home day

the lu has declared today a "home day". she's pretty excited about having nowhere to go and nothing to do. nothing but "play all day" that is.

here she is early this am...

so much dancing she needed to rest!

later, eating a banana dressed as another princess...

and this afternoon...playing 'little friends' in nothing but her cinderella big girl panties (her favorite) and black cinderella home slippers.

the friends go from home to school all day in the school bus. the 'milk feeder' is the teacher. she stays at school while all other little friends get to go home. funny enough she's always proclaimed the lil friend dressed as a queen as the mom. this 'milk feeder' we named 'nurse nancy'...cause lu assured me she was NOT the mom.

and the boy appears to be happy at home too. he needs to catch up on some sleep...not much luck so far today. he's too busy discovering that this newly mastered skill of crawling can take him into the kitchen....
woohooo the kitchen!!! here i come!!!

and this one cracks me up. he grabbed the lu's wand...and was SOOO proud of himself, it was the cutest face. as i attempted to capture said cute face, he gagged himself with the wand. i promise the camera was in the process of being dropped as i retrieved the wand from his mouth...see the goofy exposure in the background to prove it?!?!?

G @ 8 months (and 3 year stats for the Lu)

Big boy is 8 months old today. I can't believe he's 8 months! His months fly by so much more quickly than they did with the Lu.

Here are some stats from their joint 6mo/3yr well baby checks...which occurred at 7.5mo & 3 years and 15ish days...cause I only go to the pedi for well baby checks when I can get the first appointment of the day (I'm not very good at waiting for hours & hours with two kids)...and this time I had to find the first two appointments of the day to save myself a trip!

7.5 month stats (his 6mo well baby visit...45ish days late):

weight: 18lbs, 11.2 ounces; 50th-75th percentile

height: 28 inches; 75th-90th percentile

head circumference: 17.5 inches; 50th percentile

And 3 year stats for the Lu at 3yrs and 15 days:

weight: 31lbs, 4 ounces; 50th percentile

height: 38 1/4 inches; 75th-90th percentile

bmi: 10.24%

Notes on the boy...

-he officially started crawling...headed right for contraband. think cords, the dvr, and any dvds left within reach. whatever room the lu heads for he's sure to follow.

-his dexterous hands put everything in his mouth

-he gives AWESOME big open mouth kisses

-he HATES babyfood. his menu is pretty limited at this point...i try to give him food that i know he'll eat. his absolute FAVORITE food is bananas. he also likes avocado, mango, peach, carrots, sweet potatoes, corn and sometimes peas. i usually buy frozen steamable veggie packs, microwave them, and then either mash them with a fork or put them in my food mill. he can pick up steamed peas with his pincer & get them to his mouth about 30% of the time.

-he is still a terrible sleeper. i'm lucky to get 1 nap at 90 minutes, the other one is usually 40 minutes or so. then if we are in the car he might fall asleep for 20-30 minutes around 4 or 4:30p. he goes to bed around 6:45 and usually cries about 30 minutes on average before falling asleep. he's been getting up to eat 2x again now for the last month or so. he's up for good most mornigns during the 6am hour...should be fun during the time change this fall.

-we just started to giving him baths in the big tub with luci. i have yet to do that on my own...and i probably won't for awhile yet.

-he LOVES cords & nearly pulled one out of the wall plug-in today.

-still in size 3 diapers...we switched to huggies...they just seem to fit lil boy bottoms better.

-size 12mo pjs are in their last days because he's so long. he wears 12-18 month or 18-24 month clothing - again, because of his length. unless the outfit is separates...then he can wear 9 or 12mo (like shorts & a t-shirt).

-he makes all sorts of sounds....mamamamama, daaaa, daaamomm, luu, boouuf...he seems to be much more verbal than I remember luci being at this age.

-he is still mostly crying for the entire time at the new gym. poor boy. he just loves him some mama.

-he sleeps in a medium sleep sack.

-he nurses 4x a day, and usually 2x at night. he eats 3 meals of solids.

