Category Archives: Lily School
Happy 20 Months Lily!
Wow now in the 2-0 digits! Happy 20 months my sweet little Lily pad! Right now she stretches at about 32 inches and weighs about 21 pounds! She understands more and more each day and I feel like we can ALMOST reason with her at times! She’s still sleeps super well at night, so that makes us super happy and lucky as well. Thank goodness we can count on that! She’s so full of personality and fun, I love cuddling with her and tickling her and make her laugh! She really likes to play and she pats the floor to make you sit down and play with her. She likes to color and draw with markers, play with her musical teapot, play with her kitchen and plastic fruits and veggies, she loves going on her trike rides and playing at the park, particularly the slides! She also loves music and dancing, flipping through books, trying on and taking off beaded necklaces, brushing her and your hair, and playing with chapstick, and even tries to put it on you! She babbles a ton and picks up new words here and there too! She can say “eat” and “up” super clearly now, and she’s very good at saying “help”, “poop”, “eww”, “hooray” and starting to say “thank you”. She’ll try to say other words, not so clearly but it’s the effort that counts! She’s very good at expressing certain emotions too, and will say “ooOOooo” when she sees something new or something she likes and thinks it’s cool! She’ll make funny faces for fun and crack herself up!!
She recently did a photoshoot with MGA Entertainment this past wednesday (1st photoshoot since October of last year!) and she did great! In the waiting area they had tons of toys for her to play with and she quickly made herself at home. They gave her an outfit to wear and then we headed over to hair and make up! Before we went, I asked Lily if she wants to go and play with some new toys and she nodded and said “yes!”. So the stylist put out her hand and Lily took and walked happily with her to the set! They put some lotion on her face, a little bit of powder and Lily tried to push the brush away. The makeup artist then said Lily looked so pretty so Lily put out her face for her to put blush on! She asked if she wanted lipstick (lipgloss) and Lily nodded and said “YES!” and of course licked her lips after to taste haha! She so cute! They gave her a cute purple matching headband to wear too. The product was this realistic functioning (but plastic) shopping cart. It was really cute, I might have to buy her one when it comes out in the fall! Lily did really well and loved playing with the cart and fake fruits and veggies in the cart, and she loved the wrangler too! Lily was laughing and playing and had a great time! I’m so proud of you Lily pad, can’t wait to see the pictures later this year! Below is a picture of her playing with toys in the waiting room and then after hair and make up! What a pretty doll she is! Also, someone found Lily’s Disney Baby Minnie Mouse bedding set advertisement in a full page spread in the American Baby Magazine in the February 2014 issue! I was able to buy a couple copies from Ebay and Amazon!! It’s so amazing to see see in a magazine!! You see polka dots on her face because the pages are thin and it shows the ad on the back of the page…haha. Either way, she still looks super cute!!
I also had Lily’s parent teacher conference at LePort this past Thursday and I was super happy to hear what Ms. Monica had to say about Lily. Lily didn’t get a progress report since she hasn’t been in the toddler class for long, but she gave me an update on how Lily is doing. Ms. Monica said that Lily is such a sweet girl and that she has a contagious laugh! She said Lily has a very good sense of order and memorizes things really well, and would reorganize the puzzles and put them where they’re suppose to be on the shelf! She likes to clean, pushing around the vacuum and she apparently loves to sweep the floor haha. She’s really good during snack time and setting up her seat at the table, and putting things away when she’s done eating. They have a snack station to get their place mats, plates, and utensils. She eats all her food every time, and she drinks all her milk too! What a good girl! Ms. Monica said she loves doing art and gets really excited when they do crafts, and she loves it when they have music time which they do twice a week. Sometimes during nap time, she’ll sit on her cot and just sing to herself and then go to sleep, haha! Her teacher said that doesn’t bother her since Lily’s not disrupting her classmates and Lily stays on her cot, so that’s totally fine! She’s so silly! haha. Lily picked up on the routine pretty quickly, and they ring the bell whenever they change activities, and so when she hears the bells, she’s very good at stopping what she’s doing and go to the carpet for circle time, or lining up to go play outside! I wish I can observe all this one day because it sounds so amazing what she’s doing! She also really likes to water the plants! They teach her to touch the soil and see if it’s dry or wet, and if it’s wet, then they would move on to find a plant to water, and if it’s dry, then they would water it! Ms. Monica said that Lily’s language skills is developing really well and she’s saying more words! She’s learning to spell her name and is learing to pronounce her name better too! She’s also really good at asking for help whenever she needs it, like if she’s on her tricycle and someone crashes into her and they get stuck, she’ll yell out for help! Her teacher said not many kids will vocalize that much, so that’s really great! She also said that Lily might be ready to be potty training in a month or so, wow that’s so quick! So we’ll be getting ready for that soon too. Overall Ms. Monica said that Lily loves to do everything, and that she’s learning things really quickly! She finally figured out how to use the lock and key puzzle the other day too! Ms. Monica said that when new parents come to tour the campus, they’ll see Lily and say she’s so cute and that her face is just like a little doll! She said that she loves having Lily in the class and is so happy to have her here! Hearing all these wonderful things about Lily just makes me soooo happy! I’m so grateful for all the hard work the teachers do to teach Lily, and I’m so glad that we’re keeping up and doing well with raising her at home as well! We are so lucky and Lily makes my smile brighter and my heart fuller each day!! I love you my sweet Lily pad!!
