My niece

As explained in my last post, I spent this past weekend in Ohio. I'm really kicking myself for not thinking to take my camera home! I was privileged to be able to spend a lot of time with my niece, who will be 2 next month. Although I'll admit that I may be somewhat biased...she has got to be one of the cutest kids ever!

When she first saw me on Saturday, she really wasn't too sure about me. She ran off to my brother, and I think she was about to start crying. However, my brother asked her if she remembered "Aunt Carrie." When she heard my name, she looked up at the pictures that my parents have hanging in their hallway. She pointed at a picture of me, and then looked over at me and smiled!! How adorable!

She's pretty good with "please" and "thank you." Of course, "Please" comes out sounding like "peace," but that just makes it cuter. At one point, I asked her if I "could please have one of her grapes?" I asked her a couple times, and she finally cocked her head to one side and said, "Thank you?"

She has started giving "kisses" by just touching her mouth to something or someone. Although most of the kisses seem to be reserved for Sampson (my brother's dog) or Smokey (my parents' cat), I did get a couple myself. One of her favorite things at my parents' house is their cuckoo clock. Every time it went off, she pointed to it, laughed, and said something along the lines of "cah-cahk."

On Saturday, she wanted to come upstairs with me, so I brought her up when I was getting my waffle-knit, zip-up hoodie. I was going to carry her back down the stairs, so I asked her to hold my sweater. She did, and I noticed that she was rubbing it all over her face. When we got downstairs, I put the sweater on, and she gave me the strangest look...like she thought I had 3 heads. I figured out what the look was for after my brother asked me to get her blanket for her. Her blanket and my sweater are made of fabric with the same texture...so she must've thought I was wearing her blanket.

This is definitely one of the reasons that I like going home to visit my family...hanging out with my niece. :)