Lucy is TWO

This is my very long and boring post to describe Lucy at the age of two. It is to document who she is at this age and her habits and personality. It will be long and boring.

Lucy at the age of 2 is by far my most spunky kid. She likes to say hello to strangers and tell them her favorite joke, "I throw up! Blech!". It's a great one. Kids think it's hilarious and adults immediately get nervous. She is a great talker and communicator. She has lots of words in her vocab and enjoys using them all. She still has her jabbering moments where no one is really sure what she is saying but for the most part we can understand most of what she is trying to get across.

Lucy has begun to have small temper tantrums. If she does not get her way she will fall face first onto the ground and start crying with her feet up in the air. Textbook tantrum pose. She also is not afraid to push her big brother or sister around. If she's sitting on my lap and one of them try to join in the snuggle she is not having any of it. She has a hard time sharing the screen when we are Facetiming aunts and usually shoves Liam or Caroline out of the way. She also likes to hit them. Usually she will hold her hand high above her head for about 5 seconds before finally bringing it down on her victim. Plenty of time to get out of the way or to block her in my opinion but Caroline hasn't quite figured that one out yet. Lucy also likes to throw her food on the floor to make Liam and Caroline laugh at her. Butters thinks this behavior is great as do the kids but mom and dad don't think its as hilarious. Lucy goes to time out for these offenses and understands that she has to say sorry to get up as well. Pretty good for just turning two in my opinion.

We are for sure at that stage where she is testing the waters to see what happens when I do this; how does mom or dad react? Such a fun stage.

Lucy loves to sing songs. We recently put the two girls together and moved Liam into his own room and this has resulted in Lucy singing 'Old McDonald had a Farm' over and over again until well past 9 pm. (before this in her own room she was usually quiet when lights went out) She also likes to pretend she is on the phone with any object. Sometimes its a magnet and other times its a block. She has a great imagination. Lucy loves her dolls and enjoys changing their clothes, giving them bottles and putting them to bed with a blanket. She also LOVES stuffed animals and usually has several different ones in her crib during nap and bedtime.

Lucy still takes one afternoon nap that will last for 1 1/2-3 hours depending on the day. But there are days where if we are busy she doesn't get a nap until later (rarely except for Thanksgiving day) and she is pretty content and still will play nicely with others without falling apart. She goes to bed by 8 pm or earlier and doesn't wake until 7:30 the next day.

She has started to become a bit more picky with her eating habits. Usually her favorite foods are grilled cheese, macaroni and cheese, sliced cheese or string cheese (notice a trend?), Cinnamon Toast Crunch, spaghetti and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. French fries and suckers are also a huge deal. We have had Halloween candy in the house for so long now she thinks that its not dessert unless its candy. So cookies, cake or pie do not meet her criteria for dessert.

Lucy loves books and being read to but also enjoys just flipping through pages by herself as well. Lucy loves to play any sort of imagination play with Caroline and the girls get along pretty well together. She also adores Liam and any time he plays with her it makes her very happy. Lucy also loves to draw and color with Caroline. Her favorite is markers; she likes to take the caps off and drop them on the floor, color with the marker, drop that on the floor and then move to the next color.

Lucy is very good at counting and can easily go up to 8 by herself. She needs help to go up further than that. We are still working on identifying any colors but she does enjoy singing some of the alphabet. With all of her practice taking her shoes and socks off she is very skilled at putting her socks back on by herself. She feeds herself with a spoon with no issue and loves to brush her teeth and wash herself in the bathtub. She has begun to request to walk instead of being carried as well.

She just had her two year wellness exam where she weighed 24 pounds (16th percentile) and 34 inches tall (61st percentile). She wears 2T or 24 month clothes and size 4 diapers.

We are so excited to watch Lucy grow up and see how her personality blossoms!

Lucy's 2!

This fun, spunky, loud little girl used to be a tiny little turkey. 

Where has the time gone? 

