Caroline Monthly Letter: Month 80

Today you are 80 months old.

You have had a busy month.

You have landed your cartwheel a few times.  This is a huge accomplishment for you.  You have worked so hard on that cartwheel.  You are getting so great at it.  You are proud but more importantly, I am proud of you.

You are amazing, kid.

You never give up and that is pretty awesome.

Aunt Lucille passed away March 10, 2013.

Your little heart was broken.

I explained to you that God just give us Earth bodies.  They grow old and they die.  But the best is yet to come.  After our Earth bodies die, we get our Heaven body.  We get to be God's angels and that is a very happy time.

We talked a lot about you taking part in the visitation and funeral.  I let you decide if you wanted to go.  Of course you did.  I would not dare deny you that.

I think this month you have matured a little bit more.

I introduced you to "Blackbird" by the Beatles.

We rocked out to it today while you did your homework, as a matter of fact.

I am sure you will know every word in the next few days.

Have I ever mentioned your ability to remember song lyrics?

I feel like you get it from me.  I am pretty awesome at remembering lyrics too.

You have been checking out informative books from the library lately.

You love learning new information and sharing it with all of us.

A few weeks ago, you got a book on the water cycle.

You explained it all to us.  You also taught us that a cloud is water vapor and dust particles.  When they stick together, they form clouds.

You are smart, kid.  Sometimes you are too smart.

You truly thirst for knowledge.  You want to know answers and not the BS answers that most parents can get by with.  You want the REAL answer.  How do babies come out?  You want the real answer.  What are clouds?  You want the real answer.  How old would your great, great, great grandfather be?  You want the real answer.

You LOVE Judy Moody and The Not Bummer Summer.

You have been watching it on Netflix over and over again.

Judy gets a mood ring in the movie and you have wanted a mood ring ever since.

You got one the other day and to date, it is the best thing thing anyone has ever bought for you.

It has only turned dark blue and green.  You say you can't wait for it to turn orange.  That means you are crabby.  Ha!

You at constantly looking at it and examining it closely for any color change.

You think it is great and we love that you love it so much.

Today you are 80 months old.

These past 80 months have been an adventure.  You have taken us on an amazing adventure that we wouldn't trade for anything in this world.  I can't see where else you take us!

I love you!

xoxo,
Mom

Caroline: 78 Month Letter

Dear Caroline,

2371 days.

You have been on this Earth for 2371 days.  Don't worry.  I used a calendar calculator to figure that out.  I didn't count each day.

It has been a trying month for you.  After Christmas break, much to your dismay, you returned to school.

First grade.  Man, it is a tough one.  You were slammed with a penguin research project (damn you, core curriculum) and you made your first C on a test.  You showed it to your Dad first.  Actually, I think he just got your test papers out of your folder first.

He talked to you about it.  Why did you not answer these two questions?  Why did you not follow directions and write the equation?  What in the world?  You did this as an addition problem when really it was a subtraction problem!

You teared up.  Your little heart was broken.  You walked in my room as I was working on the computer.  In those short 20 or so steps you took to get to me, you had already thought up excuses for every single problem you got wrong.

I wrote down those answers but they were wrong so I erased them.  You can't see where I erased them because the teacher gave me a really good eraser.

I didn't hear her say to write the equation!  She hasn't told us all week to write the equation!  How was I supposed to know?

I added those number because I read that question wrong.

You had messed up.  You messed up and you were trying to make things right.

In your little first grade brain, you were trying to make it better.

We have moved on and you know that you can do better.  Lesson learned.  Take your time, kid. Slow down.  You don't have to be the first to finish on everything that you do.

As for your penguin project, you are doing the research at school.  You were asked to build a penguin at home and bring it in.  You got a royal penguin.

Do you know who much I love penguins?  Oh, I love them.  Because of my love for them, I think you find them extra cool too.

Most kids will bring toilet paper roll penguins, styrofoam penguins, paper penguins.  Not you, my go-big-or-go-home child.

You will show up Friday morning with this....

Drawn by Grandmom.

Cut out by Poppy.

Painted by Caroline & Mommy.  (We have to finish painting the eye and add his head feathers.  REAL feathers, I might add, per your request.)

Go big or go home.

Paper just would not do in your eyes.

Wood.

It had to be made of wood.

You, my sweet child, will always keep us on our toes.

On the bright side, you will always keep us young.

(I am going to be an optimist in this situation.)

Love always,
Mom

PS- You shucked your first oyster during your 78th month of life.  Pretty cool, I think.