-he's a super snuggler. waaaaaaaay more snuggly than the lu. he loves me, is happy to put his arm around my neck, nuzzle me at night, give me open mouth kisses, smushy faces...the whole bit. he'd hug me 24/7 if he could i think.

i sure do love you sweet boy!

week 1

we survived the first week of our new 2010-2011 school year schedule! sure there were a few tears, but shed our fair share every week...and now that i'm thinking about...i really think this week had less cumulative tears than we've had each the last several weeks. so that's something!

lulu has done well at school. no tears on monday and just a few on wednesday when i picked her up...and same thing today. each morning she tells me she wants to stay home & play all day and that she'll "very miss my mommy", but her teachers assure me she does great while she's there. she tells us quite imaginative stories about things that happen at school and i have no idea if there is truth in any of them. today she came home talking about a lobster & a spider. a gray lobster. and a spider who was going to eat me. but then we all 'lived happily ever after'. i'm guessing that she's repeating bits & pieces of imaginative games that she plays with her friends on the playground but i can't be sure. i'm so grateful that she has so many friends there...that & being another year older has made ALL the difference.

clay took her to her new gymnastics class (she's a rockin roller now instead of a mighty munchkin...she started out as a diaper daredevil) and after a bit of a rocky start he assures me all went well for the last 90% of class. she's had the same 2 teachers for the nearly two years we've been going there until now so i wasn't surprised it was hard for her, but am very proud of her for getting through it.

we also started dance today and after a bit of 'but i'm going to very miss you' she walked right into class to stand on the green dot next to her buddy margeaux. she was totally motivated by the lollipop her teacher hands out at the end of class...which she remembered from her two attempts at dance last winter. i COULD NOT believe she remembered that! seriously! the kid loves her some lolli. at first i had no idea what she was talking about but then i started to remember something about a lollipop...and sure enough the lu was spot on. what a nut!

and if that wasn't enough change we threw the poor kid into the childcare area at our new gym for at least 30 minutes nearly everyday. she usually fusses just a bit before walking in, but then often isn't ready to leave when i go to pick her up! what a change!

we were blessed with a visit from grandma & grandpa pierse to boot, so it has been a big, big week for a certain three year old. as i reflect back on the week i think she did marvelously given everything we threw at her. i'm thinking next week will present a different challenge as the newness wears off, but hopefully she'll really enjoy everything...cause with the exception of the gym (which is good for mama and therefore good for her) we really just want her to be happy & have fun things to do with other kids. the girl has A.LOT. of energy and clay & i are going to forever be challenged to channel that energy in a productive, constructive way that is good for the whole family.

and then there is poor gusgus. he cried at the new gym pretty much 20-30 minutes everyday (although there were two good days in the middle). and he's just tired. we did a lot more running around this week than he's used to. a lot of having to be places at certain times...i used to plan our whole day around his naps and now i'm planning his naps around our whole day. i know he'll be just fine, but i do feel bad when he's so clearly tired because he didn't have his sleep needs met due to some scheduled luci activity. although he did officially start crawling this week so i guess he isn't too messed up from the big change in schedule. yay gus!

that all said i really think what we've got going is best for the family as a whole right now. and after we get into the flow of the year if we discover what we've got going isn't the best fit we'll just change it!

good job sweet girl. i knew you could do it...and you did! and my sweet boy? we'll get there. i promise all of those tears have been shed for good reason. the treadmill is definitely the best place for mama to burn off her steam...that way no one gets burned!

First Day of Preschool

the sunscreen makes her face nice & shiny :)

and "Luci's School Day Checklist"...we had a checklist...just like Dad has checklists...

what a difference a year makes!! holy cow!! our AM went pretty smooth overall...largely thanks to my 'Luci's School Day Checklist', if i do say so myself ;) that & the m&m i used as a reward. i once swore i'd never use food to motivate...i guess the lesson is to never say never. but anyway. so the am went smoothly. she had a few fake tears & some fake drama as we were turning into the school, but then they stopped when we actually parked & got out. we arrived before the kids could walk to their rooms so we had time to chat with our friends and that seemed to help. we walked into her room where she was happy at first, but then started to fuss when she saw her teacher miss l. but just as quickly her friend allie walked in & the two of them were off putting on dress up clothes & having a tea party! she seemed pretty indifferent when i finally told her good-bye...not even really looking up from her kitchen busywork.

