Lately with Lily

I know Lily says tons of funny things all the time that I don't always think to write down - and now they are forgotten, so I figured a new post was in order to help us (her family) remember some of the funny things Lily would say and do when she was two and a half. You will probably think she is a little rebel after reading all of these, but don't make assumptions on only part of the picture. She can be a sweet, helpful little angel at times too! For some reason these were just the things I recorded recently... :)

A new nursery teacher in church pointed out a few weeks ago that Lily had been flipping him off for the last half hour. That made me realize my daughter naturally uses her middle finger for pointing and pushing on things. I started a covert campaign to teach her to use her pointer finger instead. It's always a fine line being a parent - I knew if I made too big a deal of it she'd use her middle finger on purpose and really offend somebody! So far so good (though it's still her inclination to use her middle one).

Frequent Lily quote: "Green makes the scene!" (thumbs down with a frown) --that one's a mixed up expression from a Berenstain Bears episode. Not really sure what she thinks it means, but it's pretty funny. A week or so ago Mike told me she walked over to the neighbor kids, who she loves to play with, and gave them a big thumbs down. I think they just did it back. She can be such a random grouch sometimes. I think after a few minutes of playing with them she got over it.

One afternoon as I was heading in to the kitchen to make something I stopped to remind Lily to eat some food that was in front of her while she was absorbed in watching TV. She said to me: "Mom, be patient!" and then followed it up (with attitude) saying: "Go make something!" Aggravating, but funny.

After Lily bonked her head on our TV cabinet one night she cried: "You're supposed to take care of me!" I have to tell you how funny it is to have the mom guilt, gut-wrenching-feeling coincide with the laughing-out-loud, tickle-your-funny-bone-feeling. And how weird it is that our kids can make us feel guilty for things that are totally not our fault and out of our control...

 

Lately Lily wants her Grandpa or Grandma to read the funnies to her whenever she sees them reading the paper. Came in on her like this in her upside down stool :)

She's also always asking questions like: "Will you hold onto "X" -- in case it doesn't get lost?*" or "Will you put this up somewhere high -- in case (X cousin/person/or ghost) won't get it?*" (*Lily grammar) We don't let Lily take her Lamby everywhere because we don't want her to lose him somewhere, so I know where she got that - but Lily always adds on the possibility of other children or people taking it.

For quite a while Lily has been saying 'I do and I don't', but it's gotten more specific and frequent lately. Now she's always saying: "Sometimes I do, Sometimes I don't." --about liking food or people. She definitely has this sometimes attitude about food. I never know if she's going to eat something or reject it even if she's always liked it in the past. The other day when her cousins were over Lily asked for grilled cheese, but when Evie wanted macaroni and cheese she suddenly wanted that too - even though she'd been rejecting it for weeks. Ah, the power of peers. Anyway, as we were eating Lily conversationally says to Evie, "Sometimes I like macaroni, and sometimes I don't." Later I happened upon a slightly awkward conversation along this same line. Lily was standing on a stool looking through some wooden bars that separate an opening from the kitchen to our front room where Evie was playing. Lily said, "I love you Evie!" (which she says a lot) ..she continued, "Sometimes I love you, sometimes I don't." Evie (taken aback, I'm sure) asked, "But do you LIKE me?" Lily: "I like you... and I don't." Evie asked, "Do you hate me?" Lily, who has probably never heard the word 'hate' before, replied: "I love you... and I don't." This led to a discussion about how we always love people, but sometimes we don't like everything they do. Yeah...Evie was cool, but I don't think Lily got it... I know she loves all the people she says she sometimes doesn't. I'm not sure where she originally picked this phrase up, but she's just running with it right now! This morning it was, "Sometimes I love to hug you dad, and sometimes I don't." and "Sometimes I love you Grandma, and sometimes I don't." Me oh my. It will probably lead to more awkward conversations until it runs it's course, but I'm sure she'll get the real concept eventually :)

I love the little scenarios Lily comes up with of late, and the attitude and expressions she uses are to die for. I love how she shrugs her shoulders sometimes as she talks, and how she's been putting her hand on her hip lately. It's so fun to see her express herself with her all and all. It's so fun to hear her doing different voices for her little toy people and animals, and to hear her give grown up advice. And yesterday the way she said "Please, please, ple-ea-ase! with this drawn out high singing voice on the last 'please' and hugging me while she rolled her head around and smiled. I cannot capture it's cuteness in a description to truly convey it to you, but maybe it will help me remember in years gone by...

"Maybe we can have a picnic outside, and maybe Evie can come over and eat too, and maybe she will bring a bouncy house!"

talking about summer...

"and then Daddy will take us to the beach! And Daddy will come home and we'll say: "Let's go to the beach! -- Hooray - hooray!!""

Yesterday: "I'm going to help Mom now, Grandma! Take a rest and call me from the kitchen!" (Coming into the kitchen:) "Grandma's going to call me if she needs me."

