Things I Love About Cara

Things I love and need to remember about Cara:

• How quickly she is learning things! She can now say baby, buh-bye (with the cutest little wave), hi, Dad, Mama, shh, cookie, ca-ca (like gross), yes (she goes "uh-huh" ALL the time), and no. She also has a cute way to ask for things. She kind of says "Zsh-Zsh" and points to what she wants. I can tell (without looking at her) when she's asking for something because of this cute sound.
• How she loves to make us laugh. I guarantee she'll be a class clown when she grows up because she just does almost anything for a laugh. She'll make a funny sound, a silly face, do a crazy dance move and if we laugh she'll repeat it over and over to get us to keep laughing. She also love burps and farts and recognizes the word fart so if we say it she'll giggle. There have even been a couple times she's snorted while laughing because it makes us laugh. She's the silliest, funniest person I know!

• She knows SO many body parts. Before I left for maternity leave (at the end of November) she only knew nose and (sometimes) head. Now she knows head, ears, eyes, nose, mouth, belly, shoulders, toes, and (sometimes) knees. She's SO brilliant.
• She LOVES helping us out. When it's time to clean up she helps pick up her toys, if we leave a bottle out, she's quick to grab it and bring it to us (a HUGE improvement from when Gwen was first born and she'd try and put it in her mouth), when we're putting clean dishes away she loves to bring them to us to help us out, and when there's a spill she'll find a paper towel to wipe it up. I can't speak highly enough about how great of a big sister and daughter she has been.

• She loves having her teeth brushed. Doesn't matter what she's doing (for the most part), the second we say "Cara, wanna brusha brusha brusha" she'll drop it and come running to us because she's so excited to brush her teeth. She'll even open her mouth when we tell her to say "ah".

• She is the greatest sleeper and teether there is! She got 3 molars at once around 18 months and we hardly even noticed. She's been getting her K9s now and she's definitely been cranky, but still mostly tolerable. And she doesn't really get up at night at all anymore. She'll sleep or keep herself entertained in her crib until we're ready to get her around 7:45 AM. I really hope Gwen is the same way with this.
• She loves, loves, loves giving kisses and a few hugs. She showers Gwen in kisses daily and when she runs up to me to give me a big hug and kiss...I just melt! I can't believe she's my little girl and how much she loves me (and Larry). I'm in awe of the bond I have with her and just can't wait to see it grow as she does. I am starting to realize how big she's getting and how she'll never be this young again and it seems she's learning things on a weekly basis so it's definitely coming on quicker, which makes me sad, but oh so glad at the same time. I'm so proud of this girlie I've raised!
• The way she prefers books over almost anything. She'll watch a movie for a few minutes, but she'll get distracted and go grab a book and sit down with it (she always puts her feet out in front of her and rests the book on her legs). She can't even read yet, but she'll speak her gibberish while flipping the pages and it's like she thinks she can read. In fact, when I go to get her in the mornings, the first thing she wants is a book from her book shelf. I'll get her one and leave her in the crib with that while I pick out her and Gwen's outfits for the day and then I'll pick her up and let her bring the book downstairs for the day, I've even caught her reading to Gwen a couple times. She's the cutest little ready and I'm proud of the fact that she likes books. I can't wait to teach her to read one day.

• The fact that Gwen just lights up and smiles when she sees Cara. The bond these two girls have already is so insane and I'm SO excited that it's starting off on a good note. We've only had a few instances where Cara has hit Gwen or accidentally stepped on her or was a tad jealous of the attention she was getting, but for the most part it's been lots of love and laughter and I'm so thankful for that. I think it'll make it that much easier when we add more kid(s) that they will be friends so we shouldn't have too much jealousy for any new additions (fingers crossed).