Caroline funnies

At preschool this week Caroline is learning the song, Feliz Navidad. She started singing her version of it for Evan on the way home.
C: "Belief Mama Doug, Belief Mama Doug."
E: "Uh, are you sure that's how it goes?"
C: "Yes."   #confidence

She also made us all aware at dinner time yesterday that she is going to marry a boy in her class named Killian. He told her that he was going to marry her. So I guess it's a done deal. #itstruemom #forreallife

Tonight on the way home from AWANA she informed me that a woman came to the school and talked about being a nurse. So when she grows up she's going to be a nurse, dentist and a doctor. She also still wants to sing and ride on a horse. #setthebarhigh 

Caroline also told us tonight that after she was done being a nurse for the day she would come home and give her two babies to Killian so she could go ride her horse. #holdmybabyimgoingriding

To which Liam replied, "Caroline, Caroline, Caroline, Caroline. You can't get married until you've dated. And you can't start dating until you go to college." #speakthetruth

To which I said, "Caroline if you want to be a dentist, doctor and a nurse; plus sing and ride on your horse you need to focus on school and learning, not on boys." #educationfirstbabiessecond

Another sweet tooth

Tonight at dinner Lucy and I had this conversation:
L:"All done!"
M:"Well, Lucy we still need to have fruit. Would you like oranges, peaches, pears, applesauce..."
L: "Candy corn."
M: "No, Lucy. Fruit first."
L: "Candy corn. Liam! Candy corn!" (meaning, Liam get me candy corn)
M: "Lucy, you can have candy corn but first fruit. Oranges, peaches, pears...."
L: "M, M! LIAM! M, M!!!" (now asking Liam to get her M&M's)

She did end up having peaches. And we did make her eat them before she got to have her dessert. Now that she's almost 2 she needs to follow the rules. Healthy food first; candy last.

on the verge of being 2

Lucy is on the verge of turning 2 and already has so much personality!

Lucy loves to sing. She will happily sing along with any song you are singing but many times she will approach you and start a tune or a Mother Goose rhyme on her own.

She also LOVES Moana. She will sing one of Moana’s songs “Away, away” and with Halloween right around the corner gets very excited when she sees Moana costumes hanging up at the store. Elmo is another favorite character whom she always wants to watch.

Lucy loves milk. This may sound obvious as she is a toddler but if you try to hand Lucy any other drink, such as water, she will furrow her brow towards you with a look of disgust and demand milk. Even if you assure her that we are out of milk and this is all that there is she will remain disgusted, refuse to take the offensive drink and cry. Eventually she will admit defeat as you will see her tiny hand reach up and take the cup. It’s adorable.

Lucy is incapable of riding in a shopping cart in the traditional fashion. It does not matter if I use the strap around her waist she will somehow turn herself around so she doesn’t have to ride backwards. It also doesn’t matter how short or long these trips are. She immediately turns herself to the side or completely around. Many times she also tries to stand up resulting in myself looking like an incompetent mother.

She also has decided that she cannot be bothered by wearing socks or shoes. Every time, and I mean every time, once in her car seat she will immediately remove the shoes that we just spent 3 minutes putting on before leaving the house, and then we will hear her crying in frustration as she works on pulling off the socks as well. Then once we arrive at our destination we have to discuss with her how she should just leave the shoes and socks on because she has to put them right back on. Did I mention that we are usually either right on time or late for everything? So the additional time to put the shoes back on is extremely frustrating. When I know we are going to be running late most of the time I don’t even bother putting them on her as I know they will be on the floor when we get there.

Lucy adores her big brother and sister. She always asks where they are in the morning when she wakes up and she knows that when she wakes up from her nap Liam should be home from school. She has begun copying her big sister but unfortunately that behavior so far is usually screaming. Less than ideal.

She is a big talker and always has been. For the most part her words are pretty clear but even six months ago she would try to have conversations with you which was just babbling but the look on her face was of complete seriousness as she knew exactly what she was saying to you.

So far I would say Lucy is a very driven, active, particular kind of gal. She sounds very much like her mother. Oh brother!

Caroline funnies

A recent conversation with Caroline:

C: "Mom, when I grow up I'm going to have 2 kids.  A boy and a girl."
M: "I think that sounds nice."
C: "Why do you have so many kids?"
M: "Um, I guess I just wanted to have three. Do you think that's too many or not enough."
C: "Definitely too many!"
M: "So who should we get rid of?"
C: smiles "Nevermind."

Caroline has also recently been enjoying pretending that she has a baby in her belly. This weekend she kept coming into the kitchen as I was doing the dishes, hiding a baby in her belly. Then she would tell me to look away so the baby could come out. She had 3 babies in the span of 5 minutes. When I congratulated her on triplets she corrected me by saying they were all different babies but that she didn't keep them, she liked giving them away.

