Picasso

Perhaps Lily did get some of my mother's artistic ability after all (it certainly skipped over me!). Noah and I were shocked to find her bathroom artwork (OK, so I admit that we did turn our backs for a few minutes while she splashed away in the tub unattended...probably not the best parenting move, but if memory serves the doorbell and phone rang at the same time).

Check out the face she drew on the tiles with her crayon soap. Not bad for a toddler!

Thankful

In between our three Thanksgiving celebrations, playdates, SOS calls to a plumber, and a Black Friday shopping trip to Toys R Us (thankfully NOT when they opened at 5 a.m.), we did find time to reflect on all that we have to be thankful for. This year, in particular, there really is a great deal to for which to give thanks.

Lily is an amazing three year old who stuns us day in and day out. From her many declarations of "What the HECK!" and "Mom, you're killing me!!" to her new-found wit and practical jokes, she's something to behold.

The pregnancy, now in week 19, is progressing well. I go back for the next ultrasound on Wednesday, December 5th. We'll confirm the gender at that appointment. Then the official "search for the perfect name" will begin. Until then she's been dubbed Goldilocks by Lily (who claims that there are only two options -- Goldilocks and Cinderella and she's taking Cinderella herself).

There's a ton more for which Noah and I are grateful; too much to list.

We did ask Lily, and her friend Jackson, what they were thankful for this season. I wish I'd been taping their responses.

Lily -- "I'm thankful for my mommy and my daddy and doggie." (Truman's new name, according to the almighty herself.)

Jackson -- "I'm thankful for Lily."

I mean....don't you just want to eat them alive?

Hope you have much to be thankful for as well!

Sugar and Spice

After a bit of a scare over the weekend (thankfully, everything is fine), I went in for an ultrasound yesterday morning. And while we weren't expecting to find out the gender of the baby until early December, we were happily surprised to get the news early.

It's a GIRL!

Lily was a bit disappointed that there's no "baby broddah" in my belly, but I think that she's going to love growing up with a sister. And I'm going to love the fact that I can recycle all of Lily's fabulous clothes!!

I have yet another ultrasound scheduled for December 5th (the one that I thought we'd find out the gender at), so hopefully we'll get some good photos to scan in for the blog. Until then, use your imagination!

Due date is still April 20th (and counting...already).

Inspired

While the purpose of this blog really is to document "life with Lily," she's not the only one who provides us with excitement and adventure. Noah has been on a personal journey of weight-loss (35 pounds to date, I'm pretty sure!) that's being filmed by his college friend, Steve, in an amazing new documentary -- INSPIRED: The Movie (http://www.inspiredthemovie.com/). The film is now in the production and fundraising phase, and Steve just sent out the latest trailer. It's pretty amazing and very motivational. Check it out (there's even a pretty remarkable before and after shot of Noah...hint, he's shirtless and wearing black shorts).

Three

It's hard to believe -- and while cliche, it really does seem like just yesterday that she was born -- but Lily is officially three. She's been counting down to "b-day" for more than a month, and she barely slept a wink Thursday night in anticipation. In addition to the big day, last week was a momentous one for Lily -- Wednesday was Halloween (in all it's insanity), Thursday was her first official day as a Huckleberry, Friday was her actual birthday (with, of course, a party at school), and Saturday was her party (with a small army invited). Sunday we rested...

The party was a great success. If I had to chose one word to describe it, I'd chose "MESSY" (but in three year old speak that translates to "Oh my god I'm in heaven!") We hired Abrakadoodle to do an art party. Kids left with paint in their hair, on their faces...lord only knows the places that paint made it on to (I did include a disclaimer on the invitations). For those of you who came to the party...thank you (so sorry about YOUR clothing...it didn't occur to me to warn parents to wear paint-friendly clothes!). Apologies that I didn't have time to actually visit with the adults....next year we're planning a party where I won't have to lift a finger!

Noah and Pat were up until 12:30 a.m. Friday night/Saturday morning putting the cake together. Lily nearly lost her marbles when she saw the castle at the party...just what every Cinderella devotee needs for her birthday! For anyone in the DC-area reading this, if you want some cake there is....well...um....plenty of leftovers (just come on by!).

Here are a few highlights. Click on this link to access more photos -- http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8IbMWLluzas90&emid=sharview&linkid=link4

BOO!

Halloween #3 was a HUGE hit! Lily was delighted by the fact that she could knock on a stranger's door and get candy in exchange. I fear that she'll expect this each time she goes to someone's house now. Luckily we've got her birthday tomorrow...and party on Saturday...or else I would never hear the end of Halloween.

The day started with trick or treating downtown/school Halloween party...

A "quiet" moment with Hank (AKA Bob the Builder), showing off her goodie bag!

Noah took her out in our neighborhood.

They brought home quite a haul. There is more candy than Lily will EVER be able to eat...

...and some "nut candy" that we'll gladly eat since she can't!

Lily did a good job of protecting her stash from a candy-hungry daddy!!

