How is this even possible?

P1010257, originally uploaded by Lily'sDad.

OK, I totally get the part where I am completely biased, but seriously people...Look at that girl! I have to admit though, that she would only consent to be photographed with the proviso that I show her the pics immediately afterwards. If it took me more than a fraction of a second to do so, she immediately would shriek, "I WANNA SEE LILY!!!"

This one was taken right after her last gymnastics class before summer break. Mommy & Daddy are going to have to figure SOMETHING out for the summer.

I don't think she will go into floral design...

As a child grows, Mothers and Fathers inevitably try to guess what the child's chosen path in life might be. They try to see where her interests lie, what her talents might be, what her strengths are, all to help shape her and mold her into an adult who will be happy in her work and enjoy her life to the utmost.

We have decided that Lily will likely NOT be a florist. Of late, she has been very interested in picking flowers. Her favorites, as with many (dare I say most?) other two-year-old girls are the ever present dandelion. Especially with my hurt foot, she has been desirous of bringing me flowers nearly every day. (You know, sadly its nice to get flowers once in a while) She presents the lovingly picked stems with the prounouncement, "Here Mommy. Make you feel better!" Foreshadowing? Maybe so.

Do you think it is the gorgeous yellow color that influences her? Well you would be mistaken. Perhaps the gorgeous, fluffy down that comes as the flower ages? Not so much.



Lily loves the stem. No golden yellow petals. No downy crappy seeds on it. Just the stem. And the more withered and greyish the better. Hooray for Mommy's new most beautiful flower...dandelion stems!

If she doesn't go into floral design, maybe she will marry into the Adam's Family?

Lily's "Mad" face

Lily's "Mad" face, originally uploaded by Lily'sDad.

This kid...shes so funny!

The while ago (pre-surgery) I parked at Papa & Yaya's house and walked over to school to get Lily. On the way home she was being VERY slow-pokey so I suggested that we run. She said, "No wanna run!", so I replied, "OK, we don't have to run. Lets just walk."

A few seconds went by and Lily looked at me with THAT face and said, "Mommy! I'm MAD!" I said, "Why? What are you mad about?" and she stated emphatically, "No wanna run!". I assured her we didn't have to run.

About a minute or so later, she said, "I'm done mad....lets run!" and she took off like a shot.

Anyhow, since that day, she has been very pleased that she has developed a 'mad face' and will gladly show us when we ask. She was reluctant to allow us to photograph it, but we told her we would show it to her on the camera and she willingly obliged.

UPDATE: Potty Watch 2008

So our big weekend of potty training was pretty much a bust. We had decided on a 'reward' based system. Sitting on the potty and giving it a go earned Lily a sticker. Sitting on the potty and peeing earned Lily a tiny snack bag of fruity Cheerios. Sitting on the potty and pooping earned Lily a toy out of my special toy sack filled with balls, rocks, and confiscated Happy Meal Toys. Long story short, at the end of the weekend, there were about 8937483298347 stickers on the board, all the special bags of fruity Cheerios were still intact, and not a ball, rock or Happy Meal Toy had seen the light of day.

We decided to wait a few weeks. My surgery was coming up and knowing I would have an "owie foot" for awhile, we thought it best to just wait until I had healed a bit and try again.

But Lily surprised everyone! Yesterday at school, she was out on the playground with her class. She approached Miss Melissa and stated that she had to go potty. Miss Melissa took her inside to the potty and "VOILA!" Lily sat down and pottied on the potty! Yay Lily!

Now, we have examined our situation and we know in our hearts that this was simply one incident. But in the back of my head, I have the lovely delusion that this weekend, Lily will decide that she is finished with diapers and will just be a potty kid all the time. That could totally happen. And she will have completely potty trained herself. In my head, thats what I am pretending.

Maybe its the pain medication?

Mommy's Owie

Mommy had to have surgery on her foot on Thursday. For the past few weeks we have been preparing Lily for this. Mommy wore her "owie boot" around the house and we told Lily that she would have to be especially nice to Mommy. At first Lily was scared of the boot and wouldn't want to touch it. After a bit she would ask to touch it and kiss it. Yes, kiss it. That is what she wants to do to everything she is afraid of....the vacuum cleaner especially.

