The yox win the series!

Lily has a new semi-obsession. Socks. She calls them yox. This evening, as I was putting her to bed, she got in her crib as usual, and I was sitting in the chair and 'rock-rock', not wearing shoes or slippers but I had on my socks. She noted with great interest, "Mommy yox?" I confirmed that yes, indeed, those were Mommy's socks.

She pointed to her hamper and inquired, "Wi-wee yox?" Again, I confirmed that was where Lily's socks were. Suddenly, she caught fire and we went through a list of all the people who had socks. "Daddy yox?" Yes, Daddy had socks. "Papa yox?" Yes, Papa (Grandpa L) had socks. "Puppy yox?" No, puppies don't wear socks. "Tyittee yox?" No, kitties don't wear socks either. "Sawee tyittee yox?" No, the kitty who is sorry for scratching you doesn't wear socks.

Then she hit it...I swear she was using this whole thing as a set up for the joke. "Ya-ya yox?" Yes, Ya-ya (Grandma L) wears socks. She finally quit with a very satisfied "Yes, Ya-ya yox." *snicker*

Lily eats a cupcake

After
Originally uploaded by Lily'sDad.

Lily insisted that Dad buy some yellow cup cakes when we were at the store. She thought it was very funny to get the yellow frosting all over everything.

Grandma reads to Lily

100_3532
Originally uploaded by Lily'sDad.

Grandma took some time out to read Lily a story. Lily really enjoyed the short visit from Grandma and Grandpa.

Lily and Grandpa

100_3520
Originally uploaded by Lily'sDad.

Lily and Grandpa enjoyed a ride on the train at Gage Park while Grandpa was visiting from Tacoma. Lily sure does love the Choo-choo!

Teeth and more teeth

The past couple of weeks have been a time for new teeth. Mom and I were starting to get worried that Lily was going to go through life with only 4 teeth. All of her classmates and the other babies around her all had lots of teeth. Well, finally Lily has started to sprout teeth -- about 6 all at once. We can tell that it is just killing her. She is always sucking on her hands and has been exceptionally fussy. We keep reminding ourselves that this too shall pass.

Boo guys and other bad ideas.

Can it really be over a month since we last put anything in the blog? Good grief! Bad parents! Bad, BAD, parents!

Lily is doing really well. She moved up a class in school and the new additional stimulation is causing a meteoric rise in her vocabulary. We are constantly amazed at new words popping out of her mouth. Last Friday, she started saying, "yePPPP" with a very marked emphasis on the "P". Yesterday, she learned to say "cracker" which sounded more like "kakker" but was most definitely understandable. And when Mommy accidently said a bad word, her repetition of it was CRYSTAL clear.

Her favorite thing to do is to play "Boo Guys". One afternoon on a trip to Sam's Club, the Halloween decorations were out. I didn't want her to be afraid of the moving skeletons and such, so I said that they were funny guys who said "Boo!". She liked that. Later on, she pointed in their direction and said "Guys?" and I said, "Yes, thats where the guys are! Don't say Boo to them though!" She giggled.

Then, about a week later, we were at Target. Again, Halloween decorations abounded and she pointed at the 'guys'. I told her that yes, we could go see them, "But don't say Boo to them!" She promptly said, "Boo guys!!!" and now, everytime she sees ANYTHING that remotely resembles a guy (on a bike, at the store, in a truck, on the sidewalk, walking down the street, etc.) she smiles slyly and says "Guy! Boo GUY!" to which I am supposed to say "OOOOHHH!! Don't you say Boo Guys!" Even at night, when she is putting herself to sleep, I hear over the monitor, "Boo guys, boo guys, boo guys, boo guys, boo guys, boo guys, boo guys, boo guys, boo guys, boo guys" ad nauseum.

Great. What a super fun game!

Trains, Choo-Choo & Toot Toot.

Lily on the train in April

The train in the park has a really nice whistle. It definitely says "Toot ToooOOOT". So when Lily wants to go on the train, she says "Bye bye Toot Toot?" Well obviously we say, "Lets go!"