A few weeks ago we met up with Ellen and Briggs at the pumpkin farm and then went to lunch with them afterwards. Ellen was encouraging conversation between Caroline and Briggs by having them discuss how their preschools were the same and different. While Briggs was trying to give an example to Caroline on how his preschool was different than hers, Caroline interrupted him by saying, "Briggs, you should really chew your food before talking. I can't even understand you!" Through my own laughter (and Ellen's) I corrected Caroline by making sure she knows that its rude to tell another person not to talk with food in their mouth unless they are the persons mommy or daddy. I know exactly where she got this table manner lesson; it's something that we say to Liam on a daily basis. Kids hear and see everything!

Piano

We are about a month into Liam learning how to play the piano. I would say he is doing extremely well so far. He has mastered where all of the white notes are, he has great rhythm and has already memorized some of his pieces. He understands the difference between forte and piano and his teacher says he is very aware of what he is doing while she is working with him. It helps to have Grandma Fink give us all sorts of tips as well so that our practicing sessions are great!

Liam practices about 5-10 minutes each day which is just perfect. He is beginning to understand that while a new piece may be difficult at first it doesn't take long for it to sound the way it should if he works hard at it. 

His teacher is just a few short blocks away so every week he and I get to take a walk together.  (without the girls!) I've discovered that these walks may be one of my favorite times of the week as Liam is usually very talkative about school or even just about anything. Last night we discussed the differences between crickets and grasshoppers and then about how the moon is getting larger every night. 

I cherish this one on one time with him. Even if it is just for 5 minutes. It helps me appreciate his personality and his thought process. I'm sure he doesn't think too much of it but he still wants to hold my hand which I know the time is ticking away for my little boy to think that that is no longer something to do in public with his mother. 

Maybe one day when he's an adult he'll look back at these walks and understand just how special they are. I already know.

Too strong

M: Caroline please finish your milk.
C: I can’t do that! If I finish my milk I’ll be TOO strong.

A couple of big kids

It's official! I now have a 2nd grader and a preschooler.

Caroline started preschool two Friday's ago and while I was nervous about her being shy and only wanting to hang around the teachers I was pleasantly surprised by her sitting right down with a group of kids and starting to do puzzles with them before I even left the room at drop off. She told me at the end of the day that she loved preschool and all about her new friends and what she did all day. She loves to say, "I learned that in preschool" even if she has only been a total of 3 times.

Lucy, however, has had a much harder time transitioning to a daycare center. She tends to be clingy or cry whenever we drop her off at the nursery at church and daycare has been no exception. I know that the teachers are trying to work with her but it will just take some time. Apparently when all the parents start picking up their kids and its not her turn she cries, and then when we do finally pick her up she cries as well.

I started the girls two Fridays ago so that Liam and I could have a day just to ourselves before school started. We got donuts at Donut Experiment and went bowling at Bass Pro Shop. Their underwater bowling alley is right up this 7 year olds alley! He loved all the sharks everywhere but did not understand why he couldn't throw strikes. (despite this only being the 5th time he has bowled in his life) He tried to have fun anyway and it was just spectacular to hang out with him without distractions.

Liam is now a 2nd grader! He has several of the same kids in this class that were in his 1st grade class (although not his best friend who moved away). I imagine that this year may be challenging with math as they have explained that they will be teaching him several different techniques. Reading hopefully will be much easier as Liam has really taken off and loves to sit down and read. A Diary of a wimpy kid book is something that he can finish in 3 days now by himself.

There were no tears from me this year dropping Liam off and I thoroughly enjoyed my day with the girls without fighting and yelling. I may have been a little choked up about Caroline but quickly got over it when Liam and I were eating our donuts.

I'm excited for this school year and can't wait to see how all of my kids learn and grow!

Interview with a 4 year old

What's your favorite food? Tacos! (not true)
What's your favorite color? Pink
Where do you live? I live in Bloomington
Who's your friends? Ava
What's your favorite dessert? Chocolate
What are some of your favorite toys? My stickers, Calico critters and Barbies
What kind of person are you? Happy
What do you want to be when you grow up? I would like to be an animal doctor
If you could learn how to do anything what would it be? Gymnastics (this is far from the truth)
What is something that makes you happy? Giving toys to me
What is something that makes you sad? Taking away toys
What are you going to do now that you're four? chew gum (this is also far from the truth)
What's your favorite song? Blackbirds (Beatles)
What is the best thing about your family? when we are all nice
What's your favorite thing to do with Daddy? play blocks
What's your favorite thing to do with Mommy? go swimming
What's your favorite thing to do with Lucy? play baby toys with her
What's your favorite thing to do with Liam? play Legos
What's your favorite animal? cow (this is a surprise)
What does love mean? It means kiss.


