Wardrobe Drama & Belly

My jeans no longer function correctly if I am sitting. I officially cannot wear anything normal - I am still too small for any of my maternity pants but unable to button my jeans and be comfortable. I could wear pajama pants but that doesn't help me if I have to leave the house. I kind of just look bloated, but not yet pregnant... although I feel a lot bigger than I used to be. This leads to a little frustration when trying to get dressed for going anywhere that I might care what I look like. My other option is wear my jeans unbuttoned with a frumpy shirt... Okay, I sound complainy - so shame on me... but I have to say this is one of the more frustrating parts of this whole process for me (and if that's the biggest "problem" I will have to deal with, I will consider myself very very fortunate). I'm not saying I'm big - just awkward in the fashion sense. I know that before too long this phase will be over. Since I haven't posted any belly pictures - I will go ahead and show you my progress thus far.

Here are pictures at 8 weeks, and 18 weeks:

Tulip Time

Yesterday my mom, Lucy, and I went to Tulip Time in the morning, with Lucy all dressed up like a little Dutch Girl. She was so cute - when she got her dress on at home and looked in the mirror she was smiling and twisting around to see herself. She wore her wooden shoes the entire time, and they only fell off once. Adding a pair of socks fixed that, and she was even trying to run in them! She slipped a couple of times, but she never seemed bothered by having them on her feet, and everyone who saw her commented on how well she was walking in them. By the end of the day they had a good amount of mud on them (but then again, that's what they're made for)... and she also started to drag her feet a lot more as she got quite tired (maybe because they're so much heavier than regular shoes), but we had the stroller to give her a break for a while.
Lucy met a boy a little bit older than her, who was also all dressed up in a costume. It turns out his mom is originally from Grandville and her younger sister was friends with my sister in high school. She just moved back to West Michigan, so I got her e-mail address - at least to send her some photos I took of her son.
We had an elephant ear and saw an organ grinder, and just basically enjoyed the beautiful weather and of course the tulps. Ron and I are taking Lucy again on Friday - probably without the costume though. I can't believe she wore the hat, dress, and shoes for three hours without whining at all... she was such a good girl!

See all my photos in a gallery HERE

Beach Bummer

Yesterday Ron, Lucy, and I went out to Holland - not for Tulip Time - but instead to have dinner at Russ' and then head out to Tunnel Park, since it was such a beautiful afternoon.

Here she is trying desperately not to touch the WET sand!

Lucy was already in a somewhat grumpy mood (I think because she has a molar with all the peaks through, but not the middle section of gums... and it's making her miserable. She is also getting over her cold - still just coughs a little). Anyway, turns out she hates the sand, the way it feels, all gritty and dirty on her hands and feet. She also hates cheese puff dust on her fingers (yes she has eaten cheese puffs) and any crumbs on her high chair tray... so this is no surprise. She would hold her hand up with fingers splayed like, "get-it-off-me! get-it-off-me!" We tried to get her to play with her shovel and bucket, and get her used to it, but she just wasn't being receptive. On the way home she was desperately trying to get every last grain out from between her toes...

I hope it doesn't take too long to convince her that the sand is okay and the beach is fun!

Dutch Feet

Lucy's feet look huge with her wooden shoes on (especially when she's wearing stretch pants)... but she actually seemed to enjoy practicing with them on Sunday morning. We'll be taking her out to Tulip Time a couple times this week, and she's wearing a costume on Tuesday, so hopefully we end up with some cute photos (and then I'm sure we'll get her changed out of the fussy Dutch girl dress, even though she seemed to like that too: yesterday when she tried it on she was actually twirling in front of the mirror). At the end of the video she has a little wipeout but I'm hoping the grass and the sidewalks aren't as slippery as our "wood" floor...

Photoshop is a Verb

In the past few months I have gotten much more adept at Photoshop (we have version 7.0 but I'd love to upgrade...). Due to some new abilities I didn't have before, I've been going back to some of my favorite shots and editing them. Some of them will have to be left alone, because I just don't have the time to spend "photoshopping" hundreds of pictures. I usually try to keep it simple, although it can be fun to completely overhaul an otherwise basic shot into something artistic. Usually I try to just enhance, however, rather than alter. I wanted to post a before and after (thanks for the idea Aletha!) of one of my all-time faves. We went to Moelker Orchards in Walker for some fall pictures by the apple trees, pumpkins, etc. You can see more here). I may even reprint this one since I have a copy in a frame hanging up...

