Happy Thanksgiving!

All of us. Missing Maya who was in NM.

Lucy's first experience at a kid's table. She made it about half-way through dinner.

We had a super fun and tasty last Thanksgiving in Fairbanks with a bunch of our friends. As we prepare to move to VT during Lucy and I's last weekend here, we were all plagued with a terrible stomach bug. Lucy, for the first time, spent many of the evening hours hunched over the toilet, the night following Thanksgiving. It sure is hard to see such a little body working so hard. She was such a trooper though! This is definitely the worst illness Lucy has experienced. It was inevitable that Matt and I would get it too. We all hung out and rested today, slowly recovering, and thankful that at least we could spend the day together. It's time to get back to serious packing and cleaning tomorrow.

Doo-Wap-Doop!

Last night at dinner Lucy was singing away as she usually does but this time she made up a song that she sang over and over. Matt asked her if he could record it and she said "Yeah!"

And then she was interviewed but Matt's phone ran out of space so it got cut off.



Her responses to his first two questions are "about 7 weeks ago" and "This winter".

Lucy has so many fabulous personality traits at 2 1/2 and I am going to try to jot a few things down though it is impossible to remember all the wonderful things that come out of her mouth.

One of her favorite activities is wrapping up all her animals and her doll, Baka, in her own clothes and blankets and making them nests. She also builds "beds" out of her legos and little hand towels. While doing this you can hear her saying "Aw, it's OK Baka, it's OK, you're alright," over and over.  If only I could put a mini mic on her and record her every word because she goes on and on with words and stories about so may things to herself and her toys. It's really great.

Last night Lucy learned how to do a somersault, or as she calls the "summer-castles." This was right before Matt came home from work so when he walked in the door he had to "flip-over", as she called it, with her. She was SO excited and we had a hard time getting her to the dinner table. Needless to say his neck hurt late last night.

Lucy is stubborn and very independent. Neither Matt or I know where this comes from! For instance, we always hear "Let me do it!!!" with a strained shrieking voice or a more subtle shaking of the hands and head (like she is shivering) while watching us do something that she wants to do very badly. Every day at least several times this happens: I tell Lucy not to do something because it is not safe. Her response "It IS safe." I remind her it is not. She says "I don't want you to talk!" with a quivering voice. Usually we can just drop it there but I have to admit, it is pretty amusing. She's the contrarian about everything. "Lucy, I am going to eat some food because I am hungry," I say. "You're NOT hungry, mama, you're not!" she replies. You can apply this response to most anything during the day for us. I like to say she is passionate!

Lucy is also very very sweet. She shares all her food and water with us. She offers us both her sippy cup from the window sill in the morning. She gives tremendously loving hugs, kisses, bonks, nose rubs, and butterfly kisses multiple times a day. Her crinkle-nose smile is truly the best thing I have ever seen. We'll keep her!

Happy Halloween!

I cannot believe it has been a month since I last posted. This family has been BUSY! We've done some fun things and I will try to play catch up soon to capture the past few weeks.

Lucy and Kaelin at UAF Museum of the North checking out the spooky lab collections open special for Halloween: bugs,  bones, dissected birds, artifacts, etc. 

Lucy told me she wanted me to be a kitty with a collar and a bell for Halloween.
So, I was....though I felt slightly silly. She loved it though!
Matt was a 70s hairy man but his chest patch fell off before we took this photo.

Black-lit Glow Putt Affects. Lucy thought it was so cool that her costume glowed.

Sushi and Chopsticks

We went out on a special family lunch together yesterday. Lucy was given her own custom chopsticks to use! She did well with them and ate almost all her potstickers and miso soup.

Autumn in McCarthy

September in beautiful McCarthy

We spent 10 days away from Fairbanks and drove to McCarthy to enjoy our recently weather-proofed cabin. It was deliciously relaxing.

Lucy warms herself by the fire after being outdoors for a bit.

Matt made the most comfy bed where Lucy slept the best she has ever slept at night!

A walk through Kennecott

Little Lucy against the giant mill.

Windy!

Watching dad caulk the window.

Checking out the mountains

Sassy.

As usual, Lucy lends her hand while we work at clearing trees from the Nizina Rd on the way to Jeremy and Ali's farm.

Checking out the giant pig at the farm.

Lucy has her first taste of animal milk: fresh goat's milk!

Greeting a 3-week-old puppy.

Our little forest fairy.

