Moments ago, Caroline rather clumsily attempted to play divide and conquer with mom and dad. After noticing a picture of her sorely missed friend Emma (who is in VA visiting with relatives) in which Emma was wearing socks, Caroline demanded socks. Here was our exchange:

Caroline: Mommy, socks. I need my socks.
Cheryl/Mommy: No you don't. It's 100 degrees. You don't need socks.
Caroline: Yes Mommy. I need them. I need socks. Socks on. Socks on now.
Cheryl/Mommy: No socks.
Caroline: What's daddy doing?
Cheryl/Mommy: I think he's using his computer.

Caroline then jumped off of my lap and scampered into the computer room where she said, "Daddy, I need socks".

Pretty sneaky, sis.

We've decided to take away Caroline's bag collection for now. Here she is, a few minutes ago, bag-free, and enjoying some of her other play things.

No need for expensive toys for Caroline to have fun! She's been playing with a plastic bag in the kitchen for the last few hours. And she must be having a great time, as I haven't heard a peep from her.

We've found some more food that Caroline likes, at least until the next time we make it for her.

Pictures of Caroline, Connor, and Matthew from playgroup today at Chuck-E-Cheese. Tried to get everyone, but was distracted by Caroline and her constant demands to give her more money or help her climb up the hanging slides thingee. Also, many of the parents are convinced that there is something fishy about the pizza, as many of the light eaters consumed much, much more than they normally would. I ordered an individual pizza for Caroline and she ate almost the entire thing (I got a few crusts); I was expecting (and hoping) to eat the majority of it.

We walked to story time at the library this morning. It's about 2 miles each way, and the last time we walked Caroline fell asleep on the way back, didn't transfer indoors, and was a pill the rest of the day. I figured a lollipop would keep the little dude up this time, but apparently not. Again, she didn't transfer, but I managed to get her to sleep for a decent mid-afternoon nap.


I wanted to document the red flowers that are blooming behind Caroline here. If it wasn't for the mosquitoes that attack Caroline constantly, our backyard would be perfect. Next year, we'll be getting a mosquito trap.

Caroline took her first trip to the dentist this morning to check out her damaged tooth. They couldn't tell if she severed the blood vessel, and if she did, it might come out. The underlying permanent tooth doesn't look damaged. The x-ray below shows her permanent teeth above her baby teeth. She was a perfect patient, sitting for an x-ray without protest. I wasn't able to get my first dental x-ray until I was at least 12 (very bad gag reflex), so I was very proud of her.

We went to the nearest pediatric dentist that I found in the yellow pages. It was a fantastic choice - everyone was very friendly and helpful, and the office and examining area was very well designed. I don't think Caroline wanted to leave, but we'll see how she likes it when the visits get a bit more intense than a few x-rays and poking around in her mouth.

Caroline is getting increasingly demanding. She no longer "wants" something; she "needs" it. This morning she needed to ride on the side of a shopping cart, just like her buddy Aaron did the last time we went shopping with him. He didn't eventually slip and mess up one of his teeth, as Caroline managed to do. After a mess of blood and some tears, she didn't bring up the incident again, so hopefully the damage isn't permanent. Later we joined Bad Influence Aaron at the Children's Museum, to enjoy a group-free Monday.

We went to the Children's Museum this morning with Aaron. It was packed with groups of older children, making it a trampling hazard for our toddlers. And just before we left, the Museum held a ridiculous egg hunt for the older kids, so they were running all over the place. Good one, museum staff. Keep sending those solicitations for donations, and rest assured I'll keep ignoring them.

Caroline and I hosted our playgroup this week. Most of the gang was out of town (or so they told me), so it was a pretty small turnout. I got stung in the neck by a bee, which could have been worse if it was one of the kids or the moms. And my throat didn't swell completely shut before I popped some benadryl.


After the playgroup, at Caroline's insistence, we joined Aaron, Bobby and Mikey at the pool. Though Caroline was really in need of a nap, in my benadryl haze I was powerless to resist her nagging. And Caroline made the trip extra special, filling her swim diaper twice with horrible packages for me. Then she screamed all the way home, distraught that after a mere two hours in the midday sun I would want to leave. Pretty painful day.