Before: it was late afternoon with the sun to their backs, and the clouds in the sky looked so cool...

After: I boosted up the colors a bit (notice the sky, Ron's sweater, and especially Lucy's sweater), and added the darkened edges - which also made the blue in the sky appear much richer toward the top.

I believe that digital editing you do is almost as important as the initial picture you take. I do my best to take pictures that are good without editing, but I can almost always improve upon them with software (like Photoshop or Picasa) and end up being much happier with the results.

Sneezy

Lucy has a cold! It's her 2nd cold ever so I'm really not used to dealing with all the snot. She of course hates having her nose/face wiped and is incapable of blowing her nose. On top of that she seems to be drooling more than ever, because she is working on molars... so she is just dripping with fun. I don't feel like taking her anywhere, but that's okay because it's supposed to be kind of a gray, rainy day anyway.

Something's Different...

Last month's background color was dark teal, and I wanted to do something very different this month - so I went with orange. I hope it's not too obnoxious. If you don't like it, you can look forward to June 1 for the next change.

Correction

I'm a little slow - those are Hotwheels, not Matchbox. I'm not even sure of the difference, but I think there is one. Anyway, apparently I was sheltered from such things as a child (we spent more of our time throwing naked Barbie dolls down the stairs with "loom-looper" bungee cords). Anyway, I just wanted to fix my mistake on the previous post :)

Hotwheels Lucy

Lucy inherited her dad's collection of cars - most of them from the 70's and 80's... Miraculously the police car's siren still works after all these years! More photos here.

Baby Visitor

The house is clean, and Lucy is napping. What to do, what to do...

My friend came over today with her baby boy to visit. He is really cute and was pretty content almost the whole time. Lucy was very interested in him, and wanted to give him all her toys (even though he was totally unaware of what she was doing as she piled them on him). When I had him on my lap, she seemed a little jealous. I brought the old bouncer seat out, and she immediately climbed into it, so I had to explain it is for babies, and she's too big! She didn't poke at his eyes, which is good. My nieces had a tendency to do that when Lucy was a little baby.

I was playing with him by tickling his nose with the fuzzy hair of a stuffed Dr. Suess "Thing" doll, and she wanted to try it, so I handed it to her, and she copied the noise I was making while bringing it down to his face, and then not-so-gently whacked him in the eye with it. He didn't seem too bothered but I quickly determined that maybe that wasn't such a good idea. It was pretty cute watching her study him though, and I imagine she will be quite the little helper when her baby sibling comes along.

Gobble

My dad shot a turkey this afternoon (a couple hours after going out to get his license). He got a tom with a decently long beard, and plans on cooking it in his smoker! I took some photos, and Lucy got to check out the bird (nothing cuter than a small child having their picture taken by a dead animal), reminding me of many evenings when Kelly and I would put on winter coats over our pajamas to have a Polaroid photo taken of us next to a deer hanging from the basketball hoop... I won't post a photo but you can click the link if you're interested. Hope everyone is having a great weekend! Stay warm!

McKlompen

Yesterday afternoon my mom and I went out to Dutch Village in Holland to get a pair of wooden shoes for Lucy, so hopefully she will be able to wear them with her (borrowed) Dutch outfit for Tulip Time. They are meant to be worn big, with several pairs of socks, so Lucy ended up getting a 7/8 (she normally wears a size 5 shoe) and we had her name burned onto the fronts and the year on the undersides, free of charge.

It was a overcast and windy day, and there were only a few sets of tulips in bloom - the rest were daffodils and hyacinths, but it still looked pretty.

Then Lucy had a Happy Meal for dinner, which came with strange-looking "American Idol" themed toy, which plays music when you lift the hand holding the microphone up. She had Chicken McNuggets and ate them with normal bites, instead of shoving them all into her mouth at once! Same with the fries... Woo-hoo! She's getting better and better at feeding herself (safely). Getting fast food is a rare event for her (or for me) but she sure loves it.

