20 weeks

Harper is 20 weeks old tomorrow. This week she tried eating rice cereal- a lot of mess, a little down the hatch and a whole lot of yelling at the food. She also found out that she can chew on her feet- yum? Today we celebrated with her first ponytail- it was a must, the hair was beyond nuts. Here are some photos of today and of the past week. I also caught a few giggles on video. Enjoy!

Hello, Mr. President!

Lucy has a way of saying things that are, well, just funny. Last night she asked for some cheese to eat with her dinner. When I said that I would get her some she started chanting, "You know it! You know it! You know cheese and I know it!"
Another funny little habit of hers is to think total strangers look like family members. She swears that Aunt Taylor has her own food network show called "Ask Aida". Everytime she sees a commercial she says, "that girl looks like Aunt Taylor".
Today took the cake though. She asked if I would do her Presidential flash cards with her. She got a few correct but she thought it was hilarious that Kennedy "looks like Uncle D", Teddy Roosevelt "looks like Todd" (Davis) and the best, "George W. Bush looks like Daddy I guess Lucy is the only one in this house that is hoping for another 4 years, some White House we live in!

Life is an adventure

Lucy loves a good caper. Case in point: I folded some laundry yesterday in the basement and was baffled when I got upstairs and could not find a stack of folded wash cloths. Lucy was immediately on the case. She looked under everything in the house, she looked behind doors and then took it to the hallway and the basement. She had a flashlight in hand and did a whole lot of talking about the "mystery" and the "robbers" who took the wash cloths. She was still talking about it hours later when it was time for bed. When I found the missing cloths in with some other laundry last night I was so pleased that I could help ease Lucy's mind. I told her this morning and she jumped up and down yelling "yeah, we found the wash cloths. Good sleuthing, Mom!"

Another example: We are going apple picking tomorrow with the Butlers. Lucy is very excited that we can "rescue the apples" at the orchard. Hopefully we won't need a magnifying glass, flashlight, and cape for the rescue.

19 weeks

Harper is 19 weeks old today. She went to the doctor for her 4 month check up. She weighs in at a slim 12 pounds 2 ounces. That puts her in the 25th percentile weight while she is in the 75th percentile for length. Long and lean, just like her, ummm, not sure, jury is still out on this one. She got 4 shots and one oral vaccine. Not what she was wanting at all. She was quiet through one shot, a little ticked off with the second and then she raised a lot of cane with the third and fourth. I know that she already doesn't remember it, but I hate when she has to get shots every time.
On a more positive note, she showed off for the doctors and nurses- shouting, squealing, razzing, grabbing her toes, trying to stand up, rolling over, pushing herself up, etc. With the great check up, she was approved for eating solids so we tried it out tonight at dinner. She tried rice cereal. It was a sort of hit. She tried it, spit it out and then tried it again. Then while I ate my dinner she shouted and stared at the bowl with her cereal. When I offered it again she ate more of it and actually anticipated taking a bite. I'm sure once we start sweetening it up a bit she will gobble it up. Now maybe she will stop trying to grab my food all the time and eat her own, little piggy.

I love this video. I call it "stuck in a cup". Harper is of course, just checking it out very closely. The whining started as talking and then she seems to not know how to lower her hands, i.e. the cup from her face. I just love that she is telling me and the cup off.

Loving Ladies

HOPPY 3rd birthday Lucy!!!

Well Jumpapalooza, the largest inflatable birthday ever thrown, is officially over and done with. Just shy of a circus, here is Lucy's birthday party by the numbers:

20+- Number of kids at the party

24-number of beach balls

6-number of "happy hoppers"

24-number of punch balls

??-untold number of hours Ian and I huffed and puffed and pumped up all of the party fun

1-moonbounce

6-number of kids allowed in moonbounce

10-number of kids that were caught in the moonbounce at one time during the party

2-number of times a kid disconnected the fan from the moonbounce causing the entire thing to collapse immediately on the kids in the bloody contraption

48-number of Rice Crispy treats used to create a birthday "cake" for our non-cake-loving 3 year old

1-number of shoes left behind at the party

Even with one kid hopping home with only one shoe on, the party was a success. The kids were crazy, sugar-filled and all were just great. You might think that a party with so many under 4 year olds would be filled with lots of tears, lots of fights, etc. This just wasn't the case. Apparently they are all growing up and Lucy has really great kids as friends.

Lucy had a great time and was gracious and thankful all the way. She said thank you for gifts and well-wishes, she replied "your welcome" when people thanked her for coming to the party and at one point she was caught being the perfect hostess- handing bouncy balls out to her friends, then little bags of M&Ms, all on her own accord.

Harper was suppose to nap during the party- no way was that happening. She was passed around and loved watching the kids hopping around like crazy nuts. At the end of the party she simply hunched over and went to sleep. It was all just to much for her.

