Category Archives: lily

you.

I’ve found myself thinking a lot lately about how things are different …

  • About how I hardly ever do a load of laundry by myself. You’re always there to put the clothes in the washer, watch me pour the detergent, and to pour the OxiClean and Unstopables in for me. And I know I can’t push even one button on the washer or dryer because “YiYee do it.” You always seem to come running when it’s time to put the clothes in the dryer, too. I love that you always tell me that they’re cold and heavy.
  • About how differently you play. We went to the park today for the first time since October (I know this because you weren’t using the potty yet … but you are for sure, now!). You’re much more confident, and also much more curious. And your feet can finally use the pedals on your bike! (P.S. – You wore your helmet for the first time, too! You fought a little bit the first time, but we didn’t even get a peep from you the second time!)
  • About how often I cook with you – whether you’re sitting on the counter just watching, standing on your step stool trying to get into something you shouldn’t, peeking through the oven window, or getting messy by helping me pour, stir, and roll. I love these times together.
  • About just how grown up you’ve become. Our conversations are just that – conversations. You’ll tell me things you’ve done at “Ms. Lucy’s” when I ask, but you’ll also recount memories from days prior that even I don’t remember. You’ll point out how things are similar. And just yesterday, you walked outside and noticed the amazing sunrise. You turned to me and said, “See pink, MaMum?” Just so you know, my heart melted right then and there. What you shared with me that morning was so much more than just a sunrise.

As each phase comes and goes, I always think it can’t get any better than this.

Yet somehow, it always does.

lil’s pics …

My Dada & MaMum got me one of those boring kid-friendly cameras for my birthday – it’s a whopping 1.3 megapixels. Thrilling!

Curious about what life looks like through my 2-year-old eyes? Wonder no more! Here are some of my best shots of 2011 …

My life … it’s all castles, rainbows, and pink skies.

DC0403

My self-portrait, peeps.

DC0358

My pink Christmas tree. With Steelers ornaments.

DC0335

This is my MaMum and my dog. I had to dress MaMum up with a flower necklace – she was lookin’ a little rough.

DC0332

MaMum and Blue Bear. They’re silly!

DC0316

A girl can dream, right? Check out these glasses!

DC0314

My Dada’s choo-choo on the shelf. I love choo-choos.

DC0304

Dada’s driving somewhere. Look at his shirt – think it was Labor Day, 4th of July, or Memorial Day? His seat needed some pizzazz.

DC0239

Um, I think this is my MaMum on the potty! That’s funny!

DC0133

My view – through the sunroof. I think.

DC0105

Dada shaving!

DC0090

MaMum’s crazy shoes at my party.

DC0084

My cousin … I gave him a crazy hat! <3 I think he’s eating a strawberry. Mmm …

DC0035

Watch for more of my amazing photography in 2012!!!

dance, mamum!

We’ve been doing a lot of dancing today. It started with the music playing in the bathroom this morning as I showered.

Mid-afternoon, we danced to Toy Story 3 – we love the part in the end credits where Jesse & Bullseye play the Spanish version of “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” and get Buzz to stop repairs on the cardboard rocket to dance with Jesse. “Get up, MaMum! Dance!”

Our third dance today was to a song playing on Lil’s Tag Junior. To be honest, I have no idea what the song was, but we danced! “MaMum, come here! Dance!”

IMG_0904.jpg

We’re not afraid to dance. In fact, it is usually my husband that gets the chance. Lil is a daddy’s girl for sure, and she asks him to dance much more frequently than she asks me. It broke my heart early on, but I’ve since realized just how important it is for them to bond. Instead of being jealous that it’s him dancing with her and not me, I’m proud that he just goes with it. So while they make their memories, I’m there to take it all in. Yep, I may have the best seat in the house!

planning in december for a party in may?

It’s true – our daughter’s birthday is in mid-May, and I started thinking about her 3rd birthday party 2 days ago.

Yep, it’s 4 1/2 months away.

We’re debating dates (Okay, there was no debate. I handed my husband a piece of paper with 3 dates on it – each of them with a little, itty bitty conflict – and asked him what he thought. He said, “I don’t care. You can decide.”). I’ve got a theme. Found the perfect envelopes for the invitations I’ll start designing. I’ve even started listing ideas and pricing snacks and favors.

But what makes this even worse is that I ordered the first “thing” today. It’s something I’ll need some time to work with, but still … her birthday is 4 1/2 months away.

