March was a crazy month for us! Darren and I had extremely hectic schedules, Lilly was sick for the first time and we were dealing with the end of this crazy winter weather. Lilly seemed to be getting cabin fever any day that we couldn't get outside, and that made for some difficult evenings and weekends, but through it all we built some wonderful memories and watched out baby girl continue to grow and develop each day right before our eyes! I swear she learns something new each day and surprises us with a new word, motor function or interest.
Lilly continues to love to play in Mommy's shoes! It's a good thing I don't wear heals ;-) I think watching her try to walk in my boots is my favorite. They are literally as tall as her legs, so she sort of skates in them, rather than walks. It's absolutely adorable.
Lilly loves her baby dolls, so we have several doll accessories around the house, including a pretty realistic stroller. Apparently it is a little TOO realistic, because Lilly decided she wanted to try it out! I was surprised she fit (sort of), but I was more surprised that she could get in there by herself! Getting out was a different story! lol!
Darren and I took a day to go car shopping and since test driving a car with a 2 year old doesn't really work, our good friend Sonya offered to come and spend the day with Lilly. They had such a blast that Lilly didn't want to take her afternoon nap. When we got home around 5, Lilly nursed and fell into a deep sleep. I nurse Lilly before she goes to sleep, but she is awake when I put her to bed, so it was such a rare moment to have her fall asleep in my arms. It reminded me of the many (MANY!) hours we spent snuggled up on the recliner when Lilly was first born. She used to nurse for 30-45 minutes and then sleep on me for an hour or two. This nap lasted about 45 minutes, all of which I spent staring at my baby girl (and taking her picture...hehe). Sometimes I get lost in parenthood and the stress, exhaustion and frustration that all parents face. I am really working hard to stay in the moment and treasure these times because Lilly is growing up so fast and (cue Aerosmith music) I don't wanna miss a thing! hehe. I try to remind myself of how special this bond is that Lilly and I have and that I won't remember the stresses and aggravations, but I will remember these beautiful moments that make motherhood the most amazing adventure of my life.
Lilly is a big breakfast eater, which is something we have worked hard to instill in her (I could go on and on about how important breakfast is, especially for kids, but I won't!). I recently started making pancakes or waffles on the weekends and Lilly has really enjoyed trying them. Her newest fascination is to "dip" anything and everything she has on her plate into...well, whatever! So I let her try dipping her pancakes into syrup for the first time. She liked the syrup so much she was literally sucking it off of her pancakes and then asking for "more sup!" It was so cute I had to take a picture. She just loves to dip anything! She points her little finger at her plate and says "dip! more dip!" if she wants to dip something. The funniest part is that she doesn't usually eat the food she is using to dip, just the dip itself! She really likes ranch dressing and will dip just about anything into it. I am trying my hand at making some homemade ranch from greek yogurt to try to make a healthy alternative, but in the meantime, we have Hidden Valley on demand ;o)
Darren took Lilly to story time at Holly Springs one Saturday when I was working at the theater, and she had an absolute blast, as usual! Whenever we say "Storytime" she gets a huge smile on her face and says, "yay storytime! bubbles!" because the librarian who runs the toddler storytime starts each session off by blowing bubbles for the kids to dance around in. She LOVES it. I wish we could go to more story time sessions, but they are only during the day on weekdays. Luckily we can make most Saturday mornings instead.
Lilly loves to sing! When we are in the backyard, she usually asks to sit in her swing and then she tells Darren or I to "sit" on the other swing and then asks for a "song" which is usually "Donald" (Old McDonald) as of now. She has started to sing along with some of the words and it just cracks us up!!!
Darren really has a knack for catching the most beautiful photos of Lilly! This is the picture I use to make me smile at work or wherever I am to remind me what is really important in life!
Lilly loves using her lawnmower (thanks Kelly D!) I guess Daddy is training her to take over one of his chores ;o) The picture below shows one of Lilly's funniest habits! Obviously Maggie uses the backyard for her bathroom needs, and Darren is awesome about being on "dooty" (did you catch that pun???) to keep the yard clean, but of course he can't do it 24/7. When Lilly started walking outside, we would direct her not to step in the poop, and somewhere along the line, she started to have an eagle eye for poop! She will spot it from across the yard, point and yell "poop!" and then say, "Oh no!" (hence the face below). It is hilarious!
