valentine's trip

We just got back from a little overnight Valentine's trip to Montréal.
I ♥ precious moments of family time together.

oh the things she says!

When she saw the picture above, she said "Where's my nother eye?". (Not to mention the fact that she's drooling her soup back into the soup bowl. Sigh! Have I mentioned she's fascinated with drooling lately? She sits next to Baby Zachy in Church and watches his every move!)

A few nights ago she told Baba "Settle down"! It was during supper and he was acting silly!

With wide eyes and in a loud dramatic voice she'll say "Wolf outside" (yes, I read her the '3 little pigs' story), and then, without missing a beat she'll loudly whisper, "Not big deal"!

She regualarly comes up to me and says, "That's my Mama"! But yesterday, all out of the blue she said, "That's my Dill (Jill)"!

Just before we go outside, she hugs her shoulders up to her ears, grasps her hands together and says "Doin (going) be so told (cold)", and always backs up that statement in a dramatic voice saying "It's bery (very) windy"!

Today she shouted up the stairs to me (while I was vaccuming), "It's otay (okay). Take your time"!

A few nights ago, during supper, she said "That's doss (gross), that's dusting (disgusting)"! No she wasn't talking about the food! Honest!

Yesterday when we were having a little picnic on the floor. She accidentally spilled her milk a bit, looked up at me and said, "Sawee (sorry) Mama". I replied, "You don't have to be sorry, it was just a wee accident, but that's really nice to say sorry, it's very good manners". She smiled at me and said, "Hank (thank) you Mama, you're weltome (welcome)"!

goodbye bottles and pull-ups

This week we said goodbye to bedtime bottles and Dora pull-ups.
It's the end of an era and it makes me a little bit sad. Yes, she's a 'big girl' now, *sniff*.

I'm sure you'll think I'm mad in the head, but I'm keeping the bottles in Lilah's 'memory box'. I rarely do that kinda thing, because I'm not a pack rat, but I remember buying those bottles like it was yesterday... Running around that crazy supermarket in Guangdong, China. Lilah was only in our arms (at the most) about 3 hours and on our drive back to the hotel (from the civial affairs office) we made a quick stop to buy formula. I just happened to see these bottles and picked them up in my frenzy to not-forget-a-single-thing-as-a-first-time-Mama. To be perfectly honest, I'd brought bottles with me, a couple of fancy 'go-green-eco-friendly-sans-bisphenol-a bottles'. But she was having nothing to do with of those bottles.

So I'm glad I bought those bottles in that Chinese supermarket. And I'll cherish every memory I have of that day we first met our beautiful Lilah girl.

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bedtime routine

She loves to get this sheriff hat on at night, just before bedtime.
It's probably her favourite part of the bedtime routine.

Oh, and 'this photo' is proof that our lil' sheriff lays down the law in this house!

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'chosen' - get your verse on!

Yesterday morning, as I was scrambling around trying to find something for Lilah to wear to her gymnastics class, I came across the tee I bought her last September from an online shop called Wild Olive. All the tees are absolutely beautiful and (get this!), 10% of the proceeds goes to Love Without Boundaries, which is a really really great charity that helps the children in China's orphanages. I also bought myself the fitted tee called 'Sing Praises' and it is super comfy. Definitely the perfect buy if you or your little one is needing a great tee!

Am I ever thankful she was chosen for our family?
Every.single.day.

Deuteronomy 14:2
For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the Lord has chosen you to be His treasured possession.

adorable

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hand prints, and then some...

We started with the purple paint and got a beautiful hand print for the fridge.
(With a little Mama assistance!)

But then she wanted to wash her hands and change colour, in fact she wanted two colours!
Is it pointless to say she absolutely loved doing this?
Her favourite word of the day: "Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww"

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"the postman did it!"

Here's evidence of how a word can get totally misconstrued, ...by a 2 year old!

This morning (while I was getting ready for Church) Colin notices and mentions that I have a bruise.

I hadn't noticed it myself, but I knew exactly where and how it happened. So I said "Oh yes, I banged into the post at the top of the stairs a few days ago". I then launch into the full version of how it happened.

While I'm explaining how it happened, Lilah comes running over to inspect it, because well, she doesn't miss a thing and she's nosy like that! She even rubbed and kissed it, sweet girl!

