Lilly's Mecca

It's no secret - Lilly loves her electonics! Remote controls, tvs, telephones, cell phones, kindles, laptops. Even the baby monitor! She loves it all. It's also no secret - I don't take Lilly very many places. Lots of reasons - all of them are because I'm a freak and I wont apologize for it either! Anyway - Aunt Kelly thought it would be great to do an "experiment." She suggested while Ernie and Chris took the kids to a hockey game that we could take Lilly out into the world. It's not like I dont take her anywhere... I do take her places, just not very far away or very crowded. This look of pure joy would leave anyone to believe this is her first car ride!

And we took her to what we are sure will be her mecca for many years to come.
I let her touch everything! This is why you should not buy the display models! She helped a customer test out some audio speakers by turning the volume up very loud! She looked at TVs. And here she is touching some satellite radios! Loads of fun!

And here she is telling the nice lady at Best Buy who took all her Aunt Kelly's money: "We'll take this one!"

Ironically, Aunt Kelly did not take a picture or video of Lilly crying the whole way to Best Buy and the whole way back! And yes, we all survived, but I was a little traumatized. However, Lilly and I tried another experiment on Sunday evening. We drove all the way to Ballwin (43 miles to be exact) to visit our friends, Todd and Melinda and their daughter Renee. She did well on the way there because she was busy with her bottle. The ride home, however... Well - no more experimenting solo for this mother anymore!

Lilly goes to Faust Park

a little history: Faust Park is home to an original carousel created by the Dentzel Company of Philadelphia in the 1920’s. The Carousel was installed in 1929 at the Forest Park Highlands. When the Highlands burned to the ground in 1963, the carousel was the only thing left standing. Howard C. Ohlendorf purchased the carousel to prevent it from being dismantled and donated it to St. Louis County Parks in 1965. The department operated it during the summer months at Sylvan Spring Park until 1980. The St. Louis County Historic Buildings Commission and Faust Cultural Heritage Foundation raised enough money to restore the carousel to its original beauty and installed it in a climate controlled building in Faust Park in 1987.

my humble opinion: it is so beautiful! my niece and nephew, Britanie and TJ loved going to visit the Carousel with my mom (aka Nana) so I wanted to make sure to introduce the carousel to Lilly on her birthday! And at only a mere dollar to ride - who wouldn't want to enjoy this St. Louis treasure?

She really did well on it! She was very interested in all the surroundings and held on the pole like any big girl would have done!

She was very intrigued by Grandma's horse and smiled a lot.

We thought she might like to ride it a second time in the carriage. Not really.... She would have preferred her own horse, but she was sweet enough to oblige us this one time.
After her two rides, she watched a group of bigger kids on it.
and seemed pretty interested in all of her surroundings!

Lilly's First Birthday - again?

ok - for those of you keeping count, yes this was the third time! But this was her actual birthday! This time there were some tears - some from me because my little girl turned one and she even looks older and then Lilly cried because she had to go see Dr. Spewak. It was actually Dr. Spewaks nurse that caused all the trauma. Turns out when they tell you to come back in 3 months for her 12 month check up - they mean or sometime after her birthday. Lesson learned. Don't worry Lilly - I won't take you to see Dr. Spewak on your birthday again. I wouldn't want to endure shots on my big day either!

So we had a few special friends join us, including Grandma, Grandpa, and Ty - her boyfriend. You would think that after 2 previous celebrations involving cake, she would know what this stuff is and how yummy it is! But no, she barely even played with it.

And that's all folks! Off to the bath she went.

Then we opened presents! She got lots of great toys and Grandpa and Ty were on hand to show her how to play with it all!

Her favorite present?

Now seriously - if you had to watch the video to know it was paper then you haven't been paying attention to the previous birthday posts!

Kissed by an Angel

Who knew they were so wet and sloppy?! PAT (Parents As Teachers) was here this week to see how Lilly is progressing and to give us guidance. Joanna (our PAT) assumed Lilly understood certain words, such as Mama, Dada, ball, and kiss. Apparently, we have to "label her world" and tell her everything we are doing and she is doing so she can learn more vocabulary. And as I explained to Joanna - Lilly does kiss us, unfortunately, she thinks it is a nose-to-nose event. Ernie has been doing eskimo kisses with her from day one. So I spent a little time talking to her about kisses. I've learned they are wet, open mouth, and random. Here is Ernie's first one!

Too Much Fun?

