The other day I took Lily to Toys ‘R Us to pick out a present for her birthday with her birthday club coupon (A whole $3! Woo hoo! The possibilities are endless!!!). They gave her a crown and balloon upon her arrival, to advertise her birthday stardom to all who were interested (alas, no one was).
After talking her out of Prince of Persia Legos and other inappropriate toys that she wanted to buy, we finally settled on a Minnie plush that she was quite excited about. As we made our way to the checkout, Lily spotted a coin-operated ride by the exit that was a boat with a Tigger in it. Of course, she wanted to ride it, and of course, I could not refuse the birthday girl’s wish to wrangle another 50 cents out of me.
As we checked out, Lily yammered on and on about getting to ride the Tigger ride, and the cashier casually mentioned that he wasn’t sure if it was working. Thus, it was with great trepidation that I approached the ride. The potential disaster of an “out of order” sign was looming large in my mind. Well, praise be to the patron saint of inconsolable 2-year-olds, because the thing actually worked.
Not only did it work, it was SUPER loud, blaring the Tigger song at ear-splitting levels, while Lily, in typical Lily fashion, attempted to continue her ever-present narration of her life by SHOUTING OVER THE SOUND OF THE RIDE.
We were, in typical fashion, quite the spectacle.
That’s one thing that has definitely become the norm for me – being a spectacle. Lily pretty much never stops talking, and we meet new friends wherever we go. While she may be somewhat slow to warm up to new situations, the safety of a cart pushed by The Mommy gives her all sorts of guts to randomly accost unsuspecting strangers in the cracker aisle and inform them that “Daddy is at work. He will be home later.” Watching other people struggle to decide how to respond to her unsolicited information is often the most entertaining part. Fortunately, most people will humor her.
I am also happy to report that most men wearing hats with a full brim are friendly. I know this because she usually points right at them and shouts, “He is a cowboy!!!” Like I said, we meet new friends wherever we go.
She really does narrate everything she does and everything everyone else is doing. This is one reason we’re not too worried about her escaping her crib without us noticing. Although she is definitely tall enough and can climb well, I just don’t think it has crossed her mind to escape (although our days are numbered, of course, as she is now 9 feet tall). When it does, I’m sure we will hear clearly over the monitor something to the effect of, “I will climb out of the crib now” or “Lily is about to make good on promises of escape from confinement and run free like the wind” or some other such nonsense. Stealth is not her specialty (as in when she shouted in Chick-Fil-A today, “My poopies are all better now!”).
Well, the dear miss is now the big TWO, and while I will blog later about her birthday party and actual birthday excitement, I just wanted to share a few things while I had a moment during naptime. My house may be a mess of chocolate chip pancake-covered dishes and discarded wrapping paper, but sitting down to record these memories is a more important gift that I can give to Lily and to myself.
Because after all, I gave birth to the stinker two years ago, and gosh darn it I deserve to put my feet up for an hour to celebrate the day!!!
Oops! I meant to say, because after all, today is all about her.
Happy Birthday to the most amazing 2 year old I know on her second birthday.
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