Flowers!

There are some more things blooming around our property... and these are some from the backyard garden area. Some new tulips (those that weren't eaten by our resident rabbit(s?)), and some mini daffodil-type things, and also a shrub - which popped out of the ground from nothing and grew extremely quickly... I was waiting to see what it would "do" and now I've discovered some blossoms on it: it is a bleeding heart plant! There is an ornamental tree which looks like it may flower, but no sign of that yet. Even more things are growing in the front yard, including ground covers, hostas, and more "bulb" flowers.

Mmmmm...

Our baby is approximately the size of an avocado (4.6 inches from head to bottom). An avocado that now has the ability to hear! Guacamole and tortilla chips suddenly sound really good...

Watching Her Show

Lucy basically watches only one TV show: Sesame Street. I know some people avoid having their children watch any TV at all, but it seems so educational and fun I figure it can't be completely evil. Everything in moderation, right?! It's not like she even really sits still enough for more than a couple of seconds... so she never gets to the level of being totally engrossed, despite her appearance in this photo. She just goes about her normal business of playing, but stops occasionally when Elmo is on, or if there is a song, so she can dance - which usually looks more like a parakeet bobbing up and down to the music.

Covered Bridges!

This weekend my sister and her boyfriend came up to visit. On Saturday afternoon we visited the covered bridges in Lowell/Fallasburg, where Heath and I took plenty of photos (check out mine here). Later we had dinner at my parents' house: ribs, chicken, mashed potatoes, garlic bread, cole slaw and micro brews (or in my case, cream soda) from Siciliano's. Sunday we hung out for a while and then we went to the Ice Cream Garage in Standale, before Kelly and Heath headed back to Evanston.

Sunny Weather!

More New Lucy Photos!

Kick Me

I am finally getting to the fun part of pregnancy: feeling the baby move! Over the past few days if I am lying still I can feel a few tiny flutters. Last time I felt the baby (Lucy) around 16 weeks, so this is just a bit earlier.

Today it is actually nice enough to wear short sleeves or, if you are a toddler, a summery dress.

Hey, I missed the earthquake this morning! I'm disappointed, as I can't remember ever feeling one in my life (either I was too young to be aware of it, or like this morning, fast asleep). My mom was already up drinking coffee. I feel gypped, but then again I shouldn't really be hoping for more earthquakes...

Daffodils

I've always wanted daffodils and sure enough, this house came with some...

Check-Up

Lucy had a doctor appointment today (18 months "well-baby") and she is 26 lb. 13 oz. (82%), and 34.25 inches (off the chart %) tall. She had 2 shots and frowned a lot. Below are her charts for weight (top) and length (bottom).



I just like visual aides. I can also easily spot the time in her life (around 4 months) when we started cutting down on the formula and giving her lots of various baby foods to keep her satisfied longer (also an attempt to reduce the spitting up, although it didn't seem to make that much of a difference in that department).

The Pretender

Lately Lucy has been playing pretend, which is really fun! It just sort of came on suddenly, and now she likes to give things to her stuffed animals/dolls, place books on their laps, give them drinks from her sippy cup, make them dance, kiss, go "nigh-nigh" etc., and in this case, spoon feed Elmo! She even makes slurp sounds when she puts the spoon in his mouth!

Spring Break Over

Today is the last day of Spring Break for Ron, he goes back to work tomorrow (although he has worked a few days at Woodcraft, where he works in the summer plus most Saturdays during the school year)...

During the past week or so, Ron got the leaves and sticks cleaned up, some of the quarter-round has been installed around our wood laminate flooring, and we've gotten to spend a little time just having fun. Today we even were able to see a couple relatives who live in Maryland, who were just in town for the weekend (unfortunately for the death of a good friend of theirs). We only get to see them a couple times a year, so we skipped church to visit with them at my parents' house for an hour or so.

I'm going to steal something mentioned in Katie's blog: I can't believe Michael Johns was eliminated. I would've picked him to be in the final three for sure. What on Earth? Now that that's out of my system...

