Choo Choo

This afternoon we headed over to the park to meet Alessandro and enjoy the unseasonable warm weather. I couldn't believe it was 88 degrees! We started off at the park that we usually go to, but Alessandro's mom told us about the choo choo park. It's actually in the same park, but is a separate, smaller playground with a little train the kids can climb on and a little "ghost" town of buildings to play in. So we packed the kids back up and headed over. We had the entire place to ourselves and the kids loved it. We will definitely be heading back to that playground again as long as the weather stays nice.

6 months...

I guess we'll be trying the visit to the dentist again in 6 months. She was very happy to sit on the floor and watch me sit in the chair, get my pretty blue bib, get a ride in the chair and open my mouth; she even asked when it would be her turn. Only when it was her turn not only did she not open her mouth, she wouldn't take her hands off her face to even look at the hygenist. So daddy took her appointment instead and we made another appointment to try again in April.

Photo from Google Images

Dentist

Image from Google Images

Lillian and I both have dentist appointments this afternoon. This will be Lillian's first visit to the dentist. Hopefully she will be as interested in everything as she is at the doctor's office. Wish us luck!

Bedtime Books

Bedtime is one of my favorite times of the day. After the fun routine of bath or shower, and teethbrushing, I love to cuddle into the glider with Lillian and the books of her choice. While the I Love You book is still a favorite, I've gotten a little tired of the same 4 stories everynight and have tried to get her to branch out a little. So this week we have been reading You And Me by Giovanni Manna and The Snuggliest Snuggle in the World by Sarah Nash.

First Day of School

Today was Lily's first day of school. It is the 2 year old Preschool at the YMCA. It's an hour and a half class once a week that mommy gets to participate in as well. Starting next week we will have swim class after preschool as well.

After getting ready for preschool and packing her new (HUGE!) backpack, Lily posed for a few first day pictures for us. Then she was off, up the street telling us to hurry up and follow her. Her daddy walked with us all the way to school, and Lily and daddy stopped to pick me a flower along the way.

Daddy left us in the lobby, where we met Buby and his mommy. Once we got into the classroom we met Miss Sherri, Lily's teacher, and the 8 other kids that make up her class. We started off with some free play, including a teaparty with the animals and dolls each child brought.

Next was circle time, with a story about teddy bears (Lily's bear was very good at following directions), a story about Spot the dog and a bunch of songs. Arts and crafts was next, and Tigerlily added 3 stickers to her teddy bear picture before turning it in. Then she colored a picture of a schoolhouse, and colored a bear to make her nametag with. She strung a few beads onto her nametag necklace, then decided to help Buby with his picture of a schoolhouse as well.

We finished up the day with a snack of some teddy grahams and another circle to sing the goodbye song. A very tired little girl walked all the way home, then actually told me that she was ready for her nap.

So we both survived the first day, and I didn't even cry.

Best friends make everything easier

Since we got to preschool a little early today, Lily and I and I were waiting in the lobby when Buby and his mom walked in. Lily had been a little fussy (preschool is right in the middle of normal naptime) but as soon as she saw Buby her little face broke into the biggest smile of the day. She jumped down off the couch and they ran to each other, arms open wide for big hugs. Apparently the week in between Little Gym and today has been forever for them.

After a bunch of big hugs, a couple of kisses, and some running around, it was time to head back to the classroom to start their first day of school. Lily and Buby took hold of each other's hand and bravely walked off together, growing up and away from their moms just a little more.

Homework

This is Lillian's first homework assignment. Her teacher sent a letter with information about the first day and the teddy bear picture to color and bring with her on the first day. She spent alot of time on this one, even drawing round, red eyes (although one got covered with the blue). School starts in 2 hours, I'll post later today with pictures of the first day and all her stories.

The Garlic Festival

10-1 garlic fest 042, originally uploaded by erika8602.

Since Lily's daddy had yesterday off, we decided to take a trip north to the Garlic Festival. It was a beautiful day, so warm in the sun you wouldn't believe it was the last day of September. Uncle Dave came along with us, and all the adults enjoyed some highly garliced food for lunch. (Ok, so that's not really a word, but it works). Lily enjoyed a hot dog, but the highlight of the day for her was the kids' area. She was given a pumpkin and could choose from all sorts of stickers, pipecleaners, markers, tissue paper, glue and clay to decorate it.


After her pumpkin was done, we headed over to the face painting tent. She was deciding between a butterfly and a kitty face while waiting very patiently for her turn. When she got into the seat she decided on the kitty face. She sat very still while her face was painted, then just stared into the mirror when it was done. As soon as she got down from the chair she dropped to the ground, and crawled off meowing.

After mommy and Uncle Dave did a little shopping for some new kinds of garlic to try (we brought home Music and German Red) we headed back to the car. It was a long day and Lily took a little cat nap on her daddy's shoulder.

2 Years Old!

candles, originally uploaded by erika8602.

My baby girl is now a big 2 year old. She had an ocean birthday party the day before her birthday, with all of her family and friends. The swimming pool with fishing poles was the big hit of the day, but the kids all seemed to have a great time running around playing with each other and chasing each other through the big tunnels.

Lillian really enjoyed blowing out her candles, but just like last year, wanted nothing to do with the cake itself.

Fishing with all of her friends



Blowing Bubbles with Auntie La



Lillian and Mommy



Tired after a long, but wonderful day.

Playing Catch Up

Airplane home from St Louis, originally uploaded by erika8602.

Wow, I've been really bad. I haven't updated this in months. Let's see if I can review the entire summer in 1 post!

In May Lily and I took a trip to St.Louis to visit all her aunts across the country. We had good flights, she was so excited to be flying in an airplane. We had been visiting the local airport to get ready for the trip. She was completely spoiled by her aunts, and we got in some great siteseeing. She really enjoyed the St Louis Arch and the animals at Davis

We spent 4 weeks (1 week at a time) at the beach in CT. She LOVES the beach. Building sandcastles, crabbing at the rocks, swimming in the ocean; it's one of her favorite places. Nana, PopPop, Eka, and Auntie La joined us some of the time. We joined the Children's Museum there and went for a couple of classes and lots of playtime.

We had lots of great playdates with all of Lily's friends. Although I know she missed seeing Buby each week since his days with us ended in May. And we took the summer off from classes, but started Little Gym again a couple of weeks ago, and preschool starts tomorrow!

We made a couple of visits to Grandpa and Nannie, she loves taking walks around their circle! Lily stayed with them for a little while so I could go meet her new baby cousins, Ana and Elaina. Lily hasn't had a chance to meet them yet(they came a little early and I didn't want to expose them to her just yet) but she did get to meet her cousin James.

We had a wonderful summer, and now we're looking forward to some cooler sleeping weather, apple picking, pumpkins and Halloween!