lily-isms

lily has been growing by leaps and bounds lately.  her articulation, vocabulary, and conversational skills have improved dramatically.  it is always fun to listen to the things she says and what she comes up with.  i am absolutely loving this stage.  here are some of my favorites:

lily knows how to access the camera on my iphone, and loves to take pictures.  she also has a toy camera that she plays around with.  but the best part is when she says "smile" while snapping the photo (well, photos...she just loves to hold her finger on the button for the rapid click) and then as soon as she takes the photo will say, "oh, how cute."  obviously this is a child who has had a camera in her face quite a bit in her two short years on this earth, and has picked up a few things from Mama and Daddy.

for the longest time i have played the identify game with lily (you know, where's your eyes? where's the tree? etc).  very recently, she has started playing it with me.  "where's mama's chin?  where's mama's glasses?  where's the balloon?"  it is hilarious to have her turn the tables, and to watch her look for things around the house for me to find/identify with her.  also, it is pretty adorable.

lily has picked up a few phrases lately.  "ohhhh, man" and "oh, my goodness" are her latest.  it cracks me up to hear pretty adult expressions coming out of such a tiny body.  plus, her exaggeration on these exclamations could not be cuter.

"i do it" or "lily do it" are pretty common expressions to hear from her.  there are way too many instances to name in which she is exerting her independence, but by far my favorite one is getting dressed.  lily loves to pick out her own clothes for the day, and dress herself (with a little help getting the clothes on).  sometimes her outfits make sense and are coordinated, and sometimes, well, sometimes it is extremely obvious a toddler put the outfit together.  i love that she is figuring out what she feels like wearing, what she likes (she definitely has favorite pieces), and has such a strong opinion about it.  it's fun for me to watch.

lately, lily's imagination has been taking off.  a few days ago, after we got home from me picking her up from the sitter, she climbed into the front seat of the car, and started driving.  she told me to climb in to the passenger seat, and we spent about 20 minutes "driving" to go see jessica (her sitter), emma and jordan (jessica's kids).  she kept up a running stream of chatter about the fun they were going to have, made car noises, and kept telling me to buckle up (even though she unbuckled herself because she couldn't reach the steering wheel when she was buckled.  hypocrite.).

driving to see jessica, emma, and jordan.
also, this is an outfit she put together.  it is one of her better combinations.

honestly, toddlers are just sheer entertainment value.