Hiiiiiiiiiiiii!

My new trick is peering out from behind a piece of furniture (or from behind a laptop) to say "Hiiiiiiiiii!" Mommy loves this game. Daddy does, too.

Daddy's picking on me

He put my panda hat on while we were hanging out in my bedroom. I saw mommy through the window and just wanted to get to her for safety! Mommy, come get me!

It's the day after Thanksgiving and I'm already done with my Christmas shopping!

You know what mommy and daddy are getting for Christmas? A sack full of meeeeee! Lucky mommy and daddy!

Is it Christmas yet?

Ready or not, here I come!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today, I am thankful I'm not a turkey. It's hard enough staving off grandma and Aunt Pook-Pook -- they always want to bite me! But mommy tells them they can't because I'm too cute. Thanks, mommy!

You think *I* ate all the mast-o-khiar?

MEEEEEEE? Based on what evidence?! Oh, the minted yogurt on my face, you say? Okay. Maybe I did. Whatever. Get your own.

I always pose for the camera

Even when I have yogurt all over my face.

Mommy and daddy especially like the left hand on grandma's shoulder. So classic. So cool. So comfortable.

I like to make people smell my feet!

I was sitting next to mommy as she was reading me a book when I decided she should smell my foot. I lifted my foot and looked at her. Even though my feet don't smell, she sniffed it and said "pheeeew!" as if it smelled awful. I thought that was hilarious! I made her do it again and again!

When grandma came over this weekend, she was surprised that I chose this as the new trick to show her. But I can't help it -- it's just so funny! Grandma and grandpa agreed.

Whattayougonna do if I poke out his eyes?

Huh? Whattayougonna do?

Think they'll notice I got into the chocolate stash if I just shove it in my mouth really quickly?

Thoclate? Wahh thoclate?

Bear!

I said bear this morning and pointed to a teddy bear! Mommy made me say it a few times to make sure she wasn't just hearing things. Nope. I said it!

She brought the bear to me and started pointing to his eyes, nose, mouth, etc. When she said nose, I pointed to my little nose, too! Mommy said I'm a smart little baby and kissed my nose. But you know, I'm going to need to know this stuff if I'm going to be a doctor, so starting early just makes good sense.

I very clearly grasp the concept of object permanence

Daddy went to San Diego for a few days this week for work meetings. The morning after he left, I woke up, looked to his side of the bed and saw that he wasn't there. I looked to the bathroom to see that the light was off. That means daddy wasn't in the bathroom, either. Then I looked at mommy, held my hands up and shrugged my shoulders and asked, "dada?" Mommy said daddy was in San Diego and would be back late the following night, after I'm already in bed. She said it's just the two of us for a couple of days. I smiled, touched mommy's shoulder and said "mum-mum." Mommy's so proud of her smart baby. She told me so.

You sprawl on your couch, I sprawl on mine

I even put my foot up on a makeshift ottoman. Aaaah, so relaxed.

Daddy says I am a violent sleeper!

I wake up every night at 2am to demand that mommy put me in the big bed next to her (yesterday I gave them a bit of a reprieve, but I was ready to get some good snuggles again last night). You'd be surprised how easy it is to persuade her in the middle of the night. She complies almost immediately. I sleep very comfortably inbetween mommy and daddy for several hours. Then, as it approaches 7am, I start kicking in big energetic bursts, then roll over and fall asleep for a while before the next burst of kicking. Mommy and daddy try to stay out of the way, but sometimes they get whacked. Then I flop around wildly like a little fishy until I get comfortable and catch another few minutes of zzzzzs before telling mommy and daddy that I'm ready to get up and start my day.

Good morning, mommy and daddy!

I slept in my own bed (but still in mommy and daddy's room) all night

Here's proof. It's a picture mommy took of me this morning with her cell phone.

I decided to give mommy and daddy a break from being kicked in the face in the middle of the night from my near-constant flopping. I'm such a giver. :)

Oh yum, stuffed grapes leaves again!

They're so tangy and delicious! Plus, mommy gets so excited when I eat them.

Mommy loves my profile

She can't stop kissing my little nose and playing with my bouncy little curls!

Please share that lasagna with me...and anything else mommy might be eating

Just when mommy and daddy were starting to get concerned that I didn't have too much interest in food (an oddity, considering that both of them are foodies), I'm growing increasingly interested in what they eat -- and making up for lost time.