Last week though, in the 800 degree heat, the train derailed and was out of commission for a few days. It was supposed to be back up and running on Tuesday, so we figured by Friday it would probably actually be up and running. SOOOO after dinner, Daddy and Mommy took Lily over to the park for the last train run of the night. The engineer oiled the train up and said that he thought, if we wanted, he could get in an extra run just for us. We got to go TWICE and Lily was so excited she could hardly contain herself.

After the last train ride of the evening, we went up to the engine to thank the engineer. He offered Lily a shiny train token for his "ardent fan". Lily took the token and (after prompting) said, "Ta-tooo" which is Lil-ese for "Thank you". Then, of her own volition, she said "Bye bye! Ta-tooo" and blew him a kiss.

Awwwww!!!

Lily's Smile

Lily has started to scrunch up her nose when she smiles. We think this is so cute. It has been almost impossible to catch on camera but Mom was lucky today!

Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease

Yes, Lily is sick once again. This time it is the childhood ailment Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD). She started to show signs on Friday but we didn't recognize. In fact, we had never even heard of it before. At least it is not a serious condition. She will just be home from school for a few days. Lots of Mom time!

Lily smells the flowers

Lily stops to smell the flowers.

Heave Ho....not so much

Lily and Dad were suppose to go to Grandma's and Grandpa's 50th Wedding Anniversary party in Washington on July 15. We were going to fly out on Friday and back on Monday. Dad couldn't get any more time than that off work. Mom couldn't go at all because of her job. Dad was looking forward to seeing everyone at the party on Sunday.

Lily had been sick for several days leading up to the day we were going to travel. She had been running a fever and had a sore throat. Mom took her to the doctor who said that her ears and lungs were fine and that she could fly. So on Friday, Grandpa L. picked us up and we headed to the airport. Of course Lily slept most of the way there.

When we got to the airport, we checked in and went to find some food to eat. Before we were even able to order some food, Lily started to vomit.....all over Dad and herself. Two very nice ladies came to Dad's rescue bringing napkins and giving advice. Dad didn't really know what to do...do we travel and take a chance or do we turn around and go home. Well, we decided to keep going. Dad went and bought a t-shirt at the gift shop and went to change both Dad and Lily.

After getting cleaned up, we headed into the gate area through security. By this time, Dad was hungry so we went to get some lunch. Right after we paid for lunch, Lily started vomiting again -- all over Dad again. This time it was clear to Dad that we were not going to be able to fly anywhere. Our trip was over. Dad called Mom and tried to get Grandpa to come back and get us. Dad told the airline people that we were not going to fly and that we needed our luggage back.

Grandpa finally was able to get back to the airport to pick us up. Lily, thankfully, fell asleep in the car on the way home (we live about 1 and 1/4 hours from the airport.)

After we got home and got everyone changed again, Dad just held Lily on his lap. She did not feel like playing. All of a sudden, she started to vomit again.....all over Dad for the third time. Time to change clothes again. Back to the couch to sit. Then the dog started to vomit.

Mom was still at work when it was time for Lily to go to bed so Dad got her to bed. Then the cat coughed up a hairball.

Good thing we didn't get on an airplane. Dad ran a fever all weekend.

Poor baby!

Pathetic Baby 1, originally uploaded by Lily'sDad.

Lily had a bit of a dust up today. She and Mommy had gone outside and Lily thought it would be great fun to take off running down the sidewalk. Before Mommy could stop her, the giggling fugitive got going too fast for her own little legs and took a tumble, JUST as she reached the part of the sidewalk that is only gravel. She spilled onto her knee, scratched up her hand and worst of all, scratched up her pretty face and bonked her head on the cement. Poor thing.

She was very brave though and didn’t cry very much. Mommy and Daddy cleaned her wounds (this time legitimate ones!) and put band-aids on her knee, around her finger, and on her forehead. Poor little baby all bunged up!

