Lilly rambles

Here is Lilly rambling on while sitting in her doll's stroller. Right before we got the camera out, she sat in the stroller and said "I too big for stroller. We need get a new one." Towards the end of the clip she says mommy and daddy's names, her full name and her birthdate.

Elf in training

Christmas Photos

I dragged Lilly to the portrait studio in her fancy dress as she likes to call it,(thanks Auntie Carol & Uncle Don!) to get her Christmas picture taken. We requested the same photographer as always and when we walked in, Lilly said, "I ready to take my picture!" I thought that was a good sign. I was wrong.

We went back to the studio and Lilly hopped up on the table while Miss Kristen got things set up. All was fine until we had the nerve to ask Lilly to stand and smile. That's when she LOST IT! She started crying for me to pick her up and would not let me put her on the table. When she got on the floor, she quickly ran into the hallway and when she saw me coming for her, Lilly threw herself on the floor and started kicking.

Miss Kristen tried to coax her back inside with a Santa book - it worked as long a I was holding her. As soon as I tried placing her on the table, the crying would start. After 30 minutes of this, Miss Kristen had to call an end to the session. Once Lilly heard that we were done, THEN she was willing to stand on the table. So all the shots we got were after the crying and fits on the floor.








These pictures were taken at home prior to going to the portrait studio and she is actually smiling!

Hint of Spring

We had crazy weather a couple of weeks ago - close to 80 degrees so we spent time outside.

Lilly playing with the leaves on the deck:



Lilly "helping" to fill the bird feeders:

Just a hint of Santa

There are more Santa pics and stories to tell but I think this picture of Lilly with Santa sums up how she feels about him in person:

Our Older Children

I know everyone wants more photos of Lilly up but I just haven't had the time or energy to work on those posts. So here are a couple of pictures of our older children: Elsie Mae Confetti, Cleo Marie Sassafrass and Streak Moonshine.

Reading

Lilly has always enjoyed books but lately she has become more of an independent reader. Her favorite reading spot used to be on your lap but now we spend a lot of time reading to her while she is standing near us or sitting beside us.

At bedtime, Joe used to be the one to read to her. He would sit in chair in her room and Lilly would be in his lap and they would read at least three books before bed. Lately she will not let Joe read to her at night - she must be in my lap. If Joe does read to her, she is usually sitting on my lap and Joe has to conduct the bedtime reading as the bookstores handle story time: the reader sitting away from the children and holds the book up so everyone can see the pictures.

The other night Lilly and I were on our own for bedtime and when it came time for books, Lilly picked one off of her self and went into her "closet" and said she wanted to read. Her closet is this space between her crib and the wall that she can fit into. She likes to go in there and pretend to sleep as well. She would not sit still for reading on my lap that night.

Yesterday she said she wanted to go get a book. So she headed down the hall into her room. When she didn't return, I called to her and asked her what she was doing. She said she was looking for a book. A few minutes later I wandered back to her room and this is what I saw:
I asked again what she was doing and she said "I reading Goodnight Moon myself." And she did have Goodnight Moon in her lap and was "reading" the appropriate words for the pages she was looking at.

Mommy Medicine

Lilly has become quite fond of playing doctor - she really likes to give flu shots and just this week has picked up the phrase "I want to go to doctor appointment." She had her second ear infection a couple of weeks ago and was on antibiotics for that and really liked the fact that she got to take medicine twice a day. At first she got very upset when she offered the medicine to Joe or myself and we said we did not need it. Then she started saying that she needed her medicine at various points during the day.

She knows that she had an ear infection and the PA we saw at the doctor's office said that she loosened up some ear wax in Lilly's ear so every once in awhile Lilly will say "Ear wax hurts, go to doctor." Of course when you ask her if her ears hurts she will say "No." At playgroup the other day, Lilly pulled herself onto a chair and said "I want to go to doctor appointment." When I asked her why she said "I have ear infection." I then asked her in which ear and she said "left ear" and put her finger in her left ear - YES she does know her left and right (about 85% of the time.)This then leads me to spend the rest of the day looking in her ear and gently tugging on it to see if she says it hurts. So far nothing.waiting for her appointment with Dr. Mommy

All this week, Lilly has been requesting the doctor appointment game after her bath. So we pretend we are the doctor and go through an exam: checking her eyes, ears, nose, mouth, belly, hands, knees, feet and listening to her heart. She ten wants Mommy/Daddy to go the to doctor so she can perform the exam. It's always fun having a 21 month-old come at you and say "i want check Mommy's eyes" as she sticks her fingers in your eyes. We have been performing a "Going to the Dentist" routine for a long time now and she has started asking to go to a "real" dentist.

