Lucy's Valentine from Daddy

We had a great Valentine's Day this year. Lucy received a sweet little card from her Dad as well as her first flowers. She LOVED them!

Snow Day

In South Carolina, snow is something legends are made of. Almost everyone has a story that starts off, "Remember that snow we had back in 19XX..." Down here, where the winters are mild and the summers are scorching, we rarely--if ever--get to experience the magic of fresh falling snow. This winter, as most of the Eastern half of the United States has been reeling from snowfall after snowfall, I've only watched in jealously. Don't get me wrong, this winter has been better than most. I've worn a coat more than twice and have enjoyed cranking up the heat and huddling inside. I've relished in taking in a breath of air and feeling the icy burn in my lungs. I've experienced an almost giddy delight when seeing my breath in the mornings. I know most people would say I'm crazy, but I miss the Kentucky winters of my childhood.

Friday night, I was a wide-eyed child on Christmas morning.

As the first few flakes began to fall, I didn't get too excited. But they slowly became to multiply, falling faster and faster. Within a few hours, snow blanketed the neighborhood. I watched eagerly as the few remaining blades of grass disappeared. I went to sleep that night as satisfied as child surrounded by newly opened presents. When I awoke at 5:00 the next morning (Lucy's new wake-up time), the room was glowing. There's nothing quite like the eerie glow snow casts. In elementary school, there was nothing better than awaking to a room illuminated. We knew that there would surely be no school that day.

Lucy seemed to sense my excitement. I wanted to take her out for a romp in the snow. Other neighborhood kids were already out building snowmen and sledding down the street. Yet I ran into a bit of a problem. Lucy's wardrobe is ill-prepared for encounters with frozen precipitation. Buying snow boots or even waterproof pants is foolish for those of us living in SC as there's only ever the slightest chance we might see the elusive white stuff. After some creative outfitting, we made our way outside. Jamie--ever the handyman--used an old garbage can top and fastened a rope through it. Lucy looked like a Tennesse Walker as she high-stepped her way through our snowy yard. She leaned down to pick up a handful and immediately did her "pfffffff" sound, something she reserves for times when she's especially tickled. Jamie brought out his makeshift sled and pulled an initially confused looking but soon cackling Lucy around our yard. She enjoyed it immensely until she took a bit of spill down the hill. The sled was a no-go after that point.

Almost an hour later and thoroughly soaked, we decided to head back inside. Wrangling our toddler in,however, turned out to be more difficult that I expected. Lucy would've been content to play in the snow all day long.

In life, however, all good things must come to an end. This is especially true for snow days in South Carolina. By last night, all of our snow had melted. I watched the three little snow people across the street gradually disappear into puddles on the soggy ground in the late afternoon. By late last night, even the roads were completely dry. The snow melted so quickly that it almost left us wondering if it had ever been here at all. Perhaps that's why snow really is the stuff legends are made of in the South. It comes quickly, stays just long enough to enchant us, and steals away while we aren't looking, leaving us wanting more.

Martha would NOT Approve!

At dinner, I decided to have another lesson on how to use a spoon with Lucy. Most of the time, she holds her spoon in one hand while using her other hand to shovel the food in. I thought I'd try a different approach tonight. When most of her applesauce was gone, I gave her a spoon and showed her again how to use it. She did surprisingly well and took several "bites" of applesauce with it. Now, when I saw say bites, it may be more appropriate to call them "specks." She was only getting the tiniest bits of applesauce on her spoon. After doing this for about 5 minutes, Lucy gave me a look of "what the heck?" picked up the applesauce container and put it to her mouth as she would a cup of milk. I couldn't help but laugh as her giraffe tongue stretched to reach the last morsels of applesauce. While she may not win points for etiquette, she certainly is innovative!

Catching Up

Eating a strawberry with Grandpa Christmas morning.

Exploring the gifts under the tree!

Playing the piano with Uncle Jared.

Our purse/doll/scarf lady!

Hi all,

I know it's been forever since I posted. The holidays were a whirlwind of traveling and sickness. We traveled to West Virginia for Thanksgiving, Louisville for Christmas, and then to Gatlinburg for MLK weekend. In between, we all battled several colds, and Lucy even had to make her first trip to the emergency room. Thankfully, we all seem to be well (for now!).

Lucy has been changing so much lately. She runs now. It seems like a long time ago that I worried that she wasn't walking. In fact, I even worried that she had something wrong with her feet! Her favorite thing to do is climb. Any chance she gets, she tries to climb the stairs. She particularly loves the arms of the sofa. She would like nothing better than to spend her days climbing on and off of the sofa and the chest next to it. I'm afraid I have a daredevil on my hands.