she was happy to see me when we picked her up, but no tears - just happy to see us! she did cry when we got in the car though...i asked her if she had gotten the little note i put her in her lunchbox...she said yes, she did (but not very convincingly), and then she told me she wanted to see it...but it had been thrown out & she just lost it when i told her that. i told her we'd make a new one together but the waterworks had been turned on. we headed out of the parking lot but then i saw her bestie clara so we stopped & she got out to give clara a hug. and then all was well again.

"we sat & talked about numbers! and shapes! and i just played! um, i played with eleanor! and talk about ABCD!" i asked if she had gone potty, "i did! just all by myself! just one potty." in response to the ? what was your favorite part..."circle time playing with numbers for a little while."

super g

so g didn't have a good bag to take the gym. both g & lulu need their own bags because they are in different areas. i had some plain tote bags & inkjet t-shirt transfer paper leftover from lulu's birthday party goodie bag project...so i spent two days searching for the perfect gus image. finally, i settled on this one here.

then i spent all day coloring it in because i couldn't pick a color scheme. this was the winner.

and here is super g's new bag!!

i like it :)

week in photos

it's all over...

lulu & her friend allie...they'll be in the same preschool & dance class this year :)

we call this a picnic at our house. cause it's too hot to go outside, so we picnic in the living room. eating chick-fil-a. with the tv on. don't judge.

do you like her new tap shoes? she sure does!

broken

this post is LONG overdue. and maybe if it wasn't so overdue it wouldn't be needed at all.

i broke last week. i was a broken mama, a broken wife and a broken self. ha...how funny i wrote self last. precisely why i broke.

self care. i was in desperate need of some self care. after we got back from michigan (which was AWESOME and needs a post dedicated to all of the fun) where my baby was attached to me day AND NIGHT, clay left with the navy for 6 days. and then left for a long trip with cal a few days after he got home. and was soon leaving again for a long 4 day trip. g had a cold and we hadn't gotten out much. lulu had taken to wearing her pjs all day since we hadn't been getting out. i was tired, stressed, and in desperate need of both some alone time and adult conversation. when the kids go to bed at night and clay is gone i usually work. often until bed. just me & the computer. 13 hours of being a mama (without a break as the lu doesn't nap) + 2 to 4 hours of working at night and then 8ish hours of interrupted sleep (maybe only twice if i'm lucky) day in & day out = a broken me.

a broken mama/wife is good for no one...especially not for her three most precious blessings. i want to behave in a way deservant of them. and there were a few days last week where i didn't meet my bare bones standard of good > bad.

clay got home & saw that i was broken but wasn't sure how to help. but he offered to do what he could by watching both kids for a few hours so i could get out alone before he left again. that is a BIG deal in our house as g is QUITE a mama's boy. but leave i did.

i went to old navy & bought a new wardrobe in the biggest size of clothing i've ever been in my life. i came home & put every single last piece of maternity clothing away. i gave away two garbage bags of clothes that i knew i'd probably not fit into again for quite some time. included were many pieces i haven't worn since we lived in chicago. it was about time.

i also grocery shopped. alone.

and i started to feel better. and then clay left again.

so i took my babies to the y. where i ran for the first time in years. not very fast or for very long, but man it felt good. then they called for gus' mom to report to child care. awesome. nothing kills a good workout buzz for me faster than picking up my child who is practically hyperventilating because he's been crying so hard.

but, despite his tears, i continued to feel better.

we had super fun playdates with multiple sets of friends. i drank some (okay, a LOT) of wine.

i felt better.

and after having a few talks with my dear husband, who contrary to what i often am quick to think during the thick of things, really just wants me and all of us to be happy...we've made some changes.