Fall

We have spent the last two weekends enjoying this amazingly unseasonal weather, taking advantage of the many "Fall Festivals" that the DC-metro area has to offer. Two weekends ago, Lily and I met our friends Jenn and "baby Justin" at Butler's Orchard in the Maryland burbs. This past weekend all three of us met up with Merri, David and Jackson at Cox Farms in the VA burbs.

For those keeping score, in the "battle of the Fall Festivals" I've got to say that Cox Farms wins, hands down (although the caramel apples at Butler's are amazing!). While our blueberry picking experience at Butler's this past summer was the best ever, I can now say with confidence, having attended both festivals, that Butler's pales in comparison (mainly because it's about half the size). Still, as you can see, GREAT FUN was had a both!

COX FARMS (Centerville, VA)

(For Jackson's play-by-play from Cox Farms, check out his blog entry at http://fauvrewebster.com/!)

BUTLER'S ORCHARD (Gaithersburg, MD)

Space

After studying "transportation" last week, Lily and her classmates were treated to a Friday field trip to the Air & Space Museum. One of the parent chaperones just sent these photos along, so I thought that I would share.

Lily absolutely loved the outing. As you can see from the pics, so did her buddies (although not her buddies for long -- starting November 1 Lily will be an official member of the Huckleberry classroom with kids ages 3 to 5...yikes!).


Lily with Zoe and Zoe's mom....bless her heart for chaperoning!

(I'm totally grossed out by the fact that my kid appears to be LICKING the glass display in a public museum...one of the most highly trafficked ones in all of DC. I'll Purell her tongue when we get home!)

The Strawberries having a picnic lunch outside the museum afterwards (Lily is the one in red, turned away from the camera in what is now her most favorite "pose.")

Lily says -- PEACE OUT!

News

Being the overly superstitious person that I am, I keep pretty quiet (who me? yes, sometimes!) about news like this....but it's finally time to share.

It seemed to me that Lily is the only one of her friends without a younger sibling, so we've jumped on the baby bandwagon and are expecting our addition on April 20, 2008.

Lily knows and couldn't be more excited. In fact, apparently, we're going through the pregnancy together. Yes, she's pregnant too (again); this time she's got "five babies in my belly." She's already put us on notice that we're going to have be very gentle and quiet once her babies are born.

Turnabout is fair play, so I'll relish in reminding her of the same once our baby is born. In the meantime, we're now trying to figure out where this new baby will live (sadly coming to the realization that we're going to lose the office)....trying to figure out how we're going to adapt to life with two kids...and enjoying this absolutely amazing time of anticipation!

Ultrasounds to date show that we're having a -- baby. Sorry, gender isn't apparent at 12 weeks. We'll find out (hopefully) if we'll be painting the new room pink or blue on December 5th!

Do Not Disturb

Somewhere along the lines Lily has gone from calling me "mommy" to calling me "mom," which gives me flash-forward visions of what life is going to be like when she's a teenager (yikes!). I still get the occasional "mommy" when she's particularly tired, cranky or if she really, really wants something, but more often than not I'm now "mom."

Along with this development has come another new, and somewhat shocking, one...her need for privacy (or practicy as she calls it).

This morning, just as we were about to head out back to the car, she came running through the kitchen on her way to the bathroom. As is the current practice, I high-tailed it behind her to make sure she was situated on the toilet in time. Once I had her perched on the potty, undies and skirt around her ankles, she turned to me and asked me to leave.

"Mom, I need practicy now. Can you please leave....and shut the door behind you."

Um....hello....what happened to my toddler? Privacy? Close the door? What??

I asked if closing my eyes would suffice. It wouldn't. I had to leave.

I know it's cliche, but holy cow they grow up so fast!!

She's also learning a ton in school. Last week it was pets. This week transportation. For your reading pleasure, here's the most recent Huck newsletter...

Dear Strawberry Parents,

This week couldn't have been more purrrrfect! We really enjoyed talking about all the different kind of pets people have living in their homes. We got started with some pet friendly reads such as, Birds, Your Pet Iguana, A Kid's Best Friend, Pet Show, You're Not My Cat, Not Norman: A Goldfish Story, and Bark George!

Earlier this week we talked about a very common household pet, our feline friends, CATS! Around the circle we discussed the anatomy (whiskers, paws, claws and fur) of a cat, what they feel like and what cats like doing. Our hands-on experience with "Marcella," Ms. Christina's cat, paved the way for quick learning. We compared a cat's tongue to sandpaper and explained why a cat's tongue is rough. Many were shocked to learn that cats clean, or preen, themselves with their tongues. We practiced using gentle hands and taking turns petting "Marcella." Petters and pettee were thrilled to be engaged with one another. We played a number recognition game using silhouettes of cats with numbers 1-15, drawing a number from the grab bag and matching it.

