(Cheryl, here!) In spite of appearances above, Caroline's bangs have almost grown back. I had to cut a bang tuft this week that was sometimes falling to the middle of her nose, and I'm almost able to cut the lot of them straight across in a nearly acceptable style. This evening's look is from what I figure to be some quality bed head from her afternoon nap.

In any case, I think she looked super cute tonight as she behaved perfectly while we chatted with a friend for a bit. Our girl is pretty consistently happy and well-mannered - unlike her crotchety parents. Her insights and behaviors continue to surprise and delight and freak me out a little. It's almost unbelievable when I think about all of the stuff (walking, talking, telling tasteless jokes, etc.) she's learned to do in the past 3+ years. I know it's nothing terribly unusual, but it's still pretty cool to watch day by day.

Wednesday mornings = SciWorks. We discovered that the very old astronaut they had on display had passed away within the past week or so. Caroline poses mournfully in the astronaut cutout.

Playgroup met at SciWorks this morning. So that's two days in a row Caroline will be going to her favorite local science museum.

I twas musical instrument day at the Little Gym. Luckily Caroline's no longer in the parent/child classes, so I can still hear this evening.

Caroline broke 30 pounds! Our baby's all grown up.

Despite her belief otherwise, Caroline couldn't hang with the adults watching the prime time football game.

Cheryl, here - Grandma Libby made Caroline some fresh Florida OJ using this Rival juicer that was made in 1907. Despite it being 100 years old, the juicer worked far better than any other non-electric juicer I've ever seen. Good job, Rival and Grandma! Caroline guzzled all of her juice - even after eating more that day than she ate in the previous week. No joke. I suspect a growth spurt. Or a tapeworm. But it's probably a growth spurt.

Caroline with her new friend Lucas, also visiting Grandma Libby for the holiday.

We're visiting Grandparents Lerman for the holiday in Georgia. This morning Caroline was overjoyed for another opportunity to meet up with her buddy AJ for some fun at Bear Hollow Park and then a Chick Fil A nearby afterwards. Better pictures on their blog - mom Melissa has a real camera and much better photo skills. But mine are on the interwebs quicker...

Caroline helped rake the front lawn this afternoon. Here she's taking one of her many breaks. Slacker!!!

Cheryl here - I didn't think Caroline could get much happier than she was hanging with Mikey this morning and Paige this evening... However, her joy grew exponentially when she opened her package from Grandma Z. and saw her new robe and a bunch of Devil Dogs. She is currently gleeful, eating some ice cream with a new spoon, and will most likely soon brush her teeth with a new toothbrush (both also courtesy of Grandma's package).

Megan and Paige stopped by this evening to hang out and give Caroline some sweet brand new shoes that Paige had received, but were too small for Paige. The girls had a great time singing karaoke and playing with Caroline's dollhouse, and the older girls had a great time sharing some wine and chatting. I cooked dinner and cleaned.

Caroline was thrilled to see her picture in the newspaper this morning. For those non-Winston readers, here's the link.

Caroline is becoming quite the artist. Surprisingly, most of the paint ended up on the paper rather than the table or her clothes as expected.

We met up with Aaron, Emma and Alec at Polo Park this very warm afternoon. Emma and Alec were lucky to join us, as their mom was able to take a break from her new business, The Marshmallow Queen. As Cheryl and I were unofficial test tasters during the formative phase of the store, we can attest that the treats are very tasty.

Thanks to their unavailability, Caroline has graduated from paint-by-water books into the much more potentially destructive water colors.

Wednesday mornings = SciWorks. We discovered that the very old owl they had on display had passed away within the past week or so. Caroline poses mournfully in the owl cutout.

Caroline went for a flu shot today. Although she was extraordinarily worried beforehand, she cried for literally 10 seconds afterwards - unlike last year when she sobbed for 15 minutes or so. And now Cheryl is due to take her for the next 2 rounds of shots.

Maybe I should change the format of the blog to Caroline and Emma at Costco through the years.

Playgroup was at Miller Park - the weather was perfect and the kids got along famously.

As she ascends the outside of the stair case, Caroline laughs and asks "Is this dangerous?" every time. And every time we tell her it is dangerous and take her down. So she's been warned.

Caroline is eager for all the leaves to fall down so she can use her Caroline sized rake to clear our yard. Or else.
She really tested us this evening by being ridiculously and pointlessly defiant until she managed to bump her noggin jumping off a chair. And then when she was done fake crying, she went back to other dangerous activities, insisting that she wouldn't hurt herself. And she ate hardly any dinner, and demanded candy. She got no candy.

Caroline is much more social than I, and makes new friends on nearly every trip to the park.

We went to a breakfast with Santa this morning at the mall, and Emma and Caroline were thrilled to have their picture taken with Santa.

Caroline wearing the hat advertising my old workplace.

Caroline attended her first post-womb basketball game tonight, and we watched our Deacs crush the Fairfield Stags 85-60. She had previously attended a game back when Cheryl was interviewing for a scholarship at the school, but her seat was much less obstructed this time. Also in attendance, her best bud Emma with Ben and Alec.

"Hold me!!!"

After I arrived home from work, Jay headed out to the gym. Caroline demanded that we "craft" (her word) with Play-Doh. Despite my willingness to comply, I was evidently lacking in skill. When my attempts to fashion a teddy bear were failing to meet expectations, she threw up a defiant hand and said, "Mommy, you wait here. I'm going to get my Ernie book. I'll be back in a second, ok?"

Upon her return, the girl pointed to a bear in her book about Ernie's (from Sesame Street) bedtime routine. "Make a bear like this one, Mommy, " my sculpting coach implored. With appropriate creative direction, I was indeed able to fashion an acceptable bear. (I'm a little shocked that my 3-yr. old is instinctively proficient at conceptualizing, elucidating, and sharing her vision while not micro-managing the creative process...) And then I hand-crafted a baby complete with arms and legs and eyes a nose. At my child's behest, I also made them special blankets of Play-Doh, of course. (Because EVERYTHING in this house needs to be covered by a blanket these days - we really need to get some pictures up of the Popsicle sticks covered in tissues...)

It was at this time that the real games* could begin. Caroline and I took turns playing "mommy" to my works of art. Mommy would hop in the car** and drive*** to the fair**** while "Grandma" (played by not-mommy) would care for the blanketed baby and bear. When "mommy came back from the fair", Caroline was always interested to find out how her baby and bear behaved while she was "out". I was most concerned about finding Caroline's unfortunate charges' missing arms and legs before they mashed into the floor.

I took this all to mean that Caroline clearly trusts her grandmas to watch her when I'm not around, but that they must love her so much that they hug her rather violently and occasionally pop off her limbs.***** And also, mommies like to go to fairs by themselves.

A good time was had by all. Especially me. It was super sweet to see Caroline pretending to be a babysitting grandma.


*As you might have guessed, this game was completely created in the mind of Caroline.
**Hop in the car = sit on one of Jay's sneakers
***Drive = make car noises while sitting on said sneaker
****Fair = walking around the kitchen pretending to play carny games and eat fried Oreos.
*****I'm clearly kidding about the inadvertent limb removal. At least on Caroline's grandmas' parts.

Caroline's ghost cookie is none too happy about the bite she took from his head.

At the "vet" in the Children's "Museum".