Today was Caroline's first day of dance/gymnastics class. The first 15 minutes are spent doing ballet and the next 30 are in the big gym doing gymnastics. Like, actual gymnastics. As in high beams, rings and uneven bars. I was shocked! You want to know what was even more shocking? Caroline loved it! I never expected an almost 2 year old would be able to walk across a high beam or swing from rings, but she did. She even did a forward roll on the high beam (with assistance). The pregnant lady in me almost broke down in tears a few times watching her do these things. I thought to myself that there's no way my little bitty baby is capable of doing such big girl things, but I had to remind that same self that my baby isn't a baby. She's a little girl now. Ugh! Heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. Add that to a preggo's emotions and you get an emotional breakdown just waiting to happen. Lucas is waiting for it to happen because he knows his robot of a wife will repeat Ugly Cry 2012 one of these days...keep waiting, babe! It's bound to happen before baby #2 comes.
Back to adorable girls dancing around in tutus - I went to Target and purchased Sweet C her very first leotard and tutus. Again, almost cried but I held it together! I hope she loves gymnastics as much as she did today because I went ahead and booked her birthday party at the Little Gym. For a small fee, the Little Gym provides *everything* but the cake and promises to throw a fantastic party for Caroline and 14 of her closest 2 year old friends. Being that her birthday and my 36th week of pregnancy coincide, I am more than delighted to have someone else host C's 2nd birthday party. Only 3 more months until our little lady is a 2 year old. I can't believe it!
At 21 months, Caroline is:
- brushing her teeth and washing her hands by herself
- knows a couple of letters, numbers, colors and shapes...but all of the characters on Mickey Mouse.
- obsessed with buckles
- sleeping 12-13 hours a night. It. Is. GLORIOUS!
- throwing fits when the car carts aren't available at HEB. Parents of young ones, hold off on that experience as long as you can because once they ride in the car cart once, it's all they want from that point forward. I've learned that a lollipop will stop the fits and allow me to shop for a good 20 minutes before more entertainment is needed.
- putting on her own bibs (yes, bibs, as in 4 at a time) and crawling into her high chair for meals
- refusing to nap at Grammy's
- able to navigate through an iPod better than I can
- sporting a new haircut! We chopped off the baby mullet and cut bangs.
- asking to snuggle with me and Luc...precious!
- a total backseat driver. If I break or accelerate too quickly, I get a rude "WOAH!" from the backseat. Or "GO!" if we've been at a light too long. I'm hoping she doesn't start yelling out some of the things that I *might* say when I drive...
My second trimester is going very well. There are some days that I forget that I'm pregnant altogether. I am quickly reminded of my with child status when she kicks or heartburn rages like a bull through my throat, but for the most part this part of the pregnancy has been really easy. I've hired a personal trainer (who is fabulous!) to help me get in the best shape before this little one comes. I really enjoy lifting weights and stretching with her, but I know that it'll get harder as the weeks roll on. I'm hoping to do mostly yoga and cardio towards the end...all with the end goal of a shorter labor and recovery time come May. I haven't had many cravings and I can usually ignore any that read their ugly head. My current one is pie - like a chocolate cream pie - all because yesterday was National Pie Day and it was advertised everywhere. I'm hoping it'll end soon because this preggo really, really wants some PIE!
Baby #2 doesn't have a name just yet. Luc and I have it narrowed down to 2 (which is a HUGE improvement from 17!), but we're giving it a couple more weeks until we decide. My mom has a few outfits to monogram and embroider and I know it's killing her not to know what the name is yet. We aren't changing much as far as the nursery goes so there's not a lot to do before she arrives. We DO need to move Caroline upstairs into her new room so I guess we need to decorate that...and buy a double stroller, and bigger diaper bag, and borrow a bassinet (anyone have one we can borrow??), and pick a name...
Here are some pictures of what we've been up to lately:
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| Caroline is still obsessed with jewelry. I let her stop playing in my jewelry box shortly after this picture was taken because she tangles everything! Santa brought her a jewelry box of her own for Christmas. |
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| Cheese! She LOVES to swing. |
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| She's also very fond of purses...many, many purses. |
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| Such a cute little sleeper. Might I add that her fat baby thighs are gone and have been replaced with little girl thighs? So sad! |
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| This is a picture from Thanksgiving. We spent the week with Luc's family, including Miley! |
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| This picture is a little blurry, but she's kissing Minnie. Our neighbors had this pair on their lawn for the Christmas season. Caroline had to visit "Mouse" on a daily basis. |
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| Caroline loves Santa! |
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| Cheese!!! Playing in the tent with James and Matt. She loves her cousins so much. |
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| In addition to her jewelry and purse fixations, she also loves scarves. She had to have 3 to go to the gym on this particular morning. The ladies in the child center just laughed and promised to not let her choke herself. |
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| Silly girls at the zoo! |
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| I finally popped! I think I was about 22 weeks pregnant in this picture. I'm a little bit bigger now. |
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| Caroline loves giving hugs! She'll even pat your back if you're lucky. |
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| She's a crazy driver. Watch out! |
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| Three cousins at Christmas mass, during Christmas mass. Caroline had enough after 30 minutes. She needed cousin supervision, hence the 3 amigos. |
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| My two loves watching Mickey. She now calls out the "Mystery Mousekatool" before Toodles reveals it. I'm going to say it's because she's so smart and not because she watches too much Mickey. |
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| Pretty day at the park |
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| It's her favorite! The lot next to us is finally under construction. Yeah! | |
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| Sweet angel baby...I mean, little girl... |