Can't imagine life without this one! She's a keeper!

Caroline funnies

On Fathers Day after repeatedly telling the kids not to wake Dad I discovered that Caroline was missing from the downstairs. Later I found out she had gone upstairs to let Evan know (or wake him up) that we would be putting a cinnamon roll in his bed.

I love when she calls the air conditioner “cold heat” 

She also says Thank you in the cutest way “Nank you” 

I’ve been trying to work on her with her name, spelling and writing it. But in true Caroline fashion if I ask her to repeat the fun song I made up of spelling out her name she just stares at me and when writing her letters if I told her to start at the top and then draw a line to the bottom she would do the exact opposite of that.

Yesterday she got two shots at her wellness visit which she tried to be brave about in the beginning but as we were leaving the office she was dragging one of her legs behind her and crying pretty much the whole way home. Once I gave her Tylenol her complaining was less but then later that night she refused to bend her leg at all. (this is normal behavior for her after getting her vaccines which just surprises me and make me chuckle. I mean she broke her clavicle and still ran around and was jumping off things with no complaint. I would think a broken bone would be worse than a little muscle soreness)

Caroline at 4 years old

Caroline turns 4! We just had her wellness visit yesterday and so Caroline is 3 feet 2 inches tall and weighs 30 pounds. She can still wear her 3T clothes but fits more comfortably in many 4T shirts. She still loves to wear dresses and frequently asks to have her nails painted.

Caroline is still quite stubborn, usually doing the opposite of what we ask of her (if she's made up her mind that she wants to do it a certain way first) although she rarely gets in trouble as she will usually see that the way mom or dad asked her to do it was a better choice in the first place. Caroline is very smart and can identify all of her upper case letters, some numbers and can count up to her 40's. She still has trouble in the teens though. She can say her ABC's but slows down at TUV because she knows its there but wants a little reassurance to remind her. I've recently been working on her with spelling her name. I try to turn it into a song so she can better remember it but as she is stubborn many times she won't sing it back to me. We are also working on her writing her name which for now consists of me drawing dots for her to trace.

Caroline still enjoys the princesses and for her birthday we got her a Barbie doll which I think she enjoys playing with as well. She still enjoys playing with her Calico Critters but also is fascinated with Shopkins toys as well. Really any little figurine she loves.

She will sit down to watch a TV show with Liam but is usually not particular in what they watch. If Liam is not around or it is not suggested to her she is fine with not watching TV at all. But on the rare occasion if Liam is not around she enjoys watching Moana, Sid the Science Kid, Care Bears and recently The Gruffalo.

Caroline is a pretty good big sister to Lucy. She likes to play with Lucy quite often but occasionally we will see her knock Lucy down just because. She still knows how to get under Liam's skin very well without having to do too much. She uses this to her advantage sometimes but we are trying to  be more aware and now if they are fighting they both will go to timeout or have a consequence. Taking away desserts is still a great threat for her to see mom and dad are serious.

Caroline is mostly a great sleeper. For awhile she was waking up in the middle of the night always saying the same thing that bugs were crawling on her. Evan would usually try to put her in bed with us but she is always too restless to fall back asleep so she can either sleep on the floor next to us or back in her room on the floor. Thankfully she hasn't done that in a couple of months now. (one suggestion to us was that it was the different shapes on her sheets that were causing this although our pediatrician also said it could be restless leg) She is still most definitely a night owl and likes to lay awake and sing or talk to her stuffed animals but usually falls asleep before 9 pm. If she is allowed she really enjoys sleeping in although I always wake her up by 8:30 am.

Caroline is a fairly picky eater although I would consider normal for a 4 year old. Her favorite foods include PB & J, chicken nuggets, mac and cheese and Spaghetti O's but she will usually eat what is on her plate. We have to continue to encourage her to eat throughout the meal and sometimes threaten the loss of dessert but eventually she will eat what is put in front of her. She loves her desserts!

