Test Drive

at Toys'R'Us

Time flies

It has certainly been a while since I lasted posted - at least compared to my previous track record. Life has been too busy for me to get on here much in a while. 

Lily has developed a pretty nasty cough over the last few days and none of us has gotten enough sleep because of it - so today was truly a day of rest for us. A very much needed day of rest for our family. It was super warm and lovely out so we basked in it in the backyard for a while, and all took a long afternoon nap. Mike has been working double duty pretty much every day this week, yes - Saturday too. He's been super busy - which is good, but it also makes him super tired and I feel like I haven't really gotten to spend time with him in too long. I am probably spoiled. I am used to having him around more and I like it. We actually went on a date this weekend though - without Lily! Wonder of wonders. She had a blast watching movies with her Grandma and cousin Evie. We picked up some greek food and then went to see The Prince of Persia with our friends Mikey and Apryl. It was a good time.

I just got done with a baby monitor broadcast. Standing next to Lily's crib singing slightly cracked renditions of popular children's hymns and rounding up with 'A Whole New World' from The Little Mermaid. Mike is used to it and even said he like it once - hopefully no one else in our neighborhood was tuned to that station. We have picked up some pretty interesting broadcasts from our neighbors on occasion. Of course, we turn the channel to give them their privacy, after a few good giggles. There was a pretty entertaining song about poop from some little girl one time. 

Lily actually went to sleep in her crib tonight! You may think this is strange that that would be a new thing when she is going on 2 years old! But...we do what works! Normally we do our bedtime routine, drinking milk while reading stories, then brush teeth and fall asleep in the dark in the middle of mom and dad's bed with mom beside her - with or without singing depending on her degree of wakefulness. If she's squirming around or chatting she needs a song - settles her down like magic. Then, when she's asleep we do the transfer. She's slept through the night with this method for quite some time. 

For some reason since she was a baby she's had this aversion to being put in her crib. It used to be if she was not completely out and she woke up as you were putting her in there and noticed where she was - she would get so upset she'd wake right up and not go down again for hours. Hence the routine. 

 Evidence: Last October

Not so bad. I've considered myself lucky that she would sleep so well through the night and nap for several hours if we just didn't let her see those crib bars as she drifted off! Seriously, some battles just aren't worth it. You do what you can live with. Good sleep is very important to me. And stages pass. For a while there I had to take Lily on a walk to get her to nap during the day at all. Now she's usually out within a few minutes if I just change her clothes, brush her teeth, and darken the room. 

Anyway, I've been thinking of trying to gradually move her over to falling asleep by herself in her crib like a normal child. I generally fall asleep much too early with the current method when I could be doing important things, like blogging. :) It would be nice to get to the point where I could leave her in there on her own and go spend more time with Mike or catch up on stuff. I figured I would just be doing it this way until the routine shifted over to her own regular bed in her own room and I left her there asleep. But, I don't really know when she will have her own room, and I'm not ready to take her out of her crib with our current set-up. Well, since she has been sleeping so great for so long and shown more and more signs of actually being content in her crib - I figure why not try? Last night as I checked on her (because of all her coughing) she was actually begging to be put back in her crib to sleep she was so tired! I think we can safely say the aversion to the crib is gone. Funny, I think - since whenever she is super cranky Mike and I threaten to put her up in her crib since she must be really tired to be acting that way! Not the best tactic to get her to like her crib, but it looks like it's no harm done :)

I couldn't resist adding these pictures because I was going through my photos over the last few weeks and it's fun to see how much she's grown. Looking back - I can't really remember when exactly the crib aversion began. Babies eat so much during the night at first and she always fell asleep when nursing... I couldn't break her of it, and you can't exactly do that in a crib.

Anyway, here's when she could fit sideways in the crib and sleep safely at the highest level without the bar raised!

Aug 2008

On our bed

Nov 2008

Happy in her crib!

Jan 2009

Asleep on our bed. Love those lips and chubby cheeks!

Awake! Sitting up on her own.

Feb 2009

Loving standing up to the bar.

Apr 2009

My sleepy girl on Memorial Day last year!

May 2009

Nowadays.

Apr 2010

My parents used to always say (about us): "They're so sweet...when they're asleep!" Well, sarcastic as that may be - it is also true without sarcasm. There is something so sweet about a sleeping baby!

Lily Live

So I finally uploaded the video of Lily singing Rock-A-Bye Baby to the Lily Lingo post if you want to check it out. Since then I got another sample for you of several things I mentioned her singing or saying in that post. (Sorry it's so dark.)

Thought we had her cured of that...but, no - her instinct is to call her baby "Cwap."

The other day I told Lily the rhyme: Eeny Meeny Miny Moe, catch a tiger by the toe...If he hollers, let him go...Eeny Meeny Miny Moe! Lily started repeating after me right away so I said it over a few times with her and now she's got it down. I was amazed. Usually when she sings stuff like that she's off somewhere, but she's got this one down word for word. I've been thinking lately that it's funny that maybe part of why we think kids are so cute and entertaining is because of the way they get stuff wrong. Eventually we all grow up and start to sing or say a lot of things just exactly the same way as everybody else does. Boring! - but kids are innocent and cuter...when you get stuff wrong as an adult people just think you're ignorant or stupid. As an adult you have to be clever about getting stuff wrong. Anyway, I'm thinking I'd better come up with some more short rhymes for Lily to practice memorizing while she's interested. Any ideas?

