Leaves, decorated with "the dotters" - which I think are paint stamps... Lily's squirrel... Her paper-bag-pumpkin... Her tree, also made with "dotters": Lily's pumpkin - hard to tell, but she did in fact paint in the outline of a pumpkin.... Her "tree-hand"... The kids' artwork displayed in their classroom... And, my personal favorite, Lily's hand turkey... Happy Fall!
Rory wants to be just like Lily. Most of the time, this is a good thing! But sometimes it gets her in trouble... As Lily told her, "Wore-wee, we do NOT stand on chairs!"
Lily & Daddy baked bread last weekend, and for nearly the whole 45 minutes that it was in the oven, the Bug did this:Just sat on the kitchen floor, watching, and asking "Is it bread yet?" every other minute. And then, when it was bread, she refused to taste it!
I love Lily's creativity and imagination. One day she got ahold of this tube from her easel's paper. And while the rest of us were doing other things, she entertained herself for close to an hour. It was a walking stick. And then a back-roller. It was a stethoscope. Then it was a flute, and then a trombone. And about a dozen other things, as Lily made up games and places and things. And finally, it was a telescope... I think she was inspired by one of her favorite books, Not a Box.
When the school year started, there was a combined class of 2 and 3-year-olds because there were only 8 kids. Originally there were 5 big kids and 3 little ones and the mix seemed good. There were three teachers in the room, and the kids were getting lots of age-appropriate attention. But within a couple of weeks, 5 new little kids joined the class which seriously threw off the balance in their room. Lily would come home and talk like a baby, and the only thing she's tell us about her day was who had their diaper changed.
So at the beginning of November, the school moved the 5 bigger kids into the three-year-old classroom with the three-year-old teacher, Miss Starr.
I was a little nervous for Lily, since change is usually tough for her, but she LOVES her new "big girl" class. She also loves her new teachers, who are fabulous. The kids got a welcome goodie-bag on the first day, and once a week we get a note about Lily's progress. Last week's update was that Lily had been the special helper and that she was "so proud!" I think it also helps that the class size is smaller again. She is participating more, bringing home fabulous art work, borrowing library books and actually talking about her day and what she did when she gets home. Miss Starr keeps reporting that she has "a lot to say"!
It all started with Rory digging into the dress up bin. We thought it would be silly to put this hat on her. And it was! So then Lily put on her witch hat. Then Lily thought it would be even sillier if we put the witch hat on Rody. Right again. So finally, Lily decided that we needed to have a hat party! First Lily got a different hat... And then Grammy got one. And then Mommy too. It's hard to see, but even Trixie, Lily's baby doll, has a hat on and is posing for the picture. Good times...
As we do every year, we went trick-or-treating at Daddy's office to celebrate Halloween. But this year, since the actual day fell on the weekend, it meant we got two days of dressing up, carving pumpkins, trick-or-treating and eating candy.
First though, our busy little witch had some work to do... Then it was time to search the building for candy. And ice cream. And decorations.
"Please can I hold that pumpkin just for a minute?" Our little witch, and our even littler pumpkin: Lily chose both costumes, months ago, out of a catalog. She was quite certain that Rory wanted to be a pumpkin. On the morning of Halloween, we finally carved our pumpkins. Lily has been asking about this for 3 weeks now, since we went to the pumpkin farm. She was so very excited to help desgn each of the four faces and thrilled when we started cutting into the pumpkins. And then we asked her to touch the insides. She almost cried she was so disgusted. When we were on the 4th pumpkin (Daddy's), she finally gave in. And then had great fun sorting out the seeds for me to roast. Which she then refused to eat, of course. These three-year-old mood swing will give you whip lash! But at least we got some fabulous jack o'lanterns for our trouble!
(Lily's, Daddy's, Rory's and Mommy's)
We were undecided up until the last minute whether to do any real, neighborhood trick-or-treating. We've never gone before and Lily didn't really know what she was missing. And she had gotten plenty of candy the day before. But we saw some neighbors earlier in the day who asked if Lily would stop by. So Daddy and the Bug headed out after dinner to go to one or two houses. Lily was really excited! One of our neighbors took this picture of the two trick-or-treaters: One or two houses turned into every house on the block! Lily came home with all kinds of stories about seeing the moon and "28 stars", some dogs and lots of people. She got a glow stick, a pumkin shaped lantern and a bucket full of candy. As she was going to bed, the Bug informed us that she "really, REALLY loves Halloween!" Who can blame her??
