Lilly's Pad

Park Playgroup

2010-08-18T16:27:00.001-04:00

Lillian & Emily

Lily & Lillian

Lily, Lillian & Emily

Lillian & Lily

Lillian, Rory, Lily & Emily

Emily, Lily & Lillian

the bathroom hand dryer was quite a hit

Emily & Lillian

carrying a log for some reason

Rory, Emily, Lillian & Lily on the trail

Rory trying to keep up with the big girls

Nicholas and Rory falling behind the girls

She writes dog

2010-08-12T15:45:00.000-04:00

Lillian loves these Puzzle Buzz maagazines. They are a mixture of hide-n-seek picture games, hidden picture games, mazes and word puzzles. We always do the word code puzzle together. But today she did the entire thing by herself, in her room during quiet time. She even was able to figure out the one letter that was missing from a rip in the page. And she got the answers correct!!! Way to go PPie!

Here are the jokes:
What is a dog's favorite pizza topping?
pupperoni

What dog loves to take baths?
a shampoodle

What do you call a sick dog?
a germy shepherd

What dog can tell time?
a watch dog

Lazy afternoon coloring

2010-08-11T14:27:00.000-04:00

Bittersweet Playgroup

2010-08-11T14:22:00.001-04:00

Summer has always been a tough time to keep our playgroup going - vacations, out of town guests and unpredictable weather. Preschool is getting ready to start up and the kids will be on different school schedules. This group, minus a few people, has been together since Lillian was 6 weeks old. Now four and-a-half years later, there are younger siblings and the group has dwindled to four families. It has been as much as getting the kids together as the moms together to share laughs, frustrations, tears and memories with each other. These are Lillian's first friends and I so hope she keeps them during her life's journey.

Today three of us got together at a new playground that was built on top of an old landfill. It was a nice playground with picnic tables, water fountain and bathrooms. The kids seemed to have a good time even with the 100 degree heat.

Lillian & Lily


Lillian, Lily & Emily in the princess castle


Emily, Rory, Lillian, Nicholas & Lily the bathrooms had a keypad on the outside which provided plenty of entertainment


Lily, Emily & Lillian striking poses


peach eating time

Quick Things

2010-08-09T14:01:00.000-04:00

This is the joke Lillian told me this morning:

Why did the goose cross the road? So he could quack all the way there.

She also informed me Freckles are not fit for mouses.

We ran into Miss Linda, the music and movement teacher at preschool yesterday and I thought Lillian was going to jump into Miss Linda's arms. She was so excited to talk to her. So far we have run into four of her teachers this summer. School starts back up in September and she will be going 3 days a week! She did attend summer camp and I still need to get that post up. Along with our beach trip.

Lillian is getting quite skillful in using her charms on people. She got a peach from one of the farmer market guys by tossing her head to the side as she was talking to him.

She told me the other day Sometimes at night I get up and roam around the house. I take things and bring them back to my room to investigate.

ZZZZZZZZZZZ

2010-06-28T13:35:00.000-04:00

I used to be worried that everything had to be just so for Lillian to sleep. Not so much anymore. She doesn't nap at home but will usually fall asleep in the car in the afternoon. She used to wake up when you got her out of the car, but not anymore. Here a just a few pictures of her sleeping on the couch after falling asleep in the car on the way home from the pool.

Bathtub Posing

2010-06-28T13:31:00.000-04:00

Localvore

2010-06-28T10:30:00.005-04:00

We have apparently brainwashed Lillian. It started out simply with discussion and emphasis on fresh fruits and vegetables and eating healthy. We try to stay away from HFCS and partially hydrogenated oils. The fast food restaurants she has visited Moe's and Chipotle. She asks me to read the labels on packages to make sure there is no bad things in it. And if there are, she quickly wants to put them back on the shelf.

We belong to a local CSA, Double T Farm, and get our weekly allotment each Saturday. She loves to nibble the produce. In fact, this week we received fennel and she nearly ate an entire bulb by herself, raw. Actually she prefers her veggies raw. As I am writing this, she is nibbling on a piece of raw corn.

Sunday she asked to got the big farmers market to look at the plants. While we were there, we bought some blueberries and blackberries. In the car this morning, she was eating some of the blueberries and exclaimed, "These are the best blueberries ever!" I said they probably tasted so good because they were fresh, grown from a local farmer. Then she screamed, "I know. That's because local food is best mommy, right?"

This was our produce from Double T a few weeks ago:

This is/was our first tomato out of our little garden for the season. I was transplanting some mint and Lillian said the tomato was ripe and could she pick it. I said sure and she came over to me eating it! The whole thing was gone in a minute.

A quick thinker

2010-06-17T14:37:00.000-04:00

Lillian asked me if she could watch a video on the small DVD player we have in the bedroom and I hesitated to ponder the question. Before I could reply, she blurted out, "I'll take your silence as a yes." And with that she scampered down to the bedroom and brought back the DVD player. She proceeded to set it up all by herself and turn it on.

Ft. Lillian

2010-06-17T14:33:00.000-04:00

As I made banana muffins this morning, Lillian was creating a fort under the desk in the living room. It has all the necessary things: blankets, pillows, critters, flowers (wilted lilies), a muffin, paper, pencils, stickers and a strict, no-panty wearing policy.

Mermaid on a pirate ship

2010-06-11T15:47:00.000-04:00

This is what awaited Lillian when she came home from summer camp today:

There is a small leak somewhere in the pool but it was free and not that big of a problem. She had lots of fun in the fun this afternoon. She was a mermaid on a pirate ship.

Flower Child

2010-06-10T13:43:00.000-04:00

Little Big Girl

2010-06-10T10:44:00.000-04:00

After the haircut, Granny came into town for the weekend. Lillian had to take Granny on the R-Line to the NC Museum of History. But before that, we headed out to lunch. Lillian had to bring her purse. She carries all the essentials in it too: pair of shoes, a sweater, a water bottle, 2 packs of gum, dental floss, wallet and a change purse.

She hung it on the back of her chair at the restaurant. When the bill came, Lillian hopped down from her chair and pulled out her wallet. She asked me, "Is this a restaurant where you leave money on the table?" When i said yes, she pulled out a dollar bill from her wallet and placed it on the table.

Money Well Spent

2010-06-07T16:15:00.000-04:00

Today was Lillian's first day of summer camp. Her preschool is holding the summer camp which consists of three different week-long classes. We quickly signed her up for the first session but weren't sure about the other two weeks. As school came to a close and she was loving it, we added the other two weeks in.

When she got into the car this afternoon, she shoved the craft they made in my face and told me all about the kids in her class. She said there were new girls that she played with and invited one of them over to the house. She told me all about the craft they were going to do the next day in class and then screamed, "I'm so excited!"

Priceless.

First Haircut!

2010-06-04T16:56:00.001-04:00

Today, at the ripe old age of (almost) 41/2 years-old, Lillian had her first haircut. I have been snipping away at it for awhile but knew it needed a real cut. Everytime I approached the topic, Lillian was against it. But her best friend recently got her haircut and one day this week while trying to brush her hair, Lillian said she was tired of all the knots in her hair. I asked her is she wanted her hair cut, she said yes! So I quickly called our hair lady, Miss Gail, and she was able to squeeze Lillian in this morning.