Playing is such hard work! Drink break!
I already posted this on Facebook, but as I am using this blog as a way to share Lilly's childhood with everyone (including Lilly), I am posting it here as well.
One day in the car we were listening to Pandora and the song "Let It Go" from Frozen came on. I heard Lilly singing/yelling from the backseat and as I listened closer, I realized that she was singing the last word of each line of the song! It was so cute! Since I couldn't just rewind the song (Pandora does not allow that), I started to sing the song with her and she sang along with me. I just love this video!
Michelle let us borrow a portable highchair/booster seat and it was in the garage so we could pack it for our beach trip next week. Lilly and I went outside to play and she was begging me to get it down. I figured she just wanted to see what it was, but she brought it out into the driveway, then asked me for snack and proceeded to sit in the seat and eat her snack outside in the sunshine. I sat with her and we just enjoyed the beautiful weather and relaxed. Quiet moments with Lilly are rare, and very precious :o)
She is almost tall enough to look over the railing!
We love Sweet Creations frozen yogurt in Fuquay and like to treat ourselves there once in a while when the weather is warm. Lilly has come with us before when she was little and we've given her bites of ours, but she has never had her own....until tonight! We got Lilly her very own cup, and, needless to say, she really enjoyed it!
It was a very hard couple of days for us. On Tuesday our babysitter, Tricia, emailed us at school to let us know that Lilly wasn't really acting like herself. She was quiet and just sitting around with a blanket instead of being her normal cheerful, playful self. She didn't have a fever at that point, but I knew I needed to be there for my baby, so I left school to go and pick her up. I had a feeling I might be staying home the next day, so I prepared my room for a sub and let my teammates know. When I picked up Lilly she was very quiet and just layed her head on my shoulder (I am actually tearing up writing this because up until that day my baby girl had never been sick and it was really difficult for me to see her like that). I brought her home and nursed her and rocker her to sleep for an afternoon nap. She had a mild fever at that point, but I was hoping a good rest might help. She seemed ok for the rest of the evening so we were hopeful, but that night she woke up crying and when we took her temperature it was 103. First time mom syndrome kicked in and I was ready to take her to the hospital, but Darren assured me we could wait to call the doctor in the morning. He was right, but mama bear instincts are not always about what is rational, they are about what will save your baby even an ounce of pain or sadness in that exact moment.
Long story short, I stayed home with Lilly on Wednesday. We went to the doctor, where her temperature was 99.6 (because your child is never actually sick at the doctor, only when you are home), but the doctor tested her for flu (negative) and said she did not have strep, an ear infection or anything we could treat; it must just be a virus. I was relieved that it was nothing too serious, but it's hard to feel like you can't actually do anything to make your child feel better, other than wait. So I did my best to do all of Lilly's favorite activities that day, although she wasn't up for anything active. We read a lot of books, watched some Toy Story, painted, did stickers and did a lot of snuggling.
Darren stayed home with Lilly on Thursday and she was back to her old self by late morning so she was able to go back to Tricia's on Friday. I am thankful it was nothing serious and honestly, I was thankful to have a special day home with my baby girl!
On Friday night our friend and Darren's teammate, Kathy, had his team and their families over at her house for a party. The kids all had a great time playing together. Kathy's daughter, Francesca, was so sweet with Lilly! Toward the end of the evening we put on Frozen for the kids to watch and they all sat together on the couch. So cute!
One of my favorite things Lilly has started doing is singing along to songs. Darren and I sing a lot and we love music. We often make up songs about things and it's hilarious that Lilly will sing along with our little made up songs. One of our favorite things to sing about is Maggie Moo, our dog. Darren was singing it the other day as we were leaving the house and Lilly started singing with him! I missed a little of the beginning, but I grabbed my camera as soon as I could and captured this adorable video.
I am going to have a separate entry for all of our adventures over track out, so keep an eye out!
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