"Why did you put me in my zebra shirt today, Mommy?"

Lily in her 'zebra shirt' doing her best Geordi impression.
(Come on, didn't you watch Star Trek the Next Generation?)

In her zebra shirt again getting ready to help her Dad.

(Measuring with the measuring tape) With confidence: "It's 5 and a clock" 

It's so funny how she can be so shy around people she doesn't know, and her preschool friends, and so not shy at home. She totally draws in her chin and puts on a grumpy/pouty face when she catches the notice of a stranger - every time. At least maybe she won't walk off with one too easily!

Sometimes Lily is so totally obstinate and hard to manage. And sometimes she's so helpful and loving and well-behaved. I think a lot of any trouble I have with her is my own fault. Sometimes I think I'm a good mom, and sometimes I don't... She catches me off guard. Like: What do you do when you are trying to speak sternly or give a time out and she says, "I need a hug!" so insistently - you can't exactly push her away? Oh, she's good! She knows how to delay bed time, and how to avoid choosing her two offered options in an attempted deal. Oh yes, it's tougher than I ever imagined being a parent... but I wouldn't go back if I could. The people you love are what make life worth living. I cannot imagine loving my little girl any more than I do, and definitely not any less - so I'm sure my love will just continue to grow. Probably as fast as she does!

'Safari Park'

It's going to take some time for me to get used to that name. Not sure why they felt they needed that change... 'Wild Animal Park' sounds more fun to me! Anyway, it's still a sweet place to go. Here's some fun pictures from our most recent visit:

Mike's favorite way to spend 25 cents...actually I take that back - he probably loves to feed the ducks even more :)

It's always fun to remember how little Lily was 'the last time we were at this spot', or see what things she's willing to do now that she wouldn't before. She was quite brave this time at the petting zoo. She was so excited to feed the animals she kept doing this cute little hop. Tried to get it on video - will post it later..

Dress Up

A couple weeks ago I read Lily a cute little story from The Friend and afterward she wanted to play dress-up. I had this costume all ready to return to my sister-in-law Rebecca unworn, because we didn't end up using it last Halloween...and Lily just hasn't been into dress-up before. I grabbed it out of the bag and seized the moment! Here are some pictures of my adorable butterfly princess! (Just my favorite 21...) Too bad she wasn't wearing this in her ballet :)

Lily says she wants me to sew her a ballet outfit now. I think a sampling of dress-up clothes would be such a fun birthday present... A tutu, and other various items - maybe a Red-Riding Hood cape, and now some Rapunzel hair...(Love that movie)! Trouble is - it is hard to make time to sew. Especially the way I do it. I always like to think things through step by step before I buy any materials or cut into them. I over-think things. Nice for avoiding mistakes and not wasting materials, not so nice for quick decisions or deadlines! Even months away deadlines... I do have other things besides sewing going on... I also have to think over (over-think) what exactly I'd want to make, what it would cost to make it, mixing and matching, conserving and combining -- and whether the whole project would really be a good use of our resources... I know, sometimes I should just seize the day, and go for the girly...it's just there are a lot of factors to consider! Like - do I even want to let myself get started thinking about it? Decisions, decisions... I kind of want to make Lily an Easter dress. We'll see.

I have actually been doing a little sewing in the recent past. I made Mike a long fleece zip-front robe for a Valentine's day/early birthday present. I've been wanting to buy him one for years. I had to improvise a pattern because what I wanted just wasn't out there. I like zipper front robes because they do a better job of covering. All the men's robes I've seen for sale are overpriced, silky, and short - and what's the point of that? Not Mike's style definitely. And the nice thing about a robe - especially when you are sharing a house and don't have a private bathroom - is that you can throw it on for middle of the night bathroom trips, or to walk to the shower, or even wear it like a walking blanket over your clothes when you're cold. I'll have to see if I can get a picture of Mike in it to post. It will give you a better visual for the bee swatting story. :)

I did take photos of some new bibs I finished sewing for Lily just the other day! I got the pattern from a friend in Colorado and made a variety of these when Lily was first starting solids, and they've lasted pretty well! I made most of them with the top layer out of calico instead of flannel so the fronts didn't pill, and they were still plenty absorbent. I love the style and simplicity of the pattern and Lily has never managed to get them off by herself - so we are still using them for particularly messy meals. Saves clothes! Over the years a few got lost or thrown out, so we'd gotten low - and Lily has grown so tall it just made sense to lengthen them.

The new bibs - I just made 3 of each of these fabrics this time:

 

Some of the old ones that are left: (A little stretched out and faded, but not too shabby for being 2 years old! I like the cherry and cupcake ones, but they were out of the fabric at the store.)

 

The difference:

 

 They look so long on her, but I'll get used to it - at least they're keeping the yogurt out of her lap!