She really enjoys animals. She always talks about getting a cat or a tarantula for a pet. She enjoys the chore of feeding Butters and giving her good belly scratches.

Caroline does not take a nap but instead has quiet time for an hour where she can play quietly in her room by herself. With Liam being home from school, this summer has resulted in their alternating who gets to have quiet time in their room. Liam and Caroline still share a room but most likely in the next 6 months or so we will move Lucy into Caroline's room and Liam into Lucy's room.

Caroline is excited about the idea of preschool for next year. We currently have her signed up for a half day program through our church in the afternoon although due to some changes with our babysitter we may just take all the kids to Rogy's daycare center where she will do preschool curriculum there.

Caroline really enjoyed Cubbies this past year and loves swimming lessons! She was not a fan of gymnastics but we may try again this next fall.

Caroline is a real joy to be around. She says the funniest things without trying and has such a loving heart. We can't wait to see what 4 will bring!

My excuses

I just realized that besides the last post about Lucy being 18 months it had been 2 months since I had written anything on our blog.

We have been so busy with life right now! This past spring Liam wanted to play basketball so we had a couple of classes through the Parks Department so he could learn more about the basics.

Caroline tried out gymnastics for the first time as well which didn't go as well as we had hoped. She was very excited about the idea of gymnastics but once class started getting her to participate was a challenge. Without bribery of cookies afterwards she just wasn't really interested in talking to her teacher or doing any of the activities. I offered her to sign up for another class like soccer or making jewelry but she said, "no thanks" and seemed perfectly content with the idea of staying at home.

This past spring I also agreed to take on PTO at Liam's school. I was the chairperson for the school carnival which took place in May and so almost every free moment I had at home was organizing and contacting all of the right people to make it a success. I was also made the vice president and then the president of PTO due to some other responsibilities that caused those people to back out so I've been a very busy lady! I do enjoy it though and have always been a person who likes to serve. We'll have to see how this next school year goes.

At our church I have been able to participate in a Mom's group Bible Study which meets every Sunday night where we discuss a book that we are currently reading. This has been a great thing for me to meet other women in our church and also to have a great support system for concerns and prayers.

Evan has been very busy at work as usual and then also trying to cross off lots of home improvement projects.

Now that we are out of the baby stage I also hope to have a garage sale this summer to clear some things out that we won't need again.

And it doesn't help that for some reason I can't seem to get my IPhone pictures onto my computer anymore so I don't have that excitement to share pictures of the kids to the blog. These are my terrible lame excuses. I'll try to do better this summer!

18 months

I can't believe Lucy is 18 months old!

Likes: Being outside, climbing, going down the slide in our yard, being in her swing, playing with Liam and Caroline, talking, riding in the wagon or stroller, playing with the new water table, bathtime, reading books

Dislikes: Being ignored, being told no

Lucy talks so much! She says Liam in the most clear voice, Milk is Nulk, 'Night, Night', No!, Ok, Here go, Cookie, Cheese, Boots, Hooray, Sissy, Boo! At this point she can pretty much repeat anything we ask her to say. I am working on I love you but right now she just signs that.

Lucy likes to make people laugh and really likes it when you make her laugh. She likes both of her siblings but I think at this time prefers Liam. He is just the greatest big brother for her. Reads to her, plays with her and really watches out for her; it just makes my heart melt. She likes Caroline but Caroline tends to push her around a little more.

She eats most foods but occasionally will be a picky eater. She loves milk and cheese! Peanut butter sandwiches and chicken nuggets are another favorite. She recently has started to eat raw carrots cut up and seems to really enjoy those as well. Lucy is trying to prove that she is becoming a big toddler and gets very upset if you try to cut up her food if she thinks she can do it by herself. She was very angry with me the other day when I tried to give her pieces of Caroline's birthday cupcakes. She very  much wanted to eat it all on her own.

Lucy has the most adorable baby curls and her hair is getting so long, almost to her shoulders now. Her hair just lays in her face if we don't put it back so she usually has a pebbles pony or her hair in pigtails.

I can't believe how tall she is compared to her brother and sister at the same age. She actually wears size 18 month clothes at 18 months of age. And even then some of her dresses are too short. We have a measuring ruler in our upstairs hallway and will periodically measure the kids. Lucy currently is as tall as Liam and Caroline were at age 2. I just can't get over it.