This morning, before the cut:

I really thought Lillian would balk as soon as we hit the door but she didn't. She was all smiles heading to the wash basin. It took a bit of configuring to get her neck in the correct position but we got it and all went well. Even Miss Gail was impressed at how well Lillian was doing because she has seen the Lillian terror at times!

About 2 inches was cut from the bottom and a light layer was put in the back. Miss Gail blow dried Lillian's hair and even put some cute pins in it but Lillian quickly took the pins out. All in all, not much different from before, which is a good thing. Hopefully it will make it easier to brush and comb. Miss Gail gave Lillian a piece of gum and Mr. Rick gave her a huge lollipop.

After the cut:

Sleepy Girl

2010-06-03T14:20:00.000-04:00

Lillian will only nap in the car now and this weekend she fell asleep in the car. I carried her inside expecting her to wake up but she didn't. I held her for awhile but needed to get some things done so I put her on the couch. Where she stayed asleep for a good hour and a half! It was not a fun time trying to get her to go to bed that night because her nap occurred from 3:00 - 4:30 pm. She finally stopped getting out of her room around 9:45 pm. She is usually in bed around 8:00 pm. But luckily I had these pictures to remind me that she is cute when asleep.

She's awake. And with post-nap hair. I love post-nap hair!

Last Day of the First Year of Preschool

2010-06-03T14:08:00.000-04:00

Tuesday, May 25 was the Lillian's last day of preschool for the year. As a thank you to the teachers, we made a green tea cookies for them and wrote some quick thank you notes. Lillian decorated the cookie bags and drew a picture to go on her note cards and wrote each teacher's name on the envelope. She got really tired doing this and got sloppy with the writing.

Her class was having a picnic and parents were invited to come. Even Granny got to come with us! The kids all helped make the food : ham & cheese or PB&J sandwiches, carrots, cucumbers, pretzels and punch. The next day was a classmates birthday so there were even some cute cupcakes.

The teachers had buckets for each child loaded with goodies. Lillian's had a book, a bubble wand, a bug place mat and an adorable ladybug hand print wall hanging.

Lillian eating lunch with her bestie Lily:

Lillian and her teachers, Miss Starr:

and Mrs. Bacchi:

and Miss Vivian, the school director:

After eating, Joe started blowing bubbles and mayhem ensued:

Lillian and Faith taking a break to eat a cupcake:

Posing on a bench in the front of school:

Being the last day, I made Lillian pose for a picture before leaving for school. Don't let the pictures fool you, she was not that excited about school being over! Each day since then, she asks me if it is a school day. Luckily summer camp starts next week!

Portrait Painter

2010-05-19T15:21:00.000-04:00

Lillian is hooked on audio books. Lately she (we) have been listening to the series on the Pix*e Holl*w Fairies. We were listening to one about Bess, a paint talent fairy, and her adventures in painting portraits of all the fairies. Lillian decided to paint my portrait.

So that afternoon I was summoned to the kitchen and was made to sit on a chair and "Sit still Miss Prill" while Lillian painted my portrait. I got admonished for taking pictures of the artist at work.

You will have to wait for the final picture as it is being framed for a birthday present this week.

Don't ask because I have no answers

2010-05-19T15:11:00.000-04:00

Will work for ice cream

2010-05-18T13:16:00.000-04:00

Last month my boss asked Lillian to come into the studio to be photographed for a competition. We bribed Lillian with the promise of ice cream if she behaved. Here are the results. And yes, Lillian got ice cream.

Here chicky chicky

2010-05-18T12:09:00.000-04:00

This past Saturday was the annual Henside the Beltline Chicken Coop Tour. The weather was great, if not a bit too hot towards the end of the event. Two chickens ganged up on Joe and pecked off one of the buttons on his shorts.

Class Picture

2010-05-11T14:46:00.002-04:00

Lillian's Preschool Class

Millbrook United Methodist Preschool

back row, left to right:

Miss Starr, Gavin, Michael, Jason, Nathan, Mrs. Bacchi

front row:
Lillian and Lily

(Walker and Faith not pictured)

I'm sorry but my baby is pretty

2010-05-05T12:48:00.000-04:00

Strawberry Pickin'

2010-05-05T12:39:00.000-04:00

It's strawberry season so playgroup met at a local strawberry farm to go pickin'. Lillian was a super fast picker and before I knew it, she had filled her bucket up halfway!

Lily and Lillian pickin'

Emily, Lily and Lillian

Mommy's Wipe Out

2010-04-30T10:06:00.000-04:00

Potty talk for those with sensitive tummies.

We have been having a battle with Lillian wiping herself after she has a bowel movement. She did this task by herself months ago and was very pleased with herself and then she stopped. Not a big deal I thought, she'll get it. But lately when I have asked her to do it, she will get angry.

So lately we have been taking turns wiping. I wipe once, then she wipes and so on. This morning she called me in the bathroom and told me that some days are Lillian wipe days and some days are mommy wipe days. I know she can do this herself so I said that I needed to check the calendar to see what day it was. I had my cell phone on me so I opened up the calendar and typed "Lillian wipe day."

Lillian asked for the phone and I gave it to her. She asked me to spell my name so I told her the letters. Then she showed me the phone:

She had typed "mommy" on the calendar so it was mommy's turn to wipe. "That's what the calendar says so do it," she called out in a sing-song voice. I wiped once and then left the bathroom so I would not laugh in front of her. She proceeded to wipe herself and even got a chocolate for it.

Note from school

2010-04-29T14:17:00.001-04:00

General Silliness

2010-04-29T09:50:00.000-04:00

Off to school

2010-04-29T09:37:00.000-04:00

When I asked Lillian how she wanted to wear her hair today, she repsonded with "one braid and one pigtail." So that is what she got.

She also dressed herself this morning, as she does almost everyday now. She said she was wearing tights because the dress is a bit short.

We also found a piece of a bird egg under the birdhouse so she is bringing that to school to show Miss Pam in the discovery science class.

It was also time for her class to make lunch for the teachers so we made some green tea shortbread cookies.

Lillian The Animal Rescuer

2010-04-16T21:02:00.000-04:00

At dinner Lillian noticed a bird hanging from the tree off of our deck. Joe went out to see about it and a robin had one of its legs wrapped around some string and was dangling from a branch. Joe cut the string off and noticed that the leg was broken. So off to our vet office where they inform Joe which emergency vet to take the bird to for rehab. Joe said the bird fall asleep in his hand on the drive and woke up and started pecking his hand when Joe handed over the the rehab vet people. Yay Lillian! Kinda reminds me of our college days when Joe and I rescued a nest of baby birds. Way to go Lillian! Wish we would have gotten a picture of the bird though.

Favorite Things Friday

2010-04-16T20:50:00.000-04:00

Today we did some of Lillian's favorite activities - went to storytime (outside), dressed up as a ladybug, had a picnic, watched wildlife (squirrels, birds, bees, butterflies, dragonflies and even a chipmunk) and ran around the Raleigh Rose Garden.

