5x7 Folded Card

Simply Modern Band Holiday Card

Create photo new year's cards at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

Lily's first graduation

It was so cute to see Lily's graduation from daycare!  She was so proud to receive her "diploma".  Some of these girls she has spent 5 years growing up with.  It was really sweet to see how grown up they all have become.

Kindergarten

Believe it or not, Lily has started kindergarten!  She has grown up so much.  She is attending her neighborhood elementary school along with her cousin Isaac.  They are both in bilingual kindergarten classes, just not the same one.  It is a scary experience for her and she has had some problems with the transition.  The biggest sign of her problems is her incredible fussiness every morning when she is dropped off.  We are hopeful that this will pass as it is emotionally draining on all involved.  Once she is at school and Mom, Dad or Tony are gone, she stops crying and gets into the routine of the day.  We wish there was more we could do to help her feel more comfortable with this new experience.  I know it will just be time until she just wants us to drop her off at the curb and not come in with her. 

Lily's drawing

Lily decided that she wanted to draw yesterday.  She asked me what she should draw and I said "a house" and this is what she came up with.  I think it looks fantastic!

Trip to Tacoma

100_4393
Originally uploaded by jopgaard.

Lily and I enjoyed a trip to visit the family in Tacoma. We had a great trip! We got to see almost all of the uncles and aunts and cousins. This picture is from one of two trips to the Point Defiance Zoo She had a GREAT time.

Lily riding her bike

Santa Clause got Lily a bicycle for Christmas. She has wanted to ride it but Dad's driveway has a slight slope to it. Lily has been afraid that she would go onto the street...or just get going too fast. On Saturday, I loaded the bike into the backseat of the car and drove over to the school in the neighborhood. She LOVED riding it around the playground. The more she rode the more comfortable she was with it. She REALLY loved chasing Dad.

Visit to Grandma's and Grandpa's

Lily and I had a great trip to visit Grandma and Grandpa in Tacoma. We flew out on New Year's Eve and were there for 4 days. Aunt Cheryl and Uncle Andy were there but they were not the stars. Lily's boys were there: Nathan and Matthew. Lily does love her boys! She had a great time playing with them and was very upset when they had to go home to Yakima.

While we were in Tacoma, we got to see the model train exhibit at the history museum. Lily thought that was great fun. We also got to visit lots of old friends and had a chance to meet some new friends. We got to the beach for about half an hour between rain showers. Lily really enjoyed throwing rocks into the water.

Lily was so well behaved during the trip making the trip enjoyable for everyone involved. Too bad it rained most of the time we were there. You can see the pictures on our flickr page.

Christmas program 2009

Lily's 2009 Christmas performance! Every year Lily's school puts on a Christmas program. Lily LOVES to sing.

Autumn 2009

IMG00061-20091031-14312
Originally uploaded by jopgaard.

Lily helped me rake leaves. She wouldn't let me bag the big pile which is probably a good thing considering she was in the middle of the pile.

Lily has a boyfriend!

You may remember me talking about Jake several years back. They were in Miss Helen's baby class together and Lily was really upset when Jake moved up to the next class. Since then, they have had times that they were in the same class and really enjoyed each other. We also went to his birthday party this past June and had a great time playing in the water.

Well lately, Lilz has been commenting that Jake was on vacation and didn't come to school anymore. This went on and would be mentioned intermittently for about a month and a half, which was beginning to seem impractical. I kept thinking I needed to call Miss Kay about it and ask, but also kept forgetting.

Yesterday, as Lily and I pulled up to school in the morning, a car pulled up behind us and it was Jake and his Daddy! Lily was overjoyed and ran to greet "Jakers" with a hug. We all walked into the school together and I talked to Jake's dad a little bit. Seems that Jake isn't on "vacation" but rather is now in preschool, since he's 4! Well Lily and Jake went to visit Miss Helen and Jake's dad shared with us that Jake had been really asking to come back and visit and the only two people he had any interest in seeing were Lily and Miss Helen!

The two kids were really adorable. Lily asked Jake if he wanted to hold her hand and walk down to her classroom. He of course said yes, and they started holding hands and walking. Jake ran into the doorjam and muttered, "ow", and Lily giggled like this was the funniest thing she had ever heard. VERY cute. She was TOTALLY flirting. At age 3.

Oy.

Lily speaks Spanish!

Last night, we were sitting on the front porch eating our Popsicles, Lily, Daddy and Mommy. Bartlett decided to come out with us too. Lily suggested that she and Bartlett might like to go play in the back yard. Due to the incredibly odd weather this summer, we have an unusually high concentration of mosquitoes.

