Preschool Prep!

Oh the excitement! Packing bags, filling out forms, selecting a "share" item for tomorrow... so much to do! I can hardly wait.

A play-by-play for you:

If you haven't watched my new favorite movie, Kung Fu Panda, with me, here is a sampling of what it's like. These are the actual words I used to describe to Amma and Baba what they were watching during my favorite part of the movie, when Kung Fu Panda is fighting the very large and powerful Tai Lung:

Kung Fu Panda do dis, den big guy fly and do boom and Kung Fu Panda do dis to his face. HA HA HA HA!

Wasn't that terrific? Now you don't need to bother watching the movie. My summaries are THAT good.

Perhaps you prefer a pink fairy...

I can accommodate that request!

Happy fairy morning!

Have a magical day!

Caroline, the fitness fanatic

We have a new rowing machine. Which means I have a new toy! As an added bonus, as you row, air whooshes in your face to cool you down! What a great feature.

...because who doesn't love a morning backrub?

Squee!

I NEED this!

I have favorite phrases. My most recent favorite phrase is "I NEED this, mommy" as I point to something she doesn't want me to get into, like her perfume, earrings for pierced ears and hand lotion. I am a hand lotion hog, you know. I use a bottle at a time. And you thought babies and children naturally had soft skin -- we work at it, just like you do. A couple of weeks ago, I declared I needed something and ran off. Mommy found me a few minutes later with dental floss, the object of my desire that moment, everywhere. I am not only crafty, but also efficient! Mommy has since taken to putting dental floss and hand lotion in ziploc bags in her bathroom drawer. (Pardon the mess -- it had recently been rummaged through by someone crafty.)

ONE WEEK?! ONE WEEK!

Where has the time gone? Mommy can't believe that she only has one more week before she has to admit that she's the mother of a preschooler and not the mother of her little baby. Breathe, mommy, breathe.

I am an artiste!

I am a pro with mommy's BlackBerry. I taught myself how to take pictures and I run around the house snapping pictures to my heart's content. This is a recent photo of mommy first thing in the morning. Wow -- she must not be a morning person!

I love to measure

I found daddy's measuring tape and I immediately started measuring everything. My foot is 5 1/2" (and super-cute, I might add). My arm is 10 1/2" long to my wrist. My legs are long -- my inseam is just over 14". When I measured mommy, I commented that she was short, and that's why I had to push the buttons in the elevator for her. I'm so helpful. What on earth would mommy do without me?!

Monkey bars! Monkey bars!

The Brentwood Farmers Market is right next to a playground. Guess who loves going! ME. I saw a big girl (she was OLD - she had to have been at least 10!) hanging on the monkey bars. Well, monkey see, monkey do! Before mommy and daddy knew it, I was demanding to do the same. Not bad for a first timer! Mommy and daddy are always impressed by my Herculean strength.

Better late than never...

Here are the pictures of mommy's birthday that I promised over Memorial Day weekend. What can I say -- I've been busy.

My little skates next to mommy's big skates!

This is the walker they gave us to help us get our bearings as we learned how to skate. Mommy kept saying that, when she was a kid, they just let you fall on your butt and they didn't have neat contraptions like this. I wonder if they had electricity or indoor plumbing when mommy was a kid.

Before long, I was skating like a champ! Look at me go!

True to form, my coach (an ex-Russian Olympic skating coach) put a kibbash on the walker and make me skate on my own. With encouragement from mommy, of course. After the lesson, we went back to skating with the walker, but with modification. Instead of just me skating, mommy grabbed on to the walker under my arms so she was also supporting me and we went FAST. I squealed with delight! I loved it. We went back for the afternoon skate session and did more of that. By the end of the skating, though, I was skating on my own and without a walker. I always told you I was a quick study!

Next stop: a carousel. You can always trust me to find (1) a carousel; and (2) a doggy.

Big girl perks: feeding yourself

Now that I'm a big girl, I don't need to be fed (though sometimes I like to be - but only because I like the attention). At restaurants (including Joe's in Venice, where we recently went for brunch), I can feed myself the yummy soup!

Things you need to go to the Farmers Market:

1. Purse.

2. Shoes and a jacket (preferably a kitty cat jacket).

3. A fairy. To match your fairy PJs and fairy socks.

Now you know.

Here I am collecting the Easter Eggs that were hiding everywhere!

I gathered a lot more of these, of course. I was just getting started.

Happy belated Easter. Oops!

