I love you too, Lily Lou

• This tiny tot only looks like she's 1. Her vocabulary gives everyone reason to pause and puzzle over just how old this girl is. She's "smart as a whip" as my mother put it today
• This past week as we were getting the house ready for Grandma and Grandpa's visit I requested her help to pick up her toys. Lily decided it was less painful to just sit in time out and gathered her things to beat me to the time out stool rather than help clean up. After thinking it over, she ended up in an extra long time out. I figured it would work better if she were given the minutes of her intellectual age.
• On parentcenter.com I was reading that her grammar at this age may not make sense. Okay here is a clue that she is truly advanced. Her grammar is nearly perfect. She speaks very well and it doesn't take much to repeat whatever word you say to her. When she doesn't express herself so fluently, it tends to be on purpose like last night when she climbed into Gavin's carrier and said, "Gaga, goo goo. I'm the baby Mom!"
• Lily loves to sing. Her signature hymn is "I am a Child of God" to which she almost knows all the words. While visiting my parents' ward, the nursery leader marveled over the fact that Lily sang during singing time. The other kids looked at her amazed that she was singing because it hadn't occured to any of them that they should do this too. After receiving encouragement and permission, the rest of the class also joined in. Yesterday, during sacrament meeting she declared that she would also sing and did a fair job following Sister Husher in "More Holiness Give Me."
• On a not so Holy note, she rearranged the words to a popular tune mixing up the original lyrics and some that I made up to help along her potty training. My lyrics: "Tinkle, tinkle, little pee, come on out from inside of me." Her lyrics: "Tinkle, tinkle little star, come on out from inside my butt." I have to give her kudos on understanding the idea although I was trying to be less vulgar about it.
• Last night over dessert, we were talking about who would take care of us when we're too old to take care of ourselves. When I asked my girls who would take care of me they both said, "Me!" But then Lily rethought her answer and said, "Jessica!"
• Lily loves her thumb, but sometimes she is willing to work on not sucking it. A few tricks of mine that only work temporarily - lip gloss, and nail polish that speak to her vanity, and Dora. The show suddenly pauses when she sucks her thumb (thanks to TIVO). Of course I have to watch her the whole time for this to work. It's almost torture for her to sit comfortably and concentrate so hard on NOT putting it back in her mouth.
• Lily is independent. She ignores threats and demands things on her own terms. She has come to believe that saying "sorry" abolishes her from responsibility of any wrong doing past, present and future. Now if it weren't for the fact that she is so darn cute, we'd probably be wringing her neck. But she flashes us that cute grin of hers and says something completely distracting that makes you want to laugh or melt rather than yell as she bats those beautiful dark lashes over her chocolatey brown eyes.
• One of my favorites: "Mom, I love you. I want to give you hugs and kisses."