Hello Juniper!
Last week, on January 20th, Lily started her first official day at the Juniper Toddler class at LePort!! It was very bitter sweet to have her graduate from the infant Willow class to Juniper, but we are so proud of her. We were sad to leave the Willow room because we know how happy she was there, and we liked the comfort of it and how flexible they are with her schedule and everything. You develop this nice relationship with the teachers there that was another tough part about new beginnings. We can’t stay there forever. We are so thankful and grateful for all the amazing teachers here at LePort. Lily surprises us everyday with all the things she’s learning, and she’s growing into such a beautiful person thanks to their teachings! Good thing though is Lily will still be able to see her fellow Willow-mates on the other side of the toddler playground fence! Here’s a picture of Lily saying goodbye and giving with her teacher, Ms. Bianca from the Willow class, a hug on her last day!
Two weeks prior to Lily’s start date at Juniper, she got to do a transition period where she gets to visit the toddler class for a little bit at a time. She got to have snack time there, take naps, and even test out the toddle playground!! Her new teacher Ms. Monica, tells me Lily is adjusting nicely and her daily report always says she’s happy! She tends to eat really well too, and we are now able to order her food from Cater Tots for her lunches! Since the toddler class has a set schedule, she ends class at 3:30pm, and then gets to go across the hall to her After Care and play with her friends until I get off work at 4:30 and pick her up! The exciting thing about the toddler class is that she gets to see some of her old friends who use to be in her infant class but moved up since they’re older. It was a nice reunion and her teacher told me that her and her old friend Sage kept giving each other hugs on her first day, how cute is that?! Can’t wait to see all the amazing new things she learns this year! =) Goodbye Willow, hello Juniper!
Lily painting her 1st masterpiece!
Lily having fun washing her hands at the toddler sink!
Lily playing and learning!
Happy Sweet 16 Months Lily!
Lily’s artwork from school!
Happy Sweet 16 Months to our precious Lily pad!! She’s still small, hasn’t grown too much since last month, weighing in at 19.6 pounds and is stretches about 30.5 inches tall. She recently got bronchiolitis and had to breathe through a nebulizer for a couple weeks, but she’s all better now, no more wheezing! Also, Lily is finally off the bottle, woohoo!!! We were so happy and proud of our Lily pad when she started drinking a significantly more amount of milk from her thermos straw cup. We tried sippy cups, normal straw cups, and finally the thermos straw cup. We tried to ween her off but it wasn’t working so we decided to do it cold turkey. Eventually she realized the only way she can have her milk was through the straw cup, so instead of pushing it away, she now takes it without a fight! It felt good to put away the bottle drying rack, we now have more space on our counter, and Khoa’s super relieved he doesn’t have to wash anymore bottles (for now). Good job Lily pad!! She also is so good at listening, we’ll ask her to put her toy back when she’s done playing with it and not only does she put it back (most of the time), but she’ll put it back in the right spot on the right shelf and everything! I’m just so amazed by how much she understands and how well she listens! She loves to babble and she’s learning to say a lot more works too even though sometimes she likes to add a “buh” sound at the beginning of some words, like “baiper” instead of “diaper” and “bup” instead of “up”! haha. She even knows to say her name, except she says “yiyi” instead, close enough! haha. That’s our cutie pie! She’s also signing a lot more words and picking up new signs a lot quicker now too! She’s also very good at feeding herself, eating bananas by herself and hold a spoon and scooping yogurt, oatmeal, or porridge into her mouth! It’s still messy but it’s all part of the learning process! Lily loves playing at the playground and going down the slide, feet first but on her belly haha. She loves being outside, playing with friends, and riding on her elephant Elijah (thanks Cynthia!).