About a minute later she's of playing again and I hear her say to herself, "The postman did it".

Huh? I look questioningly at Colin. He shrugs his shoulders and says something like, "You never know what she's going to come out with next".

About five minutes later Lilah and Colin are downstairs and Lilah is again saying to Colin how "The postman did it".

And it suddenly dawns on him.

When I arrive downstairs he says to me, "You know, you mentioned you banged into the post and the only post she knows is the postman!".

that is so cool!

"That is so tool (cool)" is Lilah's new expression of the day.
First she told me, "I'll show you how it works", and then followed it up with "That is so tool"!
Yes indeed, I did laugh out loud!

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puzzle or pizza?

The boring 32 year old thought we were building a puzzle.
The imaginative 2 year old thought we were eating pizza.

I just love the 2 year olds perspective!

her little imagination

I think it's obvious which stickle brick items she used to play each of the three parts below:

1. She put the 'plug' into the socket. (Looks like a UK plug too!)
2. I was told to stand on the 'mat'.
3. And then she brushed my hair with the 'hairbrush'.

Her little imagination is wonderful! It makes me smile so much.

Let me also admit that it's making up for a lot of 'lovely' phrases I've been hearing in the past few days/weeks, like: "It's mine", which is usually backed up with, "It's not yours"!

Oh, and here's something else she told me last night at supper time: "That’s my knife. Don’t touch my knife. It’s a dangerous one."

Indeed, I bragged for far too long that my Lilah girl was good at sharing and not at all possessive. I'll just have to go and eat my words now!

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shaving her beard!

In the last little while Lilah's imagination has taken off.

She has always been infatuated with beards. I think Vinnys' was the first beard she touched. Next came Uncle J.D.s' and on and on.

So it should have come as no surprise to me this morning when she was in the bath, she made herself a beard with the bubbles and then proceeded to "Shabe it off" using the pink ladybug bubble wand, AND after it was all over she "Wash the shaber" with her wash cloth! In case you were wondering, the 'shaber' is the 'shaver'! I just adore how she says some words!

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we're home again

The old saying 'time flies when you're having fun' still stands true! We arrived home last night after a really wonderful holiday. It was so great to spend so much time with family and friends. I feel this trip made some big changes in Lilah, she really got to know her grandparents and close family so well. She also has more confidence than I've ever seen her with before.

On the other hand Lilah was pretty excited to be going home again. She told us all she was "Going to Tanada (Canada), see Baba". She did absolutely wonderful on each of the flights and even sang 'Jesus loves me' the whole way on the flight from Dublin to London. I've never truly appreciated all that my husband does until I had to handle three flights and navigate four airports (with a buggy and coats and carry-on baggage) AND little Miss Lilah, alone. Phew! I think I lost those few extra pounds I may have put on at Christmas!

After being apart from her Baba for almost three weeks Lilah was thrilled to see him. She ran straight into his arms and now I'm not sure if she'll ever let him out of her sight again! She did great without him in Ireland though. I was worried as it was her first time apart from one of us, other than her 45 minute Sunday School class every Sunday.

This morning she came into bed with us and as she lay in between us she turned to Colin with a big grin and said "That's MY Baba", and then she turned to me and said "That's MY Mama".

Baba brought these roses to the airport for me and also a Tinkerbell balloon for Lilah.
Lilah decided they were both for her! Did I mention she has a lot of confidence?!

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blowing bubbles

This is what she was doing with her breakfast milk this morning.
It happens to be another trick she was taught by her Papie Boy!
Needless to say, she is very very proud of herself!

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papie boy is sixty today!

What a special day! I haven't been home for my Dad's birthday in 10 years. And this year was extra special, because little Lilah got to celebrate it with him too. We had a lovely evening; including a yummy meal in The Brontë Steakhouse, a cute piggy birthday cake, (kindly supplied by my sweet friend Sonia and her family, thank you!), and then there was the opening and unwrapping of all the cards and gifts. Oh we all had a great time!

One thing's for sure, we sang the happy birthday song and relit the candles more times than enough! Lilah was getting lots of practice for her next big day!

Happy birthday Papie Boy! And as Lilah would say, "Love you sooooo much". We are so thrilled to be here and share this special milestone with you.

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