we joined the fancy schmancy gym here in the bubble. it feels like a resort, and the childcare is on a whole different planet than the y's nursery. i struggled at the y...i had to ask the care providers their names & tell them who we were. otherwise they take your kids & don't introduce themselves! i have a problem leaving my sweetpeas with people whose names i don't even know. fancy schmancy gym will provide some consistency in terms of care providers (it was usually someone new each time at the y)...we had a nice chat with the kids director & developed a plan for gusgus. cause every time i go the y they call me after less & less time...and mama needs MORE self time to be a good mama. so once we get g situated at fancy gym to where he's happy we can leave the lu & g in the childcare for up to two hours a day. there are structured 30 minute rotations for the lu & they all look super fun. she actually cried during the tour because she wanted to go play right then. and for mom? i can work out in a peaceful space and hit the cafe and have a latte while i do some work after my workout. or clay & i can sit by the pool & have drinks while the kids are cared for. we are excited. tomorrow is day 1 for gusgus. i'll be going everyday until he gets okay with it. wish us luck.

we also booked a real family vacation to disney for january. like with real people airline tickets & a nice hotel & everything.

and i went out with the girls last night.

and had a good preschool experience today.

and i feel better. i feel like we're setting ourselves up for a better balance than we've had in years.

so i think, mama is on the mend. i'm sure the next few weeks will be tough as the lu gets used to school & g gets used to someone besides me. but i'm hoping that if we stick with it, i won't break again going forward...i'll bend instead.

meet the teacher

today was 'meet the teacher day' at luci's preschool. this am before we left was FULL of drama. she wanted to "stay in our house all day in my pajamas". she had a potty accident while in time out in the outfit we finally agreed upon. there was a lot of anticipation & g, of course, took a record nap since we had specific plans to get out of the house...finally i told clay we needed to just go & rip the band-aid off, so to speak.

off we were. she was fine while we were in the car. she was fine walking in because cookies & miss k's mama, miss i, greeted us (miss k was our summer mother's helper). miss i informed luci that miss k just went to disneyland and told cinderella lulu was coming (see 'broken' for details). so we started off right.

after walking into the wrong 3's classroom (the older 3's instead of early 3's) we finally found our room....stocked with dress up clothes! that her friend allie was already playing with! she ran right over & started to play dress up & tea party with her friends allie & allie's older brother bryan. we saw all sorts of friends and i know that made her immediately at home.

she met her teachers miss l (who she had last year) & miss j and even gave miss l a big hug before we left. AWESOME! we walked out & had a cookie with all of our friends (4 families :) and all was well. the last thing she did was skip, hand in hand, with clara down the hall so they could show each other their classrooms...which are across the hall from one another. seriously, i almost cried watching them skip down the hall giggling. (clara is probably the closest thing she'll have to a sister, and i'm so grateful for their relationship. but that is another post for another day.)

we are going to get up & 'practice' the next couple of days & start laying her clothes out the night before to avoid the what to wear drama the next day.

and hope & pray that monday goes well!!!!

let's go

we just went to the mailbox to mail some cards....outside for all of 20 seconds, standing in the sun (where the heat index is 120 degrees per my phone) and we were quickly swarmed by some red ants....cause we live in the armpit of texas and that's how we roll down here. i said, "let's get out of here!"...meaning...head back to the house!

and the lu said, "yes! let's go to colorado when dad gets home. we gotta go to colorado!"

can you tell where our post-merger thoughts (and apparently discussions that she's been listening to) have been?

his first tooth

is pokin' through! bottom front right. i felt it tonight while giving him his first taste of strawberry (he loved it)....but all i can see is a speck of white!

the lu.

a motherhood first was had last week...projectile vomit. all over the dinner table. don't worry, she's not sick, just drank too much water too fast and then ate too much too fast so she could get to the dessert part...

L: "the table is ALL MESSY! it's all a big giant mess! that's a lot of spit!" and the next day, "i spit ALL OVER cause my tummy hurt because i ate too much cake". even though she threw up her dinner. and then had cake. and went to bed with a happy cake tummy.

L: "it's new as good!"

