Two is Terrific!

Happy, Happy Birthday Lucy Girl! It is hard to believe that Lucy is already two years old. The past couple of years seem to have flown by at lightening speed. I know, all parents say that, but it really is true. Lucy is amazing. She is the epitome of her name - light. Lucy has brought so much light and happiness into our lives. She is spunky, outgoing, chatty, fun, cheery, bright and adorable. Don't get me wrong, Lucy can also be stubborn, cranky, whiny and picky - but hey, who isn't sometimes?

I cannot believe all that Lucy has learned and discovered this past year. She has an amazing vocabulary - more words than I can count! She is great at puzzles and loves to put them together. Miss Lily at school says Lucy does puzzles she has never seen a toddler so young do. She is friendly and flirty with folks everywhere we go. But most of all, she is our wonderful little girl and we are so happy to have her in our world.

I hope that Lucy's third year is even more fun and exciting than the second. We can't wait to share it with her. Here is a retrospective of Lucy during the past year, one picture from each month. They are among my favorites - some you've seen and some you might not have... Enjoy!

Lucy Girl Tid-Bits

Lucy has a really cute and funny personality. She is vibrant and full of energy - and so much fun to watch! Lucy now understands a little about smiling for the camera. If the spirit moves her she will look at you when you are taking a picture and say "cheese." The end result is the, and I have no other word to describe it, cheesy grin you see in this picture. So funny.

As toddlers typically are (at least that is what I keep reading), Lucy is quite particular about things. She does not like it if Brian sits in my seat at the table, or vice-versa, and she is sure to remind us where we are supposed to sit... Momma's seat! Daddy sit right here, said while pointing to Brian's regular seat. Trying to explain that the chairs aren't really assigned is completely lost on a 22 month old...

One day when we were getting ready to leave the house, I told Lucy she was cute. Her response: Momma's cute too. So sweet!

Lucy has become quite talkative now that she has a sufficient vocabulary to share what she is thinking. She loves to say It's right there, we don't always know what it is, so this often results in a guessing game where we guess until we get it right. The other day when I picked Lucy up from school she used this famous line while pointing to her pocket. I assumed she was showing me her pocket and letting me know about "it." Ms. Debbie then mentioned (luckily!) that I should be careful with her shirt because of all the rocks in her pocket. I then peer into this little shirt pocket and find at least twenty little stones! Apparently, Lucy enjoys collecting rockies when the children are outside playing. We gave the stones back to Ms. Debbie for next time. Lucy seemed reasonable to Lucy.

As we leave Bright Horizons and on the way home I always ask Lucy about her day. I usually get vague answers or just yes and no responses. When I picked Lucy up from school today we had a real conversation! She was wearing a different shirt than this morning. I asked her what happened to her shirt. Her response: yogurt on shirt, lee lee shirt off. So I confirmed what I thought she was telling me - You got yogurt on your shirt and Miss LeeLee changed it? Yes, that was it. If there was any doubt remaining, it disappeared when I pulled the yogurt covered shirt out of the bag when we got home. I am so excited to have gotten such a great response to my question! Lucy sure has grown!

Who Wants to Use the Potty?

Lucy does, that's who!

Brian and I are in no rush to potty train Lucy. We figured with our upcoming vacation to St. John and the plane ride, it might make more sense to wait until Lucy turns two. We did, however, put the potty chair out a while ago. We also bought a seat cushion for the powder room. Lucy would frequently comment about the little potty. I would ask if she wanted to sit on it, she would say "no" and we would move on to the next thing. No pressure. A little over a week ago, Lucy started asking to sit on the potty, so we let her. She would sit there (on the big potty) looking all cute, legs dangling, reading her potty book. Then after a while, she'd ask to get down. Nothing exciting. If she asked, we obliged, but no pushing...

Wednesday evening, while I was filling her bath, she asked to sit in the potty chair for the first time. She was just hanging out while we waited for the tub. Next thing I knew, she was standing up, pointing at the potty and saying "uh-oh Momma!" Believe it or not, there was poop in the potty (sorry if this is TMI, but it was pretty exciting!). So we did high fives and I explained that was why we used the potty.

This was not an isolated event. Lucy also used the little potty at bath time on Thursday night with Brian. Then on the big potty in the powder room on Friday after telling me she needed to use it. No pee yet, but that is fine for now.

We are very proud of Lucy for deciding when she wanted to learn to use the potty. So, I guess potty training is beginning...

All the World is a Playground!

