Caroline is 10!

My baby girl is now 10. I cannot believe how the years have really gone by so quickly. As I put Caroline's old clothes on Lorelai, I cannot believe that it has been 8 years since Caroline has worn them. It seems like just yesterday. How cliche, right? I can't help it! Caroline is taking a babysitting class... she is almost old enough to babysit! She already does an excellent job with her baby sister. She does get annoyed when I make her play with her when Caroline would rather just be playing by herself. Caroline loves to play outside. She prefers to be outside. She likes to swing, and slide and climb and run and practice tumbling. She has just started gymnastics and really loves it. She seems to have a great natural talent for it. Caroline likes to read, but the books are a little under her age bracket. She still loves Junie B. Jones and Magic Treehouse. She is not quite ready for Nancy Drew, yet. She is starting to enjoy Beverly Cleary books as well. She has a good head on her shoulders and got an award last year for being on the honor roll or principal's list the whole year. She got one "B" the whole year and she was very disappointed because it kept her from being on the principal's list the whole year. She is learning that there are consequences to her actions and that I cannot make her work hard to get good grades. She has to do this on her own. Caroline loves clothes. Her favorite store is Justice. They have all kinds of trendy and sparkly clothes for tweens. The sparklier the better!!! She likes animal prints and florescent colors and she is totally against wearing dresses. She only likes skirts. She is just about the complete opposite of me. I really try to choose clothes that she likes rather than what I like. It is hard for me because I still want to dress her in jumpers and sweaters and cute things like that. Caroline prefers yoga pants and jeans with appliques all over them. She got a digital camera for her birthday and she has not stopped taking pictures. She is quite frustrated because it was cheap and it is not great quality. She wants to do all kinds of things with it and unfortunately it just does not have the capacity for that. She may have to get a better camera for Christmas. (Presents for kids get a lot more expensive as they get older!) The last 10 years have been difficult in some ways for Caroline. She has moved 9 times in her short life. She has been to 6 different schools. She has had to pick up and make new friends over and over again. She has tried to keep in touch with old friends, only for them to forget about her after just a few weeks. But she is strong. She makes new friends and makes her way through life. She is quite the drama queen at times, but our lives would not be the same without her. Happy Birthday, Caroline! We love you!