L: "i very miss my daddy"...or if g is crying, "i think he very misses my daddy"

L..in response to anything she doesn't want to do, "i can't. my tummy very hurts."

L...while driving right in front of the lawrences on the way to double daves, "where is my clara? i NEED her, where is clara?!?!?!" (lots of whine in the tone)

L...uses a 1/2 roll of tp when she wipes her own bottom. i explained that she has a small bottom and so she doesn't need very much tp. to which she replied, yep, you guessed it, "but you have a very BIG bottom mama, so you can use a lot of squares!"

L..."i got stung by a bee when i was a prudence"...part of a cinderella book we have where the lady in waiting prudence gets stung by a bee.

L...is ALL about gus' snacks. puffs, baby mums, lil crunchers...you name it, she wants it.

L...feels that we aren't paying enough attention to her, she'll harm her little brother.

L...is starting to sass. already. [sigh]

G @ 7 months

isn't he the most adorable thing you've ever seen?!?!?! just try to look at this next photo without smiling :)

the boy has smiliest eyes you've ever seen. tyra would just die over his ability to smise...he'd win the baby version of ANTM for sure.

the months are going by so quickly now i can't keep up! better titled would be G @ 7.5 months...because i'm behind & he's made SO much developmental progress over the last few weeks that i can't really remember what happened when. i'm much busier living these days than when lu was this small.

notes at 7ish months...

-size 3 diapers...size 12-18 or even 18-24 month clothes. people in the airport would literally stop me & comment on his thighs...one lady told me she wanted to just 'pick him up & slather those sweet baby thighs with some sugar'. he doesn't really fill out the 18-24 month clothes except around the legs, but the 12-18 month clothes aren't long enough.

-he has the smiliest eyes of anyone i've ever met. his eyes are definitely the window to his soul. i have a feeling girls are going to drool over his eyes...and that they'll never wonder what he's feeling cause his eyes will say it all...even when he doesn't want them to.

-he doesn't love solids. i still get him to open his mouth using the paci. i'm going to work really hard on this in the next few days. he does, however, always want what everyone else is eating. he also likes to put the spoon in his mouth and attempt to self feed. he had his first finger food yesterday & LOVED it. so maybe he just isn't smitten with purees?

-he is sleeping in a sleep sack. he went through a really rough patch of sleeping right before vacay...so i decided since it was so bad we might as well move forward and get him out of the magic merlin suit.

-and once i did get him out of that suit...holy cow did his gross motor skill development explode. which made me feel like i had been stunting his growth...to the point where i cried explaining it all to clay. he scoots everywhere backwards...he's a rolling fool and regularly gets up on all fours & starts rocking. i think he's still weeks from crawling but we are definitely making progress.

-he has just started to grab for things to think about pulling up. i think pulling up is probably a month away?!?!

-he has INCREDIBLY dexterous hands. seriously...the boy could thread a needle with his eyes closed.

-he uses those very dexterous hands to put EVERYTHING in his mouth. and his sister has LOTS of teeny tiny toys. fun times.

-he pays a lot of attention to details...like the eyes of his stuffed animals or tags on anything & everything.

-people very regularly comment on how adorable he is. the waitress at outback stopped her male co-worker and said, 'look at that baby...come on...he's REALLY cute', the check-out girl at the grocery store told me he looked like gerber baby...fellow shoppers literally stop me so they can talk to him & tell me how adorable he is. i mean, i think he's adorable, but it is heart warming that everyone else finds him as irresistible as i do.

-he LOVES his mama. to the point where if i put him down he cries. if i leave the room he cries. if anyone else is holding him & he can see me or hear me, he cries. when i do pick him up he puts two arms around my neck, nuzzles, and then plays very sweetly with my hair.

-he LOVES his mama milk. in michigan we co-slept and i basically nursed him on demand so we didn't wake up dad & luci who were all of 4 feet away. and he thinks the 'on demand' plan is the way to go. he'd hang out there all day if i let him. i will not.

