Each of these videos that Matt shot during their walk a couple of nights ago are so cute in their own way so I thought I would post all three! Be sure to have your volume up so you can hear her adorable breathing sounds and sweet excitement babbles. They are finally caught on camera. I thought those both near and far would enjoy seeing her cruising around some more.
I shot this video of Lucy showcasing one of her new moves in dancing...spinning in circles and holding an onion bag, of course!
We got dressed up and headed to a friend's wedding last night. It was a great time and we definitely know for sure that Lucy is NOT a shy toddler. She partied the entire time, dancing, exploring, and climbing around...getting into everything.
Matt and I took turns following her around all night! She never stopped except at the big bin full of ice and drinks. Water is always a good distraction.
Lucy and Siobhan play with ice.
We had a really good time. Many good friends were there as well as their kids. It was nice to be able to see so many of them in one spot and let our kids romp around together.
Keet and Lucy at the outdoor changing area.
Lucy has a real love for music and she digs a live band.
Matt set up the swing for Lucy yesterday so we plan on starting our outdoor playtime each day with swinging. Lucy giggles the entire time!
Lucy has been feeding the chickens with either myself or Matt since she was born. We save a bowl or a bag of veggie, fruit, and grain scraps each day in the kitchen and Lucy says "bauk bauk bauk" as we grab the bowl and head outside to greet the birds. She loves it. Since summer warmth, rain and sunshine brings us weeds such as chickweed, fireweed, and pigweed we have lots to pull and feed to the birds. Lucy wants to help and it was so cute to watch her start to do this on her own today (after we'd fed them together) and walk toward the coop with her handfuls of weeds saying "bauk bauk bauk". Really, just super cute.
However, I have to be really careful so she does not get shocked by the electric fence. She finds it frustrating that I wont let her just walk up to the coop on her own and feed the birds. I have to hold her and she thinks that is nonsense! You can see how serious she is about getting the greens to the chickens though. She knows it is important for them to get their salad every day.
Lucy had her first fried food tonight and I am proud to say it was a garden fresh squash blossom and zucchini fritter just like I ate growing up...this is also the first time I have ever seen her sniff her food. She sniffed at each bite the whole meal with a grin on her face. She only ate about a piece about the diameter of a quarter but she savored every bite.
I have a few other random things to mention. On Saturday Lucy walked nearly 1/2 mile down our road. I was impressed! Did she want to hold my hand at all? Of course not! She also loves to spin in circles, get dizzy and fall down, and put her hands up when someone asks where something is or asks a question she doesn't know the answer too.
Lucy has been telling me for a couple of weeks when she has pooed by pointing at her diaper! I know, I know, too much information...but exciting nonetheless for the mama of a 14-month old. It is helpful information to be communicating. If I do not change her diaper within a few minutes and she has access to the velcro on her diaper cover...off it comes with her own hands! I have to move fast. One last lovely piece of info is her new word: "buh" for book, when she wants to be read too.
Lucy is learning things so quickly these days...or perhaps it is more that she finally able to do things that she knew all along but didn't have the motor skills for. She is signing for phrases now such as "more milk", "more food" in addition to "cat". She is working on "all done". She says a couple of words now, pretty well! "Peas", "baby", "bug" and "fish". I think peas is easiest to understand and she doesn't always say words, they do not come easy to her right now.
Last night Lucy ate grilled wasabi/teriyaki salmon, braised mustard greens, and brown rice for dinner! While I was grilling the salmon and wearing her in the Ergo carrier, she looked at me and signed for "more"...which means she wants some. I thought, yeah right. Well, at dinner she had several bites of it along with the sauteed mustard greens. Really? Mustard greens over all the other cooked greens I have offered her and she refused?
Tonight we went to Mike and Jenny's house for a delicious Thai dinner and she enjoyed some yellow veggie curry and rice. We all were entertained as Lucy kept going over to the stereo which was playing music, slightly turning up the volume on it, and bouncing...all the while looking at us to make sure were paying attention and dancing too! She never ceases to amaze us.
Friends from back home in CT, Bob and Jackie Hunter, visited us in Fairbanks last night while starting off their tour of Alaska that will end in a cruise. It was a lovely surprise to get to visit with them and it was a pleasure to have them meet little Lucy. We are appreciative that they fit us into their packed schedule!
