Sweet Girl

Warning: the following contains mention of POOP and bathtime, so if you find discussion of poop and bathtime offensive, do not read on. :)

Here's a story about Lily that I don't want to forget. I've had a really intense school week, with a conference this weekend and other papers due besides. So, it's just been one of those chapters where you are trying to be conscious of taking care of yourself (which often falls to the wayside as a mother) as well as your family, because a meltdown is imminent. These just are part of life, from time to time. You know what I mean?

So, anyways, with a stress meltdown on the way, I was looking for ways to rest and exercise and not get sick. On Wed. morning I had a particularly intense yoga session and was SO sore by the end of the day. My instructor advised an Epsom salt bath, which I immediately shrugged off, because....well, who has time for a bath? However, after class on Wed night, it was clear that a bath was in order.

Jeremy was extremely supportive and provided me the time and space to take this bath. Lily, however, was extremely interested in this self-care project and since she it takes her forever to wind down at night, she was very aware that mama was in the bathroom beside her, doing something that she felt was awesome ("You're gonna SIT DOWN?!").

I told her I needed space and quiet and she said she would stay in her room. However during the course of the bath, I heard her come out of her room and open the bathroom door; several times she called to me softly through the "burnace" (which connects the bathroom to her room). I was annoyed that I couldn't even have a quiet bath, so I pretended I didn't hear her and she left me alone after a few minutes.

When I got out, she heard me walking to my room and this is the conversation that ensued:

Lily: (quietly) Mom?
Me: Yes? You should be asleep sweetie...
Lily: Are you done?
Me: Yes, I'm done.
Lily: Can I use the bathroom and go poop now?
Me: (horrified!) Lily!! You should have told me you needed to use the bathroom!!
Lily: I just wanted you to have your bath.

Enough said.

Lily to me, at dinner:
"What kind of soup is that, vegetable or strawberry?"

the Comedian

Conversation #1:

(occurred in bed during a storm while Lily's hysterical, too-tired state led to tears and extra drama)

Lily: MAMA, MAMA, MAMA!!!!!!!

Mama: (entering room) Lily, we're not doing this. It's time to be asleep.

Lily: (crying) My fan is making a noise!

Mama: That's not your fan, that's the rain hitting your window.

Lily: (still crying) I want you to make it stop!!!!

Mama: Lily, I don't know how sweetie, I would if I could.

Lily: I want you to make it stop!!!

Mama: I don't know how, do you know how?

Lily: (still crying) Just get a stick.

Mama: (trying not to laugh) OK, What do I do with the stick?

Lily: You just hit the rain!

Statement:

Lily: "I don't like scary balls. I just like dinosaurs."

Fact:

Lily named her first beetle of spring: "Bugpet"

Conversation:

Dada; Lily what are those white flowers called?

Lily: Those are just Candypants. (Candytuft)

Statement:

(on a walk as a stray dog began following us)

Lily: "We will take it home and feed it water and grapes."

Fact:

Summer dresses are called: "short long-sleeved dresses"

Excited about Christmas

Mama (observing Lily near the fireplace): "Lily, what are you doing?"

Lily: "Santa's not in the chimney yet. I just checked."

More Lilisms

Me: "Lily go sit down on your giraffe chair while you eat."
Lily (while sitting down): "GOOD GIRL, giraffe chair!!"

Lily (watching me come down the stairs): "What's going on Mama?"

Me (while reading books before bedtime): "Lily, this is our last one"
Lily: "After we read this one, we can read that one?"
(Yes, she really said all that!)

Me (still trying to get Lily to sit down while she eats): "Lily, go sit down on your bottom"
Lily: "No!....No go sit down on your bottom?"
Me: "Excuse me?"
Lily: "What?"
(She has been doing this a lot recently - pretending like she didn't just say NO to me!)

Happy Days

We are having the best time in our new house! Lily and I go on walks almost every day - either in the wagon or stroller. We've been walking to the park and the store! It's great fun.I didnt consider this when we bought the house, but sidewalks are GREAT for kids! I never dreamed Lily would get so much enjoyment out of them!"Set and Go!"We've been accumulating a bunch of new stuff...you know, to fill in the spaces in our new house :) Lily's favorite is her giraffe chair and table that Aunt Ha-Ha got her!

