Nursery

The day came today. The day for Lydia to enter Nursery at church (a Sunday School/playtime for 18 month to 3 year old children). How did she get so grown up? I so looked forward to this day as a day of liberation- a chance to attend my own Sunday School (minus the baby) and actually learn.

But, like all new stages, this one is bittersweet. When I dropped her off, she didn't look back. She jumped right into playtime. When I came to pick her up, she didn't run to me because she was having so much fun. Her teacher happily reported that there were no tears and she got along well with all the other children, playing happily.

I'm ecstatic of the good report. I'm grateful that she adjusted without a problem. I'm grateful for her easy going nature. But, even so, I can't help feeling...How can she be so happy without me? Where did she learn such independence? I know this is just a tiny drop in her gigantic pool of growing-up experiences, and I have many more bittersweet moments to come, but, wow, this is hard. In a good way.

I love my grown up Liddiebug.

Summer Time

Lydia is growing too fast for my liking. This is my little Liddiebug last summer. Totally unaware of her surroundings, but looking cute as a bug.



And here is that same Liddiebug this summer. Running, exploring, and experiencing a water park like a big kid.

Enjoying a frozen go-gurt

New Clothes and Ridiculous Pictures

I got an amazing deal at Carter's (the children's clothing store) this weekend. I spent $40 for $120 of clothes. I'm terrible at spending money (I absolutely can NOT do it), but my friend helped me navigate the sales and my fear of spending, and I came away with a boatload of much needed summer clothes for my growing Lydia.

I wanted to illustrate my post with sweet pictures of Lydia in her new clothes, but Lydia doesn't do well for pictures. How do the rest of you do it with your kids? Everyone else has amazingly posed pictures of their children, and my child...

1. notices the squirt bottle mid "Cheese" and starts to squirt her face



2. tries to grab the camera from my hands



3. somehow bumps her head and needs a kiss




4. or just starts crying because her shoes are on and we aren't leaving the house!

Don't Go Snowboarding

When I was in college, there were a couple robberies near my dorm by a group of people who happened to be Polynesian. Our dorm hall had a meeting where we were informed of the robberies and told to be careful. After the meeting, to sum up, our "enlightened" RA (Resident Assistant? Is that what that stands for?) told us, "So, basically, if you see any Polynesians, stay away and be careful."

What totally NOT inappropriate advice and thought! And by "totally NOT inappropriate," I mean "completely backwards and ignorant."

I'm applying that same reasoning to our current situation. Ryan recently had shoulder surgery to repair a tear. Where did the tear come from? 10 years ago, he did a stupid stunt while snowboarding, landed on his shoulder, and never went to see a doctor. The tear has become worse over the years, and has been incredibly painful in most recent months.

Moral of the story? Well, it's obvious, isn't it? Don't go snowboarding.

Note to Self

Dear Self,

The next time you and Handsome Hubby take a road trip with Darling Daughter, remember these rules you learned from your most recent trip to Moab.

1. Do not wake the sweet angel up at 5:00 am (3 1/2 hours before her normal wake up time) in order to get a head start. Apparently, she is beyond the stage where she will go right back to sleep. She will remain wide eyed and happy for the whole car ride, but she will become an absolute basket case right about lunch time.

2. Do a better job of poopy diaper duty while in the car. Unless, of course, you want to hear that piercing demonic scream coming from the little darling's impressive lungs again.

3. Kudos on packing light for the first time in your entire life. However, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING when you packed only one outfit per day for the little sweetheart? Didn't it cross your mind while you were packing sticky juices and fruits and crumbly treats that it would end up smeared across her chest and lap? Did you also not realize that Moab is a giant red sandbox in the eyes of a toddler?

4. Don't let your crying and overly exhausted child suck on her pacifier in the park on the way home. Especially if that particular pacifier is the only remaining pacifier NOT to succumb to that mysterious pacifier-black-hole in your child's 18 months of life. I promise she will stop crying as soon as she sees the park. If you do let her suck on her pacifier in the park, she will lose it. You will forget she even had one until you are back in the car. You will have to find a Wal Mart in a strange town and buy a new pacifier.

