bailey lost her first tooth last wednesday (the day before thanksgiving). she went to wobble it with her finger at lunch and there was no tooth to wobble. instead, she found some blood on her finger!
so miss denise sent her to the nurse with her friend. there, she got her mouth rinsed out and a cool little blue tooth holder/necklace.
meanwhile, miss denise fished through her lunch for the tooth and searched the ground too! after finding a piece of cheese that she thought was bailey's tooth, she then located the real deal! hooray.
that night, bailey put her tooth under her pillow. the next morning, in its stead, she received 5 $1 gold coins from the tooth fairy!
so much to be thankful for (especially for family and friends).
this year, we went to instinet's thanksgiving parade party again. cooper skipped his morning nap and partied like a big kid. AND he managed to stay awake until we got home for his nap. the girls, on the other hand, passed out in the stroller as soon as we got to the subway station.
we had a fancy dinner (just the 5 of us) at porter house in nyc where bryn got to drink out of a martini glass. then the next day, we got a visit from grandma merry!
on saturday, bailey, grandma merry and i went to new jersey for aunt denise's baby shower. baby bingo, lots of food and a chance to see uncle john and uncle mike too!
pumpkin carving, ps 199 halloween parade, 69th street celebrations - where we were briefly on the news, trick or treating/giving out candy in our building. halloween was a grand time for everyone.
bailey started kindergarten at ps 199 and bryn started her 2's class at mandell. they are both such big girls in their own way! bailey has been getting used to a MUCH bigger school and figuring out how to navigate the school cafeteria. bryn has been doing great with separation! she loves wearing her big girl backpack, saying hi to the bunny and eating pretzels.
a couple weeks ago, we rented a minivan and airbnb and headed to boston for the week. it was pretty awesome. the city was very walkable and there were a ton of kid friendly activities nearby. we were also able to catch up with a couple old friends (becky and kelly).
full recap of our trip can be seen/downloaded here!
summer has flown by! bailey enjoyed her time at the YMCA camp and bryn continued her 2s/3s class at appleseeds. she also took "ballet" (yes, there are quotes around ballet).
almost every friday, i was able to take bryn (and on occasion bailey) on special dates. we went to sony wonder technology, fao schwartz, central park zoo, new playgrounds, a nypl exhibit, the plaza, and more!
i can't believe summer is almost over and bailey is going to start kindergarten. CRAZY!
on the same weekend of grandma carol's wedding, cooper (aka homeboy) lam lillvis was baptized at all angels church. it went off without a hitch as homeboy didn't even cry.
uncle john, aunt denise and uncle sam were on hand to once again fulfill their duties as godparents.
we then celebrated at a lovely luncheon nearby at fish tag.
ooof! it's been a little while since i posted. as you might imagine, things have been a little… um, shall we say… BUSY! on july 12. 2014, grandma carol tied the knot to the dashing richard chen in a small, intimate ceremony at riverside church in new york city. bailey and bryn were the AMAZING and somewhat out-of-control flower girls. apparently bailey went first, dropping her flowers from her basket like a pro while brynny picked up those very petals that bailey dropped to put back into her basket. OH BRYNNY! gotta love her! meanwhile a very loud cooper stayed for a brief part of the ceremony before being ushered out for a walk. he was dashing in his handsome tuxedo (first time, poor guy has worn shoes in his almost 1-yr of life).
the weekend was beautiful and special and pretty perfect. a handful of family and friends partied hardy at the national after the ceremony. then grandma carol was off on her whirlwind honeymoon around the world.
cooper now has 3 big(gish) teeth and 3 teeth that have just broken through.
he's crawling (not super turbo but getting there).
he's eating like a monster (more than the girls).
he can say MAMAMA and DADADA and BOBBY and i can't remember the last one (i'll have to ask bailey tomorrow when she wakes up).
here's a pic of him at his last doctor's appt. he had his blood drawn at said appt and didn't even cry.
