A Very Happy 5th Birthday to My Baby Girl

Happy Birthday Lily-Bear!!!


***insert typical mom-remarks about how fast time flies and how I can't believe she's already five and how I remember that face when it was five DAYS old and waaaaaa***

She was such a hoot today - I was actually in awe at her many kind remarks to Jesse and I about how awesome her special day was going!

I'm pretty sure she was the most thankful 5yo ever ;o)

And I was super pumped this year because she's old enough to actually be interviewed for her birthday ... to tell us her current favorites! 

But be warned - she was in the mood to talk in a super high voice for most of the interview AND she got super distracted a few times because I was keeping her attention by using the iPad facing her. 

Apparently it kept her attention a little too well ;o)

There really aren't words to properly express my love for this girl. 

As I look at these pictures and think about this day spent celebrating as a family, I can't help but smile. And the past five years? Now my smile's going to break my face and I'm probably going to start crying! 

I couldn't be more proud and more grateful for her. I love her budding sense of "fashion" and her silly antics. I love her laugh. I love her sensitivity. I love the way her eyes sparkle when she's excited. I love that blue is still her favorite color, followed closely by "the rainbow" (what, you didn't know that's a color?) and anything that has glitter!

She's one part girly-girl and one part tough-girl. And I can't wait to see how that continues to play out in her life.

Happy Birthday times a million to the girl who made me a Momma!

There are No Words. (okay maybe just a FEW words)

"Mommy, I made you breakfast!" 

GAH! Make it stop, my heart can't handle any more adorable! I honestly don't know which is my favorite part of her plate presentation, but it's just so dang cute! 

And then I flashed forward to when she could actually make me breakfast.

Or when we can go out to eat breakfast together and leisurely chat over coffee and omelets.

Which reminds me, I haven't forced Jesse to take me to my favorite American style diner in awhile.

So basically, I love breakfast. I can't believe my baby is getting so big!

Just Call Her Little Miss Jumps-a-LOT

Lily's new "thing" is jumping. Off of everything. It's super cute and great exercise, I'm sure, but it makes walking anywhere take twenty times as long.

Because duh MOM she HAS to jump off of everything at least THREE times!

And then there's poor Little Sis, who is not quite as brave or coordinated as Big Sis. And yet so DESPERATELY wants to do everything Lily does ;o) 

St. Martin's Sneak Peek

First, sorry times a million for the terrible quality of this video.  It was one of those moments where I realized too late that "figure out the proper settings for HD video on your camera" had been a forgotten to-do list item for a loooooong time ;o)

Second, how cute is Lily singing her St. Martin's Day song???  

We went last night with some friends to the kindergarten's St. Martin's lantern parade.  It was adorable, and a very fun tradition that I will of course be telling you all about (soonish)... needless to say it was a magical  night.

In case you're wondering, I'm pretty sure this is the song that they're singing.

The Four-Year-Old

I can't believe it's already been a week since Lil's birthday!  We had a blast and here are some pics of the day's fun. Steph offered to be my photographer for the day and it was so great to NOT be carrying my camera around.  

She did this neat project with Lily where she had her hold up her new number at all the locations and for all the fun we had.  Lily is so obsessed with holding up her number that she often incorrectly answers pretty much any question asked by holding up her fingers.  "Hey Lily, how are you?"  *holds up four fingers*  "Hi there, what's your name?"  *four fingers*  

Sweet girl.  So excited to be four!

As you can see, we enjoyed the crap out of our day.  There was sugar.  There were presents.  There were blue foods and blue clothes.  And sugar.  There was an indoor pool trip.  There was a play place visit.  There was more sugar.  Did I mention the sugar?  We even ended the night with a bowl of ice cream!

And the four-year-old was happy.  Very very happy :o)

Happy Birthday to Lillian Jayce!

Ahhh, the many faces of Miss Lily.  She's really into mimicking silly faces lately.  I love all her faces, and all her crazy moods.  (Well, MOST of her crazy moods.  Side eye to four year old tantrums! But it's her birthday so we won't talk about those...)

I can't believe she's four.  Four seems so... old.  Four is almost five.  Five is pretty much ten.  And after ten don't they just grow right up and move out of the house?  GAH!