Last week she graduated from her Parent & Me Beginner swimming class and will move on up to her Parent & Me Intermediate level swimming class! She got this cute certificate and got to dig through the treasure chest to pick out a toy for graduating from the beginner’s class! It took her awhile to pick a toy cause she kept shaking her head no at all the things the worker showed to her, but she finally settled on a green stretchy plastic guy that you can bend and shape! You can also check out a short video from my instagram of her swimming too below!
I also found Lily on the cover of another Infantino toy, the Teether Links, at Babies ‘R Us! I went to several different Babies ‘R Us and was finally able to track this down. I was so excited when I saw her darling face that I grabbed three of these, then I stood there for a minute pondering if I should just but the rest as well, since there was only two more on the rack, and so I did! BUY THEM ALL!!! haha. I was so excited, I didn’t even have a cart, so I’m juggling all of these and plopped it onto the cashier counter. I had a proud momager moment and told the cashier guy that that’s my baby on the cover!!! I’m so proud of her and this is the first time I was actually able to find one of her toys myself!!! Just look at that sweet chubby little face, don’t you just wanna squeeze her? So proud!!!
I also took a gamble and bought her Funflower, seen HERE, and her Soft Safari Foam Puzzle Set on Amazon, and look who’s on the cover!!! My dad also found her Jittery Pal at Babies ‘R Us, it was the last one at the time! Woohoo!! So excited that my collection of Lily’s toys are growing bigger and bigger!
Lily’s 1st Week of School (Fall 2013)
Lily just had her first week of the new school year (2013-2014) this week starting on Wednesday September 4th! She hasn’t been in school for almost a week due to the Labor Day holiday, and so when I was driving her to school, I was wondering if she’ll be clingy to me or not. So when I got to her classroom and let her down on her feet, she immediately started to walk around the classroom and checked out the new layout! She was waving “hi” to her teachers and totally looked ready to start her day! She’s so cute I wish I can stay and play with her allllll day, but I’m glad she’s in good hands!! As I was leaving, I was telling Lily “bye” and she just waved back at me waiting for me to leave so that she can play haha! How they grow so fast! Her new head teacher, Ms. Stacey Dee took emailed me some great pictures of Lily at her first week back at school! Her teachers tell me that she insists on feeding herself now, and that she loves to greet everyone (adults and babies) who come in and out of the classroom! They say she loves to talk and always has a smile on her face!! That’s our little bundle of joy!! =) This is going to be a great school year!!!
Enjoy these pictures that her Head Teacher Ms. Dee sent me of Lily at school!
Happy 14 Months Lily!
Happy 14 months old our precious Lily pad!! She weighs in at about 19.0 pounds and stretches about 30 inches tall!! She is super happy all the time and is very healthy! Lily loves to talk! She’ll talk to herself while playing, talk to us, strangers, anybody and anything! She loves to eat and even has a molar tooth growing in the back! She really likes to eat “normal” foods now, and some of her favorites are bananas, strawberries, grilled chicken strips, and turkey and cheese sandwiches! Lily is getting better at drink with a straw too, and sometimes she can drink a little bit out of a glass with our help of course. She loves to walk EVERYWHERE and she’ll just keep walking till she’s completely pooped! She’s still a great sleeper and naps twice a day and it can range from 1 hour nap to 3 hours! She sleeps about 11-10 hours straight at night as well! She’s so good and we feel super blessed and lucky every single day!! Lily is so much fun and she’s starting to understand and respond so much it’s scary haha. Happy 14 months old Lily pad!! Best 14 months of our lives, and going!!
Enjoy these videos of our Lily pad and her newly developed skills! Here’s a video of her signing to eat! (This was recorded last month when she was around 13 months old!) She tried to sign more too by putting her arm close to her, so we can see her efforts!! Good job Lily we are so proud of you!!
