More Firsts

We've had some more firsts around here lately...

1.  First day of school

There are actually two "firsts" in this category.  The first few pictures are from our come and go to give Lily a chance to see and play in her new classroom with her classmates.  I got to stay with her on this trip.  We were both pretty excited!  Her teacher had come to our home for our initial meeting a few days prior to us going to the school.   Lily took to her right away so was looking forward to seeing Ms. Julie again.

Ready to go

Loves playing with the Little People toys

Playdough?  Why yes!

A cash register with money and a toy phone?  Yes, yes!!!!!!

The back of Lily's school shirt


Then the very next day we went for our first "real" school day.

Our very first "First Day of School" picture.  I can't wait to have her hold this sign for each school year!

We got there a bit early so we stopped outside for one more picture.  Lily was really feeling fine, she just wasn't in a smiling mood this morning.  By this time, I was the one with butterflies in my tummy.

 Mommy didn't get to stay for this day.  I had my instructions on what to do when we got to the classroom from my newsletter.  I knew I was to help Lily put her backpack in her cubby, put a labeled diaper in the basket, and give a hug and kiss goodbye.  Ugh, I was dreading the goodbye.  Not sure how Lily would react since we had tried the daycare at the gym a while ago and that did not go well at all.

It's was so surreal to be the parent on this day.  After 22 years of being the teacher and telling the parents that everything was going to be OK and their little one would be just fine, I was on the other side of this event now.  Things were now different because it was my daughter going through this.  She's only been here for seven months.  She's two, not seven or eight.

I was braced for tears, screams and clinging on to me.  I helped Lily put her purple and pink backpack into her cubby labeled with her name and picture. While I put a diaper out into the basket, Lily went to Ms. Julie and to wash her hands at the sink before playing.  As I turned around, Lily was already playing so I went over, knelt down and said, "Mommy's going to go to the store and I'll be right back.  You are going to stay with Ms. Julie and play."

 And then....no tears.  No screams.  She just turned and wandered off to keep playing.  So I turned and walked out.  That was that.  Then I just had to wait a few hours to see if she held up.

I did some shopping and enjoyed a coffee at Starbucks.  It was so strange not to have my sidekick with me.  A few hours later, I returned to pick her up, anxious to hear from her teacher how she was.  Not one tear was shed the whole time.  Lily would play and then from time to time find and go to Ms. Julie to make sure everything was still ok.  Lily likes the reassurance.

So no tears and a successful first day!  Such a contrast from Lily in China who would not let me out of her sight and would sleep laying on top of me so she knew where I was.  Lily now knows we are her forever people and we always "come right back".  Such a big concept to "get" in seven months.  Lily understands FAMILY and that couldn't make me any more happier!

The afternoon got even better when once home, we received some pictures from her day!  Oh, that makes a happy mommy!

Painting at a table with all boys.  Watch out Daddy!

Sliding by herself.  This is huge!
  She just started going down small slides by herself recently.

The day at home ended like this...

I guess she's worn out from a tough day at school!
Actually, she just wasn't watching where she was going and bumped into the counter.

2.  First day of gymnastics

There's just not anything as cute as watching Lily at gymnastics.  She LOVES it the whole time we are there and that's for 45 minutes!

A few pictures before leaving:

Walking out to the car.  Backpack on and she's ready!

A quick walk on a beam


These are from the second class we went to:

Watching the end of another class before it's her turn

Such a better straddle already!  Way to go Lily!

3.  First time at a "fancy" restaurant

We met some friends the other night for a "fancy" dinner.  By fancy I mean, there weren't a lot of kids and the menu didn't include nuggets or hot dogs!  We weren't sure how long Lily would last so we actually took both cars.  We figured we would eat and then I could take Lily home and get ready for bed while Michael stayed and visited for a bit.  Once again, Miss Lily surprised us.  We sat and ate and visited for 3 hours and she was perfect! No need for both cars as we all left at the same time.