Here's her birthday interview:

1.  Favorite color:  Blue  (still.  Going almost two years strong on that one I think!)

2.  Favorite movie:  "Dinosaur Movie" (Land Before Time)

3.  Favorite toy:  "Little Foot" (a teddy bear named for the favorite movie.  Little Foot, though a boy in the movie, is a girl in teddy bear form... and wears pink pants.) 

4.  Favorite song: "Jump on my shoulders" (at this point I think she might be messing with me and my little quiz here... but Awolnation IS one of my favorite bands to play when we needs some lively "good morning music" haha)

5.  Favorite book:  "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"  (Okay, now she's really messing with me.  Good thing this quiz is short.  In her defense, we DO have a book about the song.  But come on, THAT's her favorite? ;o) Who knows.  She also loves Fancy Nancy, The Little Engine that Could, and No More Jumping on the Bed.)

She's so awesome.  Curious about the world around her, learning more and more each day.  She loves German kindergarten and is so proud that she walks all the way there and back most days!

I'll try not to tear up too much, but there's just something about that face.  The face of the one who made me a mother.  It doesn't matter how old her gets, I look into those eyes and I remember the hours spent in her first weeks and months of life... hours just staring into that beautiful face.

Excuse me while I go kiss the crap out of her.

Seriously though no more sappy stories, we have a big day of all things BLUE and FUN planned for this sweet girl!  Happy Birthday Lily-Bear, Lily-Billy, Lily-Jayce, LJ, Lily, LILLIAN.  We love you so much!

First Day of School! First Day of School! (I've Had Nemo's Voice in My Head All Week.. You're Welcome)

You guys.  I feel like this just happened.  And it was about this time of year, too.  I was a big pumpkin belly for Halloween the day I was in labor with Lily four years ago.  And now... NOW..

SHE'S THIS BIG!  I can't believe it!  MAKE IT STOP!

And she's all "let's walk to German kindergarten and hang out without Mommy for 4 hours and have a complete blast and be in the best mood EVER."  No big deal.

I did a really good job holding myself together and being the cool mom who will not cry, I will not cry, I will not cry. At last not until AFTER I dropped her off ;o)  I was feeling pretty nostalgic on the walk home.  

It takes us 20 minutes to walk at Lily's pace, down our hill and into the village, then up the hill that the kindergarten is on.  I can see the location from our living room windows.  (At my pace, without a child or a stroller, it only takes 15 minutes)  It's a nice walk!  I look forward to doing it often, as long as the weather allows.

Sammy was less bothered by Lily's morning absence than expected (read: not obnoxiously clingy) but I think it helped that Aunt Steph was here and that Mommy made cookies :o)

I'm so thankful Steph's still here for this transition because the Mercedes is down for the count again and on the days I need to drive J to work so I can have the car, it's so nice that I don't have to hustle BOTH kids downstairs to the car at 7:30am!

It'll take some time, but we're slowly getting the hang of having quicker breakfasts, packing lunches, and starting the day earlier than usual.  I think I'm going to like this routine!  I have to arm myself with some pinteresting ideas for easy and healthy "fast food" breakfasts/lunches.  But all in all, we're figuring it out.  And it's fun!  

Lily LOVES school.  I'm so glad!  Even if it makes me a tiny bit sad that she's so big now!  I guess growing up is the whole point, after all. 

She's So Ready for School (and I'm Trying Not to Hyperventilate)

Look out world, this chick is ready for kindergarten!  I know I owe everyone pictures of my new haircut (yes to the facebook stalkers, I know you saw that Steph posted some pics and YES I will post more soon.  I just haven't gotten to it yet but I promise it's in this week's queue) and I know that I want to show you vacation pictures from the Canary Islands, BUT I'm busy this weekend and the true excitement around this house is that Lily-bear starts Kindergarten on Monday!

She is modeling her new "gymnastics shoes" by doing a 4-year-old version of a yoga pose ;o)

We aren't quite sure what gymnastics will entail, but she will have it every Wednesday and her teacher told me to get her these special shoes with rubber on the bottom.  I didn't know what she was talking about so she grabbed another kid's bag to show me.  And Globus to the rescue! because as soon as I saw them I recognized them (I almost bought them once on accident as slippers for Lily) so I was able to get her HER FAVORITE COLOR and everything.  Win.