Time to clean. I can't relax in clutter and our great room is the very definition of clutter right now.

Spring Break!

It's Spring Break (for those of you who work at / attend high school)... I might not post as much as usual, but I wanted to add a new one since it had been a while. I took a lot of pictures of Lucy playing in my parents' backyard the other day, and I am adding them to our Photo Site... Hope everyone has a great week!

33.333%

I am 1/3 the way through this pregnancy... which is hard to believe. I definitely feel great, but I am getting a tummy much sooner than last time (when looking back at old pictures and comparing). It's still not obvious to strangers because I've been wearing jackets or vests a lot, but if I wear something fitted, it might make them wonder. I suppose this is normal with a 2nd baby, but it's hard to be in the "in-between" phase where normal clothes don't fit quite right, and maternity clothes are too big and would just look silly. I have a Bella Band that I might have to start using soon to help with the transition. In the meantime I've been wearing my elastic waistband black pants pretty much every day (but my jeans do still fit!).

As for the baby - he or she is about three inches long from head to bottom, has all it's teeth waiting under the gums, ankles and wrists, and separated digits and fingerprints! It might suck its thumb if it feels so inclined, and those parts that distinguish the "he" from the "she" are developed enough to tell the difference (if we wanted to find out). Basically it's a fully-formed human that just needs to grow in size.

Groundskeeper Ronnie

This is just one of the photos I took today, while Ron was kind enough to rake out a bunch of leaves and start getting The Slope cleaned up. Last fall I yanked much of the juniper (creating a pile in the driveway the size of Ron's car), but as you can see, some remains. It tends to take over, so I want to get the rest of it out. There are a few other random shrubs and ground covers, some of which we may keep. It's hard to tell what else might pop up as spring continues. Either way, this is a tricky area to landscape. A level surface with a retaining wall in front might be a nice idea in the future, but that's not happening this year. We won't be doing any siding or roofing until much later in the year (if we're lucky)... so in the meantime we want to make our landscape neat, clean, and low-maintenance (but hopefully pretty).

I appreciate Ron's hard work today - he took 2 truck loads of yard debris to my parents' house (where it can be safely burned in a giant pile... and they also have a good spot to dump leaves in the woods. We don't have those easy options). Anyway, he said it's nice to be outside, to relieve the cabin fever a bit. From the looks of it, our soil is fantastic. We won't be doing battle against a sandbox with ants, ground (miner) bees, and crabgrass like our last home! Also, when we moved here in the fall, the yard was excellent (with no work done to it - except mowing - for over two years)! With a little extra effort, we should be able to keep it quite nice.

Mysterious bulbs, etc. are popping up in various locations in front and back. Daffodils? Irises? Tulips? Some of these will definitely be kept (even if relocated).

18 Months Old!

Today Lucy is a year and a half old. It seems like we were just celebrating her birthday, and she's already halfway to another one! Sometimes it seems like life is going by way too quickly, but at the same time we keep looking forward to her growth and learning. It's hard, but we have to remember just to enjoy the present, and not get too caught up in imagining the future.


She is taking on some new responsibilities around the house these days. Sweeping will earn her a nickel in her piggy bank.


Not sure about her logic, but who am I to question? More Photos

Quick Post to Procrastinate

Today: went to church, went to grocery store, went to Burger King (ugh, I know... nutritious lunch for us!), Lucy taking nap, I washed a mountain of dishes (luckily we're buying a dishwasher with part of our economic stimulus check!), Ron is at a Rampage game with our friend Keith. I should continue cleaning... it's really gotten away from us the past couple of days. Toys are scattered everywhere. Also, our island is covered with miscellany, which we knew would happen when we designed the kitchen but went ahead with it anyway. With it being part of a great room, it really needs to stay clear or it makes the whole room feel cluttered. Motivating, I guess...

Anyway, this weekend flew by. We did end up going to Olive Garden Friday night. Combined with the unlimited breadsticks and salad (which was filling enough), we split an entrée. It seems cheap, but let me tell you, it was PLENTY of food and we saved some money. We still left feeling quite full, and our total bill was just over $20 (the amount of our gift card)! So we just basically had to pay the tip... pretty good for a nice dinner.

