Getting ready for baby

We have been trying to not talk about the expectant baby too much. I thought that Lucy was getting a little tired of hearing about it, but boy was I wrong! She talks about "little sister" all the time and is so busy getting ready for her as well. She is always coloring or painting pictures "for the baby", she talks about sharing her toys, carseats, strollers, etc with the baby and talks about what the baby will eat and do when she arrives. The other day, our neighbors brought us a bag of newborn diapers and summer girl newborn clothes. Lucy was so excited that she immediately had to go through them and put the diapers next to hers in her room. She will be a great big sister, and she talks about that, too!

Still no nuk, and doing much better!

Yeah! We are doing much better now that Lucy has overcome some of her withdrawel symptoms and is used to the idea of no nuk. She made it through night number 2 without waking until 5:45, she had a few requests (a drink, some rocking, books in her bed) and then was back to sleep until 8am. She also took a great nap and as Ian said, "like a teenager, couldn't be woken up" at naptime. She is falling to sleep in record time now as well, so, as soon as we can get through an entire night without her waking, then we will have true success!

On another note: we do believe sometimes that instead of a 2 1/2 year old, we have a teenage girl in the house. She is bossy, she is overly dramatic and makes grossly exaggerated statements. Today when Ian tried to wake her at naptime, not only would she not wake up, but she kept covering her eyes and telling him that she needed to sleep more. This was followed up by a couple hours of her snacking non-stop on everything from a box of raisins, to a bowl of popcorn, crackers and rice cakes to a pear, etc. She downed 2 cups of whole milk and then without any time between snacks and dinner insisted that we feed her her dinner before it was even finished. So the hunger was marginally teenage-like but the real kicker was the dramatic statement: "I never get anything to eat. I am always hungry. You never give me any food." If her face starts breaking out, boys start calling and she insists that we drop her off a block before the playground so she can arrive without her parents around, we'll let you know (and promptly lock her in her room until she is 16!)

Good-bye Nuk!

Good-bye Nuk! That was the sentiment that was yelled repeatedly to Lucy's pacifier last night prior to her going to bed. She had decided that she could leave her pacifier in her playhouse's mailbox for Santa Clause to pick up and take to "baby reindeer". We wrote a note, put nuk in the mailbox and then had a very rocky evening, complete with waking about every 5 or ten minutes for about 2 hours straight with every complaint under the sun- her blankets wouldn't stay on, she was ready to get up (at midnight), she needed a drink, she needed momma, she needed Daddy, she needed Reggie. Finally, we had enough and convinced her that she too needed some sleep. When she woke this morning, she found a half-eaten carrot that Santa had neglected to finish, a few prizes and no nuk. Naptime was marginally better and so far, she is off to bed without a complaint. She hasn't asked about her pacifier but she is very aware of it not being around and very aware that this, along with going potty in the toilet, means that she is a very big girl. We are very proud of how brave she is being and know that after the initial adjustment, she (and we!) will sleep better and will no longer need that nasty ol' thing!

Lucy's favorite hiding spot

If you look around our house and can't find Lucy, she is usually in one of three spots: behind her rocking chair, in her playhouse or in the middle of her pile of stuffed animals.

Ian and Lu hitting the cold

Lucy and Ian all bundled up to go outside to burn off some energy in the cold great outdoors.

Music Day

Thursday was music day at our house! We went to a music class at the library where Lucy proceeded to play shy for the first few minutes and then never looked back! She ran, shook shakers, beat on drums, sang at the highest notes, danced, danced, danced! She ran under the parachutes, showed other kids how to play the instruments and squealed and laughed through an hour of fun. When we got home, she of course wanted to do "special projects" so we then made five different instruments with things around the house. She is particularly fond of guitars right now so anytime she can pretend to play one, she does.

Igloo

Lucy is very proud of the igloo she made out of marshmallows and wanted to share a picture with everyone. Of course, as many marshmallows went down the hatch as went onto the igloo!