Here’s a video recorded yesterday of her signing for more! Her fingers are bunched together too where as before she had her hands flat almost like she’s clapping her hands. Now she’s getting so good at signing more!! More more more baby signing please!! =)
Also, here’s a video of Lily enjoying her first funnel cake at the OC Fair, click HERE!
Lastly, here’s a video of her enjoying a turkey cheese sandwich after a long day at the fair, click HERE. I love how happy she is!!! =D
For more pictures of Lily’s first time at the OC Fair with my parents, click HERE!
Walk On By
So a couple weeks ago I mentioned that Lily took a whopping 3 steps! Well yesterday when I was dropping Lily off at school, she took about 5 steps to her teacher! That was the max she’s done! Then at home she did the same. However, when I went to pick her up from school, her teachers were telling me that she’s trying really hard to take steps by herself and that she’s walking! And I was like walking???!! I mean she takes steps but when do you consider them walking? Her teacher told me that to them, once they’re able to take a step or two by themselves, that’s considered walking!! So apparently, Lily’s been “walking” for quite awhile now!! How did we miss this?? haha! Either way, she’s getting better and better each day! We’re so proud of her and it’s SUPER cute to watch her take those baby steps all be herself!! I attached her school report to officially document that she’s is now walking!! Lily also did a pre-birthday photoshoot this past Saturday, and here are a few previews! =) Enjoy!!
Happy 10 Months Lily!
Happy 10 months old my previous Lily pad!!! Lily weighs in at about 17.8 pound and stretch about 29 inches long! She is a pro at crawling around and pulling herself up to standing as well. She especially loves to pull herself up and we noticed she’s been trying to stand up on her own too but hasn’t quite been able to YET. She loves to move around and discovered the power of being mobile, which makes our life a little more difficulty like when we’re trying to change her clothes or diapers, but it definitely is more fun! She’s also starting to get comfortable with cruising around too (walking while holding onto furniture/sturdy objects). The other day, I wondered if she would be able to climb our stairs (since we have so many), so we tested it out. It was foreign to her at first, and she tried to climb up but didn’t quite know how to do it, so Khoa helped her move one leg up first, then boosted her up to get the other leg up. The next day, she nailed it all on her own! That’s good and bad…now we need to teach her how to safely climb down the stairs haha. But wow, what a fast learner!! She really loves to explore and we notice she likes to face new challenges head on, and isn’t afraid of new things! Yay! Lily also still naps 3 times a day, and her naps range from 1-3 hours each time! She eats solids 2 times a day, and eats 4 oz of solids eat time. So far, she loves everything her momma makes her, so yay, she likes my cooking!!
Lily 43 weeks old!!
Speaking of cooking, looking at the photo above, I was very proud of myself that I was able to make her chef’s hat all by myself! It’s quite simple really. I took computer paper, cut it into two strips. I measured the circumference of Lily’s head and taped the strips so that it forms the band of the hat in the size that fits her head. Then I took 1 sheet of tissue paper (for wrapping not nose wiping =P) and cut a giant circle out of it. Then I just taped the tissue paper to the inside of the hat band and voila!! A chef hat is made! The bowl she’s sitting in is an actual large mixing bowl! We are so lucky Lily lets us stick her naked inside a mixing bowl and take pictures of her for fun =P
Last Thursday, Lily’s school called me around noon telling me that Lily had a 101.3 fever! =( That’s her very first fever ever!! Poor baby! When I arrived to pick her up to take her home, she was so happy to see me, she looked so cute and normal. She knocked out in the car, and slept for another 2 hours when we got home. When she woke up, her temperature was back to normal at 97.7. I think she faked it so she can go home and spend time with her mommy…haha. She was in good spirits for the rest of the day too. I think she might have gotten khoa’s crazy super healing genes and got over whatever it was her body was trying to fight off quickly, and she just needed some extra love and care and she was good as new! =) I’m so glad she made through her first fever like a champ! I’m so proud of her! I can’t believe she’s already in the double digits for months. We will for sure cherish these next 2 months before she turns one!!!
Lily Starts School at LePort!
