Big girl

Lilah has made the move into her big girl room this week! We have been working on painting and gathering furniture for it over the last several weeks, and it is nearly complete. I am still waiting on the curtain rod I ordered to arrive, but Lilah and I talked and she wanted to go ahead and move in. She LOVES showing people her new room and doesn't seem to miss the old one in the least. She has some cute pictures on the wall, including her name above her crib. Every morning when I go get her she points to it, says, "Lilah!" and beats on her chest. Pretty funny.

We have seen a lot of animals in the last few weeks too. Two weeks ago, we went to the zoo in Seattle. Lilah loved it! She still asks about the elephants at the zoo, and we really only saw their backsides. She was super cute next to the penguins, and I was able to get a cute picture. We checked out the fair last Friday that is in town this week and got some great close-up experience with cows, horses, goats, sheep and pigs. It was really cute to see how excited she got with all the animals around. She kept asking, "more animals?"

Along the animal crazed lines, we got a new kitten. Crazy, I know. I had only gone to Ace (of all places!) for a paint roller for Lilah's new room and saw her in a little cage at the front with her sister. She is so much cuter than most kittens and was super sweet from the get-go. And now that we have her at home, that disposition has not changed. She is snuggly and lets you hold her like a baby. Sleeps on her back on the sofa all stretched out and lets Lilah carry her around all over. She has her claws still, and will keep them, so Lilah has had a few lessons on how to be gentle with the kitty, but she has done a really great job (Lilah and kitty both).

Lilah's words have exploded over the last few weeks. She'll repeat anything, which I've had to learn to be careful with what I say. My favorite thing recently is that Lilah is learning to joke a bit. She noticed the other day that the cows and horses nearby eat grass, so I was asking her who ate grass (working on more than yes or no questions which I have a tendency to only ask). I went through and asked if Momma ate grass, and said, Nooooo..... then went through lots of other family members, saying Noooooo after each one, but coming back to cows and horses with a yes. Now, whenever we pass a cow or horse on the side of the road, or if Lilah just gets bored, she goes through the list herself. "Nana eat grass? Noooooo. Papa eat grass? Nooooo." And in the mornings sometimes when I go to get her from her room, she'll say, "poo poo diaper!" and I'll ask if she went poo poo in her diaper, she responds, "Nooooo...." and then laughs. Fooled you mom!

Love

Lilah and I have had a fun day today. We met up with some friends at the park this morning and played until it got too hot. Cut us some slack, okay? We were dressed pretty warmly and then the sun came out. Low seventies can feel pretty hot when you aren't used to it (and pregnant). By the time we had played so long in the sun, Lilah's poor cheeks were so red, we needed to cool down. On the way home we picked up slushes from Sonic, which Lilah loves. After lunch and a nap, I put on Beauty and the Beast for her to watch while I caught up on laundry and dishes. She pulled up her little camping chair next to the coffee table, and put her little slush in the cup holder. Just watching her, I can't help but be overwhelmed by love. She really is pretty sweet and funny. In the beginning when the beast is giving Maurice (Belle's dad) a hard time, Lilah gets very concerned for his well-being, shouting "uh-oh! uh-oh!" the whole time. Then when she gets to a particular part in her slush when the ice has built up too much, she gently shakes it to mix it back up. Just like her momma. So funny how she's picked up those things! And still 30 minutes into this movie, she has hardly budged, except to tell me her slush was finished. So precious.

And I was able to catch Lilah and Daddy snuggling in bed the other morning. Jonas wasn't so happy about me pulling out the camera, but I think all dads need to have snuggle pictures with their kids. I think it's pretty cute!

Three years later...

Jonas and I just celebrated our third wedding anniversary last week. The week before our anniversary, Jonas' parents were in town visiting, and we all took a trip to Victoria, BC. Jonas and I went to Victoria on our honeymoon, so it was really neat to see it again near our anniversary. We had to get our picture outside of the Empress hotel, where we stayed for a few nights three years earlier. To think all that has happened in the last three years!

We have been very busy getting Lilah's new room ready. It is painted now, and the chair rail and crown moulding at up and looking great. She loves to look into her new room and is very excited about moving in. We have a dresser on order and will move her in after it arrives. Jonas and I are also building Lilah a new bookcase to help contain her massive number of books. They live in a huge pile on her bedroom floor right now, but we are working on a sling bookshelf so that she can see the fronts of the books and hopefully make it easier to keep them picked up in her new room. Her new room is considerably bigger than her current room, so she'll have lots of room to play. She's going to stay in her crib in the new room, and hopefully for a little while longer still. I'm not ready for a big-girl bed!

ABCs

Two little stories to talk about today. One, Lilah LOVES to sing. She sings all the time, with most all songs eventually becoming twinkle, twinkle, little star. In the past few days her favorite has been the ABC song. She really makes up her own letters, but she's pretty good with the tune. My favorite series of letters is "ello, ello, pee." I tried to get it on video but it is hard to hear and she wasn't singing very loudly.




We have also been trying to get Lilah to say "I love you," which she never says. Whenever we say it to hear, she gives us kisses back or makes a kissing sound in our direction. I have changed my approach to one word at a time, and it is pretty cute. She says the words with a nice long pause between. Last night though, I was putting Lilah to bed and I wanted her to say goodnight to Jonas. She was refusing him kisses, but when I said, say I love you, Daddy, she said, "I love you, Daddy." It was so sweet! And no pauses, just a quick, "I love you, Daddy!" What a sweet baby girl!

