This photo is titled:

"Sally Shake, The Dolphin Gets a Bath"

family portrait

....there's just so much to say about this picture.  I love it. 

It's a perfect day for....

 ....an Easter Egg Hunt, of course!!

"Mom, these are the rules.  First, someone hides the eggs.  Then someone else finds them.  OK?"

Sweet Friends

Our community here is wonderful and includes so many amazing small humans.  Here is a picture of Lily and her buddy Wiley.  He and his brother Bryant are a bit older than Lily (ages 6 & 8) but they are SO sweet to her, as shown in the above picture.  Wiley played dress-up with Lily one day when they came over to play and I couldn't resist snapping a few pictures of his kindness. 

Lily was thrilled.  We are so grateful  for our friends here in East TN and we look forward to watching Lily grow up with these special friends. 

Things from Today

I am in the throes of end-of-semester woes, but I absolutely cannot allow myself to forget these two things from today.

1.  Lily and I have been telling stories every night before bed, in lieu of reading books.  This is a fantastic exercise in imagination.  I find it highly entertaining and a very special time for the two of us.

First, i have to make up my story.  Lily requires that it be about animals and I require that it impart some sort of moral about obeying the Mama.  ....I'm kidding.  kind of. After my story, Lily tells hers.  They are usually VERY similar to mine, but the species and names of the characters are changed :) 

Anyways, tonight  Lily's story was about a family of fish that were tragically eaten by hawks and alligators.  (Luckily, the bride did not get them first.)  The names of the children-fish are what I want to remember - "Sophie (she's a girl), Tomithy (he's a boy), Picnic (she's a girl), Sopa (he's a girl), and Starboy (she's a girl)."  

Oh, Starboy - you are probably a very confused young fish.

2.  She re-discovered her xylophone tonight - it's like the baby FisherPrice version.  However, she was SO excited about it that she could not stop talking about playing music tomorrow.  The plan is that I will play the mandolin, Dad will play the guitar, and she will play the xylophone.  First thing in the morning.  Problem is (aside from the fact that dad has school), she has preschool and we already NEVER make it on time.  So...she wants to wake up early and skip "breakdas" so that we can play music instead....?  That's her plan.  Did I mention that she is so excited?!

We made lots of plans.  The one that makes the most sense if for mama to not worry about getting to school on time and nurture this precious excitement over something important.

Well, it's all important, really.

Just Makin' Some Dirt Soup

ketchup

Here are some random pics from the last few weeks. Lily and Jeremy just got back from their spring break trip to IL to visit Grandma and Grandpa!
Lily's cucumber face
New outfit from Lisa!

Lily admiring her own artwork :)

one night Jeremy and I heard LOTS of pitter-pattering of little feet upstairs; when we went to check on Lily, we found this configuration of stuffed animals. So cute.
Lily eating her favorite food: bread.

some things I love about Lily, in this phase

1. Most of you know, Lily is VERY opinionated and particular about clothes. 95% of the time, her outfits are her creation. I have very little say in the process and I'm ok with that. However, she has a little bit of OCD when it comes to her clothing. She needs all loose threads cut off immediately and no string goes unnoticed. Stains are deal-breakers. And holes? Forget about it, that piece is DONE. For example, today she put on a brand-new pair of tights and found a fuzz, which turned into a microscopic hole upon removal. The hole grew in her mind and literally, until we had to take off the tights so we didn't have to talk about it anymore. I don't know why, but I love this about her.

2. This isn't intentional, but it's common. Whenever Lily throws something away in our kitchen trashcan, she almost always finds something she wants to take out. I have to escort her to and from the wastebasket, because on her own, she will pluck out whatever brightly-colored, food-stained item her eyes land on. Sometimes it's something like wrapping paper ("Hey! I wanted that paper!"). Or...one of her crafts from preschool that literally has only ONE line drawn on it ("Heeey! I was gonna give that to Dada!) It's just so funny. She puts something in, she gets something out.

3. Another favorite thing: If we are going down the stairs at the same time, she will race to the bottom and lay on the last step so that I have to pretend to (which is dangerously close to almost) step on her. I don't know why she thinks it's so fun, but she does. Every time.

