My little garden "helper"

It is a new experience attempting to sow seeds with a one-year-old who wants to touch everything you are touching. I was, however, able to sow half of one of our raised beds today successfully. There were several close calls when the sown seeds were almost dug up but I got to them just in a nick of time. While mama was sowing seeds, Lucy was learning about earth and its taste...oops.

Downtown Chena River Rafting

Friday Lucy and I drove out to Sundawg Ranch in Salcha to pick up our three new laying hens. Lucy was able to check out the sheep, lambs, goats, tom turkeys, and many sled dogs while we were there. As you can see, the gals are getting to know one another.

Lucy helped Dada inflate our raft the other day so that we could try it out for the first time on the Chena river dowtown. She was quite tickled by the process and Matt appreciated the help.

We headed to the First street boat launch on Saturday, played on the swings and grass for a bit and then launched our raft onto the river for a peaceful sunny afternoon.

Lucy tolerated her life preserver for the first 20 minutes of the trip, then decided she need to nurse - this is not possible with a life jacket protruding from your chest! We decided it would be OK in the practically still water for her to go without it as we were in a very stable raft. She ended up nursing off and on the whole trip.

The hat stayed on, amazingly, even after a lot of tugging.

There were lots of ducks in the water and shore birds to check out. Lucy looked around and smiled the entire time.

We took out at Pike's Landing, about 5 miles down river. It was an easy float!

Captain Lucy looks forward to our next river adventure. It will be soon, we hope.

Happy Mother's Day

A sleeping baby is a great gift on Mother's Day right? Lucy slept peacefully while I was able to get the majority of my vegetable seedlings transplanted into larger pots before they go into the garden at the end of this month. Matt took Lucy for me once she awoke so I could complete my task. A happy mama is a very good thing on Mother's Day.

Lucy continues to eat more and more. She learns about new textures and tastes every day. We're reintroducing avocado again as she liked it, then disliked it, and now isn't sure about it still.

Tomatoes were new this week!

Lucy decides this eating thing is maybe fun after all.

It was a difficult week with teething so wedges of cold cucumber and sticks of celery were her favorite thing to gnaw on. These squishy things weren't as interesting to her.

The Teaser

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.

The Little Artist

Markers are magical!

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.

Playing Outside

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.

A Party to Celebrate!

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?

The Birthday Girl - One Year Old!

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)!

HAPPY 1st Birthday Lucy!!!

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!!!

May there be 100 more for you.

xo