Happy Birthday Lily!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl! Even though you are definitely not a baby anymore. But you did tell us just recently: "I am not a Baby! Oh, I AM a baby, 'cause I have a schnulla (paci)!)" You are definitely not ready to give that thing up anytime soon... You just love your "schnullas" and ideally you sleep with three of them.

You and your sister also like to rhyme and this is what you came up with recently...

Emmi: "Cat rhymes with hat!"

You: "I know! And mouth rhymes with Schnulla! And MY mouth REALLY rhymes with Schnulla!"

You are ready to give up diapers for good though. You have not been wearing a daytime diaper for a little more then a year now and it seems like you are now ready to go without the night diaper too. You actually told us the Diaper Fairy could come and get them. We are not sure who told you about a diaper fairy, I think you made that one up, but it seems like she will be coming soon now ;) .

You also still love to eat. You still like mostly anything and lots of it. And you are still a messy eater. Maybe this will get better in Kindergarten? You won't leave the table as long as there is food on it regardless on what's going on around you. And you are definitely the only kid we know that can wake up in the middle of the night before your birthday throwing up and having diarrhea and then ask for a popsicle in the middle of the day and finish the day eating an entire bowl of popcorn, a bowl of pasta with ketchup, sausage and some pickles! We are so glad you are feeling better!

You are a great little sister. You love to play with Emmi and the two of you are quite imaginative together. You love role playing but you also like to play with your animals and playmobil. Your favorite role plays are Mama and Baby, School, Mermaids and Princesses.

You also sleep in Emmi's bed with her, not because you need it but because your big sister needs it and you know it. "I sleep in Emmi's bed, because she really likes me too". But I think you enjoy it too and we love the sight of the two of you snuggled up to each other :). Your sisterly bond is so strong and we hope it will stay this way throughout your life. You stride to be like your big sister and she is so proud of you too.
You are an entertainer. You love to make people laugh and you intentionally try to be funny. And you are hilarious! Not a day goes by you don't make us die laughing with your wit and expressions. And you know it. "I funny Mama!"

This is a recent conversation between you and I...

Me: "Stop drinking the pool water Lily!"

You (grinning): "Okay Mama!"

Me: "That's not funny Lily!"

You (very serious): "I am not laughing."

You like to read books a lot. Our bedtime routine always includes one book for you and one for your sister. And your even like to listen to Chapter Books, even when they are a little over your head still. You never turn down an offer of someone reading a book to you.

Your fine motor skills are excellent. It's one of the things you stride to be like Emmi and whenever she sits down to draw and cut so do you. And all this practice really paid of for you and you can already cut our shapes and draw people.

You do not however have a very good sense of direction. Even after living in our new house for six months you still get up from the table to use the bathroom and end up in our bedroom.

You don`t like buttons on clothes neither yours or ours. Because they bother you when we snuggle. When I get you out of bed in the morning you will (still half asleep) check my shirt for buttons before you can snuggle up against me.

The moments I cherish most with you are our morning snuggles on the couch. Unlike your sister at your age you don't come to sleep in bed with us anymore. So I soak up every moment of snuggles I can get. And I love that you do still smell like a little baby in the mornings. (The rest of the day you mostly smell like food).

You weren't a big fan of me going back to work and you let me know it too by ignoring me completely when I come home. I don't like it either but I do like all the time you get to spend with your Papa now. It has brought the two of you so much closer to each other and you have spent many mornings hanging out at the Park with Papa just having a great time. You are a lot like your Daddy!

You seem to have adjusted well to living in Germany now. You enjoy having Oma and Opa downstairs, you love playing and exploring in the backyard and you look forward to going to Kindergarten in the fall. When we arrived here six months ago your spoken german vocabulary only consisted of about 4 words and now you are fluent. You still prefer English since it's what we speak between the four of us but you have no trouble switching back and forth.

We love you so much Lily and the past three years with you have been a blast and we can't wait to see what you got in store for us this next year. It's going to be awesome, no doubt!

Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!