We told Lily that she couldn't go in the back because there were too many mosquitoes, she replied, "Well I will just tell them 'Shoo! Go away mosquito!'."

Mommy said, "Well thats fine, but some of the mosquitoes might speak Spanish, and you don't know how to say, 'Shoo! Go away mosquito!' in Spanish."

Lily replied, "Yes, I do!!!"

Mommy said, "You do?"

Lily said, "Yes! You say...'Shoo! Go away mosquito in Spanish.'!"

Guess she told me!

God is....

Lily has some new friends. The "Backyardigans". A group of 5 friends, Tyrone (orange moose) is sort of the leader of the group and Lily's favorite, Pablo (blue penguin), Tasha (yellow hippo), Uniqua (pink polka-dot something), and Austin (purple something). This is important only in that we had a very important discussion today involving these friends.

On our way to Jake's birthday party, Lily asked me, "Mommy, who made us? Who made everything?"

Being a good Unitarian Universalist, I said, "Uh....who do you think made us?"

Lily replied, "I know. I can't remember his name....whats that guy...AUSTIN! God is Austin."

However, upon further reflection, Lily decided that god couldn't be Austin, because he wasn't really that cool, so God must be Tyrone.

Send a fwee-year-old to a Baptist Church Daycare, and to the Unitarians on Sunday and this is what you get. God is Tyrone, an orange moose.

Monsters vs. Aliens-- the obsession.

Back in...what, April maybe?...we took Lily to see the movie "Monsters vs. Aliens" and somehow, it has consumed her life. It wasn't her first movie in a theater and we didn't see the 3D version either. BUT...it was the first movie she had ever seen that scared her. When Susan got big and the government came and took her away, Lily FREAKED. Like BIG freaked. Very strange. She is such a brave little girl, generally. She even told me once when I wasn't keen on watching something (fearing her reaction mostly) "Its just pwetend, Mommy! Its OK."

After the movie was over, she started having an imaginary friend named Susan (just like the lead character in the movie) and talked about it non-stop. I figured it was because she knew that she shouldn't have been afraid, as it was just "pwetend". So we devised a way to take her to see it again. She had to sleep well for X number of nights. She did. She was very keen to see it again. Of course, this time it was the 3D version. She still freaked out a little bit, but stayed in the theater for nearly the entire film. I was quite proud of her, being so brave.

But now...NOW...we have created a MONSTER (vs. alien). Lily is seriously obsessed with the film. Susan is still a staple in our house. But now she constantly talks about "Bob the Blob" and "Missing Link".

What does Bob the Blob say?
What does Insectasaurus do? Why is he bigger than Susan?
Why does Dr. Cockroach PhD make Susan's hair smoke?
Bob the Blob says, "I got it guys, I got it! I got it! Hot DOGS!" Thats what Bob the Blob says.

And every night, when I am putting her to bed she says, "Can we talk about Susan and Galaxor?"
Why is Galaxor mean to Susan? Can Susan beat up Galaxor? Does Susan like Galaxor? Why is Galaxor not really very nice?

Of course, every week for Movie Day she wants to take Monsters vs. Aliens. And EVERY week, we have to explain that its not yet available to take. I am loathe to feed into her obsession, but on the other hand, if it will make her STOP TALKING ABOUT THE STUPID MOVIE, I will gladly buy it when it is released. I hope this is not an indicator of her level of obsession or she may end up in a cult or something. The cult of Hollywood Cartoons. Super.

Are you thinking what I am thinking?

Tonight, Lily was supposed to be going to sleep, but hadn't quite gotten there yet. Suddenly, she sat up and said, "Hey Mommy?" I said, "Yes?" She hesitated a moment, then looked at me sideways and said, "Hey Mommy....are you thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?" I responded by asking, "Well, what are you thinkin'?

She grinned and said, "I'm thinking that eleven isn't a letter at all!"

.

A big girl at last!

Well Lily got her big girl bed finally! She was just CRAZY thrilled. She walked (no RAN) to her room and when she went in, her eyes got big and she got a huge grin on her face. She said, "Oh my gosh! Oh WOW! Oh my gosh! Oh, I LUFF it!!!"
Needless to say, she climbed up and down the ladder about 9485094837 times, and we had to go over the "no standing, no jumping, no climbing without Mommy or Daddy" rules with her. I think she's probably the most thrilled at all the room in it. After all, now she can sleep with EVERY stuffed animal that she owns.

Lily Singing

Lily LOVES to sing the songs from the musical Annie. Here is a video with her renditions of two of her favorites.

