Updates and ramblings

Good grief! It has been a while since I posted. Somehow the days just fly by.

Lilly is changing so quickly and becoming less toddler and more preschooler. Her imagination is in full force as she plays with toys, such as feeding a toy turtle a "cheese sandwich" or walking him through the "snow". I absolutely love watching the process.

Last night while she was eating dinner, she could still hear The Little Einsteins playing on the TV in the living room. One of the characters asked the kids to help "Rocket" fly by patting their hands on their laps. As he pleaded, "Come on! Pat, pat pat!" I heard Lilly reply, "I eating dinner right now." First things first! That's my girl!

Also, within about 24 hours she started pronouncing some of her "classic" words correctly. We are kind of sad to hear:

"bookey" become "monkey"
"night-night time bear" become "bedtime bear"
"I fine it" become "I found it"
and...
"Nenny" become "Lilly" (with the tongue stuck out to get those L sounds)

At least she still calls the water fountain a "water mountain". I think I want to keep that one forever! I can't say the same for her very favorite word at the moment..."Mine!" Hope that novelty wears off soon!

New phases

Sometimes the smallest things can strike me as big. For instance, in the past few days Lilly has begun to frequently say, "Mommy, watch me!" or "Mommy, watch this!" as she does something new or fun. Just the fact that she is putting together the words and the concept reminds me that she is quickly leaving the toddler years behind. More and more, I see how she's becoming more like a preschooler. It's an absolute joy to watch, and it makes me stop and get as many cuddles and kisses as possible while I can!

Our little fashionista

Look out world! Lilly can accessorize!

Post Christmas update

I've been meaning to come back over her and update about Christmas. It just hasn't happened. Elliott has the week off and we've been enjoying some good family time. It has been great! I'm not even going to take much time for this post.

Just wanted to say that we had a great Christmas and hope you did too. We spent Christmas Eve at our house with Elliott's family following an early service at our church. We simplified this year and drew names for the adults gifts and it was GREAT to have things less crazed. Everyone bought for Lilly, so she was not hurting for presents to open. This year she really got the concept and had a blast with it. She also knows a lot more about desserts and how to butter people up. Between new toys and sugary treats, she was up with the rest of us until 10:30 p.m. This from our 7pm bedtime girl.

Christmas morning we lazed around our house (following a gleeful encounter with Larry the Cucumber). In the afternoon we went to my sisters house to be with my family. It began to snow as the evening arrived, which made for most of our first white Christmas. Granted, there was only about an inch when it was done, but that's more than any other Christmas we've had around here.

Wishing you and your family a very happy new year! We look forward to sharing it with you.

PS: Oh, and I put our Christmas pictures up on Flickr.