She's also so into music. She loves to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and the blessing she sings at school to the tune of "Where is Thumbkin?" She loves music so much that we decided to go ahead and sign her up for the "Wiggles and Tunes" class at school. She has such a blast shaking the maracas and twirling the colorful scarves. That's another thing. Miss Lucy is really into purses and scarves and sunglasses now. It makes me question my long-running theory about gender being societal. I've never encouraged her with these things. She just loves them. Perhaps it's from watching me!

We've also entered the fun toddler tantrum phase. Over the holidays, Luce Goose (our fav. nickname) picked up two new words: Mine and No. You know she's really cross when she furrows her eyesbrows, smacks her hand in the air, and says, "Mines." She's also started saying "NOO" in a distinctly nasel voice.

Her other favorite words are "Cracka" which she uses when she wants either a cookie or a cracker. At Christmas, she became quite the "Cracka" aficionado. I even had to watch her as she would steal cookies right off the table and get very ill when told she could not have them. She says "Mama" and "Dada" as well as "Bye-Bye" "Hi" "Choo choo" and "Night Night." She talks nonstop, but we can't yet make out what she's saying.

Ok, I could ramble on forever just like any other proud parent.

I'll be updating more this year.

xoxo

Jennifer

Big Steps for Our Little Pumpkin!!!

After months of speculation (and occasional worry) Miss Lucy is finally walking. She took her first steps on her own last week, and on the eve of Halloween, she let go and hasn't looked back since. Though she's still unsteady--and a bit bow-legged--she's progressing every day. Pretty soon, I'm sure we won't be able to stop her. Even before she began walking, she discovered the fun of climbing.

Luce has also begun to play peek-a-boo with us. Every time we say, "Where's Lucy?" she covers her eyes with her hands. She also likes to quack like a duck and roar like a lion. I suppose from the outside we look like crazy, overly-proud parents, but there's nothing better than hearing her little roar and seeing her little hands cover her eyes. Melts our heart every time!

Halloween Fun

Halloween is, and always has been, my favorite time of year. Some of my fondest childhood memories involve activities centered around the holiday. Mom would take us to Huber's Farm to pick pumpkins, take a hayride, and buy fresh apple cider. A day or two before Halloween, she would help us put together our costumes. It was always a treat to raid her closet, pulling out long skirts, colorful scarves, big jewelry. And as Halloween evening approached, our excitement was almost too much to bear. Quite honestly, Patrick and I were just as excited about trick-or-treating as we were Santa Claus. Looking back, I'm not quite sure why. Neither one of us were big candy eaters. In fact, most of my candy ended up being thrown away. I suppose our excitement had something to do with the whole "magic" of Halloween. For one night only, anything was possible. We could be gypsies, or princesses, witches or vampires. As two kids firmly rooted in the imaginative, Halloween was OUR holiday.

Over the years, my love of Halloween hasn't diminished. Now that I'm a mom, I enjoy it even more. This year was Lucy's second Halloween, and I'm a little ashamed to admit that I've had her costume since early August. I spent the week before the big day in a frenzy, making Halloween cupcakes, "Boo" cookies (I don't recommend these), carving and painting pumpkins. By the time we headed down to Clinton on what turned into a dreadfully rainy Halloween night, I was exhausted from my Halloween preparations. Despite the rain and my fatique, we still had a wonderful Halloween with Luce. Here are some photos!

Lucy and Lauryn "painting" their pumpkins. We had to cut the project short due to Lucy's affinity for non-toxic paint. Apparently it was tasty.

Little Lucy Bee and princess Alleah during the Halloween party at Jamie's Dad's house. Lucy wouldn't stop looking at Alleah and grinning.

Little Lucy Bee. She went as a bumble bee on Halloween because the weather was so bad. Her fairy costume was beautiful, but a bit of a nuisance when navigating in rain. We found these wings at Wilson's--any Halloween-lover's dream store.

Fairy Lucy and her Daddy before trick-or-treating at Lucy's daycare. All of the little ones in her class were dressed up and went trick-or-treating at their school followed by a Halloween party. They also decorated pumpkins.

Introducing the book fairy! Lucy loved this little Halloween flap book. Unfortunately, she tore several of the flaps off in her excitement.

Fun at the Pumpkin Patch

Today, we loaded Luce into her new jogging stroller and walked to the pumpkin patch in downtown Simpsonville. The weather was absolutely beautiful, and we enjoyed the hints of color just beginning to tint the leaves. Lucy had great fun on the way, happily singing and pointing to the birds and even a passing jet. She had even more fun at the pumpkin patch. She laughed heartily at the mini-pumpkins and picked out her first one, a perfectly round miniature orange sphere with a long stalk. Of course we stopped for a photo op at the haystalks before trying to find a bigger pumpkin for carving. Luce had fun climbing on the larger pumpkins and rearranging the smaller ones. By the time we left, we had accumulated one mini pumpkin, a larger pumpkin, and a super fun, mini warty gourd. It was an awesome afternoon, and we can't wait to carve and paint our pumpkins this week. Pictures soon to come!