Ahoy, there!

Lily and I went to visit Grandma and Grandpa in Tacoma last week. On our way back, Lily wanted to talk to the pilots of our plane. Mom took her over to them and she asked them if they were pirates. Apparently, she thought we said that the pirates would be flying the plane. Well, after we got on the plane, the flight attendant asked Lily if she had talked to the pirates. Apparently, this little conversation made the pilots' day and they were thrilled to be compared to Captain Feathersword...the only pirate that Lily knows.

Chocolate anyone?

Originally uploaded by jopgaard.

What does chocolate, strawberries and a three year old equal? One very messy face!

Our little daredevil

My little daredevil
Originally uploaded by jopgaard.

Mom bought Lily some roller skates and Lily has been dying to try them. Finally on Saturday morning, Lily couldn't wait any longer. Despite the cold wind, Mom and Lily got their skates on and went out on the driveway. It didn't last very long until they both came in cold. We will wait until the temperature goes up a little bit more and they will try again!

Messy Lily

messy lily
Originally uploaded by jopgaard.

Lily REALLY liked the cheesecake chimichanga we got after we were done eating our tacos at the local taco fast food restaurant.

How a 3-year-old defines yucky

Over the weekend, I purchased a bottle of orange mint water. I thought it might be good. It wasn't. It wasn't even a little bit yummy. So...I sat it in the back seat, where Lily noticed it as we were driving from the Doctor's office today (BTW- 3-yr-old checkup all good, excellent verbal skills, 50% for weight, 25% for height). ANYHOW...

Lily saw the water and asked what it was. I told her it was something that Mommy bought but that it tasted yucky. She asked why and I told her that it was just not yummy to drink. She looked at the water and said, "Yeah! Its yucky! Its got puppies in it!"

Play that guitar!

P1020923
Originally uploaded by jopgaard.

Lily got a new guitar for Christmas from Santa. She very quickly caugh on how to play like a real rocker!

Big Kids

Well Lily is definitely growing up. Just yesterday, when she opened her package of fruit snacks for herself, she told me that "I'm getting to be 3!". She's quite pleased by that and she knows that she will be a Big Kid then. She tells everyone that on her birthday she gets to have gum. I am afraid it will be a bit anticlimactic....

The weekend before last, Lily took a nap in her big girl bed for the first time! Slept like a big kid. Before long, we will be sleeping in the bed all the time and looking at getting her a BIG big girl bed, instead of just a toddler bed. Her Christmas Program at school is next week, so watch for video of that to be posted. All in all, she is getting big, growing up, and ready to move out I think.

Pilgrims? Bah! Who needs 'em?

On Monday, November 24, we had Thanksgiving Luncheon at Lily's school. She was very excited for Mommy and Daddy to come eat lunch with her. Daddy arrived before I did, and got a table for us.

As I walked in, Lily was just entering the lunch room. She had a very large, black, felt pilgrim hat on and when she saw me, she exclaimed excitedly, "Mommy! I'm a Pirate!"

I asked her what kind of pirate she was, and with a disdainful look she replied, "The turkey kind!"

Well obviously.

This kid has timing....

This evening, as we were leaving a local bookstore, my mother called to have me talk her through the finer points of internet surfing (namely the difference between typing web address into "the Google" or typing it into the address bar).

I said, "Go to the very top of the screen and type the address."
I said, "Did it come up for you?"
She said, "I typed it in but nothing happened."
I said, "You have to hit enter. Hit enter."
She said, "Enter? Where is that?"
I said, "On your keyboard. The enter key"
She said, "Oh! Enter! I see! Its coming up now."

Lily, a child with absolute perfection in comic timing shouts from the back seat:
"Winner! Winner! Chicken dinner!"

Seriously, I laughed about that for like 2 hours. I'm still laughing. Holy crap, where does this kid get her material?

Singing Frere Jacques

Lily has started to sing Frere Jacques a lot. Mom has to sing it with her lots of the time, as well. She is adorable!

Are you kidding me?

What 2 year old do you know who has a boyfriend?

Earlier this evening, when we were over at my parents house, Lily dropped a bombshell. Well, technically I guess she dropped it when she was still at school.

Mommy: "Lily, do you need to potty?"
Lily: "No! I alREADY potty at school! I pooped a BIG poop! Evan flushed it for me. He's my boyfriend."

Well of course, you can't let just anyone flush for you. That Evan...he sure knows how to treat a girl.

Tinkerbelle PRINCESS...and don't you forget it!

P1020809, originally uploaded by Laurel Rose Mommy.

