Deep thoughts

Last night Caroline looked at me and said, "Daddy, I love you. You've the best Daddy in the world."

I sure hope I meet her expectations!

3 and 3

Took Caroline to her yearly doctor's checkup today.

She is exactly three feet tall and three years old. 

Weird, but I got teary-eyed in the exam room as the doc checked her out.  It sort of brought home how she's growing up.  I know I'm bizarre but I was about a micron away from snorting out of those half-laugh, half-cry sounds. 

But the best part?  NO shots.  Nada.  Just a vision test (she aced it).

Halloween and the end of Caroline the Fish

During Halloween, we pretend things are dead, or even reborn as Zombies. We seem to celebrate the dark corners of our imagination and it is all pretend.

But sometimes, things get real. A few weeks back, Caroline won a goldfish at the fair. Caroline named the fish “Caroline”.

Two weeks ago, The Mommy found Caroline the Fish somehow in the floor, a tragic end to what must have been a brief but triumphant exploration that scientists around the world would have studied. We quickly replaced Caroline the Fish with Caroline the Fish II before Caroline the human found out.

Tonight, Caroline the Fish II did not survive All Hallows Eve. I found her floating in the bowl before we went trick-or-treating and quickly stashed it away. After a good night getting some candy and being cute in a costume, I decided to help Caroline face the reality that Caroline the Fish was gone and figured it was time to talk about heaven. She did really well, considering she’s not yet three.

Dad: Caroline, I want to talk to you about something. Caroline the Fish has gone to heaven and she is not going to come back.

Caroline: (eating candy)

Dad: See, she died, and she is going to go live with Jesus in heaven.

Caroline: (looking up, still eating candy)

Dad: Do you understand? We can be sad about it, but Caroline the Fish gets to go live with Jesus in heaven.

Caroline: Caroline the Fish is at Kevin’s house and we will go and get her.

Dad: No honey, she is gone, she died. When things die they go to heaven and they can’t come back.

Caroline: (silence)

Dad: Do you want me to help say good bye to her and flush her down the toilet?

Caroline: (softly) Ok. (louder) We’re going to flush Caroline the Fish down the toilet to Jesus.

Dad: Yes, can you help me?

Caroline: Sure. And we will get a new fish.

Dad: Okay.

[now in bathroom with Caroline the Fish placed in the toilet]

Caroline: Can I flush?

Dad: Not yet, can you pray with me? Hold my hands and close your eyes.

(With us holding both hands and looking down) Dear God, thank you for Caroline the Fish, please take good care of her and thank you for letting us spend time with her. Amen.

Caroline: Can I flush?!?

Dad: Yes. Bye, Caroline the Fish

Caroline: Bye, Caroline the Fish-

[Caroline the Fish spins out of sight]

Backyard Engineering

Last weekend, Poppy bought Caroline's birthday present early, a new swing set.  After all, a swing set in November isn't as good as one in the summer.

This weekend, I began to put it together.

I was warned.  Read, really read the instructions.  Make sure you're using the right bolt.



Turned out to be good advice.  Among the 6 types of bolts and all told there were about 30 of them, they were all very similar in length, and just enough for each specialized place you had to use them.  The directions had 64 steps, and twice, I was instructed to repeat several steps. 

Working at it off and on all day, I'd say it took about 4 hours.  It wasn't hard labor, but more thinking than my typical chores require.  And it was hot.  But every second was worth it.

The Mommy brought Caroline outside as I was moving tools back into the shed.  She ran over to me yelling, "Daddy, daddy, thank you for building my swing set! It's perfect!" and threw herself at me, hugging my legs.

I'll never forget it, and I don't care that I cried a little.



And the results are in....

This wagon is amazing. Not only did it have roughly 78 parts and screws, check out the list of amenities:

- cup holders
- seat belts
- drain plugs
- an umbrella
- converts to a bench
- and a cooler that attaches to the back.

My wagon was metal and had 4 wheels. Ten bucks says Caroline's kid's wagon will have surround sound.

Hopefully

If all goes according to plan, this will be a wagon in 2 hours.

The First Day of School

Today is what Caroline's daycare/school calls the start of a new school year and Caroline is ready! Too bad Daddy isn't.  I left the house without her lunch so I'm headed back to drop it off...

