Flora

For quite some time now Lily has had an imaginary friend/daughter/sister named Flora. Every day Lily regales us with elaborate stories about Flora. You will not believe all the crazy things Flora does. Our girl has quite an active imagination!! I never know what to expect when Lily says, "Mommy, you're not going to believe what Flora did!!"

Not only can Flora walk on the ceiling, talk to animals, and fly airplanes she is also Lily's alter ego. Flora gets to eat dessert even if she doesn't eat a good dinner, Flora can use a sharp knife, and Flora doesn't have to hold hands when she crosses the street. Let's just say I'm learning a lot about what Lily wishes she could do based on what Flora "does".

Oh. By the way, if you are wondering where Lily came up with Flora's name..it's not a product of her extremely active imagination. It's the name of one of the characters in Lily's Angelina Ballerina books. That Flora is not nearly as adventurous as Lily's Flora. Trust me.

A Quick Preschool Update

Happy News! This week has been much better for Lily (and Me)!!

Hmmm...do I want to go to preschool today??

There are still a few tears when I leave Lily in the classroom, but they don't last long. Unbeknownst to Lily, there is a small room adjacent to the classroom where I'm able to "hide out" and listen in. I will say Lily is still a little bit reserved, but she is having fun. In fact, on Thursday when I picked her up she ran back to the classroom to give her teacher a big hug and said, "I'll see you Tuesday!" Sounds like progress to me!!!

You bet I do!!!

Ballet And Books

I don't know how much sweetness you can stand...but here goes...



Could she be any cuter?!?

Friday was Lily's first Ballet and Books class. She ABSOLUTELY loved it!

The class is a mix of a little bit of dance instruction and a story time with a book that relates to ballet (ie. Angelina Ballerina). Add in a pink leotard, pink tights, and pink ballet slippers and Lily was absolutely in heaven!

Preschool

Yesterday was Lily's first day of preschool.

Again this year Lily is attending the Co-op preschool. Last year Lily and I attended the 2 year old program. That program was a once a week parent participation program. That meant I was in the classroom with Lily the entire time.

It might be a rainy, dreary day...but I'm so excited about going to school!

This year things are a little bit different. The 3 year old program is a two hour/two day a week program. Parents are involved inside and outside the classroom. Each day there are 4 parent volunteers in the classroom and then each parent also has a responsibility outside the classroom. For example, I'm the "Arts and Crafts" mom. That means I'm responsible for prepping all the craft projects that the kids do. Oh, and I'm also responsible for making the playdough.

What???

Hey...stop that!

I can hear you and there will be no laughing at my expense! Honestly, I have no idea how the most creatively challenged person on the planet was chosen to be the Arts and Crafts Mom. I'm just assuming it's punishment for something I did in a past life!

Speaking of unpleasant things...Lily and I are off to a bit of a rocky start this school year. For the last two and a half years Lily and I have been very happily joined at the hip...this whole separation thing is going to take some getting used to!

What do you mean you're leaving me in here?

I'll keep you updated with how we...I mean Lily...is doing.

Hi Mommy! Now I'm happy again!

Reality TV

One of my girlfriends told me the other day that she wanted to sign up for a Reality TV show about her life. Not because she would ever want anyone else to watch it, but because she wanted to have a camera crew follow her and her kids around all the time to capture all those little moments of her day-to-day life that she never wants to forget.

After talking to Keri I realized that's what this blog is to me. It's my Reality TV camera crew. It's my way of trying to preserve moments of our day-to-day life.

All of that to tell you I'm about to do another post about cute Lily-isms. If you can't stomach another one, I understand. Really, I do.

I know no one thinks Lily is as funny as Tony and I do. Trust me. I also know these things lose a little something (or a lot) when you don't hear them firsthand. It's just that these days my brain is a seive. If I don't write this stuff down I will definitely forget them and I don't want to!

So, you can stop reading now and come back another day.

Okay?

No hard feelings on either part. Right?

Right.

If you're still reading...here goes:

Friday Lily and I were cleaning the house and she said to me, "Does Daddy ever say 'Thank you' to us for cleaning the house?"

I tried very hard not to laugh and asked Lily if we ever thank Daddy for going to work every day? She thought about it for a few minutes and said, "No, but I'm going to as soon as he gets home."

Later that afternoon when I was talking to Tony on the phone I told him about Lily and my conversation and we both had a good laugh. That night at dinner Tony said, "TJ and Lily thank you so much for cleaning the house. It looks beautiful!"

How did Lily reply??? Did she say, "Thank you Daddy for working so hard every day"? Nope. She said, "Don't you mean thank you for using nasty chemicals?"

