Asher and Lu

Lucy and Asher squeezed in some funtime on Friday morning. They played with instruments, ate snacks, asked for more snacks, ate more snacks and then asked and begged for more. This is just what they do. Then they hugged and said their good-byes. Life isn't so complicated when you are 2!

Aquarium

We went to Baltimore for President's Day to go to the National Aquarium. It was a bit crowded in the beginning and we were having a hard time holding Lucy's attention. Until the stingrays and sharks. They were certainly captivating and she was thrilled by the stingrays especially. She also really liked watching the turtles and frogs. In fact, she told one little girl that they were "Lucy's turtles". She loved when they swam up close to her face. The dolphins were pretty amazing, too and she liked when they swam upside down close to the window.

Lucy has a fascination with watching herself. She constantly wants to see the video as I am taping or wants to see the photos the second the shutter closes. This is the result, a giggle fit as she tries to get behind the camera. Her crown is one that we made for all of her classmates as valentine's. I keep getting reports that all her school friends are wearing them around town. Lucy is always setting fashion trends!

Spinning with Boinks

More spinning from the fabulous Miss Lucy. She really can't get enough of this pastime and we usually just sit back and watch while she giggles, spins and dizzies herself nuts.

Snowy Day

We finally got a little bit of snow and Lucy woke from nap so excited. She watched from the window for a while and then decided that Reggie would love the snow too so we got bundled up and headed out. She really liked watching him jump around, even though he was totally obnoxious. I'm glad we took it all in, it was gone by the next day.

Hearing Voices

Lucy has been singing "Where is Thumbkin" and the best part? She uses voices to answer "Very fine, I thank you!" It all comes out sounding like the kid from the movie "Overboard" who talks a bit like Pee Wee Herman. It cracks us up everytime and she seems to get a kick out of herself as well.

Terrible Twos?

We have finally ended the month of Ian's traveling. He in total was gone about 11 days in February and boy, Lucy has been really making him pay for it. We aren't sure if she is just being 2 or if she is mad at him for leaving her so much, but she has been a real handful. She will be totally sweet with me and give me lots of hugs and kisses and tell me how much she loves me and then scream "No!" at him nonstop. She throws a tantrum everytime he tries to do anything for her. Of course, she will still "let" him give her a bath as that is pretty much her favorite time of day.

Other signs of the terrible twos:
-asking nonstop for anything she sees. She asks for snacks every 5 minutes, takes 2 bites and then asks for something else. Fickle pickle.
-wetting her pants. Of course, she says it's "just a little bit" and it is. There isn't even really a mess. Just her trying to get away with something she isn't suppose to do.
-Purple pants. This is all she wants to wear. Nancy McNally gave her some purple pants a year ago and they are starting to get short on her but that is all she wants to wear. I came out of the bedroom this morning to see Lucy in her purple "polar bear shirt", purple dinosaur socks and those darn pants. As Ian put it, she looked like McDonald's Grimace. And the sight was grimacing! Other favorite items of clothing: reindeer shirt, peacock shirt, rain boots, rain coat and sparkle pjs. Whenever these are dirty we have a real battle on our hands.
-Hoarding. Whenever we are at somebody's house, especilly Ronin's, she likes to instantly choose a handful of toys and then screams whenever somebody else wants to go near them. Lately, she sits on his little tryke and fills the basket with her booty and then scoots around whining that Ronin is taking "her" things. Needless to say, Ronin has a few things to say about this.
-"all by myself". She doesn't have to say it all the time anymore, she insists in other ways. She must put her own pants, shoes and coat on (which can all take hours). She must make her own sandwiches, "read" her own books, choose her own dinner, get in the car all by herself and on and on. It's all part of learning, we know, but the attitude we get when we try to help is a bit overwhelming!

Don't worry, I'm sure you will see the princess in all her glory. Just 3 more weeks until we unleash her on Kentucky!

The spooky and sweet side of things

Spooky: Ian is out of town and for two nights in a row Lucy has out of the blue said "Oooh! A ghost just ran by me" or "Oooh! That ghost that ran by me was really fast". I have no idea what she is talking about or where she has gotten this, but it certainly spooks me! They do say that children see things we can't. Let's hope not.

Sweet: Lucy has been super affectionate these days. Most of the time I am being showered with hugs and kisses and she is always telling me how much she loves me. It is certainly a nice thing to hear, even if it is a million times in a day. The funny part of it all, she uses it when she gets in trouble or when she thinks she might get in trouble. I'll start getting frustrated with her and she'll say, "I love you so much momma. I need to give you a kiss and a hug right now." I have to say, it does make me slower to get angry and is a nicer way to resolve things. Too bad for her, I'm still not a softy, it's a hug, a kiss, and 'I love you' and then back to time-out or a lecture for Lucy!

