Auntie Lisa and Michael Visit March 5-9 2015

We had a wonderful visit last weekend with Auntie Lisa and her friend Michael.  When they arrived on Thursday, they walked into the house and heard Lillian chatting away over lunch to Jessie. As they walked into the kitchen Lillian abruptly stopped talking and started staring. For a full five minutes she stared without making a sound until they headed downstairs to take their bags to their room. As soon as they were out of sight Lillian was babbling excitedly to Jessie (probably talking about Lisa and Michael!). She talked until they came back into the kitchen upon which time she resumed her silent stare. She usually doesn't have any stranger fear so this was pretty surprising for everyone. We think she might have just been tired. Happily Lillian warmed up to Michael pretty quickly after her nap and everyone had a great time for the afternoon.

On Friday Auntie Lisa, Michael, Lillian, Emily and Alan all went to pick up Simon at school and then walked to D'Agostino's for dinner. Simon took lead and told the hostess how many people we had and that we were eating in the restaurant. He told us what was good here (pizza) and explained about the waitress, cooks and kitchens. It was really fun to see him so excited.

The weekend few by. Lisa and Michael had gotten some presents for everyone and Simon got a real Lego set - his first real legos. He adored them and was awesome about following the directions to put the kits together. It kept him entertained for hours.

Saturday afternoon Auntie Colleen, Joe and Jenn came over and we all went out for Joe and Amy's birthday party. Jessie babysat and then Liza and Michael offered to wake up with the kids so Alan and I could stay out later. It was an awesome evening and Sunday was a relaxing day for all.  Simon watched hockey on TV for the first time and Auntie Amy came over for a rousing round of roll ball before bedtime. (There's a video below of roll ball, just a day in the life though.)

Walking a little lady to D'Agostino's

Walking a little lady to D'Agostino's

So much weekend spent reading!

New passion - LEGOS! And a bonus cool new sweater.

Showing Auntie Lisa how to build a tall tower.

I love this picture. Dragon Puppet Amy was roaring away, as you would expect a dragon to do. Lillian just put a cup on his mouth to silence him. That's my effective girl!

Put a lid on it, dragon!

Happy Birthday Amy!

Amy swung by after work on her birthday for a kiddo hug. Both kids were in PJs and got to snuggle and read a book... Happiness overflowing from all participants. 

A few Simon baseball videos

Some Baseball pictures from the past few weeks... 

Last day of baseball. Simon has absolutely loved it. They had a base ball bouncy castle and did a baseball obstacle course!

Last weekend they used the skills they learned to play an actual game of baseball. This video is of Simon CRUSHING the ball first throw. Most other kids need to use a T to bat - but the coaches throw to Simon. 

This isn't his best showing, but he loves throwing at the cones. Every time he knocks them down he laughs! 

Restaurant Visit 2: Seafood market

All 20 kids from Simon's Pre-K class went to the Seafood Market on Lincoln Ave. They opened just for his class and gave the kids a comprehensive tour of the kitchen and basement and gave each kid an amazing meal of fish and chips. Below are some excerpts of my pictures, many more pictures after the jump.

Touched a live lobster

Checking out the menu...
Simon in front left. Fallon is behind him in pink and glasses (Simon talks about her a lot),
then Addie is up front on right smiling at the camera (we went to her bday party last week)

Checking out all the parts of a fish - TEETH!

Look at all the parts of a kitchen.

AMAZING lunch.

Videos of Lillian at 15 months (Simon is in one too!)

Some videos of Lillian at 15 months (with a special appearance by Simon in the last one).

She was so sick in this video - I put some ointment around her nose to prevent it from getting super chapped (so she isn't snotty in this video). At the end, she's ready to go to bed so she does her goodbye routine to get me moving. 

I was sneezing and she started saying Ahh-Choo! I think it's adorable and wanted to get it recorded. She had lots going on and finally humors me at the very end.

Yes, we totally bought this red light just to tease the kids. Best 3 dollars I ever spent. 

Lillian at 16 Months

Lillian is a bit more than a year and a quarter and she is a rock star. She is so fun and happy and really a joy to be around. Here are some things she does now.

1. Lillian is so cheerful and happy 90% of the day. She objects strenuously to getting her diaper changed or similarly her clothes put on - there is definitely screaming and kicking. She also crashes hard if we push her late on nap/bed times. Like a light switch she goes from happy and laughing to crying inconsolably. She sometimes will ask for bedtime (hands on both side of her face, head tilted sideways and saying shhhhh while tears course down her cheeks) or will just cry until you promise her bed and then she will nod while she cries. It is so very sad and makes us not push her bedtime very often.
2. She will put away toys in to boxes if you ask her to help
3. She eats everything and is a bottomless pit
4. She takes one nap from 11-1ish, though occasionally she'll sleep for 3 hours!
5. Bed time is at 5:15pm or so, She wakes up around 5:45am and we get her out of bed at 6am. She sleeps through the night and usually doesn't wake up at all.
6. She is currently teething. She has 4 teeth left to come in, all 4 are molars, and at least some of them are coming in now. She has started putting everything into her mouth again.
7. She is very adept at making animal sounds. Moo is her current favorite, and her baaaa comes out like a growl.
8. She is favoring words over signs, and acquires a new words every week. 
9. She will hand people objects and then remind them to say "thank you."
10. She is becoming an adept climber. One of her favorite moves is to climb up her little chair and jump from it to the couch, then crawl/roll/tumble across the couch to the table that houses the remotes and other electronic goodies.
11. She gives wonderful hugs. If you ask for a hug (and she's in the mood) she will run across the room with her arms stretched out and give you a huge squeeze. Then she leans back and makes a mmmah! sound (which is a kiss sound) and then usually will give you a little lick in her attempt at a kiss. The sound and action aren't always at the same time so you can sometimes get surprised by the kiss.  

Happy Tuesday morning Reading to Lillian

She Loves Socks

Reading to Lillian