If she ever gets a cut or scrape that needs some Neosporin on it, she requests that several times during the day and will put the ointment on you as well. You end up walking around with greasy spots all over you and your clothes. It was during one of those spells when I invented Mommy Medicine.

I always offer to "kiss and make better" any bumps/scratches/bruises, etc. she may have but sometimes that is not enough. So out comes the Mommy Medicine. I pretend that I am opening a jar and then sprinkle my Mommy Medicine onto the hurt body part and then blow on it three times and say "all better." Most times it works. Until today, I had never opened my jar of Mommy Medicine in public.

While at KinderMusik, Lilly took a nasty tumble on the floor and conked the back of her head on the floor. She was fine until the two moms that were near her started to make a fuss over it and then the tears started. In an effort to calm her down, I pulled out my medicine bag, administered the medicine and the tears stopped. After that, a few of the other moms wanted to know how to perform my Mommy Medicine Show and so I did. I guess working with doctors for eight years paid off after all!

Lilly's Christmas Wish

Lilly is ready for Christmas. Actually she is just ready to look at her Christmas tree that is in her room, talk/read about Santa (but not actually go anywhere near Santa), look at the decorations in stores (she is a master at finding wreaths and garland) and eating cookies.

A local shopping center had a Christmas celebration and Lilly got to ride the Santa train and get a balloon. She was curious that an elf gave her a balloon but wanted nothing to do with Santa.



Some people have started inquiring what Lilly would like for Christmas. She pretty much wants everything she sees but Mom and Dad have set some limits as to what she is allowed play with (please keep the "you're so mean" comments to yourself.) This is not an outright solicitation for gifts but for those who are interested, here are some things Lilly would like:

*wooden food and utensils for "cooking" (we like Melissa and Doug and the food from ETSY, actually anything from ETSY) - she loves to cook, her specialty is "mashed tatoes"

*books

*music (we like the Putumayo, Elizabeth Mitchell, and Stacy Clearman CD's) - this kid loves to dance and act silly

*another semester of KinderMusik or Gymboree

*arts & craft stuff (WASHABLE items!) - Lilly loves to paint and color

*educational items - she already knows her ABC's and we are working on numbers, puzzles

*Calico Critters - Lilly got the Hawthorne Hamster Family and adores them. It has lead to much crying and screaming when she is unable to hold them in her arms every second of the day.

*pretend play - Lilly likes to give us and her babies "shots" and go to the dentist

We like to keep toys fairly simple that let Lilly use her imagination so we ask for toys that do not require batteries. Lilly loves to pretend play so anything that can foster that would be welcome. We also ask for non-character toys (no Elmo, Disney, etc.)

We are trying to simplify the whole Christmas gift craze ourselves and remember that there are so many people who are actually in need of things during the holidays so a donation to Toys for Tots or other charity would be appreciated.

Is it Dec. 23?

No you say, it's only Nov. 25. Then how do you explain what we have in our living room:


We are notorious for getting our Christmas tree on Dec. 23 but this year it is up a whole month early! With Lilly around, we just couldn't help it. The Christmas decorations came down from the attic the day before Thanksgiving and they got put up on Friday. We went to the Farmers Market and Lilly thought she was in the woods. She would run in between all the trees and then command you to join her "in the woods."



I don't think there will be any ornaments on the tree this year. Lilly tried to pull the tree down as soon as it was up and the three cats have already been running around it, it looks as if the tree will be bare this season. Or until we get some non-breakable ornaments.

When we asked Lilly to stand in front of the tree, she quickly said "No." This is all we could capture with her near the tree - naked and running away from getting into the bath:


It might also seem like Christmas because one of Lilly's presents has been sitting in the living room and now the hallway for six days - waiting to be put together. She knows it is a present for her but other than trying to eat the Styrofoam, she has left it alone. Also we were treated to a new washer and dryer this weekend. Our old washer kicked a couple of weeks and we were waiting for repairs to happen this week when we discovered the dryer was acting up (it actually had scorch marks on the back and had melted the items that were sitting on top of it) so we decided to forget the repairs and get a new set. Merry Christmas to Mommy! It's amazing how excited you get when you can actually do laundry in your own house without having to hand wash your toddler's clothes in the kitchen sink because taking her to the laundromat by yourself will not work (we tried tag-teaming with her last weekend and it did not last very long before we all were frustrated!)

