Well, she can't always be the star, right?

Last night was another first for us as new parents -- the first recital of sorts. It was "winter gala" night at daycare, and each class came out on stage to sing songs.

Sure, I was excited. I didn't know what to expect. Lily doesn't really sing, but they've been practicing their songs every day. At home, when we do "itsy bitsy spider," Lily tries to do the motions with me and she sings "eehhhhh ehhhhh ehhhh." But with a crowd? On stage? Anything could happen. Of course we were there to capture it on film.

The toddlers were on deck first, and the toddler parents were advised to try to stay out of sight. Last year, when the toddlers saw their parents, well, it was a bit of a disaster.

So out they came. A couple of the kids loved the stage and the attention; they did the motions with big smiles.

My baby? She just sat there and stared.

I'd put the video up for you all to see, but really, it doesn't look any different the the photo. She's just there, staring at the people. I guess it's better than being the crying screamer, though.

The best part was the entrance. I was watching all the other kids in her class come out, but where was Lily? Then I saw Judy carrying Lily out. I knew where she had been. That damn slide. She loves that damn slide that's right by the door. I've been thwarted by that slide on more than one occasion.

A shower and a haircut

Well, I guess I'm a day late and a dollar short, but here I am anyway.

It's been a slow week at our house, so here's a glance into some daily routine type stuff.

Shortly after Lily's birthday, we discovered it was much easier to shower with her than to give her a bath. She showers with either one of us, most often me because I shower at night and so does she. She showered in the morning with Khan once, but Lily's got other routines in the morning, too. Let's just say that ended in a story that I found hilarious and Khan did not.

Typically, though, Lily just hangs out in the shower.
She plays with her toys and the bottles of stuff.
She gets dried off in the shower.

Then she stands on a chair by the sink and plays with all the crap we leave out.

It gives us a chance to get some lotion on her and detangle that hair.
Speaking of hair, I've been frustrated with it lately, so I decided to trim her bangs myself.

Bad idea.
Sorry I did this to you, Lils. It'll grow back.

What about me (Mondays)?

Ok, I know that the only reason the four of you read the blog is to see the pictures of Lily. And that’s fine, but don’t bother checking on Mondays because Mondays are going to be all about me. That’s right, me. The mama.

Mothers are often accused of losing their self identities after a baby comes along. Well, not me. You know me well enough to know that I’m too selfish for that. So, to that end, I’m choosing to write about myself on Mondays. Specifically, what I want to accomplish this year and how I’m doing. I’ve set goals in the past, and I’ve made my resolutions, and of course, they’re out the window before the ink is dry. So, I thought if I force myself to report on my progress, perhaps I will make some progress. Let’s see how this goes.

First things first, you need to know what my goals and plans are. Here they are, in no particular order:

Lose 20 pounds
You’ve all heard me bitch and whine about being overweight, so how about I shut up and do something about it, right? My plan is simple: eat less, exercise more. Every time I try something complicated where I count, write, track, limit, add, or subtract, I fail. So my plan is that I’m going to eat a low cal breakfast, a low cal lunch, avoid snacks, and get on that exercise bike every.single.day. Except the days I’m throwing up. That buys me a pass.

Be an organized person
I managed my life so much better when I was more organized. So, I will get back in the habit of using my planner, and I will also tackle one organizational problem at home every month.

Finish decorating the living/dining room
We’ve been in the house for more than five years and it’s still the same beige I hated when we moved in. Seriously. I got the help of an expert friend to pick some colors, and now we have to get painting. And a few other things.

Scrapbook monthly
To this end, I need to keep up on organizing and printing pictures, and I need to keep up on my journaling. The blog serves that need fairly well, but my goal is to write at least 3 pages a week for planned scrapbook layouts.

Finish Lily’s baby book
Mom and I made a blank scrapbook for Lils before she was born. Now it’s time to finish that and give it to her for her second birthday. Not that she’ll care much now, but one day she might.

Finish my “week in 3 pictures” project
I made the other blog for that. I also plan to make an album out of this project. But if it’s to mean anything, it needs to be maintained.

Create a butterfly garden
Again, I’ve lived here for five years and I’ve always wanted to make a butterfly garden in our backyard. My first step is going to be to enlist the help of an expert friend to find out what it will take. We’ll go from there.

Take a family vacation
Look, extended family and far-flung friends, we love you. Very much. But a trip to Wisconsin does not an exciting vacation make. We need to make some family-of-three memories, and we need to seem some new stuff. Right now, we’re considering Charleston.

