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We are getting Lily THIS tea/kitchen set. Oh my goodness, she loves to play tea party! She begs me everyday to have a tea party, even right after we have had one.

I’m setting up a b-day registry for her HERE. Some of the stuff is organizing shelves and such for her room, gotta keep her room from becoming a mess!

We really want to get her and Laurel a couple of sets of THESE blocks, she is in the ‘I want to build’ mode, and right now is using her books to build a ‘house’.

Okay here goes:

-Play table and chairs, for tea parties of course!! She liked the outdoor one too
-Anything arts and crafts or learning!!! Craft time is one of the girls favorite part of the day!
-Anything princess! She loves pretending to be a princess and dresses up as often as possible in her princess dress (remember last years b-day dress?)
-Computer! I know, it sounds like a big item, but it really isn’t. There are all kinds of things that go with computers (special keyboards that come  with software or actual little mini computers) right now she flips over the sink in her kitchen and pretends it’s a computer.
-Anything to do with baby dolls or doll houses, she loves the doll house at church
-Playdough playsets! Lily loves playing with the one she has!

-DVD’s
-Muzzy (spanish)
-Veggie Tales (any of them, she doesn’t have any)
-Any of the Disney Classics (call if you want to make sure we don’t already have it)
-Special Agent Oso, Ni-hao Ki-lan (we have Super Special Days) and Little Einstiens

-Any toys having to do with the above shows. Lily says her favorite is Rintoo from Ni-hao Ki-Lan, but I’ve not been able to find any stuffed animals from the show. If you find one, please let me know!
-kids music cd’s. We listen to music just about all day long. Music video’s would be fine too
-musical instruments, she says her favorite is the drum, a good excuse to hit something!!

We are planning of getting Laurel a couple of presents too, just like we did for Lily on Laurel’s birthday. Here are some of the things we are wanting for Laurel (if you decide to get one, please let me know! Thank you!)

-TaDoodles Washable First Marks (so she won’t eat the crayons)
-Washable Triangular Crayons (to replace the crayons she ate)
-Touch and Feel Cards
-baby dolls or stuffed animals. She loves both, and is always getting Lily’s to play with. The cause of many screeching match.

OK, again, these are just suggestions, things we would like the girls to have, or that Lily has said that she wants. The girls will love anything you give them, because it came from family. Wish you could all be at her B-day party. She is waivering between wanting a Princess party or a Special Agent Oso party.

I love how the girls love to learn. Lily is asking all morning, ‘can we do ABC’s?’ Asking to get on the computer. When we got ready Laurel hopped in my chair giggling, Lily chanting ‘yay!’. When we find our letter of the day (today is J) both girls clap and try their best to make the J sound. During meals they eat better when Mommy is showing them flashcards. And last night at dinner both girls got at least one right. Lily got a few correct letters, and Laurel got the sound for the letter L. And it isn’t a chore or work to them, they love learning, and whine at me when I don’t do the flashcards.

Today Lily talked to her Aunt Jessica. She actually sang the entire ABC song (correctly!), very quietly to her. I was so proud!!

Laurel and Lily helped me exercise today. I was on the mat doing leg adductions and Laurel thought it would be great fun to help me lift my leg up and down! Lily saw and decided that it looked like great fun. My little fitness coaches!

The girls favorite time of the day (other than ABC time) is music time, when I get out the instruments. Okay, so we only have a few, but the girls love them. Both love playing, and would play with Daddy’s guitar if I let them. Then we turned up some music and danced, I love doing silly moves and watching the girls try to do them too. They love swing music, it is so much fun to dance to, but wears Mommy out much faster!!

Lily told Evan that she dreamed about Unicorn Princess and Unicorn Land last night. Yay! I’ve been telling her stories about Unicorn Land, just like my mother did for me.

Laurel has been hitting, especially her big sister. So this morning when she hit Lily I said don’t hit (very sternly, so of course she teared up) lets give hugs! So she gave Lily a big ol’ hug and several times went back to give her more hugs. Yay!  So from then on when she would hit, I’d tell her no and then tell her to hug instead. Yay for hugs! Laurel is much like Lily was at this age, if I get on to her she puckers up and gets really upset. So now I’m trying to back everything up with a positive, just like with the hugs.

“Jesus is a princess. Jesus caught two mouse. Jesus is a princess. The end.” This was the story that Lily told Evan as she was going through her picture Bible ‘reading’ him a story. Imagine my surprise when Lily comes running into the kitchen and burst out “Jesus is a princess!”

Laurel is now trying to eat with a spoon/fork (spork?). It is so cute, I’ll help her get the food on it and she gets it to her mouth, or helps me get it to her mouth. She is doing much better at the table, most of the food makes it to her mouth, and having a utensil helps.

Lily is doing very good with potty training. Most of the uh-oh’s are accidents, and she doesn’t have those very often. Yay!

