2.26.10

Without naming any names



I believe someone is looking for



The right words to describe



The excitement that ensued



When this happened!!!


But since the mystery gal has a limited vocabulary, I'll speak on her behalf... WAHHHOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

And the mystery gal will leave us with this adorable grin.

2.23.10

This morning Lilly wandered off into the Laundry Room, which is a place that is borderline forbidden. The dog bowls are kept in there, and she passes the kitchen trash can on her way, which sometimes becomes a dumping spot for her shoes, blankie, magazines, socks, etc. My mom even witnessed a cell phone go in recently. We try to keep the gate closed, but that blocks the dog from getting to his water... but let's be honest, the truth is we usually just forget to close it.

Today I saw Lilly round the corner into the kitchen as I was watching the news and I didn't think much of it. As the pitter patters became silent and the familiar clip clip of the plastic dishes in "her drawer" were nowhere to be heard, I stood up to check things out. You know those huge buckets of paint that professionals use for exterior painting? They have a picture on the outside of a baby head first in the bucket with a big line through it, warning you not to let your baby play near the bucket. I'm always terrified I'm going to find Lilly head first in Midas' water bowl, just like that picture. Granted, it's a glass mixing bowl and she would tip the thing over the second she fell on top of it, but that's what goes through my mind when I think "Ohh, I'm so comfortable on the couch. I don't want to get up to check on her. She's probably fine. ...Baby on the bucket!"

So anyway (this story is actually a funny one!) I walk into to the laundry room and find Lilly staring at the garage door. The same one she's standing in front of in her Valentine's Day pictures. The lights are off, but the kitchen lights are on, casting an exact shadow of herself on the door. She says to her shadow "Hi" and smiles. But the shadow doesn't respond back. She says "Hi" again. No response again. I'm watching from a couple steps back and can tell that she is confused, but she doesn't know I'm there, so I whisper, "Mommy's here" so I don't startle her. She doesn't move. "Lilly, Mommy's here." This time she looks back, and her chin starts to wrinkle. Her bottom lip comes out and she looks back at the shadow. I walk over to pick her up, sad for her. But instead of waiting for me to walk to her, she comes to me, looking over her shoulder at the shadow. I realize she is scared now! "Who the heck is this dark monster and why won't it talk to me??!"

We got out of that dark laundry room and snuggled up on the couch. Hopefully the Laundry Room Monster will be enough to keep her out of there for a little while!

Thank you, Laundry Room Monster;)

2.21.10

I think when God creates kidlings, he must sit back and chuckle to himself every now and then. My dad thinks it's funny when he calls and hears Lilly whining in the background because I'm not giving her all the attention she wants. He says he remembers a little girl who used to do the same thing about 27 years ago. When our phone calls get cut short because I need to tend to The Queen, he gets a kick out of it and snorts something about something coming full circle.

I, myself, find humor in much less insulting similarities, like the fact that Matt and I just discovered that Lilly's pointer finger points the exact same way Matt's does. It dips down wear the meaty part of her finger is. I find it cute. Matt thinks that's wierd.

I also think she got his Mom's rear end, which Matt also thinks is wierd. Not that she got her Grandma's backside, but that I feel the need to bring it up. But she didn't get mine and she didn't get his, and when that happens, it's a little scary! It's almost like you have to figure out where the mismatched body part came from! I was relieved to know it didn't come from the neighbor. Or worse.

But what is really funny is that it seems Lilly got my inability to stay focused at athelitc events! Like me, she started out well at last night's basketball game. She had good intentions of snuggling up to Matt and proving to him that she had it in her, that she was worthy of tagging along. She'd watch the game, not ask (too many) dumb questions, clap at the right times (ok, she's 1-- we were impressed at the fact that she clapped whenever anyone clapped. Alright, did I say impressed? I took a video, for Pete's sake. I was PROUD.)










But. Then things got a little... boring? The novelty wore off. They stopped playing music (She shook her rump to "It's the Final Countdown" and "The Eye of Tiger") and started shouting out numbers. People were yelling. Shoes were screeching. No one smiled at me in admiration. Heck, no one paid a lick of attention to me.

I was left to create my own entertainment. Enter The Sippy Cup:














So perhaps my dad and Matt have more in common than they realize. I would imagine if I hadn't been the third child (and therefore had more than 25 childhood photgraphs of me in existence, cough cough) there would be one of my dad and me similar to this one. Doesn't Matt look thrilled?!?!

