Last Wednesday was Lily's Preschool Closing Ceremony.
Oh my. How can Lily already be finished preschool???? I just can't believe it!
I was feeling VERY emotional all day, but somehow I didn't cry! Trust me no one is more surprised than me!!
The ceremony was incredibly sweet. The children received diplomas (that we were instructed to frame and hang on the wall), they sang a few songs, and then we were on our way. Short and sweet!
Originally, I was thinking about going out after the graduation for a treat to celebrate this momentous occasion ;-b...then...I changed my mind.
At the last minute I decided it would be more fun to invite everyone back to the house for an ice cream sundae party.
I had an hour between dropping Lily off at school and the closing ceremony. So, I ran to the grocery store, bought the ice cream and toppings, ran home, and then headed to school for the closing ceremony.
We *NEVER* have ice cream at home, so I knew Lily would get a huge kick out of it. I was right. Lily LOVED it and asked to have a little bit of each of the 3 ice creams I bought.
I think it was a good thing we decided not to go out for a treat because our little cutie was really, Really, REALLY HYPER. Suffice it to say the last thing Lily needed was sugar...but...you're only young once!!
Lily requested that we sing "Happy Graduation Day To You" to her. So, of course, we did. How is it that a room full of adults do exactly what a 4 year old tells them to do???
It was a wonderful afternoon and Lily loved having her grandmother, grandfather, aunts, and cousin there to celebrate it with her!
There ought to be a law about how much cuteness can be contained on one stage!! Seriously.
I could go on and on trying to describe Lily's dance recital, but I just couldn't do it justice. Instead, take a look for yourself...
Oh, and I know the videos are a few minutes long...but hang in there until the end. That's when they pull out the big moves ;+)
Now, go brush your teeth. All that sweetness can't be good for you!
Although you can only hear my cackling on the videotape, Lily had her only little cheering section at the recital. I just love it in the second video where Lily spots us in the audience and waves!
Lily absolutely LOVES her dance class and her dance teacher!
Lily has already asked if she can take ballet and tap again next year. Are you kidding me??? Of course we said, "YES!!!" How could we miss out on all this sweetness??
No, that's not a list of Snow White's seven dwarfs. It's a shortened list of Lily's symptoms since last October. Seriously.
Our poor little sweetie has been suffering with *terrible* allergies.
Lily coughed terribly from Halloween to Thanksgiving. Literally. I had no idea that coughing was one of the major symptoms of asthma...but...I do now!
After numerous trips to the pediatrician, Lily has been to see a wonderful pediatric allergist. Lily absolutely LOVED him...and he LOVED her. The doctor even drew a picture of Lily (complete with a bow in her hair). She was absolutely smitten.
I liked the doctor, too. He's very well respected...Hopkins educated...conservative...patient...and most important...kind. It is really a great combination!
For now, Lily is taking a lot of medicine...three oral medicines, a nasal spray, and an inhaler. The medicines are helping, but not completely relieving all of her symptoms.
Lily is a trooper. Despite a constantly runny/stuffy nose (how can it be both???), several sinus infections, sleeping with the head of her bed elevated 6 inches, daily washing of her beautiful hair (aka pollen magnet), and a list of other minor inconveniences Lily remains her happy, sweet, upbeat little self.
It's looking more and more likely that Lily will begin immunotherapy (allergy shots) in the not too distant future. We will discuss that option in more depth at Lily's 5 year old check up next month.
Um...can you believe I just typed '5 year old check up' and 'next month' in the same sentence??? I know I can't!!!
Something tells me that Dr. S would be non too pleased that I was taking pictures of my daughter sitting in a flowering fruit tree! Obviously, I've still got a lot to learn!
Lily said something to me the other day that almost made me cry. She said, "Excuse me."
Oh sure, some parents would be thrilled to hear their children using such nice manners instead of saying, "Huh?" or "What?"
That's not the problem. Lily has lovely manners.
So, what is the problem?