A quick selfie before leaving

Daddy and his girl

Love this view!

Two happy people right there!

New phone, new app and new friends make for a
 happy little girl

4.  First tantrum outside the home

 I know what you are thinking...Tantrum?  Sweet Lily has tantrums???  Yup.  Just like any other two year old.  I know, shocking, right??  At least we know she's right on schedule with everything.

We are thankful though, because it really is not in her nature to do this often.  Thank goodness!

So back to the tantrum, the lay down on the floor, on your back and scream tantrum. And cry.  At Target.  All because I wanted her to ride in the buggy.  How mean is that????  Why not let a 2 year old walk around the store with me? It's not like she would touch and grab at EVERYTHING.  And yes, an employee did come by and check on us because she thought Lily fell and was hurt.  The way she was screaming, I probably would have thought that too.  

But being her Mommy, I knew what was going on and I was going to win this one.  Luckily even though she's gained some weight, Lily is still pretty light so I picked her up, put her in the buggy and off we went down the aisle.  I wasn't going to let a little screaming interrupt my shopping adventure.  About 5 seconds into our shopping, the crying just stopped. 

 Hhhmmmm.....riding around in this cart isn't so bad after all!

So sorry I didn't capture this event with pictures.  The whole thing was quick.  Although while it was going on, it felt like it lasted as long as it took me to run a half marathon which is a long time! :)

5.  First storytime at the library

We finally made it to the library for storytime this past week.  Lily loved getting animal crackers on the way in and enjoyed the stories.

Great posture Lily!

First time to use glue

Yes, that's an ice cream cone and Lily wanted the second scoop of ice cream to go on top of the cone.  I had to bite my tongue and stop myself from moving it to the correct place.  Her artwork was a little more original than everybody else who had the helping hands of their mommy.

Seven Month Update

This past Thursday was 7 months since our "Gotcha Day".  To say these 7 months have gone quickly would be an understatement.  They have flown by!

  Watching Lily coming out of her shell and opening herself up to us has just been unbelievable.  She is so full of personality and love. She is just perfect for us.

Everything is going so well that I decided to sum up the seven month update with a picture:

To me, that says it all!

  I love her and that gorgeous smile so very much.  From the sad little girl we met on Jan. 25 wearing the brown, polka dotted coat, to the smiling, bubbly little girl we know today.  In seven months we've seen such a transformation.

Aren't we the lucky ones?!?!?  We sure believe so.

Playing

What do you remember playing when you were little? 

 I remember playing with Barbies, playing card games with my mom and playing with a friend named Sally.  I wonder what Lily will remember one day.  Maybe some of these things...

Bubbles.  This girl loves playing with bubbles!  We get awfully messy playing with bubbles and usually end up rinsing off with the hose!  So I'm not sure if she likes the bubbles or just uses those to get to the hose and water. I mean when you are little and can take off your shorts and shirt while outside and play in the water, it's a good day.

Lunchtime!

Being a "silly goose" with yogurt at lunch.  She cracks herself up!  She also sticks out her tongue when she's laughing and having a good time!

Time for errands.

Gotta have your water and snack when you go out!

Barn life...

Yes, she still gets her toys all lined up.

But not always!

Nothing is lined up in this picture!  I didn't want you all to think that Lily always has her toys in order.

Some morning play time:

The mess doesn't bother me as much when I see how happy she is with what she built.

What to do when it's raining again?  We set up outside on the back porch for a little play time.

Afternoon coffee...check!

Water and teddy grahams...check!

Stickers...check!

Blanket and close to Mommy...check, check!!

One afternoon we did a quick stop by Starbucks and I thought Lily may enjoy a cake pop.  Actually, I didn't think she may enjoy it, I knew she would.  Lily has a little sweet tooth and ate the cake pop in just a few bites.  But to her credit, it was kind of a small one.  Guess it's time for me to get into the kitchen and make some of these yummy treats.

Pure enjoyment!