5. INSIST on a hotel with a swimming pool. An empty swimming pool does not count.

6. Do be glad you got to go. Moab is unlike any other place on earth, and completely worth any toddler issues you may face.

Help!

I'm calling on all you experienced moms and baby-sitters to help me entertain my daughter!

Three days a week, Lydia has about an hour when she has to entertain herself while I teach piano. By that point, she's already had a snack and has colored to her heart's content. Then, comes the dreaded hour, where whining and tantrums are abundant.

At the suggestion of sis-in-law Vanessa, I set up a little reading nook on our stairs' landing.



She really likes her little area, but now the challenge is keeping her happy with enough activities!

I set up different books, toys, and stuffed animals each day. But she soon gets bored with these. I've started giving her old canisters with different things like fabric pieces, popsicle sticks, and craft pom-poms. She loves to take the items out of the canisters and put them back in.

I want to rotate her activities from day-to-day so she doesn't get bored, so I want LOTS of suggestions! What do your kids like to do when they don't have your attention?

Lydia and the Piano

I have no idea how Lydia knows to play the pedal while playing the keys on the piano, but this is her new favorite thing. She sees a lot of piano lessons every day, and apparently, she's paying attention!

She knows the difference between a black and white key, and will play the correct one when you ask.

She is very specific about what she plays, and she changes pages multiple times in one piano session. Here, she's playing from a magazine. Can YOUR baby make music from no music at all? =)

After looking through the past few posts on my blog, I realized that Lydia never smiles for the camera because she's always wiggling away. So we've been doing some "smile practice." This is her "Cheeeeese" face.

Outdoor Festival

There were two outdoor festivals going on this weekend. One was downtown, and one was in South Jordan. I chose to go to the one in South Jordan because we always go to the downtown festivals.

Wrong choice. Welcome to the stupidest outdoor festival of all time.

It was more like a mediocre flea market than a festival.

Here are the highlights: This booth had a station for kids to make crafts. That was fun for Lydia.




End of highlights.


Once we left the festival area, and wandered the grounds, we were happy we came. The grounds were very lovely. The festival was at a water conservatory park. It's a teaching garden, with displays on how to conserve water in your gardens. It was pretty- so at least we found a new place for picnics.

I just realized we didn't really take any pictures in the pretty parts. And after I just told you the park was a lovely park. So sorry.

There were TONS of tulips. Lydia loves to smell flowers, although when she smells, it's more like she's blowing her nose. My mom says she's "pollinating" the flowers. We tried to get a picture of her "smelling" the flowers, but she moves too fast. I finally got down with her, and tried to keep her steady, but that didn't work either.

You'll just have to trust me that she's cute when she smells flowers.

Visit With The Grandmas

I miss my mama. We were so lucky to have my mom and grandma come visit us for Women's Conference at BYU this past weekend. Women's Conference is a HUGE conference fit into 2 days of classes with subjects about the gospel of Jesus Christ, families, marriage, parenting, personal spirituality, service, etc. It's so uplifting to be taught about such important subjects. And so wonderful to share that time with my mom...



...and grandma, aunt, sister in law, and 5 beautiful cousins who I don't get to see nearly enough.



After Women's Conference, we spent the rest of the weekend cramming as much fun as two worn out grandmas, several nap-deprived toddlers, and ever-patient parents (haha) could handle! Here are the beautiful babes at the park. I lovingly borrowed (totally stole without asking) all of these pictures from my mom.




This was NOT funny at the time, but this picture of Lydia totally biffing it is just so perfectly timed. Adalyn and Abby's reactions to Liddie-bug's fall is hilarious. And the other two babies are completely oblivious to their cousin's impending disaster.



She did, indeed, fall flat on her back, and it was rather traumatic for her Lyida-obsessed mother to witness. But luckily, Daddy was there in an instant to console her. (Do any other moms have a hard time letting dads console crying babies? I know he is perfectly capable and always does a perfect job, but it takes everything in me to not snatch her away and comfort her myself.)


Here are the grandmas with their beautiful girls. Great Grandma Middleton and Grandma Brown.