Bedtime is still a struggle with Lily, I’m quite tired of fighting her on it. I’m hoping that gentle reminders and consistant routines will help her to go to bed. Poor thing has bags under her eyes and she is only 3!! If this keeps up I’m going to take her to the doctor. Not wanting to go to sleep is one thing, not being able to get enough sleep is another!

Thanks again for the cards for Lily! She loves them. Every time we get the mail she asks if she has a card. Some she plays with and totes around with her (or even takes to bed), and some she says are special and she keeps in the mailbox.

I am awful with snail mail, so I apologize. I have a bunch of mail that I have been meaning send out, and I finally am getting a-round-tuit (lol, wish they still had those wood ones!). Some are Easter cards. Don’t feel bad though, I found some Halloween cards a few months ago. Went ahead and sent them out, better late than never!

This morning when I gave Laurel her first bite of banana, she actually said thank you!!! It was more like ‘tank u’, but very clear. YAY! She actually said it a few times after that as well!

Both girls had one of those yogurt drinks, I tempted fate and put a straw in and sealed the foil around it. Lily ended up being to engrossed in what she was doing and spilled some on herself, but did great with it while she was paying attention. Laurel came and sat in my lap and insisted on holdeing hers as well, and she did great!

The girls are doing amazingly well with their learning. I started including Laurel in the computer learning with Lily, she takes her cues from Lily and chimes in with the sounds and even tries to do the sign language. If we have at least two sessions of going over the letter of the day, Lily remembers it pretty well. I’ve got the ABC flashcards (Thanks Mema!) going every day, we review the letters all the way up to the letter of the day. Lily usually doesn’t know what each letter is, but I’m sure with repitition she will get it.  I’m going to go hunting for more flashcards next time we go shopping. We have some great ones (thanks Nana!) that I was using a breakfast (distract them from the fact that they are sitting still so they will eat) they are puzzle cards so can be kinda hard to hold together at times. Lily is now at the age where we can start taking the puzzle cards apart and have her try to put them back together, so that should be really fun for her!

Lily found her bravery this week. We went to McD’s for lunch with a friend who watches two boys (5 and 7 yrs), and I think watching them tear around the place really helped. That and there was a girl about 7 who took an instant liking to her and they played. Lily seems to do that, all the girls at church that are a little older just love her. Anyway, I looked around and didn’t see her, I always keep an eye on the door to make sure she doesn’t try to go potty by herself or follow a new friend out. We sent the boys into the tunnels to look for her and to my amazement she was all the way at the top, at the big slide and bus (has a ‘bus’ with big windows, but the way to get to it is about a foot of mesh, never thought she would go in there!). After the first time she came down the big slide I could tell when it was her, bumping and skidding down the slide with lots of noise. To cute! About that time Laurel got interest too and climbed UP the big slide. It is a corkscrew slide, and is just level enough for her to crawl up. I had to climb in after her, and she is a quick little thing, especially when she thinks Momma is playing and gonna ‘get’ her. She made it half way up the slide. Twice.

We finally had a great morning to go to the park playground, and what a blast we had! They both took great naps that day!! Lily’s bravery continued as she ran all over the place and got upset when I restricted her to one area of the playground. She tried to climb down some sloping bars (that I had earlier told her not to do) and ended up falling on her head and scratching up her arm. Even as she was crying to me and I was attempting to see how hurt she was, she was trying to get away to go slide. She loves the part so much! She went down one of the really steep slides on the bigger area, which had water at the bottom, and was going to fast to stop and ended up on her rump in the mud. By the time we left it looked like she had peed herself, poor girl (don’t worry, it was warm enough that she was not getting cold). Next time I’ll know to take a change of clothes! 

Today we were a part of the Child Dedication Service for Mother’s Day. Lily was distressed at the thought of leaving her class (she loves Sunday School), so after pictures she went back to her class. Laurel had a great time looking around at all the people, I am glad there was constant music and then talking, it seemed to keep her from getting upset. She did wonderfully, and I wish I had a picture of her while during the dedication. There was a certificate, a small white New Testament Bible, and a rose with baby’s breath. Laurel took the little Bible and alternated between trying to nibble on the edge of it and trying to open it up and read it, and staring at the choir behind us. She did amazingly well through the entire thing, and didn’t make even the smallest of sounds the entire time. Both girls got roses, Bibles, and certificates. I’m going to see if I can get a copy of the picture to post here.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Evan’s got it. One goofy look, or grin, or just about anything, and I can get Laurel to eat. No attention from Daddy, and she fights and doesn’t want the spoon anywhere near her. It is like magic. One second she is pushing at the food, Daddy pulls a face, and then she opens her mouth for a bite. If Daddy is around, it is dinner and a show. It isn’t that she just won’t take a bite from a spoon, or that she is full. No, she will throw her food from her tray if she isn’t getting the occasional grin or peek-a-boo from Daddy.