The surgery went fine but now Mommy is some pain Lily wants to kiss Mommy's owie and has expressed sympathy. She asks about Mommy's owie frequently.

Lily knows that Mommy can't chase after her so has been getting into everything. I have done my best to keep her corralled but it has been next to impossible to watch Lily and help Mommy at the same time. Finally this morning we decided it was time to call our favorite babysitter to take Lily so that Mommy could rest and I could do some laundry while Mommy rests.

Mommy should be much better in a few days and will get rid of the boot in about 6 weeks.

See if shes smiling on Monday

P1010037, originally uploaded by Lily'sDad.

This weekend we took Lily on a long trip to visit Baby Alan, and his parents & sister in Iowa. It was 6 hours in the car with a two-year-old and Lily actually did really well! Provided we kept her in her seat. That of course, was a problem because apparently diapers aren't meant to be on a butt for 6 hours in a car seat. We had several leaky incidents, but I hope that it will be further incentive for her to potty train….this coming weekend.

While we were visiting our friends, we persuaded their 8-year-old daughter to tell Lily how exciting it is to use the potty, and to go poo-poo and pee in the potty and how it makes you such a big girl. Then we pointed out how Baby Alan wore diapers and that’s how babies go to the potty. We took the Elmo Potty video along with us and read the potty propaganda "Everyone Poops" when we got home. I hold much hope in my heart that we will get this potty training thing started this weekend and all will go smoothly. I'm sure she will get it right off… It'll be cake….right?

ROAAAARRRRRR

P1010054, originally uploaded by Lily'sDad.

Lily is a very brave (and very imaginative) little girl. Behind our friend's house, was a big yard with a slide and a swing, etc. Also, there was a backyard barbeque grill across the fence at the neighbor's house. Apparently, that BBQ looked very much like a lion to Miss Lily. She pointed at it, and roared at it, and eventually made friends with it and waved.

A change in routine might be good!

This morning, John had to go to work EXCEEDINGLY early. So Lily's normal routine was a tad disrupted. She woke up about 6:15 which was great because Mommy woke up at about 6:00 and was able to perform her morning ablutions, let the dog out and back in, and get Lily's milk before she awoke.

After we watched the end of The Wiggles, we watched the "kids" on Hi5 before she said she wanted to go into the other room. I said that we would have to get her dressed first, so we picked out clothing for the day. Then, I offered her the choice of playing in her crib while I showered or watching Wiggles in the Family room and she opted for the latter. However, she attached the condition that I provide cereal in a snack cup for her, and more milk, to which I agreed. She proceeded to eat the cereal, and asked for more. I provided that, and she put it in her pumpkin and stated she was going bye-bye. Then, while I dried my hair and did makeup, she took all of the cheerios out of the pumpkin and carefully stuff them up her shirt. She was quite surprised when she stood up and all the cereal fell out of her shirt onto the floor and the dog leapt on it like a ravenous hound. It was VERY funny. She was so mad she scolded him, "No-no PUPPY! That’s my cereal!"

Where's Lily?

So I used to think that kids outgrew that whole "peek-a-boo" thing. For us, it has ceased to amuse her when we "peek-a-boo", however when she is the designated 'peeker' she really seems to enjoy it. In fact, when Lily hides her face, and we don't immediately say "Where's Lily? Have you seen her?", she starts giggling and says, "Where's me? Mommy, where's me?"

Yikey or no yikey?

Lily has discovered the world of Like and Don't Like. When shopping for faucets at the local Lowe's she will definitely express preference. "My yikey dis one, Mommy!"

When eating snacks at Yaya's house she says, "Mommy, me no yikey dis one." She has her definite favorite toys- "Yikey" and her un-favorite activities (taking her vitamin)- "no Yikey". More often than not, however, things are "my yikey". Yikey puppy, yikey kitty, yikey 'my boys'. So far, she's fairly easy to please. Yikey rice. No yikey bubbles in the bath (bubbles make the water messy). Lils yikey milk and she yikey skirts but no yikey pants and no yikey juice.