Marshmellows

We have made it back home and pretty much settled in from our nearly three week visit to NC and GA. Boy was it hot! Poor Lilah didn't adapt very well to the heat - her sensitive skin reacted pretty badly. She has recovered since but it was so dry and itchy! She fought the sun for the entire time. There weren't many times we were outside without her hands over her eyes. It was pretty funny.

She did pretty well on our flights, but it was overall a very tiring few days of travel. We had a blast with her grandparents, aunts and uncles, and lots of cousin playtime. When we got home on Tuesday, she spent the first hour home playing with every single toy in the den. And there are a lot of toys in the den. She has gotten to spend a lot of time with Daddy since I have worked three of the last five days since we've been back. Jonas says she has grown up a lot in the last three weeks, and that she isn't a baby anymore. I agree. She's really gotten crazy independent in the last few weeks, with the tantrums to accompany her determination. Yikes!

On our way home from town, we pass fields along the way and I use them to help keep Lilah awake pre-nap. One is full of cows, so we look for the cows first, then there are two that have a couple of horses, so those are the ones we look for next. Between them is a field of hay that was just collected a week or so ago, but instead of having open bails, they cover them in white plastic and they look just like huge marshmellows. I told Lilah the other day to look out at all the marshmellows. It was almost in passing and I didn't even realize she was paying that much attention, but then just the other day when we were passing them again, she pointed out and said, Marshmellow!! I was pretty impressed, but it teaches me I need to watch what I say too.

They really look like marshmellows!

Memorial Day weekend

Every Memorial Day weekend there is a race here in Bellingham called Ski to Sea. It's a relay race with about seven legs involving eight team members starting with a cross country ski at Mount Baker and ending in Bellingham Bay with a 5 mile sea kayak leg. Jonas participated this year with some else's work team - his job was the final sea kayak leg. As his loving support system, Lilah and I headed down to the water's edge (despite the rain and cold) to cheer him on. We had a brief period of sun earlier in the day so I took a picture for Jonas pre-race for motivation. He did well during his part of the race... I'll see if I can find a picture of Jonas.


Lilah LOVES her new sunglasses. There were a gift from our dear friend Bernie and now requests to wear them all the time. Quite the princess really. Anytime we go anywhere it is light out, even if it's just leaving her room post-nap, she says, "Bright! Bright!" and covers her eyes. Then she says, "glass? glass?" So funny.

Baby Loves Bacon

I don't even want to look at the last date I posted something. The longer time has passed, the more discouraged I get about posting again, because there really is a lot to cover and I don't know where to begin. Let's see if I can just do the now stuff.

We went out to breakfast this morning. It was a late morning for all of us - Lilah's not been waking up until about nine the last ten days or so (and not till ten both days last weekend!). She had already had nearly a full thing of milk while Jonas and I were getting ready, so I didn't feed her before we left. We were only going 15 minutes down the road, and we were going to eat anyway. So, as we were driving down the road, Lilah is playing and talking, and then she goes, "snack? snack? please? cookie?" It was pretty cute. She ate a great breakfast out though - it was the first time we have ordered her a meal for breakfast instead of just bringing something or sharing our own. Lilah loves bacon.

She is talking more and more. The list from the last time has easily doubled. She loves to tell the cats and her friend Nick, NO NO! All day I hear, NO NO BESS! She is still pretty darn good and listens fairly well. She is on a do-it-herself kick for a lot of things. We were working on a puzzle book today and every time I even lifted my hand to help her with a piece she would tell me NO NO. She really doesn't say it that often, but it sure does sound like it by what I've written.

Lilah has no idea that she is going to be a big sister in a few months, although we have told her many times. When I ask her where the baby is, she'll point to my tummy, and then point to her own. It's pretty sweet. She is still crazy for babies though. We have seen a few in the last few weeks when visiting friends that have newborns. She is very loving and kissy with them, even when I am holding them. Although that's when she really likes to snuggle with me. It concerns her a great deal when they cry, she doesn't know what going on. In the last few days she has started to mimic the crying or fussing when she hears it. Maybe it helps her cope? Pretty funny girl.

We have done a ton of work outside in the last few weeks, trying to make our yard more presentable. It is a landscaping disaster, as NOTHING was done prior to us moving in. The land is terribly rocky and totally not leveled out. There are major bumps and valleys all over. It makes it very hard for Jonas to mow. We have bought several more trees for our open field of a yard in the last few weeks, and have made a nice little flower bed in front of the front porch and along the garage sidewalk. It is really looking great. The trees are planted and looking great too. Lilah LOVES working with Jonas outside. She loves to dig in the dirt, pick flowers, and follow Jonas everywhere. She helps water the plants and carry the pots. She is a very helpful child. She's not a fan of bees, and flipped out when one was checking her out the other day. I think it was her first encounter with an actual bee. I think she says bee to mean bug, but she calls everything that could possibly be a bug a bee. Dirt on the ground, slugs, fuzz in the bathtub, you name it. And she won't come near it. Kinda nice really, which is why I can't understand why she handed me a squished and dead spider the other day. I nearly vomited.