Who's the Boss?

Lucy came running in yesterday and proclaimed, "Momma, you're the boss. I'm bossy." When I asked what was Harper she replied, "Harper's an elephant."
Well, at least she got the first statement correct.

Firetruck!

I invited the local firestation to join our playgroup this week. It has been on Lucy's things she wants to do this summer (an actual list we wrote down after the last day of school) so I had to oblige. More than 30 kids showed up. Lucy's reaction, as she was swinging on the swings, was:

• Hear the firetruck


• Begin cackling and giggling like some mad person


• Scream that she needs to get down


• Gets out of the swing, starts to run toward truck


• Stops and begins sobbing with tears running down her face (too excited?)


• Cries some more because she doesn't have the card she made the firefighters in hand


• Grabs card, screams that she needs to be held (her reaction when she is nervous and shy)


• Goes to the firetruck in my arms


• Has a conversation with the firemen with her hand in her mouth the entire time


• Hands them her card, smiles since they LOVE it


• Eagerly goes to the fireman to sit in the FRONT of the truck, since she made them a card they say this is her special treat- she falls for it.


• Never looks back. Could care less that I am there. Wants anyone and everyone, and especially Kimberly, to take her around the truck to see all there is to see.


• Checks this one off her summer "to do" list. Next item, hit the beach!

Cinderella Tea Party

Lucy invited some girlfriends from school over to have a Cinderella tea party. Here's the plan: The girls will come dressed up in their finest pink, tiaras, high heels, boas, etc. Lucy will serve "tea"- lemonade, cookies, muffins, berries, etc. The girls will camp out on a giant "bed" we made for them on the floor and watch Cinderella and all head home shortly after. Lucy will be more comfortable when she returns to school having reconnected with some of her school friends.

Here's how it went: All the kids showed up between 30 and 45 minutes late. Lucy was tired of playing dress up by then since she had been "ready" for nearly 3 hours at that point. She opted to just wear her new tshirt from Pop Pop, stripping off her boas, heels, etc the second her friends were in the door. Lucy and one of her friends butt heads the entire duration of the tea party because both want to do the pouring. My floor suffers a bit from the fighting over the lemonade. Lucy and the 3 girls settle down to watch the movie. Only Lucy and one remain. The other two spend the next hour and a half crying, fighting, throwing tantrums, trying to climb into Harper's swing, escaping out the front door and letting the dog out of his safekeeping, adding to the chaos.

The party ends with smashed muffins in the carpet, one of the wild ones crying that she didn't get to go to a tea party, and a very happy Lucy. I guess it was all worth it.

Harper 10 weeks

Harper is 10 weeks old. She weighed in at 9 lbs 14 oz (50th percentile) at her 2 month appointment. She grins, giggles, puts her hand and teethers in her mouth, coos, sleeps through the night and is beginning to reach for objects. She is such an easy baby and is mild tempered (most have never heard her cry!) She has strong legs and tries to crawl more than push herself up and she loves blowing bubbles with her mouth. She can put herself to sleep and loves to be rocked and cuddled. Her favorite toys are links and her mobiles- she also loves the swing.

The Puppet Master

So far this week we have already been to a puppet show (our first). Then today, we went to the Jim Henson exhibit on the National Mall. Lucy got to play with all sorts of Sesame St puppets and muppet-types. When we were driving home she asked if we could buy some puppets. I said no, but we could make some that afternoon. That was all she needed to hear. She asked how many. I said we could make two sock puppets. Immediately she had their names: Al and Curb (curb is one of those words that always seems to escape her. She ALWAYS asks me "Momma, what is this?" as she walks on the curb. Now it seems to have some staying power.) After nap she was ready to go. She chose hair and eyes, tongue colors, nose colors and what their hair would look like. She helped sew on the hair and danced while the puppets cooled from the hot glue gun. When it was all said and done, she had food lined up for Al and Curb to eat, activities for them to participate in and buddies (her new alien and space finger puppets from Bon Bon). The whole gang watched her new obsession, Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa on Food Network (she likes her because "she always makes good besserts").

Just a sidenote about Ina. Lucy asks if she can watch Ina all day long. She loves her show. Lucy wants to make what she is making, she loves her house and she loves the very sight of her. She has woken Harper up more than once by yelling "Mom! Ina is on. It's time to watch Ina!!!" I have to say, watching Ina with Lucy by my side while Harper nurses is not a bad way to spend 30 minutes in the late afternoon.

Puppet show and a fire drill

We went to a puppet show on Monday. It was great, until the fire alarm went off midway through. Lucy got a bonus- a puppet show and 2 fire trucks, including a ladder truck. Both were equally thrilling which just reminds me that even though we were standing out in the blazing heat and Harper was disgruntled and hot, we got a shortened puppet show and our day was held up by the drill, Lucy had a great time. She does have a way of finding pure joy in the least pleasant of experiences and if all else fails, she just starts doing forward rolls, hops or tells a story, sings a song or brings her imaginary friends along for an adventure. It always reminds me to look on the bright side of things, even if I can't jump up and down for minutes at a time or talk to my imaginary friends without people thinking I'm crazy.

The big countdown

So, Lucy wants a measuring tape. Not for measuring things around the house, but to see how much she is growing. She is obsessed with growing. She wants to be 3 so badly. She goes on and on (and on and on) everyday about how she is growing and how she wants to be 3 and how when she turns 3 she will be big and, it seems, all the things that trouble her at 2 will no longer be, because, afterall, she will be 3.