We also rented a Wes Anderson movie that we hadn't seen yet: The Darjeeling Limited. Usual group of actors/actresses + Adrien Brody who I thought was really great. Random sidenote: I thought Jason Schwartzman looked really good with a mustache. Anyway, it was strange and slow and pretty, and ultimately meaningful (if you search hard enough)... but if you don't usually like Wes Anderson movies, steer clear.

TGIF

I'm so glad it's Friday. Tonight Ron and I might actually go out to a real restaurant where they don't hand you a bundle of crayons upon arrival! Sadly, it has been a long time since we've gone anywhere to eat without you-know-who. Although it's super chainy, the Olive Garden might be the place... their bread sticks are sounding pretty good to me, plus we have a gift card burning a hole through my purse. Then again it might be nice to go somewhere new, or somewhere we haven't been to in a long time. If you have a suggestion, feel free to comment. But remember, we're not looking to break the bank here.

Did you see Piers won on the Apprentice? Did you see that Donald didn't actually "fire" Trace... that's because he's really the better man, but didn't win on the actual cash-raising element. Oh well, America knows the truth. I can't believe how long they stretched out that finale. That was the only episode of The Apprentice we watched this season... and it was plenty. Now I can shift my focus back to Idol.

The Look-a-Like Meter Favors Ron by 4%, But...

Bonus Ultrasound

So today I had my 12 week checkup with Dr. Grey. Almost always by this time (or earlier) a heartbeat can be found with the Doppler. After a valiant effort, she was unable to find one, so as you can imagine I was getting a bit nervous. Apparently everything is still tucked really far down so it made it hard, and she kept assuring me that she wasn't worried, but just to be sure she snuck me in for an ultrasound...

Immediately when the image appeared on the screen, the technician saw our baby kicking and flailing like crazy, and rotated the monitor to show me our super-active baby (they always keep the monitor turned away from you until after they know it's okay for you to look, especially since this was a "viability check", which is strange...). Of course, the heart was beating away as normal as can be (155 bpm). It was cool to see the fingers and other tiny details that weren't really present on the 8 week scan. She took a few pictures for me, and even used the 4D transducer (why it's called 4D) (which is always pretty cool). No boy or girl parts would be visible quite yet, so don't strain your eyes...


Put 'em up!

Dark Teal Now

As you can see my blog has a new color scheme again. Maybe I should change it each month... in fact, I think I will. Since we're at the tail end of March, consider this the April color... it's not hard for me to do, and it keeps me amused. Plus I was not liking the pink that was here before (as it appeared with this new monitor), and of course color options are endless (it was hard for me to settle on one, so I guess it'll be good to change it from time to time)!

Monitor

My sister is loaning us a computer monitor - it's a nice flat panel Dell.... actually I think the screen is larger than our other monitor, which was beige, huge (not the screen size, the depth), and crappy. Now with this new monitor, everything seems so much brighter! My photos look lighter and my blog background looks more pink than "wine". Am I seeing things right for the first time? I might have to make some adjustments!

Anyway, thank you Kelly - we really appreciate it!

Unaware

Ugh - this morning Lucy was just not herself... and it was rubbing off on me. I think she was tired, and has a couple molars working their way through... then out of nowhere she climbed up onto the couch and landed her pointy little knee, with all her weight behind it, right onto her little brother or sister. I got really worried for a while, and I think that was making Lucy even crabbier. I Google'd all the different key words to find something reassuring and eventually found a message board where this type of thing had happened to other people and everything turned out fine. Basically for injury to occur to the baby, the mother would probably have to be pretty injured herself. Also, the fetus is pretty safely protected by fluid and muscle, etc. Still, I'm looking forward to my checkup tomorrow afternoon, and to hearing the heartbeat. I'm sure everything is okay, but I'm going to have to protect myself more from our little (big) girl... she doesn't know any better.

Has something similar happened to anyone else?

So, she got some Tylenol and is down for an earlier nap than usual... sounds like a good idea to me, too.