Letter to Caroline- Month 30

Sweet Caroline,

You are 30 months old today. Guess what? Tomorrow is a special day. You will start "big girl school". You will make friends and learn about so many new things. You are a big girl and I can't believe it. It seems like just yesterday, I was holding you in the rocking chair reading All The Places to Love (by memory). You would curl up in my arms, drink your bottle, and play with your hair until you fell asleep. Tonight, it was the normal battle to get you to sleep. You are so scared you are going to miss something. I guess you think that we make you sleep but we stay up all night. Little do you know that we are snuggled up in our bed just like you, dreaming of the day ahead. Rest little one. You aren't going to miss a thing.

You love your sister so much that it overwhelms you. You kiss her and then you must wipe that kiss off. We don't know why. You just do. Kiss and wipe, kiss and wipe... all day long. Em smiles at you and it makes you extremely happy. You love to hold her hand and announce to the world that Em-Em is holding your hand.

You have learned your whole name. You know that it is Caroline Tyler Lafone. You like to be silly and say that it is Caroline B-I-N-G-O. We laugh and your eyes light up. We asked you the other day what Emma's middle name was. You informed us that it was Bug. Emma Bug. No last name I guess. You are so full of life and laughter and it brings happiness to everyone around you.

You love to "take pictures". You will use an old camera or your cellphone. You take the picture and you will say, "MOMMY! You blink!" Then, you will take it again. Once you get a good one, you look at it and say, "AWWWW!" It is too cute and so stinkin' funny.

You are growing everyday. You learn things so fast and it amazes me more and more. You are one of the most strong-willed people I know... and you are only two! I hope you have a wonderful preschool experience. I hope you make lots of friends. Be sweet little one. Say yes, ma'am. Stand tall. Keep on smilin' and know that Mommy and Daddy love you more than you will ever know.

Love you always and forever,
Mommy

Letter to Caroline- Month 29.

Sweet Caroline,

It has been a fun month. We are both still getting use to the changes in our house. Having a baby sister has been fun for you but I think it has been difficult too. There are times that you hit, push, pinch or bite Emma. Sometimes I think that you just don't know how to handle the big changes in your life. Everything happened so quickly that it was difficult for you to adjust. When I hold Emma, you either go nuts hitting her or you demand to hold her. Demanding to hold her is your way of getting her out of my arms. You are smart. Sometimes too smart for you on good.

Your concept of numbers has increased this month. One day we sat down together on the floor. You looked at your Daddy and said, "Two girls. One, two. Two girls." I was amazed. It is funny how fast you learn.

You like to distinguish between boys and girls. "Daddy, boy. Mommy, girl. Caroline, girl. Emma, girl." The list goes on and on and on. You would continue forever with the boy/girl thing.

Christmas was extra fun this year. You sang Christmas songs and looked forward to Christmas all month. You were nervous about Santa being around though. Most children cry for Santa to come. You however, cried when I said Santa was coming. I think you thought Santa would come and get you. Therefore, I used this against you. You may need therapy for that and I am sorry. You would start acting wild and I would say Santa was coming. You would straighten up very quickly and begin to worry about where he was and worry that he really was going to get you.

You woke up on Christmas morning full of excitement but worried that Santa was still there. We all walked downstairs. I thought you would run to your car, bike, scooter, tent, games, books, etc. Instead, you were very reserved. Your feelings stayed inside. You were too cute though. You had on your pink snowman PJ pants and your hair was a beautiful mess.

Thank you Carolina for making our life so fun. Everyday is a new adventure. We enjoy every moment. Stay sweet and know that we love you more than you will ever know. Know that you are a wonderful big sister (when you want to be) and that Emma loves you too.

I love you,

Mommy

PS- You grew a lot this month. Slow down. Don't get too grown-up on us. :-)

Letter to Caroline- Month 28.

Sweet Caroline,

It has been a crazy month. CRAZY. You have really tested me this month. You have pushed your limits. You are truly in your terrible twos. I am ready for the 3s... so is Daddy. But, we will make it. We are learning. Slowly... but we are learning.

You are all about cooking. You love to help me. You pull your chair up to the counter and help me pour, stir, and taste test. Maybe one day I can pass the job of cooking on to you. Maybe your cooking will be better than mine.

You have an obsession with band-aids now A few months ago, you would have panic attacks over them. Now, you request at least two band-aids a day for your imaginary boo-boos. You INSIST on putting the band-aid on yourself. No one is allowed to help you.

We enjoy dancing together. We dance around everywhere. We sing and "shake my booty." That is what you say... "shake my booty, shake my booty." Your new favorite song is Johnny and June by Heidi Newfield. I was sitting in the den feeding Emma the other night and heard you in the kitchen singing it. Daddy tuned in with you. I guess we have rubbed off on him a little. He breaks out in random song like us now. Next, maybe he will break out in random dance moves. That will be funny, huh?