2006 (8 months old): 2007 (20 months old): 2008 (2 and a half): 2009 (3 and a half): Can you tell that I no longer get to choose what "the Bug" dresses up as?
Apple art: Transportation stamps: Glue & "toushie paper" school bus: Collage of orange things: More finger painting: (Apparently, Lily thinks the object of finger painting is to cover every. single. inch. of the paper with paint.)
The Bug's snack-time placemat: This was sent home because Lily is changing classes next week. When she saw it at home though, she started to cry and said that she was going to be "Very hungry at school!"
Ah, the NC State fair... Fried stuff and farm animals and rides and some thick southern accents - what fun! Lily has been talking about going to the fair pretty much since we left it last October. Mostly, she's talked about going on the ferris wheel (which we didn't do last year) and holding the baby chicks & ducks. We'd been counting down the days til we could go, and this weekend it was finally time.
One of these years, we will remember that LilyBug needs a little bit of time to warm up and that rushing right into overwhelming experiences never goes well. But we didn't remember this year, and since it was raining when we first arrived, we ran right into the first building. Which might explain why, even after all that talk, she wasn't so sure about the ducks... Wait, no, ducks are hilarious! Things got better from then. Curious George was there... In a different building, we saw horses, momma cows with their newborn calves, donkeys and goats, including this one who kept trying to eat his sign: And there was a momma pig with 10 piglets! Mommy milked a cow (Lily refused to help, but she did pet "Bessie"): Then, for the first time ever, we headed down to the midway, since Lily was actually big enough (and interested enough) for some of the rides and games. First, Lily took Auntie through a fun house. And then we walked from one end of the fair to the other. Like I said, all Lily has been talking about is the ferris wheel. So we headed over there, but she was too short by about three inches. Luckily, there are two! We were at the big one, so we walked all the way back to the smaller one, where Lily was tall enough by about a hair. Phew! Lily & Daddy, seeing all of the fair and even downtown Raleigh from the top of the ferris wheel: Then Lily took Auntie on the tea cups: And she took Daddy for a ride on this silly, bouncy worm: She couldn't wait to get on these bumper boats:
Then, Daddy suggested she take Mommy on a ride, while he fed Rory her lunch. But Lily only had eyes for this train, which she could ride all. by. herself. Thank-you-very-much! And then, of course, she chose Auntie to ride with her on the merry-go-round... I love this picture - Lily giving me her sassy face, and Auntie looking so shocked! I have no idea what was so funny, but these two had a blast: Lily was beyond delighted to realize that there is ice cream at the fair! Chocolate ice cream! With sprinkles!!! Finally, finally, the Bug let Mommy come on a ride too. We went on the swings... After the first couple of turns, as I started to feel nauseous and regret getting on, Lily grabbed my hand. I thought she was scared, so I smiled and told her it was okay. She looked at me as though I had suddenly grown another head and said "I'm just holding your hand so you don't fall off!" So thoughtful! And then we had lots of fun, spinning and screaming:
I think she had fun! Mommy, Auntie and Lily posing with our fried cookie dough. Yes, you read that right. And, yes, it was delicious!! We love the fair! The Bug is already asking when we can go back again...
In celebration of our 8th wedding anniversary, Daddy surprised us girls with a trip to Great W*lf Lodge... We had so. much. fun. The lobby was so cool. There were wolves everywhere,a clock tower where all the animals sang at storytime, and a giant stone fireplace. Lily was so excited to get there, and was in her bathing suit and lifevest almost as soon as we were in our room! And who could blame her?!?! This place is kid heaven! First, the was the Cub Paw pool, especially for the tiniest kids... It had little waterslides and spray toys, plus buckets that dumped, and fountains in the floor. And did I mention the waterslides??
Fort Mackenzie had tree houses and big waterslides! This was Lily's favorite part. She must have gone down those slides 20 times. Lily & Daddy had a blast in the wave pool... And then Rory swam with Daddy for awhile... While Mommy played with Lily: Lily loved this giant floating snake that she could ride on. And those swim lessons from last summer finally paid off, as Lily perfected her "reach and pull" and backstroke that she had refused to do during her lessons! She also really loved this "umbrella" of water!
Before dinner that night, Lily wandered the lobby, scolding decorative bears for climbing on lamps and tables. The four of us, cozying up by the fire: That night, Lily & Mommy went to storytime in the main lobby. By the clocktower: Lily got to wear her new pajamas: The animals sang...
