Well, we have a lot to catch up on, don't we?

I look back on the last blog and Caroline looks so different now than she did in February! It’s been an amazingly busy three months of development, travel, and exciting experiences in Caroline’s world. Let’s catch up.

Caroline’s ability to communication has exploded. There’s really no other word for it! This spring she’s gone from single words that label people and objects (Mama, Dad, milk) to a full gamut of communication skills she uses to manage the world around her. She can tell us about:

• things she sees and hears -- airplane, milk, bird, choo-choo, woof woof (for dog), car
• what she sees in books – elephant, giraffe, bike
• what she wants to do – wash, brush, lotion, teeth, march, diaper
• what she wants us to do – whattsit? Up, wipe
• who she wants around her – Jeff-son, Elmo, George (as in Curious George)
• she even has her magic words – please (peez!) and thank you

The words seem to come in batches – one day, its one new word. Then a few days go by … and BOOM, five new words. Sometimes we have to practice the words together over and over – like blueberry, dress, pants. Sometimes the words arise somewhat spontaneously – like wagon, which I first heard her say when she pointed out a picture of one in a book we were reading.

Somewhat surprisingly, she hasn’t yet firmed up the difference between “no” and “yes”. Generally, she defaults to “no.” Imagine!

She’s working on her articulation – some words are clearer than others, and some I think only the three of us would understand. But the sum total is this -- now, Caroline can tell us what she wants. And that makes life great for everyone involved. She gets frustrated less easily, and we can ask her what she needs. It really is amazing to see and participate in her language learning.



Caroline’s growing ability to use abstract thought has shown itself in exciting ways beyond just communication, though. She’s become FUN. She’ll play and play and play – one night after dinner, she and her boys played hide and go seek in the living room. Caroline knew enough to hide and say “BOO” when someone found her – but she’s still working on being quiet while hiding. She wrestles and rough houses with her brother and dad, rolling around on the floor, laughing and laughing. She’s a daredevil – climbing up on the couch, chair, and even bunk bed (!).

She works hard to amuse us, now, too. One warm afternoon, Eric and I sat outside in the backyard. Caroline came to the back door, and from the inside, pressed her face up against the glass in a funny expression. We laughed – naturally – and this encouraged our little ham to try all the windows, making different faces at each one. The laughs we all got were well, well worth the time I spent with the Windex afterwards, cleaning toddler slobber off the glass!



She mugs for the camera now, sticking out her head and looking up coquettishly at us when we say “smile”.



She plays on her own for longer stretches. She’ll often go out and explore the backyard, diligently moving golf balls or baseballs into different piles and different containers. She’ll sit and put together wooden puzzles over and over again. And she loves, loves, loves, her books. She sits on the couch, in the car, at the table with a pile of books, flipping through the pages and talking quietly to herself in her own private Caroline language, occasionally pointing out a picture to us and saying “whattsit?

She loves and looks for her routines. Hampertime involves putting her dirty clothes or PJs into the laundry, replete with dancing and singing “Hampertime” (sung to the tune of the 80’s classic Hammer Time by MC Hammer, of course). Bed time involves toothbrushing, a shower, stories, putting George and Elmo to bed, a cuddle in the big chair, and kisses. She loves washing her hands (water! soap!) and would probably stand at the sink for hours if we let her.

Against a background of all this development, this spring has also held much travel and many exciting experiences for us.



On April 6, Caroline turned 18 months old. We celebrated the milestone during spring break, camping in the mountains of Alabama at DeSoto State Park. The weather was lovely (after the near tornado that we arrived in cleared out) and we played and goofed and had a great time.

At the end of April, we spent Easter weekend in Western New York. We saw all the family at the Golf Dome for some pizza-and-chicken-wing-eating, Easter-eve-celebrating, mini-golf playing, big-news-sharing kind of fun. Caroline spent some one-on-one time with Nonna and Big Pop while Eric, Jefferson, and I went to Niagara Falls. It was Jefferson’s first international trip, and the first time in a long while that I had some time alone with my two favorite boys.

On May 6, Caroline turned 19 months old. In the week leading up to her big day, she spent time one-on-one with Nonna while Eric and I took a momentous trip to Vegas. As I hear it, the two of them painted Atlanta red, with some raucous outings to the Waffle House, playground and Target. Nonna also taught Caroline some new songs – Itsy Bitsy Spider, Row your Boat, and the Wheels on the Bus are now in steady rotation in our house (and in my head – thanks mom!)

At the end of May we travelled to New England to see family. Caroline met her Grammy Twombly, Auntie Carolyn, and Uncle David in New Hampshire, and saw my side of the family in Quincy, including some very fun time with her cousins at the beach! We even squeezed in a quick arcade visit.








Much of the spring was a whirlwind of T-ball. Jefferson played and Eric coached. I was team parent, in charge of juice boxes, scorekeeping, and player wrangling. And it’s safe to say that Caroline was the Fighting Orioles’ number one fan. She spent every game and practice in her stroller next to the bench with a sippy cup in one hand and puffs in her tray table. She cheered, sometimes complained, tried to get the boys’ attention and mostly succeeded, and generally soaked it all in. She was wonderfully patient and a very good girl. I know she had a blast – and so did we. Can’t wait for fall ball!

In mid-May, Caroline also rose to the Toddler I-B class, with the exalted Miss Gail for her teacher. Jefferson still talks about Miss Gail who was his teacher too, way back when. Miss Gail has big plans for Caroline including potty training in July or August!

It is now full-on summer in Georgia, and we have an exciting docket of things planned for June and July (building up to the twins’ arrival in August). I feel like these past three months have flown by, and my little girl is growing up in dramatic ways right before my eyes. While I desperately want time to slow down so that I can soak it all in, I also can’t wait to see what comes next. And THAT, I have learned, is the paradox of parenthood.