My Funny Valentine . . . Carlee

Carlee just turned 14 months and has come alive in the last couple of weeks. She is no longer my baby but a full-fledged independent and stubborn toddler. She knows exactly what she wants and will fight for it yelling NO and giving us a serious face. She started walking about 3 weeks ago but if she needs to get somewhere fast, she sits down and starts to crawl. When Joe comes home from work, the kids all scream his name and run to the front door and she screams and crawls as fast as she can with her head down almost as if she is a bull charging her matador father. It is so funny.

She is also very loud. It's no surprise since she wants to be heard over the other three but her little voice carries while we are shopping or sitting in church. She is constantly talking and pointing to the people around us. She yells, "Mom" whenever she wants my attention (which is whenever she is awake). She has been saying it for about 4 months now and if I don't say, "What?" exactly she gets louder and more defiant. She is also a chatterbox. She is always pointing and jabbering away. She looks at us and will rattle off her own words for about 5 minutes and then waits for our response. She can say a few words like Mom, Daddy, Doggie, Milk, Horse, and No but her own little language is what we hear the most. It's actually pretty cute but we can't find her OFF button so she is like the Energizer bunny.

Other Funny Things:

**She'll slowly spit out anything she doesn't like with these wide eyes looking at us innocently. I think that she thinks if she lets it out of her mouth slowly, we won't notice.

**If she doesn't want it, she pushes it away and says No while pointing her finger.

**She loves to climb--couch, chair, piano bench, the play kitchen, stools, pantry shelves, etc.

**She loves to wrestle everybody and roll around on the floor laughing

**She loves Katelyn to hold her and carry her around. They also love to push babies in the strollers together.

**She loves to read. If I can't find her, she is sitting quietly "reading" and pointing at books.

**She loves blankets. They are in the bottom drawer of her dresser so she'll pull them out into a big pile and lay her whole body on them. If I try to clean them up, she races over and lays on them yelling NO!

**She loves the remote control and telephone. Again, if I try to take them, she pushes my hands and tries to hide them behind her back. She'll also hold the phone on her shoulder and say, "Doh?"

**She fell headfirst into the tub the other night. At first she started to cry but when she realized that she had made it into the water, she was in heaven.

Here is a video of her playing her favorite game, "Grabber, Squirmer, Beeper" (dedicated to Grandpa Holt) and talking and walking. The other half wouldn't load onto our blog so you miss her animal sounds and pointing to her nose, mouth, and belly. Oh well.

Carlee is also very curious and happy checking out everybody else's stuff instead of her own. Clark, Kate, and Jake were happy and content to sit on the floor and play with their own toys for hours. I never had to keep them out of the cupboards and bathrooms like I have with this little one. If I have forgotten to close bedroom doors during the day, Kate will come home to beads, makeup, and craft stuff on her floor and the boys will come home to books, actions figures, and stuffed animals on theirs.

One special and very sweet thing about Carlee is when she folds her arms for family prayer. When somebody says, "It's time for prayer," she is the first one ready. It is just so dang cute it is hard to stop laughing and gain composure and reverence. She even mumbles some jibber jabber while we are praying and looks up at us with those wide innocent eyes. I love it! I'll have to catch it on camera sometime. It is too cute!

Carlee is a sweetheart and we love her dearly. She keeps us busy and entertained and makes things exciting! We love you, Coco! Thanks for what you bring to our family!