Bringing Home a Baby Bumble...Caroline?!

Caroline has many favorite songs, and often sings them without even a break between tunes. She has also started doing a little improv - making up words, creating medleys, and doing a little DJ-style remixing.

Here, she does her own version of "Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee." For those who might be out of the loop, the actual lyrics (as we sing them) go something like this:

I'm bringing home a baby bumblebee,

Won't my mommy be so proud of me?

Oh, I'm bringing home a baby bumblebee...

FUZZY WUZZY! OOH! HE STUNG ME!

C has just personalized it some...

Baby Bumblebee! from Sarah on Vimeo.

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Caroline's Twentieth Month

Though the weather still was characteristically still un-Springlike (for her wimp of a mother), CEC did manage to get outside to enjoy a few warm days during her 20th month. And the time spent indoors was fun, too!

The updates:

• She knows all of her colors!! not only their names, but she can actually identify them correctly, too! She even demands particular color cups for milk and water (demands, people. I am not exaggerating).
• She is a good eater - favorite foods include meatballs, rice, black olives, pickles, and mushrooms. We like to say that she is a fan of toppings - and a trip to the pizza parlor shows that it's true. Poor pizzas never knew what hit them.
• She is still talking up a storm, and can express herself in pretty-darn-near-complete sentences. In fact, sometimes we can't believe the things she says, like, "Where Anthony's car?" or "Daddy is driving." She's going to be talking circles around her mom and dad at any moment.

In addition to photos capturing our star enjoying a late-winter snowstorm and the warm-up the next week, a trip to the zoo, and St. Patrick's Day, we got a few of Caroline just being Caroline:

Silly Caroline

Sweet girl & her hippo

20 months old

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St. Patrick's Day

Getting a smile out of this little Irish lass on St. Patrick's Day has proved to be a bit of a challenge. Regular readers might remember that we had a similar challenge last year.

Perhaps she's just upset that she can't participate in the REAL fun of St. Pat's Day - yet. Still, she looked awfully cute showing off her Irish pride.

She even made a picture in celebration of the luck of the Irish...

It looks like our girl may have already gotten the gold out of the pot :)

When we do see those smiling eyes (more often than indicated in this post), it certainly seems that the lyrics of this popular tune were written just for her...

When Irish eyes are smiling,

Sure, 'tis like the morn in Spring.

In the lilt of Irish laughter

You can hear the angels sing.

When Irish hearts are happy,

All the world seems bright and gay.

And when Irish eyes are smiling,

Sure, they steal your heart away.

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Woohoo! The Zoo!

As previously mentioned, a beautiful Sunday meant a trip for the Connors to the National Zoo. Though this was not the first such trip for our star, it was definitely the first time she wanted to see every animal, talk to them, get in their water, touch them, and play with them.

For once in my life, I'm going to let the photos do the talking. Don't think there's much more I could say anyway.

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Springtime? Is that you?

What a weekend! With temperatures hovering around the 70-degree mark, it seemed almost impossible to believe, that only one week ago, the DC area was blanketed with 6 inches of snow. Nary a trace of the white stuff remains, and all that sledding seems but a distant memory.

Along with the rest of the region, CEC and co. were out in full force to enjoy the mild temps. Saturday took us to Friendship Park (aka "Turtle Park") with one of C's men, Clay, and his parents. Brave Clay was a superstar on the swings.

Check out that look he's giving C. What is she doing?

Caroline definitely enjoyed the trip, and mostly loved rolling in the dirt, chasing squirrels (including a "hi mouse!" in greeting) and birds, and playing as hard as she could.

Is it bad that sometimes I just want to swallow this little person up?

On Saturday evening, we headed south of the border, both literally and symbolically, to Los Tios in Alexandria for a yummy Mexican meal with "Baby Nafan" and his parents.

Not only did we have a fantastic time, but Nathan seems to have singlehandedly convinced C that she no longer needs her beloved binky. Pretty impressive lobbying skills for someone not even 6 months old.

Don't you just want to squeeze him?

Yeah Nathan - she's crazy alright

To cap off the weekend, we got out early Sunday morning and went to the Zoo! But that's a different post for a different day. Stay tuned!

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Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow....

Our first honest-to-goodness sled-worthy snowfall of the season arrived in, of all months, March. Though a Winter storm in a Spring month* might normally have been enough to make me crazy, the prospect of seeing our little one play in the snow for the first time superceded any wishes to escape to the beach.

Despite the snowy streets, Caroline's school was open, business-as-usual. Mommy and Daddy took advantage of the excuse to work from home, a rare-ish luxury that included a lunch date, and afforded us the opportunity to pick up C early and get home in time for some serious snowy adventures.

The field between our building and NIH was perfect for running, playing, falling, and CEC's favorite game of "touch snow." We had the bonus of hanging out with our neighbors Sharon and Anthony (and the heartstoppingly adorable little Anthony), who were nice enough to let us play with their Golden Retriever Ozzie and to loan us a sled!

CEC LOVED the snow, snowballs, making snow angels, and sledding (each run was followed by an enthusiastic "AGAIN!"). She didn't even seem to mind the cold - at least until it was time to go inside, when she suddenly realized that her hands were freezing! Note to mommy: thicker mittens next time!

*So I know that technically March 2 is still winter, but for this Southern girl, March should mean azaleas and sunshine, not snowstorms!

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