All good parties end in tears

2010-04-15T21:18:00.001-04:00

This evening a local shopping center kicked off its Thursday night beach music concert series. And like all things close, family friendly and free, we were there. And so was the fast-food restaurant cow. And our friends Lily and Rory (and their parents too).

The band started playing the girls started dancing. And hugging. And rolling on the mats the center so lovingly put out for the kids to have their own little kiddie mosh pit. And squealing. And bumping into people and falling down. Making new friends.

It was all fun until one fall too many and tears were shed, feelings were hurt and sorry's were attempted. Perhaps next time we won't try to pick up our friends. Lillian and Lily had been taking turns picking each other up and getting a bit physical. Nothing malicious just two active four year-olds having a blast.

Would you care for a spot of tea?

2010-03-31T15:35:00.001-04:00

There is a tea cottage next to Lillian's preschool. Since it opened in October, Lillian has been asking to go. When I pick her up from school and we drive by it she will say, "The open sign is on mommy. That means we can go in." I had been saving it (OK, bribing) for a special occassion. Lillian has done real well at keeping her playroom and room cleaned up so since it is spring break, I thought we would go there this afternoon.

Instead of coming right out to tell her, I mimed the activity for her (thanks daddy and Comedy Worx for that). She guessed it and asked to wear a fancy dress. I said sure but she would need a sweater over it and she couldn't wear the matching shoes outside. She decided to wear a regular dress and her velvet shoes. I was deemed "not fancy" in my jeans and shirt until I pulled my hair up!

We got there and it was crowded. Lillian was the youngest person there by at least 60 years! The place was full as there was a person in the main room giving a history lesson of the local area and street. The house was built in 1910 and so far the family has managed to hang onto it despite pleas for developers. And our server turned out to be the neighbor of Lillian's preschool teacher!

We were seated in another room and presented with a menu of teas. We selected a a pot of lavender flower herbal tea. With the tea came cinnamon raisin scones and fresh strawberry cream and jam. For lunch I had the spinach quiche and Lillian had the chicken salad. Just when Lillian asked me if they had dessert, our server told us the dessert options. We chose one of each, chocolate for me and berry pound cake for Lillian. Of course she wanted to share, which means she eats most of hers then you give your half-eaten desert to her!

Dinner is served

2010-03-15T16:41:00.000-04:00

A couple of weeks ago Lillian made dinner for us. She prepared a salad. She chopped and stirred. And even tongs were used.

Final product.

I believe these are all the ingredients: spinach, parsley, blood orange slices, a green apple, a lemon, cranberries, several dried herbs, soymilk, ranch dressing and salt. Daddy even ate a few bites of the salad.

Fun with playgroup

2010-03-15T16:32:00.000-04:00

Out at the local art museum's walking trail

Wyatt, Lillian, Owen, Lily and Rory

Lillian and Lily

playing hide and seek around the naked bottom sculpture

Such a sweet class picture!

2010-03-02T13:32:00.000-05:00

The kids made playdoh at school today. Thought these were so sweet. And yes that is Lillian with her "signature pose" sitting next to the teacher, Miss Starr.

Irish Princess

2010-03-02T10:11:00.001-05:00

Lillian told me yesterday that she was an Irish Princess and had to wear fancy clothes. We were rearranging the clothes in her dresser drawers (she has 33 pairs of panties!) yesterday and Lillian picked out clothes worthy of an Irish Princess to wear to school today. This is the ensemble she came up with:

pink sweater with flowers, a pink and cream striped shirt, a hot pink and orange floral skirt, hot pink pants (I added those because it was too cold not to have legs covered), hot pink socks and red glitter shoes.

Fourth Birthday

2010-02-18T23:12:00.000-05:00

Lillian told me the day before her birthday that daddy and I needed to wake her up in the morning by dumping garbage bags full of balloons on her bed. That is what we did last year. So daddy dutifully blew up all the balloons we had in the house so this task could be accomplished.

But Lillian woke up and came into our room before we had the chance to do the balloon drop so we hustled her back into her room. That was not an easy task. Once she was inside the balloons dropped commenced. At first she was pretending not to enjoy all the balloons but soon she changed her tune. Last year it was so much easier to keep the balloons in her bed as she was still sleeping in a crib; the bars came in handy for not letting the balloons escape!

We gave her our card and some stickers and started our normal routine of getting ready for school. At her school each birthday child gets to create a little booklet and they can bring in a favorite toy, book, etc. to show the class. Lillian wanted NO part in this activity. I did finally mange to get her to fill out the birthday book - she did not like that I added actual photographs to her book. And she refused to bring anything to show the class. I thought she might be afraid of losing the object and assured her that her teachers and mommy would make sure that her toy came home with her but she would not bring anything. I think she just did not want to share anything with her classmates!

After school she came home to Granny and got to open the presents Granny brought. Once daddy came home she opened more presents and we took her out to dinner (she wanted to go to her favorite restaurant, Sweet T*matoes but we convinced her to try Tij*ana Flats instead.) Once dinner was over and we were back home, she got to blow out the candles on a birthday brownie; the real cake only happens for the birthday party!

She did say here, "I am positively happy"

When it was time to go to bed, in true Lillian fashion, when asked if she had a good birthday, her response was, "No." She will never say she had a good time even though you know she did.

Happy Birthday mommy's little PeaPie, daddy's sweet baby, Granny's little stinker and Grandma's little lily pad.

Snow Again

2010-02-15T21:26:00.000-05:00

Yes it snowed again here but only a couple of inches and did not stick to the roads. And this time the snow was great for snow cream and snowball making. I had to work that morning so Joe and Lillian were kind enough to pelt me and the car with snowballs as I headed out. They made a snowman (no finished pictures) which fell over so they proceeded to demolish the poor thing. From the report I heard, Lillian really got into kicking the snowman! They later made snow cream which I think might be Lillian's favorite thing about snow; other than getting wrapped up in the pink snuggie (yes I have one - it was a Christmas gift) and hot Ovaltine. By the time I arrived home that afternoon most the snow was gone.

Tent City

2010-02-15T21:13:00.000-05:00

Lillian loves to make our bed her tent so Saturday morning before they ventured out in the snow, they played tent. It really was just Lillian under the tent as daddy was in the shower once he built the tent. And when I tried to play with her she got mad so I just took pictures of her.

Teddy and Beddy

Two Cats Getting Ready for Bed

2010-02-15T21:01:00.000-05:00

Elsie is the only cat ~~brave~~ stupid enough to actually come near Lillian without being forcibly held down. Tonight Elsie jumped in Lillian's bed. Of course Lillian was on the floor with me and daddy was sleeping on Lillian's bed but she did jump on the bed. Lillian quickly took advantage of the situation. She loves her some cuddle time with Elsie.

These boots are made for walking

2010-02-12T13:37:00.000-05:00

or not!

She picked it out herself!

