Eeny, meeny, miny...

::BITE::

I'm an ice skater!

Mommy found out there was an outdoor skating rink in Santa Monica! As a special treat today, we decided to go try it out. Here are some pictures:


At first, she held my hands and we skated around. We skated in circles, twirled and even skated backwards!

I got some good practice on proper footing.

Soon enough, I was leading us around!

Then I let go of mommy's hands and skated off on my own! I did really well, too! The skating instructor on duty (they skate around to make sure anyone who falls down has help getting up and they offered help to beginners) was so impressed. She said that even though I was the smallest one there, I was also the most fearless one - and the best first-time skater, too. Hooray for me! I had so much fun that mommy had to promise that we'd return later. Of course, she didn't mention that "later" wasn't the same day. Humpht... lawyers. You always have to be so specific with them! But I did find out that "later" means next weekend. I can't wait to go ice skating again!

My plans for today

Ummm... I'm just hanging out.

Mornings are even better with Jamba Juice!

I let mommy know that I approved of her breakfast choice: "Delicious Jamba Juice, Mommy!"

Whose idea was this time change business anyway?!?

At 6pm, it looks like it's 9pm! This sure doesn't give me enough daytime play hours with mommy and daddy after they come home. But it often means I get to dupe mommy and daddy into playing the Muppets earlier. Maybe it's not such a bad thing after all...

My favorite woo-woo

And could you blame me?

Who needs toys when you have....

TOILET PAPER!

I run into the bathroom and hit the roll of toilet paper as many times as I can to get it to whirl around with fierce speed! This, of course, results in a BIG pile of toilet paper on the ground. I like to sit on the pile and tear all of the toilet paper into little pieces and intersperce the tiny little pieces of toilet paper EVERYWHERE.

For you mathematicians, here's a formula for you: toilet paper > toys.

Parties are SO fun!

I went to my friend Katherine's 3rd birthday party. And as someone older and wiser, she taught me about the joys of face painting!



I chose to get a picture of Elmo on my face. Mommy and daddy were surprised that I sat still long enough for the very talented face painter to finish her design!

And here is the final product! She did a really nice job!

My animals have personality!

I have sooooo many stuffed animals. They each greet me in the morning and give me kisses. Then they greet each other and give one another kisses. They're a very friendly bunch. We spend all day together, collectively deciding what to do, what colors to draw with, what to eat and closing all of the doors so the goats can't come in. My animals are very helpful.

Who needs imaginary friends when your stuffed animals walk, talk and entertain?!

Anyone who's anyone reads books while wearing ballerina PJs and a tutu

Here I am reading about the Rainbow Fish and his beautiful sparkly scales. Rainbow Fish is talking to the wise giant octopus on this page. Spoiler alert: the giant octopus gives Rainbow Fish some sage advice about sharing and friendship!

Cardiology update

My cardiology appointment went really well! The sonogram and EKG confirmed excellent heart function. And my ASD is getting small enough that I may be able to put off my second surgery for another several years! Hooray!

The face of innocence

Don't worry - I'll be plotting again very soon. I'm sneaky like that!

Congrats are in order!

Christina (my godmother) and Prescott welcomed little Kira into the world yesterday! Welcome, baby Kira! I can't wait to meet you!

xoxo,
Caroline

Busy busy busy!

I've been busy lately. Busy in the bathroom!

I was fairly well potty trained quite a while ago, but mommy and daddy got lazy so I stayed in diapers. Then I decided I wanted to wear underwear like Miss Piggy does. So this weekend, mommy and daddy finally gave in and dediced to take me out of diapers. They very excitedly cheered for me when I pooped in the potty! We waved goodbye to the poopy and I got to flush -- three times. Not because it needed three flushes, but because I just got so excited about the swishing sound.

Weeeee!!

I'm an artiste!

Nobody can color Eeyore like I can. Picasso, eat your heart out!

Okay, Mommy is pooped

The time change hasn't worked out very well for mommy. I've been getting up at 4am with demands that mommy read books to me ("Read Stella Doggy! NOW!"). For some reason, she wasn't interested in doing this! So I yelled at her. She was not persuaded. She handed me the book (Stella is a Star! by Bernadette Peters) and told me to read it myself. Um, try again.

Not to be dissuaded, I modified my demand to laying next to her in bed while reading my book. She said no. I yelled until I got my way. I should be a negotiator! I read my book for a fraction of a second before I jammed it in mommy's eye repeatedly, with renewed demand that she read me a book. I don't know how that didn't work. Finally I got bored and went back to sleep. On mommy's head. That'll teach her. If I'm not happy, I'll make you uncomfortable!