The best baby!

100_3333, originally uploaded by Lily'sDad.

Well, really I guess I should say the best kid. After all, we have been saying all along that talking, walking and sleeping through the night are the criteria that make a kid and now she does all three!

Yes, thats right! Lily FINALLY slept through the night! From about 7:45 p.m. until 5:45 a.m. our girl slept and slept. For those of you counting, that is 10 hours and it only took 17 months, 17 days.

Lets hope it wasn't an anomaly and that it continues tonight! I suppose though, that even if it were an anomaly, it proves we are on the right road!

Dad has a job!

After being unemployed for more than a year, I finally have a new job! I will start my new job in a little more than a week. While it has been a difficult time for our family, this job is nearly a perfect fit. I will still be able to drop Lily off at day care everyday and will be home in the evening and on weekends. It gets me into a new industry (hospitals) and out of libraries. It takes advantage of my diverse management experience and technology experience. And besides everything else, it pays more than my last job did! I look forward to getting into the swing of work again.

More new words

Now she can say (or shout) "NEE!!!" which of course means knee. She is still calling elbow "bubble" but it is now followed by her pointing to her 'bubble', then pointing to your 'bubble' then kissing your 'bubble'.

She has also begun to say one of the most important words in the English language. Shoes. Its Lily pronunciation is "JOOSE" and of course it must be shouted at the top of her lungs. All the ladies in the shoe shop were tickled by that. She also points to everyone's shoes. Constantly. But hey, if she's going to have an obsession, I think shoes is a good beginning.

Sick baby follow-up

Well Lily's night in the hospital has come and gone. Her pneumonia is much better. For the first 24-48 hours, we did breathing treatments every 4 hours, night and day. After that, she had her follow up appointment with her pediatrician. He said that if we wanted to reduce it to twice a day (morning and night) it would be fine and once we thought it seemed under control, we could just do it as needed. Right now, we are doing only one treatment, and that’s right before bed.

John has been sick now. After I got over my sinus infection and chest cold (which I now question), John had to go to the doctor and was treated for Bronchitis and a sinus infection. Our neighbors are sick, my mother is sick, even Isaac has been a bit poopy. I wonder if some biological weapon has been unleashed on Topeka?

Lily in the hospital

Lily is spending the night in the hospital. She has been diagnosed with pneumonia. Mom is staying with her. Watch for the entire story soon.

Lily speaks! (If you listen very closely...)

Lily's Spoken Vocabulary-
Dog
Cat
Mommy/Mama
Daddy/Dada
Ball (CONSTANTLY! Everything round is a ball)
Num-Num (food - mostly accompanied by the baby sign for 'more')
Book
Uh Oh! (CONSTANTLY!)
Bubble (this generally means bubble, balloon and elbow)
Boon (this is only occasionally said and it means balloon)
Bow (this is only occasionally said and it means elbow)

Animal Sounds-
Elephant (Raised arms for trunk plus a high pitched squealing trumpet)
Cat (very high pitched meeeeeeeeow)
Dog (mostly just grunting but it could technically pass as a bark)
Giraffe (chewing)

Lily's devastating wound...

Lily has a terrible wound on her hand. We aren't sure how she received it but here, she points out the wound for all to see.....below...I have highlighted the wound so its full magnitude is understood.


As you can see, the wound is nearly the size of a pin head...or maybe a freckle. Lily has spent the greater part of the last several days walking around pointing it out to everyone. Its really terrible.....NOT.

Bedtime snack? Maybe not a good plan.

Lily hasn't been eating very well lately. We don't know if its teeth, or maybe a touch of the flu that Mommy had, or something totally different. Anyhow, we thought that maybe some sugar-free pudding would be a good bedtime snack and help her sleep a bit.

After her bath, we got her ready for bed and went to do snack. Turns out, that may not have been the best order to do that stuff in....for more Lily pudding pics, check our Flickr.

She was a MESS.