Grandma Lyn and Grandbob's Visit

Grandma Lyn and Grandbob stayed with us for about 10 days and Lucy was once again thrilled with all the attention she received from visitors. There were walks at Creamer's Field, lots of reading and special projects with Grandma Lyn, and as always, helping dada with his projects each day.

Grandma Lyn and Lucy work on a masterpiece drawing (above) and a lay out a new native plant garden in our yard (below).

Lucy is never afraid to get her hands dirty and work with heavy equipment.

We feasted on great food - all our own! Sockeye salmon that Matt caught and tomato/cucumber salad, fresh roasted beets and broccoli from the garden. Delicious and best enjoyed with special company.

The trip to the visitor's center was a treat for Lucy! She loved the plane suspended from the ceiling and all the taxidermy animals throughout the displays.

Lucy made lots of "hoo hoo" and "grrrr" sounds for the animals she saw.

Grandbob and Lucy enjoy the film at the visitor's center together.

There is always time to stop and smell the flowers for Lucy.

Grandma Lyn and Lucy sit by the new pond together. Their beautiful new garden is in the foreground.

The visits always go by too fast but we look forward to the New Year when we will be celebrating with Grandma Lyn and Grandbob in VT. We're pretty sure Lucy will be giving out lots of kisses that night and sharing many interesting thoughts with all of us by then.

My little wise girl

Yesterday Lucy asked to use the potty and with great enthusiasm too. She really surprised me! She didn't want to use her little potty...she wanted to use the toilet that mama uses. So, I put her on it and a few seconds later she peed! Then she wiped, all by herself. The same thing happened before I put her in her bath last night. First thing this morning after she awoke, she reached for the potty with both arms as she does when she wants something. She peed again. This scenario happened all day long. Really, Lucy, you amaze us. This photo says it all. There's a lot inside that little head of yours!

Grandma Nancy's Extended Stay

We had such a lovely visit with Grandma Nancy who stayed for two weeks longer after Grandpa Jim left for Connecticut. Our time was filled with a lot of berry picking, vegetable harvesting, cooking, and playing.

Lucy had had constant attention from Grandma Nancy and games were played all day long.

Grandma arrived with fun new books so there was also special grandma-Lucy reading time.

It was also a treat to have another photographer around while mama was doing chores and Lucy assisted.

It rained quite a bit while Grandma Nancy was here but we lucked out with a sunny afternoon at the Tanana Valley Fair.

Lucy was more than delighted to see all the animals but she especially took to the sheep and goats. She ran back and forth giggling as she checked all the pens out.

She went on kiddie rides with Grandma Nancy even if Grandma wasn't supposed to.

Many afternoons Lucy and Grandma went for snuggling walks together during which Lucy snoozed peacefully. We are so happy that she was able to spend such special quality time with Grandma.

We miss having Grandma Nancy here and we look forward to seeing her and Grandpa Jim in December. We think Lucy will have a lot to say to them when she sees them again!

A Beautiful Day to Celebrate Being 16 Months Old

Grandma Nancy was here to celebrate with us! The sun actually showed itself for us today after about two weeks of cloudy weather and showers. We headed to the Botanical Gardens and then to Pioneer Park to play.

Lucy was of course fascinated by the waterfall and the fish in the little pond that it trickled into. She also enjoyed smelling some flowers with grandma.

At Pioneer Park Lucy spotted the merry-go-round from across the playground and reached her arms out toward it with such excitement. She LOVES going on merry-go-rounds. She kisses the horses and then growls with frustration when it is time to get off. She's just great!

We ended our day at the park with a train ride which Lucy thoroughly enjoyed.

Here's the running list of words Lucy can now say:

mama

dada

baby

ball

bug

fish

peas

keys

leash

dog

peepees

whoa

go

oh

bowl

boo

boom

poopoo

woof woof

yes

please

book

bubble

watch

mwah (when giving kisses)

blueberry (she says it pretty good!)

Lucy is now 28.75" tall and about 19 pounds!

She copies everything we do these days! It is pretty amazing...and scary. She's such a fun little person to spend time with and we constantly feel extremely lucky to have her in our lives. She's full of smiles and energy and always has a little game up her sleeve. She LOVES to draw with crayons, pens and colored pencils and will focus on this for about twenty minutes at a time. We're not surprised!

All four of Lucy's first year molars are finally in. It was a month-long process for her. Both mama and Lucy are glad it is over. So she has a total of 12 teeth now.

Lucy is a big helper. She enjoys assisting in all chores such as putting clothes into the washing machine, throwing things away, and cooking! She never ceases to amaze us.

A week with Grandma and Grandpa Neal

Grandma and Grandpa Neal had not seen Lucy since she was 12 days old and we were so excited for their arrival! We took the train down to Denali over the weekend and had a fabulous time.

Lucy really enjoyed watching everything go by out the window. We saw a handful of moose and beautiful scenery.

Upon deciding that a long bus ride into the park in which Lucy would have to be restrained in a car seat would be a trying experience for all, we went in only as far as Savage Rock and did a great little hike to the top.

Lucy walked almost the entire way to the peak all by herself!

We had a lot of down time at home. Grandpa enjoyed snuggling with both the "babies" one afternoon...

One day we took the Riverboat Discovery and Lucy's favorite part was the float plane of course!

There was a lot of blueberry picking this past week. Lucy is a pro at it. One for the basket, one for her. Grandma and Grandpas helped us pick so many blueberries despite our busy week. Our total was 2.5 gallons this week! We keep waiting for the rain to stop so we can get out and pick some more. Lucy will need a stockpile for the winter.

Grandpa left yesterday morning and we miss him already! Grandma stays two weeks longer and she is giving Lucy constant attention...Lucy is soaking it up. Lucy started saying both "yeah/yes" and "bye bye" and also decided that she loves eating toasted seaweed! This girl has interesting taste buds for her age. She says "grandpa" pretty well and it sounds a bit like "papa". She'll see him again in December and will be talking up a storm, we think.

Lucy started eating meat this week! She asked for some NY Strip (um...hmmm) and the next night practically devoured the meatloaf that I made for Grandpa the night he since it is his favorite meal. He was sure proud!

Weekend at Byers Lake

We spent the weekend at Byers Lake with our good friends Mike and Jenny. It was a beautiful place to relax and simply hang out for a couple of days. The water was rather chilly but that didn't stop Lucy from wading and splashing around!

Can you see Lucy?

The view from our cabin. Denali was out the first morning we woke up! It is right there in this photo but hiding behind clouds.

Lucy loved going for walks all over the place to explore. She and dada went for a walk Sunday morning and she picked her very first wild blueberries off a bush and ate them! It's a good thing it is berry picking time in Fairbanks as well.