Energizer Bunny

MUST BE HIDING

I have mentioned before the fondness my child has for "hide and go seek" but today I thought I would expand on that a bit. See, it is not just the game that Lily enjoys, but the concept of "hiding" itself. In her world, if you cannot physically see something at that particular moment, then it "must be hiding"...

Me: "Lily, where is your coat?"

Lily: "Hiding?"

Me: "Lily, where did daddy go?"

Lily: "Must be hiding!" (bet you saw that one coming)

Now, it is not the element of surprise one encounters from finding what was once hidden that Lily enjoys. Actually, when playing Hide and Go Seek with her, she will TELL you where you should hide first. "Momma hide playroom." Then she'll go and count and come "find" me...and I had BETTER be hiding in the playroom. If I am, there is a big "Boo!" or " I see you momma!" followed by excited laughter and jumping up and down. However, if I decided to get tricky and hide say, in the bedroom instead...the result is one of a confused and somewhat disappointed toddler. So, I opt to hide where she tells me to hide.

The other day while I was folding some laundry she took that 10 minutes to hide in the laundry basket until she was discovered, then she would pick up the basket, move it over a couple of feet and hide under it again...

"I see you momma!" "Here I am!" "She'll never find me up here"

Then, last night was the clincher... I was checking my e-mail at the kitchen table and she pulled up the chair next to me and started shoving her silver chain underneath my laptop. I didn't pay much attention, until she then put her hands over her eyes and began counting to ten. (What is she doing?) She uncovers her eyes, retrieves her chain and says with great pride and enthusiasm, "I found you bwacelet!"

The fun never stops around here, ya'll!

Finally, a little fun in the snow!

As you all know by now, I am not a fan of Old Man Winter. Much better friends with Young Lady Summer. Anyway, today I decided (at the pleading of my daughter) to come out of hibernation for some fun in the snow. It was way too cold for my liking, and I only lasted about 15 minutes before I ran inside to thaw out, but it was great to see Lily so in awe of that white stuff.

Daddy managed to play out there for a while longer with her. They had a tiny snowball fight and built the world's smallest snowman...

then it was inside for hot chocolate and marshmallows. (Jay drank the hot chocolate while Lily devoured the "marshmennows").

Favorite Photo Friday -- Memories!

Well, the title of my blog is "Life with Lily Lin" and it is usually 99.9% about Lily, but today I wanted to post one of my favorite pictures that was taken JUST BEFORE our life with Lily truly began.

That is us just days BEFORE meeting our little bundle face to face.

Our trip in China was very emotional, and at times EXTREMELY difficult, but when I look back I always just smile...it was wonderful and life changing.

While we were climbing The Great Wall I kept saying to Jay: "Can you BELIEVE we are in CHINA climbing THE GREAT WALL!!!????"

It all felt so surreal. But, it was amazing.

Plus, the picture makes me chuckle cuz Jay is wearing that ridiculous hat that crazy Dave bought him...good times! I love looking back to that time in our lives...when and where it all began.

To my sweet travel companions: I miss you all so much and love the bond that we will ALWAYS have...give your girls a big smooch from Lily! XOXOXOXO

TWO BABIES

Well, the time has finally come where Lily and Payton (my sister's youngest) are friends. For the first 15 months or so he was just an annoying little thing that stole some of princess Lily's thunder.

He was always trying to cozy up to her, but she was having none of that!

But, now they are little buds. They always greet each other with a big, long embrace and a smooch...I unfortunately don't

yet have a picture of that, but I will.

They will follow each other all over the place and I am afraid that Jody and I are going to spend the rest of our lives asking each other, "Now where have those two gone?"

Here they are hiding in Booma's closet...one of their favorite spots.

They have also been known to spend some time underneath Payton's crib. Lily is a huge fan of hiding. Life, to her, is just one big game of Hide N Seek.

The only downside (if you even want to call it that) is that now Lily has decided that she is NOT a big girl. With all the talk lately of "big-girl pottys" and "big girls clean up their toys" and "big girls don't have temper tantrums" -- she has decided that she is a baby. Payton is a baby, no responsibilities, no pressure, pee pee and poo poo are welcome to be deposited in the diaper. Yep, Lily has decided that she and her little buddy are in this thing together.

I was holding Payton the other night and she looked up at me and said, "Momma, hode you" (which means, Momma, I want you to hold me), so I lifted her up into my free arm and she got the biggest grin on her face and said "TWO BABIES!!"

Yep, my girl is going to remain a baby for just a little while longer...and that is perfectly OK with me.

Art (?) with Lily

My child has her own ideas as to what should be done with a box of crayons. Color? On paper? Naw. That doesn't sound very fun. I think it would be more exciting to sit and peel the paper off of every single crayon in the box. But don't worry mom -- I'll place all of the scrap paper nicely in a little bowl. No mess here!Don't the crayons look pretty this way...bare naked...the way they were born?

And, she also has some original thoughts on the proper use of markers. Paper does not display their vibrant colors as well as her hands do, apparently. I emerged from the shower to find her like this last week. They are washable, thankfully. But for now, they are also being placed out of her reach.

She seems to have the right idea with a paintbrush and paint. She manages to dip the brush in the water and then the paint and then she puts it to the PAPER and away she goes. However, she seems to believe that the only thing worth painting is water.

Me: "Whatcha painting, sweetie?"

Lily: "Blue water." (makes sense)

Me: "Now whatcha painting?"

Lily: "Green water" (hmmm)

Me: "Look honey, if you add some brown down here to the green, you can paint a tree!"

Lily: "All done tree."

Me: "Oh, OK. Now, what are you painting Lil? Black water?"

Lily: "yeah."

Me: "Is Lily gonna swim in the black water?" (ooh gross)

Lily: "No momma, need a boat!" (Of course. Thanks Dora the Explorer. Yes, we need life jackets too.)

And, lastly, her very FAVORITE art is done on her Aquadoodle. She loves this toy (a Christmas gift from Papa and Booma D), and draws on it daily. Lately she wants me to draw smiley faces and she colors them in. She is actually pretty darn good at it!

So, that was a glimpse at "art" with Lily. Hope you enjoyed it.

Once Upon a Potty

Well, another book has "come alive" in our house. NO, Lily is not potty-trained (yet). We have just begun the introductions at this point. I borrowed a couple "potty books" from my sister and have put Lily's "big-girl potty" out in her playroom and told her it is there when she is ready to use it. So far I have heard a whole lot of "all done big girl potty!"

But...she loves the books. Wants to read them all the time.

I, however, do not love the books. Maybe I am alone here, but I find the book I have pictured here to be a little ridiculous.

I didn't even know HOW to react when I turned the page only to see poor Prudence bent in half to show us EXACTLY where her poop comes out. I seriously had to ask myself, "Is this completely necessary??"

But, Lily insists on reading this particular book and who am I to argue? I mean, apparently parents everywhere highly recommend it. So, the other night when I was lying in bed with my little snuggle bug, waiting patiently for her to talk herself to sleep I realized she was repeating the same little sentence over and over again..."wittle ho mating poo poo" (which, of course ,translates to "little hole for making poo poo"...Oh my gosh, my maturity level must not be where it should be -- I about lost it. Are you kidding me???

Hey, if this book ends up playing an instrumental role in getting Lily potty-trained, then I will come back and eat my words, but until then... I just don't know!!!