Lucy ain't the only one doing forward rolls!

Lucy has taken to doing forward rolls everywhere. For some reason they seem more fun if they are performed on the bed, on the couch, in chairs, etc. Of course, all of these platforms are not suitable for somersaults so they end up just being death traps. Let's hope that we can keep her from breaking her neck doing a forward roll off of the rocking chair in her room!

Lucy isn't the only one doing forward rolls. "Little Sister" seems to be working on her gymnastics routine as well. I am not only being kicked and punched all night long (yes, all NIGHT long) but the baby is definitely flipping and flopping and I can even see it happening at times. To top it all off, I am already having Braxton-Hicks contractions, those lovely fake contractions that don't really amount to anything, other than a very active baby afterwards. The good news, Lucy gets to feel and see the baby move more. She also likes to talk to the baby now and tells "Little Sister" about her day, tells her she loves her and tells her to "stop kicking momma" or "wake up Little Sister, you can't sleep all day and kick momma all night!" Little Sister likes to keep me awake from about 1:30am until 3:30am every night. Lucy is also now getting up with the sun, literally, every day so I am looking forward to the time change in a couple of weeks so that maybe Lu will sleep in a bit so that I can get a few more zzzz's as well.

Excuse Me!!!!

When it comes to manners, toddlers are not usually the most polite. Lucy has been saying please and thank you for a while now, although she needs plenty of reminders. Lately, she can't stand when anyone else is talking and she is not part of the conversation. To combat this, we have started having her say "excuse me" to interrupt. She has actually caught onto the idea pretty quickly although now we hear "excuse me. Excuse me. Excuse Me. EXCUSE ME!" a zillion times in a row. The "politeness" is then usually followed up with a silly word, a comment or recitation of what the adults are talking about, a request for a snack, or a kiss. Getting better, but phone calls can be a real challenge these days!

Valentine's Day 2008

We met Deb and the boys at the National Building Museum for some funtime and Ian came over to have lunch with us for a mid-day Valentine day treat. Lucy and Ronin ran wild in the building zone room and as always, thoroughly enjoyed each other's company. They also have a house in the room for the kids to play in and see wiring, pipes, etc in the walls of the house. I talked to Lucy about what all of it was and then she was very proud to tell Ronin that "Pops puts wires in houses" and "Pops makes lights work".

Taking care of the newest babydoll: a baby Minnie Mouse. And of course, Lucy won at Cootie (again) and this is her prized bug, he had to be in the picture.

Just a little make-up fun with Ronin

more rainy day fun- tea party!

Rainy Day fun

On a rainy, gross day, we were feeling a bit cooped up so we bundled up and headed out to play in the puddles. These clips and photos are great and show Lucy having a great time playing in the puddles. Please note on one of the videos where Lucy trips and a bit of foreshadowing occurs. Unfortunately, I stopped filming just moments before Lucy took a nosedive into a puddle that was up past her ankles when she was standing up. Needless to say, she was not pleased, but it sure was funny. It was a very cold puddle and she was promptly soaked. The only thing that got her to stop crying and start laughing at herself is when I said that she must have thought that it was a swimming pool and not a puddle and that only nutty kids go swimming in puddles like ducks. Now all I hear about is how she went swimming in the puddle, as though it was all on purpose. I'll let her think that, if only I had it on tape to prove otherwise!

"We didn't go to space!"

We took Lucy to the Air and Space museum last weekend and she was so excited to see or "ride" on a rocket. What's up with rockets? Well, one of the few shows she is allowed to watch is "Little Einsteins" which has a group of 4 kids that ride around in a rocket playing music and exploring art, famous places, etc. She loves "Rocket" on the show so when we went to the Air and Space Museum and promised a rocket, she was pretty thrilled. Other than simulators, which she is too little for, the only "rocket" you can actually board at the museum is Skylab. It is monstrous and really neat to see how the astronauts live onboard. I sent Ian and Lucy in and took a break on a bench. They were back out in seconds so I walked over to see what was going on. I mean, this is an event she had really been looking forward to. The response? Lucy was disappointed in ol' Skylab since it didn't have any seats for her and Daddy to sit on so they could go into space. Seeing where the astronauts showered, sat, etc. was nice and all, but the fact that they couldn't actually go to space among the stars and planets, was a big disappointment. This one has big dreams I tell ya!

"er"

In Lucy's world, if you add "er" to anything that means "a person who does something". For instance when she is cutting with her scissors she will say over and over again "I am a cutter. I am a really good cutter". I have been called a "cooker" a "vacuumer" and an "excerciser". The best one yet, Ian is a "winer" whenever he drinks a glass of wine. Better than wino.