Crossing the foot bridge.

Big land.

Lucy said she did not want to go home and that we should stay in McCarthy. We agreed. But back home we had to go!

The Little Carpenter

Lucy went to work with Matt on the cabin in Goldstream Valley for a few hours on Saturday. They had a great time together. Check out her skills with the big heavy hammer! She's been wanting to watch all of these videos over and over. It was a very special day for her. 

The Little Farmer

Every single day Lucy goes to the garden with me to pick carrots while I tend to vegetables and harvest others. She usually picks about 4 or 5. Sometimes she'll keep going and I have to distract her so she doesn't pick them all. Sometimes she also picks beets. It's such an adorable activity to watch as she picks them and knocks the dirt off on the side of the garden bed, and then goes to sit on our stairs to take the greens off for the chickens. I never direct her. She does this all on her own and enjoys it after watching me do it one day and lending her tiny hand. It's so wonderful having a little helper around here, especially a super cute one.

Sunshine and Lots of Love

       

A few weeks ago Lucy and I received a complimentary baby-wearing photo shoot from a friend who is starting up a photography business in Fairbanks. She shot many great photos. These are a few of my favorites. We lucked out and had a sunny day for the shoot!

We've actually had a sunny week which has brightened our days and reminded us that summer is still here. Lucy and I have been spending a lot of solo time together without Matt as he is working nights on a spec cabin. We missed him for dinner five nights this past week. We have visited with friends and enjoyed our usual quality time together. Here are some photos from the week.

Lucy got into box of bandaids while we drove to our friends' house the other day. She put a total of 8 bandaids on her legs and feet and with quite the precision!

This looks like a bridge but Lucy and Kaelin are hopping around on a trailer holding mushrooms that they found. It is pretty hard to get good photos of both these girls as they are always moving around excited when together.

Lucy and Kaelin eating broccoli out of Kaelin's grandma's garden. They ate quite a lot of side shoots !

Lucy picked her own bouquet of flowers the other day and arranged them while I worked on mine. The only thing I did to help was give her a vase. She filled it with water, broke off the extra stems, and arranged the flowers. She was right in the sun and squinting when I tried to get her photo but I love this one anyway.

Right before our mama and Lucy dinner. Happy about our centerpieces. 

Lucy showing me how delicious the first large ripe tomato from our greenhouse tastes. I found her on the steps eating it while I ran down to the garden to get some rosemary.

Sometimes Lucy's expressions just cannot be beat. By the way, Lucy has eaten about 80% of the ripe cherry tomatoes in the greenhouse so far. I think the tradition may continue with the big ones! I don't mind at all, however, I will have to try to protect my precious brandywine tomatoes we can all enjoy their flavor together.

We made fresh pizza dough and then toppings together. Lucy is using the ulu with confidence to chop some garlic for our fresh pesto. I had her put her opposite hand on her wrist so she wouldn't get hurt. The colander of basil next to her was all harvested by Lucy as well. She pulled all the leaves off the stems for me. My little helper!

I was going to simply take her photo with the fresh pesto but she snuck a bite right in front of me.  After her taste she said "Little bit hot". I explained that was the fresh raw garlic. She answered with "Tastes good mama!".

The Good Eater

Kasvinsky-raised chicken, cauliflower and broccoli from our garden, quinoa, and sweet potatoes.

Lucy loves to eat the food we give her. I've never made her "kid" food. This makes a mama who loves to cook and eat well feel quite satisfied. On the second day we went to the fair, Lucy asked for broccoli to eat. We couldn't find any so I made up for it for dinner last night. We also ate delicious purple cauliflower! She asked for seconds of sweet potato and broccoli after eating this entire plate.

Tanana Valley Fair Fun

Lucy waits to go on her first ride ever all by herself! We thought she'd be nervous but she was  all for it. Meanwhile Matt and I stood watching her and waving happily during the ride and she didn't even look at us she was so excited to be moving. Our little girl is becoming more independent!

Smiling from ear to ear in the front seat!

Next ride was a construction truck.

It was equipped with a steering wheel that Lucy turned back and forth the entire ride. More smiles.

Lucy went on the big slide with both of us. "More again!" It could have gone on all night.

Today Lucy said her most favorite thing at the fair was the goats.

That's my girl! She pet many of them and touched noses with a couple too.

After seeing face painting at the fair last night...Lucy decided to give it a shot this morning on her own face while I was cleaning up after breakfast.