This girl LOVES a furry red guy named Elmo. As I mentioned in a previous post, Santa was very good to her with all things Elmo. In the picture below she is holding her beloved Elmo, while wearing a pair of Elmo jammies from Christmas.
Since Christmas, Lucy innocently believes with all of her might that every present and unopened box contains Elmo in it, and excitedly will shout "Elmo, Elmo" while watching her Aunt Jane open her birthday presents, or while shaking a giant popcorn container at Grandma and Grandpa T's. I can't help but laugh and feel sad for her at the same time - I always hold my breath for disappointment when the present or box is opened to reveal something other than an Elmo inside. She seems to take the disappointment in stride though, and it doesn't seem to dilute her enthusiasm the next time an unopened box presents itself to her. Lucy has been devotedly watching an assortment of Elmo DVD's either from Christmas or from the library every afternoon after her nap. On one of the DVD's, there is a segment with Elmo and Whoopi Goldberg where they discuss the differences between skin, fur and hair. The other day Lucy was rubbing my arm and said "skin". Then she touched my head and said "hair." I then asked her what was covering the furry little red guy she was holding, and she lovingly looked at Elmo and said "FUR!" This game went on for a while as we talked about the difference between the three, and pointed out what Lucy had on her. Not to leave Daddy out, I asked Lucy what was on Daddy, and she proudly shouted, "FUR!!" To which I responded that yes, Daddy did look like he was covered in fur, but it was in fact just a lot of hair.
To help pass all of the time indoors, we have been enjoying lots of good company of friends and family over this past month. Lucy has loved the social interaction on her own turf, and has been doing a great job of providing the live entertainment for all of our guests. Here she is below with her Aunt Jane and Jane's boyfriend Matt.
Lucy's Uncle Mike and Aunt Jenna came over one evening, and Uncle Mike brought his guitar which Lucy loved. Uncle Mike played all of her favorite songs, including Rock-a-Bye Baby and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I was impressed that he could play these songs by ear, and I can't help but think of how lucky his little one, Tiny, due in July, will be to have a daddy who can play such great music for him or her.
Lucy also got to hold another baby this past month, when my good friend from Chicago came for a visit with her daughter Eleanor. This brought her endless amounts of excitement in anticipation of getting to hold Ellie, and she has been talking about her ever since.
Other favorite things to talk about are holding babies, what to do when a baby cries, and giving the people she misses "hugs" and "kisses". She even went so far as to tell me that when we went to a doctor appointment for Emma last week to hear her heartbeat, that she was going to "Hug and kiss Dr. Cayle". Not to discourage her affection, I went along with it, thinking she would get shy when the doctor came into the room. Let's just say my face turned beet red when Lucy jumped off Will's lap, went to my OB and said "Hug. Kiss." He knelt down for a hug, then went to stand up afterwards at which point Lucy grabbed his face in both of her hands and planted a kiss that landed on his cheek as he moved his face back in surprise. This was not good enough for Lucy though, and she pushed his face in front of hers again and kissed him square on the lips. I asked Lucy why she liked Dr. Cayle so much, and she told me "Emma, heartbeat. Emma out." Well, of course! This guy is going to be responsible for bringing her baby sister into the world (with a little help from me I am assuming) so I guess he does deserve a hug and a kiss!Speaking of fun vocabulary out of Lucy's mouth, some of the highlights this month include her increasing awareness of the numbers 2 and 3. She now tells me exactly how many of something she would like, and the numbers are always 2 or 3. She also knows that 3 is more than 2, and if it is something she likes, she will ask for 3. If it is something she doesn't, but knows she has to do, she will tell me 2. When she weighs herself on the bathroom scale every morning after I step off, she staves off my depression of my ever increasing numbers when she happily yells "8-10!" We're not sure if this means she weighs 80 pounds, or is saying she weighs 810 pounds to make me feel better about my own weight.
She has added several different ways to say no this month including "uh-uh", "nope" and my favorite said oh so cutely, "no thank you!". When asked a question, she will now hesitate before answering while saying, "ummmm." She also is fond of telling us what time of day it is - play time, potty time, snack time, din-din time, nap time, and nigh-nigh time to name a few. I don't know if I've ingrained too much of a schedule, or if she is trying to ingrain a schedule on me! But probably the most endearing statements out of this little lady's mouth this month include names. She now calls herself, "Me, Loose". When it is her turn, or she wants something she will say repeatedly, "Me, Loose". But even better, and probably as pay back from me laughing at her yelling for Will by name last month, is her increased use of my first name. The best is when she calls me out of a deep sleep from her crib. It goes something like this, "Mumma! Mumma! Morning! Mumma...... Liz!? Liz! Liz!" And when I arrive at her cribside she casually says, "Hi, Liz. Morning." How can you not laugh at that!?!
