Cirque du Soleil

Good thing we live in Orlando, Lily won't have to travel far when she joins the Cirque du Soleil team of acrobats! She's well on her way with her latest talents! I should also note that the apple apparently doesn't fall far from the tree. When my parents took me to see the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus in Chicago around the age of 10, I thought I had found my calling. I was destined to join the circus and become a clown. Yes, I admit it...a clown. Not the trapeze artist, nor the tightrope walker, not even the fancy lady with all of the cute little dogs that do cool tricks. No, I wanted to be a pie slingin', red nose wearin', little car drivin' clown! Fortunately, Lily will be taking a "step up" in the circus world if she does indeed join the ranks of Cirque du Soleil.

If you don't want to hear the music playing, press the pause button at the bottom of the screen on the player. However, this video is more visual than verbal. Enjoy my little acrobat.

Turtle Dog??

If Riley isn't trying to sabotage Lily's understanding of what a dog is, then he must be for sure trying to get some extra attention!

As soon as our turtle, errr dog, is out of the picture, Lily makes a quick move for his toy. Just another busy day at the Shapiro House.

As always, remember to press PAUSE at the bottom of the page before pressing play on the video below.

The Kids

Labor Day...One Year Later

Oh how that term has an entirely new meaning! Thank goodness the Labor Day we are speaking of is the first Monday in September when we honor the social and economic achievements of American workers. I thought it would be fun to compare Labor Day photos from last year and this year.

Here are the two comparison photos, exactly one year apart. :) Unfortunately I was unable to get Lily to look up at me (into the blinding sunlight) for a few seconds to take the photo, so this will have to do. It was much easier to capture her on film when she was in my stomach!

Once again we found ourselves at New Smyrna for the weekend visiting with Grandmom and Grandpop Macsay, as well as the kids' great-grandparents Nanie and Pop. Canyon and his friend Paul enjoyed some surfing, body boarding, and soakin' up the sun. Scot was on 100% "Dad Duty" to the boys, while mom was on "Baby Duty". Lily and I did manage to make it out to the beach for about 45 minutes on Labor Day...just enough time for her to dig her hands and feet into the sand (no she did not eat it), and us to snap several photos!

7 Months

As the seven month mark has come and gone (on September 6th), I find myself sitting here in disbelief that yet another month has flown by. If only there were a way to stop the clock, or at least slow it down! Apologies for the late post, but life just doesn't "stop happening" these days. This post will be short and sweet as I find my eyes struggling to stay open and my writing very bland. For now, here are Lillian's 7 month pictures...

(Mommy's favorite)

Lillian is quite the little ham. She entertains strangers with her big smiles and sweet babbles. Her vocabulary has expanded to baba, mama, and dada...however, she utters them indiscriminately in strands intermixing the words. Still practicing her steam roller technique, and not a lick of crawling! Maybe next month?

(Daddy's favorite)

Oh, Jiminy Cricket!

I will try to make this preface as quick as possible...because the video is far more entertaining. Lillian has a Baby Einstein Around the World Soother in her crib. This soother rotates animals around five different countries and plays either cultural music, or nature sounds. Lily has recently been going down for naps on her own (like a big girl), with the help of the nature sounds of Jiminy Cricket. Perfect, right? Wrong!! At the bottom of the unit, there is a green button that the child can push on and off to activate the sounds themselves. On the product's website, it explicitly says: "Its bottom button design allows for extended bedside use for older babies."

Naturally I believed the term older babies to exclude Lily at this stage of only seven months. Perhaps it is my assumption that is wrong here. The other morning around 5:00, I remember waking up to the sound of crickets. I clearly remember the sound. But as soon as I sat up and looked around, well, I must have been dreaming. No crickets in my room. Again about five minutes later, that pesky cricket was back chirping its little heart out! It took me a few seconds to figure out what was going on. The joyful tunes of old Jiminy Cricket were coming from the baby monitor. Could Canyon have gone in there and turned it on for her? He is a diligent big brother, always looking out for his sister's best interest. But at 5:30am, probably not...he was fast asleep. As I crept into Lily's room, hoping to find her fast asleep, I was amazed by what I had found. Lily had positioned herself perpendicular to the hanging unit and was pressing the "child activation switch" with her FEET!

Seriously??

If I was one to swear on my family's life...I would do it right now! I laughed and probably encouraged this behavior more than I should have, but I was blown away that my .5 year old daughter had been so clever. For now when she wakes up from her naps...she lets me know she is awake by giving me a little on/off action of the crickets. I could literally be downstairs, folding laundry, and out of nowhere through the monitor comes that cheerful cricket noise.........and then it stops......and starts....and stops...all the while continuing until I actually go upstairs and retrieve my small, very keen and crafty child.

If this behavior is indicative of the child we are going to be raising, boy are we in for a wild ride!!

REMEMBER TO TURN THE MUSIC ON PAUSE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE BEFORE PRESSING PLAY ON THE VIDEO. :)