Hiking, sort of

We went hiking yesterday and this is how it went. Ian and I walked, Lucy stopped to pick up every leaf that had fallen in the forest to put into her pumpkin bag. Ian and I yelled at Lucy to pick up the pace, to run, to do anything that resembled moving forward and Lucy said "I need some rocks" and proceeded to stop to pick up gravel. Ian offered to give Lucy a shoulder ride, she accepted then needed to get down to pick flowers. I picked flowers for her and she proceeded to need acorns, gum tree seeds, pine cones, whatever. The one thing that kept her moving was actually trying to race us. The other big event, trying to identify the poop she saw on the ground. I think next time we will skip the hike and just call it a nature walk.

Del Ray Arts Festival

We went to the Del Ray Arts Festival this weekend with Deb and Ronin and Kimberly and Todd. It had so many kid friendly activities and Lucy was able to paint pumpkins, and make a real sized scarecrow which is now her new best friend. She loves this thing. It sits in our front yard and she begs to go out and talk to it and it is nearly impossible for her to get into the car without first having a conversation with it first. She loved picking out the clothes and insisted it have a purple hat. In the meantime, it freaks people out when they walk by and the dog jumps every time he goes outside. I'll post a picture when I get a good one of her with it.

Come out, Come Out!

Lucy loves hiding. With her buddy Asher, they hide in the bushes, behind trees,in the weeds, in mosquito infested grass, it doesn't matter. At home, Lucy covers her face and is "hiding". She loves playing hide n seek (partly because she loves the thrill of being scared when somebody jumps out at her. The other night I couldn't find her and then realized she was "hiding" in Ian's side of the closet. I'm not sure this is the best hiding job.

Video of playtime

All she wants to do is play, play, play!

Lucy wants to go to the playground all the time. While she is there, she loves to swing and lately, it had been swinging like an airplane with her arms stretched out wide. She also loves to bang sticks on all the playground equipment to see what kind of sounds each makes. The other day she was walking round and round a tree and slipped on some leaves and yelled "Holy Moly" (although without the "L" sound).

The other new favorite past time is taking her baby for a walk. She gets all sorts of gear to do just this- her baby, baby stroller, 2 or 3 purses all filled with knick knacks, fake credit cards, keys, baby bottles, wipes, etc. Then we head out to take a 45 minute walk around a single block. It is a true test of patience and usually ends with Lucy asking me to carry her, all her gear and the baby and stroller the rest of the way home. But she loves the idea of it and getting ready for it so it is worth it, I guess.

She is also really loving all her dress up things and pretend stuff she got for her birthday. She has covered herself in boas, glittery nail stickers, fake earrings, flashing jewelry and hats, tiaras, etc. She is still a bit weirded out by the dresses being a bit big on her and can't quite figure out how to walk in her high heels, but she tries each and every day! She also loves her doctor kit and is constantly taking my temperature and making sure her babies and stuffed animals aren't sick.

Birthday on the Farm

We went to Oxon Hill Farm today for a birthday party. Lucy got to milk a cow, pet a hen, watch a horse getting a bath, see rabbits, baby chicks, ducks, pigs, sheep and goats. To top it off, she also got to go on a hay ride that was the highlight of the day!

Picking Apples

We went apple picking at Homestead Farms on Sunday and Lucy was so excited about driving out to the "Country" and going to the farm. She picked apples, watched goats climb a bridge, heard a large pig snort and climbed on the haystacks. She is already looking forward to picking pumpkins and taking a tractor ride in a few weeks!

Little Duck

Lucy went to story time on Friday to hear about animals on the farm. Since she is two now, she gets to make a craft at story time now as well (she's so big!) She made this duck hat and grabbed one for Ronin and Asher as well.

First real bubble bath

Lucy's first real bubble bath.

September 12- the actual BIG day

We were all suffering from a bit of birthday fatigue when the actual day came around, but we mustered up some fun for Lucy's actual 2nd birthday! We had Ronin and Andrew over to play in the morning and they did a fine job of playing with every single toy in the house. That evening we had ice cream and sang happy birthday and presented Lucy with a few last gifts. Needless to say, she was blessed throughout all her birthday celebrations and we are grateful for everything that everyone did for her.

School Days

Lucy started school today and it went off without a hitch (almost). She was so excited this morning she could barely play, eat breakfast or wait for me to get ready. She kept saying "Let's GO!!" When we got there we were a few minutes early and she got upset when she saw her new teacher leave the room. Then when it was time for her to go in, she put on a brave face, gripped my hand really hard and then was just fine. I worked at her school today so I was able to spy on her a couple of times and got progress reports from her teacher and they said she was doing great, playing nicely, following directions, etc. I was working in the 4 year old classroom and when we were coming in from the playground our class accidentally ran into Lucy's class (the Pandas) and that's when it all went downhill. That was at 12:15 and apparently the sight of me being with other kids and not taking her home sent Lucy into a tailspin and she pretty much cried the rest of the day. Thankfully that was only 45 minutes but I still felt bad. She did have a great day overall, had lots to tell me, got french fries as a first day treat and is ready to go back tomorrow.

Lucy LOVES SPINNING! This is her new favorite thing to do right before bedtime. I've even caught her doing it when she is actually in bed. This is a classic video. Watch when she stops spinning and tries to stand up- she just sort of rolls over. This is not to be unmatched by the time (unfortunately not on video) when she was spinning, ran into the wall, took a step backward and then fell straight as an arrow backwards. She just giggles and giggles.

Lucy's VA bday party

Lucy had her friends birthday party at the Lee Disctrict ReCenter. They played in the soft playroom, the ball pit, the playground and the party room. She wanted a bug birthday party so we gave bug cages to all her friends, decorated everything with bugs and even had dirt cake with worms for desert. Aunt Lauren made her tshirt with two candles on it and it was the hit of the party. She woke up Sunday morning wanting to do it all over again. What a great day!

School Open House

Lucy had a dry run for school on Thursday. She insisted we pack her lunch bag (a penguin) and pack her backpack (a horse). She went in shy as can be and about 2 minutes later she felt right at home, was talking to her new teachers, Miss Chris and Miss Sophie, talking on the play phones, making play food for everybody and didn't want to leave. Here is a picture of her getting ready.

Stealing Peppers

This kid loves peppers and onions. Whenever I am cutting them up she grabs her stool and starts eating away. Today I walked away from my cutting board and came back to Lucy eating a bowl of peppers and onions- no shame about it!

National Zoo

We went to the zoo on our first day so that we could get our "Boo at the Zoo" tix. We invited Andrew along and they played on the big pizza, the prairie dog tunnels, and loved all the animals.

Two year olds just can't show excitement over a sweater, no matter how nice the sweater!

with Nanny and Pa