Caroline's Blossoming Personality

You may remember Caroline's favorite game of late has been to name the different parts of her face, ending with a wide open mouth.  A few days ago, I was lying on the couch and let out a big yawn.  Caroline was sitting near me and got really upset, standing up to shake her finger at me and say, "No, Mommy! No mout! That MY ting!" (Translation isn't difficult - she hasn't master the "th" sound yet, or apostrophe-s, so if we add those, she was scolding me and telling me that a wide open mouth is her "thing".)  Where did she learn THAT expression?

Speaking of her waggling finger, she's also discovered how to hold it up in front of her mouth and blow to say, "Ssshh!", only she holds it up with her palm facing her, which looks a little silly.

The other night, as we were half-way through the bedtime routine, Caroline ran around and found a little box with a handle on it (a set of Mother Goose books had come in the decorative box).  She looped the handle over her wrist like a purse, deposited her tooth brush inside, and went to the door to head out for the evening, I suppose:

After we convinced her she had to stay for bedtime, she decided if she couldn't head out to the parties, she'd bring the party to her.  She and Max dragged out their little Mickey Mouse baby laptops and sat in the dark, pressing buttons and making the music play:

That's Caroline and Max, illuminated by the flashing lights of their laptop screens

Here they are with the flash on the camera

The flashing lights and mechanical music made me feel like I was trapped in a toddler casino.  Do you think they secretly installed slot machine poker on those things while I wasn't looking?

On Thursday, Caroline had a "go see" for a Restoration Hardware photo shoot.  They were looking at about a zillion kids and her agent said they would be looked at "briefly" and then we'd find out later if they wanted her for a call-back on Monday.  She did not tell us this meant that Caroline would show up at the call time and be put in the back of a line of all the other kids who were being brought up one by one to have a test photo taken.  Joe and I were scheduled to be at the Giants game, so I asked Grandma if she could take her, since Uncle Kelly would be babysitting.  On Thursday morning, I re-thought the situation and suggested that maybe Uncle Kelly could take her and Grandma could stay home with the napping boys and feed them lunch when they awoke.

That was a good decision.  I'm not sure I could've kept Caroline entertained for the nearly two hours she waited in line, much less asking Grandma to stand with her that long.  But Uncle Kelly, with his pockets full of bouncy balls and slinkeys (and his quick thinking to bring a bag or two of snacks) reports that she enjoyed herself playing with toys and with other little kids in line - right up to the point when she was called up for her photo, past a little blonde girl who was having a screaming fit.  Yep, it was right at that point that Caroline decided that she, too, should cry.

I'm not holding my breath for a call-back.

But it meant Caroline, who adores her uncle, spent the morning with him and her brothers, then a couple of hours with him all to herself, and then another couple of hours with him and her brothers, before we got home.  And when he departed, she was NOT happy:

Imagine this face sobbing, "Un-cle! Un-cle!"

If Daddy hadn't come in the room to rescue her and give her hugs and kisses, she might have kept that up all night!