Never heard of such a thing? I have a reputation for buying excellent gifts for children! I've never heard the kids complain. Why the parents keep talking about "their revenge" is beyond me. Example: My boss, Matt and his wife, Kristin continually complain about Cole's first birthday gift. It was a rollout mat with piano keys to encourage him to crawl and walk and I'm guessing it exposed him to piano music. He loved it! I know this because Matt and Kristin are still complaining about it. They have been waiting for what they frequently call "payback time" to which I proudly quote Dumas "do your worst!" One year, my niece told me she wanted big paper for Christmas. Now this seems like a basic request and one that I felt required accessories so I bought her paints, paint brushes, markers, and an easel. I also included a very large drop cloth! Britanie loved this gift and I still have the masterpiece she painted me that night! My sister Kelly called me today to let me know she saw some really cool playdoh toys so beware when Lilly turns 3! Again - I can't wait to play with playdoh with Lilly. I look forward to all her creations! I quote Dunst "bring it!"

This is Matt and Kristin's revenge. Look how much Lilly loves it! Thank you Matt and Kristin!

Favorite Things

Lilly opened some birthday gifts this morning. She got lots of great toys and a snow suit for this winter. Her favorite?

The pile of paper to be thrown away!

Lilly's First Birthday - again

So we had a small party for Lilly's first birthday with a few close friends. Lilly didn't get a good nap for it so she didn't bring her A game, but she did pretty good! We stuck to a simple polka dot theme (thank you Kelly C for the great idea!) and ordered cupcakes (I mean made..) along with her own special cake.

Her cakes. By the way - we have gotten so much mileage out of this balloon. She loves it!
Overheard: "That's not how you eat it Lilly." - Cole, wise 3 year old

This is the damage. That's really all she did. She simply did not care to play with us anymore!

What was that Goose!?

Every now and then I may hear something strange and before Lilly came into our world, I'd ask Hunter, "what was that?" and he'd lead the charge to investigate. Now I count on Goose to not only hear things first, but also to investigate. Goose would follow Hunter and I on investigations and I always assumed he was learning the ropes, but let me tell you - Goose has no desire to be a guard dog! He lets me investigate. Which leads to this story: I was in the kitchen chopping away at some apples for apple salad. Goose was impatiently waiting at my feet for something to fall from the counter. (in his defense - he very eagerly will stay behind to clean the floors for us!) I heard an odd noise - "what was that Goose?" (he looks oblivious around the floor for apples that have not fallen) I run to Lilly's play area to investigate:

She was about to fall in! I keep a bunch of her toys in these collapsible totes and she was very intent on finding something. She was literally throwing things behind her and tossing others to the side. She was so into her search, she didn't hear my approach, retreat, and return with camera in hand! I had to know - what is she looking for? (insert some scary background music here)

It's her plastic remote control! Ernie hates that I gave this to her, but she loves the remote controls!

It's Official...

She's a walker! I've attached a video and I'll be honest - the video does not make her look like she's any good at this walking thing, but she's actually doing very well at it! She just wont do it on camera. We've tried several times to get her to do it with the camera on, but as soon as she sees it, she sits down and looks at us like we are talking in tongues or something.Like any good parent would do - we bribed her. We led her to believe that she would get to play with the electronics that she loves so much. Yep - Parents of the Year right here! Go ahead and nominate us... we let her play with electric sockets and plastic bags also (just kidding!)

When the camera is not out - she will walk from the front door all the way to her play area in the family room.

Now I Lay Me Down

Our thoughts are with our friends, Pam and Nolan as they celebrate the very short life of their baby son, Elijah. Elijah was welcomed with such a loving spirit to such wonderful parents. And although he only lived 63 minutes, he made such an impact on so many lives. I'm in awe of Pam and how beautifully she accepted this challenge. Most people, and especially me, would have cried "why me?" throughout the entire pregnancy, but not Pam. She sang to him, read to him, and made sure her family got to meet him and hold him. He was definitely loved. They will celebrate his life tomorrow at noon. Our thoughts and prayers are with you. Whenever any of you read this - please remember to lift Pam and Nolan up in prayer for comfort and peace.

Safety in the Kitchen

I got this little kitchen set at a yard sale thinking an 8 month old will play kitchen in the kitchen while Mommy cooks dinner. She plays with it, but not exactly while Mommy cooks dinner.

I got her her own kitchen floor to protect her in case she fell while playing kitchen in the kitchen. For awhile it was very effective in keeping her in one spot and I felt safer knowing if she fell, it would be cushioned. The floor is now more entertaining than the kitchen!

and it tastes like chicken!

The Face

She likes her tu-tu! She crawls around and pulls it along with her. She uses it to play peek a boo.

It seems to help her make her new "face."

and it entertains her.

Morning Time with Daddy

Here are a few shots Ernie took this week. They get up in the morning and I believe they stay in their PJs until after lunch... But with a smile like that - who needs to put on play clothes?

She's got this new face. It isn't exactly what we would call her beautiful face, but it's still very cute. I feel like she's daring us to take another picture!

Our Tu-Tuth Fairy

Lilly's first Halloween went really well. Nothing scared her so that was nice and everyone really liked her tu-tu!

She liked playing in all the candy.