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!