Lilia’s sour face

Grandma Linda was eating a sour grapefruit and making funny faces so of course Lilia wanted some too. I got the camera all ready to capture her puckered up sour face and this is all we got. Well, that and a request for some more of course!

From the mouths of babes

We just arrived in Arizona to visit Grandma and Grandpa Tupper. It was chaotic at first and at one point Grandma Linda yelled out “Who’s in charge here?” to which Lilia replied, “ME!”

Isn’t that the truth.

I went to Gymnastics…and Target!

We’ve gotten into a lovely Saturday routine that’s fun for the whole family. It usually starts with a trip to Target, then we run over to Lilia’s gymnastics class then off to Trader Joe’s and finally, home for lunch and naps for Lilia and Adam just as I start my work day. Ahh the joys of life with a car!

While I’m confident the highlight for Lilia is still her gymnastics class, Target is coming in a very close second. Today we asked her to tell Sarah what she did yesterday and instead of replying gymnastics as we expected she said I went to Target!

Well at Target yesterday Lilia bumped into a lady with a cute youngster of her own, looked right up at her and said:

I went to Gymnastics class! I did circle time. I played popcorn. I hopped like a bunny.

Yep, that about sums up our Saturday!

Happy 2nd Birthday Lilia

Lilia had a super fun 2nd Birthday. All the kids shared a special treat after nap time, and Juliana, Adina and Adam gave Lilia a special Sesame Street Birthday Coloring Book and big girl markers. We picked Lilia and Juliana up from daycare early, had some fun play time, went to dinner then played some more.

I want a timeout!

For the most part Lilia is a pretty easygoing and reasonable little tike but as we rapidly approach the magical age of two we have definitely started experiencing the occasional (i.e. at least twice daily) power struggle. She has been responding really well to time outs. She goes in easily and when the timer goes off after 90 she always tells us “no throw” or “listen to mommy” or “don’t do that” as we go to get her. She comes out so renewed in fact it’s like she needs them to chill herself out. Sounds great right?

Well after a couple weeks of us utilizing timeouts she started asking us for them. Every time she got frustrated or overwhelmed or knew she was in trouble for something she would call out, “I want a timeout.” This wasn’t in our manual. Punishment seemed to be turning into reward. We had to start denying her timeouts, but that didn’t feel right either.

Lately we’ve been telling her, only Mommy and Daddy can decide when to give you timeouts, but if you need some “Lilia time” you should go ahead and take it. So far it seems to be working and we’ve actually needed fewer timeouts and Lilia times. Let’s see if that continues when the clock strikes 2 on January 12th!

Our Holi-daze in Review

I can’t believe it’s been over a month since I’ve told you what’s up with Lilia Lately. The holidays were a blur, but a blissful one. Thanksgiving was a blast watching Lilia and her big cousin Gianni run all over the place. The difference a year makes in their ability to play together is unbelievable.

In the true spirit of the holiday she feasted like crazy and loved every bite.

Before heading home we helped GG pick some of her juicy and delicious tangerines, which she sent home with us and raked up some of her leaves so Lilia would have a pile to play in.

It’s fair to say Lilia enjoyed the festivities during her first Christmas, but she really got it this year. We kicked off the season by letting her pick out her annual Christmas ornament from Grandma Linda. She chose a beautiful red choo choo train that I will have a hard time parting with when she’s all grown up and takes it to hang on her own tree.

We had fun going in search of Santa. Finding him was as illusive as you’d expect it to be, looking for one of the most popular guys in the word during his busiest time of year. At one point we found his house but he wasn’t home. We were about to give up hope and then all of a sudden he was there!

Once we did find him it seemed like he was everywhere but Lilia still preferred the idea of him more than the real thing.

However, on their last meeting, when he offered her a candy cane and the chance to hang out and chat awhile without actually sitting on his lap, she was sold. Santa is indeed a good guy.

Smitten with mittens

Lilia’s little hannies had been getting so cold on our walk to daycare in the mornings and the other week they turned blue so we picked up a hat and mitten set and she’s pretty smitten with her mittens!

More Gymnastics!

Lilia started a new gymnastics class a couple weeks ago. This one is cheaper, closer to home, an hour later and on Saturday instead of Friday. It has a lot more kids and a really exciting circle time at the end of each session which I think may be Lilia’s favorite part. We do miss some of the equipment, especially the giant trampoline and the one on one attention we got from our awesome instructor Jessica, but Lilia is still having lots of fun, so that’s all that matters.

So cultured

Lilia has been enjoying eating Japanese Udon Noodle Soup and drinking green tea out of a real tea cup.

I’ve been drinking a lot more tea in this cooler weather and to cope with my never ending cough and Lilia has been wanting to join me. So off to the Japanese dollar store we went to get her a tea cup just her size that I wouldn’t cry over if it broke.

She’s quite tickled with it!

I’ve been using a lovely tea pot I’ve had for ages, Sarah gave it to me back in college when we were living in the house together. I’ve really only used it for decoration until now but it’s been nice to brew a full pot with just one bag of green tea so it’s not too strong and it stays warm while I give her small amounts so it doesn’t spill. It’s like a real life tea party!

Mommy’s Little Helper

Lilia has been the biggest little helper lately. This morning I decided to make and freeze double batches of whole wheat waffles and whole wheat pancakes to help speed up our morning routine. I usually have one or the other frozen and ready to go for quick breakfasts, but we’d eaten through our supply and needed to restock.

Lilia came in and made it clear she wanted to help. I sorta thought I’d have a few more months, if not a year, before she wanted to help out in the kitchen, but I decided to roll with it, and I couldn’t believe what a great helper she was.

She listened and followed directions so well, and the only real mess that was made was my fault, not at all Lilia’s-go figure! I can be a bit of a control freak, so as proud as I was of Lilia for being such a great helper, I was also proud of myself for letting her get in there and not stressing about making a mess or ingredients being measured perfectly.

She was so proud of herself for what she could do and kept saying Lilia did that! She also ate at least 3 waffles and then had a couple pancakes for dessert, a lot even for my bottomless pit. They must have tasted especially good since she knew she had helped to make them.