-he gives very sweet open mouth slobbery kisses

-he loves his sister. her rendition of the abc's will soothe him anytime, any day when nothing else will. clay & i were actually begging & pleading with her during one of our 5 hour drives on vacay to sing to him. like the bribing her with treats kind of begging & pleading. we're weak, and we aren't afraid to admit it.

-he is not a good sleeper. he usually takes 3 naps a day...he sleeps for maybe an hour in the AM, an hour in the PM, and then for about 30-40 minutes around 4p. he goes to bed around 6:30p and gets up usually at 6a. for about 2 weeks he had 45-90 minute crying jags between 9p and 11p. he usually eats around 2a, and then wakes again at 4a ready to get up for the day.

-he started to play peek-a-boo in michigan :) he thinks it is pretty fun. we're working on sooo big & pat-a-cake (or is it pattycake. or paddycake?)

-he caught his first cold in michigan...he is not a fan of his runny nose.

-he's out of the infant car seat & into our convertible britax. which has kind of a girlie colored print. he doesn't seem to mind.

-he's a super happy boy when he's happy, and he's super upset when he's upset. kind of an extremist...just like his mama.

i love ya baby boy...sleeplessness & all!

michigan

we're back from vacation. which really felt more like boot camp. to say that the logistics were a nightmare would be putting it mildly...so i'm not going to go into it at the moment except to say that 2 small children in 2 car seats at 4 airports plus more than 10 hours in a car that was too small (oh, and did i mention that we did this in the middle of the night on the way there?) was probably not the best choice for our first travel expedition as a family of 4. we might never leave home again.

i must really love these people...

sisters...missing their brorther...who turns 25 today. happy birthday ben!!

grammy & grandpy

harold & myrtle the great!

cousins

because in reality...this is what our kids looked like most of the week!

more to come...i'm WAY behind on posts.

a shortcut

for weeks now (or months, really) when our nightly hair combing sessions ended in tears (99.9% of them) i've been asking luci if she wanted to get her hair cut short...because then it wouldn't get so tangled and would be easier to comb. sometimes she said yes, sometimes she said no. i had no idea if she comprehended what i was asking.

then one night not long ago during one particularly rough combing session she told me she said, "i want a shortcut". i thought it was code for something her dad had done at some point during a combing session to make it easier. i said, "a shortcut? what shortcut?" and she said, "a no tangles shortcut."

well said, my pea.

so she was in.

but her dad ALWAYS said no.

until the other night.

so i did not dally. yesterday after dad left work we went to two different salons (the first didn't have any openings for a few hours) and got ourselves a 'shortcut'.

the stylist's eyes got huge when i told her i wanted it chin length. "no long hair?" she asked. "nope." i replied. i thought luci might freak when the hair started to fall, but she didn't. she saved the freaking out for when she couldn't see me or when the stylist tried to position her head just so. luckily it wasn't anything a lollipop, an episode of dora & a promise of ice cream couldn't solve.

as promised we then had frozen yogurt at a place where you can pick the toppings yourself...she was happy as a clam. later while she was washing her hands she looked in the mirror and definitely looked surprised to see herself, but didn't say anything. then tonight getting out of the bathtub she said, "i want it all around" (in reference to her hair being all over her face...just the way she likes it) and started to whine. so being the smart mama i am quickly said, "let's comb it & see how nice it is!" sure enough combing took no time at all she was once again thrilled with her 'shortcut'.

before...modeling her new dress from grandma & grandpa pierse's good friends the guerra family...

i'll admit...when i see her hair full of volume (achieved only by bouncing on a trampoline) i think it looks gorgeous. but then i remember that it usually looked stringy as in the above photo...

and the after...