Laurel is going to take ballet classes when she is older. She is already practicing in the bathtub. She will stand up, kick a leg out behind her lift it up, put it down… etc. It looks like she is trying to practice on a ballet bar! She is goof in the tub too. Had to take her out early last night as I was afraid she was going to drown herself.  She was dancing, practicing ballet, throwing herself backwards (that one I think b/c she had fun watching me try to catch her) and her favorite, dunking her face in the water.

Lily has been putting on ‘music shows’. She has us sit in the audience (her stuffed animal pile). The intro, ‘ladies and gentlemen’ comes out sounding like ‘lady by gemmin’ or ‘ladybug jammin’. When she first asked me “can I ‘lady and gentlemen’” (meaning can I put on a show), I thought she said ‘Lily’s pajamas’ and could not figure out what she wanted. She finally got me to sit down, got up on her bed and made the introduction leaning over her bed to her dresser (where she had lined up three books that she was reading the introductions from). She introduced herself singing a song, dancing, jumping, as a kangaroo, and then Laurel, who obliged her and made a little speech with her arms out and crooned at the end of it. Then Lily took a bow and pressed the pretend buttons for the lights. That was last night, she has been pestering me since to come and see more of ‘Lily’s Music Show’. Very hard not to when she drags you by the arm and is saying ‘plleeaase!’

I’ve seen at least 10 show today, and I must admit, I do not think the bed will make it through many more, lol. She gets so enthusiastic and so into her dancing and singing. When she is old enough I’m going to make sure to get her into some kind of dance class and singing lessons!!

Evan finally got a really good look at Lily’s imagination at dinner last night. He couldn’t hardly eat from trying so hard not to laugh. Someone (I think it was Tolee from one of her shows) was stuck on the ceiling, and there were alligators, and all sorts of things. The cutest was when suddenly said “Oh. My.” Exactly as some teen would say OMG, the slow pause in between and all. I thought I was going to fall out of my chair.

She has such a wonderful imagination, and loves to learn too. A wonderful combination I think. The other day, cute as a bug, she told me “I just a magic potion.” I asked if she wanted a magic potion, thinking she might want some of Daddy’s ‘gummy beary juice’ (blue soda), but she said “No, I AM a magic potion!” And just beamed at me. The later when we were going over her letter of the day, we ended up going over about 4 extra ones that she randomly picked and said, what about this one?

“Mommy, it’s a ghost!” We get to hear this, or scary monster, every night. I’m still cursing last October. Some nights a stuffed animal is enough to keep them at bay, other nights her ‘magic wand’ (thank you Nana and Papa, the egg ‘wand’ that lights up and spins) will ward them off. I put some of those glow in the dark stars on her wall, and if/when they actually light, those work wonders. But before that we have to get out the flashlight and she swings the light all over the room make sure they are no longer there. And then other times, during the day, the ghost or monster is a dear friend and has to come have breakfast or coffee with us.

We went to McD’s for lunch. We are trying to go at once a week, usually Friday unless we are going to Grandma’s that weekend. She finally got back to where she will climb up and go down the slide last time we were there (right before we left, of course). And this time she went up the bigger side, the climbing is further and higher apart, got to the top, and did not want to go through the tunnel to get to the other side where the slide was, but couldn’t figure out how to get down. By the time we left, she had it figured out and was hopping down those last two inches between her toes and the next level down. I think a few more weeks and she’ll be going to the top and down the big slide.

Still having some accidents on the potty training, but for the most part we got it. We have good days, and bad days, but I think it will take only a few more months and she will have it down pat.

“I not a little body, I a big girl. I strong!” Yes, Lily now wants to be a big girl. She gets on the edge of her toy fridge, pulls it’s door and the oven door close so she can pull herself up tall and shriek about how big she is. Such a big girl!!

* Lily sang all the way through the ‘Itsy Bitsy Spider’ song this morning, her first song she can sing all of!!

*Laurel can now go in circles, just this last week in fact. She will go around and around saying “Wheeeeee!” Till she falls down and then giggle. She is pretty good at it too, she spun around on top of Lily’s little toddler bed and didn’t fall off!

*After much practice, Lily can now do a complete flip by herself. She mainly does it on Mommy’s bed, it’s a lot softer to land on when she forgets to roll her back. Laurel likes to get up and have Mommy roll her too.

*Laurel can now climb up on the couch, and just about anything else at that level. She finally figured out how to get down too, so putting things up on the end tables is no longer safe!

*Lily loves to help. We went to McD’s and she would not climb up the play area to the slide. It took her forever to get her to finally try it out, and not gong back for a month didn’t help. What got her to finally go up? A little boy a little older than Laurel had climbed up and gotten scared so he started yelling ‘help!’ With that shouted plea Lily declared she had to ‘rescue him!’ and took off!