And Lily was entranced! After "the show", there was a story and then a costume contest . And then Wiley, the wolf, came out to see the kids. Lily is usually afraid of mascots, but she ran right up to Wiley for a picture and even gave him a hug! He joined us at breakfast the next day too! The second day at the pool was even more fun than the first!
Rory played in the water too... Daddy stood under the BIG BUCKET, that dumps 1,000 gallons of water at a time. Lily thought it looked like fun, so she tried it too: And Mommy took both girls up into the tree house. Lily played until she was so cold her lips turned blue... Rory dined poolside. And stole a handful of french fries! And oh yes, she ate them! One more bear to pose with: Kissing the wolves goodbye: The four of us...
The scene: Lily & I playing with her doctor kit, with Lily listening to the "baby's" heartbeat, as she saw the midwives do at all my pregnancy appointments....
Lily: "How do people get babies in their tummies?"
Mommy: (Silent panic as I struggle to find the right answer.)
Lily: "Tummies are for food, not babies!"
Oh, so all she was worried about was that I had somehow eaten Rory. That one I can handle.
In one of my favorite fall traditions, we went to the local pumpkin farm today! It was so much fun. It was really cool to watch our LilyBug running around there, remembering how much smaller she seemed last year, and realizing how much she's grown. It was also a little unnerving to realize how much she remembers from a year ago. Seriously, that girl has a steel trap! Our first stop was outside the store, where we learned that Rory is about 2 feet tall and Lily is just over 3 feet. Once inside, the first thing Lily wanted to do was feed the goats:
What trip to a farm would be complete without cows? This was after Lily said to the cows, "Smile cows! That's my mommy with her camera!" She had a blast going down the big, rumbly slide inside the hay mountain: And we all had fun on the hay ride...
She ran through the hay maze, which was shockingly shorter than her this year. Last year, her head just barely reached the top!
The Bug picked cotton.
And soybeans. And corn. While playing in the corn maze:
(And then we had to grind the corn, to feed to the goats.)
And then, of course, it was time to pick some pumpkins. Lily wandered around in the patch for awhile.
Our little pumpkins! I love the perspective on this one: Here's our big girl...
Oh how we love fall in North Carolina! It was sunny and 80 degrees today, so us girls decided to have a day at the park. We went for a walk and fed the ducks...
And then we played on the playground. Lily taught Rory how to swing! She seemed to like it!
After a picnic lunch, and a surprise visit from Daddy, we still had some time left to play, so Lily finally took Rory down the slide - something she's been excited about doing since she visited Rory in the "hos-tible".
One day a week, at school, Lily gets to go see Miss Pam at "Discovery", which is a really cool science class. They do things like plant flowers, watch bugs, and hammer nails into styrofoam. (that's practice - the 4-year-olds build bird houses!) But right now, I think they are mostly just playing, judging by the pictures of Lily & her classmates in the tee-pee:
Playing with friends & cars: Reading a stories in the book corner (I think this is her favorite spot!): I think this was their first class craft project... little lambs!
Baby was a Christmas gift from Grammy & Bumpa on Lily's first Christmas, so she's been with us nearly 3 years. Toys have come and gone, and other friends have been among her favorites, but she always comes back to Baby.
These days, Baby has her own blankie, made by Mommy, to match a blanket I was making Rory. And she has her own soothie, made by daddy out of an old medicine dropper so that it will actually fit in her mouth. When Lily moved upstairs to her big girl room, we had an issue because she was trying to bring all of her friends downstairs each day, and then if we forgot something for nap or bedtime she would freak out. So we instituted the "three-things-rule", where Lily can only bring three things downstairs and then she has to bring them back up before bed. If there are only three, we can usually track them down. Nine time out of ten, those three things are Baby, her blanket and her soothie. Baby spends her days down here with the rest of us, and then sleeps with Lily for her nap and at bedtime. For awhile Lily had the cradle next to her bed and she would tuck Baby into that, but she ultimately decided that Baby needed to be tucked in right next to her.
In all this time though, Baby has always been just "Baby". I've suggested on many occasions that we give her a name, which has always been met with a disdainful "Her name is BABY!"
But, Rory got this silly sock monkey recently, which Lily loves and has been playing with nonstop. We decided one morning that the monkey, who is apparently a girl, needed a name, and one that started with "M". I suggested a whole bunch before Lily agreed to "Madeline", like the girl in one of her books.
