Happy Birthday, Mr.Rogers!

One of Pittsburgh's treasures is Mr. Rogers.  Yeah, that Mr. Rogers.  Each year on his birthday, there are often free or discounted events around the city in his honor.  This year, Lily and I took advantage of the Children's Museum offering free admission. We went with my friend, Dina and her 2 year old daughter. It was a nice treat to spend a few hours with our baby girls out of the normal routine.


First, we did some painting.  This was Lily's first time painting, so I was excited to see what she'd do. :)

I loved seeing her in that cutie smock that went all the way to her feet, hoarding paint brushes, grabbing the brushes by the paint end, and occasionally splashing some color on the paper on the easel.

She was thrilled to be able to be free...and explore!

She was unsure about coming back down the ramp after playing with the magnetic cars, so she improvised  to ease her way back down.

 Lily was excited to play with the giant litebrite, fascinated by the pegs and then a little frustrated when she couldn't get them out. I love the look on her face when they got stuck.

She loved running from place to place, sitting on the toddler teeter-totter and saying "wheeeeee" as she went up and down. Instead of playing with birdseed through funnels, she tried eating it and didn't like it. ;)

As is typical, my early reader finds herself a book and is happy as a clam. She loveloveloves Sandra Boynton books and she found Blue Hat, Green Hat. She kept reading "oops" and my heart exploded.

{These books are GREAT gifts! you know, for those who ask about ideas for her. There are tons we don't have.}

We finished up with a snack and headed home for a nap.  It was a really fun day!

A Few Life Snippets

~The coughing I mentioned last week continued for quite some time...and honestly has not completely gone away.  I did finally go to the doctor and have bronchitis.  The zpack helped some, but only just last night the tight junk in my chest has finally 2 1/2 weeks later just started to loosen up and as gross as it is, has started to vacate my body through these coughs.  You know those gross Mucinex commercials? Yeah, that guy. Living in my chest for far too long.

The cough medicine I got helped to alleviate the nighttime hacking some, but sheesh is it terrible tasting. And while I took 1-2 teaspoonful as I was supposed to the first day, I couldn't quite figure out why I was dizzy the next day after the second time I'd taken it.  Ummm until I looked at the measuring utensil I'd used the 2nd time.  Yep. Teaspoon/tablespoon.  There is a difference. I slept good that night.

~Sunday night, Andrew participated in an activity at his friend's church for middle school and high school age kids.  A nerf war.  It was about 3 hours long and they had snacks, the activity, and a message at the end.  They teamed up and fought zombies until they were killed and themselves became zombies.  I was there to pick him up in enough time to hear some of the message comparing living a life with Jesus and being alive or walking through life like the zombies and the walking dead.  I was really impressed at the relatability to their lives and engaging these kids.  Andrew said he'd like to maybe go to that church and try it out there.

~Keeping up with Lily's verbal explosion is awesome!! I'm remembering to write things down as she says them newly and trying to capture more on video.  One thing I've noticed about her is she is very musical. Not just loving music and dancing, which she totally does, but also if someone starts singing a song, she'll sing the part she knows. Even if it's just an "oh oh" or an "uh oh". For example, in the Gym Class Heroes/Adam Levine Stereo Hearts, she anticipates the "oh oh" and will sing it. It's adorable. She does the same with books, knowing a part of the book and "reading"/reciting it as she is read to.  It affirms how important early reading is. I'm able to discern how her early reading skills are already in practice even at this young age. Repetition is so important....even if I'm tired of reading the same books over and over and over. The result is there with her. She points out things in books and calls them by names, she acts out the pictures on the pages and recites what she knows from the stories. I love this age!

I did finally manage to catch Lily Beiber in action!

super short and super cute baby baby ohhhhh

~ Now that I'm starting to feel human again, be sure to check back tomorrow because I have a review and giveaway coming up!