This year, Lily decided to be Tinkerbelle. BUT we couldn't find a Tinkerbelle costume. After she carefully considered her options, she chose this lovely dress. She seemed satisfied and I said, "So...you can be a princess! You are my princess you know, baby."

She quickly corrected me and said, "No! I not a baby. I a big girl and I gonna be Tinkerbelle PINCESS not other pincess."

So Tinkerbelle Princess she is. We let her know that if Tinkerbelle was going to be a princess, this is most certainly what she would wear. Especially note the fancy foofoo tights and shoes. They were an especially important choice.

Who's old?

Miss Lori was babysitting this evening while we attended...what could very loosely be called the theater. When we got home, Miss Lori told us that she was really surprised at how incredibly vocal Lily had become. She laughed so hard when she told us this:

Tonight as Lily was chattering away, Lori asked her, 'Lily, how old are you?'"
"I two! How old are you?", replied Lily.
"Oh, I'm old." says Lori.
"HAHA," Lily laughed, "So's Daddy!"
Lori asked, "Is Mommy old?"
"No, only Daddy..." says Lily.

Bwahaha. I really enjoy conversations like this one, especially!

Lily plays basketball

Lily has always been obsessed with balls. We have every type of ball imaginable. She started bouncing balls in our kitchen about the time she could walk. One day we were at Sam's Club and she saw a stack of basketballs that they apparently give away to people who get credit accounts with them. She saw them and went nuts. The staff their told us she could have one. Well, since then she has been practicing bouncing it. She has gotten fairly good. We don't know when kids first learn to dribble but Lily is well on her way.

Naked in earnest

This evening, I was standing in the family room with Lily, who had all but completely disrobed following our dinner. We were having a nice conversation, which is mostly new-ish and always filled with unusual information. Lily had decided that the puppy did not need to go outside. You see, there might be flies outside. I agreed that yes, there might be flies out there. So mostly naked Lily turned calmly to Bartlett and explained earnestly, “You see, puppy dog, the flies are outside and they might make you throw up.” She then turned to me, tugged her underpants up, and said very matter-of-factly, “If the puppy throws up, he won’t be able to catch Frisbees ANY MORE ever, ever, ever.” Which somehow, when standing with a naked child in the family room, didn’t seem like an odd discussion.

Gumbella Girl

Lily has been saying for WEEKS that she wanted 'a gumbella'. For awhile, we had no clue what she was talking about...duh, Mommy! She actually was saying how much she wanted a purple (pohpooh) gumbella and Mommy looked and looked and couldn't find one anywhere. Today though, we went to The Toy Store in preparation for going on an airplane trip next week and lo, there smack by the door was a gumbella! It wasn't purple, but it has purple in it! That totally counts. Lily was instanty smitten and stated emphatically that she needed that umbrella. Since it was raining, Mommy agreed and now, Lily has her very own umbrella. The world will remain spinning for another day.

Potty Watch 2008- the results!

For those of you waiting so eagerly the progress report from our home about our potty status…I think that we are potty trained! I don't know exactly how you decide for certain, as I know accidents will happen for some time. Her accidents are few and far between and when she does have them, she is really, truly chagrined. She had 2 in one day last week and the rest of the week was good. When she does have accidents, they are almost always "#2" and I think its being confused (easy to see how) with having to fart which she enjoys immensely.

She generally wakes up dry in the morning from the overnight, comes in bed with me while Daddy showers, and shortly after that, states her need to potty and goes into the bathroom and does the business. Oddly, there have been a couple of nights where she woke up and had to potty in the middle of the night (SOOOO not fun) but she goes, and eventually goes back to sleep. I think we doze off faster than she does, but then again, she gets a nap at school and at least at John's work, napping would be seriously frowned on. I think that maybe the night waking is due to her molars starting to come in. From what I understand though, once she gets these teeth, the teething is all done for a long time! YAY!

I believe that we had a taste of the 'two-year-old' yesterday. Lily was just a terror all day long. Tantrums galore. If there was something she was supposed to do, she didn't. If there was something she wasn't supposed to do, she did. She had umpteen timeouts which only barely fazed her. She was just NAUGHTY. I have to wonder if that’s the way that most two-year-olds behave in general and we have been lucky so far, or if it is an exceptional situation brought on by a great number of things happening all at once? Lets hope it was an aberration…yuck…

4th of July

P1010927
Originally uploaded by Lily'sDad.

Lily celebrated Independence Day with family at Nana Lois's house. She loved waving the flags and watching the "fireworks" which consisted of a few smoke bombs, a couple of sparklers and some black snakes.