You have become a dressy bessy. You have been going to church on Sunday with KK and Jay since Daddy and I have to stay at home with Em-Em. You have it set in your mind what you want to wear. It has to be perfect. One Sunday I had to fight with you because you insisted you wanted to wear your Cinderella Halloween costume. I said no. You said yes. We fought. I won. But I was ready to give up and just let you wear the crazy costume. It is important to you. You think that the dress is the most beautiful thing in the world. That and your sparkle shoes. You wear those EVERYWHERE and with EVERYTHING.

Even though it has been a rough month, it has been fun at times. When you aren't being wild, you help me with Emma and say some sweet things. Sometimes you will just walk up and kiss me and Daddy just because. It never fails, before you leave to go ANYWHERE... even if it is just pretend... you say, "Bye! I love you!" You kiss your Daddy repeatedly for no reason and you can't keep your hands off of Emma. You are a special kid. You are full of life and full of love.

Keep growing sweet Caroline. You make my life complete.

I love you,

Letter to Caroline- Month 27.

Dear Caroline,

It's been 27 months since the day you were born. 27 months since you took your first sweet breath in this big world on your own. 27 months of laughter, smiles, and tears. Oh, how you have changed. You have become your own little person.

It has been a crazy month so far. Baby sister decided to come a little early. Well... actually... Mommy's body decide it didn't want to keep Baby Sister inside any longer. So out she came. You are a big sister. Baby Emma isn't home yet but you are already a great big sister. You share everything with Emma. The other day you were coloring and you stopped and looked at me with a very serious face. You said, "I share baby Emma." You wanted to share your markers with your baby sister. A few months from now you will be screaming because she is touching your things. But no matter what, you will always be the most wonderful big sister. That's just you. You are good at everything that you do and you are only two.

Mommy has been a crazy woman this month. We went from being together all day everyday to how we are now. I have to leave you for a few hours everyday to go see Emma. I hate leaving you but you don't seem to mind. You have fun with everyone you stay with. I never thought it would be so difficult to be a mom of two. Maybe one day you will understand. It's hard to explain. I want to take care of you but I have to take care of Emma too. When she comes home it will be much easier. I will be with you both. I won't have to leave one of you to be with the other. I will have both of my princesses with me. It will be just fabulous.

You love your baby more than words can say. It never fails that when we leave, you grab baby and your pocketbook. Baby and pocketbook go EVERYWHERE we go. Sometimes the stroller has to go too. Sometimes I look at you and think that you are like a little old lady that has to have her pocketbook by her side at all times. If I'm lucky, I get to dress you before we go out. On some occasions you like to dress yourself. Let's just say you have your own sense of style.

Sitting on the step... solving the world's problems with Baby

Example of your style and look at those pocketbooks. There are three hanging on the stroller. THREE!

You sing all the time. If it isn't Happy Birthday it is Twinkle, Twinkle or 5 Little Monkeys or Miss. Mary Mack. It is a constant in our house to hear your sweet little voice singing. I church you sing with the choir. Everyone around you is sitting quietly listening. Not you. You, Caroline, are singing right along with them.

You have stayed with Nana a lot lately. I drop you off at her house around lunch time on most days so I can run to the hospital to feed Emma. One day Daddy George cleaned the carpet. It was wet and you didn't understand. You told me that you were going to "spank his tail." It took me a minute to figure out what you were saying. When I did all I could do was bust out laughing. You have started saying lots of things like that. When we get home, you yell HOME JAMES. That's what Daddy says and that what you started saying. You also say Wooo Joe. That's what I always say when you fall or drop something. It is funny how you catch on to little things. You also repeat a lot of things we say. Good and bad. We have to be careful with what we say around you. I don't mean ugly words if that it what you are thinking Caroline... ok maybe you have said one ugly word... but words like dookie is what I am talking about. I don't know where you heard this word. When you said it for the first time I flipped. You thought it was so funny... you still say it and my heart drops every time that you do. I don't know what my issue with it is but I don't like it and you say it just to worry me.

Your imagination is still running wild. You lay in the middle of the floor naked and pretend to swim. You pretend to hold Emma and rock her. You pretend to cook and eat food. You pretend that your babies are real. It is so fun to just sit here and watch you. You do and say some of the sweetest things when you don't even realize I'm watching.

Those are the fun times. Believe me when I say this though... you are in your terrible twos. There are times that we both just lay down and cry. There are times that you throw yourself in the middle of the floor and kick and scream. You pull hair. You pinch. You do things that I tell you not to do just to test your limits with me. It is frustrating at times. It is exhausting too.

You are absolutely wonderful. You have made my life complete. Keep that beautiful personality and style. You are going to do big things one day. 27 month of pure happiness. I can't wait to see where life takes us next.

Love always,