She wants it so badly that when she is rotten, I threaten to not let her turn 3 unless she gets her act together. It works like a charm. She has her party planned out in her head, she knows what she wants for her birthday (yes, we already bought her a tape measure!) and she knows that it isn't too far off. Tonight we made a countdown calendar. It has several parts- one countdown to the beach, one to Kentucky, one to the first day of school and just 3 days after that, her birthday and then her birthday party the next day. The next few months promise so many of her favorite things: family, the beach, school, friends and a moonbounce. What's not to be excited about?

Already????!!!!

Ahhh, Harper. The sweet little baby that hardly cries, sleeps through the night and melts the coldest of hearts with that silly, off-to-the-side smile that ends in a dimple. She's our little baby girl. Of course, she seems to be doing some things that I believe are reserved for older babies. I'm not sure (and I plan on looking this up shortly after writing this blog), but 9 week old babies are not suppose to start crying when their mom walks out of the room. I believe she is suppose to be content chewing on her right hand (her preferred teething toy is her right index finger knuckle), kicking her feet and watching Reggie walk by, listening to her sister sing some made-up, off the wall song and waiting until her belly tells her she's hungry or her diaper feels wet to cry. Not this one. She is now starting to get upset when I leave her sight. She puffs her bottom lip out, starts to pant and then, with real tears streaming down her cheek, she will begin to wimper and cry. Of course, the upside is that everytime I walk in the room she grins from ear to ear and she tries to follow my voice with her head when I am walking around. It's nice to be wanted so much, but she is going to have to realize that I have to leave her side from time to time.
More "Dr. Evil".
sleepy baby. Harper has started to be able to put herself to sleep. This is great since Lucy couldn't/wouldn't do this until 6 months or so and then we had to let her "cry it out". Harper now puts herself to sleep about 2 times a day and even sometimes in the middle of the night. She is also sleeping through the night about 5 out of 7 nights a week from about 9:30pm until about 7:30am. Then she is starving, eats like a wild animal and then passes out again for another 30-60 minutes. Then she plays for a while, takes a bath, goes out with the fam and then takes a good nap, wakes, plays and then naps for another 2-3 hours in the late afternoon. When she is awake she does a lot of cooing, chewing on her hand and watching her animal friends on her two mobiles. She does not really like tummy time, although she does like playing on her blanket on her side or her back. Actually, when she is on her belly, she does so much moving with her legs that she can inch herself across a blanket onto the carpet. Now, we just need her to start pushing herself up more to build up her neck and back muscles, instead of trying to leap to crawling!

The Hair

Harper's hair is crazy. When wet, it is in tight little curls and ringlets. Then, as it dries, it straightens out and stand straight up. It is nuts. It won't lay down then until you rewet it. Of course, when it is wet, it goes into great mohawks, spikes, "Einstein" hair, etc. We dread it falling out and hope she can hang on to it.

Also, notice the bottom photo- Bubble Breath. This is her new trick. She can blow bubbles for hours .

Little Miss Chatterbox

Here is Harper trying out her Lucy impression- lots of jabber jawing. She's a cutie and her cheeks are certainly filling out (and her chin(s), too!

These boots are made for walkin'

When asked what shoes she wants to wear, Lucy goes between her "pink Chuck Taylors", her crocs, her elmo slippers and her boots. We don't always allow what she wants to wear, but she always voices her opinion. On this day (and the following 3 days), Lucy said she wanted to wear her boots. Not her rain boots, her "pink cowboy boots". Not to be mistaken with cowgirl boots- these are cowboy boots she says and should not be called cowgirl anythings. Funny how nobody else I know could pull off short shorts, a UK tshirt and pink cowboy boots- in 90 degree weather.

Smiley

Lucy has started calling Harper "Pipsqueak". That's about right. She makes the tiniest little sounds but gurgles and coos all the time. All of this is combined with huge gummy smiles and she is now starting to giggle. She is still getting used to tummy time, but she puts in her allotted 5 minutes or so and then fusses until somebody helps her onto her side. She then rolls onto her back and will play for up to 45 minutes or so with toys, watching Lucy and Reggie and talking to anything in sight. A chatty girl? I have no idea what that is like- right.

Lemonade Stand

Lucy set up her first Lemonade stand at playgroup the other day. She glued lemons on her sign, poured lemonade for her friends and even helped clean up at the end. The drinks were free, but her best and most frequent customer was Ronin who saddled up to the picnic table like he was at some sort of toddler bar- cute bartender, good, refreshing drink, why not? Now she is asking to host a lemonade stand everyday.

See, I don't take ALL the photos!

Guitar Star

For some reason, Lucy has really taken to acting like any object is a guitar. She then sings at the top of her lungs while strumming her guitar. Guitars include a box with rubber bands that we made, her tee ball bat, a saute pan, a tennis raquet (compliments of Bon Bon), and a wooden spoon. Sometimes it's not a guitar, sometimes it's a banjo and she sings "Oh Susannah!" incredibly loud. But most of the time she makes up her own songs, wants us to sing or dance along and it lasts for, well, forever.

Full Hands

Who says I can't juggle? This was a classic moment of Lucy waking up cranky and Harper wanting to get up at the same time. The best part, even in Lucy's crankiness, she patted Harper's back to quiet her.