2.17.10

As I sit here letting Lilly experiment with eating a banana peel (they have to learn some things themselves, right?), I thought I'd share what her sweet daddy did for her last night. He had a late meeting and wasn't going to be able to put her to bed, like he normally does. Instead of being able to read her a bedtime story, he left her a bedtime letter for me to read. We came home to a dark house, but her bedroom nightstand was lit up with her jammies laid out and this letter ready for her to snuggle up to:



It says:

"Lillers,

I am sorry that I cannot be with you tonight for our daily story time. I will miss this time together and I hope you do as well for Mommy as you do for me! See you tomorrow.

Love, Daddy"

2.15.10

"Happy Valentine's Day!!"



Turn to the left


Turn to the right


Sit down


Stand up, fight fight fight?

2.10.10

A few weeks ago Lilly gave me the all-too familiar "I'm going to poop" face while in the bath tub, so in a panic I whipped her dripping little bottom out of the tub, flipped open the toilet lid with my foot and stuck her on the potty. She did her business, I (giggling) called Matt in to take care of clean-up duty (and gawk) then stuck her back in the tub.

Tonight, she did her business right before her bath, which I always love becuase I can relax not havng to worry if it's going to be a floaty night. However, a couple minutes into her bath, she stood up to play with something and before I had a chance to ask her to sit down I heard a frightening sound from below the border. I looked at her face and knew there wasn't much time!

Up went the toilet lid and out of the tub came Lilly. She grunted and her cheeks got red... but nothing. Darn. Back into the tub.

Lather, rinse, repeat. Bubbles. Back to the pot!

Nothing.



Sigh.




"Lilly, are you playing tricks on Mommy?"




As Lilly unplugged the drain, her new favorite bathtime activity and my new way of signifiying the end of bathtime, I grabbed her towel and lifted her from the tub. More silent grunting. This time I was sure we were in for something big! I called Matt in for the big occasion. The rest is history...







A whole lotta nothin'! You didn't think I would actually post a picture of actual her poopy in the actual potty, now did you? You did? Well, it seems you know me well then.

2.8.10

I can't say much, but just know that Lilly is probably going to become kind of a big deal here in the next few weeks. I mean, I really wish I could tell you more, but I just can't because it's such exclusive information and, well, her contract doesn't allow me to reveal the details of her celebrity.

But rest assured that when she makes her big debut, the blog will not be spared any last detail.

(Lilly's going to be on a billboard!!!)

2.7.10

Lilly hugged me tonight. First time:)

Yep, first time my kiddo has ever hugged me. 14 months. She's not a snuggler so I usually have to trick her into cuddling with me, but tonight she toddled right up to where I was sitting on the floor, opened her arms with a smile on her face and fell into my chest. On purpose! It was wonderful.

But it gets better!

When I put her in Matt's lap for her bedtime story, I walked away and blew her a kiss at the door and... she blew one back!!! I've been blowing her kisses when I drop her off at school for a whole year and this is the first kiss I've been blown back. My stomach dropped and my heart stopped! When she did it I gasped a huge gasp with my mouth wide open and Matt said "That counted! It counted!"

I walked into the bathroom to wash my hands and looked in the mirror to see the smile on my face. So many tough times we've been through this year. There've been lots of frustrating evenings and countless long late afternoon stretches. We've only just begun the temper tantrum phase, and yet we've already experienced many, many! But seeing Lilly look over her shoulder as her daddy read "Lady and the Tramp" as she looked only at me and held her chubby little hand to her mouth made me feel like the most-loved mommy in the whole wide world.

I'm a happy mama tonight:)

2.6.10

We woke up to a gorgeous winter wonderland this morning! After Lilly woke up from a 2.5 hour nap this afternoon, we bundled her up and headed out for some fun in the snow. She liked it, except when Midas ran past and knocked her over and she landed face first in the snow! I can't blame her, but it wasn't anything Mommy's dry glove couldn't take care of. We didn't stay out too long-- I think we spent more time getting ready to go outside than we did actually being outside, but it was worth it!

`` (Those two apostrophes are Lilly's contribution to today's blog entry. She says they mean "fya ya".)






"Hey buddy! Woah, you're comin' at me kind of fast!"


"Slow down! UNCLLLE!!!"


"Mom! Help! That! Was! So! Mean! And he's laughing!"


How did I get stuck in a time out?


OK, back to playing!








Back inside for some hot cocoa. (Maybe in a couple years!)