Lucy

We made a tent and then we told stories

Lucy tells the best stories. They start and end the same every time and they go something like this,

Once upon a time, Mommy, Daddy, Lucy, and Ollie, good boy! Sammy, Olive, Andrew. Dancing. The End! Do you like the story Mommy? Want another one?

Once upon a time, Bambi, Thumper, rainbow, forest, they hide. The End! Do you like the story Mommy? Want another one?

Baby girl, yes, yes I do want another story. May I never be too busy to not listen to your magical tales, your imagination vocalized. And although I recognize the day may come, will probably come, inevitably comes when I'm not the first person you want to share your world with, may that day be long, long in the future. Because I want to hear about Thumper, and Bambi and Ollie. I want to know about your happiness and sadness, your discoveries and travels. And I want to remember always (always, always, always,) your sweet, lispy, voice, brimming with brightness, asking, "Another one Mommy? Again?"

The Imperfect Mother

Being a mom is hard. It's really annoying when other people tell you that when you are pregnant. But it's true. And a couple of weeks ago Lucy and I were having some rough days. I couldn't get her juice fast enough, I got her the wrong color sippy cup, she wanted to watch Bambi! No, she wanted Tangled! She got into the permanent markers. She scratched the new TV, the one we saved for two years for. I always thought I would be the kind of parent who never lost her temper. Would always be calm, always patient. But the last 3 months have opened my eyes to the reality that two-year-old's have the unique ability of stretching your last nerve to the breaking point. Why is that? On the one hand, they are the sweetest things in the world, wanting to dress just like you, and brush your hair, and sit on your lap, and on the other, they are miniature dictators, that demand all of your time, energy and attention. And when Lucy scratched the TV, I got mad. Not screaming mad, but mad enough to make my little girl cry. I felt awful. Lucy crawled into my lap, crying, "Mommy mad. Lucy naughty," which is about when my heart broke.

Maybe not my finest moment.

And then things turn around and Lucy has been so sweet and playful and silly lately. She continues to skip wherever we walk, and make up stories. I hear her singing in her crib (bumble bee, bumble bee landing on my nose,) and she crawls into bed in the morning with me, and we whisper and giggle. The other day she took her shark finger puppet, had it eat her pasta, and when the pasta got stuck to the felt she said, "No, no shark! This is Lucy bear's food." I don't know why, but that kills me. Or there was the time at church, when she was sitting on Scott's lap, and he asked her where all his hair went? She got very serious, stood up on his lap, looked at his head, and proclaimed, "I found one!" We took a walk up Millcreek canyon yesterday, and she was so proud in her pink snow suit. We threw snowballs, and looked for Bambi, and I told her stories about bunnies and rainbows and snow, while Scott carried her on his shoulders. And when she wanted to walk, her cute little legs would run, "really fast!"

I may not be perfect. But I'm pretty sure Lucy knows that I love her more than anything. I think that counts for a lot, right? And when I walk in the door and she cries, "there's my mommy!" I know she loves me too. And we have had lots of talks since then about not touching the TV or drawing with pen on the couch. Patience. I'm working on it.

Oh, and these photos, just from another walk we took. I'm pretty sure I only bring my camera when we take walks.

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Christmas

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A couple of stories.

Lucy was so scared of Santa, that she wouldn't come out to help put the cookies out the night before. She peaked around the corner and cried, "No! No! No!" thinking he was literally in the room, eating up all the cookies. Poor thing. Christmas is a lot to take in.

I had the video camera all set to go and record Lucy's grand entrance into the living room. Fifteen minutes into it, I realized I had turned it on, but not to record. Ooops. I would feel bad, but Lucy's reaction to the kitchen set we got her was a little underwhelming, at best. She was most excited about her new dress and shoes, and had to put them on right away.

One day, it won't just be Scott and I up at 6:00am, giggling, waiting for Lucy to wake up too. If we do our job right, she will be waking us up! We loved our little bit of Christmas morning, with Lucy sitting on Scott's lap, eating her chocolate orange.

 

oh, the weather outside is frightful

I love winter approximately 5 days a year. This was one of them.