The next day, Lily came out of the playroom holding Baby and announced that Baby needed a name. I asked her what kind of a name and she said "Maybe another Madeline." I said that we already had a Madeline and we should think of something else.
So Lily marched upstairs and started pulling books of her shelf. She considered Corduroy and Marley, but decided those were boy names. Then her eyes lit up and she pulled "Knuffle Bunny" of the shelf as she squealed "Trixie is a girl's name!"
Is there any better way to relax? Bubble beard! The Bug really enjoyed herself!
This was one in a series of rewards for making it through the night with a dry pull-up, including getting up to go to the bathroom by herself. We're so proud!
When Lily left school the first day, she came running to the car with her teacher, squealing. She was literally too excited to form words. Her teachers told me that it was the best first day they'd ever had. And that Lily was "Very talkative. She had a lot to share." So much for our shy girl!
Anyway, it took us several days to learn how to ask the right questions to actually get her to tell us about her day. But she did... all about who used the potty like a big kid, and who talks like a baby, and the big drum in music class and the story about the dog who goes to school.
I didn't know how day two would go - would she still be so open and enthusiastic?? But when Miss Vivian arrived at our car, Lily immediately showed off her nail polish and announced that it was for waking up with a dry pull-up. She didn't even wave goodbye as Miss Vivian led her into the school.
I love many, many things about this school. But perhaps my favorite so far is the fact that they send pictures. So today, before I'd even had a chance to miss her, I had this view into Lily's day: I arrived a few minutes early for pick-up, so I parked in the back and got to watch the kids on the playground. Lily looked so happy, and so at home. I watched her climb and jump and run, cuddle with her teacher, play with other kids and take turns driving a car. It was awesome!
Lily greeted me the same way - with squeals of excitement and giggles. (I could get used to that!) Today she learned about Mary and her little lamb. She colored a picture of a lamb. Her class celebrated one little girl's birthday. And a boy used the potty like a big boy. Good times.
In Lily's classroom, there will be a scrapbook, where each child has a page to display their favorite things. Her teachers tell me that it is inevitably the kids' favorite thing. They will sit and look at that book for hours! So we made Lily's page this weekend... Lily showed me where to glue the pictures and then she put on all the heart stickers. The finished product: Captions include "My Family at the Beach", "My dog Scout", "This is my baby sister, Rory", "This is Auntie. She's my best friend!", "Rah Rah Carolina!", "I love the beach!", "I love to dance!", and "I love to dress up and be fancy!" We also included some favorite places: Marbles, The Sea Turtle Hospital and Monkey Joe's.
She was so proud to take it to school today to show her teachers and friends!
Lily decided that she wanted to go for a bike ride. Unfortunately, our driveway is mostly a hill and our street doesn't have sidewalks. So we walked up to the building behind our house, whose construction has been making us crazy for over a year, but which has a really nice, flat parking lot. And a cool, shaded parking garage. Perfect for riding practice!
Once we got up there, Lily wasn't so sure she wanted to ride. So Daddy and Rory gave her a ridiculous demonstration of how fun bike-riding can be.
Lily was so excited this morning she could barely contain herself. She put on her new dress, frilly socks and new fancy shoes. She asked me to put her hair up in braids with "jinglies". We packed her snack in her new backpack. And she was ready to go!
Lily got a little nervous as we waited in the carpool line. I thought she might panic, but she watched a couple other kids get out of their cars, and that seemed to help. When Miss Vivian, the director, came to get her out of the car, Lily was quiet, but smiling. She gave Daddy a big hug and then hopped out. And then, when Miss Vivian asked if she wanted to put her backpack on, she said "Yeah! I have my snack in there!" And after that she was fine. She waved goodbye: And then she walked into the school, without a glance back... This is where her class hangs their backpacks: Here's Lily's turtle, where her bag goes: Lillian's Mommy snapped these ones as the girls went into the classroom: And as they hung up their backpacks: And here's a picture that the school sent, of Lily playing. It was in my email by the time I got home. So she was obviously having fun right from the beginning! Here's a picture they sent from snack time: And one from the craft table, as Lily & Lillian worked on sticker projects: LilyBug, I am so proud of you! It has been eerily quiet around here without your constant stream of chatter, and I miss you, but I am so excited for you. And I can't wait to hear all about it!
Happy Fall!
Happy Fall!
