Our Big Girl

Lucy moved into her "Big Girl Bed" this weekend, and the transition went better than we would have thought!  She had been climbing out of her crib (luckily in front of us) and would try to climb back in by getting on her chair so we figured all of that in the middle of the night was a bit too dangerous.  We set up her crib for her Sunday nap and it was so cute watching her try to settle down for her nap.  She would get out, get in, move her animals out and in, run in circles and fall over from getting dizzy, get back in, out, etc.  Finally she fell asleep and has been doing great at night.  She usually asks one of us to lay with her for a little while but once we leaves, she stays in her bed.  In the morning she gets up on her own and waits behind her door until we get her.  Take notice of Bunny, who is still very present in our lives.  Bunny goes everywhere with us, he has to sit next to her at meals, goes to the gym, has to go in the car with us, and she falls asleep clinging to him.  Either the best $10 ever spent or something I will regret as we get closer to vacation and I need to bring an extra carry on for Bunny. 

Also, Lucy slept over at Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Joe's this weekend and had a great time with them and "Abby" and "Cate."  Thanks mom and dad for such a great weekend full of choo-choo trains and milkshakes! 

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Happy BDAY Aunt Katie..but keep reading for weekend highlights!

First, happy happy bday to Aunt Katie!!!!!!  I think she is turning 29?!  I can't keep track these days because she seems like she has been in her late twenties for 10 years.  Either way, she is still my little sis (and awesome one) and an amazing auntie.  Lucy loves when Aunt Katie comes over and I feel so lucky to have her living so close so we can spend time together.  Between yoga classes, our nights out and our walk-talks which hopefully will resume very soon, we have the best time and whenever Joe knows I need to talk to someone who "understands" he always says "why don't you call Kate."  Happy BDAY Kate!! Enjoy your day!

On other news, Lucy spent the weekend with Nana Chris and Papa Bill - and everyone involved had an amazing weekend.  Thank you Bill and Chris!!! Lucy got to spend some great time with her grandparents and they played, played, played.  They drank some milkshakes, played with her new ball from grandpa, visited with Great Grandma, Aunt Pat, Vince the finance guy and probably other neighbors and a few strangers that Lucy didn't tell me about. She also learned how to say "Champagne" which is very cute.  Joe packed in a Bulls game and the White Sox home opener while I spent my entire Friday on Michigan Avenue just because I could.  I didn't buy anything, in fact I spent most of the time making returns but it was great to be downtown.  And just because I could, I walked there :) We had dinner with friends and I went to a bridal shower out in Barrington on the way to Huntley on Saturday.  It was busy but nice!  And, as you can see, there was lots of smiling going on.

It is unbelievable how quickly Lucy is turning into an independent little girl.  She is really talking a lot these days - putting two words together whenever she can.  She will ask for her "green ball" or tell me "daddy work" to remind me that Joe is at work, etc.  Lucy is also getting really good at recalling things from her memory.  I took her to the Shedd on Tuesday and she hadn't been for a few weeks and when we got there wanted to see the "man" - one of the divers who was swimming with the fish last time. It was amazing she remembered it.  When we got home, I asked her what we did and she would tell me "man swim," "seals," and "orange ball" which the seal or maybe it was a sea lion, swam with.  She remembers that she gets to play with stamps at the gym or specific toys in the play room.  And, she is doing great with counting - she can count to 10 with help and say some of the alphabet, as well as remember verses to Wheels on the Bus and some of her favorite songs.  

She is the busiest little body and now I know what my dad meant when he said "the grass doesn't grow under my feet."  It doesn't grow under Lucy's either. She has to be exploring, running and doing everything herself - on her time.  Sounds a lot like her cousin Caitlin!  They will be trouble together. She isn't interested in the stroller, shopping cart, high chair or anything else that will constrain her and honestly, I have accepted I have a "high spirited" child and am focusing on making sure our days are full of activities for her to run, climb and be busy.  I have officially stopped planning to meet friends for lunch or coffee in hopes that Lucy will want to sit with us, and have accepted that we won't be spending a day together at Oak Brook Mall for a long time :)

Happy Birthday Kate and thanks Bill and Chris for such a wonderful weekend for both Lucy and us!!!  And, congrats dad on Boston and as long as I am at it, congrats to my mom and Kate who both got new jobs this week.  Hope everyone is having a great week!!!

CONGRATS DAD!!!

Congrats dad "Papa Joe" for finishing the Boston Marathon this afternoon!!!!  It was a hot one and when my dad told me they were giving those who opted not to run automatic entry into next year's race, I knew he wouldn't be one of them. I also knew that he would finish running across the finish line, which he did!!

Right now he is enjoying a well-deserved 26.2, a beer that I am guessing was named by a genius who lives in Boston and realized that a runner can't leave Boston without a special 26.2 beer.  Way to go dad!! We are so proud of you and wish we were in Boston celebrating with you!!!  