2010-02-12T10:17:00.000-05:00

Preschool Valentines

2010-02-12T10:14:00.000-05:00

Thursday myself and another mommy, Lillian's best friend Lily's mommy, went to preschool to help the kids make Secret Kiss Cupcakes in celebration of Valentines Day. Lillian was not very happy with me being there. The kids had to bring valentines for all the kids and they each made a mailbox out of an empty milk jug.

playing with blocks

stringing bead with Michael and Lily

putting sprinkles on the cupcakes (the only part of the baking process Lillian would participate in)

finished product Lillian brought home

making her mailbox with Mrs. Bacchi

Miss Starr

Picking out the line leader for music class

Lillian's Valentine Mailbox

Valentine matching game and cup from her teachers

Valentines from the class

Queen of Icing

2010-02-12T09:23:00.000-05:00

I was decorating some cookies for Lillian's upcoming party and she wanted to help. So she got out the Cheeri*s and I gave her a bag with icing.

First Official Snow Day

2010-02-02T08:02:00.004-05:00

Although Lillian has seen snow before, it even snowed the day she was born, I am counting today as her first snow day. Why you may ask? Because her school is closed today. Her preschool follows the county and the county schools are closed for a second day today.

When I told her that she would not be going to school she said, "But I don't get to go to school and have fun?" I said no and she said, "But I've already done all in my playroom!" We are all going a bit stir crazy not going anywhere so this morning we are going to head out the a local museum and watch the groundhog predict the weather!

First Official Snow Day

2010-02-02T08:02:00.000-05:00

School Artwork

2010-01-28T14:09:00.002-05:00

The latest artwork Lillian has brought home. She is getting better with her letters to write her name. But she doesn't quite get that the letters should be in a specific order!

cup of hot cocoa with marshmallow's

"Snow Storm"

Snowman Soup

2010-01-28T14:07:00.003-05:00

This came home with Lillian today:

It is hot cocoa mix with snowman marshmallows and a peppermint stick. I had to hide it in a cabinet to keep her from opening it when we came home.

Dental Drama

2010-01-27T13:05:00.007-05:00

Today Lillian had a dentist appointment. This would be her third or fourth time going and she knows what to expect, which is not a good thing. She does not like the scraper and lets you know, repeatedly, that she does not like it.

It was a bit tough getting her in the door of the waiting room but she quickly started playing. The real drama started when the hygienist called her name. Lillian would not move. So I picked her up and we went back to the room. The hygienist was real nice and patient and got Lillian to calm down with talk about princesses and prizes for being good.

A little back story - last Thursday Lillian fell and hit her mouth on the armrest of the chair very hard. There was blood and lots of tears and screaming. When it happened, her teeth appeared to be fine and since we already had an appointment for today we decided to wait and see.

I told the hygienist about the fall and Lillian filled in the details for me. Lillian was very concerned that the hygienist and dentist were not going to be gentle on her hurt teeth. Once the gentle and big girl discussion was over, Lillian did pretty good for the rest of the appointment. She got her teeth cleaned and X-rays. They barely had to scrape her teeth at all! She does have very deep grooves in her molars that could be an easy target for cavities as she gets older. The X-rays should healthy adult teeth and good placement.

The dentist could see trauma to the ligaments on her front teeth and some swelling and one tooth is a bit wiggly. We are supposed to watch for signs of dying - discoloration, a bubble on the gum, increased pain and swelling. If it does start to die, it will need to come out. The dentist said it was a 50/50 chance. She has teeth much worse that she knew would have to come out and they healed and other teeth that don't look so bad that do need to come out. Her own daughter had the same thing happen at 3 years of age and developed anabscess at the age of 5 and needed to have the tooth removed. If it doe shave to come out, it should not affect her adult tooth or placement of the rest of her adult teeth. So we get to lookforward to worrying about this tooth for a long time apparently!

After the appointment, Lillian got 2 tokens to use to pick out prizes. She got an elephant ring and a bracelet. She even got very upset when I told her the dentist said we did not have to brush her teeth tonightbecause of the fluoride varnish they applied to her teeth! I guess we have drilled in the concept of the "sugar bugs" drilling holes in teeth while she sleeps if she doesn't brush!

A bit nervous and upset. But she mathces the chair!

X-ray time!

Cleaning time. Lillian liked the brush because it was pink and purple but did not like the taste of the toothpaste.

The cool sunglasses she got to wear so the light would not get in her eyes.

Preschool in Pictures

2010-01-26T18:26:00.003-05:00

The Christmas gift her teachers gave the class

Making igloos out of Styrofoam

Making sweet potato biscuits

Horse Play

2010-01-20T13:33:00.004-05:00

We headed out to the park today and met a surprise in the parking lot:

The City of Raleigh's horse patrol. In addition to patrolling downtown, they try to visit a park once a week and we were in luck to be at the right park today. The two policemen had the horses walk around the playground before they headed down a trail. As we were leaving the park, so were the horses.

Lillian had a fine time honing her climbing skills and looking cute!

Everything in its place

2010-01-19T11:08:00.000-05:00

We have been trying very hard to have Lillian pick her toys up once she is finished playing with them. It is a struggle for all of us - it is much easier to just leave them on the floor. But pretty soon you can't walk on the floor without stepping on something.

We also STRESS that markers, pens, crayons, et all are only for paper. Yesterday I noticed some marker drawings on her white chair. Wasn't too upset over the marks on the chair but was upset if she had decided to draw on the chair.

When I questioned Lillian on the situation, she said she was drawing on paper but got carried away. Fine I said but then asked where she got the marker from. Without missing a beat she said, "I found it in your bedroom. Now markers don't belong in your bedroom, do they mommy?"

No Lillian they don't, but neither do they belong drawn on furniture.

Cold Sand

2010-01-15T09:30:00.003-05:00

It has been unusually cold here for awhile but playgroup decided to brave the cold and go to a local park. It was actually nice in the sun plus we were the only people there! The kids had fun playing on the fort, digging in the sand and swinging. After the park we headed out for a quick bite to eat. Lillian had excellent manners while eating and came home with dirt stained pants legs.

Lillian (purple jacket and ponytail), Emily and Wyatt.

Lunch Bunch Results

2010-01-15T09:22:00.002-05:00

All went well with Lillian eating lunch at school. She was very excited because Miss Vivian sat next to her. She even said she had a good time, which is not something Lillian says often, even when we know she had a good time!

I packed her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, carrots, gorgonzola crackers and an apple. She said she ate everything but the apple because she got full. So the apple was her snack as we read books before her quiet time. Now whether or not she actually ate all of her sandwich and carrots I am not sure. She usually does not eat a whole sandwich but who knows.

Lunch Bunch

2010-01-13T20:18:00.003-05:00

Lillian's preschool starts Lunch Bunch on Thursday. Each Thursday Lillian will get to stay 45 minutes later because she will be eating lunch at school! Another great thing about MUMPS is that the lunch bunch is already factored in to the tuition; many school you pay extra! This is a pretty major thing; she has a snack at school but this will be the first time she will eating a meal away from us (other than with family on occasional babysitting jaunts).

I ordered her a lunch bag and it came just in time! It is pink (her FAVORITE) and there is a butterfly on it. I had some letters left over from her backpack so I went ahead and monogrammed it (the company will only allow you 3 letters in a monogram!)