The 'Homachok'

A few weeks ago, we headed to a Braves game with Caroline for the first time this season. She was learning it last year, but has perfected the tomahawk chop, or as she calls it, the homachok.

She gets so fascinated by all there is to see at the games that she actually sits very patiently. She's a fan!

Though maybe in the photo above, she was more interested in that cotton candy salesman walking down the aisle.

Happy Fathers Day to... ME!

Had a kickin' Dad Day here at the homestead:

1) Got to stay in bed until... 9:30.  I woke up at 9:00 and just hung out there.  Caroline was being so quiet, I thought she and The Mommy were playing in the backyard.

2) We all took a nap while Caroline did and she slept for... three hours.  I have had so much sleep today I feel sick.  Happy sick.

3) I got a gift that was used and pink... a barely used jogging stroller!  I never though I'd be so pumped about that. (Its mostly brown with pink accents.  To my future child, if we have one and if it is a boy, I'm sorry, but there's going to be a lot of pink items you're going to have to use.)

4) Dinner out with the family... Bison burger.  Tasty.

Check out the envelope my card came in today.  Look at the purple crayon.  That's a 'C', an 'A', and a 'L'.  Only 5 more letters to go.  I'm biased, but I think 2.5 years old and writing 37% of one's name is sort of advanced.

Flashback

Some of you may remember a photo from a while back on one of Caroline's first trips to Toys R Us.  Well, she still loves car shopping there and the pink Esclade is still on the lot.

She's getting much better at the cute 'PLEASE?!??!" face...



I learned something Saturday

I learned on Saturday, as you can see in the photo above, you can buy joy.  It's no replacement for the quality, lasting kind you have to earn, but you can buy it for a moment.

Holy Easter Eggs!

The Easter Bunny paid a visit to Caroline's house last night and left her a sizable amount of loot and candy.  We went to church and then to Caroline's friend Ryan's house for lunch and an Easter egg hunt she's been working all week to get ready for. 

We need to talk about church.  Wow.  Our little angel apparently lost her halo in the parking lot.  We had to take her out four times.  I tried to take her to the nursery and she lost it.  Fun times.  Highlight:
Caroline (during the service in a lofty voice): "I want to go home."
The Mommy (whispering): Honey, we're in church for Easter right now."
Caroline (just shy of yelling): "I don't want to be in church now."
[Father Ween and Lady C exit aisle left.]

 We managed some controlled chaos with Ryan and the Easter egg hunt.

 We might as well announce it.  We've decided Caroline is betrothed to Ryan.

 We might be trying a little hard. (Ryan's parents below and above are on board)



We all belong in the zoo

On a warm day in late Febrary, we escaped our hibernation for a trip to the Atlanta Zoo, of which we now are 'members' so Caroline can go anytime she wants, or rather, any time we drive her there.

We went with her cousin too and of course, got cute photos along the way.  Here they are posing on a giraffe statue.  The real ones are behind them.

The hippos were not giving into their demands to "Come here, hippo!"  (And the hippos could not get that close anyway, otherwise all arms and legs would have been far away from that fence)

A lot of the day Caroline was very thoughtful, you coudl see her absorbing all the new info in her eyes.

The gorillas were really cool and we saw this mother giving her baby a ride

What a bunch of animals:





Good morning!

This morning as soon as I set Caroline down on her feet she said in rapid sucession, "I need my bunny, I need my doggy, I need my biscuit book, I need my Thomas book."  So we decided to have them all arranged for her as she ate breakfast.

This is really weird

I'm used to the fact that people are constantly remarking that while Caroline of course looks like both of us, she REALLY looks like me.  Then I took this picture out of a family album recently.

Get past the shirt.  It was the early 80's and I wasn't in control of my wardrobe (like that would have mattered).  Caroline REALLY resembles me in these old pictures.

For her sake, I hope this changes for her -- nothing would be worse than a boy picking her up for a date and seeing a girl that looks a lot like her dad.  Of course, she won't be dating and instead practicing math problems, but still....

The Great Southeastern Arctic Adventure of 2011, Part II -- or -- Being stuck in your house for a week is bad for kids

Last week.... snow.... ice...  still the ice.... still cold.... day care CLOSED all week.  (Not that it would have been safe to go.)