Easter Wrap Up

It seems like every holiday becomes my favorite holiday - surpassing the last holiday - but I think both Joe and I would say Easter has become our new favorite! We didn't have a lot of expectations for the weekend, which is exactly why I think it was so nice - yet there are all the things that make a holiday so much fun...the frilly holiday dress, the excuse to buy lots of random, fun little things that we knew Lucy would love in her basket, the family get-togethers (that probably should have come first on the list, before dress and shopping?) and family traditions.  And, I think this Easter was especially fun for Joe and me because Lucy seemed to get into the traditions - she LOVED egg coloring and all the egg hunts!  We couldn't pull her away from dropping eggs into the coloring bowls, they were all piled up in one bowl by the end.  And, Lucy proved she is smarter than we think.  We did an egg hunt at home, I placed the eggs pretty much in the wide open and she ran and swooped them all up in on loop around the house :)

At Bubbles, Lucy got to take part in their Egg Hunt (which kids were limited to finding 3 eggs?) and there was live music, an open play room, face painting, a snack table, etc.  We met her best friend Isla there, and ran into a few of her other friends from my work. It was a bit crazy but Lucy had the best time so I am sure we will head back next year :)

On Sunday we visited my godmother, Aunt Pam at her church and Lucy officially made it through her first full mass.  We spent most of the time in the sound-proof kids' room, but we were so proud of her for making it through the mass - and it was great to visit with Aunt Pam in between her busy masses.  We then headed to my parents' house for a fun, chaotic brunch.  It is really the only place Lucy can go with other kids and not need a little time to adjust - she runs right in and follows the girls around. They teach her to do things I didn't know Lucy would dare to try - like jumping off the bed!!!!! Oh lord.  The food was amazing and Lucy got spoiled with easter baskets and gifts galore.

We then headed to Aunt Pat's house for Easter dinner - another amazing meal and Lucy surprised us by keeping up her full-force energy through the car ride home at 8 pm.  She hunted for eggs all day as everyone kept re-hiding the same eggs, and by the end of the night she was requesting money from all of us as she started to enjoy the mass of pennies she acquired.  Again, Lucy got spoiled with books, pjs, a new backpack - and lots more.

In other news, Lucy picked up her first box of girl scout cookies this week (she chose shortbread because of the blue box), Lucy visited the doctor and weighed in at 18 lbs, 10 oz (3rd percentile, but she is 10 % for height), and Lucy has added jumping to one of her favorite activities.  She is adding lots of new words and putting two words together (sit up, daddy turn, bye daddy).  Her doctor is happy with her development so we are just working on adding some weight.

Hope you are all having a great week!

Easter 2012

Egg Hunt

Ooooh! Sticker!

 Lucy and her BFF Isla on another egg hunt

Weee!

Highlight of Easter morning - "Bunny"

 The three girls

Such hams...

Lucy following Christopher around. I hope he teachers her a thing or two about computers one day....

Looking for puppies with Uncle Paul

Helping the birthday girl make a wish

Happy Birthday Kristy!!! We had so much fun seeing you!

Have a nice week!

Brown is the new White

Well, I did it again. My effort to do something domestic failed!  Halfway through my egg-boiling session, I realized my poor eggs will first need to be colored white :) 

Vacation in the City

Finally getting back to updates from last week (while I wait for my eggs to hard-boil, and according to the website I googled to figure out how to do this, I think I have about 12 minutes to spare) - Lucy is still dreaming and talking about her big adventure in the city with Abigail and Caitlin. The girls came down last week with their driver, Beth, and it was Spring Break 2012!! We headed downtown to Navy Pier to have some lunch and visit the Children's Museum.  The girls ran around, drove a CTA bus, grocery shopped, climbed tree houses, and all the fun things there is to do there.  After coming back for dinner (thanks to Beth and Rob!), and a visit from Aunt Kate and "Uncle" Vern, it was a quiet house and Beth and I did what we do best - we drank a bottle of wine and talked about life.  I threw that in there for Joe because he always asks what I talked about with friends after a night out and and my response is always "life."

On Wednesday we went to the Shedd Aquarium and the girls had a blast! Lucy is a little too comfortable there - not too worried about running away from me into field trip groups, exhibits, etc.  But, she always has a good time there.  Abigail and Caitlin loved the jellyfish and penguins - and all three came home with some fancy souvenirs.  I was skeptical about the "otter in a purse" that Lucy chose (only because I dangled it in front of her to keep her from wanting the giant stuffed octopus) but the otter has been a hit.  Otto the Otter went to the gym today and has already been through the wash due to his busy life.

The three beans

The cutest mailgal of all

Breakfast - Lucy still reminds me where Abby and Cate sat

The chaos that we love!

Weeee!  This slide is tiny but looks pretty big when these two are on it

In other exciting news, Lucy tried out a gymnastics class today that she really liked! Beth suggested I try it because Lucy definitely is a busy-body, and she had a lot of fun trying the balance beam, doing summersaults down the wedge and jumping on the trampoline.  The class was small so we are going to drop-ins through the spring when we can.  I enjoyed being back at a gymnastics gym and I was pretty impressed because a famous Soviet gymnast (Natalia Yurchenko (sp?)) is the head coach for girls there.  But, that is way ahead of us. For now, the mom/tot class is wonderful for her!

We have a busy weekend of Easter-filled activities and if I correctly cook these eggs, we may have some egg decorating pics soon.

A very hesitant interaction with the Easter Bunny. This is what you get when you visit the French Market (at the train station) for an Easter Bunny visit. 

Happy Birthday Great Grandma Grace!

I am a week behind - and we had a busy week last week including an awesome spring break "vacation" here in the city with "Abby and Cate" as Lucy likes to say.  But, that will come in a later post because we need to celebrate Great Grandma Grace's birthday.  We were lucky to get to visit with her in the morning between all the phone calls (she is one popular lady) and her birthday activities throughout the day.  We also had a chance to visit with Aunt Lynnette, Uncle Tom, Amy and Christopher, it was cute seeing Lucy warm up to her cousins....she was saying their names by the time we left! And, Lucy had a piece of cake at 10 am, proving that anything goes at Grandma's house!  Happy Birthday Grandma!!! We love you and enjoyed our morning with you!

So sweet!

Visiting with Aunt Lynnette and Christoper

Lucy consulting with Amy on her "balls" she has drawn....