Track out April 2014

I am so heartbroken right now because when I opened my blog for the first time in almost two weeks (it has been a CRAZY two weeks!) I found that half of the work I had done was GONE!  Boooooooo!  I will try to remember as much as I can...here goes:

We spent the first week of track out in Myrtle Beach at our friends' condo.  It was so much fun!  Getting away from everything for a week and just getting to spend quality time together as a family is not always easy for us.  With Darren and I both working extra jobs in the afternoons and evenings, we don't get very much family time except on weekends.  I was so excited to open my daily calendar email each day during this vacation to see the message "you have no events scheduled today!"  This NEVER happens!  I love track out :-)

Lilly explored the condo by taking her phone for a walk up and down the halls.  Apparently this was really hard work because she needed to take off all of her clothing!  I love this picture because it reminds me of the Coppertone Sunblock baby.

There was a really cute playground a few blocks away from where we were staying, which was a great place to let Lilly run around and unwind.  She LOVES to climb "stairs" on every playground we visit, and she also loves the swings and slides.  Unfortunately, I missed the first few seconds of this video because I hadn't realized that there is a 2-3 second delay on my phone's video camera, but Lilly and Darren counted "1, 2, 3!" together before they slid down.  So cute!

There are two outlet centers at Myrtle, so naturally we visited both of them :-)  Outlet shopping isn't exactly a riveting experience for a 2 year old, so we took breaks to let her play and run around.  She really liked the "rides" at the mall and was perfectly content to just climb in and out and drive the vehicles.  Lucky for us she didn't realize that they will move if you put money in them!  When did these rides become $1????  It was a quarter when I was growing up.  

The dinosaur statues got some Lilly love as well :-)

I am not sure what it was about this hand chair, but Lilly LOVED it!  She climbed in and out of it for about 20 minutes and was smiling and laughing the whole time.  The store owner came out and just smiled and laughed at how cute Lilly was.  Maybe he was hoping we would buy her the chair.

We took a walk out onto the bridge and there was music playing throughout the area.  Lilly was in the stroller and asked to "dance" so we let her down to dance!  Her version of dancing is pretty much just running around in a circle and stomping her feet, but I love it!  She even started singing along with this song, which is crazy because she cannot have heard this song more than a few times in the background.  

When we were at Barefoot Landing, we decided to let Lilly try to ride the Carousel.  She has been on a Carousel once before at Pullen Park, but she just sat on my lap on one of the benches.  This time she rode like a big girl!!!  We decided to go on one of the "non hopping" animals since it was her first time riding, and we picked Lilly's favorite animal: the lion!  We had the entire ride to ourselves!  She loved riding around and said "Hi Daddy!" almost every time we went by.  She wanted to ride it over and over again, but we decided to keep going and we would come back later if she brought it up again.

Lilly loves to tell us to "sit" and to climb into chairs herself (see the "hand chair" experience).  This time she found a few rocking chairs and enjoyed her ride.  Darren snapped a cool picture of the experience.

There was a store that had all sorts of novelty items on display, including a yipping and jumping dog outside of the store.  Lilly loved this little dog and sat outside the store for at least 5 minutes petting it and hugging it.  People walked by and commented on how cute she is and laughed about how I needed to get her a dog of her own.

Lilly is still a little skeptical of the ocean, but she enjoys the beach.  She likes playing in the sand and she LOVES watching (and chasing) the bird.  It was a little windy, but we were able to enjoy the beach and take several walks.  I have always loved the beach, so I am glad that Lilly is becoming more comfortable there!

We visited the Aquarium one morning and I was sure Lilly would love it.  She liked it, but she was apprehensive of a lot of the tanks.  She wanted me to hold her the entire time we walked in the area where the tank is all around you.  I understand why she was scared; there were literally sharks swimming all around us.  She was a lot happier once we went to the smaller tanks, especially the tanks that had "Nemo" and "Dory" in them!  

You can tell in this picture that Lilly isn't exactly thrilled in this area!

