All Buckled Up

On the Taking A Walk post, lil ole' me said, "And, you should be very proud that she practices safety and buckles her baby in!!! :)"

I had to laugh at that, despite all the drops on their heads that the babies have endured, LP is very safety conscious, especially in the car. Over the summer she started getting very upset whenever we would take a baby in the car because her babies weren't buckled up and not safe. So Nana and I bought her a carseat for her babies. Tonight when we went out I took a picture of Baby China all buckled in.



LP looked over and got upset though, she told me that Baby China had to turn around the same way she is. So even though this Joovey seat is a forward facing seat, Baby China was turned around to rear-facing (which would definitely be the right position for her at her age and size!)

L'Shanah Tova!

3 Year Appointment

Ok, I'm a little late adding this. A few days after LP's birthday she had her 3 year check-up. She is a very healthy, right on track girl. She is 38 inches tall and 30 pounds. The doctor expects her to be about 5'6" as an adult. She was a little nervous about having her blood pressure taken, but after seeing the nurse take mine she held her little arm out and pulled her sleeve up. She was very interested in everything else, but the highlight of the appointment was the hearing test. She started raising her arm very slightly for the first couple of beeps, but soon was shaking her arm high in the air each time she heard the tone. I don't think I've ever seen such concentration on her face, not even during the eye test.

Happy Anniversary Mom & Steven!

Wishing you a very happy anniversary together. We love you!

And Steven, I'm very glad that you are nuts and took us all on. None of us can imagine our family without you in it.

It's Official.

I'm an adult. You would think that I would have come to this conclusion when I bought my condo, got married, bought our house, or especially when I had a baby. Nope, it became official this week when I was so happy about the plumber coming to fix our shower, and then even more excited when we bought a new cooktop today. Yes, I am giddy about a kitchen appliance.

Now, really I shouldn't be quite this happy that I let Lilypad Dad talk me into purchasing one today. It wasn't quite at the top of our priority list, now that my shower is fixed the guest bathtub and getting the garbage disposal installed were the next two projects on the list. But when he wanted to go look I didn't say no. After all, I almost burned off all my hair and my eyelashes the other night trying to light the left burner. There is almost no control left, I can either have things at a full boil or off, there is no way to get a nice slow simmer anymore. And the burner I prefer to cook on is not always lighting right away, although the gas is flowing, which is how I almost ended up with a new hairstyle from the mini-fireball. Since he did 8.5 hours of OT yesterday which will cover 1/2 of the new stove, and we still have all of the OT coming from his US Open shifts to put towards the other bathroom, I let him place the order. I can't wait to pick it up on Wednesday!

Taking a Walk

I used to take Lilypad Princess for a walk in her stroller. Now she tells me that she's a big girl and wants to take Baby James for a walk in the stroller instead. I was really surprised by how long we walked, and I loved listening to her point out everything she found interesting to Baby James. So many little things that I never would have noticed on my own were so fascinating to her, it's a completely different view of the world for me.

At The Park

Last week after Little Gym Lilypad Princess and I went to the park with Alessandro and his mom. The kids had a great time on the swings, on the slide, and climbing everything.







Things were great right up until I told her it was time to go home.

Happy Birthday Bobu!

Wishing you a slightly belated, but very happy birthday. We hope you enjoyed your day yesterday and we are looking forward to lunch with you tomorrow!

Thank You For The Memories

85 years of memories for so many people.

Very special memories for our family including our engagement, Opening Day 2005, July 4, 2008, and so many more.

The Stadium is now dark.

A Tough Lesson To Teach

Today was a day I have been dreading since Lilypad Princess learned to talk. She noticed that someone was different from her and began to verbalize what she had noticed. While we have talked about everyone being different and the same in the past, I wasn't sure how much she was understanding without actually noticing the differences. I had hoped that I would be able to use the first time as a learning experience for her, but in this case the person was another 3 year old little girl with a very obvious physical disability. While I would hope that an adult would understand a child's curiosity, I did not want LP to make her feel uncomfortable.

When I realized it was the little girl that LP wanted to show me, I distracted her and got her involved in playing with the girl. She quickly forget that her new friend looked different and they were soon taking turns and laughing together. As curious as kids can be, it is wonderful how quickly they forget any differences and focus on their similarities. If only adults could be the same way.

Once we were in the car and again before bed, we talked about her friend, disabilities, and hurt feelings. I would love to get some books to read with LP that will cover this even more, does anyone have any recommendations?

Aye Aye Captain!

Welcome Madalynn Jayne!

I have a new niece and LP has a new baby cousin! Madalynn Jayne was born at 10:06 pm at 8lbs, 14oz. and 20 1/2 inches long.