We have been listening to Christmas music and we noticed that "The Christmas Story" is playing on television today so we feel like we are definitely in the Christmas spirit!

Gobble, Gobble

We hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving. Lilly had a low-key day at our house with Granny, the cats and Mommy and Daddy.


Lilly was excited she got to help in the meal preparation. She helped me bake a cheesecake and pumpkin pie the day before:




This year Lilly got her very own plate of Thanksgiving food: turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, cranberry lemon relish, green bean casserole, olives and bread. She would not touch the turkey or green bean casserole. The mashed potatoes got spit back out (even though she always cooks mashed "tatoes" when she play cooks). The cheesecake and pumpkin pie with homemade whipped topping (thanks to Daddy) were a hit with her.

Christmas Parade

It is not even Thanksgiving but Raleigh held it's annual Christmas Parade today. Lilly and I went by ourselves because Joe had to work a wrestling gig. Lilly and I flew solo last year too for the same reason and it was much easier then. All I did was bundle her up, strap her in the baby carrier and off we went. I made sure she was nursed right before we went and nursed right when we came back. This year I had the stroller, two blankets, a chair for me and her, Lilly's lunch bag packed with snacks, water, wipes and tissue. Luckily all that fit in the basket under the stroller so it wasn't too bad but a lot more stuff to keep track of! I was debating even going since Lilly has an ear infections and has been a bit stuffy the last couple of days but decided we would try it.

She was excited about the parade at breakfast and when we got out of the car:


We found a spot and I set up the chairs for both of us. Lilly sat in her chair for about 5 seconds and then climbed in my chair and wanted to jump in it. When I told her she could not jump in the chair, she got mad and said she wanted to go home. The she wanted a snack even though she just ate breakfast. I have discovered when it comes to Lilly and waiting, it goes much better with food. So out came the snacks of fruit strips and veggie booty. Luckily there were some dogs walking nearby she could occupy herself with those once the snacks were gone.

Some women who were near us let us get in front of them so Lilly could see better. I was hoping she would sit in my lap but she was not having that. So I ended up putting her on my shoulders. Having an almost 24 pound child perched on your shoulders for two hours gets tiring very quickly but she was having a good time. It was hard to hear what she was saying most of the time but I could tell she liked the music form the bands because my head and ears would get tapped as she played the drums along with the bands.

I think her favorite part of the parade was the Highway Traffic Cone. I heard her say "I waved to her." She also enjoyed Muddy from the Carolina Mudcats, Stormy from the Carolina Hurricanes, the "okra" dog (it was a little dog dressed in a green dragon outfit that she thought was okra - no pictures of him), all the snowmen, horses and the drums (each time a band was coming, I would hear Lilly shout "I hear drums!)



When it was time for Santa, I got her off my shoulders and just held her. She did wave to him and made sure I knew that was ALL she was going to do with him as she kept saying "I just wave to Santa."
One of the floats had the characters from McDonald's on it and the women next to us said to Lilly "Look there is Ronald!" They kept trying to get her to look at him and I said she doesn't know who Ronald they asked my how old she was and acted shocked that she has never eaten McDonald's. Joe and I find that very bizarre that people assumed that once you have children you will visit fast food restaurants on a regular basis. Another woman handed me a candy cane to give to Lilly and when I would not take it, she looked as if I was starving my child by not letting her have it.

Anyway, when we got home I asked Lilly what she saw at the parade and she responded "police officer." We did see several police officers during the parade but they were not actually a part of the parade. After some prodding I was finally able to get her name some of the actual parade participants. Lilly kept her hat and jacket on the whole time and her gloves stayed on for the most part. We were right in the sunshine so it did not feel too cold out and there was not much wind as the weather forecast was calling for. I think she had a good time as evidenced by her expression on her face on our way back to the car:

Bear Country

In case you didn't know, this week is National Child Week at the Library. In honor of this, the Person County library had Brother and Sister Bear of the Berenstain Bears come for a visit (I don't know why the Wake County library couldn't pull this off.) Lilly is allowed to watch the Berenstain Bears on PBS each weekday morning while drinking her milk and this time allows Mommy to wake up and have a cup of coffee.

So Tuesday morning we skipped out on playgroup and headed up to Roxboro to see the bears. Lilly was excited to get in the car but as we got closer she grew tired of being in the car which led to some whining and having to pull over and find whatever toy she was screaming for. She kept throwing them saying "I throw (insert name of toy here) in car." I decided two rounds of this game was enough and she quickly flew into a rage. But once she heard me say that I could see the library, she got quiet and started looking out the window.