Besides the "Nemo" tank, Lilly's favorite part was definitely looking at the Jelly fish.  It was nice that we could sit right in front of the tank together and cuddle.  I know this was definitely my favorite part of our visit :-)

Unfortunately my video camera on my phone has a delay, so I missed the beginning of this adorable moment where Lilly was playing Ring Around the Rosey with her baby doll.  She would sing "Rosey...posey...ashes, ashes...down!"  

We were lucky enough to get to a spend a day at the beach/pool with Jared, Carissa, Addie, Drew and Jared's parents Ron and Teri while in Myrtle.  Ron and Teri have a beautiful new house with great beach access and an indoor pool.  Lilly was all ready to go!

Jared let Lilly "help" fly their kite while we were on the beach.  Lilly loves to do anything where she is helping.  She loved watching the octopus kite waving in the wind.  I loved watching her!

I love this little girl so much.  She is the absolute best part of every day of my life and I am so blessed to have her.  Look at this beautiful face!

We had a blast playing in the sand, getting water, lounging on the beach and then playing in the pool.  It was a great day!  Teri and Ron were nice enough to invite us over for dinner that night too!

We found a children's museum in Myrtle and decided to go there on a cloudy day so Lilly could play.  The first thing we did when we got there was play at a little water table that was basically a basin filled with water and a few toys of various buoyancy.  She literally played at this station for 20 minutes straight and loved every second of it.  She was so concentrated on getting all of the toys in and testing to see what happened when she dropped them in the water.    

Of course Lilly loved playing with the bubbles.  They had big bubble wands, so she was able to blow really big bubbles and she absolutely loved it.

Could she be any cuter?

We put on a puppet show together and Lilly loved it when I made the puppets "bite" her fingers or her nose.

I think it's really funny that Lilly knows what a "regular" phone looks like because we don't have one, we only have our cell phones.  However, Lilly loved playing with the phone, taking messages and calling grandma.

I think my favorite part of watching Lilly at the museum was when she pretended to be a doctor and gave the baby doll a checkup.  I was SHOCKED that she actually used the instruments correctly!  She checked the baby's ears, gave her a shot and checked her heartbeat.

We had a tea party picnic and played grocery store as well.  There were some other kids at this station and it was a great way to keep working on our "sharing" skills ;o)

I tried to do this with Lilly a few times, but I was not very good at it.  Luckily Darren had a knack for this!  Lilly loved it!

It's crazy, but one of my favorite memories of Lilly on this trip is when we went to Barnes and Noble.  We were walking around Market Common and wanted to pop in to B&N because our amazingly talented friend wrote and published a children's book (you should get it!  It's called "Even Monsters" and it's amazing!) so we wanted to buy it.  We let Lilly play around in the children's area and she had a blast!  She looked at different books, played with the train table, looked at the toys and climbed up and down the "stage" to sit in the chairs over and over again.  One of my favorite moments was watching her stand at the edge of the stage, bend her knees and say, "Ready!" and then jump down.  It was SO cute!  There was another little girl there at one point and for some reason Lilly kept on saying "No baby" to her, but not in a mean way, more in a "I'm looking out for you" way.  The little girl was at least Lilly's age, if not older, but Lilly wanted to look out for her.  It was so cute!

I took a page out of our daycare provider's book and made Lilly a colored rice sensory bin.  The first day we took it out, she was enjoying digging around in it and a bunch of kids from the neighborhood came over and played.  I love seeing Lilly play with other kids.  Sometimes it's hard because Darren and I usually see her on her own, so we are the ones she plays with.  It's great to observe her interactions with other kids and see her personality come through.  Lilly is a little shy at times, but she also sticks up for herself and has a strong personality.  I think that is sort of like me.  She takes time to warm up to people, but once she does she is fine; and she's stubborn and strong-willed ;-)

I went in to Lilly's room tonight when she woke up around 10 and was upset.  This is not normal for her, so I think she must have had a bad dream or something.  So I held her and rocked her to soothe her, and while we were sitting in the glider snuggling, she looked up at me and said, "Song mommy.  Song."  My heart completely melted!  My baby girl was asking me to sing her to sleep.  I held her close and sang "Baby Mine" and "You'll Be In My Heart" before she said "night night" to tell me she was ready to back into her crib.  I am REALLY late posting this memory, but I can still remember it so vividly because it was so special to me.  I hold on to these special moments during every temper tantrum to remind myself how much I love being a Mom!  

