Lily is 31 Months Old!

Well, more like 31.5 months old now! Things have been busier than usual around here with two kids and a growing business. It's all good busy, but this poor blog has been neglected. Without further ado, here are some facts about Lily at 31 months old! :)

Lily is:
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"Reading" to herself a lot. It is super cute because she makes up the story and says things like, "This book says, 'If you can do it, then you can do it!'" She cracks us up.

Picking up all kinds of funny phrases that make her sound so grown up, like "I'll be back in just a minute" and "Actually, I'd like the other one" "That should do the trick!" and "That song makes me smile." Today she asked me "Do you have any imforlation (information) that would help me find my toy?" Every time she says one of those cute phrases I just want to pick her up and squeeze her!

Learning to lie. We've caught her a few times telling Chris "But Mommy said it was okay!" when Mommy did NOT say it was okay. We've got our eyes on her ... :)

Wanting to do things by herself and a commonly heard phrase around here is "I can do it all by myself!"
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Making headway in the potty training department but still no where near fully trained.
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Sleeping pretty well most nights, though she has fallen out of bed a few times in recent weeks. 

She does lay in bed about an hour most nights before falling asleep while trying to come up with reasons she shouldn't sleep. She frequently tells us she is going to "stay awake forever!"

Still the best big sister ever. She just loves Quinn. This month she got a little cold and she thought the worst part of being sick was that she couldn't touch Quinn. She kept saying "I just want to touch her little hands. I just want to kiss her little feetsies!" She also likes holding Quinn and making her smile. When Quinn is crying Lily will say "Quinny wants her Mommy! Quinny is tired! Quinny is hungry! Fix her!" She'll also put Quinn's pacifier in and say "It's okay, baby girl, it's okay." She is the sweetest!

Loving Veggie Tales.
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Still enjoying Winnie the Pooh books a lot and she has also been loving her Jesus Storybook Bible.

Obsessed with going to Papa  and Grandma's house and understandably so! My mom has created a Lily paradise with a beautiful bedroom, a toy room in the house, and a garage full of toys, a Dora playhouse and a bounce house. Also, Papa and Grandma shower Lily with attention and are excellent playmates. :) Lily asks to go there every day and never wants to leave. We even asked Lily the other day if she would like to go to Papa Grandma's house or Disneyland and she chose Papa Grandma's. We are thankful she has such a wonderful home away from home.

Lily with her favorite cuddling buddy, Grandma

Really in love with the show Mickey Mouse Clubhouse which means I can't get that "hot dog, hot dog, hot diggity dog" song out of my head.

Becoming addicted to candy from the potty training. She gets a mini M&M every time she uses the potty along with a sticker and she squeals with delight every time she gets one of those M&Ms. I always told myself that I wouldn't reward my kids with food because I wanted them to see food as fuel for their body rather than a reward for something or a way to make themselves feel better. But, as I've come to find out, sometimes my lofty expectations of myself as a parent go out the window. I'm tired and candy works.

Whining. A lot. Still. It's getting super old.

Developing a fear of dogs. My parent's dog, Bella, stepped on Lily's feet with her toenails and that was all it took for Lily to completely cut off contact with her. Her affection is somewhat fickle. :)

Starting to love dressing up. We were given some great princess dress up clothes from a friend of Chris's and Lily has been wanting to wear the princess shoes all the time. She calls them her "cherry red slippers" and her "cherry blue slippers."

Lily's "cherry red slippers."

Quinn gets to wear the "cherry blue slippers."

At the stage where she says something hilarious/embarrassing every day. Recently, when we were in Target she wanted me to chase her with the cart, which she finds entertaining. But she didn't use the word "chase." Instead she started yelling, in the middle of Target, "Beat me, Mommy! Beat me! Ahhhh! You're going to beat me!" Thankfully, child protective services was nowhere to be found and I still have custody of my children. ;)

Starting to understand the concept of the past and the future, but she doesn't understand how long ago or how far into the future something is. Everything that happened in the past was either "this morning" or "last year" and everything in the future is "tomorrow."

Loving taking pictures with the old digital camera we gave her.  She takes pictures of all of us, but her favorite subject is Quinn. She has actually taken an unfortunate number of photos of me breastfeeding Quinn but that is why they made a delete button. ;) Here is a video of Lily being a "photoglapha."

Full of energy. On Thanksgiving we did a 5k Turkey Trot and Lily walked 1.5 miles of it without a problem. She even walked a good chunk of that in the sand beside the path we were walking on. Her energy and endurance is amazing.

Lily is total joy and light in our lives. We love and adore her so much and even when she tests our patience, she is still such an incredible blessing!