Carrie's 2 1/2!

Oh my goodness, today is Carrie's 1/2 birthday and I cannot believe how fast time is going. Carrie is turning into such a big girl right before my eyes and I just look at her and think "where has the time gone?" I thought since I do not do monthly updates on her, I would write a little about what she is up to. She is basically a joyful ball of energy these days. She just lights up this house with her constant chatter, her constant smile and never ending energy. She seriously talks all the time and is SO verbal. Coming from this family, the girl has no choice. Some of the things that come out of her mouth are just the funniest things in the world. I am always amazed at the phrases she picks up and when they come out of her mouth. She has several of her book memorized, and I mean long books like Dora books and I love listening to her say them word for word. She almost knows the sound every letter makes now. I have  the "Super Why" app to thank for that :). She is also really into everything girly these days. Not so much baby dolls, really, but things like the Disney Princesses, my Little Pony, and dress up. She wears her tutu around all the time and if not that, a princess dress. She refuses to wear anything other than skirts and dresses. She literally had a meltdown after swim yesterday because I had packed shorts for her to wear. Do not know how we will get through a long summer not wearing any shorts, but she is determined! She cannot WAIT to start ballet and is constantly doing her "ballet moves" around the den. She is doing a princess ballet camp this summer and she is over the moon. She enjoys floor puzzles and things that challenge her, but sometimes needs to be reminded to be patient. Playing outside is the highlight of her day and thanks to this amazing weather, we get to do that a lot. She loves to swing really high, climb rock walls, ride her bike, ride her scooter, blow bubbles and play with the dogs. She is getting better about her picky eating. She has always loved any and every fruit, but is eating several vegetables now. She still likes her food simple, but apparently that is pretty normal at her age. She is also good about trying things. I do not care if she does not like it as long as she tries it, and she likes a lot of things after she tries them. She always says that like from "Yo Gabba Gabba" that says "I tried it and now I like it!"...its a song really. She also loves TV...haha what kid doesn't. She usually gets about 3 20 minute shows a day. One in the morning while we are getting ready to go out the door and 2 before bed to wind down. Her favorite shows are Dora, Umizoomi, Angelina, Caillou, Diego and Strawberry Shortcake, but she will truly watch anything. She loves Hayes. She has no idea how big she is, so I have to constantly remind her to be gentle, but she always means well and Hayes adores her. She can make Hayes smile and laugh more than anyone else. She not only reads her books to herself, but she loves being read to. We have a lot of books around here because she always wants me to read to her and I get bored of the same old thing so I tend to buy books pretty regularly. She adores her friends. She always wants to have friends over or meet them at the park. If we go to the park and none of her friends are there, she makes friends. She has never met a stranger which is good and bad :). She will talk to anyone and everyone and loves being the center of attention. She will say "Hi, I'm Carrie and this is my sister Hayes. She is a baby." Cracks me up. She is a daddy's girl all the way. The highlight of her day is when he walks in the door and I am ok with it. They have such a special bond and I know they will be close forever. She is very comfortable in her routine and does not like to get out of it. In fact, the first night of our trip we got there and went ahead and ate dinner. She normally takes her bath first, but we tried to skip it. She would not go to bed without her bath! And then one night this week, Graham was running late and said for me to feed her first and then he would bath her when he got home. So I told her "Tonight, daddy is gonna be late so we are going to eat first and then he will bath you." and she said "Just like at Mamaw's house when we are supper first." I mean the kid did not forget the one time her schedule went out of order. She definitely tests me, but truly likes rules and to follow them. I mean the kid has been in her big girl bed for 6 months and has not once gotten out of it until I have gone in to get her up. And sometimes that's a lot of awake time just sitting in her bed, like if she only naps an hour, but knows she has to be in her room 2 hours. She still naps every day, but the naps are definitely getting shorter. An average nap is an hour and a half now as opposed to 2 hours and 15 minutes or 2 1/2 hours. She can really do great with just a 45 minute nap, but those are rare. She is not potty trained, but that is my goal next week. I am hoping it goes well because I have been dreading it. I wanted to wait until after our trip so she didn't have to do an 8 hour car ride at the early stages of potty training, but now is the time! This age is very fun because they can really communicate now and enjoy doing all sorts of fun things, but it is also very hard when it comes to discipline. I feel like I cannot let C get away with 1 thing or she remembers that she got away with it and then I have to spend time correcting my mistake of letting it go. So I do kind of feel like I am on her about something all the time and I hate that, but I really do see results. We have had to do a couple whining boot camps because I do not handle whining well. So when it starts to get bad, I will just tell her every time she whines, she goes to her time out spot. It is amazing how quickly it works. Then she will be good for a couple weeks and then we will have to have another whining boot camp. But overall, she is such a good kid and I am so blessed by her. I learn more from her than she will ever learn from me. She is just wide open and truly lives every day so fully. There are so many times we will be in car and she will say "Mommy, today was a really fun day!" I love hearing her say that. Ok after all that rambling, I need to wrap this up. I could truly go on and on, but I won't. Just never want to forget any of this journey (ok maybe there are some parts I could stand to forget :) ) but I want to remember the most of it! Love my big girl!!!