Day with Dinos

We went to the Museum of Natural History to indulge in one of Lucy's favorites these days: dinosaurs! She is in love with T Rex, Stegosaurus, Dimetrodon, Allosaurus and Tricerotops, fortunately, they have all of these, plus some, at the museum. She was a roaring, running, screaming machine so excited to see these in person. The video is some of her excitement. To top off our trip, we went to the newly opened bug room, the Hall of Mammals, the "rock room" where she liked all the "sparkly rocks" and crystals, and then we went next door to the sculpture garden so she could watch the ice skaters for a little while. She is now really wanting to go ice skating and we are hoping to hold her off until next fall, when her feet actually fit in skates, I can skate with her (I may be a bit more steady on skates than Ian) and she can understand that falling is part of the experience.

Aurelia visits

We all know and love Asher, but do you know Aurelia, his little sister? She's a cutie and she came over to play with Lucy one day last week. She is a handful, climbing, crawling and playing all over the place. Lucy dutifully played and entertained her the entire time and loved having a baby to take care of. Everytime Lucy left the room Aurelia would start to well up and fuss. She really liked having Lucy bring her toys and wanted to do whatever Lucy was doing. They might not be close in age, but they will surely be good friends!

Tea party time!

For Christmas Lucy received a china tea set and we put it to good use today. Instead of tea though, we used hot chocolate and instead of sugar, we used marshmallows. We drank cup after cup of cocoa and Lucy ate a billion marshmallows. It was her first cocoa and first real tea party (she usually fills her plastic tea set with dried beans to practice pouring and feeds her babies her concoctions) and she was pretty thrilled with the whole idea. She even donned earrings, rings, a flashing necklace and bracelets for the occasion but said she wasn't cold enough for gloves and didn't want to wear a hat. I was asked to wear a tiara though.

It's snowing!

Apparently Lucy does not remember much in the way of snow or at least she certainly has a lot more questions about it this time. We went outside today to walk over to Asher's for a playdate and instead of it taking us 5 minutes as usual, it took us nearly 25 since we had to stop every few feet to answer a question about the snow. Here are some of the questions:

Why is it snowing?

Is snow like rain?

Where do snow and rain come from?

Can we make snow?

Is it muddy when it is snowy?

Does Daddy like snow? Does he like rain?

Is it cold? Why is it cold? Where does cold come from?

Do the squirrels like snow? Do birds like snow? Does the beaver like snow?

Why isn't there snow in the creek?

Did the snow cover up all the ducks?

Then finally, "Reggie likes snow, but he does not like rain. He does not like to get his ears wet. But he likes to swim in the river. The river is the Potomac River." Think she's heard that before?

A big kick!

Lucy was able to feel the baby kick tonight. She was so excited and said, "my little sister kicked me!" Then she had to make sure that the kick didn't hurt me so I told her that it was just the baby's way of telling us that she was playing in my belly. Then Lucy held her shirt up and told me that her baby was kicking her.

Here is a picture of her hugging my belly a few days later. Excuse the workout attire, I was not exactly picture-ready!

Waking up early

Lucy and I are not exactly on the same timetable in the mornings. Since I wake up half the night with kicking, hot, or just plain restless, I am too tired in the morning. Now, I recognize that I am lucky that Lucy does not wake up at the crack of dawn but I still want more sleep right now. So she has taken to waking up and playing in bed for a while before I get up, usually about 30 minutes later. Then one morning, I fell back asleep and more than an hour later, I was awakened by the sound of Lucy singing "Happy Birthday to Paolo" at the tippy top of her lungs. When I went in, this is how I found her. Everything had been tossed from her bed, she was settled into the bars of her cell and singing to get attention. Always the happy toddler, she made it a bit easier to get out of bed! She then ate enough breakfast to feed two grown men, and it deserves mentioning: a banana, a pancake, a blueberry muffin, a scrambled egg, blueberries, an orange and a bowl of Cheerios. I guess all that working to wake me up worked up an appetite!

Lucy's Favotire things Jan 2008 for archives
Helping mom cook
Family visits
"School days"
"Special Projects"
Books
Dancing and singing songs, making up songs, yelling songs, whispering songs
Coloring, playdoh, painting
Jumping, hopping, bouncing, doing forward rolls
Her friends Asher, Ronin and Andrew
La La (her lamb), babydolls and treating everything like a baby
The playground, especilly the swings

Riders up!

