140 fingers and toes...

I have a few days to myself because I am traveling for work. I compiled all my bills to input them into the Tyndall FCU online banking (a task I have been swearing to myself I would accomplish for well over two years) but I left them all on the TV stand (I think…hope.) So instead, I will blog.

Above are some of the pictures from Caroline’s birthday party. We had 7 girls over for making cupcakes, going to get their fingernails painted, and a bbq with family and friends. A few even spent the night. Caroline turned 10 and her friends are such fun little humans. Listening to them talk and play is a real treat… even if I have to remind her every once in a while not to be so bossy. I wonder where she gets that?

It is hard to believe I have had my girl child for 10 years already. Here are a few things you may or may not know about my Caroline…

- She falls asleep fast (unlike her brothers)
- She has two birds in her room (Bluebird and Lime)
- She likes to change clothes about three times a day
- She does well at school with very little effort
- She loves to paint, write, and draw
- She insists on someone singing “You are my Sunshine” at bedtime
- She eats when she feels like it
- She loves going to church
- She has my handwriting (so unfortunate)
- She talked me out of taking ballet this year (modern and hip hop instead)
- She is told she looks like her dad by everyone
- She likes shoes
- She is wicked funny
- She has been working in the nursery for over a year
- She loves attention
- She enjoys time at her grandparents sans brothers
- She rarely gets sick
- She is competitive
- She loves to tell you a story about her day
- She is counting down the years until she can get a cell phone
- She can run faster than everyone (even the boys) in her class
- She is a fan of all things girly
- She hates the seams in socks
- She likes her hair above her shoulders
- She has more purses than me
- She loves New York
- She likes getting mail
- She doesn’t play with dolls anymore
- She wants a full size bed
- She is in the 50th percentile for height
- She is in the 10th percentile for weight
- She doesn’t like “fluffy” jackets
- She has a good heart

Sharp turn ahead

Most of the time transitions with kids seem to happen so slowly they are hard to notice. No hard shifting (like me looking for reverse in my Jeep.) It just kind of happens. You have a baby who becomes a toddler. Then a toddler who is a preschooler. A preschooler who becomes a school kid and then so on…riding on the bus, losing teeth, making friends. All of it just kinds of happens. You thinking potty training will be a big deal, but it’s not. Same with going from a bottle to a sippy cup. That’s what it was…until now.

Although it won’t be official for another few weeks I feel like I am now parenting a teenager. Conversation while going over the Hathaway bridge last night…

Jeremy: Would it be okay of I just said one cuss word a day?
Me: Jay, why would you say that?
Jeremy: Everyone at my school cusses, but me.
Me: Oh, hmm. Well, do you have a certain word in particular you want to use?
Jeremy: Yeah, all of them.

Well, we had a good conversation about cussing and fitting in and at the end he decided he was okay without adopting a new colorful vocabulary. But these little talks happen daily now. My game plan is to stay calm and have a poker face so he will still keep asking/telling me things.

Thanks to some advice from a couple friends I have also rethought how we are handle teenage attitude. I think the new plan will make the next few years a bit more bearable.

Picture is 100% unrelated...just want to share a picture of T-bone, our new pup.