Liam funnies

For the most part there isn't much that Liam says anymore that has me scratching my head or laughing to myself. However, here are two recent examples;

We were driving in the car and Liam yelled from the back, "Mom! I can read all of these signs!"
I replied, "Great! that's awesome that you can do that now."
"No! I don't want to read right now!"
"That's kind of what happens when you learn how to read buddy. Words start to jump out at you and everything makes sense."

The most recent conversation:
"Mom, why is Moana's lips so big."
(Moana is a Disney princess from Hawaii)
I definitly don't want to miss an opportunity to discuss diversity with my children or how God made us all different so I had to pause before I answered this question.
"Well, that's how God made her."
"Um, no Mom. God didn't make Moana, the Disney people did."
(Laughing to myself)
"Well, yes, you're right but the story that they came up with had Moana coming from Hawaii and that's how Hawaiian people look. And that's why she looks different from me and you."

Beana

For a couple years now we have heard about Caroline's imaginary friend, Beana. Beana has blond hair and blue eyes and is maybe 6 inches tall. This morning Caroline told me that she likes to play with Lucy but that Lucy tries to eat her. Hmmm.

Sometimes Beana comes on errands with us. Caroline will have her hand outstretched like she is carrying her around.

For the last couple of nights as Caroline is fighting sleep she has come downstairs to tell us that for Christmas she would like an itty bitty pack n play for Beana to sleep in.

Last night on our way home from church she was talking about Beana and Liam kept telling her that she's not real. Caroline was getting very upset that her brother would talk that way about her friend. So she said, "I know she's not real! But she's my only friend!"

We reminded her that she has friends at the babysitters, at church and that we all like playing with her too at home. I hope that someday Beana will fade away once Caroline gets a little older. To be honest Beana kind of creeps me out.

My little one year old

Just like that our baby is no longer; she is officially a toddler! Lucy turned one year old November 21st and we had some fun parties to celebrate! (yes, it's been two weeks since but there is no way we forgot anything about this kids birthday)

The Sunday before Lucy's birthday we had the Walles family come over to celebrate! We were going to keep it simple and just have people over for a light soup dinner, cake and presents but then I went on Pinterest. Since Lucy consistently says "dog, woof, woof" we had a dog themed party. We made balloons that looked like dogs, cookies that were dog inspired, an adopt a puppy station for the older cousins and at the very end a 'simon says' game that was also dog inspired. So much fun!

Lucy's actual birthday was full of the usual Tuesday events. School, babysitters and work for everyone. We sang Happy Birthday to Lucy in the morning before we all left and tried to have extra play time before bedtime.

We were able to celebrate Lucy's birthday with my family on Friday since we had Thanksgiving on Saturday. Pizza from Monicals, a homemade angel food cake and presents was a great third first birthday party for this special girl.

At one year old Lucy weighs 16 pounds 9 ounces (7th percentile). And is approximately 2 feet 5 1/2 inches tall (58th percentile).

She is a very happy girl! Always laughing and giggling at everyone. She is constantly on the move and looks for any obstacle she can find. Climbing the stairs, climbing over the dog, unrolling the toilet paper roll and carrying around little stuffed animals are some of her favorite things to do. At her wellness visit the pediatrician was trying to ask me about her and the entire time she was walking around the room with her arms up yelling at the top of her lungs. That and climbing on and off the scale and climbing under the exam table. Dr. Traeger was laughing the whole time.

Lucy now says Dad, Momma, Dog and woof consistently. She has said in the past; cracker, up, more, Liam, please.

Lucy mainly now sleeps through the night. She goes to bed between 7:30 and 8 pm and wakes in the morning around 7 am. Sometimes she cries around 6 am but usually puts herself back to sleep. The other night she woke around midnight and cried for an hour with no signs of letting up. Evan tried to snuggle with her and give her water but she just couldn't get back to sleep. I finally went in, nursed her and she went right back to bed. I'm really not sure what we are going to do when we give up nursing but I guess we can worry about that when the time comes. Maybe then she will be a little more consistent with her sleep.

Lucy takes 1-2 naps during the day. When we are home with her we are trying to consolidate naptime to just once during the day. I try to get her down between 12:30 and 1 pm and she will usually sleep for 2-3 hours. At the babysitters she is still needing the two naps. I'm not sure if she is catching up on sleep from when she's with us or if she is used to the nap schedule with the babysitter but I'm sure soon she will move to one nap there too.

Lucy is a great eater and a very hungry toddler. She likes oatmeal, toast, yogurt, cheese, chicken nuggets, goldfish, all kinds of fruit and most vegetables. She most likely needs the calories since she is constantly on the move and burns them so quickly.

Lucy does not like when Caroline pushes her down or takes a toy away from her. She also does not like when we take her away from the toilet paper roll or the dog's water bowl. She is very vocal when she is hungry and you are not fast enough with the food.

Lucy is a roll with the punches kind of kid. She is happy to go along wherever the night takes us. Whether we are going to the library for Liam or taking the older kids to AWANA she doesn't seem to mind and always has a big smile for everyone.

We could not feel more any more blessed than we are to have this amazing family and to have Lucy be the last piece in our puzzle. She's the best!