We took a stroll to the park this morning before the heat moved in. Despite the temps only in the mid-80s, I was completely soaked when we got home; Caroline, who rode in the stroller sipping water and snacking on goldfish, was not.


When the mercury soared this afternoon, Caroline finally got to watch "Finding Nemo" in its entirety - previously, she's only seen bits of it on every trip to the doctor's office.

We took Grampira out to dinner tonight to celebrate his birthday (which is actually tomorrow, but they'll be on the road). Caroline has made an ally in her war against the harsh rules we try to force on her. She got all the chocolate cake and potato chips and cartoons she wanted today, and was able to convince him to let her fall asleep in their bed. So for all that, we'll let him get up with her tomorrow morning at 6am.

Caroline's paternal grandparents arrived for a visit today. Caroline, of course, loved the new audience. And the new gifts. And getting anything she wanted, except staying up all night, which she really wanted to do.

We went to SciWorks for the first time this afternoon. Caroline had a fantastic time chasing Aaron around and playing with the interactive exhibits. Unfortunately, I don't think she learned much. We ended our visit with a trip to the planetarium. She enjoyed (a little too loudly, perhaps) the portion on stars and constellations; but inexplicably freaked out when the video portion of the presentation started, so we had to make an early exit.
Tomorrow, Grampira (formerly Popie - his chosen moniker, since abandoned; Grampira is Cheryl's idea) and Grandma Libby will be driving up for a visit. Caroline should get all the attention she can handle for a few days.

Playgroup today was at a really nice pool just outside of Winston. Cheryl has it pretty rough, shielded from the sun's dangerous rays in her comfy cube, while I have to coat myself in sunscreen and brave the dangerous waters of a country club pool with a bunch of women.



We took Caroline with us to a group dinner tonight. She was pretty good, but by the second hour, I was using whatever I could to keep her happy, including the camera to take lots of closeups.

Caroline spent the last 6 hours before bedtime asking "what mommy doing?", "what carseat doing?", "what daddy doing?". No answer would satisfy her, and she would ask again and again and again and again...

Apparently my camera was set on blurry today. Caroline and I went over to play with Bobby, Mikey and Emma this morning at the boys' house. Most of the conflicts over toys didn't come to blows, few tears were shed, and not much juice was spilled - so it was a good time. After her nap, Caroline developed a bit of a fever. We stayed indoors, watched a cartoon, and medicated on ibuprofen. By dinner, she was back to her normal self.

We were supposed to go blueberry picking in the morning, but a message at the farm said that all the ripe berries had been picked and to try next week. Later, we learned that they were still accepting visitors, but that the pickings would be slim. We joined Emma at the farm this afternoon, and there were more than enough berries for some quality picking. Caroline quickly learned to pick only the ripe blue ones, although she would occasionally get impatient and grab a bunch that had one or two ripe berries among mostly little green ones. We left with full bellies and plenty of berries for a few days of tasty desserts.





This evening, Caroline got to spend some time tearing up Mikey's house while we had some Sparks with his parents.

The activity for the playgroup today was going to be picking blueberries; the weather was uncooperative. We met at the remodeled Chuck E. Cheese instead for a much noisier time. Caroline really, really enjoyed taking tokens and sticking them in the nearest machine she could find, regardless of whether she was sitting in it or able to reach the controls. Nevertheless, she claims she had a good time, and thanks to a coupon for some discount tokens, not much money was spent.

Happy Independence Day.

Before the mosquitoes drove us indoors, we enjoyed some hamburgers on our patio. Cheryl had the day off, but the weather was too sticky to enjoy a park this afternoon. Instead, we went to see the movie Cars. We think Caroline enjoyed it, as she was perfectly mesmerized the entire show, and demanded more movie when it ended. Also, she insisted on saving her ticket stub, which she clutched throughout the screening.

Caroline enjoyed an ice cream cone while we took a stroll around the neighborhood this evening. Her dress went straight into the washing machine when we returned home.