Her sense of humor continues to evolve and she finds it funny to open and close the book we are reading repeatedly while I either say "open, close" or "the end". The real trick is for her to see just how fast I can say these words without getting tongue tied. She finds this hilarious. She also is a fan of peek-a-boo, and this past month she learned how to do peek-a-boo to us. She puts her favorite blankie over her face, pauses for a couple of seconds while we wonder aloud "where's Lucy?", then pulls it down and giggles uncontrollably. The thing we find the funniest is that she is perfectly quiet while she is hiding under her blanket.
Lucy's vocabulary is also growing. In addition to her two favorite words of "Hi" and "Dada" usually used together, she also says "Bye", "Baby" and my favorite, "Mama." When she is really frustrated, she yells "MOM"! Someone advised me a while ago to never teach your child two things - how to say mom, and how to walk. So far I'm not regretting it. Ask me in 16 years though!
Speaking of walk - Lucy will take steps now while we hold her hands but she still does not like to crawl. She will do a backwards creep on her belly, but to move forward on her hands and knees is something she trys to avoid at all costs. Her preferred mode of transportation is mom or dad, while she reaches her arms towards the direction she would like to go. She did however enjoy being pulled in the sled a friend of mine let us borrow on a snow day this past month.
Lucy still enjoys mealtime and has been eating more and more table food. This past month we introduced eggs and citrus fruits which has been fun. Some of her favorite new foods include white chicken chili, cous cous, hummus, beef barley soup, chicken barley soup and 'french toast' which is really just bread and eggs fried together.
The biggest change we have noticed in Lucy this month though is her temper. She has begun throwing fits which we call the Dolphin because she will throw her head back and arch her back repeatedly if she doesn't get what she wants. It's funny but makes us nervous at the same time. Ten months seems so young to be so decided about what you do and do not want. I have a feeling that she is a very strong and determined little lady and Will and I are going to have to be extremely creative and stay on our toes with this one as the years go by! Here she's giving us a look that translates to "I dare you to take this remote control away from me!"
If you haven't been to the cemetery before, you can find directions at http://www.mtelliott.com/resurrection.html. Or you can follow Will's directions: upon entering the cemetery, take the tree lined entrance road until it ends. Turn right. Take this road until it ends and turn left. Go past one block. The second block on the left is where Luke is at. Go halfway up that block on the lefthand side and about five to six rows back. He is in section 23, plot 731. We have a smaller pine needle grave blanket with a small orange truck and some Christmas ornaments covering Luke's grave. There is also a small snowman that Will made at Luke's headstone. The cemetery is open from 7 a.m. - 4:45 p.m. daily. If you need more specifics on where Luke's plot is, you can ask at the office whose hours are from 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. on Saturday. We will have the card there through the end of the weekend (Sunday, February 21nd). Because the cemetery doesn't like any artificial decorations, the ziplock with the card will be tucked into the grave blanket just below Luke's headstone.
Thank you to all of our friends and family who continue to remember Luke in your own special way and bring his name up, even when it feels uncomfortable or awkward. We cannot begin to tell you how much this means to us and we are forever grateful. Please keep us in your prayers as we journey through this week, filled with sad and happy memories of missing Luke.
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