That's my girl!

Have you seen this commercial? It cracks me up every time. "That's my son!" I love it so much. It's pretty out of character because I hate talking animal/baby commercials as a rule, and this commercial has a talking baby animal. But still, it gets me every time.  


In the last couple of weeks it feels like Lily has learned some new huge skill every day. She is walking, nay running, everywhere. She still falls down sometimes, but it doesn't stop her at all. She's also really getting into pretend play. She 'talks' on her cell phone, points the remote at the TV (sometimes actually changing the channel), and LOVES to 'cook'. Her favorite thing to do is mix something up in a bowl with her hand or a spoon, taste it, and then offer some to whoever else is around. It's sooooooo cute. She is also a total ham. A manipulative little one, at that. She has mastered the fake cry, the pitiful sniffle and cough, and the super innocent puppy dog look. I spend a lot of time laughing at and with her. She is such a happy little girl. She loves to play footsie. She's also crazy smart (really, how could she not be???). She's doing really great at matching colors and thinks it's great fun to pat her head and point at her toes when you ask her to. When we read together she knows all the flaps to pull, soft things to touch, and makes a 'moo' sound whenever she sees a cow (or a pig, to be honest, but that's still pretty good).


And she finally colored with me! I've been working on it all week. On Tuesday we made great progress and she happily sat in her high chair coloring while I made lunch for the two of us. I had drawn a heart and written her name in it and she scribbled all over the rest of the page. Then she held it up with pride for me to take, but I was holding a hot pot so she had to wait for a second. That second was apparently too long, and she then proceeded to rip the paper up into little tiny pieces. It was like some sort of performance art where the artist creates a work only to destroy it in front of an audience. Clearly, she's a genius. Tonight we had more success. 

I started by writing her name on the paper. Then she wanted to take each crayon out of the bag one by one. She would look closely at it, get it all set in her right hand, make a few marks, and then hand it to me or toss it on the floor. Then she'd dig out another one from the bag. If I wasn't holding a crayon she would give me one, so I started coloring different size polka dots and she drew all the lines. When she had had enough she grabbed the paper and ran over to Joe to give it to him. My heart melted a bit. Okay a lot. 


When did she turn into this small, creative, energetic, fun-loving kid? She still has moments of definite babyhood where all she wants to do nurse or be snuggled or smear food in her hair. But everyday there's some new spark. It's fascinating. It's also got me extremely paranoid. What if I'm not doing this right? She's such a sponge now, if I screw up it'll stick with her forever. I sort of feel like playing and reading and being with her is all she needs and she lets me know when she's ready to try something new. But I really don't know, I'm just sort of making this up as I go along. It's working for now. And each day as Lily shows off some new talent, I'll be the first one to say "That's my girl!"

Park Etiquette

Ok parents, I need some help here. Lily is walking up a storm and is LOVING running around the parks near our apartment. She climbs up the ramps and stairs, goes down the slides, jumps on the bridges, and really likes to swing. She still topples down now and again, but always gets back up and keeps on trucking. I let her dig in the sand, pick up wood chips, crawl around in the grass, and generally get dirty. That's what the park is for. 


Lily gets SUPER excited when she sees other kids at the park. Especially when they are about her age. She likes to run over to them with her hands outstretched and starts waving hello while squealing. Slightly intimidating yes, but it comes from a good place. And in her defense, most of the other 14 month olds are doing the same thing. I usually manage to catch her before she knocks any of the other kids down. After I get her to stop running, I usually let her go and more calmly say hello to the other toddler. I stay nearby to make sure no hitting or pushing happens. But almost with out exception, the other mom rushes over, picks up her toddler and goes to play in another part of the park. 


Does this seem weird to anyone else? I remember going to parks when I was a kid and playing with whoever was around whether you knew them or not. That's what the park is for. Getting to interact with other kids. Learning how to deal with other people in the same place. Sharing equipment, taking turns, and having fun with other kids. 


I've tried going to other parks in the area, and the same thing always happens. Am I doing something wrong? Am I the weird mom at the park? Is it just that we're in the city and people are being super over protective? I'm surprised at how stressed out by this I am. I start having anxious, downward spiraling thoughts about Lily growing up to be the weird, anti-social kid because no one would play with her in the park when she was 1 year old. What do I do? I want Lily to be a happy, well-adjusted kid. And she always looks so sad when the other babies go away. 

The End of Summer

The end of summer is here. Cool lake breezes and cool nights are making for good sleeping weather. We've harvested more tomatoes than we know what to do with. And things are starting to ramp up for the beginning of school. 