Our Lily Rose is definitely a girl with opinions.

"Tallow" youth?

Of late, our darling Lily has been having some exzema issues. The doctor had told us before that just about the best lotion around is by Eucerin and is called "Aquaphor". I hadn't tried it before, but we got a small bottle and it really seemed to help. So on Saturday we got a vat of it at Target and started using it on her. I can definitely see that it seems to be helping with the problem. Lily enjoys us putting lotion on her, especially after bath and before bed. I think she realizes it makes her skin feel better. Apparently her head has been itching too, and she didn't tell us. This morning when Daddy went in to get her up, we found she had decided to put some of the lotion on herself. In her hair. Lots of lotion. In her hair. It was basically glued to her head. Now she just looks like her Mommy and Daddy are lunatics.

What you see above is how she looked after two shampoos with dish-soap and one with shampoo. I have a feeling we will look this way for quite some time now. Lily has stated quite plainly, "I like it". She emphatically said, "Lily pretty! Lily funny!"

As for the vat of lotion, its about half gone. Her sheets, her little 'ba-ba', her big 'ba-ba', her cup of water, her halo bag, her pajamas, etc. are all soft and supple now. Another interesting note, Aquaphor in hair becomes something of the texture of rubber cement. Woot!

Sweetness

Lily Rose 2007, originally uploaded by Lily'sDad.

Here's our Lily Rose at Grandma & Grandpa's house. Even though she didn't feel super (and Mommy felt far from it) she had a great time.

Lily and "Her Boys"

100_3843
Originally uploaded by Lily'sDad.

Lily had a great time playing with her cousins Matthew and Nathan. She kept calling them "My Boys" and would ask for them every morning even after we got home.

Lily and Grandma

100_3898
Originally uploaded by Lily'sDad.

Lily and family went to visit Lily's Grandma and Grandpa over New Years. She had a lot of fun playing with Grandma and Grandpa and her other relatives. Here Lily is having fun with Grandma. Lily was outside on the deck while Grandma was in the living room.

The Ice Storm Cometh

100_3771, originally uploaded by Lily'sDad.

Lily had the day off from school and Mommy and Daddy didn't have to go to work either. Something about a little ice...I don't know, wasn't paying attention.

Lils and Daddy waited until the ice/rain stopped and went outside, carefully avoiding the trees and the snapping branches. Lily was VERY excited about the 'yice outside!!!' Not only is there ice, but there is snow as well and thats one of Lily's favorite things this year!

For anyone wondering, we're all safe, still have power (for now) and hopefully the worst is past. Family nearby fared well also, but we haven't heard a word from our Oklahoma friends...fingers crossed for them. For more ice storm pics, take a look at our flickr page (link on right).

Lily Jumping

Lily LOVES to jump. Here she is jumping along with her other love: The Wiggles!

Lily's 2007 Christmas Program

Sorry these videos are so dark. I will be editing them and making them easier to see in the near future.

All that counts...

Tonight, while bathing, Lily surprised Mommy with some excellent counting! Mommy was counting the cups that Lils uses to pour water from one to another.

Mommy said, "One...two..."
Lily said, "Two....tree"
"Three..." said Mommy
"Fouw..." answered Lily, "Fie."
"Five..." said Mommy
"Ick...ebenen" said Lily, and skipping ahead a bit she finished, "TEN!!!! YAY!!!!" and she applauded her performance.

Mommy got a little tear but she clapped, too. When Daddy came in, she repeated the performance for his admiration. Lily is definitely growing up!

Princess Leia...ready to "tik-r-eek"

Halloween was excellent for Lils this year. We went to the mall with her cousin Ike and Nonnie (Aunt Anna). Lily practiced saying "trick-or-treat" and did really well. She always said thank you, too. She discovered suckers. Her word for them sounds very much like her word for cracker and is unreproducible phonetically (by this author anyhow). A good time was had by all.

Check our Flickr for more great Halloween pics. A few of cousin Isaac, too.

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*