Or more likely she’ll cry the first day, show off her coloring-on-the-carpet skills the second, and sing the song I wrote about poop to her teachers.

This was the plan all along. I signed Evan up for THIS school as opposed to the one within walking distance specifically because they offered Tuesday-Thursday classes and a 2 year old program. The class has a very small staff-to-child ratio where I’m sure her singing and drawing talents will be appreciated and fawned over.  Two and a half hours is barely even enough time for her to notice I’m gone – I’m pretty sure I’ve taken showers almost that long while she played with empty diaper boxes in her room. She’s going to love school and I need to stop trying to convince myself that’s true because it IS true.

Not to mention I could really use regular, dependable, child-free hours for myself. I took both kids to run errands on Sunday and although they didn’t actually cause any physical damage it’s only a matter of time. We are a walking comedy act, seconds away from pulling the bottom can out of a can pyramid and having the whole thing crash down on top of us. I am doing everyone who works retail anywhere in South Eastern Connecticut a huge favor by putting Caroline in school. YOU’RE WELCOME, GUY WHO BUILDS CAN PYRAMIDS.

The very small voice that is stopping me from being totally sure says that Evan got 3 years home with me before I shipped him off to school. But he also only got 20 months as an only child while Caroline is well on her way to 3 full years as the baby.

In the end, I didn’t spend a ton of time making lists of pros and cons about this decision, which is probably why I’m spending so much time rationalizing it to myself now. It isn’t doing me any good, but it feels like a little hand-wringing is appropriate in this situation. My baby is going to school where she will learn to put her shoes on the right feet and drink from a real cup and boss everyone around. I mean boss MORE people around.

I’m pretty excited in a sweaty palms, clutching my phone in my hand all morning, three cups of coffee kind of way. I might have a bit of a breakdown, is what I’m saying. But at least I’ll be able to do it alone.

*Not actually free. But I’m sure I won’t miss that kidney I had to sell to pay tuition too much.

Caroline is a big girl now, the end.

This morning I opened the gate and sent her downstairs herself. When I came down a few minutes later she gotten two clementines off the counter and peeled them – one for her, one for her brother.

Today at the play place, she taught all the other kids how to slide down the slide head first.

She also conned one of the moms into giving her all the snacks the mom brought for herself. I told the nice lady she didn’t have to share, Caroline is very well fed, but she insisted she didn’t mind because “She’s so cute!”

Yesterday at bedtime I explained to her my back hurt so I couldn’t sit on her bed while she fell asleep but I’d be happy to sit in her chair instead. She said “OK Mommy. Feel better now.”

Instead of crying when she fell off the couch and on her head, she jumped up and said “TA-DA!”

She is spunky, funny, full of life, full of attitude and charms almost everyone she meets. She is an amazing two year old (and is going to be a TERRIFYING 12 year old).

Likes include animals, books, apples, oranges, running, jumping, making up songs, dancing, Minnie Mouse, Monsters Inc, snow, playgrounds, friends, Daddy, bath time, Tinker Bell, cuddles, princess skirts, wearing pull-ups instead of diapers, stacking things, exercise, noodles, strawberries,  and her brother.

Dislikes include time outs, wearing clothes all day, hair clips and when Evan doesn’t want to play with her.

25 Month Milestones (from BabyCenter, as usual)

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
Stacks six blocks – Caroline and Evan used teamwork to stack 12 stall tubs of play-doh, so I’ll give her half credit for that.
Walks with smooth heel-to-toe motion – Walks, runs, jumps, dances, all like a big kid.

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
Uses pronouns (e.g., I, me, you) – All the pronouns are belong to Caroline.
Washes and dries own hands – Her favorite part of potty training (and the only part she’s very good at).

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
Speaks clearly most of the time – I can understand her about 90% of the time, other people are probably at about 75%.
Draws a vertical line – Sort of. But she likes drawing circles the best while shouting “CIRCLE CIRCLE CIRCLE”.