Easter

Yesterday was Easter - one of the coldest ones in my memory! That's a bummer for everyone who has pretty little spring dresses for their girls and then goes to church and it's 25 degrees outside! So, we ended up adding tights and a little white sweater to the ensemble, and with a new pair of shoes that morning, Lucy was ready to go. We made it to church super early and she did quite well in nursery... until she apparently ate an entire apple. That won't fit in her tummy, so some of it came back up onto her sweater. Therefore we had to make a pit stop at my parents' house (they were visiting Kelly & Heath in Evanston) to wash the sweater before heading to Ron's mom and dad's place...

I didn't have my camera with me that day, because I didn't expect to be out and about so long... but I'm hoping to get some photos from other people via e-mail. However, I took some pics of Lucy in her dress on Saturday, so that I could remember what she wore. She was not very interested in my mock photo shoot... but I got a couple decent ones anyway, and created a gallery.


I'm hoping to add some pictures of the little Easter egg hunt at Ron's parents' place... Lucy seemed to be having a great time finding the eggs hidden among the countless knickknacks, all the while avoiding getting trampled by her older cousins. No one whined about how many they found. Yeah right (but not Lucy, she was happy with one in each hand!).

After a couple hours of madness there (and not all the relatives could make it, but there were still six little kids) we decided we had made it this far without putting Lucy down for a nap, why not stop by my grandparents' house for an hour or so, where she proceeded to zero in on all of the ubiquitous candy dishes. Lucy did so well, despite not getting to take a nap until after 4:00 PM! When we finally got home, I changed into comfy clothes and fell asleep for an hour. I've never been so tired from an Easter!

Guess What...

Time to share some news - I've been letting relatives (immediate family + grandparents) know and now that they all do, I can officially post it on this blog: we're going to have another baby! Here is a photo from 3 weeks ago...

The due date is October 8, so if you recall Lucy's due date of October 12 (born October 1), there is a good chance they will have very close birthdays. I'm only 11.5 weeks now, and have felt great the entire time. Once again we are not going to find out the baby's sex, and as of now I have no "feelings" about what it might be. Maybe that will change ... but I'm really amazed at how much I don't care what it is! Many aspects of this pregnancy are just like last time, but I don't have any strong cravings yet to compare (and luckily no morning sickness either)...

Best Seat in the House

This is Lucy's new obsession: the Chicco stroller I posted about earlier! Now she just wants to sit in it and hang out in the living room. When I folded it up to put it away she let me know how sad she was... so now she's strapped in the stroller watching Sesame Street and wouldn't have it any other way.
More Photos

Lucy Appleseed

Lucy can eat an apple by herself. It's really cute because she holds it with two hands, and turns it around and gnaws on it like a squirrel, with her eyebrows furrowed, like "nobody better take away my apple!" She's good at it though, and it's an easy way for her to self-feed while I do something else. Today during lunch I gave her an apple to work on while I did dishes. Before I realized it she had eaten almost the entire thing... down to nothing more than a nub the size of a peach pit. This means some of the core must've been eaten too... and now she's a little worried that an apple tree is going to start growing inside her tummy.

Precious Naptime

We went to the high school to visit people today, and after all our running around and saying hi and eating snacks Lucy was so exhausted. I put her down at 1:00 and it's now 4:00 and she is STILL ASLEEP. I even snuck a nap in there myself. Now I'm thinking about waking her up so she doesn't stay up too late! Maybe it's a growth spurt or something, just as she's outgrowing all of her winter clothes... yay. Speaking of which, how nice is it outside today? Beautiful! I am so ready for spring!

Downsize

With spring and summer approaching, we're going to be spending more time outdoors, going for walks, etc. Along with shopping, community events, etc. sometimes it's nice not to have a giant stroller. Sometimes a big stroller is handy, but not always when you just want to run into the mall or watch a parade. The umbrella stroller I found last year (but did not get) is the Chicco Capri Stroller in "Seventies", with fun lime green and multi-colored dots.

I know cheaper ones exist, but we need the shoulder straps to keep Lucy from launching out the front (I can definitely see her doing that). It comes in a few different colors - all the other colors are solid, but I like the print.

