Glitter Girl

Lucy recieved a new make up kit from the Easter Bunny at Pops and Grandma' s house. This one takes the make up to another level. Why? Because their is glitter. Lucy was so thrilled with the glittery lipstick and lipgloss and then the glittery nail polish that she couldn't quit squealing. The kicker, the powder which is also glittery. Our carpet will never be the same! Ian got home that night and both Lucy and I were glimmering from head to toe. The pictures would only pick up some of the glitter- trust me, she is shimmering all over!

Diapering La La

La La is definitely the baby of choice these days. As Lucy says, "she's my best friend!" La La can use the potty, but Lucy still spends 99% of her time diapering La La (or having Ian and I diaper her). The rest of the time is spent giving La La "applesauce" or bottles. She also likes to pretend that GaGa is picking La La up to go somewhere and Lucy has to get the diaper bag and La La all ready.

Ice Cream Social

Lucy's school had a fundraiser for their Relay for Life Team last night. You could go and buy ice cream with all the toppings and the kids had free face painting, balloons, tattoos, etc. In addition, each class focused on a type of art or artist and each child made a matted piece of artwork that was "up for auction". Lucy's was a piece made out of dipping koosh balls into different colors of paint and rolling them on paper. She was very proud to show me. She also loved the ice cream- what's not to love about vanilla with sprinkles, cherries, and m&ms?

When asked what she wanted painted on her face, she thought about it for a solid couple of minutes and then said, " A star. A black star." She definitely stood out among all the girls who had rainbows, colorful flowers, and big pink hearts painted on their faces!

Ian didn't make it to the party- he had Lasik done on Thursday morning and his eyes were still recovering. Fortunately, they are feeling better and his vision is all but perfect already!

Teddy Bear Picnic

We met up with some of our Old Town playgroup friends today at a park down near the Potomac. We had a teddy bear picnic. Lucy chose to take her hot pink tea set, her two Care Bears and enough food to feed an army of hungry children. She played in the sandbox, on the slides and had all the boys chasing her to grab the football she was holding hostage. They might tackle harder than she can, but, boy oh boy, she is so much faster than they are- quick little feet!

Over the past few days Lucy has become so mommy-minded. She calls me to do everything for her and doesn't mind having Ian around, in fact wants him around, but I am the one she wants to do everything for her. She butters me up by saying things like "Momma, you are so beautiful, your eyes are so beautiful and your face is so beautiful". Then she climbs on me like I'm a jungle gym. She was sliding down the slide today and said, "Here I come sliding. And I love you!" Maybe she senses that our whole world is going to be changing very soon.

Caterpillars are here!

Bon Bon and Grandpa gave Lucy a butterfly house for Easter and we have been waiting for our caterpillars to arrive. Well, they did today to much fanfare. Actually, we got them in the mail and as soon as Lucy saw the box, she shook it. Needless to say, that isn't what you are suppose to do to your new pets, but the excitement just took over. They were fine and they are now living in her butterfly house. She went out tonight and picked all sorts of leaves for them and was so excited to watch them move about. She also counted them about a zillion times. For the record, there are 5.

Unfortunately, the caterpillars did not come with instructions. Let's just hope that we can keep them alive until the turn into butterflies. I might be sending Ian out into the backyard with a net to capture some for a switcheroo.

Contractions galore

So I had contractions for nearly 11 hours the other night. Most were not painful but they did get a bit mroe painful towards the end. I guess she's getting ready. She keeps me up half the night and I am now averaging about 4-5 hours of sleep a day. I also can't stop cleaning! It's ridiculous. Oh well, it's helping keep all the pollen at bay that seems to sweep through our area like the plague this time of year.

In the meantime, Lucy can hardly wait to welcome the baby. She asks about her all the time, she is making plans for taking her swimming, to the playground, sharing her toys, taking baths with her, reading her books, showing her how to cook and she really can't wait to "hold her, and kiss her and give her lots and lots of hugs." She runs up and kisses my belly many, many times a day and loves when the baby gets hiccups and she can feel them.