I looked at Caroline’s socks this morning and they say “6-12 months” on the bottom. (If having a tiny child is good for one thing it’s getting your money’s worth out of clothes.) Those little purple socks have been through a lot of milestones, but when I think about 6-12 month old Caroline I can barely remember her. My Now-Caroline, the one who demanded sprinkles on her birthday doughnut and a kitty shirt to go with her kitty pants and is right now sleeping with her head in my lap, makes my heart so full I don’t even think longingly of the baby-days. There’s hardly time for missing things between her demands anyway.

We had to adjust our bedtime routine a few weeks ago and now I get to sit on her bed and watch her fall asleep each night. I love that she needs me for something besides a cheese-and-grape dispenser and I treasure the moment she drifts off and her arms relax. That’s when she’s still my baby. She even let’s me brush her ridiculous hair out of her eyes so I can actually see her face (tips on getting her to wear a barrette would be useful).

Caroline is still taking gymnastics once a week and her favorite part is hanging from things. She can hold onto the high bar for an incredibly long time and loves to swing on the rings like a monkey, complete with monkey sounds. She can do a somersault on her own finally and at the end of class she requests that I throw her – THROW, with lots of hang time – into the foam pit. In the past she hasn’t always wanted anyone but mommy to help her in class but she’s warmed up to the coaches and it’s making everyone’s life much easier.

She refused to tell me or Santa what she wants for Christmas so we are both being forced to guess. Considering she just got pretty much every fairy toy and book in existence at her birthday party she needs more toys like I need another Pinterest board, but I won’t let her December birthday mean she gets combined gifts. At least not until she asks for stuff like a flying scooter or a hair-dresser robot.

Caroline is so smart. She is beautiful. She is kind. She is an excellent sharer. She is hilarious. She is an incredible hugger. She might be a championship eater when she grows up. She is precious in every way. And even when she’s driving me totally bonkers I love her to pieces.

Likes include: Minnie Mouse, ducks, running, climbing, dogs, Santa from a distance, the rocket ship ride on thing at the mall, coins (“monies”), my wallet, counting, play-doh, cutting things, undecorating the Christmas tree, birthday parties, books, Tinker Bell, bath time, her blankies, dolls, stuffed animals, cuddles, Daddy, Mommy, music, Octonauts, cats, stickers and food.

Dislikes include: Santa up close, being tired, getting dressed and being told what to do (apparently she’s 15).

If having kids, especially Caroline, has taught me anything it’s that life isn’t always picture-perfect. We didn’t do anything photo worthy today, no special photo shoots in the woods, not even a stop in the grocery store for a birthday balloon like I had planned.  I tried to take her to Build-a-Bear yesterday to pick out a special new toy but I was too busy convincing her the deflated empty bears hadn’t been skinned for their pelts by stuffed animal poachers to remember to take photos. (Luckily Evan did the building for her, so now she has a lovely stuffed dog named Franz.) That was the last “fun” thing we’re even attempted – she’s been grumpy and feverish so today we’re celebrating quietly at home with our doughnuts, Play-doh and waaaaaay too many hours of Disney Jr. Even without two dozen staged photos to remember it by, I think turning 2 is a pretty special day.

24 Month Milestones (from BabyCenter, as usual)

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
Names at least six body parts – She’s especially fond of “chin” and “collar bone” so she can show off her scars.
Half of speech is understandable – I can understand 95% of her speach, other people can probably understand about 75%. She doesn’t babble, she just speaks with a toddler accent.
Makes two- to three-word sentences – Yes

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
Talks about self – Me, mine, my, and Car-line are some of her favorite words. She also says “favorite” a lot.
Arranges things in categories –
Can walk down stairs – Yes, although she’s still awfully short.

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
Begins to understand abstract concepts (e.g., sooner and later) – I would say yes she UNDERSTANDS the concept of “later” but she prefers “NOW MOMMY NOW.”
Becomes attuned to gender differences – Er, well, having a brother means she understands at least ONE gender difference. And she can point out other people’s mommies and daddies. But besides that Caroline is equally willing to play the princess, the dragon or the knight.
Learns to jump – Tiny jumps, although she can fling herself off a trampoline like a pro.