Lilly

I got the kids' "school" pictures from Kids Day Out the other day...so I thought I would do a post for each one of them and tell what they have been up to lately. Lilly is 2 years & 8 months old. Lilly--people keep telling me that you look like such a big girl. And the truth is....you are not only starting to look like a big girl but you are starting to act like one too. I wish I could just keep you little forever!! I know you need to grow and learn but you are just growing and learning too fast for this Mommy!!!!

This weekend you watched Dora the Explorer for the first time and were instantly hooked. I thank your Daddy for that. (: You are hysterical. You are seriously offended by Swiper the Fox (a fox that comes and tries to "swipe" Dora's stuff). Every time you see him you start yelling, "No man! No man! No! No! No! Move back!!!" You are passionate about it. (I should also mention at this point that you say "No Man and Yes Man" instead of "No ma'am and yes ma'am".)

You keep us laughing all of the time. We were somewhere the other day and I wanted a hug and you told me you left it at home. When we got home we had to search all over the house and you finally found it in bubby's room. Ha! You love "woohoo kisses". That is when you give me a kiss and I yell "woohoo!" I love them too!

You sing Jesus Loves Me at the top of your lungs. I have got to get it on video. It is the cutest thing ever. You also serenade Daddy, Reid, and me on every walk. While we were walking the other night you kept saying "So big! So big!" and stretching your arms wide. I asked you what was so big and you said, "My God is so big!" and you said it so matter-of-factly. It was precious. It turns out you sing a song that says, "My God is so big, so strong, so mighty, there's nothing He can't do" on Wednesday nights.

You want to eat EVERY meal at Sam's. We go there and eat pizza for lunch at least once a week...probably more. You clap and get really excited when we pull up. If we buy something at Sam's you have to be the one to carry the receipt and hand it to the guy as we walk out. They always draw a happy face on the receipt...which in turn makes your face happy too!

You are a professional bedtime staller. You will use anything to put off bedtime for, and I am quoting, "one more minute". You hold up your finger when you say it too. Your tactics include: wanting to skype DeDe or MoMo, another book, singing another song, asking for more juice (even though it is full), needing to tee-tee, you will ask for medicine claiming that every possible body part hurts, wanting to pray again, and my personal favorite--needing more kisses. This is on top of your already high-maintenance bedtime routine. This includes rocking with daddy (and your blanket, your monkey, your pacis, and your juice cup), reading a book, playing your piano book, and praying. The rest depends on whatever else you want in the crib with you that night (i.e. baby doll, taggie blanket, etc). You sleep in a crib full of stuffed animals. You love to pray. You thank God for whatever we did that day (playing outside, seeing friends, etc.) We always ask you who you want to pray for and you name off friends and family. The other night you said "Jesus". We prayed for Him even though I am pretty sure He has it covered. Ha! Melts my heart when you pray!

You go in the potty sometimes. Pretty much whenever you feel like it. It may be once every couple of days or it may be almost every time that day. Whenever you are going--you say, "Yay! Tickers (stickers) and jenny beans (jelly beans)!!" You also lean your head to one side and say in a very high pitch voice, "Bubby, you go poop in the potty? You get tickers!! Come on!" It is so funny.

We were in the car Friday and we were going to pick Daddy up and you were talking to Reid and you said, "Bubby-we go see Daddy!" and Reid replied, "No!" You got really upset and started crying and said, "Mommy, Bubby tell me no!" You really thought that because he said no (which I should mention is one of his favorite words. Still. After many months. Still one of his favorite words.) that we were not going to pick Daddy up. This similar scenario has happened a few more times since then and I keep telling you that Bubby doesn't call the shots.

We have officially given up the paci during the day. You only have it at nap and bedtime. I had been thinking it was time to do it but the last straw was when we were at Aldi's the other day. You asked for your paci so I dug it out of my purse (a feat in itself) and you had for about 3 seconds before you threw it down and I spent 10 minutes looking for it. Done!

You are a little bit (a lot if I am not trying to spare your feelings) bossy. At KDO you try to tell the other kids what to do. If someone gets up from the table during lunch you tell them to "sit down"...usually you are out of your chair when you tell them this. You also like to tell Reid what to do. If he is lagging behind, you will stop and walk back to where he is, put your hand on his back, and say "come on bubby". You also try to tell me which route to take to get places even when you don't know where we are going. Backseat driver alert!

You learned how to crawl out of your crib the other day. Actually you have been climbing in your crib for months now...I guess you just decided to get out. However, I don't just let you climb out...I make you wait until I come and get you. I am hoping to keep you in a crib for a while longer. The crib is the last source of confinement...plus it means you are still my baby. (: It does make me feel better to know that you could get out in an emergency though. I don't know why-it just does.

You love stickers! You also love Kids Day Out. You go two days a week. Mrs. Tiffany and I are your teachers. You love all of your friends in your class and talk about them all week long. You ask about "Ms. Tiffy" every day. You also tell me that you love her. Every day when we leave you say "I have so much fun today!" and you get really excited when we pull up.

You remember everything! I am shocked at how far back your memory goes. You especially remember if a place you go to gives a sticker or a sucker or if you fell and got hurt somewhere. You are at an age where we can carry on conversations and you can tell me about your day and things that you did and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. You are so proud of every craft you make and picture you color or canvas you paint.

You loved hunting Easter eggs. You have been asking to hunt more eggs. I think we will probably hunt them again this week. You love it and I don't want eggs to be the thing that you link to Easter so I think if we hunt them sporadically through the year then it isn't just an Easter thing.??. I guess we will see.

You love to pick out your shoes. You typically don't match but I love your little personality and I think you look adorable no matter what shoes you pick. You also love accessories. Necklaces, sticker-earrings, your princess crown (you call it a band-aid--I can't explain this one?), purse, etc.

You get really excited about going places and doing things and seeing people. You have been talking about going swimming for weeks now! You love farm animals and trains and planes and tractors. We were late going somewhere one day and we got stopped by a train and I was thinking "oh great (insert sarcasm!)" and you got SOOO excited and said, "Mommy! A train! A train! Mommy you see the train?!?!" I had to laugh. Then a few days ago we were running late (a definite pattern in our family) and got stopped by another train but this time we were all excited! I wasn't really excited about the train--just excited because I love seeing you and your brother get soooo excited about something like that. So much joy!!

Eating...you are a picky eater. That is all I am going to say.

You make the funniest expressions. You are the sweetest sister (most of the time). You are always thinking about Bubby. If you get something (like a sucker), you always make sure Reid has one too. You play really well with him and love on him. I will never be able to put into words how much my heart just fills up with love and joy when I see you two playing together and loving on one another. I pray that you always have a close relationship. You are such a joy! I know this is a forever-long-post and I could go on and on! Lilly, your daddy and I just love you so much and are so thankful for the opportunity to be your parents. We pray for you daily and just enjoy every minute of life with you (even the challenging minutes:)! We can't wait to see what you are going to do next and hear what you are going to say next! Now, I am off to bed so I have enough energy to find my big hugs around the house tomorrow! (;