This girl is always on the move! Lucy seems to create her own agility tests and obstacle courses throughout the day.
She started at the end of the ladder and stepped out of one opening and into the next, and so on, going about halfway down before stopping to play with the rope.
Then there is the standing that she experiments with about 5 times an hour. She's definitely proud of herself and she can pretty much stand until she's not ready to anymore. We're just waiting for that first step! It must be near.
Lucy has recently been signing for "more" and eating VERY well. This has been quite noticeable just in the last two days. She now eats 3 tiny meals a day! She saw me take an orange out of the fridge for myself earlier and got so excited because she wanted some too! This was while she was eating bits of scrambled egg.
This game went on for about 30 minutes, back and forth "sharing" of the bone. She cracks me up! Poor Canute.
Lucy cried and cried when we took her down for her bath and bed time tonight because she loved drawing so much. You can see how pleased she is in all of the photos. I am going to have to find her some baby art supplies.
We were all hard at work on Friday, enjoying the 50+ temperatures, minus the sun. I cleaned out the perennial bed, the freezer, and did a few other chores while Lucy played nicely with the animals and interesting objects that she discovered along the way. Mud was eaten, small rocks were sampled, and sticks were bitten - all making for a good full afternoon in the life of a toddler!
Saturday morning Lucy was given her first pancake, whole grain of course! Well, she didn't like it at all. She ate strawberries instead.
She offered pieces to dada and then to Canute who ended up eating the whole thing out of her hand. He's learned very fast that he can get good treats from Lucy. She loves feeding him!
She has also been signing for "dog". The baby sign for dog is simply "panting". I was reading a book to Lucy on Friday and when I turned to a page with a dog on it she made the sign! This was pretty cool to see her make the association and not only know to sign for our dog. She really enjoys learning so we've been working on a few more signs.
Then Lucy got to open a gift from Uncle Chris in the mail. It arrived at the perfect time as Lucy has just taken to filling containers and then pulling things out again...the exact idea of this fish bowl! She loved it. The weekend was spent putting lots of things into the bowl and pulling them out, then filling it again.
There was more exploring outside throughout the weekend as the sun was shining and the temperatures felt like summer to us! We watched the snow melt, Lucy crawled around on the wet ground, and Matt baby-proofed the deck. This afternoon I thought Lucy was going to take her first step but she tricked me....soon we think. I also can't help but think what a much better weekend this was than last year's Earth Day weekend when I broke my ankle. There will be many walks each and every day this Springtime to make up for last year! I can even pull out the jogging stroller as soon as the road dries up.
We had a few close friends over yesterday to celebrate Lucy's 1st birthday. The photos speak for themselves...Lucy had a great time and we're pretty sure she knew the party was for her! It's funny, she is quite focused and serious in many photos - she seems to really be concentrating on all the new things to look at and play with...so cute. The one photo with the cute smirk in it is her expression after eating her first bite of cake, which is her very first taste of chocolate and sugar ever! There were of course legs kicking immediately with excitement and a squeal or two letting me know she must have another taste. Can we blame her?
It's been a week of celebrating and remembering the sweetness that arrived in our life last year at this time. Lucy would like to share her stats with you along with some other fun facts...
I am now 17.5 pounds, 28" tall and my head measures 17.5"
I have 6 teeth now! Four on the top and two on the bottom. I am still pointing at everything. I can now direct people using my finger too. For example, I will point at mama and then point at a toy on the floor such as a ball and she will bring to me. It's pretty cool.
I say "bah bah bah" (bawk bawk bawk) to refer to all birds now even though I learned to say it around our chickens. When I see a raven flying in the sky I announce it this way and I point. I can climb up onto the sofa and down again. I can even climb down off of the bed as long as mama or dada is there to spot me. I can do it easily but they worry.
My current favorite foods are kiwi, carrots, blueberries, and applesauce. My doctor told mama and dada today that I am so strong she was having trouble checking my hips while I was pushing my legs to make her stop. I am tiny but I am strong (and fast)!
