Posted by Scott on May 4, 2012, 1:12 pm
Challenging everything we knew about good nutrition, Lily started Easter 2012 like every good 3-year-old should: with chocolate for breakfast. It certainly isn’t every day we break out the wet wipes at 7am for that kind of cleanup. She held herself together, though, for a fun day of celebration with family. Then, through some cruel twist of irony, Lily went for her first trip to the dentist the very next day. She did a great job, and came back with enthusiasm for brushing and a whole new set of stories to tell.
Later in the month, we checked out the Spring-Mar Touch-A-Truck event, which gives kids a chance to climb around real fire trucks, garbage trucks, and other big equipment. We arrived a bit late, but still had a fun time. And Lily was playing shy, so only “looked” while Steph and I climbed around and honked horns.
April also marked Lily’s first trip to the circus! We all had a really great time; definitely worth the price of admission (despite the Groupon). The show (at the George Mason Patriot Center) was packed with people and excitement and though she had some ants-in-the-pants towards the middle, a box of popcorn, roaring tigers, and parading elephants held Lily’s attention. It’s almost a month later now and she still talks about it!
I’ve started Lily’s 2012 photo album – keep track of that, because I update it more frequently than the actual blog.
Grown-up activities last month included a terrific concert with Colin Hay (former front man of Men At Work) at the Birchmere - thanks to Becca for the tickets! I also finally broke open a Christmas present and am trying my hand at home brewing. The 1 gallon kits are pretty neat – self-contained, with everything you need to brew up a batch of tasty goodness. I bottle next week, then wait another two weeks until it’s completely ready. Fingers crossed that it turns out!
Posted by Scott on March 9, 2012, 4:51 pm
Another year, another February filled with all kinds of birthdays – mine, Lily’s, Becca’s, Aaron’s, and what seemed like a score of others among friends and family. Lily managed two separate parties herself. First there was the “kids” party, which was a Blue’s Clues themed extravaganza featuring all kinds of sugar, screaming, and stickers. It was the best kind of chaos. The second party was a bit more calm (despite the crazy cousins), but a great time among immediate family. The winning gifts included a Magna Doodle, marble run, create-your-own bead jewelry, and -holy cow- a Ford Mustang Power Wheels. Thanks, Uncle Drew! Lily will see you in 13 years.
We were also happy to hear recently that Lily will be enrolled in the First Baptist Christian Day School starting in the Fall. It will be sad to leave her current daycare provider, who has been a wonderful part of Lily’s life for almost two years. But it’s time for our big girl to move on up!
Following up from our last post, our refinance process did finally go through, and Steph and I spent a romantic Valentine’s Day afternoon together signing papers in a generic Title company conference room. Well worth it, though.
I have a load of photos to get through from the past month, but expect those to be posted soon. Yikes – I’ll need to start a 2012 album now. And it’s already March. Tick tock, tick tock.
Posted by Scott on October 20, 2011, 3:11 pm
We’re just about two months into another school year for Stephanie, so everyone has settled back into our usual routine: mommy is walking out the door as Lily and daddy are waking up and having breakfast; Lily goes to daycare until noon, when mommy picks her up; nap, work, play, and maybe some Blue’s Clues until daddy is done with work; then evening fun.
Our weekends have been pretty full recently, but with lots of annual events and fun: Rosslyn Jazz Festival, Maryland Renaissance Festival, and International Gold Cup, to name a few. And of course, we always look forward to W&M Homecoming, coming up this weekend.
New photos in Lily’s 2011 album!
Posted by Scott on July 27, 2011, 1:06 pm
Steph playing the slots in the Venetian.
On the heels of our annual week-long family beach week, Stephanie and I recently flew out to Las Vegas for a three-day whirlwind party! A close friend of ours had reached a milestone birthday, and asked a group of us to join in the fun. So with the extremely generous help of Steph’s parents, we kissed Lily goodbye and left for our first trip to Sin City.
Neither of us had been before, so we didn’t quite know what to expect aside from what we knew from movies, TV, and second-hand stories. But most of that turned out to be true – lights, people, booze, and noise. And of course the windowless casinos that devour your time and money. (Unless you’re Stephanie, who apparently has the magic touch with craps.) There was no breaking even, but it’s still good to cash in a stack of chips at the end of the night!
In between buffets and drinks and gambling, we also took in a few tourist activities: a spa treatment, the Titanic Exhibition, the Bodies Exhibition, and a very memorable helicopter tour of the Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon.
So happy birthday to Shauna – hope you had a blast! And another huge thanks to the grandparents for taking care of Lily.
I put up a few photos documenting our weekend, but those don’t include the shots of the chicken, jail cell, or stolen police car.
Posted by Scott on June 10, 2011, 3:48 pm
While it’s business as usual for me, June means the end of school for Stephanie and the start of two months of fun for Big Lils. We’ve got all the usual antics lined up this summer, including annual family beach week in Corolla, North Carolina later this month and Vegas for a weekend in July for a friend’s birthday.
We’ll also have our share of quiet time – given the frantic state of daycare in this area, we’re not able to pull Lily for the summer and have a guaranteed spot for her when Steph returns to school in the fall. Fortunately, she’ll only go for a fraction of her normal weekly schedule – giving us some toddler-free time to get things done around the house, but still not feel like we’re missing out on being with her. We’re elated with the quality of our care provider, so continuing to write out a check each week (rather than risk Lily’s enrollment) was an easy decision.
Toddler life moves on at a blistering pace. Ecstatic one minute, sobbing the next. Ridiculous demands, sly negotiations, imaginative stories, thoughtful debates, and blatant lies. Not to mention tons of hugs, and alarming amounts of empathy. It’s all a hilarious adventure for us, and amazing to watch her develop right before our eyes! I’ve created a 2011 photo album for this year, which I’ll add to periodically with all the best moments. Be on the lookout soon for updates on switching to a big-girl bed, and wacky potty training time.
Posted by Scott on March 15, 2011, 4:22 pm
Three weeks ago Lily turned two (see the photos!) and we invited several of her friends over for a late afternoon party. Since we’re evil, we then filled everyone with ungodly amounts of sugar, and turned them loose with stickers and crayons. It was great. Also great – the sleep later that night.
On the recent sleep front, though, Lily has been waking up around 5:45 each morning for the past few weeks. This is fairly unacceptable to mommy and daddy, who were quite accustomed to the 6:30 wake up call we enjoyed for months. Then came daylight saving time. This ["spring forward"] has actually worked in our favor in the morning, but we’re now faced with the evening bedtime challenge. So we’re trying to gradually shift bedtimes around until we’re back to a normal schedule, and hopefully everyone comes out sane and well-rested.
All this has also put a slight damper on our crib/bed plans. She has a “4 in 1 convertible crib”, and we were planning on changing it soon – from crib to daybed. But maybe we’ll wait for a less disruptive opportunity.
What is ideal about the time change, though, is that it’s now still daylight during the 6 to 7pm hour – traditionally known in our house as the “Post Dinner Freakout”. This means we can now open the door and set her loose to blow off some stink. Rejoice!
In other news, we’re going to the pediatrician today to follow-up on Lily’s allergies. For the past week, she’s had some … “diaper trouble” … previously associated with food allergies. We’re desperately hoping she hasn’t re-developed a reaction to something thought to be cleared, but they’ll take some blood and get to the bottom of it. Current known allergy roundup: wheat, eggs, and peanuts. Who knows – maybe she just has a little bug.