When I showed it to Lillian she was super excited and went and filled it up with lunch:

two Spicy V8 drinks
lots of cheese (string and sliced)
apples
an orange
two cups of yogurt

I hope she is hungry!

New Family Portrait

2010-01-06T16:11:00.002-05:00

by Lillian.

from left to right:

Daddy, Rory (little sister to Lillian's best friend Lily), Lillian and Mommy

Paper Heart

2010-01-05T11:34:00.004-05:00

Lillian cut this heart out all by herself this morning:

I drew the lines and she cut it out and then proceeded to put stickers on it.

Back to school

2010-01-05T11:26:00.003-05:00

Today preschool started back up after being our for the holidays. It went pretty smooth considering the last few weeks of preschool were met with tears and fits. I usually walk into the school with Lillian but the teachers thought it best if we did the carpool for drop-off in the morning. Apparently once she enters the classroom she calms right down so she was putting on a show for me. I told them we would start carpool at the beginning of the new year.

Lillian was fine with the morning routine at home and went into the car easily. She started to get a bit upset as we sat in the carpool line. A few tears started leaking out of her eyes and the makings of the preschool fit. But we saw her teachers waving to us from the classroom and I kept telling her how excited the teachers, her friend Lily and Moonlight, the class fish, were to see her. Luckily Miss Vivian came very soon and Lillian went right with her into the building.

Lillian did give me a couple jobs to complete while she is at school: make a valentine crown and bring her a cup of peppermint tea when I pick her up!

Her back to school poses this morning:

Fake Blood and Hearts

2010-01-05T11:17:00.003-05:00

A trip to the dollar store turned into Valentine headquarters for Lillian. She found a bag of 200 foam Valentine stickers that she had to have. So we bought them and headed home to get started on Valentines.

I would cut the paper hearts out and she would put the stickers on them. As I started dinner she was still going strong only now she had the big scissors and was cutting. No big deal - she was doing a pretty good job. Later on I noticed some red stuff on her fingers and asked her if she cut herself. Of course she said she didn't, that it was just fake blood. I asked her where she got the fake blood from and this was her response: "When paper and glue mix together it makes fake blood. That's all. Of course it's fake blood."

I convinced her fake blood and all to wash her hands and I looked for a cut. Couldn't find any cuts so we went back to our chores. Once daddy came home I noticed more red on her fingers. This time daddy was able to find the cut and we told Lillian she had cut her finger while she was using the big scissors and we need to clean it and but a bandage on it. All of a sudden the cut hurt and the whole way back to the bathroom she was whimpering, "It hurts! Will the hurt go away? Ouch!"

Here she is with her bandage finger that was leaking fake blood:

Happy New Year - 2010

2010-01-01T14:26:00.009-05:00

For New Year's Eve, we headed out the Raleigh's First Night Celebration. In the afternoon it is geared toward children with activities around the museums and finishing with a parade, the People's Procession and an early acorn (Raleigh is the City of Oaks) drop at 7:00 pm. It was cold so we bundled up.

Lillian got to make lots of crafts: a smile stick, a joystick complete with a purple glow stick, a heart that was displayed with other hearts, a happiness journal, a hat and a set of hand prints. We watched a puppet show, some hula hoop dancers, huge walking puppets and a mariachi band.

Everyone was invited to walk in the People's Procession and as we did it started to rain. Just a drizzle so we kept on going.

The procession ended at a stage and there was the acorn, lifted high in the sky with the help of a crane.
A band was playing as we waited for the acorn drop and the rain got a bit harder. We found a little shelter under a stage for the news reporters and cameras so we had Lillian stand there to keep dry. But she wanted to get up higher for the acorn drop.

She would get very excited each time we would announce, "10 more minutes." Then we all counted down as the acorn dropped. Then there were fireworks which she got a bit upset about. We did not know there were going to be fireworks and usually they don't bother her, but I think the whole event was a bit overwhelming to her. Lillian and I headed for the car to go home as Joe left to perform in a couple shows that Comedy Worx was hosting during the event.

New Year's Day started out with Lillian bringing breakfast to Joe in bed - a bowl with 3 green onions, an apple, a pear and a carton of yogurt. The she made some of her own raisin bread - because I toasted the last piece of bought raisin bread and she did not want her bread toasted:

The it was time for the traditional New Year's Mexican feast and Lillian got to try her first Pina Colada and Mojito (non-alcoholic of course.) Here she is sipping the PC:

and with her Mojito and plate at lunch:

Happy New Year!

Christmas 2009

2009-12-30T14:24:00.000-05:00

Text to come later

View some photos here.

So Sweet

2009-12-29T22:41:00.000-05:00

As I was tucking Lillian into bed tonight, she told me, "You are my joy. Daddy is my love."

Guess I was told

2009-12-04T08:41:00.000-05:00

This morning I asked Lillian to move her doll stroller from the middle of kitchen while I was unloading the dishwasher and this is how she responded:
"Well you can just walk around it Mama."

Christmas Decorating - Lillian Style

2009-12-02T15:45:00.004-05:00

You don't really get to decorate when Lillian helps you. She arranges items to her liking and if there is anything that resembles a person or an animal, that item will end up in a tea party, picnic or sleeping. And if it is a circle, it will end up on her head at some point.

It is all very cute but the critters having a sleep/tea party on the Christmas placemat HAD to stay like that in the middle of the living room floor for three days. Luckily I convinced her today that the cats might eat them if we left them on the floor any longer!

Can I get an order of 2 L's and a side of R please?

2009-11-18T14:22:00.003-05:00

Today for playgroup it was just the L girls (Lillian and Lily) for preschool story time at the library. The girls had fun singing sons, some even in Spanish, and listening to books. The books were all about silly things such as a cow laying an egg. The girls took the silly theme seriously and had a a blast running around together once the program was finished.

Both girls (actually all three girls, Lily's little sister Rory) made it known they were hungry so we all headed over to the local preschool lunch spot for a bite to eat. The L's sat next to each other and when they were finished eating, announced that they were going to the bathroom by themselves. The mean mommies had to step in and I took the L's to the potty. I was not allowed in the stall, just the two of them where I overheard such things as: "Look, it's not automatic!" "No I will flush for you and you can flush for me." "I will help you with your tights." A few other things I did not quite understand and lots of giggles and squeals.

Big Girl Bed - for real

2009-11-05T21:11:00.003-05:00

Lillian has been in a real twin-sized big girl bed for a few weeks now. Thanks to my seasonal employment with a certain company that we purchased her changing table/dresser from, we got it a great price. She loves it and it is much easier for us to snuggle with her on it!

Of course the new bed takes up most of her room so we had to do some reconfiguration and have not completed hanging things up yet but she likes it.

Pictures

2009-11-05T11:08:00.002-05:00

Halloween 2009

2009-10-31T23:08:00.001-04:00

Halloween started probably in September with Lillian saying she wanted to be a cat for the occasion. Great but she wanted to be a blue cat, specifically calling it the Cinderella cat. Now she is not allowed to have "character" toys so I was a bit stumped about how she came up with this idea. After informing me of how she wanted her costume, no tutu skirt and frills, we found a cat pattern and set out to look for fabric. Luckily Joe reminded me that if we got the fabric like Cinderella, the costume would look silly and not at all like a cat. So I took her to some fabric shops and she picked out this funky flower fleece fabric. At least it was a bit furry like a cat! (She had originally picked out a cute leopard print fabric and should have bought it but I had to try one more store!) So that is how she ended up as the Rainbow Flower Kitty.