("look mom! i made of a pile of papers!"...why yes...yes you did.)

i think she looks older with it short?

three years

dear luci,

three years ago tonight your dad & i met you for the first time. we were SO eager to meet you, so excited to be your parents and have the joy of raising you. i'm not going to lie...it has been a much tougher job than we anticipated. we want to be such great examples for you and do everything right by you. and doing that 24/7 is one.tough.job. because we are far, far, far from perfect. but please know how hard we try. we love you more than words can say.

i can't believe how much you've changed over the last year. and for the last few months i couldn't really comprehend that you were only two. you are so smart and articulate. you hear everything...even when dad & i don't think you are listening. you use our words back to us and keep us in check on a daily basis. today you told me you "screamed all holy moly" which is a way i've described your fits on the phone to your dad. you have lots of funny sayings that i love...for example, i might say, "he likes to dance", and you'd reply "he DOES like to dance". or i might say, "did you have fun at the y?" and you'd say, "i didn't, i didn't." when you want the tv off you say, "turn off it". you regularly say things like, "i had coffee tomorrow when i was a mom" in response to me telling you that coffee is only for mamas or "i go to work in six days when i was a dad" when talking about how your dad goes to work.

right now you LOVE cinderella. you really really like all princesses, but you LOVE cinderella. you ask me to be lady tremaine 100x a day. and no, that is NOT an exaggeration. yesterday we had a breakthrough when i told you i didn't want to be lady tremaine because i wanted to be nice. you responded that i could be a nice lady tremaine. now that we can pretend off the cuff instead of re-enacting the movie i'm much more up for the challenge.

more on that note, you love to pretend. sometimes you'll ask me 'who you trying to be, mom?' i usually reply that i'm just trying to be luci & gus' mommy. this answer rarely satisfies you.

you still like the little einsteins. you also like olivia, ni hao kai lan and dora. you still enjoy dr. seuss movies. but you LOVE cinderella i. and ii. not so much cinderella iii.

you think your hair is "kinda gray, almost yellow". your hair drives me bonkers. it is always covering half of your face because that is the way you like it. you never let me tuck it behind your ears and no way jose will you let me put a bow, barette, headband or pony tail in. we even crafted cinderella like headbands this week...and you put them on...with 1/2 of your hair in front of your headband so it was still covering your face!! i think we are about it get it cut though...i'm worried you are going to have goofy posture from the way you hold your head (so that you can see through the hair!) and your dad has finally given me his okay to do so.

you love your brother but have a hard time being gentle. i think part of it is that you are experimenting with what actually hurts him & what doesn't. but you do love him. every morning you ask me, "is gus awake? can i go say hi?". and once he's awake enough to function he lights up when he realizes you are there. if he's crying & you sing to him he'll stop crying 80% of the time.

you are a go-getter. i'd be willing to bet that you are going to be a type a personality (just like your dad & me). you are stubborn and determined. we love this about you, yet find it incredibly challenging to channel these traits in productive ways.

you are a good eater. you've become a little more picky since i stopped cooking back when i was pregnant with your brother, but when you do eat you eat quite a bit. you used to eat ANYTHING i'd put in front of you. now your favorites are chicken nuggets, pizza & peanut butter sandwiches. you love grandpa bread. you love broccoli (especially with cheese), carrots, peas, corn, green beans & even asparagus. you will not eat beans (except green beans). you love cheese, and will eat most any fruit. you like burgers. you LOVE ice cream, cupcakes, brownies (all baked goods really) and lollipops. you don't get an opportunity to eat candy much, but i'm pretty sure you'd eat it if we let you. you love chips. you love cow's milk only...not so much any other kind of milk.

you FREAK OUT when a show ends if the TV is still on. we can't - for the life of us - figure this out. "turn off it! turn OFF IT!" you scream & cry until the TV is, in fact, off.

you love to scream & yell under the guise of singing. usually dancing (running around, sometimes in circles) is involved.

you have an UNBELIEVABLE amount of energy.

you are incredibly smart and have the most AMAZING memory. seriously...you memorize entire stories (that take us 10 minutes to read). you can say your abc's, count to 15ish, put blocks in ABC order and 123 order (up to 9). you long ago mastered your colors. you can sort of trace the letters of your name. when asked to spell your name you say "L, U, C, I, A." when we ask you what that spells you say "that spells me." you read letters on items and then proclaim what the item is. for example, we had a gift bag with the name GUS on it. you said, "G, U, S. that spells bag!" on the computer you said, "D, E, L, L. that spells circle!" because the dell name was in a circle. you know you live in the woodlands, tx. you know what states your grandparents, aunts, uncles & cousins live in. you know your birthday is july 25th. you know how old you are, in addition to how old your dad & i are.