So now we wait...

Baby Shower

Our neighborhood playgroup friends hosted a shower in Little Sister's honor on Sat, April 19. Everyone was so generous with their gifts of little pink clothes, Buy Buy Baby gift certificates (to help us buy our double stroller), stuffed animals, picture frames, wash cloths and all sorts of baby care items. It's crazy to think that at this point when we were expecting Lucy, we didn't know anyone in the area, now we have friends that are here to support us every step of the way. One of the nicest parts of the shower was a coupon book that the group put together full of offers for dinners, Lucy playdates, ice cream treats, walking buddies, etc. Can't wait to cash them in!

We only have 3.5 weeks to go until Little Sister is due- of course that could mean only about a week and a half. We are ready- car seats are in their new places, baby clothes are washed, food is frozen in the freezer for fast meals, and Lucy is antsy beyond belief. She is so excited and ready to welcome the new baby. She is going to be a great big sister!

Splash Party

We invited some friends over to enjoy the super-warm weather on Friday. Lucy loved filling the buckets with the super cold water from the hose and washing her dishes, watering the plants and grass and playing with her friends- Asher, Andrew, Aurelia and Baby Quinn. Well, she didn't really play with Quinn, but she was smitten with Quinn who is just 4 weeks old. Lucy really wanted to take care of her and shower her with affection. She rocked her in her seat, she tried to calm her when she cried, she offered her her paci and then when Lucy's attention wasn't being directed toward Quinn, she was rocking and taking care of La La. You would've thought that Lucy had been living with a new baby in the house for months- she really knows what to do and how to behave! She was so proud that she was able to help.

Painting

Lucy's special projects are a little different these days. She used to want me to more or less lead the way with everything. Now, she really wants to do things on her own, but with me sitting there so that she can tell me what to do- poor Little Sister, she will always be the one getting instruction if this keeps up! Here is Lucy "glitter painting". It's one of her favorites. She loves to take the tops off, squeeze the tubes, spread the paint and then top the tubes again- it is very ritualistic and a very serious endeavor.

Sassy Face

Notice the photo with Lucy on the stairs. She was very preoccupied with her bandage and boo boo and was having a hard time going down the stairs because she couldn't stop checking on her skinned knee- I was just waiting for that skinned knee to land her head first down the stairs! The other photos are just a day in the life- sassy face, a backpack filled with random things to go absolutely no where.

Reading to La La

La La has long been her best bud and her constant bedtime companion but lately LaLa is the baby, the whole reason why Lucy can play by herself for hours at a time. She bathes Lala, diapers her, feeds her constantly, takes her to the "store" and generally takes really nice care of her. She even pretends that LaLa is in her belly sometimes and has her under her shirt walking around- I even found her like that in her sleep one afternoon. The other day was the cutest though, she was sitting on her glider (which she thinks is newly fabulous ever since I covered it, she has to sit on it) "reading" to La La. She does have many of her books memorized so it did look and sound like she was reading to her. Then she said prayers, sang songs and put La La to bed. Very sweet and all in preparation of "Little Sister".

Dressing up

Lucy has found a new interest in dressing up (again). The pasttime seems to come and go. She is still not thrilled about the dresses because they are "too big" she says, and the shoes are still really hard for her to walk in because her feet are so little, so she improvises with her crocks or boots and dons a whole lot of jewelry and tiaras. I, of course, get dragged into the fun as well and usually end up with a headache from all the hair brushing, clip on earrings and wearing necklaces and tiaras that are way to small for me, but she thinks I look just beautiful! She is really wanting a ring these days. She loves wearing my engagement ring and tells me that one day Reggie going to give her a ring and they are going to get married, and she is going to wear a white dress with a hoola hoop in it.

Little Green Thumb

Lucy has been so attentive to the grass that she planted a month or so ago. She waters it everyday, "pets it, to make it feel better" and checks on it all the time. Tomorrow we are going to give the grass its first "haircut".