Here's Lily eating her favorite meal - Taco Salad! She eats as much as I do on nights we have it for dinner! Recently, we have a lot of visitors and we LOVE it. Here are some pictures from hiking around Lake Watauga with Aaron & Becky and our friend Brad (who Lily calls "bread").

Also, Great Aunt Jan and Great Aunt Susie came up with Mimi to visit for a day! It was so great to see them and spend those short hours together.

Lilisms

Lily calls the furnace (and all heat felt coming out of vents) the "burnace"

when we put on a long-sleeved shirt, she calls it "putting her elbows on"

when we hear the sump pump gurgle water through our sink, Lily announces "Sink's talking!!"

Recently, we were getting in the car to go eat at our favorite restaurant, Cootie Browns; Lily knew where we were headed....

Jeremy: Where do you want to go?

Lily, mispeaking: Cookie Browns!?!

Jeremy: COOKIE Browns??? That's silly...what do you want?

Lily, processing her word confusion:..... I need cookie!!!

when she pretends she's going somewhere, usually on her tractor, it's almost always going to "Cootie Brown's - gettin' pizza!"

she can't say her Ls, so she likes to sit on mama's "yap" (lap), go to "Yowes" (Lowes), and hold her "yittle" baby... also, she says often, "I yika that!"

When she puts on her favorite shoes, or a dress, she says, "I yika these. So pwetty!!"

Recently, when she is up to something and wants me to go away she says "Mama go that way"

I've been trying to teach Lily to ask nicely for things and not demand them. Usually it goes something like this:

Lily (screaming): JUUUUIIIIIICE!!!!!

Me: That's not a very nice way to ask.

Lily: Juice, please.

Me: That's a nice way to ask.

SO, since we've been practicing that, here are some subsequent requests:

Lily: WANT YOGURT RAISINS!!!!!

Me (giving her a disapproving look): Excuse me?

Lily: Want yogurt raisins please. that nice way ask.

"Tricker-Tricker"

On Saturday, we celebrated Jeremy's 30th birthday AND Halloween! It was such a fun day. Here are some pictures from trick-or-treating, or as Lily calls it, "Tricker Tricker"! She loved saying "Happy 'Ween" as well...

Our little East TN ladybug, riding her favorite tractor.

She got really into the whole candy thing... Aunt Haley and Uncle Toby were here to experience this first!

On a mission to the next house.

She plopped down in the middle of the wet sidewalk to check out her loot!

As you can tell, my interviewee kept getting distracted by the 100+ trick or treaters we had at OUR house! That is NOT an exaggeration. We paid for the candy to prove it. It was insane, but fun.


(She jumps the WHOLE time she eats a sucker. and when she's really excited)

Table Talk

Lily always eats a piece of fruit after dinner for "dessert" and here is the conversation that occurred during this transition...

Casey: Lily, do you want a peach?
Lily: Yes.
Casey: Or, do you want an apple?
Lily: Yes.
Casey: Which one do you want?
Lily: Chips.

Don't Drink the Water (Highlights from last week)

This little girl is TIRED, a lot of the time. Gone are the days of reading quietly for 20-30 minutes at a time and playing peacefully. She is ON THE GO, BUSY, and HIGH SPEED. Since her morning nap has been phasing out, its been a struggle to make it to her afternoon nap... She's been going and getting her "bankie" and "paci" out of her crib and pretending to go to sleep all over the house...

Eating yogurt with her fingers....mmmmm.

playing in her baby's cradle...

happy face after drinking "Green Goodness"

Cooking with dada - one of Lilys favorite games

Snoozing on the couch with dada.

Lily loves dada's ties. She always points them out in public, on other people, and in pictures...

I think this picture (above) looks just like Jeremy's baby pictures! What do you think?

Drinking our delicious Elizabethton city water. mmmmmm!!!

....and here are some random videos...