HA HA HA!!

You called for a celebrity?

How can I help you?

Oops, I missed a day!

Meh. I'm over it.

Have you heard of that new movie Teenage Paparazzo?

It's about a 13-year-old boy who lives in LA who takes pictures of talentless celebrities for those awful grocery store rags. That kid has nothing on me. As a toddler, I'm taking Ansel Adams-worthy photographs. I'm that good.

Lazy butterfly

After flying around like a butterfly for an hour, I decided I needed to dance. Of course, you need a tutu if you're going to dance, so I put one on. PJs: check. Butterfly wings: check. Antennae: check. Tutu: check. Let the dancing begin!


I got tired of flying and decided to hitch a ride on my ladybug.



U-oh!

Boom!

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!

AGAIN!

I'm in print!

More Halloween pictures of YOURS TRULY.

As you may know, Baba takes about a hundred pictures a minute when he's at my house. Amma's friend, the very talented Gloria, put together a sampling of those pictures into this creation! Thanks, Gloria!

Hold on, I'm installing updates

I may also "accidentally" buy some toys from Amazon while I'm at it. You don't mind, do you?

Little food tastes good

Here I am enjoying some mini quiche! I ate an entire mini-quiche by myself. While I was at it, I also fed some to Amma and Baba. And then I tried to put my foot in the plate. As much as these people try to bite my pretty little feet, you'd think it were food and belonged on a plate, too!

Happy Halloween!

I'm a butterfly! I had so much fun flying all around the house! And Elliot Gould had a lot of fun watching me fly all around Koo Koo Roo when we went to pick up dinner. He's grandma's new favorite actor.

I stole Baba's watch

But he got a good deal for it. I gave him a hug. Try putting a price on that!

Don't forget to blowdry your FEET!

HA HA HA HA HA!!! I'm such a silly baby.

It's fun to blowdry your hair

Pardon the sub-par quality of the photo... it was taken without a flash on mommy's BlackBerry.

We went to a fundraiser for St. John's Cancer Research Fund and I made a new friend

Her name is Daisy!

Mommy and daddy are always impressed by my ability to find woo-woos everywhere we go. This was a casual fundraiser in the parking lot of the cancer center. St. Johns invited a bunch of food trucks to participate -- and boy were we happy they did! There were lots of babies, lots of kids, plenty of those adults and even a few woo-woos. I, of course, was able to spot the woo-woos right away, even when (like Daisy) they were stashed away in someone's purse. But Daisy eagerly came out to play. Good dog.

Here are some selections from my visit to the Pumpkin Patch!

My opinion: it's cute, but not very soft.

By comparison, pumpkin me is both cute AND soft.

Heeeey, where are you trying to take me?!

Oops

Mommy and I got busy with preparations for Halloween and we neglected to blog! Here's a look at what we've been making...

CARAMEL APPLES!

Of course, it's hard to make caramel apples when I keep running away with the apples. Apples, apples, everywhere! Mommy said she would take me to an orchard soon. If you know of a good one, please feel free to e-mail me!

Story time!

I enjoy story time. I've recently added to my favorite story, as well. Here's the update:

"Petting zoo! Goats there, everywhere. Goat poop everywhere. Dirty! Man clean up goat poop. So much poop! Goats at petting zoo. Goats not inside. No goats on balcony. Lock doors, no goats. Caroline thirsty. Water drink please!"

Telling such long stories gives me a dry throat!

Mommy, I'm not a baby anymore.

Look at this picture -- I'm a proper little girl. With pigtails. And grown-up features. At some point, you're going to have to stop calling me "baby" -- you know, like when I'm 57. HA HA HA!!

Baba can't stop taking pictures of my little feet

In his defense, my feet *are* really cute. And they're even cuter in SpongeBob socks.

This is how I tell mommy it's Muppet o'clock

I am a pro at operating the DVD player. I know which buttons to press to stop the current CD and to open the DVD drive. Then I gently remove the CD and replace it with a DVD of the Muppet Show. I then push the button to close the DVD drive and to play the Muppets! Amma and Baba don't even know how to do that! I'm such a wiz.

Knock, knock! Who's there?

Caroline!

Mommy isn't sure where I learned this...

...but last night, I said "Mommy work too much! Mommy stay home play Caroline. No more work."

And what might YOU be up to?

Lemme see!

