Caroline & The Fatboy

When my mother-in-law's best friend found out that Caroline loves motorcycles, her husband offered to let Caroline come "test drive" his yellow Harley Fatboy! We knew Caroline would be so excited, and she was. At first, she wouldn't sit on it alone - I think she was afraid she was going to slide off.

Then, she decided she wanted to have it all to herself.

She got a little more adventurous the longer she sat on it. Look - no feet!

Caroline finally decided to share, and we got this priceless family photo.

After she was done with the Harley (primarily because she was cold), she enjoyed bouncing endlessly on the rebounder. . .

. . . and dancing . . .

. . . sometimes, in unconventional ways.

After warming up, it was time for round #2!

I love my Harley!!

Visit to the Art Museum

I decided to take Caroline to the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, because they had a free admission day on Wednesday. When we arrived, I took her to the gallery to look at the art work (just to see what she would think). After about 2 minutes, she said, "I want to go to the art museum," so I took her to the kid's area. It's an interactive area, so she began by using colored pencils to create her masterpiece.

Then, she painted for the first time in her life which she really enjoyed. When it was time to leave, she didn't want to go. I guess there will probably be a return trip in our future.

1st Haircut

Caroline had her 1st haircut on Saturday. We wanted to have her 2-year pictures taken before we cut her hair. As you can see, it was really long. She had 4 inches cut off at the longest point.

Caroline had been getting pretend haircuts for months, so she would be prepared for the real thing. It really paid off, because she sat still the entire time.

I think she enjoyed having her hair cut, because she smiled most of the time.

She looks so grown up now, and the cut is really adorable.

Decorating: Christmas 2009

While we were decorating for Christmas, I was going to hang the stockings on the fireplace, but Caroline decided she had to have them. When I handed them to her, she immediately sat down, took off her crocs and put the stockings on.

She tried to walk in them, but they were a little too slippery.


Flashback: Christmas 2007. This was the first time Caroline put on a stocking! She did not attempt to walk on this occasion -- she's become such a daredevil at age 2! In many ways, it seems like yesterday that we were bringing her home. We can't believe how much she's changed.

Birthday Adventure

On Caroline's birthday, we took her to Opry Mills. The first place we took her was Build-a-Bear. She picked a dog - no surprise there - and we named her Maggie. I love the bows they put in Maggie's hair. Cal didn't understand why a stuffed animal needed clothes. He's still learning about little girls.

Then, we ate at Burger King. We took her for a real birthday lunch on Wednesday to Maggiano's, her favorite restaurant, where she had her favorite meal - chicken parmesan.

After lunch, we took her to Dave & Buster's. They have a couple of games she loves to play and win tons of tickets. Here, she's pretending to drive.

Daddy and Caroline riding a motorcycle.

Later, she decided to use Maggie's box as a hat.

Caroline's 2nd Birthday Party

We had Caroline's birthday party last Saturday - I still can't believe she is 2. Caroline is helping daddy grill hamburgers and hot dogs.

Caroline and her best friend Blair (who were born 10 days apart) are enjoying Cal's grilling - but mostly they are enjoying Doritos.

After lunch, we opened presents. My brother got Caroline the coolest book called Waddle that she loves. We had to take it away to open more presents.

As you can see, she loves books. Cal and I ended up opening most of her presents because she was too focused on the books she got.

Grammie and Ger got her a rocking horse, which she rides several times a day.

Cal and I got her a tricycle. She also rides on it several times a day. She doesn't have any trouble pedaling, but we definitely need to work on steering (she is improving though).

We had a Nemo theme for her party. I made cupcakes and a Nemo cake.

Caroline loved the icing off the cupcake!

After everyone left, Caroline enjoyed playing with all her new toys. We got her cutting food, which is wooden pieces of food held together by velcro. It comes with a wooden knife and a cutting board. She sat and played with it for an hour straight after her birthday party. She has hardly touched her old toys since her birthday party.

Halloween & Building Shelves

Caroline dressed up as Snow White again this year. She didn't go trick-or-treating because of nap issues but she loves dressing up in her costume.

We spent two weekends building shelves for our garage. Caroline wanted to help and really enjoyed hammering. Anytime she sees a hammer now she wants to use it.

She was really concentrating here - you can see her tongue sticking out.

Another cute pigtail picture - I couldn't resist.

Ponytails and Pigtails

Caroline has started letting me put her hair in a ponytail some. It completely changes the way she looks.

Here's how she looks when she decides to pull the ponytail holder out of her hair. This hair style reminds me of Donald Trump and Cal of Woody Woodpecker.

Here, she's sporting her chocolate icing mustache. She did eventually eat a little of the cake part.

After a few successful ponytail attempts, I decide to go for pigtails. She looks so adorable!