Well, you see, Lily has kind of a "signature" expression. You know how some kids say Ba-sgetti instead of spaghetti...or how Christina used to call the Library the Booklary...or how Sadie would ask you to 'bisser me up' when she needed her coat zippered up.
Well, Lily doesn't say "Excuse me". She says "Q me". At least she did...until the other day.
Q me. I love, Love, LOVE it. Truly. I say it myself when she's not around. It's just so, so very Lily.
I'm going to trust that this whole little "Excuse me" thing was just an anomaly and we'll be back to "Q me" in no time.
Lily and I spent yesterday afternoon at the playground.
It was a positively gorgeous afternoon and Lily had a great time playing with a little boy she had just met.
Everything was going along swimmingly until Lily got hungry. That's when she turned to me and said,
"Mommy, can I have a snack?"
Innocent enough...
until...
until...
The little boy Lily was playing with stopped dead in his tracks, snapped his cute little head around, looked me square in the eye and said in the most incredulous tone,
"Mommy?!?! Your mother looks like my great-grandmother!"
Miserable little punk.
If he had said I looked like his grandmother instead of his great-grandmother maybe I wouldn't have tripped him.
Saturday night we had dinner with one of the families we traveled with to China.
Looking around the table I couldn't believe how much has changed since we dined together in China.
Okay, the fact that there wasn't any Tsing Tao on the table Saturday night wasn't the only thing that has changed. Somehow, the kids have gotten so much older!!
You know what's really odd??? The parents haven't aged a bit.
Jim and Wendy, it was great to see you (looking so youthful!) and the kids on Saturday. Let's get together again soon!
My fourth Mother's Day began with breakfast in bed.
My husband and daughter prepared a yummy omelet for me...while they ate boring bowls of cereal. Lily got quite a kick out of all of us eating off of trays in bed!
Immediately after breakfast I was ordered to take a nap. Apparently, the teachers at Lily's school told the students that they should let their mothers take a nap on Mother's Day. The fact that I had recently woken up was irrelevant!
After my "nap" we had a nice quiet morning and then got ready for our lunch with Nai Nai.
Lunch was absolutely delicious...at least Tony and I thought so. Once we got home Lily announced, "My pizza was awful! Going to that restaurant again would DEFINITELY not be my first choice!!"
After lunch we came home and had fun enjoying the beautiful weather and each other!
You want to know the best part of my Mother's Day??? Here's a hint...it's the best part of my every day! Yep, you guessed it...it's being Lily's mother!!
Today was the Mother's Day Tea at Lily's preschool.
I can't begin to tell you how much I was looking forward to this event. Lily was so excited and tried so hard to keep everything planned a "secret"...while describing to me in great detail what would happen.
The day lived up to my expectations and more!
Lily told me she wanted to get "fancied up" for the Mother's Day Tea, so she wore her Easter dress. The dress is a Target special, but I think Lily looks priceless in it! More importantly...Lily LOVES herself in it, too!!
When the moms arrived at school we were lined up and welcomed one by one. After we were introduced our precious children came and claimed us. We were then escorted to our table where we were treated to cinnamon rolls (made by our children) and apple juice.
We were then serenaded by our children. Oh my...so much sweetness!!
Much to my surprise, I found that my eyes were "leaking" throughtout the tea. Since misery loves company...I was happy to see I wasn't the only weepy mommy!
We spent an extra long weekend away celebrating our Family Day and the end of tax season. We had a wonderful time!!
Friday and Saturday night we spent in Richmond with some of our very favorite people. I won't go on and on about how much we love Laura, Rich, and the boys...but we do!!
We always have so much fun when we're together and this weekend was no exception!!
On Sunday, we headed to The Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg. We had only been there about an hour when Lily declared, "I wish we lived here!!!"
I won't go quite that far...but Tony and I had a great time too! In fact, I think we'll be headed back to GWL before the summer is over!
To top off our wonderful weekend we stopped and had a late lunch/early dinner with James on our way home.
Having such a great long weekend...sure has made it hard to get back into the swing of things!
