Bottoms Up! A week in Potty Training

Well, I don't have many photos and videos to share this week since Lucy has been wearing nothing but her birthday suit much of the week. We officially started potty training on Monday and she has decided that she will wear nothing but a shirt or dress or her Elmo underwear (or as she calls them, her Elmos or Zoes) at the house. This does not provide Internet friendly photo opportunities since the week has been filled with many bottoms up positions, many glances at her nether regions and even an experience I call the "face sitting" which involved me on the floor and opening my eyes to two cute little butt cheeks resting on my face- not so cute at that angle, I might add.

I was just about to give up the potty training effort yesterday when she decided that she would stay dry for two straight days and has successfully pottied a couple of times since then. She even stayed dry the entire time we went into DC today to attend the Folk Life Festival. She is being rewarded with jelly beans and stickers on her sticker chart and gets to read one of the cards that her family and friends have sent to celebrate her potty training success. She will occasionally ask me if "Momma is proud" which is so sweet I feel a bit guilty every time she asks- of course I'm proud of her! I think the book "Once Upon A Potty" has really helped as well since she talks about the main character "Prudence" a whole lot and told me that Prudence was really happy and proud of her pottying accomplishments as well.

Back to the Folk Life Festival. So if you have never been, it would be a fun time to visit one summer in the future. They choose 3 different cultures from around the world each year and then bring in the food, crafts, dance, music and businesses that make that culture so unique and share them for all to see on the National Mall. This year they are celebrating Northern Ireland, Mekong, and Virginia. Lucy loved the bluegrass music in the Virginia tent and we all loved the ham and bisquits! Lucy also played the drums in the Mekong tent and rode the merry go round on the Mall. The best part for her: the Metro ride in. She still loves trains and every time we made a stop she would say "Again!" Pops would probably like to know that she also loved the tunnels we went in.

We are looking at several weeks of pool time, birthday parties and hopefully soaking up as much Taylor and Coulter time that we can before they head back to school in August.

Walking with Asher

Asher is one of Lucy's favorites. He is always good for a fun time on the swings, hiding in the bushes, or running on the playground together. They are starting to take it to a new level though and are actually able to share with each other and have little conversations and they laugh at each other nonstop. He is a great friend to her!

today we went for a walk with Asher, Aurelia and Amy and ended up at the playground. Every few houses on our walk, either Lucy or Asher made us stop so that they could pass a toy, a pretzel or a cracker to the other. We didn't get much of a walk in, but they sure did have fun cruising besides each other!

Hide N Seek

We all played Hide N Seek in the house this evening and even Reggie got into the fun. Of course, he's the worst hider because he tells everyone where you are hiding by just standing in front of you. Lucy and Ian were hiding in the tent one time which made Lucy very giddy!

Push Ups with Daddy

Lucy likes to hang on for dear life while Ian does push ups. We took a video but since she moons the camera half the time we decided not to post it on the Internet, don't want those sugar buns ending up on some clips show on tv! In the video, she counts "1, 2, 3, 7!" and then tells Ian "Again!" when he stops- quite the personal trainer!

Finding pants

We went to Eastern Market this morning and walked around, tried out the fresh produce and Lucy examined many of the wares (she really liked the jewelry with shells). Then we headed out for shopping to help Ian shop for pants. As you can see, Lucy was a big help, when she wasn't hiding in the racks.

Back Home

We got home on Thursday and Lucy quickly caught up with her friends and Aunt Taylor and Coulter. We had Matteo and Ronin out to the backyard for a cook out (with their parents) and they ran wild for hours. For fun, they decided to fill a dog's water bowl which apparently took all three of them to accomplish. Ronin ended up soaking wet, but it was mission accomplished!

New Sunglasses

I was laying on our bed today with my eyes closed when Lucy sauntered up and said "Hey! See my glasses?" When I opened my eyes, this is what I saw. She said she saw "blue" and kept trying to wear them on her head, or upside down, or around her neck. Thanks Grandma!

At Stepfan and Cathy's

Pirate Ship Pool!

Parker, Aunt Cathy and Gramzie went with us to Woodland Park Pool to play on the pirate ship and to splash with the crocodiles. Between Parker and Lucy, I'm not sure who smiled more. They had a great time and never tired of sliding down the water slides, going through the tunnel or sitting on the floating crocodiles. We were rained out which was a good thing, otherwise I think we never would have been able to pull them out of the pool.
Later that afternoon, Ian took Lucy to visit Nana. There, she says, " I played with Nana's doggie and bunnies and then came back to Gramzie's house".

Playtime with Gramzie

Parker was at school and Pop Pop left for Sapalo Island in the morning so Lucy spent the morning alone with Gramzie. They walked to the park but Lucy deemed it "too hot" so they walked back home and played in a bucket of water for about 2 hours! She then tuckered out and rested before she went over to our friends, the Noll's, new house in Masterson Station. She got to play with Thomas, Henry and Cate as well as Lily O'Dea in teh backyard. They all had a great time and were quite busy the entire time.

When we got home Lucy caught more fireflies and we put them in the big cage that Aunt Boog had painted for her. She told me that after she went to sleep they were foing to "dance in the light of the moon". Pretty nice.

Father's Day!

We celebrated Father's Day with Ian at Dick and Zanne's on Sunday. Parker came out for the day and he and Lucy ran through the sprinkler and had a great time playing all day. Stepfan and Cathy came out later for dinner so the entire Jefferies gang squeezed around the table for many antics and good food!