So the costume got made (even with breaking my sewing machine, borrowing a machine and hair pulling and foot stamping on my part). I did not make the hood that the pattern had because Lillian informed me she was not going to wear a hood. So I re-purposed her ears from last year and was done with the headband. I also did not make the elastic for the wrists or ankles, we just used pretty gold ribbon. The red glitter shoes were all Lillian's idea. I found some cute shiny pink shoes that matched the oink on the fabric perfectly but once she saw the red ones, that was it. Lillian was talking to Granny on the phone one afternoon and invited her up for Halloween so show off her spooky decorating skills.

I had to work the day of Halloween but Joe and Granny took Lillian to get the pumpkins and around one of the shopping centers to trick-or-treat. That night we headed to the Governor's Mansion (a tradition) where Lillian fell asleep on the 10 minute ride and got super scared by a person popping up out of a coffin. She was shaking so bad that Joe picked her up.

We headed back home and saw tons of kids out in our neighborhood so we decided to go down two streets. This was her first time trick-or-treating at houses and she loved it. She did not love some of the lawn decorations and spooky music but she had a great time. After each house, she we meet us and say "More candy. I got more candy!" She asked if she could eat candy and we told her once we got home she could have a piece. As SOON as she had 2 feet in the door, she asked to eat her candy. She picked out a lollipop and hasn't really asked for much more than that.

Just Pics

2009-09-25T15:22:00.000-04:00

I Love School!

2009-09-17T14:29:00.003-04:00

This is what Lillian said to me this afternoon before her nap. Today marks a full week that she has been to school, three whole days. So far no calls from the teachers, no notes being sent home about her stripping down at the potty and no tears on her part!

There are only 8 children in her class and 2 teachers. The first two days she would only say "I don't know" when asked what she did at school so we had to pretend to be characters to pull more information out of her. After the second day she said, "Well they still didn't teached us nothing today." I guess that means she wants pre-approval for the lesson plans.

I walk into the school with her but use the carpool to pick her up. Usually as soon as she sits down she tells me she is hungry. She seems to play well with the other kids and really likes music class and the discovery class. Today was her first day in discovery and she got to touch a caterpillar, see a millipede and a dead ocotpus. She told me all about how the octopus swims in the water. I told her that I knew she would like the discovery class and she said "Well you were right about that one!"

The preschool is very small (only about 50 families total) and feels very cozy. And the wonderful thing, besides being within walking distance for us, is the director has been sending pictures through email each day. It's so fun to see her doing so well. Here are some pictures she has sent:

Preschool Rocks!

2009-09-10T14:14:00.009-04:00

Today, Thursday, September 10, 2009 was Lillian's first day of preschool. She had a new outfit to wear (she had to have a purple dress because her best friend Lily was going to wear a purple dress for the first day of school), a new backpack and a new attitude.

We (Daddy went with us for the drop-off) arrived at the school about 15 minutes early so we walked around the grounds and the church looking at plants and flowers. We were trying to catch Lily but it was time to go in and Lillian actually said, "I want to go to my preschool now." We live just a half-mile from the school and for the last couple days we have pretended that the school has been talking to her - saying it was happy to have her and they were going to have so much fun.

We headed back to the front of the building and ran into Lily (her parents were brave enough to use the carpool lane!) and we followed her in. We met one of the teachers Ms. Seroba at the door and Lillian and Lily held each others hand and posed for a quick picture. Ms. Seroba was taking the girls to hang up their backpacks and we scooted out of there. I waited about 15 minutes and drove around the school - the classroom has two huge windows and saw Lillian and Lily playing with the dolls. I had the car cleaned, ran some errands and bought Lillian a new book and was ready to pick her up but it was not even 11 am yet!

walking in the hallway

Ms. Seroba, Lillian and Lily hanging up backpacks

I made one more drive by the school but wasn't able to see much. I headed back to the school about 15 minutes before the scheduled pickup time and was able to see the class heading out to the playground. They have the children hold onto a knot on a rope to keep everyone together. Ran into Lily's mommy and we chatted before pick up time.

off to the playground

The director sent these out.
Lillian reading a book and snack time!

As I got into the carpool line, I saw Lillian and Lily holding onto Ms. Maura's hand waiting very patiently. When Lillian got into the car she squealed and saw the new book I had for her. Ms. Maura said she did great and is wicked smart! When Ms. Seroba came to the car she said they read a story together and she had a wonderful time.

The car dashboard in the carpool line waiting for Lillian

Lillian and Lily holding Ms. Maura's hand waiting in the carpool line.

Waiting as Lily gets in her car

I asked Lillian what she did and she said, "I don't know." Over lunch she expounded a bit further:

"Ty did not want to do anything. He was tired."
"Lily did not lose her knot she just couldn't find it."
"One little kid got upset."
"One little boy went potty all by himself."
"My teachers did not know I had tomatoes and green pepper with my snack.
"Yahnnie got to be the helper bee."
"Yahnnie kissed me because I'm her friend."
"One little person's backpack was heavy."

I asked her what she liked best about the day and she said the tiny dolls and snacks. They had music class today where she banged on a big drum and maybe danced - she wasn't sure if danced or not. So all in all a great first day of preschool. At her orientation, they showed Lillian the basket where the children put their snacks in the morning and Lillian was very insistent that she was not going to put her snack in the basket. She wanted to keep it in her backpack. The teacher said that would be fine. When I asked Lillian about her snack she said she did put it in the snack basket!

On a side note, the parents had orientation on Tuesday night and I busted out crying in the classroom as the teacher was discussing the drop-off. When we had the children's orientation Wednesday I almost cried again but didn't. The teachers reassured me that Lillian would be fine after observing her in the classroom for awhile. I am proud to say I made it through the drop-off without crying - I waited until we were outside the building. And I hope that I do not make a habit of driving by the school every single time she attends class!

Back in the car safe and sound.

Looking at her new book

PRESCHOOL ROCKS! GOOD JOB!!

Preschool Play date

2009-09-02T12:30:00.002-04:00

Today Lillian's preschool held a play date for all the children. We set out on foot and Lillian said, "I'm not so sure about this." Once we arrived we saw our friend Lily and the two girls played together and each one ventured out a bit on their own. After awhile we headed inside to visit the restrooms and saw name tags on the wall for the children to hang their book bags. Lillian's name tag was a cat! We then got to meet her two teachers and visited their classroom. Lillian told the teacher her name but then quickly turned to me and said, "We are just here for a play date, right?" We also met another little girl in her class. The biggest hit by far was the restroom with the little potty and little sink just kid sized. Before we walked back home we stopped to use the potty and Lillian said she would do it all by herself. She uses the potty at home all by herself but that usually means she comes out with no pants or panties on! But this time she came out with her panties on!