We ate dinner together, and well...it was interesting...perhaps not exactly what we all expected. However, the waitress and the owner were extremely nice to Lucy and very accommodating. The owner made Lucy a special soup with rice in it shortly after we arrived and she loved it!
Lucy headed up a quick tour of the walk to the river downtown.
She also did her own thing, which we all know she is very good at!
We noticed she really enjoyed the feel of walking on the bark chips, in fact it was hard to keep her on the sidewalk. Luckily, we had extra help to keep her on track. Jackie was eager to lend her hand.
We had fun as we don't get many visitors in Fairbanks and we really enjoyed their company. Bon voyage Jackie and Bob!
We spent a very sunny afternoon at Pioneer Park with friends the other day. However, I notice that all my photos are of only Lucy...simply because she was off playing on her own and involved in her own projects such as picking up rocks, playing with our banana peel, and swinging! We went on the train that goes around the park. Lucy didn't seem to really notice anything special about being on the train but it was fun anyway!
I had a hard time getting an in-focus photo of Lucy while she cruised around carrying her barnyard friends. She just goes so fast! She's such a sweet little girl now - suddenly not so much a baby anymore.
Lucy weighs in at about 18 pounds and she is 28 inches tall.
There is so much developmentally to try to remember to write down but I will share what comes to mind.
Lucy signs for cat now. She gave Oliver several hugs this morning! I receive single-leg hugs and double-leg hugs all the time, especially when I am in the kitchen cooking. Hugs of all kinds are often and the sweetest thing for both Matt and I. She is very loving.
Lucy knows where her nose and her belly button are. She knows where mamas eyes are but hasn't pointed to them on herself yet. She loves to pull up her shirt and share her belly button with others. Her 8th (bottom) tooth is working its way up to break the surface of her gums - it's very obvious by the white color of her gum there. It's been a long one in the making and nights are sleepless for me lately. I can't wait for that tooth to come in!
Dada and Lucy work on the cabin he's building in our driveway
Lucy LOVES her dada. Every morning, the first thing out of her mouth is "dada". Then when we are playing upstairs, any sound she hears coming from outside prompts her to say "dada", go to the window to look outside, and say it again. She also associates talking on the phone with dada. When Matt comes home from work there is squealing and giggling coming from her to greet him. It's really great.
Oh yes, Lucy is already running. Are we really surprised? No, of course not. This girl wants to MOVE. Anyway, here are a couple of shots I took of her yesterday when she was playing with Gerard, a gift from auntie Aimee. She loves him and especially likes to tote him around by holding his ear. I had a hard time shooting a video of her because she was moving so fast and we were in a small space...I'll try to get one in the next couple of days. She runs in spurts. It's very cute.
It's time to play catch-up in the blog now that there are some exciting things to report. Lucy started walking on Friday afternoon! This is great as she's been using Matt and I's fingers to guide and support her for the last few weeks obsessively and we can finally sit back and....not relax...as we watch her stumble, waddle and even attempt running already. Watch out world!
About half an hour before Lucy started walking I gave her a haircut, really her first change in hairstyle, her first "real" haircut. I attempted giving her bangs. I think they came out OK and they have definitely alleviated the constant wispy hairs that were in her eyes when she didn't want to wear a barrette anymore. When Matt came home from work he said he thought it was the magical bangs that made her look so grown up that gave her the courage to walk.
Lucy's friend Kaelin came over last week to play. They are about the same size so her mom, Carrie, and I really enjoy watching them play together. You can see them comparing sippy cups below.
We went to Kaelin's first birthday party yesterday and all Lucy was interested in doing was debuting her newly acquired skill of walking.
She cruised all around the party from room to room and definitely did not act shy! Please note that she STILL sticks her tongue out all the time.
She even found a cool keyboard to play. After she realized the sounds it made, she'd just bounce looking at it because she knew it made music.
We couldn't get her to wear the birthday cap but she loved holding it.
Matt took the last video the evening of the day she started walking. This is her AFTER I tried to put her down for the night. She was way too excited to walk some more to care about going to sleep. She decided it was time to play "steal the bone from Canute" again but this time she walks a bit to change things up.
Lucy now has another bottom tooth - her 7th tooth emerged this past week. She also signs for "more" when eating and breastfeeding now. Books are much more fun to read now and she wants to read the same one over and over. Lucy really wants to speak. We are working on totally random words that she has shown interest in learning by attempting to repeat them when we are speaking. These include: bug, birch, puppy, and baby. She seems to like the b's.
