Summer is coming to a close...

....and I can say with certainty that we got gypped this year. According to the weather people, it was the coldest, wettest Spring/ Summer on record and believe me, we noticed. But despite the lack of warmth and need for Lily to wear leggings and a fleece with all her sundresses (all of which spinned, natch), we managed to have some fun, including Miss Lily mastering her bike WITHOUT training wheels. Yes, that's right, 3 years old and she's booking on 2 wheels. How, you ask? Well, let's just say it helped A LOT that we have several little boys on our street who are now on 2 wheels and Lily is not one to be left behind.

Beyond her bike prowess, Lily continues to be full surprises and never ceases to entertain. Her new thing is to say in a slightly sing-song voice "it wasn't meeeeee!" whenever she is caught committing an act of mischief. Examples: dishwasher mysteriously starts running - "it wasn't meeeee!"... Paco is suddenly wearing a garment not meant for canines - "it wasn't meeeee!"....you get the idea. What's tough is that she's so darn cute it is really, REALLY hard to keep a straight face while explaining that YES, it was her and NO, it isn't ok. And of course the inevitable giggle escapes, then she laughs, and the cycle continues. Thankfully the crimes are only misdemeanors at this point. Oh....and did I also mention that she LOVES to bust out maniacal laughter when she does something she knows to be slightly naughty?

I'm still keeping a piece of paper in my bag where I write down all the funny things she says and it's already full again. Her ability to articulate grows daily and is a source of constant amusement to us. Here's what's filling the paper this time around:

- I was reading a Dora book to her the other day (for those not familiar with Dora the Explorer, all the books are interactive, getting the child to respond to/engage in the story). When Dora asks "Would YOU like to come to my birthday party?" Lily responded "Let me think about it." She's also acted surprised when Dora "needed her help" and said "I thought you were joking, Dora!"
- es's are the new plural. Masks are "maskeses", crowns are "crowneses" and so on. It's so incredibly endearing we don't ever correct her....kinda like when she says "what time it is?", "where I can put this?", "hey - a puppy I saw!" etc

- "They was thinking I was a bone!!"...her terrified explanation for why my friend Susan's bulldogs wanted to sniff her

- "DOH!" Her response the Monday after our vacation when I told her it was back to work and back to school

- A deadpan "ow" followed by "you hurt me!!" at the slightest touche she deems offensive and your fault. She has also told me "I am fragile and I am delicate"

- "Please, mom, please, please, please!" is the standard method of requesting anything sweet. She did this asking for a cookie, then launched into a second round when I said yes. She stopped mid-third-please, and laughingly said "Oh! I thought you were going to say no!"

- At bedtime Lily always gets a small cup of milk. It's part of the ritual, but is also an established stall tactic. One night I came home late when she was already in bed. She asked for milk, claiming Daddy hadn't given her any yet. I said I would ask Daddy to confirm, to which she replied "NO! Don't ask Daddy - just get some milk. NOW!"

- If Lily wakes up before I have a chance to take a shower, she will ask me to skip it and hang out with her instead. The other morning she asked "why you taking a shower?" to which I replied "because I feel icky." She must have taken me literally as she then reached over, patted my leg and said "no you don't!"

- "Nemo and Daddy"...the names of her replacement fish (the old ones went home to visit their family)...so named because one was small and the other was big

- "But I'm a good helper!"...the indignant response when I told her to stand back while I vacuumed dog hair off the couch. And yes, I felt terrible and now always leave some for her to suck up.

- "We should get a car like that!"....her response when she saw a duck tour go by

- "Pickles to Me"....her name for Despicable Me, the movie she wanted to see "in the place with the chairs and the REALLY big TV - I love that one!"

- WARNING - this one is gross - "Look! The mama poopy is swimming and the daddy poopy isn't" "Is that the daddy poopy because it's big?" "No! The big poopy is hiding in my butt!"

But it isn't just the funny things she says that make her so precious - it's also her behaviors. She loves for us to read her Cinderella, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty over and over and over....and has been known to run and get an apple to eat during Snow White (the fact that it put Snow White into a deep sleep doesn't seem to phase her). She loves her glitter puff and lip gloss and likes to "make her eyes beautiful" every chance she gets (when we tell her something is cute, she corrects us that it is "pretty" or "beautiful"). When asked to take her picture, she turns on the ham and has developed a whole slew of funny faces. If Chris or I start to do laundry, she will run and get her basket so she can do hers, too. Even her penchant for DIY haircuts is adorable - although I'll admit I preferred the bob that fixed her DIY mullet over her current DIY "prison fight" look. She doesn't seem to mind, though - Lily marches to the beat of her own drummer and the music is beautiful.