Daddy love

Ian is heading to Boston tomorrow for just a night, but Lucy is already missing him. She was so happy that he came home a little bit early from work today to meet her at the playground and told him that she was happy to see him. Tonight they had a lovefest full of kisses, stories, songs and cuddling.

Frogs!

We went to the National Geographic Museum on Monday to see their Frogs exhibit. It was great and had tank after tank of frogs and tadpoles. Lucy couldn't stop hopping for days- go figure!

Washing Dishes

Now that the weather has warmed up we have found all sorts of new activities to do outside. Last year Lucy loved to give her babies a bath in a bucket. I'm sure that will return as well, but this year it is washing dishes in a little sink that Gramzie and Pop Pop gave her. The sink pumps water and really makes great bubbles so it can entertain her for a really long time. She likes to purposely get everything muddy and then wash and dry her dishes. It is an ongoing activitiy that lasts until the water is pretty much gone, and we go through gallons of water sometimes!

We have been getting ready for "Little Sister" and Lucy is so excited about all the baby things that are making their appearance. She particularily loves the mobile that is now hanging over the changing table and likes to put LaLa up there and sing her songs, change her diapers, etc. She says that this is how she is going to take care of the new baby. On another note, she is ready for the baby to make it's appearance. She told me to tell the doctor to "get the baby out" when I went to the doctor today.

River Farm with Friends

We went to River Farm with Ronin, X, Parish, Asher, Aurelia, Emily, Owen and baby Caroline. There was much digging, climbing, running, smelling of the flowers and general fun. The gardens were absolutely beautiful and Lucy loved all the colors of the flowers. For some reason our little bug lover is now afraid of bugs. She screams whenever she sees a fly, a bee, an ant, whatever. Because there are beehives just outside the garden, you can imagine how many of those girly shrieks there were.

Too Cool For School

We were walking out the door today to take Lucy to school when she stopped dead in her tracks and said that she needed her sunglasses. Now, it has been cloudy for about 4 days so the need for sunglasses was a bit unfounded except for the fact that Lucy actually decorated these glasses and I think just wanted to show them off. She actually took them off in the car and then put them back on to go into school. As she walked in the door she looked up at everyone to make sure they all saw her in her finest. And she got all the reaction she was looking for. Everyone oohed and aahed and asked her if she made them all by herself. After she got all the attention she was looking for she took them off, handed them to me and then said, "You can put these in my backpack now".

Decorating Sunglasses

I found these foam sunglasses at the craft store the other day and figured Lucy would like decorating them. Little did I know that they would be her new and favorite accessory. We have had to take these things everywhere. They are pretty cute though and she did a great job decorating! "L-U-C-Y!"

Lu of many questions

We all know that Lucy is a great talker. She can narrate, tell stories, pretend, explain, understand, etc better than many other 2.5 year olds. So why is it so hard for me to converse with her these days? Several reasons:
What?- Lucy has turned into a senile, deaf senior citizen when it comes to talking with me. She says "What?!!" about a zillion times a day, even if she hears me perfectly clearly. I am so tired of repeating myself that now I either ignore her or ask her to repeat it back to me. She will repeat it back to me and then say, "is that what you said? Good Momma, that was great." or something else to that effect.
Why?- Well, it has arrived, the days of "Why?" In the car today I was asked "why is that puddle there?", "why are they tearing down that building?", "Why is it raining?" "why does Daddy have to work?" , etc, etc. etc. It is never ending.
Silly words- Finally, we go round and around in some conversations because I truly can't understand her. I get so frustrated and ask her to repeat herself a million times. She asks me things like, "Will you sing lkjlfkdjs;fksdh;oiuoiuotn?" I say what and she repeats just that. It finally donned on me to ask her the other day if she was using real words. She said, "No, just silly words. Do you know what I said?" Then she translated and laughed at me. Now I know when I can't understand her to ask if she is saying silly words or real words. Doesn't really help though when I really can't understand her.