Developmentally, a lot has been happening for Lucy this past month. You wouldn't think so at first, when I tell you that with all of the talk lately of baby Emma, and holding our friends' babies that Lucy has decided it is a lot of fun to play 'baby'. Here she is below in her old bouncer seat, chewing on a teething toy and holding a doll bottle while loudly 'crying'. We are hoping she gets this out of her system before she realizes that she has to share that bouncer with Emma when she arrives!
But on a more serious note, Lucy has decided that she no longer cares for wearing diapers. At first this really stressed me out because I was not ready for this giant leap to be so cold turkey. I know, I know, Santa did bring Elmo undies for Christmas and I did order two Froggy Potties online that arrived in the mail this past month, but I thought this was just setting the stage for down the road, and that we would practice potty time a little every day and get her used to the idea gradually. Lucy has firmly made up her mind though that she is ready, and is not looking back. She is exclusively wearing her Elmo undies during the day - whether at home or out - and is doing a very good job. Sometimes she will ask for a diaper for bedtime or naps, and sometimes not. I have learned to just go with it, and try to relax and be okay with the inevitable accidents and extra loads of laundry. She is getting better every day, and it still is less work than the cloth diapers we had her in. Here she is below eagerly awaiting the opening of the box that contained her new Froggy Potties.
This is the only decent picture I have of Lucy on her Froggy Potty - closed eyes were better than some of the other things that the other pictures revealed! Her excitement when she puts something in the potty is a sight to behold, and I can't help but catch the joy radiating off of her, and clap my hands and shout along with her. It really has been a lot more fun that I could have ever imagined. To tell you the truth, I was dreading potty training, but no more. Lucy's strong little personality presents many challenges, but it is a definite bonus as we potty learn.
Lucy cut her third canine tooth this past month, and it really didn't seem to phase her - granted a bladder infection and the stomach flu probably paled the pain of tooth cutting. And despite these health inconveniences, like I mentioned in the beginning of this post, she has had a ton of fun this past month just letting her personality shine.To creatively pass some time while I cleaned up the kitchen, I filled a Rubbermaid bin with a couple inches of water, tossed some toys in and let Lucy have some fun on the kitchen floor. I had my back to her for literally 20 seconds as I scrubbed a pan in the sink, and spun around in surprise when I heard a big splash and Lucy yell "BATH!" She had somehow snuck out of her socks, pants and underwear faster than I could say "Bad Idea" and plopped her naked butt into the water making a huge mess. I learned two things from this - water play is only fun for me in the bathtub or outside, and second - if I have the crazy idea to let her play with a bin of water on the kitchen floor again, I need to make the water much, much colder.
We've found the energy it takes to bundle Lucy up for the great outdoors a couple of times this month, and are always underwhelmed when it seems like it takes longer to bundle her up than she spends outside.
She still doesn't know how she feels about the fluffy and cold white stuff, but she did find it in her to make a snow angel for Luke in our front yard so that he could see it from heaven.
Now that the calendar has turned to February, we have begun to think and talk about Luke even more. This year Lucy understands birthdays as well as talks about Luke by name. We want to find a meaningful and happy way to celebrate her older brother's birthday while finding a way to balance the sadness that we still feel so deeply. Stay tuned for more on that, and please keep us in your prayers as we approach the third anniversary of Luke going to heaven. I also promise to write a post devoted to Emma soon too.
We've found the energy it takes to bundle Lucy up for the great outdoors a couple of times this month, and are always underwhelmed when it seems like it takes longer to bundle her up than she spends outside.She still doesn't know how she feels about the fluffy and cold white stuff, but she did find it in her to make a snow angel for Luke in our front yard so that he could see it from heaven.Now that the calendar has turned to February, we have begun to think and talk about Luke even more. This year Lucy understands birthdays as well as talks about Luke by name. We want to find a meaningful and happy way to celebrate her older brother's birthday while finding a way to balance the sadness that we still feel so deeply. Stay tuned for more on that, and please keep us in your prayers as we approach the third anniversary of Luke going to heaven. I also promise to write a post devoted to Emma soon too.Until then, stay warm to all of our northern friends and family and thanks for reading!
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