Then there's this thing for $550... Yikes!

Smarty Pants

You think your kid is intelligent? I think MY kid is intelligent. I think most people think that about their children. Then I saw this story on the Today Show and was stunned to see a little girl Lucy's age READING a variety of words and phrases shown to her without a problem. Words like "penguin", "stomach", "kangaroo", "Take a bath". How does she know about the long "A" and silent "E"? How does she know the "TH" sound? I know that the "normal" age for kids to start reading any words is anywhere between 3-5 years of age. I am very amazed by this child. Her parents haven't pushed her at all, she just loves books, and has also been taught signs, but experts think it's largely genetic. Wow.

Membership is Up...

... at Spring Valley Community Church - because yesterday a group of people made profession/reaffirmation of faith and became official members. This happens a couple of times per year, and we were in this group. Along with our profession of faith, Lucy and I were baptized (Ron had been baptized as an infant). We went through a lot of Cheerios and a Dum-Dum sucker to keep Lucy happy... it was a long morning being there for both services, picture taking, and occupying a toddler. She spent some time in the nursery which she is still not 100% accustomed to. My mom stayed in there with her for a while since she instantly had a meltdown and I was hoping she'd be in a calm state for her baptism/etc. It was nice to finally become members after a few years of attending, and all of our parents were there for the occasion.

All in all Lucy did very well and, after a nap at home, was even in a good enough mood to play with three rowdy cousins that afternoon when my brother- and sister-in-law came over with their kids (and Papa Murphey's pizzas).

Friends

Last night our friends Dave and Lisa stopped by for dinner. Their daughter Lauren is the same age as Lucy, and after some initial shyness the two had a nice time playing with each other, taking toys from each other, and pulling their socks off. They are a fun age right now, babbling and running around without any real plan, eating fake fruit... we tried to snap some photos (I haven't seen Lisa's yet) but it was quite challenging getting a good one of both of them. However, I think this one captures their personalities better anyway.

Some Things Never Change....

Here is Lucy nearly 7 weeks old - seems like forever ago. She was so tiny and floppy... couldn't climb things, ate nothing but formula... lived in pajamas most of the time...

And here she is back in late January (which would have made her almost 16 months old at the time). As soon as I took this photo I remembered the one above and was amazed at how similar her face looked. In so many ways she is entirely different from that little baby in a pink sleep-n-play, but it's hardly evident by this picture. She must have been getting in touch with her inner infant.


I am bored.

Perched

A new trick Lucy discovered while I was busy in the kitchen...

Bored = Lucy update

I am so bored - I hate this weather. I have no motivation to do anything... I have been wearing "comfy" pants unless it is necessary to do otherwise.

Lucy no longer takes a morning nap at all ever. She will however, spend some time in her crib in the morning so that I can shower before 2:00 PM, thankyou. She takes a good afternoon nap, so this adjustment to her schedule isn't too bad.

Lately she has been quite insistent on taking your hand and leading you to where she wants you to be. She does not give you an option, and if you fail to get up and follow her, she will scream and frown. Most often she will take you to her high chair as a hint she wants to eat. Cute little habit. She has been saying a lot more words lately, like "car", "hat", "cookie", "Elmo" (okay she's been saying that for at least a few weeks), "clock" (but she might miss the L sound... but she IS gesturing toward a CLOCK on the wall), and "flower" - almost. I am still not sold on this one but Ron says he heard her say it, although it was in a whisper. She can put all the oddly shaped puzzle pieces in the correct spots on her Sesame Street puzzle at Grandma's house. She also knows all her colors (to point to the correct one). She likes to hook a purse on her arm like a real lady and push her shopping cart around, throwing her play fruit all over the floor.

So she seems to be getting smarter and smarter each day! We're pretty proud.

Oh, Internet!

This is a chandelier made of Gummy Bears. Mmmm.... here is the matching rug:

Giddyup!

Today Lucy went on the carousel at Rivertown Crossings Mall for the first time. She was tired when we got there, so she had a real serious face at first. However, after a little while she was smiling and having a great time! We'll definitely have to go back!
More Carousel Photos