Rain

We have had some pretty good rain recently and one night after dinner I was sitting in our room just watching it rain and Lilly decided that watching the rain was pretty cool so she joined in. We watched for quite some time and she of course had the best seat in the house. She kept asking us to sing her new favorite rain song: "it's raining, it's pouring, daddy is snoring, he went to be and bonked his head and couldn't get up in the morning".

Tea Time

The other night I was caught completely off guard when I looked over to check on Lilly who was sitting behind me only to find her having her own little tea party with Mr. Penguin. He couldn't see over the table he wasn't tall enough so she found something to set him on so he sat a little higher and as I quietly watched she poured him a cup of tea and offered him a treat.

Then she looked over to me and told me that he was hungry and needed a snack. Being so happy watching my little princess play I obligingly said okay. She ran to the pantry and got him some chips asked me for a plate to put them on. After she had gotten him the snack she realized he needed a little help eating them so she started to feed them to him. So stinkin' sweet I can't even put into words!

Buddies

It just warms my heart to see these two together! She loves him so much and I am pretty sure he's pretty smitten with her too!

Crafty

With the weather being unpredictable we have had to think of things to do indoors to keep our minds off of how much we'd rather be outside. One morning we decided to have craft time and we were going to try and make a collage. It turned out really nice and is now hanging on the fridge and every once in a while she pulls it down and shows us proudly saying "look" with a big smile on her face.I am not sure she really got the concept of it, she still tries to rip the pieces off, but I think it is a great project that will help her develop. I think it is a craft we will definitely try again and maybe next time we'll mix it up and us some magazines or pictures of things we know and can recognize.

Yeehaw!

Last week a gal who lives in our building was moving her stuff from one garage to another and Ziff offered to help her. In return she gave him this awesome little people farm!!! It has all the animals and is in great condition, she said she was a nanny and one of the families she works for gave her a bunch of toys and stuff that she was just going to sell. What a score!!! We have been wanting to get one for Lilly for a while but they are kind of pricey so we have held off. She plays with it every day and I think it is one of her new favorite toys. When she woke up from her nap and saw it waiting for her her face lit up, she did a little dance, and then dove right in to playing with it.She really wanted me to take her picture after she had lined up all of her animals

This was right after she woke up and saw it...she played with it for the next half hour or so without so much as making a peep other than animal noises.

Blues

Several days ago a package came in the mail and when I opened it I was surprised with this amazing quilt that my very good friend Kathleen made for the new baby. She is talented and makes beautiful quilts (although she is to humble to admit her talents). Lilly is in love with it and is always wrapping herself up in it and using it to snuggle on the couch. When she isn't using it for that she spreads it out on the floor and uses it to have a picnic, "nap", and Jump, because apparently it is fun to jump on. :-) hopefully she lets her brother use it every once in a while... but I sense there might be some rivalry on who it truly belongs too.

Double Trouble

I am so blessed to have a great bunch of friends. We met a year and a half ago and our kiddos have all gotten to grow up together and along the way the mommas became really close friends. Even though some have had to move, we still keep them in our loop and they are always on our mind. All of them surprised me today at playgroup with this awesome double stroller! It fits our baby seat carrier and is great because Lilly can climb in and out all on her own. Without the generosity of my dear friends we would not have a double stroller, Ziff and I would have just taken 2 strollers or put the baby in the bijorn, but now we can be worry free and continue to take our family walks we love so much and I can spend the summer afternoons walking to the park with both kids!

Family time

I enjoy all the special times I get to share with Lilly and Ziff. I find that a lot of times with our schedules it is mostly me who gets to do fun things with Lilly and so I take every opportunity I can to involve Ziff. With the baby on the way I thought it important to have a day to do something fun just the 3 of us, So we ventured off to Denver for a day at the zoo...one of my all time favorite places, but when we got there Ziff said he really wanted to check out the nature and science museum, so we switched up our plans and went there instead. (they are right next door to each other so it wasn't really a biggie) The museum itself was aimed a lot more towards older kids of course but they did have several sections just for kids Lilly's size. We didn't get to see al of the exhibits, some were to full because of all the field trips that were there and there just wasn't enough time, an almost 2 year old can only take so much. We let Lilly walk around like a big girl versus fighting her to stay in a stroller and she did awesome. She stayed right by Ziff and I the whole time holding our hands although sometimes the bigger kids running around freaked her out and she wanted to be carried. It was a good day and a nice change in pace. Doing something special and different is always fun.

Saying hi to the polar bear

Wind! OOOO!

Learning how to play the piano

Flying the starship

Entourage

We have always known we had a social butterfly on our hands. Lilly is always looking for someone to play with and recently she has started learning that her stuffties can make pretty good playmates. Elmo is her #1 guy right now, well him and Mr. Penguin. She also rotates in her "baby", Lucy, bunny, Mr. bunny, and Minnie...at least for now that is who has made the second string cut. She loves to "feed" Elmo and change his diaper and dress him, and Elmo apparently really enjoys wearing her shoes and dancing with her. They go to the shopping and for car rides with us and pretty much anywhere else she can think to bring them. It is so fun to watch her play more and more with them and use her imagination to interact with them. This picture is not the best of Lilly she is covered in lunch, but she was explaining to me that Elmo was hungry and he asked for some fishy crackers...so she gave him all the one she had.