We are so lucky to have such a happy little girl in our lives! Lucy is full of smiles and squeals and she makes us laugh all the time. Some of the cute things Lucy has been up to include:

1. Lucy likes to re-arrange all of our small rugs. This includes the rugs at the front door and in the laundry room, as well as, the mat in front of our kitchen sink. Lucy will drag these rugs around and either bring all of them into the kitchen or trade their places. When she is finished she sits on one with a very satisfied look on her face. Sometimes she will even lay down and pretend to take a nap on one of the rugs.

2. Lucy is really starting to enjoy playing with her baby dolls. She will place them tummy side down on the steps in the hallway and pat them on the back saying "night night" to each of them. I'm not really sure why they sleep on the stairs, I guess they must remind Lucy of her toddler bed, or maybe she just doesn't know where else to put them.

3. Lucy is very brave. Miss Lily at school writes this on her report almost every Tuesday (sprinkler day). We see this all the time when Lucy is running around and playing. If she falls, she usually just gets up, brushes herself off and continues playing. What a little tomboy! Lucy loves slides, so we recently took her to the playground down the street. She enjoyed all the slides, and even went down a few that I was afraid might be too high. She didn't seem to mind one bit though. Lucy even tried out the balance beam with a little help from her Daddy. Here are some pictures of our playground fun. Enjoy!

Movin' on up!

Lucy has graduated to a toddler room this week! I think she is really excited about this change at school since she is now back together with her friend Ethan and she is with kids who are doing more things, rather than being with babies who are younger than she is. We met with Lucy's new teacher, Miss Debbie, yesterday. She shared that Lucy has adjusted well to being in a different room, and she does well when they go down to the play room as well. She will be eating her snacks and lunch family-style now and going outside to play twice a day! Lucy also has to nap on a mat the same time as the other kids in the room. She has had a little trouble adjusting to the mat on the floor, but that seems normal. Miss Debbie also shared that Lucy gets along well with the other children and doesn't fight - certainly nice to hear! Lucy must be having a blast because she has been totally pooped in the evening and has gone to bed early as a result. Have fun in your new room Lucy Girl!

Our Little Toddler...

Lucy is just having a great time getting around now that she has found her walking shoes! Here she is showing off how grown up she is becoming. Our little baby has really crossed over and become a toddler! While it is very exciting, it also bittersweet... Lucy is still so much fun and always full of life. She had a great time earlier today playing and watching her cousins, Zoe and Ella, who came over to visit with Aunt Amy. We had so much fun with them!

Off to a Great New Year!

Happy New Year! I haven't blogged in almost a month - I cannot beleive it... We have really started 2010 off on the right foot. Well, actually on both feet - Lucy is officially walking and has been for a couple of weeks! She chooses walking over crawling the majority of the time. It is so cute to see such a little person toddle around, we are having so much fun!

Walking has made it much easier for Lucy to be a good helper too. After her bath, she will help carry her clothes from the bathroom to her bedroom and put them in the hamper. She is quite proud of this achievement and she really likes helping. What a good girl!

Spoon Feeding

Lucy is feeding herself with a spoon. Here she is eating some oatmeal with fruit puree. Although she has gotten quite a bit of cereal all over herself, I must say, she is really a very neat eater. Any cereal that didn't make it to her mouth is on her or the high chair, but no where else. We went straight to the tub after this meal!

Right on Track

Lucy had her 12 month doctor appointment a little over a week ago. I am happy to again report that Lucy is very healthy. Dr. Olivieri again said she was just perfect - what every parent hopes to hear! Lucy is just shy of 21 lbs, putting her in the 48th percentile for weight for her age. She is 29 inches tall! This puts her in the 46th percentile for height for her age. Lucy is developing right on track. She is doing all the right things for her age too! Lucy had to get 3 immunizations during her visit, and we are proud to report that she was a real champ - she only cried for a quick minute and then was her normal happy self.

Happy Birthday Lucy!

I can't believe that our baby girl is already one year old today! This year really went by quickly. Our little Lucy girl has brought so much joy into our home and lives. She is so much fun, has such a cheery smile, which she shares freely, and she has a good sense of humor. Lucy is really an amazing little person - she is laid back and almost always seems to be able to go with the flow, she laughs so often and she frequently squeals with delight at the simplest things (and quite loudly I might add!)

Lucy has learned a lot during her first year and I am amazed by all the things she can do. Here are just a few that are on the top of my head that I think are funny or cute... Lucy understands if you ask her if she'd like you to read her book. She will go over to the books and choose one for you. Usually it is her Happy Baby Colors book, so that one must be her favorite. When she is doing something she isn't supposed to do, or doesn't think she is, she gives the funniest look and kind of laughs even while you are telling her no - testing the limits already! She gets so excited when she thinks she is getting away with something. She will "climb" up into my lap and put her arms around my neck to hug me - so sweet! When I am rocking her, sometimes she will take my hand and open it, then place it on her cheek and just lean in... Lucy can, and does, put all of her tub toys back into the colander that we have in the tub to hold them. She is quite proud of herself when she gets them in there too. That is probably enough to share for now.