it feels like yesterday we were just moving to the upper west side (unsure of whether or not bailey would get a spot at mandell). then suddenly, with the blink of an eye, she's already done with school!
how did that happen?
she had a great time meeting new friends and studying all about the rainforest and the ocean. she became really good at art projects and managed to bring home a pretty killer dictionary that she made.
go bailey!
here's a pic from her end of the year picnic.
after another 3-day potty training adventure (big kudos to daddy lillvis aka poopmaster flex), brynny is potty trained. no more diapers.*
*except for pull-ups at night and for naps.
there were a few tantrums. and day 2 was rough. but as we were hoping, it clicked on day 3. in true brynny fashion, she will master something (all-the-while not wanting coaching) and then insist on doing everything herSELF!
she got a few gifts out of the ordeal, a bunch of panties, some new nightshirts, a few "gummies" and lots of attention from her mommy and daddy.
bailey was a good helper for the most part. cooper was oblivious.
this month, grandma merry and paw paw have been in NYC! the kids are SO excited they are here. from occasional dinners during the week, to afternoon playground trips, to music class and swim class, to bedtime prayers, grandma and paw paw have been here to lavish attention on the 3 lillvis monkeys. they couldn't be happier.
in less than 2 weeks, there's going to be some serious withdrawal.
holy moly. what were we thinking?! outnumbered and taking a 6-hr plane flight across 3 time zones? ok. ok. plenty of parents have 3+ kids. but come on, we're newbies to this life of juggling 3 kids.
all in all, we had a great time. the weather was nice. the location of our airbnb rental couldn't be beat (literally across from the santa monica pier). the unknowns were tantrums, earthquakes, jet lag, and motion sickness.
if we do it again, gaby is totally coming with us!
here's our journal from the vacay.
cooper's 5 month stats:
• 25.5" in long
• 16 lb 9 oz
• 43 cm head circumference
• super CUTE
• 1 tooth
• multiple chins
• very drolly
• sleeping from 7pm-5am then back down till 7am
• napping in his crib
• did i mention super CUTE?
over the last month, the girls have had quite a few birthday celebrations. bryn had an elmo cake at home on the day of her 2nd birthday with a few friends in the apartment. then, that weekend, she had a big celebration with cicely (a friend from church). for that big party, i totally lucked out in that cicely's mom did almost ALL of the work (cooking, inviting, hosting, cleaning).
then just this past weekend, the girls had a "Frozen"-themed blowout bday party at appleseeds. almost every single kid from bailey's class was in attendance along with other friends, old and new. then today (bailey's actual 5th birthday), bailey had a cupcake party at her school.
i think birthday mania is officially over! i guess at least till cooper's 1st. ;-P
it's been a little while since bailey's been in the water, but she's been doing great in her new swim classes at the Y. next up, swim classes for brynny!
little brynny is not even 2 yet, but she just started a 2s/3s class at appleseeds. the goal of the class is to work on separation. thus far, bryn hasn't really been apart from myself/matt/gaby very much. and when she's had to be own her own, it's been pretty rough (e.g. nursery at church). BUT only after 3 short classes, she's managed to be on her own!
although it has been reported that she is VERY serious in class, the great news is that she hasn't cried!
little brynny is all grown up!
little baby coops is just shy of 4-months of age, but he already had his 4-month checkup last week.
as of then, he was 24.5" long (50%) and almost 15lb (50%). he's been cooing a lot lately and his smile can't be beat. every time he smiles he reminds me of city dog (shown above) from CITY DOG, COUNTRY FROG.
maybe there's some truth to the saying, "mama's boy" or maybe he already has a special place in my heart because he's the littlest.
that said, we certainly haven't been babying him. we've been pretty tough on poor coops when it comes to sleep training. he's been doing pretty good until a couple days ago when he's been consistently flipping himself on his back (unable to flip himself the other way). getting stuck, he's been crying and screaming a lot. :-(
but we are hopeful that he will learn to self-soothe soon!