Our super-fun and pretty six inches of snow with a crusty layer of ice apparently didn't want to leave.  Caroline was basically trapped indoors in our home for almost 5 days.

Monday was okay.  the white stuff was novel.  We made hot chocolate.

Tuesday, I drove one of our cars out the driveway to park it on the street.  That was exciting.  Caroline did okay. 

Wednesday, after taking a shovel to chip away the ice that formed in the tire tracks I had made, we drove the 1.5 blocks to our nearby grocery store and then to another when it was closed.  Why?  We had plenty of food, we just needed entertainment.  On the major four-lane road, there was at least one set of ruts in the ice by 4:00.  On the way home at 5:00, it was already geting slick again.  Caroline was again, as best as could be expected, but 'speaking out' more.

Thursday, The mommy went to work, but it took her 1.5 hours to get there and THREE HOURS to get home.  The temperature went above freezing for 4 hours.  I gave in.  We watched a considerable amount of TV, at least by Caroline's standards.  Our nearby grocery store was open.  We spent an hour in there going down every aisle. 

Friday, The Mommy and Caroline bailed south to see some grandparents.  I stayed and worked.... from home... to avoid getting stuck in that ice-related traffic.  Ran some errands Saturday.  Was very, very glad to go to work on Monday.

 (Photo above of Caroline on the way to day care after the week of arctic isolation)

Lessons learned:

1) When there is a snow or ice event of any substance headed for Atlanta, enjoy getting out of the house in advance.  For a lot of reasons, we were a tired family and didn't go far the weekend before being stuck inside for many days. So it felt worse.

2) The people who are at the grocery store the first day it opens are by and large, an unprepared, sad-looking and unkempt lot of people.  Not good entertainent, even when you were stuck in your house all day.

3) If you get a lot of ice, take your kid out to play in it early.  As the days go on, it becomes more of a dangerous environment than a fun one.  After the third day, my feet would not break through and hit the ground beow, just crack it a bit.  And the dogs could walk on it like a pond.
4) Go South.  Stay there until it is gone.

She believes....

Dec. 25 has come and is almost gone. 

Caroline is officially Santa's No. 1 fan.

She had quite an amazing day. 

There were sweet moments with baby dolls.

And other moments that were more excited.

And there were some insane surprises.

And more surprises.

 But most of all time with family.

It was a party!

The birthday celebration/weekend/festival has come and gone. Father Ween and The Mommy have almost recuperated, and Caroline is now acutely aware that things covered in bright paper are most always very exciting toys and probably believes they are always for her.  It was a great party.  Not only did the food and drink turn out to be the right amount, and it didn't rain, but we were excited to have so many family and friends celebrate with us.

I didn't get to take too many pictures during the party, but below check out Caroline's new playhouse in the backyard.

And as mentioned above, Caroline definitely 'gets' presents now.  The photo below is when she really started to get excited plus she had just unwrapped her new basketball goal for the backyard (for which Father Ween really needs to buy some sand to weigh down the base so we can use it.) 

We can't say enough how thankful we are for so many people that are a postive effect on Caroline (and sometimes support for us!)  With all our heart(s), thank you-

Caroline squared

We had dinner Friday night at Canyon's Burger Company before a spirited trip to Walmart, and while Caroline was ignoring her grilled cheese for our french fries, a young lady (pictured, back left) got in the booth behind us to wait on her dad.

She had a lot on her mind. Her name is Caroline too, her daddy is 36 and her mommy is 41 and her daddy was getting her a cheeseburger and her brother likes french fries.

I keep looking ahead to Caroline's stages of development with nervous fear, though its never as hard as when that time comes (walking, talking, etc.).  I've long wondered how I will respond to the 4-8 year-old phase where kids just say everything on their mind because I'm such a know-it-all. Will I let her talk and figure things out on her own, or will I be an overbearing parent and correct what she says all the time?  At least a mix is okay, right?

UPDATE: The Mommy just let me know that I missed a part of the conversation over the booth wall.  Apparently the 'second Caroline' said later, "Actaully my name is Sidney, but I like the name Caroline."  Don't we all...

Daddy's Little Helper

Caroline loves to push her wheelbarrow. And I'm starting to like it too... next up, a toy lawnmower.