Happy Happy Birthday to our sweet baby girl! We love you!

Birthday Bash in Erie!

Lucy is a lucky little girl this year - she will get to celebrate her first birthday more than once! Her first celebration was during our trip to Erie. Nana Jean hosted a great family get together to wish Lucy a Happy Birthday! Lucy loved all the attention, enjoyed the icing on her cupcake and was excited by her new toys and other gifts, especially the gift bag from her Aunt Julie! Here are some pictures to commemorate the occasion:

Lucy's morning began with some lazy lounging in the big soft hotel bed - isn't she such an angel?

We got together for a group shot with Nana, Poppa, Aunt Rachael, Uncle Mark, Collin, Lauren and the four of us! What a crew...

Lauren watches on with interest...

There's that little finger reaching into the gift bag - Lucy checks everything out with her index finger first.

Here is Lucy with the bag from Aunt Julie that she didn't want to give up while Lauren is in the background working on Lucy's present from Aunt Marilyn.

Cupcake Time! Lucy approached her cupcake slowly working on the icing first...

Here she is focusing on the little crumbs, rather than the big chunks. As you can see, she was quite neat with her cupcake...

Hurrah! I'm the birthday girl!

Okay - I'm done with my cupcake, so get this bib off of me!

Spinning Around

Who needs a sit & spin? Lucy loves to spin around in circles all by herself. Here she is showing off her talent. Enjoy!

Walking & Dancing Calypso Style!

As I shared in an earlier post, Lucy LOVES her new Lion push toy. He plays Calypso music when you press his big purple nose, which Lucy thinks is just great. Here is a short video of her walking with the Lion and then stopping to dance to the music. Note, when the music first stops she says that famous first word, "uh-oh." Enjoy!

The Lion Walks Tonight...

As I shared in the previous post, Lucy has been doing a great job standing and cruising along furniture. Ms. Steph, Lucy's teacher, had shared that she was enjoying using the push walker at school. I shared this with Aunt Amy, and lucky Lucy got an early birthday gift from Aunt Amy, Uncle Paul, Zoe and Ella. Lucy's new push walker is a lion with a felt main and fun colors. His purple nose activates laughter and calypso style music that gets little Lucy dancing away. She is so cute holding on to the front of the lion while she wiggles, jives and bounces to the beat. She also loves to push the lion. Lucy is doing a great job walking with her new friend. If she falls, she just continues forward on her knees - silly girl! Lucy is also testing the waters by letting go and trying to stand without holding on to anything. I think this new toy is going to really help prepare Lucy for those first steps on her own. And, it will grow with her. Once she has mastered walking and isn't interested in pushing her new lion, he converts into a riding toy! The fun will go on. Thanks to the Nolan's for the early birthday gift. Lucy may be walking by her birthday!

Update after a long absence...

It has been quite a while since my last update and so much has happened! A quick re-cap of the past (almost) month since my last post. We enjoyed a fun visit with Nana Jean who came for Kenzie's birthday. We celebrated Kenzie's official entry into her teen age years with Nana Jean, Nana Kathy, Aunt Amy, Uncle Paul, Zoe and Ella. We all had a great time and I think Kenzie really enjoyed the day.

Lucy has been mastering some new skills and she enjoys showing them off to everyone. She loves to clap and wave (though she often waves after we have left the person we are waving to...). Lucy is crawling up a storm and she likes to climb/crawl over things. She can crawl up several stairs before needing a rest and she can pull herself up to stand. She cruises along furniture pretty easily now. Lucy can now stack the wooden ring blocks on her ring stacker. She is really quite good at it. Our stacker is wood, not the plastic fisher price one, so the rings do not have to go in the "proper" order, they can be mismatched because the hole in the center is the same size for each ring. She loves to stack the rings and then turn the stacker over so they spill on the ground. Lucy also has a stacking and nesting cup set. You would never realize looking at this small stack of cups that it could provide so much entertainment for one little girl!

Lucy is now pretty consistent with saying mom or mama and da-da. This is quite exciting for the two of us! She also continues to enjoy saying uh-oh and will create situations so she is able to use her favorite first word.

Lucy's top two teeth are about to break through any day now, I can just barely see them peeking through. Needless-to-say, she has been a little cranky while dealing with the teething pain - she is a trooper though!