Lucy's favorite at-home activities

Jumping, spinning, bouncing, dancing, and forward rolls
Taking baths or showers. Baths with Daddy, showers with mom, all involve lots and lots of toys and "all by myself comments
Snacking, on anything
Baby dolls- diapering, feeding, rocking, dancing, sleeping, etc she knows her momma skills
Playing with Snail, Bouncy Thing or her animals
Reading books
Cooking with mom
Anything involving Ronin- indoors, outdoors, it doesn't matter, he is her go-to-guy at the moment
Playing outside and taking walks
Special projects- anything involving stickers, paper, glue, scissors, markers, paint or crayons

Favorite Quotes from Lucy for Feb. 2008

"Where's bouncy thing and snail?" These might be her very favorite toys. They are a wooden snail on a string and a rubber non-descript thing that bounces on a rubber string. They get sent to time-out for being naughty, they eat lunch, they play, they watch tv, they dance, whatever.
Any bedtime prayer- we say a prayer every night for Lucy to give thanks. The prayer starts "Dear God, thank you for..." She then fills in the blanks. Some of my favorites are: "googly eyes, school day, Momma, Daddy and Reggie, socks, Santa Clause 'cuz he says ho! ho! ho!, Target"
"I can't, there isn't any tape" (on whether or not she could demonstrate her forward roll at Asher's house. We have a blue tape mark on our floor for her to position her head so she doesn't run into anything and hurt herself.)
"I'm sfine" (Lu still has trouble saying her "f" sounds so they all have an additional "s" sound on them. She says "I'm sfine" about everything including when she is questioned about going potty "No, I'm sfine."

So!

Lucy has started a few new things. One is "So..." She will sit down next to someone and say, "So, how are you?" or "So, how are things?" No idea where she gets this, maybe somebody at school does it. It cracks all of her friends' moms up.

The other thing is "Shoo!" She runs and says "Shoo!" and wipes her brow. Or when something is tough for her to do, she says "shoo, this is too hard for me".

Yesterday she started asking, non stop I might add, "Momma, Daddy, what are you guys talking about?" She then will add whatever she know about the topic, even if she knows nothing, she wills till just say the topic over and over as though we are crazy. For instance:
L:"Momma, what are you guys talking about?"
M:"Houses."
L: "Houses? Houses? That's silly. Don't talk about houses!"

And of course, we are not quite to the "Why" phase yet. But the "what" phase is in full effect. I am "whatted" to death everyday. "What's that?" is a favorite, or "What are they doing?" "Who" is a close second. She is a nosy little thing, but is all seems to get stored in that big brain of hers. Really. Nothing is lost on her and she recalls things that I told her months ago. We have a magnet of Texas that Gramzie and Pop Pop sent months ago and Lucy asked what it was. When I said "That's Texas". She then proceeded to tell me that was where her friend Matteo lived, where Gramzie and Pop Pop visited, where they have Longhorns and that Longhorns were cows with big horns. All of these facts haven't been talked about in ages, but she rattled them off with ease. When these times happen I usually just look at her like she is some sort of alien and say "that's right. You are very smart." She usually replies, "yeah, I'm pretty smart."

Taking all this learning very seriously

For months, if not for more than a year, I've been talking to Lucy about the letters that grace the covers of her books in the titles, the color that is in the front page of the book and so on and so on, just as another way of introducing colors, letters, etc. Now she is turning it on me. She will say, "That is a diamond shape. Momma, can you name 3 other things that are diamond shapes?" Or "That page is red, can you name 5 things that are red?" or "That is letter T. Turtle begins with T. Can you name some things that begin with T, Momma?" And it is always a test. If I don't give the right answers I am told that I gave it a "good try" or that I need to think of some more because I am not thinking of the same things she is. She is a much tougher instructor than I am! (but sharp as a tack!)

The Singing Bee

Lucy sings. All the time. She sings songs that we all know and she sings songs that she is making up on the spot. She gives concerts for her friends and loves to go to the top of the hills in our backyard, away from everybody else and sing as loud as she can. The other day she was on the hill, singing and then yelled at Ronin that he wasn't listening and then called him like a dog, even patting her lap towards him and saying in a super sweet voice "Come on Ronin, come on!" Then when he got there, she just started singing for him. The good news is that she will take his requests which usually are songs such as "Wheels on the Bus" or songs she doesn't know. When a song is requested that she doesn't know, she just ignores the request and sings whatever she wants.

Move over baby!

