Sunshine, lions, and creating a new little monster.

 

I love that after we had a nice long rainy period we were blessed with sunshine and warm weather. We took advantage of the sun by spending lots of time at the park and by having a picnic at the beach. Lily just loves the freedom of the beach and I love feeling like I’m on a mini vacation. Clark is kind enough to humor me by pretending that he likes going to the coast (but I think he secretly likes it!).  Here are some pics of LIl enjoying the sand

As we were heading back to our car a man walked by with the biggest dog I’ve ever seen. I think he was saying it was some kind of mountain rescue breed but we couldn’t stop laughing because Lily kept saying “Look at that lion! Look at that lion!” I love what comes out of her little mouth!

In preparation for the sun and the beach trip I decided to give myself a little pedicure. I usually avoid this due to the fact that Lily can’t keep her hands off my toes before they’re dry but I decided to give it a shot anyway. Unfortunately Lillian became entranced with the nail polish and has been asking me to paint her nails ever since. This is something I swore I wouldn’t do for a long time. Sorry to any moms who do this, but I think it’s kind of disgusting to see infants with nail polish on. Why spoil that little natural miracle with beauty products. Why would you introduce your precious little girls to the idea that they need something “more” to look better. We spend so much time worrying about looks that I want to delay the thought as long as possible. Unfortunately Lil’s persistence won out and today I painted her toenails a soft pink to match mine. She was SO excited and brought me different nail polishes throughout the day in an effort to get me to paint more. Luckily she was satisfied with clear polish on her hands so I didn’t have to feel so bad about it. When she put my shoes on later in the day I couldn’t resist getting a picture

So I’ve created a little nail polish monster, but hopefully hiding all of the nail supplies will help her to forget. I’ll just have to do my own nails in secret and keep telling Lil how much I love her little toes. I know someday she’ll grow up and I’ll get to teach her all about makeup and hair styling and (if her eyebrows are anything like mine) waxing/tweezing but hopefully I’ll discover how to do that while still making her feel beautiful. Hopefully she can have a strong confidence in who she is and what a wonderful little body she has. fingers crossed…

Rain, rain, go away…

I know I shouldn’t complain, but it’s hard being stuck inside for so long because of the rain. Poor Lillian has been going crazy without going to the park or getting to run as free as she wishes. It hasn’t helped that Clark and I have been under the weather and haven’t had as much energy to help keep her entertained. She has been finding ways to keep busy, however and I can’t say I’ve been too thrilled with all of her ideas.

She decided that playing in the bag of pancake mix was a good idea

 

She added a lovely mural to her bedroom wall with the help of a friend

 

I built her a fort but all she wanted to do was climb on top of it and refused to get inside

 

We did have fun during the thunder storm last night, however. We sat with the blinds open and would wait for the lightning to flash and say “Did you see that?” and then we would wait for the thunder and say “That was a big one!” At first she kept saying “smile, smile” and I think Lily thought the lightning was giant camera flashes. I love getting to introduce Lily to things for the first time. This was definitely her first thunder storm and I’m so glad she wasn’t scared and that the thunder stopped by the time she went to bed! Otherwise she would have kept popping her little head off the pillow to tell me what she just heard :).

Through the eyes of a 2 year old…

The past week Lillian has been allowed to play with our old digital camera, or “smile” in her words. She loves to be able to take pictures herself, be in control of the photo shoot, and to actually be able to touch the camera! It was funny watching her as she would take pictures and say try to sound like me. I would hear a soft little “One, two, three!” or “Hold still” or even “Look- so cute mommy!” coming from the other room while she was creating her art work. I am amazed at how quickly her little hands pick up and understand technology. She is a master on my phone and has no trouble navigating the camera or knowing which of the multiple remotes are required to turn on the TV. I love watching her as she explores and exercises her independence and confidence. I really feel spoiled with the wonderful child that I have and I am so grateful that I get to spend so much time with her- especially at the only time in her life where she’ll think I’m the greatest and wants to be with me all the time. That’s not to say I am always the most patient mother or don’t enjoy a little “mommy” alone time, but who doesn't…?

Here are some of the better photos captured by Lil’s little hands this week

 

I can’t tell you how many of the shots were of her fingers over the lens or of her cheek/ear/shoulder…

The REALLY amazing part was when she set up the tripod and got some wonderful self portraits and edited them beautifully! So talented!