Tricycle Tricycle Tricycle

 

We were just going to the park. 
Then I made the mistake of stopping at Once Upon a Child, where Lilly fell in love with this little pink tricycle. I said we'd think about it, but she was so sad that we were leaving "[her] bike" behind, that I had to go back and get it. Plus, did I mention we were going to the park?! And not just any park, the All Abilities Park, the one with the mini town with working stoplights, the one that's begging for kids to ride their bikes down its undersized streets.
So that's how Lilly ended up with her first bike last week. She's still figuring it out, especially the part about steering, and also the pedaling. But she sure looks sweet trying!

 

Call me Sherlock

For several weeks we had mail trickling in from a mysterious woman, we'll call her Miss E.K., because those are her initials. One day it got really strange, because it was clear that her mail was being directly and deliberately forwarded to our address by the post office, and as far as we know, no one has moved in with us, or even on our street recently. On the aforementioned day, we received FIVE magazines, all mailed to Miss E.K. in La Grange, TX and subsequently forwarded to "K---" at our address.

As much as I appreciated flipping through Women's Day, Redbook, Good Housekeeping, Country Living, and American Heritage, I had to wonder, what person has so many magazine subscriptions?! (Full disclosure-I handed the last one over to Drew. History? Egh.) 

Based on her subscriptions I made an educated guess, "fairly affluent single lady in her 60s."
I felt fine keeping my her magazines, but Drew has this strange obsession with honesty. While I opened up Redbook, he used his super online sleuthing skills to find Miss E.K. 

Turns out I was dead on, almost. E.K.'s home pulled up valued in the millions, no husband, mid-60s, she also turned out to be dead. Pardon the unintentional pun. We found her obituary which told us she was survived by a sister who resides in the city just north of us. Yes, the internet is a place of endless opportunities to be a creep. 

Then Drew and I thought it over, and we decided that since we were already this far we had to follow through. I let him do the honors, because who wants to call up a stranger whose sister recently passed away? During the semi-awkward phone call, it was decided that Drew would fill out a post office form to get the mail re-forwarded to Sister's address, we would forward any "important-looking" mail in the meantime, and we could keep the magazines (yay!). She had no idea who forwarded the mail. 

But I guess that's one mystery that will be left unanswered, because I've got a copy of Better Homes and Gardens I need to go browse.

Bossypants

Yes, I enjoyed Tina Fey's book, but that's not what this post is about. It's about our dear sweet Lilly whose favorite phrases today are:

1. "I no like it."
2. "SIT DOWN, MAMA!"
3. "I do it."

Despite this, she somehow manages to be the most adorable little bossypants I've ever had the pleasure to work for.
Plus she has a special knack at coming off more authoritative than bossy. And authoritative-ness is a good thing, right? Also, she's not actually wearing any pants.

22 months

As of yesterday this little girl is only 2 months away from being a 2 year old! And she's still far from terrible.

I know i'm biased about her brains and beauty, but as far as temperament goes I'm certain she's as pleasant as a toddler can be. She's helpful and quick to share. She's (almost) never messy or destructive. And she remembers to says please and thank you and excuse me more than I do.

Being a mom to this little girl has got to be the best job in the world!

Some things we love about Lilly right now:

• The way she spontaneously says "I luff you." 
• And the way she says it about random things (like rice and clouds) and sounds just like Steve Carell on Anchorman. ("I love lamp! I love lamp.")
• The ways she hangs and swings from anything she can hold onto.
• Hearing her talk all the time!
• The way she says "ostrich."
• The way she grabs me when I'm carrying her and says "I got you!"
• The way she gets really hyper in the evening and screams "I run in circles!" while doing just that. Other favorites are: "I spinning!" "I dancing!" "I rolling!" and "I jumping!"
• That she'll draw what looks like a circular scribble and then point and insist "I draw mama!" or "I draw dada!"
• That she says "a-men" at the end of every book.
• That she loves to "play with fwends."
• That she's obsessed with "Super Why!" and it's the only show she asks to watch.
• That her favorite books right now are Madeline and Curious George. And that she loves books.
• That when she reads books to herself she always tries to find "the mama," "the dada," and "the baby" or "Lilly." (She also likes to decide if the people look "happy" or "sad.")
• How she can put her pajamas on at night with minimal assistance! And when she's trying to get her arm through the sleeve and it accidentally goes through the neck hole she screams "No! Nope!" until she gets it.
• How she screams "dada home!" as soon as she hears the garage door open and runs to meet him.
• How she still believes that a kiss makes everything better.
• How she names every body part for daddy to dry off after her bath, including eyebrows and cheeks.
• How she asks orders me to sing "stars" (twinkle twinkle) and "ABCs" every single night, and then makes Drew sing them, too. (One night Drew tried to sing a 3rd song and she said "no. all done.")
• How she won't fall asleep unless there is a cup of water in her room for when she wakes up in the morning. "I need wa-wa!"
• How she loves Indian curry and rice, but she won't touch a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. 
• That sometimes I still find her sleeping with her arms above her head like she did when she was a little baby.
• That she refuses to count past two. "1,2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2 . . ."
• That she knows all her colors and shapes.
• That she suddenly started calling us "mommy" and "daddy" instead of mama and dada.
• That she likes the potty again.
• That she can finally open doorknobs by herself.

I Love You

Lilly recently learned how to say "I love you," and I think it's the sweetest thing a parent can hear.

Each morning when she climbs into our bed, I give her a big hug, and she says "I luff you!" Drew's already gone to work, but she'll roll onto his pillow and say "I luff Dada," too. I've started telling her "I love you more," and she will return the claim. We go back and forth and sometimes I let her win, or I say that I love her the most. She hasn't figured out what to make of that.

This is not the best video, but it will have to do. Ignore the spaghetti sauce all over her clothes. And if you don't hear your name, it doesn't mean she doesn't love you, just that her attention span is shorter than the list of people she loves, and that love her. 

As far as problems go, that's a pretty good one to have.

Lilly's Friends

Lilly LOVES all her little girl friends! Maybe idolizes is more accurate. Since she's the youngest, she enjoys watching them and learning new things (and she thinks they are all really really cool). 
If they sit down, then she will sit down right next to them, so close that their little arms are touching. It's sort of adorable.