I have more, but can't think of all the stories right now, so I will try to update again tomorrow night.

Uh-oh!

Well, I think it is official - Lucy's first word is uh-oh. She has been saying it a lot lately, and it seems she knows what it means. Lucy was full of uh-ohs tonight... We have a bunch of Lucy's board books on the shelf on a side table in our family room. Lucy really enjoys taking all the books off of this shelf. She places them on the floor and then grabs another to stack on top of or place next to the other books. Sometimes, a book falls backwards off the shelf. Lucy likes to reach over the shelf to get the books from the floor and then add them to her stack. Tonight when some of the books fell off the back of the shelf, Lucy said uh-oh and reached for the books, one by one she picked them up. When all the books were off the shelf and spread out on the floor, Lucy picked up a book, dropped it off the back of the shelf, saying uh-oh and reaching to retrieve the book. So funny and so cute!

A Healthy Lucy Girl!

Lucy had her 9 month check up with Dr. Olivieri today. He said she is perfect - which is always a nice thing to hear. Her heart and lungs sound good, she is developing just as she should be and she is growing well. Lucy now weighs just barely over 19 lbs, which puts her in the 50th percentile for weight. She is 2' 4" tall, which is the 60th percentile for height. Her head measures in at a whopping 18.7 " which is the 99.43 percentile for head circumference! Everyone thought Lucy was so cute and she waved and smiled for each person who talked to or smiled at her, which just made people even more interested in talking to her. The nurse shared with us that the infant flu shot is a two part shot, Lucy needs to come back in 4 weeks for part two. To this, Lucy clapped, raised her arms and made hurrah kind of sounds. I don't think she understood what the nurse was saying! Lucy was a real trooper during her two immunizations. She barely cried and once it was all over, she was smiling and chatting again.

Napping & Clapping

Lucy was still getting over her teething pain last Thursday, so she was still a little cranky. As a result, she fell asleep on the couch along with her daddy! Look how cute those two are.

Lucy did a great job catching up on sleep this weekend. She took a four hour nap when she was home with Brian on Friday! After she woke up they came to visit me at work - what a nice treat on a quiet Friday before a holiday weekend.

Sunday was a busy day for the Burns family, we headed out to Aunt Amy & Uncle Paul's for a visit and dip in the pool with Zoe & Ella. Paul made some wonderful chili and Amy made a very tasty cake! We all had a great time in and out of the water. We then headed over to our neighbor's (Mike & Shannon) for a Labor Day gathering. There was a great crowd, we had fun and Lucy enjoyed playing with some of the kids.

Today was a quieter day, but the BIG event was that Lucy clapped for the first time! When I say clapped, I mean she really all out clapped. She has been bringing her two little fists together in a sort of clap, but today she had open hands and repeatedly put them together. They even made a quiet clapping sound! She was really excited about this new skill (probably in part because we were so excited).

And She's Off...

Well it is official, Lucy is now crawling! This weekend she was doing a modified crawl, drag, sit and inch kind of thing to get around and it was working well for her. Today, however, she all out crawled. We were playing on the family room floor and Lucy wanted to climb on me, so I backed away and asked her to come to me - and she did! After the initial excitement, I decided to give it another go, so I moved more than half way across the room and she crawled over to me again. Brian and I better get ready to follow Lucy, once she really gets the hang of this I have a feeling there will be no stopping her! I will post some pictures again soon...

Munching Away!

Lucy has been eating solid food for almost two months now. We started her off slowly with just oatmeal and rice in the beginning and didn't introduce fruits and veggies until she was 6 months old. Since then our girl sure has expanded her menu! Lucy now has solid food at breakfast and dinner time. She eats rice, oatmeal and wheat cereal. She also eats lots of different fruits and vegetables. So far the only thing we haven't been sure about is sweet potatoes - she didn't seem wild about them. Lucy likes green beans, peas, carrots, winter squash, avocado, pears, banana, peaches and prunes. Now we are crushing fresh or frozen organic produce in the baby food mill - it is a little chunkier and Lucy seems to like that. She has been eating green beans, a peas & carrot mix, blueberries and banana this way so far. We also have lima beans and asparagus to try soon. Lucy is still a little messy and sometimes spitting is a bit of a problem - well, Lucy thinks it is very funny to spit her food. Mommy & Daddy don't think it is very funny. We are glad that she is eating so well though. She has also tried moistened cheerios, which she seems to like, but hasn't yet really figured out how to pick up and put in her mouth herself. We'll keep practicing. Hopefully she will continue to be such a good eater, it is nice to know she is getting so many good nutritious things to eat. Way to go Lucy!