So, I guess I’ll let ya know next week how I do.

Of course there are hundreds of pictures, but here are a few. Wowzers, actually I'm posting a lot of pictures here. I wonder when I'm going to max out my space on blogger. Not yet, apparently.

Well, Christmas 2009 was a good Christmas; we had a nice visit with our family. Most of them, at least. We missed Shari and Lori this year. We weren't entirely healthy, but it was much better than last year in terms of sickness.

I didn't get to see much of my friends, either. I suppose that's just life sometimes, but it still sucks. I got to see Dana :-) but I missed Sara, Brandy, Mackey, and Kristen. Boo. Love you girls.

Ok, back to the recap.

First of all, we got there in one piece. It was a long journey from house to airport, through airport, on plane, through airport, on shuttle, in Dad's expedition, and then finally, Chippewa. Lily still loves Greta.

Lily and Grandma Louise hit it off really well, too. Lily loved the peek-a-boo book that Grandma Louise read to her.
Then Lily got a couple of early Christmas presents and it was time to play in the snow.

Crud, I had a picture of Grandpa and Lily in the sled here. Well, see below for that; it was a repeat anyway.

Khan joined in on the sledding fun.

Outdoor fun can only last so long, though. Back inside, Lily shared her blanket with Greta.

After a slow couple of days, people started showing up. Erik was there.
Ben, the Beastmaster, was there.

Great Grandma and Great Grandpa (who need shorter nicknames) were there, too.

Lily loved Greta.


Dad was a baby hog. And Lily loved Greta.
Christmas Eve, we had our traditional gift opening. Erik got books.
Everyone got Lily's handmade ornaments with photos.
Lily got a box. Yup, Lils, that's it. Just a box.
After presents, we played Go Fish while we waited for the Great Winter Storm That Wasn't.
We did make it over to Mom's on Christmas Day. (This picture is neither of Christmas Day nor my mom's house, but it works with my story. Most pictures aren't in order, but you could probably figure that out.)
Lily got lots of toys from Santa, and her closet was restocked by Nana, Shari, and Lori.
Erik tried to steal this toy from her. Too bad he didn't; she's bored with it now. Sigh.


Lily bonded with Ben -- finally. I think she wasn't a fan of his beard, but I'm only basing that on the fact that she hates it when either Mama or Elmo wears a hat or sunglasses. Perhaps she's suspicious of why the need to cover one's face? I'm not sure, but for the first couple of days, Lily would have nothing to do with Ben. She turned her head and pretended he wasn't there. Fortunately, he didn't give up, and before we left, Lily was in love with her Uncle Ben (tee hee). She calls him "Bee."



Then we braved the Mall of America. I thought Lily would enjoy the rides at Nickelodeon Universe, and she did like the train. But she did not like the merry-go-round. We won't be trying that again anytime soon.


I also thought maybe we could do a little shopping, since, you know, we were at a mall. But, a bored brother and husband, a crabby Kate, a crabby toddler, and a crowded mall do not make for good shopping conditions. But hey, at least Lily loooked cute in the new sweater Lori made for her.


Well, back at home then. I suggested Khan take Lily outside again to see if she would play with the snow. I needed them out of my way so I could start packing. Florida wimps, though, weren't outside for even a minute and decided it was "too cold."

So then, on our last day of vacation, with most of our stuff packed, Nana offered to watch Lily while we went out for a bit.

And just in case she needed it, she had Ben's help, too.


So Khan and I went out for late lunch/early dinner. Just the two of us, no toddlers, real conversation, and a little bit of that Midwest-friendly service. Not a bad way to say "the end."

Demands!

It's Tuesday, so I'm going to try to keep in the habit of bringing you some of Lily's babbles.

So remember in like fourth or fifth grade when we learned about different types (well, this is more sociolinguistic than grammatical, but whatever)of sentences?

Declarative, interrogative, exclamatory, and imperatives? Remember these?

Well, Miss Lily has all of them, but she is quickly becoming a MASTER of the fourth.

Over the long weekend, Mama was trying to sleep in just a little longer. Lily wanted to get up. With her face just an inch from mine, she said "Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi!" (Exclamatory)

I opened my eyes and said hello.

She patted me, and said "Mama." (Declarative)

"Yes, Lily," I said. "Mama."

She pulled off my blankets and said, "Out, out, out, out." (Imperative.)

Seriously?