Swimming Ladybug

Lucy got this new swimsuit from the Easter Bunny at Grandma and Pops' house. She adores it and asks for it all the time. We went swimming last week so that she could try it out- it did not fail her, and she remained the cutest kid at the pool!

We brought a little bit of Kentucky home with us

Lucy has never really had much of an accent. Until now. Half of the words she uses that are suppose to be one syllable are now two. For instance, the word "back" is now "bayack" same with "bayath" or bath as we know it. We never really considered that our family had much in the way of accents, minus Damon and Lauren with their country North Carolina accents, until we got home and Lucy began talking like she was from the hills.

The other thing she brought from Kentucky, a litle bit of trivia about each of you. She likes to yell "who wears Chuck Taylor's?" then she replies, "I do, and so does Pops. His are black" or "Bon Bon's favorite color is pink" or "Don't call me Cutie Patootie. That's what Bon Bon calls me." or "I like Grandma's basgetti" or "Bon Bon has bowtie noodles at her house". She also likes to tell me that Damon plays piano or Taylor makes special cupcakes for her or Pop Pop is super-silly and that Gramzie and Pop Pop can make "really good bubbles." This past trip just might stick with her since she relives it all the time!

Cherry Blossom Festival

Lucy and I went to the Cherry Blossom Festival today. It was a beautiful day and super-sunny although a bit cool around the Tidal Basin. We took Metro into DC and that was definitely Lucy's favorite part. She loved going in and out of the tunnels and seeing some of her favorite sights via the train tracks. The best part for me: when she played air guitar on the train on the way home. People were laughing just watching her.

She also really liked dancing to the live music, eating lunch on the steps of the Jefferson Memorial and actually going up into the memorial where she asked if I would take her picture in front of the impossibly tall statue of Thomas Jefferson. She, of course, loved the Cherry Blossoms as well and kept telling me they were beautiful. The helicopters flying overhead certainly had her attention as well. That fits with her new dream: to be a pilot.

Dad's work is never done

I was getting out of the shower today when Lucy came in to comment on how wet all the shower walls were. Then she said they needed to be cleaned up since they were wet and that Daddy was the best at cleaning the bathroom. She was quite worried about the wet walls which I kept brushing off and telling her that they would dry on their own. She replied, "That's ok, Momma. Daddy will do it. He's a good jobber."

New phrase of the day: "Sounds like a plan". I have been told this upteen times today. She will tell me that she is going to do something and then say, "Ok, Momma? Sounds like a plan!"

The Little Boss

So I've been searching for little girl friends for Lucy for more than a year now. As everybody knows, Lucy's best friends are all boys and she has a few girl friends, but they are not kids we see very often. So, I've been waiting for her to make some sort of connection with the girls in her class. She still talks primarily about Greg, Oscar, AJ, etc , of course all boys, but seems to have made friends with a litle girl, Abby (who, by the way, might be exactly twice Lucy's height!) Today my fears were put aside when I took Lucy to school. We got to school a couple minutes later than normal and when we got to the door, two of the little girls in her class, Abby and Karissa ran to the door yelling "Lucy, Lucy!!" They were so smiley and Lucy got excited, but of course, the little bossy lady came out and she said, "Ok, back up so I can come in the room". No "hello" or giggles or any sort of nice greeting, just a command. Then she added, "I have to go potty before I come into the Panda room. Then we can play." We went to the potty and when she came back she more or less gave them permission to play with her and they were off. Still, their excitement didn't wane, but I sure do hope that she can stop bossing them around to actually make, and keep, some girl friends!
Later, when I picked her up at school, she ran into Nathaniel in the bathroom, another classmate. She didn't say a word to him, but he kept jumping up and down shouting "Lucy, Lucy!!" Apparently she gets rave reviews from the kids in her class, even if she doesn't always share the love! Maybe she was just playing it cool in front of her mom.