Post-museum pics

Lily's favorite activity of the day was going to the toy store and throwing the balls out of the little hippo pool and watching mommy run down the aisle after them. I'm slowly learning that being the parent of a toddler is a very physical job!

Although Lily enjoyed the museum, she probably would have been just as happy going to K-Mart and sitting on the shelves the whole time.

All curls and lashes

Welcome to our house!

Here Lily is enjoying one of her favorite activities, opening and closing the door.

Growing like a...Lily

Lily has become such an animated, fun little person. I can't believe how much she comprehends now. When we ask her to get her baby she goes straight to the baby (and gives her kisses). When I ask her for a book, she goes to the bookshelf and picks one out. She also will sit for longer periods now to read books and even clearly indicates that she wants to read a book again by flipping it to the front when we are finished. Probably the thing that blew me away the most was tonight when I said "Let's go take a bath". She got up, went up the stairs, went into her bathroom, and pulled the shower curtain open. It really makes me wonder how long she has understood the word "bath" and what other things she understands that I'm just not aware of. She also continues to amaze us with her exploration of sounds and trying to say new words. She is working really hard on "shoes" right now, actually making a sound close to the sh sound. She also said something very close to "Terra" tonight. It's kind of scary how fast this is all going, but I guess that's part of what makes it so exhilarating for us parents!

Terra's secret longing to be an Afghan Hound is at last revealed.

Shake your groove thing

It seems that Lily has inherited her mother's love of dancing but her father's sense of rhythm. She may not be ready to join the Rockettes at the Radio City Music Hall just yet, but I could see "The Lily" sweeping the nation among the popular toddler hang-outs (daycares, gyms, and such).

C'mon, mom, I'm ready to go.

We had beautiful 70 degree weather here today. Lily's babysitter came over this afternoon, and Carl and I went out together, all on our own! We were hoping to come home with a new car, but it wasn't in the cards for today. My previous car was, as suspected, totaled, and I have been driving a rental car for the past week. Shall I list some of the features that I have been enjoying with the rental car ('06 Malibu Maxx) that were not available to me in my '98 Sunfire? Oh, let's do...

• Rear defrost
• Being able to "pop" the trunk while in the car
• Power locks
• Power windows
• Remote keyless entry
• And the really fun one...remote start. I love being able to warm up the car from inside of the house before I take Lily out.

We are still not 100 percent sure what the next car will be, but I can tell you that it will have rear defrost. (Shouldn't that be a legal requirement on all cars?)

Coverboy

Check out the Institute for Human Virology website. You may notice a certain Dr. Deetz in the pictures that flash at the top of the page. He is the one in the white coat when "Innovative Research" comes up on the screen. Thanks to Jean in the Pauza lab who told us about this, or we probably would have never known! I had to post this information here because Lord knows that Carl wouldn't have ever told anyone about it.

With Lily and I being on the news and making continuing appearances in our hospital's newsletter, we've just become quite the public family. Fortunately, I don't think that we will need to increase our security to beat away any adoring fans any time soon. :)

The Latest and Greatest

Lily's increasingly becoming an interactive player in her environment, and I would be content to spend all day just watching her figure things out. Like a little sponge, she is just soaking in the information and attempting to put all her newfound knowledge to use. She spends a good deal of time watching and listening and then trying to do/say what she sees/hears.

Lily currently puts her pretend phone and real phones up to her ear, puts the brush on her hair, pulls at her clothes when we start running the bath water, holds the fingernail clippers to each of her fingers, and reaches for the doorknob when she wants a door open. It's hilarious because she knows the basic function of things and how they should be used, she just isn't able to make the actual motions yet. Probably more frustrating than hilarious to her.

Much like the clientele at a Denny's restaurant, her vocabulary includes several regulars with a few infrequent visitors. Her over 70 crowd there religiously for the early bird specials would be: mama, dada, no, thank you (tane ewe), uh oh, Mona (nona) [her teacher], bottle (ba). Hi, bye, dog, and ball would be the teenagers in for the after-hours appetizers, making regular but infrequent visits. Those people just having the annual craving for bad food would be Lily's "grandma" and "baby". It's not just that she says these words but that she says them in the appropriate context. She has no problem telling me "no" when she does not want to get out the bathtub, and when she sees her bottle, she automatically says "ba" with a big smile. Much of her vocabulary is of course driven by exposure and then the basic principles of language development. But her delivery and her expressions are uniquely hers, and I love it!