Congratulations Shannon, Mike, Hunter, Cole, and Ella. We cannot wait to see you all and meet the newest member of the family.

The Pirate Party

While we were in Disney World Lilypad Princess fell in love with Captain Jack Sparrow. When asked what kind of birthday party she wanted this year, she immediately chose a pirate party. So the planning began on a pirate party.

The weather decided to help us out, and instead of the showers they were predicting earlier in the week we had one last day of summer. We put out the tunnels (which fit the theme perfectly with the pirate ship), a kiddy pool, and filled the sandbox with gold coins for a treasure hunt. Uncle Dave created the perfect treasure chest cake. LP wore her beautiful party dress from Nana and ran and played with her friends all day.

click on any picture to see it larger


















Thank you to all our friends and family who helped make it such a special day. Dad, Anne, Lauren, Eka, and Auntie Diane- thank you for all of the help with the set up and clean up. Nana and PopPop, you were especially missed.

Happy Birthday Gavin!

A very happy (although belated) birthday to our friend Gavin. Gavin's third birthday was this past weekend, although we celebrated with him at his Thomas the Train party last Friday.

Gavin and LP met in music class when they were only about 5 or 6 months old. Playdates started that summer, before they even turned a year old. We have had the pleasure of watching Gavin grow alongside LP, into a happy, full of life, caring little boy. Although LP and Gavin don't have any classes together this year, we still try to get together once a week for playdates. We look forward to watching as he grows another year older and bigger.

Our first playdate, 10 months old July 2006


1 year old, October 2006


2 years old, October 2007


3 years old, September 2008

The Real Story Behind The Cupcakes

Today was the second full day of preschool. Lilypad Dad and I walked Lilypad Princess over to school, and I had a minute to ask Miss Marianne what happened with the cupcakes last week. I told her LP's version of the story; Mrs. Hodgepodge was trying to steal the cupcakes so LP needed to hide them, but dropped them on the floor.

According to Miss Marianne, the janitor is Mr. H... and he likes to joke with the kids. Apparently he said that he was going to eat all the cupcakes. LP got nervous and took them down off the table to hide them, but the top came off and 1/2 to 3/4's of them landed on the floor.

Now the story makes more sense!

First Day of Preschool

There were a few tears this morning, all on my end. Lilypad Princess didn't even look back as she moved forward into the next phase, which will last the next 18+ years - school.



LP woke up ready to go to school. I think she was most excited about the cupcakes, but once I told her that they would be snack at school she was ready to head over. She ate a quick breakfast, too excited to put on her new dress from Nana and Pop Pop to even finish her oatmeal. Then she put on her new backpack, gathered up her baby to bring for Show & Tell, and dragged Lilypad Dad and me out the door. She paused momentarily for me to take a quick picture, stopped to say hello to Uncle Dave, and then it was off to school.



I walked into the room with her to drop off the cupcakes, and tried to get a hug and kiss when I said goodbye. She dropped a quick kiss on my cheek, gave me a one armed hug and rushed off to play. I wasn't ready to walk out of the room but LP Dad and Miss Marianne sent me on my way. The following 2.5 hours were the longest of my life. LP Dad tried to take my mind off it by taking me out for coffee and tea, but all of I could think of was LP. I felt like I left a part of me in that room.



The cry of MOMMY and the big hug I got when I walked into the room to pick her up made up for the tears. She had a birthday crown on her head, icing on her cheeks, flyaway hair, and a huge smile on her face. She loved school.



According to Miss Marianne, they did circle time, sang songs, did a school house art project, and the cupcakes were a big hit. According to LP, she was holding the cupcakes and dropped them on the floor. I'm going to have to check in with Miss Marianne and find out what really happened on Tuesday.

A Busy Birthday

Lilypad Princess had a busy third birthday today. She actually slept in late for once, then came in to jump on Lilypad Dad and I to wake us up. We started off the morning snuggling in bed talking about her birthday and plans for the day, then headed downstairs to get moving.

LP opened one of her birthday presents, a new baby who can get wet and a bathtub, and happily bathed her while I made her birthday waffles for breakfast. Then Alessandro and his mom joined us for a trip to the zoo.



This was the first trip to this zoo for all of us, it was small and old fashioned, but clean and intimate. We were only 2 fences and less than 5 feet away from bears, lions, and tigers, so the kids were able to get a great view of the animals. It was big enough that we never had to be near another group, but small enough that the kids were able to walk the whole thing. The biggest hit for the kids was not the animals though, but the playground in the center of the zoo. They would have been happy to spend the entire day there.









For dinner, Lilypad Dad and I took LP to a burger restaurant with summer music and atmosphere. LP loves this restaurant, and we had a nice dinner together. LP ended her day with vanilla ice cream with a candle and a round of happy birthday from us and the waiter.