Have I lost my mind? Or do I just love this stuff that much?

embarrassed in Wegman’s?

I’m sure every parent has stories – times when they were utterly embarrassed by their children. I’m not talking about the misbehaving in a restaurant, baby screaming, or spit-up on your shoulder type of embarrassment.

Nope, what I’m thinking of is much more fun embarrassing.

I’m sure Lily has done some of these things already, but I’ve got the worst memory around and can’t think of any at the moment. Or perhaps I’m blocking the memories … who knows. If I think of any, I’ll add them here as an update!

Anyway, I witnessed one couple’s embarrassment tonight, and I had to chuckle to myself. Standing in the dairy section at Wegman’s, I heard chatter behind me coming from a toddler. Though I didn’t see him, my guess is that he was no older than 4, but probably a bit younger. He was talking to his dad about baseball – it was a simple, innocent conversation that quickly went south. As his mom approached, he asked her in a not-so-inside-voice, “Mom, did you go fart?”

(Oh. My. Gosh.)

His question was followed by silence.

Obviously lacking the satisfaction he needed, the boy asked again, “Mom, did you fart?” Again, no answer. Upon asking a third time, his dad boldly replied, “Yes son, mom farted.”

I had to walk away; I was afraid of what would come next! I thought about turning around and telling them I was the mom of a 2-year-old, but I seriously don’t think I could have faced them without laughter. I can only imagine how that mom must have felt as the boy bellowed his question through the dairy department.

Parenting is beautiful.

While Lily has yet to ask me that question in particular, we have had some fun in public restrooms lately. Toddlers have no filter, so anything goes. I always laugh when she talks about what she’s done on the potty while there are other people in the restroom; so many times we’ve gotten a good chuckle! She also likes to make sounds; many times it echos, so she’ll shout, “Da do! Da do!” or “Ow! Ow! Ow!” Love it. Seriously, I have a hard time keeping my composure. It’s just so funny!

Oh yes! I remember one of my embarrassing moments! Just for you, here goes …

About a month ago, we were in Target with my two sisters. Goose, Lily and I had gone into the bathroom, while A was at the Cafe getting a drink. Lil and I went into the larger stall, and Goose was two stalls to our right. Lily had gone potty and I got my chance next. It had been several hours since any of us had seen a toilet, so we had to go! Lil is usually pretty cooperative, so I’d never had any reason to worry. Frankly, I didn’t expect this evening to be any different.

As soon as I sat down, she darted toward the stall door and opened it … to a bathroom of strangers! I have never laughed so hard! All I could do was yell through my laughter, “Oh my gosh, Lily! Close the door! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!” There were two people in the bathroom with us, and as I sat there on the toilet, stall door open, one of the women headed for the sink. I could see her in the mirror, and I think we were both totally embarrassed. Thankfully, she never looked up. I’m sure she knew what was going on.

After the excitement and a little hand-washing, too, we headed to the Target Cafe to meet A. As Goose and I filled up sodas at the fountain, a woman approached. “Are you the one with the little one in the bathroom? Because that was so funny!”

Yep, I know how that mom from Wegman’s feels … for sure. And honestly, I wouldn’t trade it for the world!!! My piece of advice for you? Take your toddler into the smaller stalls – they’re still close enough to grab them when they make a move for the stall door!

boo-boo.

I love the age our daughter is at right now. She’s formulating ideas based on what she knows, and it’s amazing to see how she puts her thoughts together. Here’s our exchange last night.

She was standing in the bathroom waiting for me to get her bath ready. I have a pretty ugly cold, so I’ve been taking Dayquil. She pulls one of the Dayquil packs off the bathroom counter …
L: “MaMum medicines?”
Me: “Yes, sweetheart, that’s MaMum’s medicine. It’s for my throat.” (As I pointed to my throat.)
L: “Throat. MaMum throat boo-boo?” (While pointing to her throat.)
Me: “That’s right, MaMum’s throat has a boo-boo.”
L: “MaMum want kitty?” (Hello Kitty Band-Aid)
Me: “Oh no, sweetheart, but thank you! You’re too sweet.”
L: “Kiss boo-boo?”
Me: “Sure, you can kiss MaMum’s boo-boo.”

She did indeed proceed to kiss my throat and look at me with those eyes, like she wants me to feel better. I just love it.

sad.

