We Have Ways of Making You Talk

Nothing really exciting to report, other than Lily is picking up new words and new signs everyday, which is helpful.



She also has a bit of mean streak. Apparently, my daughter is a biter. She bites us, she bites her friends, she bites herself. The other night, she was mad that I wouldn't let her open the oven, so she bit it. Nice.



Further to that end, she also has a little Torquemada in her. I had cut my foot on a piece of glass, or splinter, or something. In order to expedite the healing process, I put a little neosporin and a bandaid on it. Now, in Lily's defense, it was a Finding Nemo themed bandaid that was very colorful. Made my injured toe look like candy. Very dissappointing candy.



The rest of the evening, Lily took pleasure in squeezing that toe. A lot. Both me and the toe are doing well.






Below is some video of us playing around the other night. I have also posted some good pics here.

It's a jungle out there

We read to Lily every night before bed. One of her favorite books is called Dear Zoo. It involves a child getting free pets from the zoo. At first, I was concerned about the message it was sending regarding lax animal trading policies at the country's zoos, as well as a seemingly unqualified zoo keeper. I let it go, though, because Lily loves it!

Almost everynight, she pulls that specific book off of her shelf and brings it over to one of us, sits on our lap, and opens the pages as we read it (at this point, it's more of a recitation than a reading!).

We are also teaching Lily sign language, which is going pretty well after a slow start. The book is a great opportunity to teach animal signs, because there are pictures of each animal in question.

The animals signs however are very literal, in that the sign for an elephant is long trunk gesture. The sign for a giraffe focuses on a long neck-type gesture. My concern, however, was that as she has never actually seen an elephant in person, the long, defining, trunk my be lost on her little pigeon-sized brain.

The only answer was a field trip to the ZOO!!!

Lily loved it. We went immediatly to see the elelphants, which she really liked. We next went and actually fed a giraffe, which she also liked. Later, we went to pet the lorakeets, which she did not like. One of the lorakeets pecked her little hand which I think startled her, and probably hurt a little (they love to peck me). After that she was pretty much done with all birds for the day.

The most lasting outcome of the zoo however has been related to a simple desert tortoise. Until then, we have never practiced the turtle sign (I know a tortoise is not, in fact, a turtle. Lily, however does not, so I roll with it). She picked up the sign almost instantly (it uses 2 hands in a sort of Paper beats Rock motion), and put her own twist on it; Lily prefers more of a Paper beats elbow gesture. She also says the world "turtle" pretty well, and recognizes her turtle stuffed animals as...well...turtles! What surprised me was the volume of turtle themed decor we have in our house. Everyday she spots a new one. She is very bright :)

Here are some pics from the zoo, as well as some random pics from home.

Where do you think you're going?

Lily goes to day care 4 days a week at a place called Little Red School House. Carrie and I have really been pleased with the facility and staff and Lily always seems to have a good time. Carrie and I both knew that at some point our morning drop-offs were going to go bad as Lily's separation anxiety kicked in.

It has.

Usually, Lily was all smiles when we walked into her classroom. She always wanted to be put down to go play with a toy or a friend, or even go to the teacher. In the last few weeks this has not been the case. She is fine until we get into the room, but after that, any move to put her down or in a seat results in an emotional meltdown. Being the engaging parents that we are, we immediatly pick her up or try to distract her with food, toys, funny dancing etc.

This is all fine, until you realize that you have an audience. There are about 7-8 other kids in her class who all gather around when a new one is brought into the herd for the morning. As you are trying to cheer up your distraught daughter, you realize you are the being swarmed by 2-foot-tall onlookers who are more engaged in your improvised variety show than your emotionally betrayed little girl. It's awkward. The best you can really hope for is to get her to look away long enough so you can quickly escape without her seeing you.

We have been constantly reminded that she cheers up within minutes of us leaving, and is happy for the rest of the day. Apparently, she has a short term memory of a pigeon.

Here are some recent pics.