Mommy was having some papaya and I opened my mouth to try. Tasty! Daddy had a few blackberries, and I eagerly wanted to get my little hands (and mouth) on some of that, as well. Blackberries are some sweet, tarty deliciousness. Mommy had a little Pirate's Booty two weekends ago (they're white cheddar-flavored puffed treats) and I've been eating those since! I take a bite, then shove the rest in mommy's mouth. I'm a giver. But don't get me started on the mini mint ice cream sandwiches from Trader Joe's - I saw mommy taking a bite and quickly grabbed it out of her hands and stuffed it in my mouth. And smiled. Mommy thought that was really cute. She gave me kissies. Grandma makes mommy this wonderful yogurt with cucumber, mint and garlic (it's a Persian appetizer called "mast-o-khiar," which literally translated means yogurt and cucumber). Mommy hadn't even had a full spoon of that this weekend before I wanted to investigate. With my mouth. Since then, I've eaten the whole container of the mast-o-khiar, and have hardly shared with mommy. In fact, when mommy was on the phone with grandma yesterday and was too slow in giving me mast-o-khiar, I yelled at her, pointed to the yogurt and opened my mouth so there wouldn't be any confusion as to what I wanted. Mommy got off the phone and fed me the rest of the mast-o-khiar right away. Good mommy.

These days, I'll try anything mommy eats. Daddy is questionable, but I trust mommy's taste. :)

But you know what I REALLY wanted? Lasagna. Last night, when daddy warmed his and mommy's dinner up and took a bite, I opened my mouth to have some. When he didn't immediately share, I yelled at him and reached out for mommy. I knew she'd give me some. She always caves in to my demands. She made sure to give me lots of ricotta and tomato sauce (my favorites). The lasagna looked delicious. And it tasted delicious, too. That lasagna-hoarding Garfield is one smart cat!

So this is Trader Joe's, huh?

Iiiiiiiiinteresting.

Yep, a skirt and Uggs!

I love LA!

I have my own language; I'm fluent in Caroline!

My parents talk to me in English (although sometimes mommy also practices her French with me for fear that she'll forget it). My nanny speaks Spanish to me. Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Pook-Pook and Uncle Kasra all speak to me in Farsi. I'm all jumbled up!

Despite the word jumble, I can still communicate in various ways. I say several words (the most recent of which is "duck"). But when my words aren't enough, I still have ways of getting my message through. Yesterday morning, I woke up at 5am and wouldn't go back to sleep. Mommy and daddy kept repositioning me, thinking I just couldn't get comfortable. Wrong. Finally, I looked mommy square in the eye and pointed to the bathroom. She took me in the bathroom to change my diaper. I went back to sleep within seconds of going back to bed.

When I want music, I do a little dance and put out my hand so mommy can get my music player for me. I clap for her when she does this. You have to reward them when they get it right, you know. It encourages them.

This morning, I wanted to see the squirrels frolick. So I pointed to the kitchen and to the particular area where we keep the squirrel food. Mommy walked me there, and I grabbed the bag with the squirrel food and made a clicking noise like they do to let her know I wanted to see some of my furry little friends.

And there is no doubt when I voice my disapproval! When mommy gets ready to leave in the morning, I jump into her arms, shake my head, tell her with great urgency what I think of her getting ready to go, hit her bags with my little hands and pull her purse off her shoulder to indicate to her that she is NOT to leave! I know that only moments later, I'll be playing and having a great time, but I don't like to watch mommy or daddy leave for work.

But I sure get excited when they come home!! You can understand that in *any* language.

Give me chocolate, please

It's right there. I can see it. I'm pointing to it in case you're not sure what I want.

Cutest feet ever!

Here they are! And yes, they *also* smell like rose petals.

See what I mean?

Practicing my supermodel poses is a full-time job!

But I am committed!

I apply a strict "one for you, one for me" philosophy with Goldfish

I assume that, if you get to feed me, I get to feed you. Now open uuuuuup! Here comes the fiiiiiiishiiiiiiiie!

Mmmmmmmm... brownies!

My godfather made brownies for mommy and daddy. I was intrigued, and mommy let me play with them. Although I was a little tentative at first, before long I very eagerly dug my little hands in to the soft center of the brownie tray and smooshed them all up! With a glimmer in my eye, I shoved brownie in mommy's mouth, daddy's mouth and then my own! I like brownies. I like them very much.

Leg lifts make mommy laugh!