Lucy loves all things Kentucky. She loves the Wildcats and cheering them on to victory with her pom poms and watching the games with Ian. She loves talking about who lives in Kentucky and names everybody at least once a week. And she loves horses and the idea of the Kentucky Derby. She jumped on her rocking horse the other day and said, "And now, Lucy Jefferies riding in the Kentucky Wildcats!" She rides in her own version of the Kentucky Derby all the time, and wins each and every time so I'm not sure what riding in the "Kentucky Wildcats" means, but I'm sure she's still a winner!

Forward Rolls!

I've been showing Lucy how to do forward rolls for a couple of weeks now, off and on. Tonight, in the true spirit of Lucy's two year old self, she decided that she should try it by herself- and she did it! She was so pleased with herself and proceeded to do about 50 in a row. Next up: backwards rolls!

Paolo's Birthday party

Chuck E. Cheese, what an experience. I don't know that we have ever taken Lucy somewhere that was so loud, crowded and crazy! She didn't really know what to do with all the flashing lights, beeping machines and loud, loud music. She happily rode the rides, had her picture taken, played wack-a-mole and ran around like a total loon. Of course, her favorite part was the traditional birthday party with the pizza, juice, cake and singing Happy Birthday. She did like when Chuck E came out and sang and danced with the kids.

A Wild Goose Chase

We went to a neighboring playground on Sat and saw dozens of geese meandering about near the creek (the one that sits behind our house). Lucy decided that she was brave enough to chase them around and it turned out that she can clear a field of geese in just a couple minutes! She is the tiny dot on the screen yelling "I'm chasing!"

What, is there something on my face?

As you probably know, Lucy is a tidy little girl. She always wants a napkin when she eats, hates getting dirt on her clothes, still asks for a bib and will usually help clean up her toys, her messes, etc. So when I offered to treat us to ice cream after swimming, I expected it to be another neat experience. Wrong. She wanted the cone, not the ice cream so I ordered a cup with a cone on top. Of course, she had a little bit of ice cream as well, but the tiny bit that was on the cone when I handed it to her did a fine job of covering the lower half of her face! The best part? She had no idea that it was all over her and laughed at herself when I showed her her face in the mirror when we returned home. Prizes to all of those who can guess what flavor she ate.

Swimming

Lucy has been wanting to go swimming pretty much since Labor Day so I took her to the rec center by our house on Friday. She had so much fun since they turned the wading area into a water park in her honor with fountains of water shooting up, bubbling areas and buckets that filled and dumped above her head! She loved playing with the noodles, her float and "naked baby" as well and was asking if we could invite her friends before we had even left poolside. Looks like we have a new winter activity!

Andrew visits- at last!

We hadn't seen our good friends the Heaths since before the holidays so Lucy was so excited that she was getting the chance to play with Andrew all by herself for an entire morning. They played hide n seek in her house, tackled each other in the tunnel, colored, painted and snacked the morning away!

The nails darling, the nails!

Lucy has a mild obsession with keeping her nails painted. This is made all the more difficult since she insists on doing it herself most of the time and I am not insane enough to allow her to do it with actual polish, just her play make up polish so it washes off or peels off constantly. Here is one of the 5 times that she painted her nails last week. Very serious business and one hand is usually purple while the other is pink.

Quotes from Lucy Jan 2008 for archives

"School day" This is the only way Lucy says school. It is never a word said alone. It is always "school day". For example: "I really like school day" or "Asher does not go to my school day"

"I'm wearing confume" (perfume) "and it smells really good"

When asked if she was having a brother or sister: "Momma is having a girl and I am having a boy in my baby belly."

"That's Hillary. and George Washington Monument." (after being shown pictures of Hillary Clinton & George Washington)

"And when the baby comes, the angels will sing!"

Warm January days!

We took advantage of the unseasonably warm January weather with a day a the playground a picnic outback watching the ducks, geese and crane. Miss. Cool never leaves home without at least one pair of sunglasses. Check out the mastery of her ABCs while she swings!

Back to School

Lucy headed back to school today and was "so excited". She named off all the people she was going to see and all the fun she was going to have but did add that she wanted me to pick her up (as though I might not if she didn't request it). It was warm outside so they got to play on the playground and in art class they made their own paints out of blueberries, cinnamon, and other foods. That was definitely a hit and I'm hoping that blueberries don't become the new "paint" in our house.