We were watching Open Season last Thursday night and had gotten to the part where Boog breaks the dam and all of the creatures are washed down to the hunting grounds. Everyone shakes off, then Boog tells Elliott that he’s done. As Boog walks away, he’s sad.

I told Lily, “Aww, the bear is sad.” What would normally get little or no reaction from her brought her to tears last night and I felt so incredibly bad. Right after I told her, she got the frown face – like she was thinking about Boog being sad. About 10 seconds later, she busted into a full out sob, telling me, “Sad!”

Oh my gosh, I will never, ever do that again. Talk about feeling bad. That was the ultimate ‘uh-oh’ on my part! My heart broke, and it breaks even writing this now! My poor baby!

That was a true mom fail moment. Got any good ones to make me feel like I’m not alone?!

regrouping.

I started a post yesterday about how my black cloud was once again creeping in. Since mid-July, I’ve had this “thing” weighing on me. Since mid-July, I’ve tried to remain positive. Twice now, panic has come – stepping in and taking away my sunshine.

Funny thing has happened each time, though. It seems that when I feel like I’m close to reaching the bottom, good things start happening. Good things that make me question whether or not this black cloud “thing” really is that dark.

In the grand scheme of things, it could be. It may be. Or maybe it won’t be. Right now, it should not be such a dark “thing.” Because right now, things are okay.

I got a few reminders yesterday that I must take each day at a time and not think about the future. And I got it, at least for now.

I enjoyed a beautiful moment with my daughter this morning. I climbed in bed next to her to wake her up, and as I rubbed her back, a few lines from the 10,000 Maniacs song More Than This popped into my head. As I repeated to myself over and over, “More than this, you know there is nothing more than this,” I thought of just how beautiful this life is. No, there is nothing more than this. It’s the simple things in life that are most important; everything else will fall into place, even if I don’t happen to know just what that “place” is just yet.

As far as Mamavation … ladies, I need to get back on track. Whew, do I ever need to get myself together. One thing I have kept up with is the #100DayBurpeeChallenge … I would not want to catch up on what I’ve missed! ;)

More to come later – I have a few other posts planned, I just need to find the time and motivation to get them posted.

no pee-pee.

I won’t forget the look in her eyes last night as she waved her hand in the air and repeated after me, “No pee-pee!” She was focused and understood what I was telling her.

You see, it was my fault she was put in that predicament in the first place. We had gone to the park and I had no diapers in the car. She had, well, done her business just as we were leaving the playground and these days she just plain refuses to sit down with that in her diaper. I can’t say I much blame her.

I changed her, then put her in her carseat, sans diaper, with a blanket underneath – just in case.

She made it home dry and I breathed a sigh of relief. “No pee-pee.” Indeed, she had done it. She walked into the house, sat on her potty, and proceeded to then go potty. We celebrated – she had not only listened and done what we had asked of her, but we knew she truly had learned something new. Something hugely new and incredibly exciting.

She made it. And I was so proud of her. We were all so proud of her last night – herself included!

We’ve tried potty training twice before – once just before she turned 2, and once shortly after (While vacationing at MeMa’s!). She’d shown some signs of being ready, but after giving it a go, we realized she just wasn’t quite there. No worries; we just continue to talk about it and do things to prepare.

After last night, I think she may just be ready after all. I think we may just go on a fabulously fun shopping spree this weekend; one that will include big girl pants, great beverages and super rewards.

I’m ready, and I’m pretty sure she is, too.

shoes?

Some days as a parent just rock. Even better, some days as a parent of a 2 year old are out of this world.

We were on the front porch last night catching the tail end of the rain shower that had passed through. I sat down and showed Lily the ‘boo-boo’ on my knee (I fell while walking. Yeah, don’t ask.). She walked over, touched my leg, said ‘Aww, MaMum boo-boo!,’ and then proceeded to kiss my boo-boo.

My heart melted right then and there. Can I bottle this girl up and save her at 2 years old forever? Seriously. I can’t get enough of this stuff.

IMG_8478e1 Fast forward 15 minutes or so. My husband and I are now sitting in the hammock swing, still on the front porch. Lily walks by and notices a spider web in the corner of the window. In the web are two dead bugs – one a small white moth and the other a small dark brown bug. No spider. She points to the brown bug and says ‘Shoe?’ Oh. My. Gosh. It’s true – that bug really did look like a shoe – he was upside down, and his legs do sort of look like laces. I love the innocence.

So really, can’t we just keep her this way forever?