I rarely, if eve, wear heals, but Darren and I were going out for the first time in a long time, so I decided to wear my platforms.  The next morning, Lilly decided she wanted to try them on.  She loved shuffling around the house in mommy's shoes.  Be warned: if you take off your shoes in our house, Lilly will wear them!

Jess and Matt invited us to join them at the NC State Farm Days in Raleigh.  I had never been before, so we weren't sure what to expect, but it was PACKED!  It's a free event, so I figured it would be crowded, but SHEESH!  It was totally worth it though :-)  Lilly had a blast looking at all of the animals and petting the goats and sheep.  It was really busy at first, so we didn't get much time with the animals.  Lilly seemed a little overwhelmed at times.  She was nervous around the cows and horses because they were so big.  I remember he watching the calf nurse from it's mom and she pointed and said, "Nursies!" and I was very proud of my little nursling :o)

The boys stood in a LONG line so we could hold and pet the baby chicks while Jess and I took the girls to see some of the animals.  I am so glad Lilly got this experience though.  She had a huge smile on her face when we finally got the hold the chicks.  You can't see it because Darren had to stand behind us, but our little girl is so excited!

Admitedly, I think Lilly's favorite part of the day was the free ice cream!  haha!  

After ice cream the crowd had really thinned out, so we took the girls back to see the lambs and goats because there was almost no one there.  They got to pet them a lot longer and really interact with them.  Lilly would say, "soft" and "nice" when she pet the lambs.  So cute!

It was time to take the girls to check out the tractors!  Lilly was so excited to "drive" that she hopped right up into the first one that was available.  It was some sort of truck thing...haha (I have no idea), but she loved driving it.

We waited in line the get the drive the big tractor and snapped some pictures while we waited.

Lilly is saying "Cheese!" as we tried to take her picture.  Note to self: teaching little kids to say "cheese" at the camera is a bad idea!  Most kids I know make a really weird face that looks more like snarling than smiling when they say "Cheese!"

The next day was the Fuquay Easter Egg Hunt.  We met up with Michelle and her kiddos and ended up running into Kate, Brian and Lauren, and then met Jason, Kari, Addy and Zoey there as well (all of whom live in our new neighborhood!!!).  The kids had a great time searching for the eggs and then opening them to see what they found.  Lilly was extremely interested in the candy!  I don't really give her candy, so this was a major novelty.  The funniest part was the candy was actually those soft (somewhat chalky) mints!  At least our almost two year old would have fresh breath!

Darren took some nice "action" shots during the hunt.

Look at all of my eggs, Daddy!

Lilly looks pretty happy eating her mint!

We also ran into Lilly's childcare provider, Tricia, and her girls at the egg hunt.  We tried to get a picture but Lilly kept running away!

I.  Love.  This.  Girl!

After the hunt, there was MORE candy to be had downtown!  (P.S. Fuquay - you should consider doing these events on separate weekends to increase the number of people coming to Fuquay for TWO weekends, not just one).

Anyway, we walked around town from store to store collecting more candy.  Allie was a great helper walking with Lilly and holding her hand.

Since Lilly was being so good through this somewhat hectic experience, we let her have a piece of candy.  She was very serious about eating this lollipop.  I think it was the first time she's ever had one, so she was just taking the entire experience in!

I am going to start working on May right now and hopefully won't be a MONTH late getting the next  blog done!  

March 2014

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!!!

Lilly is happiest when she is outside.  She has been this way since infancy.  When she would become inconsolable as a baby we would just step outside with her and she instantly calmed down and relaxed.  She loves playing on her swing set, riding her tricycle, taking walks, blowing bubbles and playing with the kids in the neighborhood.  I am so happy that she loves being outside because I am a firm believer that kids need to be out playing!  I spent my entire childhood outside playing (in central New York, no less!) and Lilly will be doing the same :o)

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!