Man's best friend, the dog, came into play next. Check out our fun and cute doggie ear headbands! We learned a lot about what it's like at the pet store through our classroom version of "pet store." Our "pet store" was a doggone good time complete with pets, leashes, brushes and bones to purchase. The Strawberries were great at identifying stripe and spot patterns on cutout dog shapes in circle.

A very popular first pet is the goldfish. We took a dive into the life of a fish and created an underwater art scene for our "pet" fish. We checked out all its cool attributes like the fins, scales and tail. We even demonstrated how fish breathe and used straws to blow bubbles like fish. The science concepts, sink and float, were demonstrated by using different sizes of fish and other objects. Another concept introduced was alike and different. We demonstrated this by picking the odd fish out among a row of others that were the same.

That concludes another week of learning fun. Put on your seat belts for next week when we learn all about modes of transportation! Have long and wonderful weekend!

All the best,
The Strawberry Teachers

Innocence

A few months ago (yes, I'm totally tardy in getting these posted, but I just found the disk that we got from the studio!) I took Lily to CLIX, a little photo studio in our neighborhood, to have her pictures taken. On the one hand I think she looks so old in these pictures (where did my baby go?), and on the other hand I'm stunned by the innocence that shines through. Either way, I loved the images that we got. Here are a few; enjoy!

DRAMA!

For some reason (probably in the interest of population growth) people always warn you about the terrible twos, but what they don't tell you is that the terrible twos start around 16-18 months and, apparently, last until the 4th birthday.

Naively thinking that, with the big THIRD birthday nearly around the corner, this period of momentary insanity on Lily's behalf might be almost over...I'm now hearing grumblings that the threes are actually even worse than the twos.

Kill me now. Seriously.

Where did my charming little baby go? I see glimpses of her. In fact, many glimpses. She can totally knock your socks off when she tells you "you're the best mommy in the whole world" and "you make me so, so happy." (Clearly she's my child...has already learned the art of the schmooze!)

But we also have meltdowns. Many, many meltdowns. So many that Noah and I are going in for a "consultation" with her beloved pediatrician...the woman who can do no wrong in Lily's eyes (even though she's the one ordering SHOTS)....the woman who Lily says she wants to be "just like when I'm a grown-up." Bless her heart. Anyway, I'm hoping that Dr. Palmer will be able to give us some coping tips and techniques!

In the meantime, I thought you'd get a kick out of the latest drama to surface.

Morning drive time has, more often than not, recently turned in to screaming fits. Lily will turn her body in to a board, so try as you might it's nearly impossible to stuff her in to the car seat. She then sobs all the way in to the city -- she hates her school, she hates her friends, her friends are "yucky" and "old" (I mean, give me a break!).

Yesterday, though, I had to pick her up early so that we could make it to Arlington by 5 p.m.; I was dropping something incredibly time sensitive off for a client.

When I arrived at the Huck, they were talking about fall...what we eat in fall....and about to start assembling an apple pie. Yum.

Even though Lily got to take a quick turn at putting a few slices of apple in the bowl (soon to be greeted by cinnamon, sugar and butter), she was beyond devastated that we had to leave.

Yes, she's the kid who cried all the way to school yesterday, begging to come to my office, insinuating that I'm a monster for even dreaming of leaving her at school.

The same kid screamed all the way home -- "how could you do that mommy? But I didn't want to leave. I'm missing all the FUN!"

In the end, we devised our own fun. Not really interested in peeling and slicing a ton of apples, Lily and I baked a pumpkin pie. Which we then enjoyed for a less than traditional breakfast treat this morning. And I can assure you that after the emotional roller coaster Lily kept me captive on yesterday, I slept really, really well last night!

She is still, however, my "sweet angel darling."

Tutu

Last Saturday was Lily's first day of dance -- a pre-ballet, pre-tap Mommy and Me class (AKA total humiliation if anyone I know ever saw me during this). I think that I had more fun dressing her for class than she did actually participating, although she totally loved it. Yes, Lily is Cinderella in training... A big, huge THANK YOU to the Buckners in Lexington, KY for the totally fantastic hand-me-down clothes!!

(ok, so it was a little cold outside when I made her pose for my camera!)

Vacationland

Feeding the ducks in Vermont....

...enjoying Lake Champlain by boat....

...a trip to the Children's Museum of Maine with Katie Galka....

...along the Maine coastline...

...enjoying a summertime concert in the park....

...a rare time when I was actually in front of the camera...

...do you know what an Alpaca is?....

...Lily's hand post-manicure (notice the jewel on her left pinky!)...


...some serious cake-baking with Aunt Jamie in New Jersey...

...have you ever seen a more beautiful Cinderella cake?!?

Bravo Jamie and Lily!

Suffice it to say, vacation was wonderful. We started in Vermont, traveled to Maine (Boothbay Harbor), stopped in Connecticut and finished in New Jersey. Our Easy Pass got a world-class workout, as did our portable DVD player, but Noah and I loved every minute (ok, every non-tantrum minute) with Lily over our 12-day adventure!