Lily (42 weeks old) just had her 1st week at LePort school! First off, what is LePort? Here’s their intro on their website “Welcome to our LePort Schools, where we are more than just a daycare and traditional private school. We equip your child with Knowledge for Life – the essential skills and knowledge he needs to thrive as a joyous child today, and as a successful adult tomorrow.” They run by the traditional Montessori educational system, which “is characterized by an emphasis on independence, freedom within limits, and respect for a child’s natural psychological development” and so LePort’s “environments emphasize materials and activities scaled to the children’s size and abilities, opportunities to develop movement, and activities to develop independence.” (quote taken from the wiki page =P).
Lily getting to know Ms. Sharon!
Lily being curious about her friends’ foods!
So this is how Lily’s first school experience went. The head teacher, Ms. Kirsten, came by our house for a few hours to get to know Lily’s living environment, her schedule, habits, and mainly, to get to know Lily. This was a great way for Lily to get to know her main teacher so that when she starts, there will be a familiar face at school! Next, we had her first day visit for 1 hour at school with her last Friday. It was so cute to see her crawl around and try to explore, but because we were there, she just stayed around us and didn’t wander too far away from us. She had her first day by herself this past Monday, where she was there for a whole hour and 20 mins by herself! She got to meet all the other teachers there, it’s a maximum of 3 students per teacher, so there were a total of 12 students in her class, so that’s 4 teachers. Her primary care teacher is Mrs. Heather. However, she will be going on maternity leave soon so she will be replaced by Ms. Bianca! They are all super nice!! When I dropped her off and was heading out, they all sang their goodbye song, and she just stared at me as I left. I signed in her sign in sheet outside the door, then looked back in through the window, and saw her already crawling towards the toy rack. She didn’t even cry!!! I was at first happy that she was fine, but then sad that she didn’t miss me, but overall, I’m proud of her! When I can to pick her up, the head teacher was filling out her first accident report! Lily loves to pull herself up these days, so she was pulling herself up on the table and then she slipped and hit her lip on the table. They said she cried for a little bit but then was fine! What a trooper Lily!! The teachers said she LOVES to explore and was all over the place and that she was very curious of her friends’ food! haha
The second day of school was yesterday, (Thursday), and she was there for 3 hours. She did great as well, no tears, and no accident report! Another thing about the layout of the classroom is that it has a room with a bunch of small cots that are about 4 inches off the ground, and that’s where all the babies sleep. I was really concerned about the cots because normally Lily likes to roll around in her crib for a few minutes before she goes to sleep. So I was really worried that she might try to crawl off the cot and just crawl around and bug all the sleeping babies. Another thing is the cots aren’t the softest things to lay on, so they suggested we bring a blanket or quilt for her to sleep on. So right away I knew just the thing to put on her cot, her personalized made quilt that our aunt (Di A’nh Michelle) got her!! It’s so pretty and it conveniently has her name on it so we don’t have to label it! Anyways, when I arrived to pick her up that day, guess who I found sleeping cozily in her cot!!! Ms. Kirsten told me that when it was time for her nap, she started to whine and roll around in her cot for a little bit, but after some soothing and 10 minutes later, she was fast asleep! It’s like magic!! The next day, she did the same thing and put herself to sleep within minutes!! She is learning so much at school already, and I notice she’s falling asleep at home for her naps a little quicker too. So amazing!!
Starting school is such a huge step to take and some people prefer to wait until later while others say the earlier the better. With our situation, now is the best time for us and Lily, and I feel confident that this is a great decision. Our cousin, Chi Hai’s, kids go to LePort as well, but different campus, but I just see how much smart and well behaved and independent they are, and that’s what I want Lily to learn as well. So far Lily is doing really great, exploring and playing and learning. She had her first buggy ride today too! It’s where they have a stroller that has 6 carseats on it, and they all go for a stroll around the campus so they can enjoy the outdoors! I’m excited for Lily to make new friends and socialize! Another amazing thing is that she gets a lot of stimulation at school that by the time she gets in the car on the way home, she just knocks out and takes a nice long nap! Woohoo!!! I can’t wait to see what fun things she’ll learn next!! Great job at your first week of school my Lily pad! Mommy and daddy are super proud of you!!! We love you so much!!!!!!!
Lily with her hippo backpack ready for her 1st day of school!
LePort T-shirt (onesie) Friday!