Wedding party!

Lucy arrived in Lexington just in time for nap- which she decided to skip for maybe the 3rd time in her life (perfect planning since we were taking her to Jon Moore's wedding at the Bell House. To pass the time and to take a little rest, she watched a dvd with Ian in bed. She ended up doing just fine at the wedding although she was upset when the two ring bearers had a break down and had to leave the ceremony. She began yelling "the kids crying. oh no!" The highlight was certainly getting to leave top go eat pizza with Parker at Gramzie and Pop Pop's.

More Splash Park!

Bon Bon's turn to take Lucy to the zoo! We went to see the new baby elephant and then took the train to the splash park where Lucy went down her very first water slide. Bon Bon had to be quick to catch her or she would have slipped right on under picnic tables! Lucy also got to ride her very first Merry-Go-Round with Bon Bon and cried when it was over. She said that she "wubbed riding the horsie".

That afternoon Ian got into town and we had all the Legels over to Pops and Grandma's house with our friend James as well. Lucy ran around and totally exhausted herself on her last night in Louisville.

Visit with Jessica and Baby Katherine

My friend Jessica came over to show us her new baby, Katherine. Lucy got a bit jealous when I held the baby, but was more than happy to share her toys with her. While Kate kiced and cooed on the floor, Lucy brought her half a dozen toy dinosaurs and fish and set them up in a circle around her. She also talked very sweet to her and tried to calm her when she was crying.

Later I found Lucy faving Uncle D in his room and playing with a game controller. She looked like she was trying to maneuver things on his face rather than things on the tv screen.

Thursday night was Uncle Hunter's 18th Birthday so we went to Bon Bon's to celebrate. We brought the cake and Lucy brought him an Elmo balloon to make it feel more like a party. She also got to visit with Nani and Pa then and Katie and Joe as well. Hunter and I took her outside and played with her under her new parachute toy and Lucy sat and watched herself on her own blog! She really liked Pa and gave him hugs and kisses and talked about he and Nani all the way home.

She ended the night chasing fireflies or as she likes to call them "shyreshies". She had Grandma and Uncle D running around like mad looking for them.

Bon Bon's Day at the Park

Bon Bon took Lucy to Brown park today to feed the ducks and to play on the playground. Uncle Hunter met up with them after a while and Lucy sure seemed to enjoy climbing the stairs and sliding down the slide over and over again. Thankfully, after all that time in the heat and the playground, she took a great nap and then headed over toe Pops and Grandma's for dinner with Mama and Uncle D (and more sprinkler time!)

Oasis day with Uncle Hunter

A break. We decided to hang low for a day and take long naps, and play at home for a while. We went to the playground and out for a long walk and then over to Courtney and Jeff Woeste's hosue for dinner. Lucy chased their poor 2 cats around the entire time we were there and loved climbing their stairs over and over again. She claimed one stair as her own and yelled at Jeff when he sat there.

Louisville Zoo

We headed to the Louisville Zoo with Grandma, Pops and Uncle D to see the new baby elephant, Scotty, the giraffes, flamingos, albino crocodile and the polar bears (all of which we don't have at the National Zoo)but the highlight of the day was the new splash park! Lucy wen wild splashing with all the other kids and was not afraid of getting soaked or sprayed in the face. She was a total nut!

That evening we went to Bon Bon and Grandpa's house for dinner and Uncle Hunter introduced us to his friend Kate. From then on, whenever we were at the house Lucy would ask, "Where's Kate?" over and over again.

Swimming at Mark and Diane's

Lucy wore out the entire Legel gang at Mark and Diane's house. She was in the water the entire day and took nearly 1.5 hours to fall asleep she was so wound up from the pool. She splashed and played with Uncle D for hours and then relaxed like Cleopatra on a floating raft. She got to visit with Mama, Michelle, and Pat as well.

Lucy arrives in Louisville

Lucy and I flew from Baltimore to Louisville on Sat, June 9 and after waiting inline forever in the airport (where Lucy kept asking myself and strangers "Where's Bon Bon, or Gramzie, or Pops?" ) we had a smooth trip to KY. Lucy was great on the plane! She skipped her nap but other than that, she sat fairly still, colored, read books, sang songs, played with play doh and covered her arms in stickers. She loved flying through the clouds and was very excited when we landed yelling "Kentucky!!!"
We had a great time in Louisville. We started out Sat at Bon Bon and Grandpa's house and go to visit with Uncle Hunter too. Lucy played in her oasis in the backyard, tickled the ivories, strummed the guitar with Hunter,and ran in circles throughout the house. We then headed over to Pops and Grandma's to visit for a short while with them and Unlce D and played in the sprinkler.

I'm coming to Kentucky!

Big Blue Eyes

Lucy demanded that she wear pigtails today with two barrettes- quite a little dictator when it comes to her hair. She spent the morning at her friend Aaron's house playing in the sandbox and then after her nap she headed to the playground with her playgroup friends.

Church dress

Lucy was so good in church this week- a rare occurrence and we were so proud of her. She also looked pretty darn cute in this outfit that her Nanni gave her before she was even born. Ian particularly loved the hat. She gave an "Amen!" or two and was very interested in the children's story but the choir really engaged her.

Boots!

Lucy has been trying to walk in my rain boots for months and was so excited when she was able to stand up in them- finally tall enough!