Summer!!!

Finally......summer!!!

I've had a little over a week off so far and we'v been having lots of fun.

Here's Lilly's to do list for the summer (I liked Brandy's list she did for the summer so I stole the idea :-).

1. Learn more words & signs.
She already knows-"at" for hat, "ap" for apple, u-puh (heavy on the puh) for up, "hi"/"ello", "hi dat" (for hi dad and hi dog, which is funny that they are the same :-). She signs hat (her favorite-my sunglasses on my head meet the definition of hat in her book), eat, more, all done, shoes, and a few others that she'll do once in a while.

2. Go swimming. The weather hasn't been that great so far, so we haven't done it yet but I'm excited to try the water table and the blow up pool. I hope we can get to the lake and the city swimming pools a lot, too. I told Al that he has to come places with us and can't just stay home and BBQ all the time.

3. Go bike riding. We went for the first time last night & I think she liked it, even though I didn't have her buckled in quite right so she was sliding down the seat (who knew you had to read the instructions just to use the seat belt!)

4. See friends. I hope to see my friends more this summer so their kids can become Lilly's friends. We got to see Evan yesterday. They both liked to run in either direction at the park until we chased them down so I'm not sure they're exactly "friends" yet. Grace announced that she would protect Lilly from the big kids on the playground (as if I was just going to let her run and fend for herself).

5. Meet new people. Lilly likes to say "ello" and wave to people at the store. She's not shy about grabbing onto another mom's leg for stability at the park and even checks out their stroller. She left me in the dust when she saw a lady walking her pug at the park. She took off saying "hi dot" all the way over to the dog. I also get to meet random kids at the playground who come to say hi or play peek a boo with Lilly. I talk to a lot more people I don't know since Lilly has been born.

6. Learn how to run. I don't think I'll have to worry about getting my exercise this summer. Lilly rarely sits in one place, even when eating. She prefers to get her food through the mama drive through these days. I know all this walking and activity means she'll be running soon.

7. Climb. Lilly saw Al vacuuming out the couch (he deemed it necessary after she found a seam ripper in the couch) and then saw Tito eating out of under the couch cushions. She realized that with the cushions off of the couch, she could climb up and down by herself. One night, I thought Al took the cushion off the couch. Al thought I did it. It was Lilly. She took the cushion off the couch and climbed up on the couch. Al got my attention, and to my surprise/shock/amazement, Lilly was STANDING on the arm of the couch headed for the buffet table to try to get the laptop & other things we try to keep away from her. That is a terrifying sight for a mom. How to I babyproof the couch--superglue the cusions down??? Another day, she also was standing on the baby footstool to reach something on the bookshelves. Just when we think we are caught up in the babyproofing department, she develops a new trick.

Lilly think's it is great to climb up the stairs and climb on the playground equiptment. We'll have to get some more climbing toys for outside.

8. Eat wood chips. I try to keep it to a minimum but I figure that going to a playground with wood chips is preferable to a playground with rocks. At least with wood chips, I have a better chance to take them out of her hand before she pops them into her mouth, and better yet, swallows them.

9. Go on vacation somewhere. There's no firm plans, as of yet, but I hope I can convince Al to take a few days off (right now he's at the Mason "old man convention" in Medora so if he can do that, I'm going to make him take a couple days off to go on a mini vacation)

10. Spend time with mama. Last but not least......the most important thing on the list is for Lilly and I to be able to spend time together without the worries of the school year. I'm taking the whole summer off to be able to have lots of fun with Lilly!