Yep, that's half a banana with a tea candle on top.
One must improvise when you want to celebrate at breakfast time (without cake)!
We spent a quiet day together on the dome with a bright and early waking at 6:20am by miss Lucy. She was excited to start the day. I don't blame her, she turned one today after all! That's as good a reason as any to be awake as many hours as possible!
Happy 1st Birthday to you, our beautiful sweet Lucy!!!
Matt and I decided to take a drive down to Talkeetna for the weekend to celebrate Lucy's first year with us. We had really beautiful sunny weather all weekend so the drive was great.
We spent Saturday afternoon walking around Talkeetna, checking out the Susitna River and settling on dinner at Wildflower Cafe. Matt indulged in some Kodiak sea scallops. I opted for the Misty Farms organic beef burger and fries over any of the entrees in order to avoid the inevitable inclusion of butter and cream. Lucy tummy still doesn't agree with dairy. She happily ate a few bites of spring pea soup that Matt and I both ate for an appetizer.
Sunday afternoon we decided on a ski on the frozen Savage River in Denali - a perfect choice because the sun was shining warmth down on us and the skies were clear. Mount Deborah was even out for us to enjoy and Matt says this is a rarity.
We skied over both ice and snow, passing babbling water holes that were exposed from the recent days of warm weather. Lucy wanted a mid-ski snack in the middle of the park so we took a break and soaked up the rays.
Then we let her crawl around for a bit since she'd spent the day in the car seat and riding on Matt in the Ergo during our ski. She cried when we picked her up to get going back to the car! I was happy to be skijoring with Canute for the first time ever. He was really gentle with me and we had a fabulous time!
At some point during the drive either to or from Talkeetna we took a long break to feed Lucy and she got really into checking out the truck's gadgets. I shot a little video of her interactions with the windshield wipers.
As I write this post I think about one year ago tonight, when 15 minutes from now, I officially began my labor for Lucy's birth. It's such a sweet time to remember even though I had a very intense and rough labor that last more than a day! She is now sleeping in bed, resting up for her first birthday, it is a very special night.
I remember very well last year at this time when I was sowing seeds and rubbing my big pregnant belly, wondering when Lucy would arrive. Today Lucy and I sowed tomato, pepper, basil, and squash seeds together while it snowed lightly outside.
We played with Canute for awhile and then decided it was time for a walk to enjoy the snowfall. Lucy fell asleep halfway through the walk, exhausted from our busy afternoon.
I was cooking dinner tonight and turned my back to Lucy as she pushed the stock pot across the floor that she loves to play with. This is what I found when I turned my back! She knew she was being silly because she kept posing for the camera. The surprises are endless with little Lucy. She also waves goodbye enthusiastically now as she had stopped that for some time. When saying goodbye myself to Grandma Nancy on the phone this week (whom Matt and I call Nana to Lucy), she waved goodbye herself, unprompted by me. This was a first so clearly she understands a great deal of words!
There are a few random fun things to report. Lucy has been signing for "fan" all this past week. She has begun to sign for "milk" again. She had stopped for awhile and replaced it with squealing, so I prefer this. Also, when asked for a kiss, Lucy leans forward and touches her forehead to yours. Very sweet. She continues to love going up and down and up and down the stairs, then sliding down and testing her limits...ahem.
Food has been fun! She's into salad greens and she actually asks for them. So far she's had raw spinach, lettuce, and arugula. Kiwi was a first today and she was totally into it. Beets, cucumber, celery, and red pepper are some others from this week.
This weekend Lucy indulged in eating one big strawberry, both Saturday and Sunday morning. This was her first taste of a strawberry and apparently she loves strawberries just as much as her mama!
She squished it, poked a hole in it and stuck her finger in it, and sucked on the juices. Delicious! The bib Lucy is wearing is the very first thing Matt bought for Lucy before she was born while we were at the MoMA over the holidays.