Thankfully we've had a couple of weeks of good old fashioned summer laziness. After Joe finished his first round of interviews our schedules suddenly opened up. I have still been working three days a week at the bakery, and Joe has been using that time to work on his journal assignments. But other than that it's been like one big long weekend. We've done a lot of sleeping in, cooking together, and doing whatever we feel like. We've gone on lots of walks, played in lots of parks, and worked in the garden. We've also watched some movies, gone shopping, and cooked some more. We haven't really been visiting other people a whole lot. It's been really nice to just hang out together as a family.  


Here are some pictures of our recent adventures: 


Making marinara sauce from our garden harvest. We froze two bags worth!

At the Fox Valley Folk Festival sitting in her big girl chair. 

In the Children's Garden at Morton Arboretum. I think Lily would like to live in this little house. 

Walking down the path with dad at the Arb. NBD.

Sunday afternoon nap after church and lunch at New Star. 

Looking at these pictures, Lily looks like such a big girl now! She insists on walking everywhere and prefers to hold Joe's hand while doing so. She's also a great eater. We do have days where she only wants crackers and cheese, but other days she chows down on moussaka, pasta carbonara, pork chop suey and baklava. And we've had marginal success with a variety of sippy cups, but she can drink like a champ out of a solo coffee cup lid. So no, our baby is not gulping down a cup of coffee, it's just the only thing she'll drink milk out of other than a bottle. And I never thought I'd be a sucker for this, but the pitter-patter of little feet followed by an unexpected knee-height hug and "wow!" is the cutest thing ever. 

This week things start to get busy again. Joe has a few call-back interviews and I have a couple of cakes to bake. Friends and family are coming to town and classes will be starting soon. I'm looking forward to a little bit of hustle and bustle but am extremely grateful for the last couple of weeks. 

8 Weeks left

I ended up at 159 this week. Woo hoo! It's been a long time since I've been under 160. Let's keep this going. I ran twice this week. One was 3.5 miles, the other 5 miles. I'm averaging about 11 min/mile with the jogging stroller, so hopefully I'll be a little quicker than that without it. I'm going to try to work in more runs without the stroller so I get used to it. 


I think I may have to give up my hope of running the whole thing without walking. After these last two 5 milers my hips were feeling a bit creaky. It's so frustrating because my heart and lungs can go forever, but my hips and legs just can't. During this run I tried something different. I ran for a mile and then walked for a minute before running the rest of the next mile. I ended up finishing a full 4 minutes faster than when I ran it in two larger chunks. My hips felt great but my heart and lungs weren't loving it. Clearly the answer is I need to do more interval work. I looked at the race map and they have water stations about every 1.5 miles, so I think the plan is going to be run in between stations and walk for a minute or so through them. Which realistically is probably what would have happened anyway since I am incapable of drinking water and running at the same time. So, now I just need to do more intervals. Boo. 


And I haven't managed to start doing any strength work. I'm worried about my arms being sore and shaky the next day (not good for cake decorating). Also, the only time I have to do anything like that is in the evening when Joe is putting Lily to bed and that is my designated do the dishes, straighten up the house, and then play on the internet time. Ugh. I just need to get motivated one night and do it. I keep telling myself that I'm looking for a good routine to do, but really that's just procrastination. I don't need to read/watch someone else's plan for pushups, abs, and squats. 


(After reading this you might think that I would get all motivated and do something after I finish writing this. Unlikely.)

Don't be a square!

For those of you planning a wedding in the near future, let me offer up one piece of advice: do not choose a square wedding cake. I know what you're thinking:

"It's so different and fun!" 

"I just want something simple." 

"It's so elegant and chic!"

It's not any of those things. And let me tell you why. 

1) It's not different. In 1965 if you had a square wedding cake that may have been a novelty, it no longer is. The bakery where I work makes a ton of these each week. It's nearly as ubiquitous as the round cake. 

2) It's not natural. Icing is composed of sugar, butter, and cream. None of which are things that naturally have corners. So why would mixing them all together allow for the creation of perfect corners? It doesn't. 

3) It takes a long time. In order to get those perfect corners, we have to ice the cake, put it in the fridge for an hour or so, take it out of the fridge, smooth the cake, put it back in the fridge for another hour, take it out again and finish decorating it. By this time your cake decorator hates you and is behind on their work thus ensuring that any decoration you have requested will be done hastily. 

4) It is rarely simple or elegant. Square cakes show off every single imperfection. So even if your decorator is awesome, there will still be flaws evident. And that's not including any damage incurred during transportation. The cakes you see in magazines are fake. They're made with royal icing and styrofoam. This is what allows them to look so perfect and smooth. Also, if you're putting a ton of decorations on it anyway (read: NOT simple or elegant) you lose the squareness of it anyway. 

So whether you're looking for something traditional: 

Or something more modern:

Spare your cake decorator the frustration, and yourself the likely disappointment and don't be a square!

(Now imagine this cake with fresh bright orange, red and gold gerber daisies on it. So cute, right!)