Here are a couple funny pictures of Lily and Evie just because they are so cute. I'll get around to posting something about our trip to Yosemite eventually, probably. It seems like I just can't get caught up with my to do list these days and I'm feeling the pressure. Self-imposed though it mostly is it's still pressure. I am in awe of mothers everywhere and how they accomplish what they do. Right now I am barely making it, and sooner than I think Lily will be 2! Look at these faces:

Gloves and aprons on. Sneaking around on a Saturday afternoon.
Don't you just want to follow them?

Happy Mother's Day!

To the most amazing ladies: my sweet mother, and sweet mother-in-law Elsie, my incredible grandmothers Lorene and Velma, and to my wonderful sisters Emily and Rebecca who have loved me and given me so much of themselves, and also to all the women growing up in church. I am so lucky to have been surrounded by remarkable women who have taught me and influenced me in so many ways to be a better mom! I don't know what I would do without you. I am truly blessed. Thank you for everything! I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father to have placed me in such a loving home and for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am also grateful for the sweet little girl who made me a mom and the incredible man who helps me take care of her!

Mother's Day 2010

Lily Lingo

21 months! I used to think it was silly to count ages in months after kids were a year. Now having witnessed firsthand how much they can grow and change in a month I don't think it's silly at all. Here's the Lily-lowdown for April.

She still can't say the L sound for Lily very well yet so you have to be paying attention to understand when she's saying her own name. It's kind like Yi Yi. It's funny that her name is one thing I struggle to understand. She's a pretty good little communicator.

Random funny things my child has been saying recently:

Lily's crying (usually a fake cry) When I ask 'What's wrong?' The answer is: "I'm crying!" Makes me laugh every time.

Don't know where she picked this up, but she's learned to be a sweet little wheedler. "Mom, can I watch a show"  (pause) "Pl-ease!" She knows just when to pause, and just how to place the emphasis - it just makes all of us bust out laughing and want to give her whatever she asked for.

"I like Everysing!" When she gets something she particularly likes to eat she will say this again and again. It's not true. It's a struggle to get her to eat even things she does like at times. It's not difficult to get her to eat popsicles, ice cream, most fruit, cheese, pancakes with syrup, and any candy or fruit snack you will let her try. Yogurt, peanut butter and macaroni and cheese are her staples, but even they lose their appeal at times. Recently she has discovered a fondness for fresh tomatoes. She was just saying at lunch yesterday: "Look, mom, my tomatoes! My favorite! Yummy yummy to my tummy.." You couldn't tell they were her favorite by how much she ate! I can't wait for her to try our garden tomatoes!

When Mike changes Lily he often names her arms or legs as he slips each one into her clothes or pajamas. 'Arm' slip in the arm 'Other arm' slip in the other arm. 'Leg...other leg.' Well, you can tell we don't use the official names for private parts around here because the other day as Mike was changing her diaper and wiping her clean Lily says: "Booty" (pause, as Mike wipes again) "Other booty." 

Lately when Lily wants something right now she says: "This night!" insistently - whatever the time of day.

Mike has been working hard to put in a gopher proof garden spot and been adding fresh topsoil and manure to it to get it ready for planting. Lily loves to play in the dirt and in the midst of our trying to dissuade her - we hear this from her lips: "I wanna play in the poop!"

The other day Lily was cradling her little baby doll so sweetly, and Mike asked her 'What's your baby's name?' She thought for a millisecond then immediately replied: "Crap!"

Mike and I just looked at each other trying not to laugh. Did we hear that right? Yes, 3 times. Don't worry we quickly encouraged her to name it something more appropriate. And - just in case you are wondering if we are potty mouths because of the last two quotes - sometimes Lily just strings some sounds together to make up a word when she doesn't know the answer to something, and I could tell that's what she was doing here. :)

 

Getting ready to put Lily to bed..

"Mom, D'you hear that!?" Lily asked with big eyes and a serious voice.

(me) 'Hear what?'

Lily looked around then answered in a whisper: "Ghosts!"

She had serious eyes, but a smile lurking in the corners. Luckily the banjo playing raccoon ghosts from Little Bear are pretty much the least scary kind of ghost imaginable. Though, last night she had to have help to walk around the wall by the doorway into our semi-dark bedroom and she was talking about raccoons...

Singing:

She's a little shy about it so it's hard to catch it on video and almost impossible to get a command performance, so I just listen close and enjoy it anytime I get the privilege to be her audience. When I recognize what she's singing she gets a little more confident, but if I try to sing along I get a indignant glare and "s'My turn!"

Lily's version of the Dribbly Dell singer's Song from Sunny Patch

Buh buh buh buh buh butterfly

Do Do Do Do...Butterfly

dum dum dum dum Ladybug

Happy Birthday chanted with lots of extra syllables and personally addressed to everyone we know

part of the Itsy Bitsy Spider with wiggling fingers

"Coming to town, coming to town, Santa Claus" (whenever she sits at the piano)

"Rock A Bye Baby in the Treetop when the bough breaks the cradle will Fa-alll!!!" (Higher pitched at the end) I did get a little bit of that on video, though Fall is usually much more exaggerated than here. I tried!



(I've been trying to get her ABC's recorded forever! Not so much luck there.)

It is amazing to look back to videos taken even earlier this month and see how far Lily has come. I love that she understands me and carries out what I ask her to do in her own way now - not just repeating what she heard, but really understanding. Not that she always does what I ask! She is her own little person. My baby is growing up, and I love the little girl she is becoming. She is beautiful and sweet and fun and we're so lucky to be her mom and dad!