Oh yeah, and there will be another baby

I am definitely feeling the baby move all the time now and Ian actually felt her kicking for the first time the other night. Lucy is still pretty sure that she also has a baby in her "baby belly" and shows me her belly regularly for check ups. While we are excited about another baby, it is so different this time around since Lucy keeps us busier than busy. Due date still set for May 15 although I am pulling for a Derby baby!

I guess I have begun the "nesting" part of pregnancy though since I have been obsessing with finding storage solutions and getting the house together before spring. We found a secretary's desk and a Lane cedar trunk at the Eastern Market in DC (an outdoor flea market for those not in "the know") and both of those give us a good start to being able to clear out some drawer and closet space for the new baby. I also was able to organize all the baby clothes over the holidays and am happy to announce that with a girl, we need pretty much nothing (5 1/2 bins of girl's clothes for a baby under 18 months seems to be enough!) although I'm sure there will be plenty of big sis/little sis things in the mail in the future. Lucy also caught sight of all her old baby toys and now reminds me regularly that "My little sister will share her toys with me and I will share my toys with her". We'll see how that works out when little sis grabs one of her babies, or (GASP!) La La.

ay! de mi

"ay! de mi" I apologize if this isn't even close to how you spell this Spanish expression, but it was part of the funniest conversations I've ever heard. We've recently been telling Lucy to say all sorts of goofy sayings, including Spanish ones just because it cracks us up to hear her say them. Tonight while Ian was helping Lucy in the bathroom, he told her to say it (which means something along the lines of "oh poor me!" or "Oh my goodness!") She kept saying "ay! de you!" And Ian would say, "No, say, ay! de mi" and it went in circles over and over again. I have to say, her version was funnier and cuter than Ian's.

In the same thought, she will now exclaim "I dominate!" when playing Hi Ho Cheerio.

Bag Lady

We've long said that Lucy resembles her Aunt Lauren in many ways but perhaps the latest development is the most telling. She swooned when she caught sight of some shopping bags. She quickly filled them up with all sorts of goodies and then pretended to go shopping, insisting that each of the bags be placed on her shoulders and carried just so. She is either a compulsive shopper, or a bag lady with all her bags, grocery cart, and 20 cell phones in 3 purses, it could be either one. The next heiress? The next hobo? I think definitely the former considering the cardboard box she has been playing in was bought and paid for, is in the process of a complete renovation and decoration and is complete with a sink, baby changing table and vacuum.

Lucy and Ronin reunited (and it feels so good!)

Well, he has returned. For more than a week, we heard "Where's Ronin?" while he was in Ohio with his grandparents for Christmas. Ever since then, it has been love. We went over to their house a few days after they got home and Ronin showered Lucy with hugs and kisses, held her hand and showed her all his new toys. Then he came over to play with Lucy and Asher and it was more love, "Ronin, come here and dance with me. Ronin. Ronin!!!!" When he isn't around, I am asked "What is Ronin doing?" and "Ronin likes that". It's an obsession. That's not to say that Asher and Andrew aren't still tops as well, it's just that Ronin is on the brain, for sure! We had Deb and the boys over for dinner last night and Lucy and Ronin played (or dumped) every toy in the house and then finished the night with a dance party to Laurie Birkner band. Here the lovebirds are side by side watching the show, in between dancing their tails off and jumping nonstop.

Visit from Gramzie and Pop Pop

Gramzie and Pop Pop came in just days after Christmas with another armload of gifts for Lucy so that it truly was the second coming in her eyes (and the angels did sing!) After tearing open another truckload of gifts, she promptly put Gramzie to work over the next week. They beaded necklaces, took care of baby dolls, made special projects including a new year's sign and hat, played with playdoh, kept house with all her new cleaning items (vacuum, broom, mop, duster, sink, etc.), and played with everything in sight. She dragged the two of them to the playground, Eastern Market in DC and every restaurant between here and there. Here are photos from their trip and a video with her favorite proclamation for the past week, "Happy New Year!" This is something that she says in the most appropriate times and at the most random times. For instance, "Happy New Year Kimberly and Todd" upon seeing them for the first time since the first but also "Happy New Year Daddy", upon leaving him to change his clothes after getting home from work, yesterday. Oh well, it's a nice sentiment either way.