Here is Lillian before we left the house:

Lillian and Lily enjoying a snack:

Family Portait

2009-08-28T14:50:00.002-04:00

as drawn by Lillian:

from the left: daddy, Lillian and mommy

One cow, two best friends (wearing "fancy" shoes", bubbles and dancing. Oh my!

2009-08-28T14:23:00.008-04:00

One of the local shopping areas holds a beach music concert on Thursday nights and last night was one of the last ones. We had gone a lot last year but had not made it out this year so Lillian and I decided to go.

Lillian got her picture taken with the cow again and we ran into our friend Lily and her family from playgroup - I do believe that Lillian and Lily are destined to be best friends for life. There were temporary tattoos, pinwheel and bubbles. And then the music started. It was very crowded so the girls ended up dancing near one of the alcohol tents!

"Big Girl" Gym Class

2009-08-28T14:04:00.003-04:00

Today was Lillian's first day of "big girl" gym class. The class where the children go in only with the instructor, not the parent like she did last year. When she heard me register her for the class and I told her that the mommies and daddies aren't allowed to go in the gym with the children, she promptly fell to the floor and went on a 15 minute tirade about how she was not going to go and she would miss me too much to go. I explained that I would be watching her through the large window in the lobby but that did not seem to appease her.

So this morning came and she still wasn't too sure about it but I said she had to try it a few times and that if she did not like it, we could stop going (the gym offers a 30 day money back policy.) Lillian put on her new purple outfit and off we went. When we arrived and got out of the car she asked if I would give her a "kissing hand" before class and I said sure. We got inside and I gave her the "kissing hand" and luckily we spotted a girl who was in her class last year.

on our way out the door

Then it was time to go inside the gym. Miss Gerry called the girls in and Lillian went with a bit a hesitation. Once inside she looked back at me, stuck her tongue out and rain with the other girls. All throughout the 45 minute class, Lillian would look at me and either wave or blow me a kiss; I guess to make sure I was still out there waiting for her.

She listened and followed directions and even did some activities by herself that she refused to do when I was with her. She lined up at the end of class and collected her coloring sheet and sticker and bounded out to the lobby with a huge smile on her face. She said, "I wasn't even worried or nervous!"

I was and am behind excited for her. This is such a HUGE step for her and she did great. I guess I underestimated her. She may not have cried at gym today but I sure did!

Just Pictures

2009-08-21T15:26:00.004-04:00

Beauty Shop of Horrors

2009-08-10T19:59:00.002-04:00

As I was tucking Lillian into bed tonight, she started playing princess beauty shop. She had an old sparkly shirt of mine and draped that around my neck. She then applied some forehead spray, eye spray ans lipstick to my face. She brushed the hair off my face and then said these haunting words, "Now I am just going to split your chin a little bit and hold still while the blood drips down. OK good. No blood on the glitter. All right, your chin is back on in two pieces. You look wonderful!"

I'm not really sure where she came up with that twist in a relatively harmless game. We did look at a Halloween catalog this afternoon. And we have checked out several books about Halloween already. Regardless, I thinks it's best that everyone stay away from this particular beauty shop.

Dancing Queen

2009-08-05T05:42:00.004-04:00

Here is Lillian dancing to B*yonce's All the Single Ladies. She is watching the video and trying to copy what the dancers are doing.

Ignore the mess - it was craft time right before the video was shot.
Oh and ignore the flashes of nakedness also!

Reading and Writing

2009-08-04T08:07:00.002-04:00

One of Lillian's favorite things right now is to write notes and letters. Her writing is just a bunch of lines and scribbles but in her mind she has actually written sentences. It is very cute and all UNTIL she hands you the note and tells you to read it.

As any rational person might do, I think about what we had been doing/talking about before she started writing and go with the assumption that that is what the note is about. But it never is. I begins and she says, "No that's not what it says. Read again." I ask if she could help me out a bit and she refuses. So begins an exchange of me trying to think of what she has written and Lillian chastising me. And by the way she looks at me during this, I'm sure she is wondering just how dumb I am that I can't read her writing.

Canes SummerFest

2009-07-27T14:46:00.005-04:00

Friday night the Carolina Hurricanes held their SummerFest. As good loyal Canes fans, we attended. And Miss Lillian did not want to wear her Canes cheerleader outfit - she wanted to wear a "fancy outfit." Apparently jean shorts and a halter top qualify as fancy.

She got to go down the big bouncy slide and had her first time sledding! Lillian also got her picture taken with Rexie (the Rex Hospital mascot), Mr. Wolfpack and Ms. Wolfpack. We missed Stormy that night but we already have some pictures with him.

Tattle Tell

2009-07-27T08:19:00.001-04:00

"I was just hiding in the living room because I didn't want you to hear me slurping up the last bits of daddy's soda."

Snoozer

2009-07-25T15:22:00.001-04:00

Lillian is taking a nap for the first time in TWO WEEKS! Best of all she was angry about taking a nap, went to her room, slammed the door and tucked herself in!

Snuggle Buggle

2009-07-22T20:18:00.002-04:00

When Lillian got into bed tonight, she asked me to snuggle with her for a minute. Sounds very sweet (and this time of day usually is) however this is how tonight's snuggle went down:

Lillian - all nice and tucked in
Mommy - next to her

Lillian - No mommy, don't snuggle like that. You are too close. Yuck, your breath smells. Did you drink coffee this night? Let me smell it. Eww.

Fun with Food

2009-07-21T15:34:00.003-04:00

Lillian eating a grape popsicle (Joe thinks she looks a bit scary):

Lillian asked for a teddy bear peanut butter snack so this is what I came up with (her idea to eat the PB off the child-friendly knife):

Put her dressing on the side please

2009-07-17T13:36:00.004-04:00

Getting Lillian to wear clothes is quite a challenge these days. She prefers to spend her day naked, or at least bottom naked. Once she has clothes on and she uses the potty by herself, 98% of the time she comes out with no panties and pants/shorts/skirts on.

This morning I managed to get panties on her and she was running around with just that on. I sent her to the potty and she came out naked (as if I did not know that when I sent her in there!) I asked her to go get her panties and next heard her shouting, "Mommy you have to get a picture of this!" And this is what I saw when I walked into the den:

Poor Elsie wearing Lillian's panties. Why Elsie has not learned in almost 3.5 years to spend the day hidden like Cleo and Streak do I do not understand.

Lillian did not like the dress I picked out for her - she said the flowers on the outside of the dress hurt her - so this is what she picked out (star shirt and striped skirt). And we went out running errands and shopping like this.

Ryanasorus Lillian

2009-07-15T12:07:00.002-04:00

Today we went to the local art museum for their preschool program and it was about dinosaurs. Lillian is all into dinos right now. We got the find a dino egg and help it hatch and then we got to make our own dinosaur. Lillian laid down and I traced her body then she colored it in. She named her creation Ryanasorus Lillian.

A beautiful morning

2009-07-14T14:12:00.005-04:00

Today was an absolute gorgeous day so we spent over 2 hours at one of the local parks where Lillian swung, pouted while she ate a snack, rode the carousel 3 times in a row, rode the boats (for the first time) and rode the train. It was so tiring for her, she fell asleep on the way home.