How did I forget to post pictures from my Easter brunch with the Easter Bunny?! Silly me. Here is one.

Two more weeks!

Only two weeks until I start preschool! I'm going for pre-visits next week to start getting used to the idea of being around other kids all day. Mommy is a little worried that I'll be too generous (especially since I love to share so much) or that I'll be bullied because I'm so easy-going. She has it covered, though -- she has started encouraging me to be more assertive and she plans to pop in from time to time to make sure I'm adjusting well. She thinks I'm on the right track, though, because at a recent fundraiser we attended, I did stick up for myself (after some encouragement) in a bounce house where some other kids were cutting in front of me in line. I'll show them! ::shaking my fist::

One-track mind

Mommy is amazed at how I always manage to eat my pizza in such a way that what remains looks like a doggy. She thinks I do it on purpose. I think she's right!

If a goat comes...

Avid readers of my blog will remember my history with goats. I was first introduced to them at the petting zoo at the Brentwood Country Mart. Although I was at first very interested in them and wanted to pet them and follow them, that desire wore off in a hurry. I still wanted to look at them, I just didn't want to be near them. In fact, I screamed if anyone even suggested that I go inside the pen at the petting zoo again! Those days seem to have passed. In fact, at the Easter festival we went to, I chased, petted and hugged the goats!

At night, though, I find that I'm increasingly concerned that a goat will try to come in my house! I like to have a plan for what I'm going to do if a goat comes. So mommy and I worked out a plan: if a goat comes, I'll make goat cheese and taunt him with it.

I also have a plan for when lobsters come. If a lobster comes, I'll put him in a pot and boil him! Then mommy, daddy and I will eat him with clarified butter.

I'm a girl with a plan!

See my nail polish?

It's special color-changing polish. It's a very light coral color indoors and dark pink outside! Mommy told me that it's made by a company called Del Sol that specializes in color-changing things. They're all over the Caribbean, so we'll see some when we go this winter. Hooray!

Behold my Princess walk!

Hooray for USC Law!

Mommy organized the first annual USC Law Alumni family picnic last weekend!


Red and yellow balloons? This can only mean one thing...



I was first in line for the balloon artist and face painter! I got a bunny painted on my arm. Boing boing boing...

Then I made like a bunny and bounced on the big red bouncy balls with some new friends.

I don't think that's how the monkey toss game actually works, but I let it slide. We're friendly to others in the Trojan family, you know.

Then daddy and I played Tic Tac Toe on a beach towel! Hooray!

USC is thinking of making this an annual event. I can't wait for the next one!

Newspaper stand?

No. Caroline chair. I was tired. Problem solved!

Another park!

So many parks, so little time. But don't worry -- I'm making my way to all of them. It's my new program: no park left behind.

Here is another from Gloria!

I'm flyyyyyyying!

Amma has some talented friends!

Gloria put me in the movies with Tink! Mommy always says I am a star...

Finally, I swing on the monkey bars

I saw the animated Tarzan. I know how it works.

And I play peek-a-boo!

Hi!

The Brentwood Farmers Market is near a PARK!

You know what that means... CAROLINE GETS TO SLIDE!

I ask the tough questions

There is a book called "Llama Llama Mad at Mama." So when I met these two baby llama llamas, I asked them why they were mad at mama! They were not forthcoming with the answer, so I had to prod further. But I always get my way. They finally told me. It turns out that llama llama just wanted some attention. Good thing I was there to pay attention to llama llama!

Higher!

On Saturday mornings, we go to the Farmers Market at a nearby park. I like to go because that's where they have the best strawberries and fresh-squeezed orange juice. There are other reasons, too. Like the great swings. There's also a pretty fantastic slide. And crafts for kids. And when I'm in the mood for running, they have an enormous grassy area for just that. Saturday mornings are fun. And to think, all mommy and daddy had on Saturday mornings were cartoons. They got jipped!

Baba strikes again!

I don't know how he does it. He must not sleep at night. Ever.

Cheers!

Mommy and I toast with water. Bottoms up!

It looks like summer is right around the corner!

I'm ready with my sundress and my shades. Welcome, summer!

Happy [something] to me!

I like to celebrate. I like it very much. I rarely pass up an opportunity to (1) blow out a candle; or (2) eat the frosting off of a cupcake. Thankfully, mommy and daddy are supportive in this regard. They rarely pass up the opportunity to try a cupcake -- or to light a candle on top of one for me to blow out. We're totally on the same page.