Belated Easter Pictures

We decided to stay in Tucson this year. Liliana was very excited that the Easter Bunny left her a "basket" (aka, a little pink wagon) with some books, bubbles & tools to help Daddy with yard work. The Easter Bunny also hid eggs, fake ones with chocolate inside & real ones, which she nicely threw into her wagon! Unfortunately, I didn't take very many pictures at home and the ones I did take didn't turn out very well.

Later that day, Maynard's Market held their 1st Annual Easter Festivities with an Easter egg hunt, face painting, story time, egg painting and of course the Easter Bunny, who was wonderful considering Liliana fell in love with him & would leave him alone! Afterward, we stayed and enjoyed lunch. It was very enjoyable. Here are some pictures from the event.

Give me five!

Daddy sticking with the orange theme & enjoys a Bloody Mary

Givin' love

You make a nice pillow. Can you come home with me?

I love you!

Josephine & Liliana pick up some candy left over from the pinata

Liliana shares the Easter Bunny with Josephine (but keeps a very close eye on her)

Our New Friend

Today we went to see our friend Andrea & her new little angel, Alexandra, who turned 1 month this past Monday. Here they are at the park down the street from Andrea's house.

Our little man! Watch out ladies!

Strawberries! Yummy!

Andrea & Alex

Benjamin & Alex just chilling

Smiling Alex - She's such a good baby!

Fun with Friends

Within the past week, we went to 2 playdates where I actually remembered to bring the camera! Thanks Audrey & Rebecca for hosting these outings!

I'm ready to roll!

Liliana, Jameson & Josephine

Josephine takes a quick break for a photo op

I'm innocent

River Babies 2, clockwise starting at the top:

Julia (3 wks), Benjamin (7 mo), Lauren (3 mo) & Sleepy Abigail (9 mo)

Who's Your Daddy??

About a month ago, I posted this picture of Benjamin:

Brian's parents came down this week and brought this picture of Brian:

Zoo Days!

Since the weather has been so nice, we have been enjoying going to the zoo more. Here are some recent pictures.

Josephine and Liliana

One day we got lucky and saw the lion roar and drink some water!

Our zoo has some pretty active monkeys

One of our favorite activities - feeding the ducks!

Festival of Books & St. Patty's Day

A few weekends ago, there was a Festival of Books at the University we decided to go there. And boy, are we glad we did! Liliana got to meet one of her favorite characters, Curious George!

The same weekend was the St. Patty's Day parade downtown.

Liliana enjoys some kettle corn while waiting for the parade. Dad enjoys a more traditional St. Patty's treat.

Our friend Todd was the Grand Marshall!


The Hanley's (Todd, Rebecca, Jo Jo & Abby)


This is what Abby & Ben thought of the parade.

Bye, Bye Binky

At Liliana's 18 month well check, we were told that her beloved binky was causing her teeth to move. I had decided that by the end of last year there would be no more binky. Well, that didn't happen. The timing was never right with the holidays and then Liliana got sick. But the more likely reason - Mom wasn't ready for her baby girl to give up one of her last holds on babyhood.

Well, I came to my senses and 3 weeks ago today, a little rash around her mouth prompted the disappearance of her binky. I had actually began preparing Lily for several months by only allowing her the binky while she slept and had left the binky in her bed. At least until Lily decided to start playing in bed so that she could have the binky. So, I started hiding the it and only putting it out before naps or bedtime.

She had her binky for the last time during her nap that day. And I am very lucky that I didn't have a bigger struggle than what happened...

The first night: I took her to bed as usual and she looked for her binky. When she couldn't find it, we looked in the living room and in the bowl where her binkies were kept. But they were "missing". I told her we would look again tomorrow, but for tonight she could have a night-night sticker (which were, incidentally, where the binkies used to be). She picked out her sticker and went to bed without a fight. My heart sank. She couldn't possibly be giving up on babyhood so easily, could she? Then I thought, she will end up waking up in the middle of the night because she couldn't find it. The next morning, my heart sank again. She didn't wake up. I thought, my baby girl was no longer a baby! It then occurred to me. It was a fluke. It had to be. She couldn't be giving up so easily on something so loved.

The second day: I waited for nap time. When we went to bed, she asked and looked for the binky. I reminded her it was missing and we looked out in the living room and in the binky (now sticker bowl). She settled for a night-night sticker and went off to bed. I walked out and she started crying. It only lasted about 5 minutes and she fell asleep. At bedtime, it was the same as the first night - no issues.

And so went the routine for several days: go to bed, look for the binky, get a night-night sticker, maybe cry for a few minutes before falling asleep. Even overnight she did great. If she woke up, it was about 10-11 at night. She cried for a few minutes and went back to sleep. There were also 1 or 2 nights that I had to sit in the doorway until she fell asleep. Over all, it wasn't going badly.

That is until Tuesday night. She pulled all the tricks: I had to sit at the door, she brought her musical lamb for me to wind up, she brought her baby and asked the hat to be put on, she brought me a blanket. She just fought sleep. After about 45 minutes or so, Ben wanted milk and Daddy took over. I believe he ended up sitting there another 45 minutes. Finally, she fell asleep. Until 11:00. And 12:30. Finally at 2:00, I went and told her she could lay with us in bed. That lasted about 30 minutes. (Lily thinks our bed is a playground.) I sat in the rocking chair until she started falling asleep and put her in bed. I couldn't leave her. This time I had to lay on the floor with her. If I moved, she would get up and make sure I wasn't leaving. I almost gave in and gave her the binky, but I didn't. I just couldn't help but think she is almost there. She finally fell asleep so I could leave. It is now 4:30. She sleeps until 6:30. I think, it's going to be a wonderful day...

Turns out that would be the first and only bad night. It also turns out the Mom didn't put 2 and 2 together and realize Lily's little rash around her mouth caused by her binky was because she was drooling because her bicuspids were coming in. The day after her bad night, Liliana complained of pain in her mouth. She let me look and 1 tooth cut through and the remaining 3 were right under the surface. She cut another 3 days later. Another on March 5th. And we are still waiting for the 4th.

The past few weeks have been fairly benign. She did start waking up between 6 and 7 in the morning for about a week instead of the usual 7 to 8. I also had to start singing her "Stay Awake" from Mary Poppins (known as the night-night song in our house). I believe getting rid of the binky was made much easier by the fact that Benjamin doesn't take one (this is not necessarily a good thing). And I am happy to report that now, 3 weeks later, our bedtime routine is back to normal (with singing now added) and she is waking up at her usual time.

One last fond farewell: Bye, Bye Binky!