Finally a Vegetable!

Caroline has finally found a vegetable she likes! Several months ago Pops (my dad) talked her in to trying some of his delicious corn he cooks on the grill. She hasn't looked back since. But don't make the mistake of cutting it off the cob for her. That's part of the thrill! She loves the handles on the side. And yes, that is juice dripping from her chin - yum yum!

Smiley

Rutland has earned several nicknames at school this year and it's only October. But, they always tell me how happy he is and that he smiles all the time. So, they have added "Smiley" to his long and distinguished list of nicknames. My favorite ones are "little big man", "There's the little playboy" (Christopher said he had to live with that nickname as a child too - whatever!), and the one we knew was coming "Rut Rut". I have to agree with them - Rutland is a happy child and will flash a smile at the drop of a hat. He's such a sweet boy!!

Yes, he loves to crawl in the dishwasher!

Pumpkin Pickin'

Each year we go to Andy's Nursery on Rocky Ridge to get pumpkins. So this weekend, we loaded up at 9:30am in the rain to go get a pumpkin (we were 30 minutes behind schedule). Now, why may you ask would we A. go in the rain and B. try to get dressed and out the door by 9:00??? Because daddy is certifiably CRAZY on game day, and we have to have him at the chosen football watching location and settled at minimum 30 minutes before kick-off. So, I'm sure you can imagine how excited and helpful he was when we got to Andy's. He literally walked up, grabbed 4 pumpkins and thought that would be it. He obviously hadn't noticed the children's matching pumpkin outfits and my camera ready to take some of my favorite pictures all year. So, we did manage to get some cute pictures and our pumpkins and had Daddy in front of the pig skin idol his required 30 minutes prior to kick-off.

Entertainer of the Year

Caroline has nominated herself for entertainer of the year. At least once a day, she gets out baby dolls, minnie mouse, daisy, cinderella, aubie, or any other poor soul she can lay her hands on to have a party with. Most days it's a birthday party and she serves cake and ice cream to all her guests. But other days it's just tea party time. It is so precious, and the sweetest part of all is that her favorite guest at all her parties is her Daddy!

Pink is for Boys??

I have a confession to make - we have/are recycling MANY of Caroline's pink baby items (toys, cups, towels, a paci one time, any anything else I find that I just don't want to spend money on to replace). It just seems silly to spend money on something that is in perfectly good shape just so it can be "blue". Rutland certainly doesn't mind, but that is sort of why I think we may have to start changing the rule around here. I don't want to be responsible for some major therapy for gender confusion down the road. He really loves her pink cadillac walker my grandmother gave her. And the worst is the grocery cart cover that was Caroline's and has precious pink polka dots all over it. It's so sad when people in the grocery store look at Rutland and want to immediately say, "Aw, she's so cute", but they know deep down he looks nothing like a girl, especially when he's wearing blue (which he almost always is - he's definitely not in pink clothing - even I think that's going WAY too far). They have the most confused looks on their faces and I immediately explain the situation, which is then followed by relief on their part. Sorry buddy, we all know you are "Little Big Man" (his nickname at school)!

See how happy he is!

He does wear blue - no confusion on the clothing.Too precious not to share (and the pj's are blue)

War Eagle, Hey!

We took Caroline to her first Auburn game Labor Day weekend (AU vs. La Tech). Our friends, the Crumptons, have a tailgating tent close to the new student center that we went to before the game. Too bad it doesn't come with a parking spot for all the guests. We had to hike it from the Jr. High. Not too bad with just Christopher and I, but when you also have to carry a 2 year old in the blazing hot sun, it makes for a long, sweaty haul. Caroline had a great time tailgating and running around with Harris Crumpton and Sidney Johnson. I think her favorite part was shaking the pom pom in the game though. She is also a big fan of Aubie. Of course we went home with an Aubie stuffed animal, complements of Pops. We were all so tired and left at the start of the 3rd quarter (the game was a late one - 6:00 kick-off). Thankfully on the walk back to our car, Christopher spotted a rick-shaw and we hitched a ride back to our car. Some poor, starving, skinny college boy peddled his heart out taking us back to the Jr. High where we parked. It was the best $30 tip we've ever given someone. Caroline is a true Auburn fan now. Now all I have to do is get her to love Alpha Gam! (She already loves squirrels!) Here are some photos from the game!

Ballet shoes and tutus

My friend Jennifer thought it would be super fun to have the girls take ballet class this fall. We both took as children and loved it, plus we are always looking for an activity for the kids. We finally found a teacher that would take our precious little 2 year olds, who I'm sure have minimal attention spans and will probably just run around the room the whole time. Anyway, bless this lady's heart, she does have a 2-3 year old class and has taken on Caroline, Tate, and Campbell. Our first class is Sept. 17th, so off we go to get some leotards, tutus, and ballet shoes. I have really been talking up ballet class and Caroline does know about the "rini shoes" and that "rini's walk around on tip toes ("rini" of course stands for ballerina). When we get to the store, she goes right for the shoes. She is running around screaming because she is so excited. The sweet girl who helped us put some of those little panty hose footies on her, which really threw her off. She kept asking "What that mommy?" like a broken record. We got the shoes on, and she loved them. The girl mistakenly tried to just put the one shoe on her, but Caroline had to have both shoes on, which I don't blame her - I would want to try on both as well. She ran around the store again screaming while I tried to find a leotard with a built in skirt (we were advised not to have anything that detaches from the leotard so the kids won't play with it during class). I pull a few leotards that I think might fit Caroline's "brickhouse body", put Rutland on the floor with a set of keys to chew on, and tie Caroline down long enough to get her shirt off. Well, like most things in her life right now, she wants to do it herself. So I give in, turn around to get the leotard, and the next thing I know, Caroline has stripped down to her birthday suit and is running around the store in just the ballet shoes, and yes, the pantyhose footies. I know Applause dance store wishes we came in more often. I finally tackle her when she lapped back around and got the leotard on. She looked in the mirror and said, "Mommy, my body beautiful in my leotard!". Needless to say we wore it all home, tags, pantyhose footies, shoes, and all. And Rutland never made a peep, sweet boy. Here are some pictures of Ca-kine's rini outfit when we got home.

Rutland likes the rini skirt too! Caroline said, "No, no, no, buddy. No pull on Ca-kine's rini skirt!"