4. This girl LOVES hugs. I get so many, every day. So, so many. I'm so lucky.

5. I love her outfits. All of them. (see above picture) One time when I had to walk across the entire ETSU campus with Lily; she wore the most outrageous, brightly-colored, mismatched ensemble in the history of the world. It was so loud that I was almost embarrassed. And then I was proud. Because she is simply herself. Stripes and polka dots, orange and pink, different plaids, opposing shades of green. That's my girl's style. Go You, Lily-girl.

6. Lily has long been a fan of rigid nighttime routines. Remember the Christmas Medley days? And the 45 minute routine that we had to wean her out of last spring? Now, the finale to the goodnight routine is this:
(and she must start it, if you start it, she starts it over)
Lily: (normal voice) Goodnight!
Response: Good night!
Lily: I love you!
Response: I love you!...
Lily: (in silly nasal voice) Goodnight!
Response: (in silly nasal voice) Goodnight!
Lily: say-i-love-you-really-loud, (in silly voice) I LOVE YOU
Response: (In silly nasal voice) I LOVE YOU.
Lily: I can't hear you, say it loud I LOVE YOU
Response: (in silly voice) I LOVE YOU!

7. I love The Hands. Their names are Sophie (left hand) and Bree (right). Sometimes they fight and grab and yell and man oh man, occasionally one of them gets in BIG trouble. Other times, they "love each udder" and give each other big hugs. Last week, they were even getting married! Most of the time, they just help Lily eat by putting food in her mouth, or help her put on socks, etc. They like to climb and dance as well. Oh, yeah, The Feet like to dance too - that would be Vicki (left) and Marco (right).

8. ID: It's a sad day when you have to teach your child for the first time that there are bad words - things that you can say that hurt others. For example, Lily picked up the word "stupid" in a movie a few months ago. I wouldn't care that much, except for the word is primarily used to belittle others or something others care about. So, Jeremy and I decided we'd go ahead and start talking about bad words. She understood right away that she shouldn't say it, but sometimes her Hands say it. I never catch them, but she promises it's them. She will say things like, "Mom, I'm not gonna say stupid, ok?" Once she figured out that was not ok, she started calling it "Id". So, now in our house "Id" is a bad word too. Occasionally, people will drop the Id-word (except the real version) around her and her eyes get really wide and she whispers to us "______ said ID!!!"

9. I cut Lily's hair in the bathtub the other night. She thought it was only one snippet, but it was the whole go-round. Jeremy distracted her with a game with "Bootsy" and was making her laugh hysterically while I tried to cut discreetly. We've been putting this off for a while, and technically, it's her first haircut. It's so uneven, but the curls hide it. And...about the curls...I think their days are numbered. Since the trim, her hair looks more like a bob than a Shirley Temple. But....even though it's symbolic of her getting older...I love it. She's just a gorgeous child, inside and out.

And on that note...

"Selende!"

Last weekend, some friends came in town for Milligan's Homecoming festivities. They were so great about hanging out and playing with Lily and she LOVED all the attention. She even invented a sticker game called "Syllendae" which she played all weekend, mostly with Yendra (below), Gina, and Becky. "Salinday" became our mantra for the weekend, signifying the creative celebration of life. We all submitted different spellings of the word, but in the end decided that by its very nature, "Sillende" could not be spelled one particular way.

I love how Lily reminds and teaches me to celebrate community and simple moments.


Sellenday!!!!

Mama, It's Your BIRTHDAY!!!!!

thats my girl.

Lil'isms

This is a picture of Lily's favorite new (at-home) activity. She not only gives these animals their own dress to wear, but she gives them a new identity too! For example, the androgynous Doggie becomes "Emma" and Blonde Bear becomes "Blondie." After they are all dolled up, we put on music and they wait their turn to dance with Lily! So cute, so creative.

Here's some other fun ones:

Lily: (looking at a Barbie and Ken doll, side by side) "Who's that man with Barbie?"
Me: "Oh...(chuckling to myself)...that's Stan."
Lily: "....He's a lovely person!"


Lily: (after sneezing out THE biggest booger I have ever seen in my life) "It looks like granola!!"

Lily: "Mama, close your eyelips!"

Lily: (to Jeremy, who caught her cold) "I knocked the cold out of my nose and put it in your nose."

This last one broke my heart...

Lily, on the morning before her first day of preschool: "Mama, who's gonna catch me at the bottom of the slide?"

"Look Mama, I'm a nun!"

Imagination

"Look Mama, I made a boat with people on it!"

i love this kid.

the little artist:

(this is what she looked like when she painted your pictures.)