Sunday, January 31, 2016

Lily Girl is FOUR

Yesterday was Lily's birthday. In lieu of a babybook, I ask the following the following 20 questions to my birthday girl (starting with the third birthday). You can see last year’s answers here. So, this afternoon while doing a ABC dot-to-dot, I asked the following questions: 
  1. What is your favorite color: pink
  2. What is your favorite toy:  our dollhouse
  3. What is your favorite fruit: avocado and bananas
  4. What is your favorite movie: Cinderella, Peter Pan, Inside Out, Frozen
  5. What is your favorite thing to wear: dresses
  6. What is your favorite animal: a moose
  7. What is your favorite song: “Happy Birthday to You” (Note: This has been a favorite in the past month or so as she has been celebrating many friends’ birthdays, plus her own. But, really rather than a song she has been obsessed with listening to the Stories Podcast.)
  8.  What is your favorite book: Sophia the Second (Note: She received this as a birthday present yesterday, which means that we have read it approximately 15 times in the past 24 hours.)
  9. Who is your best friend: Simone, Karly and Daisy
  10. What is your favorite breakfast: daddy's pancakes (Note: this tradition started during my marathon training. Daddy makes pancakes on Saturday morning while I go on my long run. As a child who thrives on routine, this cannot be deviated from and I am okay with that.)
  11. What is your favorite lunch: peanut butter & jelly sandwiches
  12. What is your favorite dinner: pizza with pineapple (on Friday nights we make pizza and watch a movie together as a family. Basically, it's our favorite night of the week). 
  13. What is your favorite snack: a smoothie
  14. What is your favorite dessert: ice cream cake  
  15. What do you sleep with at night: my rainbow brite/starlight pillow pet 
  16. What is your favorite thing to play outside: to climb trees (Note: she currently has a broken arm, and this has made her a bit grumpy that she cannot climb the tree out front for another couple of weeks. Second Note: She did not break her arm tree climbing.) 
  17. What do you want for your birthday dinner: hamburgers and french fries with ketchup sauce (Note: and it was a success!!)
  18. What do you want to be when you grow-up: a famous ballerina space artist 
  19. Where is your favorite place to go: to Lake Tahoe!
  20. What is your favorite game: hide and go seek and Rainbow Brite (Note: basically an ongoing elaborate game of pretend and dress up) 
    Yesterday in your Thanksgiving/Christmas/Birthday dress at your surprise Frozen Tea Party with a couple of your favorite friends. You planned the entire party for me, including the surprise. You even practiced your surprise face several days before. It was basically the cutest thing ever. 

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Nine reasons I love my daughters right now

1. Violet loves to play ball. All. The. Time. When Daisy was this age, I always had a bag of board books with me. Now, I always make sure we have a ball.

2. Lily has the most amazing imagination. The stories she tells me are increasingly elaborate - and always based on the fairytales and myths that I stuff her head with. The other day she spent all day pretending to be fairy sprite sneakily changing out the porridge and other food items for Zeus and Hera in their cottage; made entirely of candy.

3. Daisy has just started reading chapter books silently. She now ALWAYS has her nose in a book and plops herself down where she is. Even in a window and door showroom.  (Sophie Mouse is her current favorite series).


4. Violet has decided that she wants to be just like her big sisters. I am not allowed to carry her; she walks. This means that it take approximately four hours to go to the library and Trader Joe's.

5. I am a big believer that you need to parent to each individual child, and the way I parent Daisy is completely different than how I approach parenting with Lily. But, I am loving the process of helping Lily gain and exercise independence in certain aspects of her life. My girl is a force to be reckoned with. This makes me so unbelievable proud.

6. Violet says cheese when I take her picture. Oh my stars, I cannot take the cuteness.


7. Lily has been more and more resistant to afternoon naps. But, every once in a while she is so exhausted that she curls up in my arms and falls asleep. It is always that heavy, deep slumber of a child who knows they are safe.

8. Violet LOVES music. She dances anytime she hears music come on by wiggling her hips and turning in a circle. It always makes us laugh. When the music is over she claps and bows.

9. Daisy plays the piano so gracefully and she is working so hard on new songs and scales. It's amazing to watch her find her passions, and not to be deterred when something is tricky or hard. She doesn't shy away, but faces the challenge head on. I love seeing this part of her personality develop.