But not for Lu. She has taken the big leap into her 3s and is so "hoppy" for it!

6 Years

Ian and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary on Sat. It's been a great 6 years and to celebrate we took the girls to Brownies Beach on Chesapeake Bay for a day trip. It is a tiny beach and is only 45 minutes away, but it was the perfect getaway for a day. Lucy played in the sand, searched for seaglass, Harper napped and played in the shade. Ian always knows what to get me, and a day in the sun was the perfect anniversary present!

Seeing spiders

Lucy started having nightmares a few weeks ago. They are sweaty, screaming, scary nightmares and all of them involve spiders. I don't know why. Spiders really don't come up in our daily lives. They are around, but she never really seems to notice them. But at night she sees them crawling in her room, building webs in and around her bed and they scare her to pieces. I have had to jump on the spiders, wrestle with them and wisk them off to the other room, making a big production of slamming the garbage can lid so that she is convinced that I have rid her room of them. We flip on all the lights to show her that there are no webs in her room. I make sure to vacuum the corners of her room, with her supervision, during the day so that I can tell her that we got them all out when she is screaming about them at night.
Tonight when I went in to calm her down she accidentally spilled water all over her bed. I turned on the lights to show her their were no webs, no spiders and to change her sheets. She was sitting in her rocking chair and started laughing hysterically. I looked over and she said, "I thought there were two great big spider webs in my room, but they were just ghosts."
She was ok with that. Lights out and nighty night. We'll assume the ghosts were part of her dreams as well, and now, I'm sure, they will be part of mine.

Giggles galore

I always thought that Lucy and Harper would be friends. I also thought that by the time Harper was crawling they would be able to play and interact with each other (I also thought that might be the end of their friendship since that will also mean that Harper will be able to steal Lucy's toys). I never thought that Harper being only 19 weeks old and Lucy being a new 3 year old they would be such good friends now. Here is how my morning usually goes...
Lucy wakes up around 7:20am and Harper wakes around 7:30. Lucy runs in to say good morning to her little sister and the grins and giggles start there. They both eat breakfast during which Lucy claims that she needs to go over and say good morning or hi to Harper about 10 times. Harper takes a nap. The above is repeated about an hour and a half later, instead of breakfast please insert snack. Then the lovefest begins. They can play together for more than 30 minutes with Lucy making Harper laugh continuously and Lucy doing her fair share of giggling as well. They pass toys back and forth, Lucy helps Harper reach things, she sings her songs, tells her stories and gives her lots of cuddles, kisses and hugs. Harper returns the love with smiles, hand holding, playing with Lucy's hair and face and talking to Lucy nonstop. They really play together and love every minute of it. I love that they are bonding and so sweet with each other and that I can get dressed without holding Harper, starting a "special project" with Lucy or have to have the tv on to entertain either of them. And it isn't just once a day, it goes on throughout the day. Let this serve as a record for when in a few months or years, or both, I am writing about how they do nothing but fight. Hopefully their friendship and love for each other isn't contingent upon one pulling the other's hair, for some reason I feel like that same act can get a sister in a lot of trouble later on.

What's in a name?

Lucy is loving school. She is the chatterbox, the class clown and the know-it-all. She is also liking all the kids in her class, even the new kids that started this week. The only problem is that she has no idea what their names are. She calls Yasmine, "Jasmine, like the princess." Close, but no cigar. The best was when I asked what the newest little girl's name was (after Lucy said that she really, really, really liked her and had a lot of fun with her). She replied, "Frisbee." Now, I didn't know what the little girl's name was, but I was pretty sure that her name was not Frisbee. When I said "Frisbee?!!!" She just smiled and said, "Well, that's what I call her because I don't know her name." I guess she gets an A for effort for trying to make friends with the new kid at school. For the record, her name is Lisbeth but Lucy now tells me that she will call her "Elizabeth". We have had several discussions about why she would not like to be called anything other than her name and her response was "Elizabeth could be her name." Better than Frisbee.

Blades of Glory

This is Lucy's attempt at "ice skating". She is gliding along on two plastic runners which often stop cold and send her hurling forward. She loves it though. The sounds of her squealing and giggling, combined with the sounds of crashing are not as peaceful as watching a champion on the ice, but just as thrilling.

The most annoying sound in the world

For those of you who have seen the movie "Dumb and Dumber" you may remember a part where Jim Carrey says something to the effect of "Want to hear the most annoying sound in the world?" When he lets loose, it is a terrible, loud, monotonous, long-lasting sound that could send shivers down anyones spine. That's my Harper.
She has taken to this sort of noise much of the day. Especially when I am holding her and she is in close range of my ear. She also likes to do it when I am trying to talk to anyone else, including while on the phone. I know it is just her way of testing out her voice and learning to make a new sound, but there have been more pleasant sounds made, trust me. She can do it for 3 minutes, 30 minutes or even a couple of hours. It isn't fussing, it isn't sing-song, it is just a super-loud, moaning, monotonous noise that takes over the whole house. Lloyd would be proud.