A note on vacations

Amma went on vacation to visit her mommy (my great-grandma). I did not approve this trip. I'm not sure why I was not consulted prior to the sudden departure. To make matters worse, she had the audacity to leave me for TWO WEEKS. Wrong.

While she was gone, Baba came to visit me twice a week. Each time, I looked for Amma because Amma and Baba always come visit me together. I didn't see her any of the times. I looked - and I even looked in our secret hiding places (in the bathroom, behind the curtain and in the sheets). I even looked behind my hands, where I like to hide! She was nowhere to be found.

Mommy told me that Amma had gone on vacation. It took me a few seconds to process this information as I racked my brain wondering whether I'd forgotten a vacation request. Having realized that the vacation request never came across my desk, I pronounced "AMMA VACATION NO MORE!" Mommy laughed so hard! So did Baba, when mommy called him to tell him of my new rule.

To avoid future problems, when Amma came to visit me directly from the airport (and before she had even gone home to take a nap after her 28-hour trip), I made it a point to shake my little index finger at Amma and say "AMMA, VACATION NO MORE!" Aunt Pook-Pook can go on vacation. So can Kasra. They just returned from a wonderful trip to China and Japan. But Amma and Baba? No more.

The upside of the USC win this weekend?

I perfected my Victory sign! I sing the fight song while making it, too!

Oops

I spilled a little OJ on my panda. He must have been very thirsty. You're welcome, Panda.

A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do

When Golden Spoon isn't nearby, sometimes you have to resort to the lesser competition for your frozen yogurt fix. I'm not proud, but I'm full. And mostly happy. At least they have dark chocolate crunchies. I like dark chocolate crunchies.

Hooray for USC!

Mommy is going to USC President Nikias's inauguration as the 11th President of the University and to the Trojan-filled luncheon that follows! She's been looking forward to this important event for months. It's a happy day in Trojanland.

What she didn't expect was that she would be so darned busy that she had to work both days of the weekend *and* stay up late this entire week getting enough done to justify taking a few hours off during the day for the inauguration and lunch! But busy is a good thing. Busy mommy means a well-funded 529 account. It also ensures mommy and daddy aren't going to move in with me when they retire.

Congratulations, President Nikias!

Early Halloween Eskimo Kissies!

Daddy is a parrot. I'm awesome.

I decided to clean the table, too, for good measure

So many rose petals!

Don't you people have a gardener?!

Why are there rose petals all over Amma and Baba's patio? Their gardener doesn't do a very good job.

I've discovered doors in a big way

Now I open and close doors at will! I love hiding in the bathroom. I poke my head out from time to time and shriek "PEEK-A-BOO!" as mommy and daddy claim to find me. But I'm crafty -- I go right back to hiding!

There's a new movie coming out about a teenage paparazzo

I totally beat him to the punch. I'm only TWO and I'm snapping up a storm. Except that I don't care about so-called celebrities. I take pictures of Amma, Baba and my animals!

Figs anyone?

I helped Amma and Baba pick figs from their tree in the back yard. Then I put them in a little bowl and took them to mommy so she could wash them for me. I always make sure to wash figs before I eat them (even if they've already been washed).

A woowoo CAKE?! Oh boy!

My verdict: DELICIOUS.

Goats can't open doors

The past few nights, I have demanded to sleep in mommy's bed with her. I crawl under the covers and demand to hold mommy's hand. Then I realize that the bedroom door is still open and I ask her to close it. I have good reason for this request, too: goats can't open doors. Just as I was very concerned about cows coming in the house, I am now concerned that goats will come in. Here's how the conversation goes:

"Mama, goat come?"
"No baby, the door is closed."
"Goat open door no."
"That's right baby, goats can't open doors."
"Dada open door."
"Yes. Dada can open the door."
"Okay. Dada come. Night-night!"

Of course, this conversation repeats itself about 50 times each night, but it's just like this each time.

Aquadoodling is a passion

And I'm *so* good at it!

For those of you not familiar with Aquadoodle, the Aquadoodle board is a white-faced soft surface that you can write on with a special water-filled Aquadoodle pen. If I write on the Aquadoodle board, the images I draw show up! If I draw on the walls, all that shows up on the wall is a little bit of water!

Mommy likes this toy for two reasons. First, it's no-mess. Second, it reinforces the idea that you write or draw on paper, not on walls or on mommy's clothes! I've already gotten this idea. Mommy's clothes aren't for pens; they're for cleaning and drying my grubby little hands! HA HA!