Lily Pad is TWO!

Even though the girls had already celebrated a joint birthday party, Lily’s birthday would not pass quietly. Friday, two days before her big day, Chelsey spent the day with us during her weekend home from school. We thought it would be fun to take Lillian to Pump it Up for preschool playtime. Giant inflatables and children under 6, this seemed right up Lily’s alley. Turns out, not so much…Lillian has apparently inherited a fear of bounce houses from Ella. Chelsey and I even lured her into one that wasn’t being used by any other child so it was nice and calm and she screamed and cried the entire 30 seconds it took her to crawl to the opening and launch herself out. She was enamored with the plastic slide and Cozy Coupe Car (both of which we own) and some mats and climbing gear – so, it wasn’t a complete waste of $6. I personally liked that it was dimly lit. Typically I take her to Tot Time at the Y on Friday mornings and that’s just bright and chaotic, this was dim and chaotic – which is a nice change. Chelsey came over to surprise Ella at school and then babysat for us so Loran and I could go out to dinner, as he was flying in that evening after a week in Europe. Lillian got to open her gift from Chelsey – the movie “Tangled” and little undies to match…when you’re two, getting new character underwear is quite exciting! We all piled on the couch and watched Tangled, which is a great movie!

Sunday afternoon, Lily got to have her Mommy/Daddy birthday day. We thought Lily would enjoy going to Sea Life MN at Mall of America. Lillian loves all kinds of animals, so why not visit the underwater kind? First we dropped Ella off with Grandma and Grandpa. It just happened to be Grandpa’s birthday (almost birthday buddies!) so while we were there, the girls helped him blow out his candles. Lily was a little put-out to have to leave with Mom and Dad and not get to stay…she made sure her body language portrayed this on the drive to MOA. This was after I had to strong-arm her into her car seat.

Lily was very excited to walk through the mall with us, ride the elevator, and play “where are you fishies?” Once at the aquarium, we slowly wandered through. Lily was immediately in love with the tank of rays – coincidently, the first big tank we visited. She then didn’t want to leave those fishies and proceeded to pitch a giant fit anytime we moved further from the rays. Eventually, she was in the jellyfish exhibit, laying on the floor, screaming, “That Way!!!” pointing towards the way we’d just come. At that point, Loran suggested we leave and get some food since our passes were good all day. He’s a smart daddy. We scooped her up, walked against the flow of the crowd and escorted our kicking and screaming child out of the aquarium. We attempted lunch at Rainforest Café, but the wait was a half hour and we knew Lillian would be a monster having to wait at least 45 minutes for food, so we headed for the food court. Before even seeing her options, Lillian told us she wanted McDonald’s. We enjoyed some lunch overlooking Camp Snoopy. The Park at MOA. Nickelodeon Universe. Once we were all fed and hydrated we went back to the aquarium for more fun. It was like bringing a different child in, one who was so happy and excited to be there. Definitely worth the food break! Lillian really loved the turtles and sharks. Not sure what that says about her.

That evening, we tucked our one year old into bed for the last time (so we thought). And I snapped some photos of classic Lillian – she can’t go to bed without all of her “guys” – ducky, her puppies and blanky. And I caught her doing one of her crazy little quirks. Lillian likes to take the corner of her blanket and run it across her lower eyelid, sometimes on her actual eyeball! It’s how she soothes herself. I’ve seen her do it to her baby dolls’ eyes when she’s caring for them. It does give me the shivers when I see her rubbing the corner on her actual eye. Bleh…

We didn’t tuck in a one year old for bed and retrieve a brand new two year old the next morning. Oh no. Between the hours of 10:30 pm and 3:30 am, I got up with Lillian seven times. Loran took a few shots at it too, at one point came in to tell me that Lily wouldn’t go into her crib so she was free range in her room and she shut the door on them. She roamed around for about a half hour, didn’t really play with anything, and I found her sitting on the step next to the foot of Ella’s bed looking dejected, like she was sitting on a curb. We could not figure out why she couldn’t sleep. She was changed, healthy, no teeth coming through, tummy full of milk, lotioned and had her anti-itch medicine. Eventually, she was put in her crib and I turned the monitor down to get a few hours of sleep. Somehow, Ella, her roommate sleeps through the commotion.

The next day, she was ornery. As if she’d been beaten with the “Terrible Two” stick. It didn’t help that I was exhausted. She was lucky it was her birthday, or she may have been put on the curb with a little ‘for sale sign’. As the morning progressed, I may have crossed out ‘for sale’ and replaced it with ‘free’. That’s how pleasant she was to be with. Once naptime rolled around, things started looking up. After her nap, and her usual after-nap warm up period (the only child I know who is crabbier post nap than pre nap) she was a nicer child. We decorated the house for her little birthday party and she’d helped me pick out a birthday cake (possibly a marked down Valentine’s cake…) and was so excited to celebrate with Daddy after Ella’s athletic program at the Y.

I felt a little guilty to drop her off in the Y childcare, but she loves it there and practically crawls over the counter herself to get in. When she checked in at the front desk, they noticed it was her birthday and made a big deal over it, which made her smile big and strut through the Y like a little celebrity. Lily was so excited to have her little party that she kept repeating, “my birthday cake, my birthday party” over and over – as if we’d forget! While she was in childcare and I was watching Ella kick soccer balls, I watched the clock creep past 6:22 and marked Lillian’s “official” birthday time in my head.

Once home, Lily was ready for the party to commence! Cake time! Lily liked her cake, Ella loved her cake. Who needs a dog when Ella will eat the crumbs off the floor?

After the cake was eaten and the crumbs inhaled by Ella, it was gift time! Since it was the end of the night, with an already cranky Lily – things were close to going downhill. Too hard to open an envelope? Tears. Can’t quite get the paper to rip? Tears. Sister tries to help you? TEARS! Mom and Dad give you a comforter and sheet set for your future big-girl bed? Confusion.

We finished cards and gifts quickly and got everyone ready for bed. Thankfully, Lillian was a great sleeper her first full night of being two and woke up the next day a much nicer citizen. Hard to believe our little firecracker is already two. But, she keeps us hopping so I’ve been fully aware of the last 730 days. While I’m a little shocked it’s already two years, some days, I wonder how it’s only been two years! We’re pretty proud of Little Lil’ though – her vocabulary is through the roof – with hundreds of words. Her humor continues to flourish along with her ability to make a silly face. Her hair is never the same twice. She’s spunky, tenacious, determined, sweet, loving, helpful and boasts the biggest little heart you’ll ever encounter. And while she does keep us hopping, our life is so much better, much less boring and full of hugs because of our little Lily Pad.