When the bears came out, Lilly quickly announced that she wanted to be picked up and did not want to get down. So all the pictures I took of Lilly and the bears are with her hanging off my hip, leaning ever so slightly in the direction of the bears:




She eagerly wanted down so she could hug the scarecrows that were in the library:


After about 15 minutes, the bears had to leave so they could get their snack. Lilly heard snack and wanted some of her own. So she got to eat her snack in the car driving to Durham to stop by the mall and have lunch with Daddy. Lilly quickly fell asleep in the car on our way back home:


So to recap our Tuesday, we missed our weekly playtime with friends so we could drive for 1.5 hours (one-way) to spend approximately 15 minutes with two of the Berenstain Bears, eat a mall lunch and fall asleep in the car. But when you hear Lilly talk about it- "I touch Brother's hand" and "I saw Sister at library" it makes it all worthwhile.

Random Bits of Lillian

This post is just a bunch of random things thrown together about what Lillian has been up to.

You might have noticed that I have typed "Lillian" rather than "Lilly." No typos - our Lilly now goes by Lillian. She has been calling herself that for awhile when she would see pictures of herself but now when she refers to herself (as in "Mommy/Daddy help Lillian," "Lillian help Mommy with dishes," "Cookie man smiled at Lillian," or "Dogs talking to Lillian.") Which is very strange because we have not called her Lillian that much but she knows it is part of her name so she is now Lillian. And yes she really does talk in sentences now!

A few weeks ago I found her playing in the hallway saying "Lillian is gorgeous I know it." I'm sure we have said that to her before but not that I can remember. Of course when I got the camera out she would not say it without me asking her the question. the video is very dark and hard to see but here it is:

Lillian has been making many strides in the Big Girl department. She now can sit at the table in a big person chair and eat and can even drink out of a big girl cup. Lillian even has her very own coffee cup she drinks her milk out of. Of course she does spill the drinks but is very controlled and says "slow sips" when we give her the cup. She does not like the rule about having to drink from the big girl cup in the kitchen. Lillian likes to walk around with her morning milk. Lillian is also eating off real plates as well. And when she is finished with her plate, she will sometimes hand it to me.



Lillian has her "please," "thank you's," and "you're welcomes" down as well. Although lately we have had to remind her to say them which can lead to a bit of a struggle as she likes to demand things NOW. The demands usually involve food such as "I want banana NOW!" and we make her say "please" before she is allowed to have the requested item. She also has quite a bossy streak going on too. She loves to tell you what to do or not to do. Most of that revolves around the cleaning and upkeep of said toddler like brushing teeth, wiping hands, combing hair, getting dressed.

Last year Lillian had a photo shoot for a local organic children's clothing company. We got a free glossy photo and a pair of socks and didn't think much of it. This afternoon I decided I wanted to buy a dress that I have had my eye on since them so I hopped on their website. I was trying to figure out the differences in the toddler and infant sizes when what do I see but a picture of Lilly from the shoot. As I started to scan through the site, I discovered that she appears three times in two different outfits. I am not sure when the pictures were posted as I have visited the sited previous times and did not see them. You can see for yourself: she is in the infant section under the sizing information, the chemise information (second form the left) http://www.happygreenbee.com/infant/tops/chemise and, the cardigan information http://www.happygreenbee.com/infant/tops/cardigan .

In more Big Girl news, Lillian has completed her potty chart. The chart started back in August when she first started using the potty and has been very sporadic since. But we keep putting her on it and sometimes she goes. She even sometimes asks to sit on the potty. Each time she actually uses the potty we out a star on her chart and she gets a star stamp on her hand. She loves the stamps and gets so excited after her hands are washed waiting for the stamp. She has Big Girl panties and she even went out of the house last week in them and stayed dry for about an hour (I forgot she didn't have a diaper on when we went to the store one afternoon so we made that trip very short!)

Lillian has hit the terrible two's already. Someone told me with her children the months 17-22 were the worst so I hope she ends her reign of terror soon. It can make for very long days. This year the time change seems to have affected her as the last few days have been very hard but she had a good day today along with a 2.5 hour nap that I had to wake her up from. Since Sunday she has only napped for an hour a day. Whenever she has a nice long nap and she is in a good mood, I remind her that naps make her feel better and we can play and have more fun.