PS how wonderful that her teacher (Frau Becke, don't quote me on the spelling yet) not only speaks awesome English, but is the sweetest lady ever and totally put Lily (and me!) right at ease!  Lily didn't want to leave after our visit a few weeks ago :o)  And I don't blame her, the place is downright magical.  More details to come after I get comfortable enough to bring my camera in!

So that's that... my big girl is off to school this week!  I'm really excited for this season... I think it's going to be good for all three of us.  Lily is SO PUMPED to be going to school "all by mys-self" for a few hours a day.  And Sam and I are pretty dang excited to have one-on-one time for the first time in her life.  It's going to be weird, but good.  (And short, because Sam is registered to start in April!)

Who wants to place bets on how soon before Lily speaks more German than me? ;o)

My Favorite Little Statue

So... kids never sit still.  All you parents know this!  And you also know how sometimes (i.e. in a public restroom) you really, really, REALLY need a way to get them to sit still for a minute so they won't touch anything nasty!

I was in such a dilemma the other day, when a neat study came to my mind.  I probably read it in Nurture Shock.  See, the kids who were asked to "sit still" could only do so for a few minutes.  But the ones who were told to "stand like a statue" (or maybe it was a soldier?) were able to stay still for over seven minutes!  (Or something... it was an impressive study but I can't remember the exact details.)  Anyways, I told Lily and Sam to stand like statues and I got blank stares.

So I said, "You, know, like the Statue of Liberty"  (more blank stares)  So then of course I end up standing in the bathroom stall like the Statue of Liberty.  

The good news?  They stood still for about two minutes.  Other good news?  They now know what the Statue of Liberty is :o)  Lily says "The Statue of Liver-terry stands yike dis... wif a book in one hand and a light in da other!"

This photo was completely unstaged.  We were in a bookstore in Ktown just browsing... and Alex showed Lily, "Hey look, here's a picture of the Statue of Liberty!" and she immediately grabbed another book and struck her pose!

It was adorable.  It also made me proud that she recognizes such an important American icon.  And perhaps I'm a little hopeful that I can now say "stand like the Statue of Liberty!" in the bathroom instead of "don't touch that!" "stay still" "STOP MOVING"  etc...

...though, I don't know which one sounds more silly ;o)

I Don't Know Where She Gets it From

I was working in the kitchen on something and I hear Lily say, "I'm making a cheesecake"... she gets her "cake" (yes, her cheesecake is literally made of cheese) set out on the counter, pauses, and says,

"Oh!  I need to take a picture!"

On a completely unrelated note, I got some new props for my food photography!  Can you say pretty white dishes and some colored place mats?

Anyone want some ratatouille?  I'm so in love with the depth of flavor in this recipe!

We've got some beautiful weather today, so priority #2 is planting the garden.  Priority #1 is naptime for all ;o)

Happy Sunday!

Potty Princess Update

It's official folks, we are one step closer to my much-anticipated "Good Job Jessica, You Taught Two Tiny Humans to Use the Toilet" Party.  Lily is napping without diapers now!!!  

*angel choir sings*

And you know what?  It happened just like all the smart moms in my life told me it was going to happen: exactly when Lily was ready for it to happen!  

I had started to dabble in the sticker-chart-motivation but I'm not convinced that's what got her excited.  She literally just looked at me one day and asked if she could wear panties for nap.  And I hesitated cause I'm an idiot control freak who didn't want to do extra laundry that day I wasn't sure she was ready.

But I chose to trust her and she woke up dry!  So we decided to roll with the sticker chart, but not hardcore.  The reward was going to see a movie with Daddy, which she was super excited about.  So we talked it up and got her even more excited about the popcorn-amazingness that would happen when she got ten stickers/dry naps.

Some days I forgot to let her pick out a sticker.  Some days she forgot to stay dry for her nap ;o)  But all in all I would say by the time we put that tenth sticker up this weekend she was pretty darn near trained to wear her big girl panties for naptime.  Whew.. what a relief!!!  

Potty training is such a long and complicated process.  But if there's anything I've learned about it along the way it's that it does me no good to try to force it.  And also that it doesn't matter much that I've kind of given up on cloth diapers. The hippie in me cringes so much.  But the busy mom in a busy season with a husband who has a broken thumb says, yep. Disposable diapers are awesome sometimes.  (But just so you know I still preach cloth 100% for the early years... we have literally saved thousands of dollars by doing that and I really did love those big diapy-butts!)