What? I try to "green clean" as much as I can. Where does this kid get this stuff???

Here's another one. By the way, I'm thinking Tony wishes he hadn't shared this with me!

The other day Lily said to Tony, "Daddy, you really need to clean this office. It's really messy and messes make Mommy drive crazy!"

I think she meant to say, "messes drive Mommy crazy", but I'm planning to file away the other one in case I ever get pulled over. I can just hear me now, "Sorry Officer. I didn't mean to run the Stop sign. It's just my husband's office is a mess and it makes me drive crazy." Do you think it would work?

And a few more...

On Wednesday, Mary Beth took Lily out to lunch so I could go to a doctor's appointment.

While they were at lunch Lily asked Mary Beth, "What is Natural History?" Mary Beth said something to the effect of, "Um...I'm not sure Lily. Do you know?" Lily replied, "No. But, I'm littler and you're bigger. I think you should know."

One of Lily's books talks about a family touring a Natural History Museum. I'm guessing that's where the question comes from.

Okay, okay. I have about 100 more, but I'll do just one more...for now.

While Mary Beth and Lily were at Panera Mary Beth bumped into some friends and told them she was watching Lily while I went to have a bone density scan.

That afternoon when Tony called Lily said to him, "I had lunch with Aunt Baba today while Mommy had a bone density scan. I don't know what that is, but obviously it's not a place for children."

What does "Little pitchers have big ears" mean?

All Aboard!

Today Tony, Lily, and I went to Kids Fest at the B&O Railroad Museum. It was the perfect place and event for our little train loving girl. Beautiful weather, a Thomas The Tank Engine train garden, a miniature train ride, a real train ride, the musical group Milkshake...Lily was absolutely in heaven!! Mommy and Daddy had a great time, too.

Fun With Fish At The Park

Lily and I went to the state park today for another of their wonderful classes. This class was about "River Life" and was really fun! Lily and I have attended quite a few classes and they always do such a great job.

Today the kids learned about all aspects of river life including: plant life, bugs, dragonflys, birds, fish, beavers, water pollution, and more. Lily talked about the class the rest of the day. A sure sign she enjoyed it!

Over The Mountains And Through The Woods To Nai Nai's House We Go

On Sunday, Tony, Lily, and I headed up to Suzy's house for a visit. This is the second time we've been to Nai Nai's house since we've been home from China. The first time we went to Nai Nai's was a few months after we came home. Lily doesn't remember her first visit and was excited about "seeing Nai Nai's house". When we walked in the door Lily said, "Wow, Nai Nai has a clean house!" How funny is that!

We had a nice visit, Nai Nai got to freshen up on her Candy Land playing skills, and Tony was able to get a little yardword done.

Here are some pictures from our visit to Nai Nai's:

Teenagers

It's hard for me to believe, but my youngest nephew is now a teenager!! Yes, that's right. Today, Charlie turns 13!!! Wow! It seems like only yesterday that I was in the Delivery Room witnessing the miracle of his birth.

Happy Birthday Charlie!! We love you and hope you are having a wonderful day!!

7 Year Ache

It's been 7 years since Mom died. 7 years. How can that be?

Time has dulled the rough edges of my grief, but there are still times when it sneaks up on me. Suddenly, I'll have a lump in my throat the size of a baseball, my eyes will fill with tears, and somehow I can't remember how to exhale. That's how it hits me. That's when I know Mom is really gone.

I miss her. I always will. It's as simple and as complicated as that.

The Bob-bsey Twins

Goodbye ponytail...



Hello bob...



When I made Lily an appointment for a back-to-school haircut I was thinking something along the lines of a trim...Lily had other ideas. Last night when Lily and I were talking about getting her hair cut today Lily told me she wanted her hair cut, "like Katie's".

A few months ago Katie got her hair cut in a bob and looks absolutely beautiful! Secretly I was THRILLED Lily wanted a bob, but I wanted to make sure that Lily understood what that meant. I explained to Lily that if her hair was cut in a bob that would mean no more ponytails...and girlfriend loves her ponytail! Lily gave me one of those "Duh, Mommy" looks and then said she was "absolutely sure".

Once Lily's haircut was finished she was so excited and immediately wanted to go see Katie because, "now we look like twins!"

Here's a quick peek of the Bob-bsey Twins:

A Hair-Raising Good Time

To take advantage of the beautiful weather this week Lily and I have been hitting all of our favorite hot spots (ie. playgrounds).

I think you'll agree we've had a hair-raising good time!