The other night I was getting ready to read to Lucy in the rocker in her room. As usual, she picked out about a dozen too many books and was climbing into my lap when she pushed my stomach and told me the baby needed to "move over, there isn't enough room!" I agreed, but what can I do? As Lucy was wriggling in trying to make room on my lap, the baby started pushing back in that general direction, quite strongly, I might add. So it begins, the sisters pushing and shoving and tussling.

Taylor's House

Yesterday Lucy was talking about all the places she is going to go while in Kentucky, including Aunt Taylor's house. She was pleasantly surprised to hear that Taylor lived in a house with her friends (I'm sure visions of living with Ronin, Asher and Andrew were dancing through her head, sorry kid, no living with boys until you are married or have a brother). She asked, "Is it decorated nice?" Which I thought was a pretty funny question coming from a 2.5 year old. When I said yes, it was decorated nicely and that she would like it she added, "Does it have stickers and paint on the walls?" This is when I realized that along with visions of living with her friends, she also thought that I was saying that Aunt Taylor lived in a cardboard house like the one Santa gave her for Christmas, which is indeed "decorated" with stickers and paint. I hope that she isn't disappointed that Taylor doesn't live like a homeless person!

Lucy's bedtime prayer tonight

I just wanted to write down Lucy's bedtime prayer from tonight since it was expecially funny (and sweet):
"Dear God thank you for...
Momma, Daddy, Reggie and Lucy. Thank you for special projects, Parker, Cathy, Stepfan, Gramzie and Pop Pop and my family and friends. Thank you for my left hand, my sparkly pajamas and Eeyore. Thank you for songs, pants, and Miss Chris, Miss Sophie and school days. Thank you for all these gifts and all our many blessings. Amen."

Storytime with Ronin

Lucy and Ronin hit storytime on a rainy Friday, ate lunch and then ran amuck in the library conference room. From somewhere unknown, Ronin came up with a hoola hoop and they promptly put it to good use. They jumped through it, jumped in it, tugged each other around the room and all in all, had a rowdy, giggling time. Ronin can always make Lucy laugh, always!

You never know what she'll be wearing...

Aquarium with the boys

We went the the "national" aquarium on Thursday. I say "national" because it is the first national aquarium that was started a gazillion years ago. It is in the basement of the Commerce Department and is not an aquarium like the one in Newport or Baltimore with huge tanks and shark feedings, etc. This one is perfect toddler-size and is a big loop and only accessible by an elevator. In other words, the kids could run free and not escape into a big museum or the street- perfect for the posse Lucy hangs with: Andrew, Ronin and Asher! The four amigos, along with Xavier and Aurelia who are heading up the next generation of trouble makers, headed to the aquarium and took in the turtles, leapord shark, snakes and fish, fish and more fish. Then we all headed to lunch where we made a nice spectacle of ourselves and then left DC dazed from our visit, but we'll be back!

Pogo sticks and Tigger, too!

Lucy hopped around the house all weekend yelling, "I'm on a pogo stick!" She gets this from watching Tigger on Winnie the Pooh. It actually escalated with her hopping with a slinky dangling between her legs as the "pogo stick". I will do my best to get a video of this craze.

Zoo

We took advantage of the mild weather this weekend and wanted to spend some time with Ian before he heads off to California this week, Alabama next and then California again the following week. We headed to the zoo and got to enjoy a great swimming demonstration by the sea lions. The tigers were in a growling mood as well and we were mesmerized watching them stalk and pace waiting for lunch. The lionesses were playful and pouncing, roaring, purring, hiding and pawing at each other. Ian and I got a kick out of watching the 3 cheetahs pace back and forth along a chain link fence while a zebra lazily munched nearby. You could see them salivating over the idea of getting a hold of that striped beast!

Only low point- the large silver-backed gorilla marked his territory thoroughly and had me heading for the hills to get sick, literally. Now I know to stay away from the gorilla pit for the remainder of my pregnancy!

Comfy places

Lucy loves to hide and lay around in "comfy places". She has started making little nests for herself with pillows and blankets, hiding in her stuffed animals and I find her frequently nestled in the pillows on my bed. The other day when I got out of the shower she was so quiet that it startled me a bit and when I found her, she was laying on a couple of pillows on the floor, listening to a book on tape and cuddling with La La.

There is video here of another time when I got out of the shower and she was hiding under the pillows in her underwear on my bed. It has become quite the pastime. The other video is of where we found her after cleaning up dishes after dinner one night. She is so content to just lay and look at books and have La La doing something (going potty on the baby doll potty, laying with her or sitting in time out).

Clothes are also requested based upon comfort. Our little girly girl refuses to wear tights or dresses, always preferring pants "because they are comfy cozy". Pajamas are the same, with her sparkle and monkey pajamas in a tight race for which is most comfortable.

If only Reggie knew how much she liked to cuddle, he might let her snuggle up to him!