No matter what I'm doing, I take a moment to stretch and do some leg lifts. Here, I was working on a puzzle when I decided it was time to limber up. I promptly put the puzzle piece in my mouth for safe keeping and pulled my leg up. Mommy was sure glad she had her camera nearby!

Stores already have Christmas decorations!

So I took the opportunity to start telling daddy what I want for Christmas. It's a long list. I need to start early.

Maybe scheduling the wedding during the football game was a good idea

I was planning to have duck confit for dinner, but it seems the Oregon Ducks had other plans. Ack.

Uncle Kyle is getting married on game day? And AT game time?!

Oh no!

Fight on, Trojans! And congrats, Kyle and Cody!

Mommy said that, in this outfit, I'm going to cause...

PANDA-MONIUM!

OMG, mommy is so punny.

Trick or treating is only for kids who don't know where their parents keep the good chocolate

But I know where mommy and daddy keep the good stuff. Here I am reaching for it!

I AM NOT A FANNYPACK

Daddy, put me down. Now. I will totally tell mommy on you.

And now I'm ready to play!

Come get me, please!

Yes, I am *always* this happy

Especially when I've just woken from a nap.

Here's what happens when daddy makes or gets a call on his cell:

First, I grab the phone out of his hands. No exceptions. He used to try to keep the phone from me, but he gave up after he saw how persuasive I can be (I yelled at him, objected vehemently and gave him pouty face). Now he lets me take it. That's right daddy, there's no denying me what I want. As mommy always says "What Caroline wants, Caroline gets."

After I've secured the device, I make a break for it. I try to cruise or crawl to just outside his reach. Next, I sit down and get comfortable. Then it's time for me to laugh hysterically and to mock him with his phone. Mommy snapped a picture of me just as I had reached the final stage. Can you see the mockery in my laugh?

Incidentally, I do this with mommy's BlackBerry and grandma's cell, too. This caught grandma by surprise. It shouldn't have. She should have known that, when she answered her phone at my house, I was going to take it from her. After all, that's why mommy has to put her phone on speaker when she calls grandma. I even eye guests who have ringing cell phones suspiciously. Nobody gets a pass here! You've been warned.

What should I be for Halloween?

A parrot?

I hope this is the CLEAN laundry hamper!

The baby is NOT dirty!

Wanna play?

I'm ready!

HA HA, I HAVE THE REMOTE!

Daddy is so protective of the remote. He doesn't like it when I play with it (something about deleting his shows off the Tivo), so he hides it. So when I get my little hands on it, I squee with delight! I often grab it and go as fast as I can before daddy can take it away again. Here I am taunting daddy with the remote before I make a break for it!

I like to cruise along the ottoman

I go around the ottoman in circles to practice walking. And I've started letting go of furniture to stand on my own, too! Oh, the progress I've made!

Everyone dresses up for Halloween!

Even my duckies.

Daddy and I were playing cowboys and indians!

I don't know what the point of the game is, but mommy and daddy think it's funny when I make these funny noises.

We went out to dinner, and I had filet mignon

We went to a new French restaurant in Santa Monica called La Grande Orange. Mommy and daddy love French food. They especially love steak. They told me all about how much they enjoyed pepper steak when they were in Paris. Based on that recommendation, I decided to try some of mommy's filet mignon, and it was delicious! I even got mad at daddy when he pulled the piece of steak away from me. How dare him! He pulled it away just because I'd sucked all the juice out of it?! Humpht. But I was soon happy again because he had replaced it with a fresh new chunk of filet. Yeeees.

You call that a pass?!

Oh goodness.

Okay daddy, let's go for a walk!

You'll see that my seat belt is already securely fastened.

When you're cool, the sun shines on you 24 hours a day, indoors and out

And look how COOL I am with my sunglasses!

Testing, testing, 1-2-3

Is this thing on?

Oh no, I have cereal stick all over my face!

You know what that means... mommy and daddy are about to get cereal stick all over their shirts! I share so well!

Cereal sticks are fun to eat!

I love to hold them myself! They end up being a bit messy, but they are worth the fun.

I bit a chunk out of daddy's pizza!

I caught him completely off-guard!

Whoa, this is almost as soft as my skin!

Mommy thought it would be fun for me to have a big, fluffy white rug to play on. I don't think she intended for me to play with the big, fluffy white rug itself, but I can hardly keep my hands off of it! I'm starting to understand why mommy and daddy can't keep their hands off me -- I'm even *softer* than this!