Lucky in love

2009-07-10T13:54:00.007-04:00

Today Lillian and I went to visit a local petting farm. There were chickens, goats, emus, rabbits, ducks, geese, dogs, a sheep and a llama. Lillian got to pet a two day-old chick, hold a twelve week-old bunny and feed/pet Lucky.

Lucky is a llama and once Lillian got out into the pasture with him, she was in love. She fed Lucky flowers she picked, stroked his nose, petted his fur and even gave him a hug/kiss. Farmer Mary took us on a little nature walk around the farm and the whole time Lillian kept wondering aloud as to what Lucky was doing. When we got back into the pasture, she went straight for him again. Everyone was commenting on how brave Lillian was to to go up to the llama like that. It was a petting farm - that's kind of the point, to actually pet the animals.

As she was feeding Lucky for the millionth time, Lucky took a nibble of her finger and even that did not scare her away. She said, "Lucky thought my finger was llama food!"

Luckily for mommy and daddy, Lucky would not fit in the car!

square woodpecker holes:

Monkey Time!

2009-06-25T13:50:00.004-04:00

Today's playgroup met at Monk*y Joe's and Lillian actually had fun this time. Lately she will complain of a stomach ache as soon as her shoes are off and will want to to sit in the comfy leather rocker/glider and snack on an apple and then start to play when I say it's time to get ready to leave. But today she jumped right in. Mean mommy did not even bring a snack with us and I remember to bring my socks so I could bounce with her.

Lillian and Lily spent some time making funny faces, holding hands
and kissing on baby Nicholas:

Lillian at home eating lunch (she requested her own little spinach salad and ate all of it!)
while holding baby Nicholas. I told her I would hold her baby while she ate but she said,
"No, I can hold him and eat at the same time!"

Little Mommy

2009-06-24T14:11:00.003-04:00

Today we went to the museum of art for a preschool art program and we met our friends Emily and baby Nicholas there. I think some of the "baby" rubbed off on Lillian as this is what she spent a good 30 minutes doing when we got home:

She took her doll (the doll's name is Dee Dee but today she changed it to Nicholas) for a stroll around the museum (the playroom). While at the museum she determined that Nicholas had a dirty diaper so she changed that. Lillian had all this in the stroller with Nicholas: a teether, a toy flute, an empty box of pretend cookies and a pom pom doll. In her diaper bag she packed a changing pad, a blanket (so the changing pad would not get dirty), a pair of daddy's socks (dirty), a toy doll and a pair of daddy's underwear (clean).

Lillian got a bit exasperated when trying to push the stroller ("Nicholas is so heavy!"), keep her diaper bag from falling off her shoulder, keep her sun hat on (because it was so sunny when we went to the museum) and picking up the stuff as it fell out of the stroller. She would stop and collect herself and sigh and finally she just told me to push the stroller.

She held Nicholas on her lap during our nap story time (even had his teether and shared her apple with him). She crawled in bed and said she was going to sleep with Nicholas because he might get hungry and she could nurse him!

Bye Bye Crib

2009-06-21T10:34:00.005-04:00

How did we make daddy spend the morning on Father's Day? Converting Lillian's crib into a big girl bed. She seems pleased with the results right now but the real test will come today at nap and bedtime.

Update:
Nap went extremely well. She crawled right in and slept for 2 hours. Bedtime was a bit more hectic with lots of getting up but really not much different than before. We did go out to eat dinner so we started the bedtime routine a little later than usual. But once she finally tucked herself in, she slept all night. When I asked her how she slept she said, "I had a party in my bed."

Naptime: (bedroom still in the clean-up stage)

Bedtime:

Daddy Did It!

2009-06-19T12:50:00.002-04:00

This afternoon I was sweeping the kitchen floor and noticed some ink lines on the floor. I asked Lillian if she had taken a pen and drawn on the floor and she said, "Uh no." I asked her again and she said "Let me take a look." She walks over to where I show her the lines are, bends down to get a closer look and says "Oh. That was just daddy. Daddy did it. Isn't that silly of him!" I am pretty sure that daddy knows not to draw on the floor and Lillian is the one who is constantly drawing on herself with pens, markers, crayons and chalk so my guess is Lillian who did it.

The bride of Marbles

2009-06-18T12:40:00.006-04:00

Playgroup met at Marbles today. We had not been in awhile and Lillian enjoyed herself. Until mean ole mommy said it was time to leave and she had a meltdown.

When we arrived she grabbed a baby doll and promptly handed it off to me. I wish I had that much ease in getting babysitters! We did a little crafts and then she hit up the dress up station. Usually she does not play in that area much but today she donned a crown, a back purse and a cape that she called her "bride dress." And she stayed in that costume for the entire time we were there - almost 2 hours.

Trains

Craft Time

Lillian and Nicholas

Water Time

The bride is budget conscious and environmentally sound.

The bride in all her glory.

Lunch

Shopping

Gardening

Stage Debut

Exercise

Peas and Carrots

Cheese!

2009-06-18T08:37:00.002-04:00

Lillian was in the mood to be photographed this morning

Alice Perry Neal Overby - Nana

2009-06-16T21:05:00.004-04:00

Lillian with Nana
April 4, 2006

Nana, Joe & Lillian
December 24, 2007

Nana
Christmas 2008

We miss you Alice Perry Neal Overby

Have Bed, Will Travel

2009-06-16T20:44:00.002-04:00

Lillian just recently made the transition to crib to crib with an always-open escape hatch. It was good timing as it took place a week before we left in vacation where she would be sleeping in a bunk bed. The bunk bed was not as appealing as we hoped. Or maybe it was too appealing.

She wanted to sleep in the top bunk which we flatly said NO. That she could only climb in the top if mommy or daddy was with her. The first night she was wwaaaaaaay over-tired which meant no sleep at all! Lillian refused to sleep in the bunk bed - she wanted to sleep on the floor. So we pulled the matteras off the bottom bunk and put it on the floor. Then she wanted to sleep in just the wooden box. So after 2.5 hours trying to get her to sleep on the matteras, I said finer go sleep in the box. And she did for about 2 hours and then was up and I managed to get her to sleep on the matteras for the (very short) rest of the night.

Nap and bedtime the next night went smooth; she slept on the mattress on the floor.

Three days after we returned home, we found ourselves unexpectedly having to travel overnight again. We bought a twin air mattress for Lillian to sleep on, not fully convinced that she would actually sleep on it. Once it was blown up and sheets put on, she snuggled down on for stories where she discovered it had lumps. She did not like the lumps and said it made her feel funny. But when it was time to go to sleep, she did. She did have one interruption when she came out to show us the squirrel she made in her hair (she and I both twirl our hair into twists and she calls them squirrels). But once she showed everyone her hair-do, I took her back to her "bedroom" and tucked her in and there she stayed all night.

It's so nice to have the option now to spend the night places and not to worry about needing a crib. Look out world, here we come.

Cousins Birthday Party

2009-06-16T19:03:00.004-04:00

More Pictures from Vacation

2009-06-16T14:12:00.002-04:00

Vacation Pics

2009-06-10T09:03:00.001-04:00

Just a few pictures, words to be added later.