*On the way home from church we stopped and got lunch to go from McD’s. As Evan passed the bag to me, Laurel saw it. An immediate ‘PLEASE!’ (sounds more like ‘peas’, but without the ‘p’) The entire way home was a chorus of pleases from both the girls.

*Lily asked me to come see her ‘fridge’. She had taken her books and lined them up, face up, in a straight line across her room.  Later I walked by to see her books scattered across her room, but all propped up like tents. Then she came in and dragged me back into her room to see her ‘house’. Her books were propped up on their sides in a circle. She moved one, which was the ‘gate’, to let me in and remembered which one it was to let me back out. We rebuilt her house at least 4 times that day (Laurel and her kept knocking it down). I think it is time to get some building blocks….

*Good Night Routine. Laurel has a very specific bed time routine, I’m not sure how we came up with this one, but it is so cute. First I’ll give her Rupert (her favorite bear) and then cover her up with her favorite blanket (I get no sleep if either of these are in the wash! There is no substitute!) Then we tuck in and give kisses while ‘glow friend’ plays a tune. Then I turn on her humidifier and night light and start to slowly back out of the room. As I back out we blow kisses back and forth. When I get to the door I wave and say good night till Laurel waves and says ‘nigh-nigh’ back. Then we blow one more kiss, wave, say ‘I love you’ and close the door to a a crack.

*Lily finally ran on the grass with no shoes without getting freaked out. She was in the pool and wanted more toys and was running back and forth from the pool to the patio.

*Laurel likes to hum

*Lily is creativity in motion. She always has something to say, sing, or pretend. We drank tea out of a shoe, played kickety-kick-ball with a dinosaur, and scared off silly ghosts with a magic wand. She loves to paint and has recently been asking to do so several times during the day. She loves playing with play dough, especially with the ice cream play dough machine her Nana and Papa got her.

*Laurel does not like to walk in the grass. Give her the option of sidewalk or grass, and sidewalk it is.

*Lily loves to learn. We are currently working on one letter a day, but some days she can’t seem to get enough and she will randomly pick out letters she wants to learn about.

*Laurel is a little ham. She will fall down and stay there crying (or pretending, with her forehead on the floor) till Mommy comes and picks her up. She will stay there until Mommy gets her.

*Lily will get upset over something, usually something she has just gotten in trouble for, walk away and work herself up to tears, then come back crying.  She got me the first few times till I noticed her sticking her lip out and trying to cry. Now I have to keep a closer eye on her to see when she is really upset and when she is hamming it up.

*Laurel will cling to my arm with one arm and tuck the other in under her. If she is really upset, both arms get tucked tight under her while her head is on my shoulder and her whole body goes limp.

*Lily is my morning bird, she loves to come in and wake me up and crawl in bed with me to snuggle. For those of you who know how early I get up, that is early. I’ve started sending her back to bed after we snuggle for a minute.

*Laurel will put any and everything into her mouth. It is as if she looks at the world and thinks, “What does that taste like?” Which is why she now has thrush. Since she steals her big sister cup to drink from (It is her big sister’s, so it must taste better) Lily also has thrush. Joy.

*Breakfast is an on the go meal. If the girls sit down for breakfast, I’m lucky if they eat part of a banana. But now we eat in the Living room, and the girls eat while they play. Yes, I have to hunt them down to give them bites of food sometimes, but most of the time they come to me. This way I know they get a full balances breakfast, and Mommy gets to have a cup of coffee. Don’t worry, it is the only meal we have like that, the rest are at the table.

*Once a month we have family movie night. We pick out a movie, break out the movie food (hot dogs, pizza, popcorn…) and eat dinner in a leisurely fashion at TV trays. The girls love it.

*Laurel loves to give kisses. She sticks out her little chin, smushes her lips together leans towards you and goes ‘mmmmmmmmm’.  She loves to do this to her sister too, and has chased Lily around to room asking for a kiss. A kiss on the forehead or cheek will not do, she wants a kiss on the lips.

*Lily can buckle herself in. For her carseat she can do the top buckle, and in the stroller she does the whole thing. I have to wait till the last minute to tell her we are going for a walk, as soon as I do, she is buckled and ready to go.

*Laurel loves to go walking and will ‘ask’ to go for a walk by going and sitting in the stroller and saying please. She also likes to take her sippy cup and just go sit in the stroller.

*If one child gets something, so must the other. This goes for our morning gummy vitamins to giving high-fives.

Lily was the very first to sing happy birthday to me, in fact it was the very first thing she said to me. Both girls were running a mild fever and not feeling well, so we didn’t do much today. Lily made me several birthday ‘cakes’ and sang happy birthday to me randomly throughout the day. She is one sweet girl.