Here we are, 9 months since we became a family of three! Our lives are forever changed and that makes for three very happy people. We just feel like the luckiest Mommy and Daddy.
How lucky are we that this sweet little girl from China is now here with us? She has the biggest heart, the best personality and has truly won us all over.
The cute little red skirt was a gift from my cousin in France - perfect and adorable!
For this month's update, I thought it would be fun to share some of Lily's "currents".
Here we go:
1. She has the best smile and laugh ever which can make me forget any worries I may have.
2. Her favorite songs right now to listen to: Mary Had a Little Lamb and Michael Row Your Boat Ashore. Funny how those songs have our names in them, huh??
3. Parks are a favorite and we like to go just about every day now that it's not too hot. Her balance, coordination and confidence is so apparent at the playground compared to when we use to go in the Spring.
4. When she hands me something she says in the sweetest voice, "Here you go Mommy".
5. When her Daddy gets home from a trip, Lily is a happy camper. This little girl loves her some Daddy time! I think she's the happiest when all three of us are home.
6. Lily held open the diaper wipe container for me to get one out. Once I removed one, she said, "Good job Mommy". She's quick to give a compliment!
7. The other day Lily was playing with play-dough while I was getting dinner ready. All of a sudden she ran out of the kitchen and went towards the bathroom. When I walked around the corner to see, she was brushing her teeth. I asked her why she was brushing her teeth and her answer, " To get play-dough out"! Well, duh. I guess when you eat play-dough it can get stuck in between your teeth. At least we know that Lily is up to speed with her self help skills!
8. Lily is very organized and likes things in a certain order.
9. She was face timing with her Daddy the other day while he was in China. After a little chit chat she had enough and told him "Bye, bye. See you later". He tried not to be too crushed.
10. Although not a napper as far as laying down and sleeping, she will take a nap in the car from time to time. Lily is a great sleeper at night. She usually is asleep around 8 and wakes up around 6:30 or 7:00.
Driving back from Bonny's one afternoon Lily was using some paper and stickers to keep the sun from shining in her face
By the time we got home, it was stuck to her face like this
11. She's very good at trying all sorts of different foods. If she doesn't like it, she'll tell us but she eats just about anything we do. She likes apples, bananas, peas, corn, chicken, soup, spaghetti, turkey, cheetos, yogurt and anything sweet. Evidently she also likes sushi like her Daddy!
12. I was telling Lily we were going to go on an airplane to visit my brother and family. Her response, "I play on iPad on plane". I think she's getting this traveling thing down.
13. Lily loves the Fall decorations we have out. I believe she'll enjoy all the upcoming holidays!
14. Lily likes to stay busy. Some favorites include play-doh, blocks, reading books, singing and painting. She paints just about every day at school and now we paint at home too!
Lily has made so much progress in these past nine months. When I hear her singing her ABC's, counting, naming shapes and colors, playing and being a regular toddler, it amazes me! Nine months ago she was receiving minimal care, not a lot of stimulus and no English. What a different little girl we have now!
We've been staying busy around here with our "regular" stuff: school, gymnastics, playing and helping around the house! I love that we are getting into a routine around here.
Family Chapel time for Lily's school one morning
Lily was so excited that her two teachers sat right in front of her during service!
We had a park play date one day with her classmates.
Lily's favorite part - the cookie!
Dr. Wilson checking out the pumpkin's heartbeat
Sometimes at gymnastics when you are climbing, you just have to lay down and rest. Because when you are two, you can do that!
One of the most apparent changes I see in Lily is when we go to the parks nowadays. Now that it's beginning to cool off (only on some days) we've been able to get back to the parks around here. In the Spring, we use to go just about every day and I'm looking forward to that again this Fall.
When we use to go, Lily was very hesitant. Not having a lot of experiences to climb, swing and slide in China, these movements were pretty new to Lily. She would climb and walk on a few things but always wanted us right there with her. She didn't care for slides (unless we went down with her) or swings.
A look back at our park visits from this past Spring:
Not getting to far away from her Daddy
Just looking and taking it all in
Deep in conversation with "Bobert"
Crawling up steps
A quick picture before playing
Holding out her hand for some help
Now, she's very comfortable at climbing and walking up on things herself. She enjoys going down slides now and gets the biggest smile coming down. Swings are still not her favorite, but she has learned to hang on them on her belly.
Always up to explore new places and things
Loves going down the slide now
Climbing up - no crawling anymore!
Up, up and up
Some video of sliding in action from the last couple of months. I love seeing the progression just from these clips - the first few, she's still laying down while sliding and by the end she's sitting up! Way to go Lily!!!
Some things just go together: peanut butter and jelly, the moon and stars, scissors and glue, pools and pumpkins.
Pools and pumpkins??
Well, when you live in Texas, the month of October is tricky...part summer, part fallish. So yes, pools and pumpkins go together for us!
Gracie enjoys being outside with us
Lily likes to play on this big step in the pool
Some days we just like to watch a little show outside by the pool
A good afternoon for snack poolside
And some reading of our library books
First time to paint some pumpkins. Lily loves to paint!
Hhmmm....to paint the pumpkin or my hand???
Proud of her masterpieces but ready to wash her hands
Movie time:
I believe Lily is going to love the next couple of months and all the holidays!
Lily loves music! She enjoys listening to it and singing it.
Her favorites right now before going to sleep are Mary Had a Little Lamb and London Bridge is Falling Down. We watch these two little videos on YouTube every night. Every night!
She keeps us laughing with her singing and I captured a few "performances" to share. Turn up your speakers and enjoy!
While stopped at a light on the way home from school one day. I love the yawn in the middle of this one! Playing for 4 hours is hard work.
ABC rendition with a little Twinkle, Twinkle thrown in at the end:
With music also comes some dancing! On the way home at another red light. :)
Note to self: Maybe asking your toddler to sing while eating dinner isn't the best thing to do!
Sometimes when you sing, you just gotta lift your dress up! Come on, everybody does that at least when they are alone. Don't they??
While sorting laundry the other day, Lily was playing with "her" phone. It's an old phone of mine that doesn't connect to the internet or anything but she loves taking pictures with it and listening to the music on it.
Watch out everyone...we may have a singer in the family! Unfortunately I think she has the same amount of rhythm in her dancing that I do. Of course my favorite thing about her singing is when she's singing a song and I chime in with her. She very often says, "No Mommy". I guess there's only room for one star in the family.
Phones make it super easy to take a couple (or a couple hundred) pictures of Lily a day but lately I've been trying to use my "big camera" a bit more when we are around the home.
It's a good thing I don't use film - I would be going through many, many rolls just to get a few decent pictures. Between Lily's constant motion and my lack of skill, I'm very good at using the delete button!
It's great to have such a cutie for my picture taking!!