So now, between the two Monkeys, we're down to three diapers a day!

Good job Lily!  Thanks for giving us another excuse to go to a family movie!  (PS everyone, Hotel Transylvania was adorable!)

Nemo is Cute, Till He Starts Taking Over Your Brain

If I watch or listen to Finding Nemo one more time I think I'm going to develop a twitch. Which is inevitable, actually, because my kids are OBSESSED with that movie! It could be worse... I would like to give Pixar a shout out for making a movie that is not that annoying to watch 478,000 times. It's a pretty great movie!

In the interest of full disclosure I will confess to you that my girls watch tv on an almost daily basis.  I used to be one of those moms who viciously guarded my toddlers from the evils of "screen time" and felt guilty every time I popped in a movie so I could get a break.  No longer, my friends.  It kind of hit me over the head when a non-mom friend asked me over lunch "why are moms so worried about kids watching tv?  We all grew up watching tv all the time, and we all STILL watch tv all the time!  We don't really expect our kids not to watch tv, do we?"  Hm.....

And then I got to thinking about how much Jesse and I love sitting down together to watch a movie... and though I know there is a ton of research out there about how tv can have negative effects on small children, it's just one of those things I'm choosing not to care about.  One movie a day gives me about an hour and a half to get some chores done relatively interruption-free.  

Plus I realized that some of the best moms I know let their kids watch tv.  It's all about balance.  And yes, sometimes I use Nemo to babysit my kids so I can cook dinner in peace.  Don't judge me, it's sometimes the best part of my day!  

Oh and in case any moms out there are ever beating themselves up over how much their kids watch the same show over and over again... let me tell you that there was once a particularly rough day in Momville where they had already watched Nemo that morning and Sam was whiny and begging to watch it again in the afternoon... and I let them! Twice in one day.  Oy veh.  

Okay moving on to the funny quotes:

So I've got this Mother Goose story book and I'm trying to help Lily work on her memory by reading her nursery rhymes and trying to get her to "fill in the blanks"... 

  

 Me:  "Diddle diddle dumpling, my son John, went to bed with his trousers on.  One shoe off and one    

          shoe on, diddle diddle dumpling, my son..."

 Lily:  (enthusiastically)  "NEMO!"  

And THEN.  To prove to you that it's not only Lily and Sam who have Nemo on the brain... the other night at Photoshop class I was having some delightful adult-only conversation with Kirsten and Megan... and K explained something and I responded with "Coo coo ca choo" before I even knew what was happening.  The best part?  When Kirsten started laughing (cause she knows how often Nemo happens in the Aiduk casa) I was like, "what movie is that from?"  I didn't even know off the top of my head!  But Finding Nemo plays so often that it's usually just the background noise of my life!  And now I'm quoting Crush without even realizing it!  

Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!  Someone save me from Pixar!!!!!!

The "Washcosh" Queen

CHECK IT OUT!!!  Lily can fold squares of fabric!  Wanna know who taught her?  I have no clue!  

Seriously, I just looked over one day and saw here folding her dolly blankets up into neat little squares (that she called "iPods!") and I was like... hey, wait a minute...

THIS SUCKER CAN HELP FOLD LAUNDRY????

Okay so let's get real, all the moms out there know she's not really all that helpful.  But I'm trying to be open minded... she's helped me with the towels and washcloths a few times.  And I've also let her hang some small things on the drying rack while I hang the rest of the load.  

This whole idea of Lily is actually old enough to do some household chores has really made me think of other things she might be able to do.  And at the advice of a friend I put our silverware drawer a little lower, so both Sam and Lily can help me sort them!  The possibilities are endless!  

The coolest thing is, it's actually kind of fun to do these things with her.  We do stuff like this (as well as puzzles, arts and crafts, reading, etc) while Sammy is napping.  I've been staggering their naps so Sam is down an hour before Lily. And it works really awesome because Lil and I get just enough time to do stuff together while I still get a break from both Monkeys!  

And I'm starting to realize my baby is kind of becoming a big kid.  Wow.