Easter in the Park

I know that Easter was nearly two weeks ago, but I finally downloaded the photos. I would like to also take this moment to say, I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S ALREADY APRIL. Mid-April, at that. Practically end of April. Please enjoy these photos from our neighborhood's "Easter Eggstravaganza", while I hunch over a yellow note pad and write a giant to do list for the rest of the month.

Hunting for eggs.

Victory!

At the 4-H booth, visiting the goats.

Not so into the pig. 

Lola begged and begged to go on the little train (i.e., tractor pulling train-like cars).  We waited in line for nearly 20 minutes, which is probably the longest I have ever waited in line for anything with Lola. I was shocked by her ability to be patient. I really need a small train at my disposal so I can get her to put away her toys.

  Also, I have no idea who the guy was that was driving the train (volunteer parent, park groundskeeper, homeless guy sleeping in the park), but let me say that once we boarded, I realized that this man should not have been driving the train.

This Bunny sequence is possibly my favorite Lola-with-giant-character-in-a-costume ever. It has awkward all over it. 

Things She Says

Lola is standing in front of the TV, watching Dora the Explorer.
Dora says, "Say A-BUL-ITA with me."
Lola looks at the TV and says, "NO."

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Me: Lola, time for you to put on your shoes.
Lola: How about YOU put on YOUR shoes?

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After reading a Richard Scarry book that discussed holidays, Lola says,  "I want you to dress up like a skeleton, and I will dress up like the Easter Bunny, and it will be Christmas."

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Lately, at bedtime, she'll go to say good night to Josh, and she'll say, "Good night, SIR."

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When she wants to play, she assigns the roles. 
"Mommy, I want you to be Megatron. Daddy will be Megamind. I will be Super Martian Robot Peanut Butter Girl."

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Looking at pregnancy photos of me.
"Mommy, I came out of your belly so I could go to San Francisco to see Amy."

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After looking at photos of our recent San Diego trip, she said, "Next time, I want to go to Sea World with Papa Lou.  Grandma can stay at home."

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After looking at more photos of our San Diego trip, she said, "Grandma is my favorite mom."

Egg Hunt

Busy busy bears

Back in March, Lola and I visited San Diego. 

I was able to meet my friend Sheri's little baby Jack. Lola was very interested in Jack, but had a difficult time understanding how to be gentle with him. This photo was the result of me whisper-yelling to her, "If you hurt him, you will never eat candy again." Note, the safe distance she set for herself.

 

We were in town for my father's birthday. His only request was for his kids to attend church with him and then go to lunch. So, we went to church and then ate at Sanfilipo's. I ordered a meatball for Lola, but she wasn't into it. She preferred the cheese bread.

After lunch, I took a quick photo of Lola with her Uncle Nick.

 Back at my parent's house, she posed for a photo with her Papa Lou.

Lola had no problem giving instructions on how to properly blow out birthday candles. She's only done it once, but she considers herself an expert.

 And, of course, while we were in town, we visited Sea World. Lola's favorite part about Sea World is their association with Sesame Street. Whales are nothing compared to Elmo.

After one of their performances, the characters pose for photos with kids. Lola was super excited to see Elmo and Zoe, but when it was her turn, she got really shy. She sat with them, but wouldn't take her hands off of her face (as in, "I can't see them, so they can't see me" sort of way). Finally, I told her to put her hands on her lap. I must of said that rather sternly, because Elmo and Zoe also put their hands on their laps.  Oh, what good listeners they are!

Little Coach

Lola's independent swim classes have been going 100 times better than I could have ever dreamed. As of today, she's only had two lessons total, but at none of them has she thrown a tantrum or begged to get out of the pool like she did for the 10 months that we participated in the Parent-and-Tot class.

In fact, at one lesson, I even caught her smiling at her coach. She didn't let her coach see her smile, but she also didn't spend 30 minutes glaring at her.

SUCCESS!

Overall, her demeanor has been pleasant, and generally cooperative.  It just goes to show that I should have quit Parent-and-Tot a long time ago because its now clear that she does much better when I'm out of the pool. Remind me of this when I volunteer to be her rec league soccer coach.

Back to the swim class.
One of the techniques that she is working on is floating on her back. Lola HATES the back float. Whenever her coach tries to hold her on her back, Lola usually squirm and gets super stiff, and refuses to relax and lay her head back on her coach's shoulder. Her coach will say, "Trust me" about 15 times and then on time number 16, Lola will try to lay her head back and look at the ceiling.

Lola might have some control issues, no?

Anyway, all issues aside, last week after her swim class, we were at home and Lola and Elliott were playing in the fire engine that Josh constructed out of a shipping box. The kids were being very quiet, and when we peeked into the hallway to see what they were doing, we saw this

and Lola said, "I told Elliott to 'Trust me!'"

Another Round of Lola-isms.

New phrases that she loves to say, but struggles to find the appropriate context.

"That is disgusting."
"You look terrible."
"Seriously."
"That is so strangely." 
"I look fantastic!"

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New words that you really need to hear her say to appreciate them, but I have been unable to catch on video:
 
Abominable snowman.

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

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Every time Lola takes a poop, she likes to tell me what she believes it looks like. Oftentimes, she'll say, "a whale" or "a penguin."  Today, she looked at me, pointed to her potty and said, "Mama, it looks like a crap!" "What?" I asked, "Does it look like a crab?" (I tried to enunciate on the "b.") Looking at me very seriously, she said, "No. Not a crab. It looks like a crap."

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She takes her Fisher-Price medical kit out, and hands the stethoscope to Josh. "Daddy," she says, "You are Dr. Seuss."

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Wearing her Buzz LightYear  Pajamas, she turns to Elliott who is upset.
"It's alright," she says, "I'm a space ranger. I'll save you."

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After reading a book that talks about the distance between Earth and the moon, she says, "I want to move to Mars." I try to explain to her that we can't move to Mars because there isn't enough oxygen, water, etc. Finally, I tell her, "We can't move to Mars because there isn't any hot chocolate on Mars."  She replies, "But, it has coffee!"

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She has convinced all of the kids in the daycare at the gym that there is a monster hiding outside the gym window. When I stop by to pick her up, I see her corralling all of the kids under the play structure while saying, "We have to hide from the monster!"

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I asked Lola who was her best friend. She said, "Zander." Pause. "Auntie LouLou." Long pause. "Dobby."
"Dobby?" I asked, as this is Maria's dog.
"Yes," she said. "I love dogs!"

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Lola: "I want to get married."
Me: "You want to do what?"
Lola: "I want a wedding cake."
Me, laughing.
Lola: "Can you marry Daddy again, so I can have a wedding cake?"

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Lola's tinker toy town

Fairytale Kids

While Chee Chew and Elliott were here, we visited Fairytale Town. Elliott watered the garden.

 Lola sat on a giant turtle.

Elliott in Sherwood Forest.

 Lola and Josh outside the barn.

 Lola and Elliott inside the Little Engine that Could.