Heard on Tenth St....

"Oh Man! Oh Man! Oh Man!" Lucy was exclaiming this Saturday evening after she realized that our friend had sent her $5 for her birthday. You could actually see the excitement in her eyes. Don't you just miss the days when $5 seemed to have as much possibility as all the money in the world? She hasn't even begun dreaming up what she will spend her fortune on. She was so happy just to have something to put into her piggy bank.
"Santa will fix it". This is Lucy's answer to anything that is broken. Broken measuring tape (after playing with it for less than 2 minutes on your birthday)- Santa will fix it. Popped balloon? Santa will fix it. Stained shirt? Just leave it on the dining room table and Santa will come by later to get it "so he can leave another one for you". At least she isn't always looking for an immediate fix, let's just hope that she isn't keeping a mental list of all the things Santa is to replace, fix, mend, etc- I'm not sure he can deliver all of that plus her always expansive list come December.
"Oh Susannah!"- I was getting out of the shower this morning and heard Lucy belting this song out. When I came to see what she was doing, she was caught hopping on one foot, patting her knee and singing into her tball stand. My favorite was the line "With a tear in her eye. She's going to Suzianna, oh Suzannah don't you cry." The voice was cracking, it was all being shouted and I guess you could say she was a "little pitchy".
"Momma, is it still my birthday?" When I replied that no, her birthday was indeed over, after nearly 3 weeks of celebrating and about 3 months of talking about it nonstop Lucy replied," When will I be 2 again?" I told her never, that she would be 3 for a year and then she would get to turn 4. It seemed to make her a little sad and then she added, "well, I guess I can't turn little for you anymore. I'm a big girl now."

The last day...

We are in birthday countdown mode. Lucy woke up today and said that this was "a good day, it was her last day to be 2. Then tomorrow she gets to grow bigger and be 3!" She told this to me, Harper, Reggie. Then she repeated it to random people in line at the grocery, the clerk, the bagger and another clerk who happened to pass by. She keeps reminding me that we are going to pick up the moonbounce tomorrow and that I need to try it out with her before the birthday party (no problem!) Actually, she said that we need to "think, think, think. Since we need to RESCUE the moonbounce tomorrow." I have a feeling that no moonbounce has ever seen so much hopping as will take place at our house this weekend. 2o kids, one in particular who likes to leap, hop and jump everywhere she goes- that's a lot of hoppin. When I explained to the grocery clerk that she was having a frog birthday Lucy chimed in, "Not just frogs, all things that hop like crickets, bunnies, chicks, kangaroos, balls. All those things hop, like me." Of course, she was hopping in place while she explained this.

On another note, we are on weather watch. Right now, the chance of rain for Sat morning is 30% scattered storms. If you look at weather.com, it actually says that we will see rain up until 9am and then we will see storms starting at 1pm. We have scheduled the party from 10am until noon. Here's hoping for hopping.

Harper 17 weeks

Harper can still rock out a mohawk, although it has gotten so long that now it ends up in one giant curl on top of her head.
Loving her exersaucer- she is working on sitting tripod style in her boppy as well. Her favorite trick is trying to stand on my legs- every single time her mouth opens like "Ta-Dah!" and then she smiles and gets shy, then does it all over again.
Lucy gets a lot of her attention and she loves listening to whatever she has to say, watching her do whatever she is doing, etc. And of course, Lucy loves making Harper smile, laugh or kick. Lucy will also lay down next to Harper so that Harper can grab on her nose, hair, mouth, face, etc. Harper loves it and Lucy is more than happy to let her claw at her for a few minutes- very sweet.

Butterfly!

This is a big week at our house. Lucy's birthday is, of course, Friday. She is not letting anyone forget it either. In the meantime, Lucy started school this morning. A couple days ago she said she was a little nervous. Not today. She was hounding me all morning to leave. On the way there she kept demanding that I drive "superfast!" and wanted to know why there was so much traffic. We got there right on time and she hopped out of the car and marched right in. She hugged and kissed me and went about her business. She paid no attention to the kids screaming for their parents in the hallway or the 2 kids who cried in her room. In fact, after spending her entire year in the Panda class shy and quiet she has already earned the honor of being the chatterbox in the Butterfly room. Her teacher, Miss Jennifer said that she had been warned that Lucy was shy and wanted to know if there were 2 Lucys last year- nope, she just got the Lucy that we all know and love. In fact, it was reported that she had not one, but two complete laughing fits during her first day, not a bad way to start the school year!