Since today is grey, and cold, with a side of inversion, it's nice to look back and remember winter can be pretty. Too bad this was a couple of weeks ago, and we haven't had any snow since. Winter, we are all ready for you. Lucy has a new hat and gloves, and we want to get out and play. Snow, please come back and make it feel like Christmas, and I promise, I wont complain until March.

Oh Christmas Tree

Every year we pick out a fresh tree. Scott has been trying to convince me for the last 11 years to buy fake, but to no avail. I agree the set-up, maintenance and take-down is much easier, but there is something about loading up the kids (kid in our case) and driving out and picking a Real Live Christmas Tree! Sure, it isn't as cool as actually going to the woods and finding on yourself, but we are a bit of City folks too. Scott and I have a very intense selection process. It needs to be only so high and wide (mini baby house,) look a bit like a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree, with lots of spaces and gaps, but also be perfectly symmetrical (no weird flat sides.) And we always have the bottom freshly cut off. One year we didn't do that, and it didn't work out so well.

I love our tree, and every morning when Lucy wakes up, she goes in and says, "Ohhhh, pretty!" I have always loved Christmas, but I love it a gazillion, billion times more with Lucy.

 

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Lucy turns 2 | Halloween Birthday Party

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Lucy turned two! And we celebrated with costumes, doughnuts, games and candy. We had so much fun! About a month before the big day, I turned to Scott and said something along the lines of, "I want to keep it simple this year." And Scott just laughed. He was right, of course. We maybe didn't make a ginormous pinata but we did want a fun area for all the kids. So we created pumpkin bowling, and pumpkin decorating, and filled balloons with candy, and strung them across the patio. The candy filled balloons were a hit and a behind the scenes disaster. We got it all ready the night before, but somehow in the process of stringing them up, they kept deflating, and the strings got all twisted, and we were stuffing candy and blowing up balloons, right to the very last minute. But the funniest thing was that they kept popping all during the party because it was such a hot day. It was like, "Free Meal!" at Cafe Rio, except the kids yelled, "CANDY!" and dived in. There were a few balloons left to pop at the very end, and the popping of the balloons was the hit of the party.

But the best part was seeing Lucy so happy and surrounded by all those who love her. We feel grateful that Lucy is growing up with cousins and aunts and uncles and grandma's and grandpa's and friends, who make her feel so special.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl! You aren't really my baby anymore, but I'm going to keep calling you that for just a little while longer.

And last year, because it is fun to remember...

Lucy's 1st B-day photos taken by my good friend, Kim Orlandini.

Colorado Springs Visit | Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

Here's another little adventure from Lucy and my trip to Colorado. Normally, I'm not a huge zoo person (the animals always seem sad to me) but I have to give huge props to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. It was the best Zoo experience I have ever had. Ever. Lucy ran around the whole time, screaming, "Animals! Animals! Animals!" I think what was so impressive was the large enclosures and hands-on exhibits. We fed Giraffe's and "midgies" and hopped along with Wallabies. Giraffe's are one of my favorite animals, and it was unreal to feed and touch them. Lucy had absolutely no fear, as the big, black, tongue came towards her. We had little adventures everywhere we went. We saw a baby Orangatun kissing it's mama, Gorillas in the midst of turf battles (Mr. B. Gorilla threw all the food he had carefully been collecting to Mr. A.Gorilla, running quickly away,) a tiger roaming right near the fence, a rogue deer in the trees. Lucy was in awe.

But the bear enclosure was the most exciting. We could hear loud growls from quite a distance, and when we got close, two brother bears were wrestling in the water. I should say that I'm actually very afraid of bears (Have you read, "Night of the Grizzlies?) Once, on a hike, Scott and I ran across a mother grizzly and her cub and I thought I was going to die right then, but they were more interested in their huckleberries. Seeing these two brothers up close, and not being worried about being mauled, was amazing. While I was fascinated with the playful brothers, Lucy was more excited about the "fishies" swimming in their lake!

One thing I didn't get a picture of was Lucy on the Merry-Go-Round. Up until now, she hasn't been a fan, but when she saw it, she came a-running, pushing other kids out of the way. When it was finally our turn, she screamed, laughed and cried all at once. It's such a treasure to experience life with Lucy. She gives me an appreciation for how fun and simple life can be.

Can you see her sweet reflection in the window?