Once I make her 18 month appointment with the pediatrician I'll update this post but I figured I shouldn't wait any longer since I haven't posted for almost 2 months! Busy life!

Daisy

Caroline is an animal lover. She often talks about how she wants to get a pet cat. When I remind her that Grandpa Fink is allergic to cats and if we got one he couldn't come to our house anymore to visit it doesn't seem to deter her wish at all. #sorrygrandpa

Caroline, however, has never been a bug kind of girl. I mean, I totally get it. Bugs are gross. And I mean, her hatred for bugs includes if we are outside and a fly or beetle flies by she is running the other way or crying. A little extreme but everyone knew which side of the love or hate bugs chart she was on.

Until.....

a recent stay at Grandma Fink's house over Easter which included a trip to the library where she apparently picked out a non-fiction book about spiders. She had me read this book to her which included facts about how spiders have many eyes, how they capture and kill their prey and different types of spiders including tarantulas. Which led Caroline to decide that instead of the cat that she wanted she now wants a tarantula for a pet. #really?

She couldn't stop talking about her new pet whom she decided to name Daisy. "It will have orange and black fur. I will keep it in my room and it will give me lots of kisses." When I reminded her that in the book it said that some tarantulas eat birds and asked her if she was going to go outside, capture a bird when her tarantula got hungry to feed it. She informed me that "Daisy won't eat birds." When I reminded her that tarantulas can bite people and how dangerous they are I was told, "Daisy won't bite me, she will just give me lots and lots of kisses."

I continue to inform her that we are not getting her a pet tarantula named Daisy but last night while at Michael's craft store, she came up to me with something behind her back and told me she had a surprise for me. With great excitement, she showed me a plastic figurine of a tarantula. When I told her she could buy it and take it home and this could be her Daisy; she changed her mind and instead picked out a tiny pig.

Hopefully this is the last of Daisy the tarantula. She lasted for about two weeks before Caroline's interests changed. Thank goodness I didn't go buy her a real one.

15 months, 16 months and coming up on 17 months...

Disclaimer: I wrote this post on time for 15 months. Since then I have been trying to get the pictures from my phone onto my computer which was never a problem before but for some reason is now an impossible task. *sigh* I wish I knew more about computers. 

Lucy at 15 months is a climber! She loves to climb stairs, on to chairs and on to the dining room table. It is her favorite pastime. So much so, that she can get around any barricade that we placed at the bottom of the stairs. The older kids loved to climb as well but were not as determined as Lucy is proving to be. So we recently had to buy a gate for the bottom of the stairs. Lucy was very unhappy about that.

Lucy also likes to climb onto the couch and then up onto the arm rest and flip the light switch in the living room multiple times. Once, Evan left the room for 30 seconds and she had climbed onto the chair and then onto the TV tray. She was standing on it. (yikes!)

She also likes to climb onto the booster in the bathroom where she will grab any toothbrush within reach and start brushing her teeth with it. I must say I love her dedication to oral health but her infection control needs some work.

She also loves to climb up into her highchair. All by herself.

Lucy is very impatient when she is hungry. Screaming in her high chair is one of her favorite things to do as well.

Otherwise Lucy is a great toddler. She loves to play peek a boo and dump truck with her brother. She likes to play with Caroline and dancing is her favorite. She likes to walk over to the CD player on the floor and pushes play so the VBS songs will start playing. She then dances her heart out!

She rides well in the car. Understands where her ears, nose, feet and hands are. She loves to talk! She can say many words but also just loves to babble with you.  She can probably say 15-20 words. She will also ask for you to sing 'Row, Row' and 'Up, bove' for Row your boat and Twinkle little star. Lucy can also say "Night, Night'.

She loves to video chat with her aunts and shows them that she can stick her tongue out and talk with them. She also likes to wave bye-bye and always tries to push the red hang up button on the phone.

With warmer temps we have been able to be outside more and Lucy LOVES to be outside. She likes to swing and really likes it when Liam pushes her. She likes to go up and down the stairs (shocker) and down the front sidewalk and down the steps onto the sidewalk. We really need to show her how to go down the stairs backwards because she definitely thinks she can walk down them just like we all do.