you are in a state of transition...i suspect you don't totally want to be a big girl yet. there are things you absolutely could do yourself that you want help with. and there are other things i wish you'd let me help with that you want to do by yourself. you have a HUGE desire to be with other little friends, but the thought of leaving the safety of home & your mom & dad is really, really hard for you. and knowing it is hard for you is super hard for me.

i suspect my biggest challenge as your mama is going to be letting you figure out things on your own (as appropriate) knowing you're going to struggle. it is so hard for me to watch you struggle. i want to protect you, keep you safe & make you feel secure at all times. but i know teaching you how to struggle & overcome is part of my job too. i have a feeling this part of my job is going to get bigger & bigger each year. it's going to be hard, but as you'd say, 'i know we can do it!' we will learn together my pea. i promise to do my best.

i just love ya love ya love ya sweet girl. happy birthday.

potty time

potty time has been FULL of funny quotes...and before i forget them or they no longer seem adorable i'm going to jot them down...

-i always know when she has to go because she uses the same voice and says the same thing each time. it starts with a surprise face and "oh!", and then is usually followed by, "mom! i gotta go potty!" if she is really into some activity and she doesn't want to go she still says, "oh!" with a surprise face, realizing she has to go, but then she'll say something else if she doesn't want to be interrupted, like "oh! [pause], i like this show!" then i know she has to go, she just doesn't want to.
-"it's hard to pee like a princess"...while wearing her new super full skirt princess dress up costume
-"i peed sideways!" while half hanging off of the toilet to watch the business in real time
-describing her deposit..."i made a shoe!", "i made a family!", "i made ariel's thing! [i think she meant her mermaid fin?] but it broke [sounding sad & dejected]", "i made just you, mommy", "i made a gus!", "i made a banana!", "i made a burger!", "i made a seesaw!", "i made a whale!"
-"something is wrong!" when she didn't sit back far enough & pee went everywhere despite "making it in time"
-"i just peed all over everything" when she doesn't get there in time

and clay is going to give me heck for this, but she saw him peeing once and then proceeded to try to stand-up to pee the next time she had to go. i wasn't here but i heard there was quite a meltdown when he explained that standing up just wasn't going to work for her.

she also quickly realized that if she's in time-out & says, "oh! i gotta go potty!" a reprieve is granted. funny how she has to pee every.single.time. she's in time-out.

she seems to be able to hold it most of the time if a potty is not within sight (ex: in the car) and really only has an accident if she's tired (usually the end of the day) and really into a show or activity. but overall she's done a great job with potty training and we are VERY proud of her!

and some non-related photos just for kicks...

laying out her swim suit before we hit the 'beach'

i told her to stand behind her princess line so i could take a photo and she promptly ran to get a pillow (so she had something to stand on) and then put herself in the line. this kid cracks me up.

.

else it never be

last night...

mom: time to go upstairs for bed, lu.
lu: yes, time for bednight. have ta go to bednight for daddy to be home, else it never be my birthday!!!

luci's birthday is on 7/25, but her birthday "ball" is tomorrow. she is SO EXCITED that she's FULL of angst waiting for it! i keep telling her what comes next before her birthday....first she had to wait for dad to go to work, then for grandma & grandpa to arrive, then for daddy to get home from work, then we have one more bednight then we go to church THEN it is time for the birthday ball!! i'm guessing the next 29 hours are going to be difficult.

stay tuned...

sibling love

She initiated this...I'm surprised she has any hair left!




















and watching baby einstein (we're so proud of their love of TV...just kiddin ;) luci loved them when she was a babe and loves them still as a big kid. i usually end up putting one on before dinner time if clay is on a trip while i prepare a PB&J for the lu and some kind of mashed mush for the boy.









and i just had to include one of the cutest chubby cheeked faces i've ever seen...