I couldn’t take it anymore…

we’ve had this thing

sitting in our garage for THREE days and I cracked!  I found it on sale and got it for Lily’s birthday… yes… that is 5 months from now.  I have been SO EXCITED for her to play with it. So, on Sunday, I told Jeff that I would return these boots that I had bought… if we could give it to right then.

So, Lily and I went for a walk to feed the horses while Jeff assembled it in her room.

This was her reaction:

Lily's New Horse from Jeff Olson on Vimeo.

 

Not quite what I had envisioned.  She’s TERRIFIED of it!  We spared you the thirty minutes of video footage where I coax Lily closer and closer and then push my luck by trying to set her on top of it.  This 10 seconds pretty much sums it up.

It’s definitely grown on her. She’ll get close and even feed it carrots… but prefers for it to be turned off and always needs a chaperone.  However, she still needs to know where it is at all times.  She doesn’t want it to surprise her.  I had the brilliant idea of lugging this GIANT thing into the living room for her and when she turned around and saw it… she went BALLISTIC!

 

 

 

here he is…  just looking at her wanting her to love him

 

 

 

 

We finally got her to PRETEND she likes him.  He is turned off and and can make no sudden movements.

This is the first and last time she has been on him. Just after these photos were taken, I made the mistake of scooting him on the carpet like a ride…. NOT A GOOD IDEA!

   

So this is our new pet.

 

His name may be “Nubbin'”… if it sticks… thanks a lot, Augie.

 

We’re just waiting for Luke to come over and show her that it’s cool.

Lily is such a little hider…

since the first time, just after she could crawl, when she tucked herself in a hidden spot behind the rocker in her room.  She was SILENT for over 10 minutes… as I was screaming her name and searching in places like, in the dishwasher and  under the toilet lid,  after looking in all the normal places.  When I checked behind that chair for the THIRD time and found her… I collapsed on the floor, shaking violently and crying.  She had the biggest grin on her face I had ever seen.

Now,  she’ll sit in dark closets or corners for extended periods of time for us to come looking for her.  Her latest favorite spot is laying behind one of the big couch cushions.

Here is what she was doing while she waited…  NICE!

One day, she had gotten a little too quiet while I was cooking… so I walked back to her room and did a double take as I passed the guest bathroom.

This kid can’t sit through a 15 minute story time at the library … but she can be perfectly still and quiet for who knows how long waiting for me to notice that she’s hiding… interesting.

I wonder if this...

is how SHE

used to play, too?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thankfully this stomach bug...

I caught miraculously skipped Saturday.  Jeff took me on a birthday/valentines extravaganza... because he's such a sweet husband.  We went here for my first ever massage...then shopping... then to see Slumdog Millionaire-- which I highly recommend... then went to P.F Chang's for dinner(oh, how i miss it being nearby)... walked around downtown... and stayed here.   Luckily for us-- the Hilton happened to be ground zero for the anime convention... so we had quite an experience.  Jeff and I were the only 2 NOT in costume on every elevator ride we took.

 

Here are my latest two scrapbook layouts:

(the address has been changed... in case of  e-stalkers)

 

Here's a few highlights from the bug's week:

... just helping dad dig up weeds in our beautiful lawn... and then helping by moving rocks from one side of the road to the other (pardon the outfit... I was really sick that day)

...enjoying a bowl of gummi bears and Barney's ABCs after some particularly terrible 18 months shots

... still obsessed with all things potty and underwear -- finally has some sesame street ones of her own to wear thanks to Ne-na's valentine's day gift  (over the diaper, of course .... potty training is at a standstill.  She just likes to sit there and look at herself in the mirror... put some toilet paper in... close it... and then stand and smile at herself in the underwear)

I struck gold just a short walk from our house!

Seriously...

like we just walk past the neighbor's house (which is the end of the road) and take a right down a short dirt path and navigate through some weeds...

to 3 VERY hungry horses. When we found them and they came over to the fence, I SPRINTED back to our house to grab some carrots (all 27 pounds of Lily in tow)... add 'get in shape' to my new year's resolutions. This may have been the greatest day of Lily's life to date.





Jeff may have to take a second job to keep us in carrots!

Later this day, the lady who we seeing riding horses (different horses-- we're country folk) down the dirt road came riding by. We ran outside and she brought her horse and the baby one she was leading up in the yard for us to pet! With her were 2 giant dogs... can life get any better.... Lily submits that it can NOT!

Lily loves walks...

these days.  There is a dirt road behind our house that she could spend hours on.  She likes to pick up rocks  to show the neighbor's dog... "Moses, look... rock."  One time she picked up 'dirt rocks'  and heard me shriek, "Lily...no... it's horsey poop YUCK!"  so now she calls any dirt clod, 'poop'... (much to my dismay) but at least now she just points. She likes to see the different footprints... dog,  deer and horse... and mama

I realized 2 things on our last walk...

I think the dog fixation may be on the way out. She talks about 'horsey-ponies' almost just as much.  There was a trailer with horses at a stoplight beside us for a few minutes the other day... and she is STILL talking about the 'horses ridin' in the car'.  Dogs were a little more attainable... now we have to go down the street to see the horses and cows and donkey.  What will we do when we move into civilization?

and...

this poor kid is destined to be a klutz like her mom. She fell SEVERAL times out of nowhere... and I caught 2 on film... including when she learned her first lesson with 'Texas stickers' .  After which, I proceeded to pick her up and transfer them all into my stomach  and arm skin.  I add the Texas... because Jeff had no idea what stickers were.

 

Here is my latest scrapbook page: 

click to enlarge.