Testing...testing...

Being pregnant with Lily was as close to textbook as I think we could have gotten. Most of the classic symptoms, positive and negative, came right on time. She even arrived into the world when I predicted that she would. She has followed all the developmental milestones pretty much as expected. So, it is no surprise that she is right on time with another phase in her toddlerhood: limit-testing. Yes, sweet little Lily has been has been throwing things (and food) when she doesn't want them, hitting her parents when she is unhappy, and shrieking over and over again to get our attention . We have remained consistent with our responses: two warnings of "No, we don't [fill in the blank], followed by removing her from the situation and us by putting her on the floor and looking away. So far her response has remained consistent as well. She has a very dramatic "how could you mistreat me so" cry coupled with a very well-staged fall-out (lowering the head slowly so as to not injure herself and then proceeding with full fledged tantrum). My experience in working with children tells me to continue in our efforts and soon she will become bored with the routine and discontinue the undesired behavior (or at least drastically reduce the frequency of it). I think that I've seen some progress already, but only time will tell if we will need to switch tactics.

I am extremely happy to report that both Lily and I both very close to fully recovered from the nasty stomach bug that we caught. It was definitely a lot worse for her than it was for me, but I think that Carl might have gotten the worst of it and is still very much under the weather today. Lily and I celebrated our release from the chains of illness that had us housebound by having a jam-packed mommy and me morning. We played on gym equipment, sang songs and moved to the beat at a Terrific Tots class, made a quick stop at the post office, had lunch at a diner together and then stopped by the store for a couple of new toys. We were both exhausted by the time we arrived back at home, but it was a great morning.

The only other Lily-related news is her very endearing attempts to play the role of an adult which usually results in us taking on the role of a child. For example, she will cover me up and pat me while saying "sshhh", clearly putting me to sleep. Also, the other day, she grabbed a napkin while we were eating and wiped my hands. Very cute. She has also learned that when Terra scratches at the blanket, it means that she wants to go under so that she can snuggle up and go to sleep. Yesterday Lily actually lifted the cover when Terra scratched and then patted her and said "sshhh". Today we found an old hands-free cord for our phone. Lily picked it up and put it to her ear and said "hi". For the life of me, I cannot figure out how she knows the function of this cord. We don't use those cords, and she doesn't have any prolonged exposure to anyone that would use them either. It is amazing how she is learning the details of life!

It is clear that Lily knows more than we realize, and she continues to pick up vocabulary like nobody's business. In the past couple of weeks, she's said jacket, piggy, off, shocked, ma, and quack - and those are just the few that I remember. (You'll have to excuse some of the details. Since I have not written anything in her baby book since before she was born, this blog has to serve multiple functions.)

So, all in all, things are looking better than they did last week at this time. If we could just get Carl feeling better, we would be happy as clams. Hopefully tomorrow we will all be able to enjoy some of this gorgeous weather together because Carl has the day off - yay!