Caroline turned THREE on Saturday, March 14th…right in the middle of the world around us changing so rapidly due to COVID-19. Little did we know that her last day of preschool (for the year) would be the week before her birthday, or that Mike and I would start teleworking then, too–without an end date in sight. We’d canceled my parents’ visit the Tuesday prior and her birthday party less than 24 hours before it was supposed to happen. Basically, her third birthday became a benchmark for when everything changed. Social and physical distancing started. No playgrounds, no trips to the library or the grocery store or museums or the zoo or even Petsmart. No playdates or hugging friends. Lots more facetime calls, Zoom sessions with preschool classmates, scooter rides through the park, and yoga sessions on YouTube. It’s been surreal, to say the least.

But while everything around us changed in a second, other parts of life just marched right along on their own timeline. Our firstborn little lady–who had been waiting forever–went right ahead and turned THREE. And that is something to celebrate.

Caroline at three is such a fun mix of so many things–of silly and fun, sassy and brave, easy-going and Type A. She is loving and sweet when she wants to be, surprising me and Mike on a daily basis with her thoughtfulness at one point and her sassy back talk at another. She is highly verbal, loves books (and memorizing them), remembers everything, is super observant about the world around her, loves to ask questions, and is tuned in to peoples’ emotions. She also has a particular way she wants to do everything, and yet at the same time, can be surprisingly go-with-the-flow. She’s good at playing independently, has a vivid imagination, and has a contagious laugh. She is more fun to be around than hard (most of the time), and it is so much cool to watch her grown and learn and develop into her own little person.

Our favorite part of watching Caroline grow is seeing her with her partner in crime, best buddy Vivi. Most of the time, Caroline is so sweet and thoughtful to Vivi. She asks for Vivi each morning first thing and typically brings in a stuffed animal for her to snuggle. She will color her pictures and bring her snacks. She will also randomly shout, “I love you, Vivi!!” throughout the day 😉 She will ask me what I dressed Vivi in so that she can match her outfits. The other side of the coin is when Vivi has something Caroline wants, Caroline will snatch it and run for the hills without looking back!

Here’s a snapshot of Caroline at three years old:

• She weighs 34 lbs (84th percentile) and is 38.5 inches tall (83rd percentile).
• She is extremely verbal. She is super expressive when she talks (she talks with her hands) and usually adds a shrug and a “so” at the end of her comments, which makes her seem 3 going on 13.
• She sings ALL THE TIME. Random verses of Jingle Bells, The More We Get Together, Goodbye Everyone, Rudolph, Bear Hunt, Tooty Ta, and We Are the Dinosaurs.
• She loves Vivi so much and says at least 5 times a day, “I love you, Vivi!” Her Vivi nickname is “Vivi Viv” and she asks for Vivi first when she wakes up.
• Aside from Vivi, her favorite things are her keys, her cell phone, her Mermaid Baby, her scooter, and her shopping cart. I’d also add books and her cappis to the list. More recently, she also loves Play Doh, her Magna Tiles, and coloring pictures for people.
• She loves to help. She gets me my vitamins each morning and can put her dishes in the sink, put her clothes in the hamper, brush her teeth, get dressed (mostly alone), unload the dishwasher, select kitchen towels.
• Her favorite books right now are Duck and Cover, Sisters First, Library Lion, and pretty much all of her books. Each day after naptime, I find 4-5 books in her crib that she reads on her own.
• She is getting very interested in letters–especially C and M and drawing letter L.
• I never know what she is going to say. The other day coming home from the park, she said, “Mommy, I need to open my mouth wide to get air all around my tongue!”
• Her favorite people are still Pressy and Kay Kay and Pa. She also loves and talks all the time about Baby Bryce. Every now and then when she gets upset, she says, “I’m just missing my grandma.”
• She is really excited about the baby coming and tells me “your belly is really heavy!”
• She is getting really fast on her scooter–to the point where it really matters that her helmet fits properly.

We love you, Sugar Bear!