Schools around here begin school this week.  After teaching for 22 years, it's hard to get it out of my system.  I got caught up in the "oh my gosh, we have one week left so let's try and get it all in before school is our life" mode.  So Lily and I headed out to the pools  and splashpads when we could, frantically worried that our summer was coming to an end.

Where is everyone?!!?

I guess everyone else was out buying school supplies this day so

we had this to ourselves for the most part.

Another day we went to a splashpad instead of a pool.  We hadn't been to one in a while and seeing Lily play here was great!  I use to bring her here before the pools opened up and seeing her play here now was like night and day from before.  That makes my Mama heart happy!

A break in the heat for a short while (down to mid 80's) allowed us to enjoy some snacks and snuggles in between running into the water.  Snacks and snuggles are two of our favorite things!

This week while so many others are starting back at school, I realized that my summer isn't quite over.  I know this is true because I'm still awake at 9:00 at night and I don't have to get up by 5:30 to get ready to go to work.  I'm so very thankful for this time I get to spend with Lily while she's little!

 During the next few weeks Lily and I have a lot more of this to do:

Fun in the Sun!

Speaking of school, Lily is learning to count and the ABCs.  Later this week will be 7 months that we've had Lily.  Learning how to count and ABC's...not bad for seen months of our  English language if you ask me!

If I were guessing, I think Lily may be ready for kinder in 3 years.

Staying Busy

Busy.  We just stay busy around here nowadays!  

A two year old (only for about another 3 months) doesn't just like to hang out and just "relax" for very long.   We try and go do something in the morning, something in the afternoon and then mix in various activities when at home.

  The other day we found ourselves at the mall to get my phone fixed so of course we rode the carousel again.

This time Lily rode with her Daddy.  

Making sure she holds on tight

That smile will melt my heart each time I see it!

We spent one day recently at a pool with friends.  It was so nice to see Lily off and playing at the pool this day.  I actually had several conversations with adults.  I had to remember to use my big girl words when talking with grown ups!

Such cute kids!


While at home Lily likes to play the game "put all your things into a bag".
 What?  You've never heard of that game?!?!?!

It's played exactly like "put all your things into your picnic basket".

Lily loves to take all her small toys and put them into her bags, baskets, purses, etc.  She is a master at getting so many things into one place. See for yourself...

  I see some large, heavy purses and backpacks in Lily's future!


We went to a bookstore the other day and Lily found this comfy chair to sit and read books.

Check out how she chooses a book and then hurries back to that chair.  Good thing nobody else wanted in that chair while we were there!

I'm glad she showed me she has print awareness and turned the book the right way.  Yes, I had to bite my tongue to not tell her it was upside down when she first sat down.  And I may have done a little happy dance in the store when she turned it the right way.  Just a small one!  You go Lily!


Some days are just good for collecting rocks from our flowerbeds into your bucket.

The look I got when I explained to her that we weren't going to be taking those rocks inside

Trying to get her stuffed animal and rocks onto her ride

We went for a walk one day and Lily decided she wanted to walk and push her baby stroller.  It took us about 4 times as long to walk but she was so excited.  She walks a lot like Roxi...walk, go to the right, go in the grass, walk, stop to look at rocks, walk to the left, stop to look at leaves, and then walk some more. Between that and the two pups on leashes going this way and that way, I'm surprised we all made it home without any scratches.

And then when I see this, it is all worth it!

About once a week we head to the library...

Learning how to use a mouse

Enjoying this game of dragging shapes with a magnet to classify

Sometimes you just can't wait until you get home to read a good book!  That and some goldfish and she's a happy camper.


One night recently we went to eat Mexican food.  Is there another kind of food to go out and eat?  We think not!

 While we waited, we drew things for Lily to name.  I know she's smart because she could name so many of our drawings and neither of us are artists, that's for sure!

Guess what happens this week????  Here's a hint...

Lily starts gymnastics!  We tried on some leotards and this little girl was SO excited.  I can't wait to see how it goes.