Lucy responds well when you ask her to do something. She loves to get her shoes, stand still for her coat to be put on, bring a book or toy to you and loves to back up into your lap. She has a couple of jokes thanks to Grammie Walles: If you ask her if she would like to read a book, she will smile a big smile and then shake her head no. She also likes to take the ducky that squirts in the bathtub and squirt Liam and they both laugh hard about that one.

Lucy wears size 3 diapers and her 12 month clothes although her 12 month sleepers and rompers are too short or getting snug. She has long legs like her daddy. Her wellness visit went well where she ran around the room babbling the whole time, climbing on and off the scale and not one bit nervous about Dr. Traeger. He commented that she is definitely the most lively out of our 3 kids.

She weighs: 18.8 lbs (12th percentile)
        length:   2 ft 7 in.  (70th percentile)

She takes one nap that lasts 1 1/2-3 hours depending on the day and goes to bed by 7:30 pm and usually doesn't wake until 7 am.

We gave up nursing shortly after she turned one year. Before my trip to Chicago with my sisters in December, I decided to pump to see if it was even worth it to pack it along and discovered after 15 minutes that I had produced less than an ounce....definitely not worth it. I realized I was only being used as a pacifier and my love for nursing with the third child had definitely diminished. I was ready to say good-bye. Lucy didn't seem to mind either.

So, now at almost 17 months, life looks pretty similar to what is listed above. Except that now Lucy can say even more words and is starting to put two words together. She says 'please' in the most adorable way possible and 'shoe'. She will also say 'sissy' in regards to Caroline but hasn't said Liam or Caroline's name yet. She knows even more of her body parts and still loves to read with her favorite books being flap books.

She is a total busy body; being still is definitely not her forte. When I have to go to the school for PTO duties she wiggles in my arms until I let her down and then runs all over the office. Most days I have to put her in my back carrier so I can actually have a conversation with the secretaries or principal.

Lucy happily plays with her toddler toys still if someone gets them down for her but is most happy climbing. Life is definitely more hectic and busy with three but we wouldn't have it any other way.

Caroline funnies

Some funnies with Caroline:

"Mom, do you think I could save this necklace for Mama Tala?"
"Who is that?"
(eye roll) *sigh* "The grandma from Moana."

Oh boy.....can't wait for her to be 13. (eye roll) *sigh*


The other day:

"Do you think you will be ready for preschool this fall?"
"Oh yeah! I'm a big girl now."
"I know you are. Can't you just stay little forever?"
"No Mommy! I have to keep growing up!"
"But I like you little, you make me laugh with the funny things you say."
"I will still make you laugh Mommy even when I'm a grown-up."

Just recently:

Grammie: "Caroline, please stop doing that."
C: "Blah, Blah, Blah"

Same Day:

G: "Caroline it's time to have rest time."
C: hands on hips, "If I were yawning, then that would mean I was tired"

Interview with a 7 year old

Liam at age 7:

What is your favorite color?  Blue
What is your favorite toy?   Shark ship
What is your favorite fruit? Bananas
What is your favorite TV show?  Phineas and Ferb
What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?  Chicken nuggets
What is your favorite outfit? T-shirt and sweatpants
What is your favorite game?  Trouble
What is your favorite animal? sharks
What is your favorite snack?    Fruit snacks
What is your favorite song?  Iron man song
What is your favorite book?  Harry Potter books
What is your favorite subject at school? Art
What is your favorite sport? basketball
What is your favorite holiday?  Halloween
What do you take to bed every night? Bear
What is your favorite thing to eat for dinner?  Ham cauliflower casserole
What do you want to be when you grow up?  a police officer
What do you think you'll be able to do now that you're 7 that you couldn't do before?
                walk the dog more, like hold her leash

Another Liam story

Sometimes after church since we are right next to Meijer we will stop and pick a few things up before heading home. Usually this means that one adult is left in the car with all of the children since it's such a big production to get everyone in and out of the car and especially in these frigid temperatures.

This past Sunday it was my turn to wait with the kids.

Liam promptly unbuckled himself from the back seat and came up and sat next to me in the front. He began to ask me these following questions,
L: "What does the R stand for?"
M: "Reverse"
L: "What about the N?"
M: "Neutral"
L: "What about the S-D"
M: "Well, the D stands for Drive, I'm not actually sure what the S stands for."
L: "I bet it means Super Fast"

I really love this car loving super fast little boy. He is so funny.