Three

Our sweet Lucy turned three! She had a great birthday party with some wonderful people! We tried to keep it small and simple this year. For decorations I just printed up some photos of Lucy throughout the year and taped them up with some pretty tape. We had a plain white cake from the Orting Bakery (it was so yummy). We had our standard party game of "Draw on the Lucy face" which always has fun results. Lucy is fond of one of the drawing where she has bangs and dark hair; every time she see it she says, "I look like grandma."

 

We went to see Dr. K for Lucy's three year check up and for the first time ever her height and weight percentiles increased. They just went up the tiniest bit, but Dr. K was pretty happy. Sweet girl measured in at...

24 pounds and 35 inches tall!

 

She wears mostly 2T, but still wears some of her 18 month shirts. She is getting a little tall for her 2T Levi's jeans (I think they run short), but we've been cuffing them so they look like capris. She wears size 5 to size 6 shoes, depending on the brand. I think she is going to have tiny feet like her grandma.

Lucy is totally potty trained and she deserves all the credit for it. She was totally self motivated when it came to potty training and we just followed her lead.

She still loves to eat. Some of her favorite foods at the moment are scrambled eggs, cucumbers, cashews, jello, cheese, Dutch babies, carrots, whole wheat tortillas, granny smith apples, blueberries, gyoza, sweet potatoes, yogurt. She prefers fresh veggies over cooked. She dislikes white potatoes, watermelon, broccoli, and shrimp.

She can ride her tricycle really fast! I love to watch her pedal around on it, but it also scares me a little. She is usually really cautious on things with wheels. I'm not used to seeing her go so fast!

She LOVES to climb on everything and she has about 20 shin bruises to prove it. Playgrounds never seemed so dangerous to me. She is fearless and not afraid of heights.

Gardening fascinates Lucy right now. I think she started to piece together that we plant seeds and care for them to grow food for us to eat. She BRIEFLY went through a phase of where she thought it would be a good idea to eat leaves and berries off of any plant she came across. We had some very serious discussions about that and I think she is over it now. She has been lucky to plant some herbs and flowers in the yard with grandma this summer.

 I love hearing her describe things and make up silly songs. I need to be better about writing down the things she says. She was hungry the other day and told us that her "throat was roaring". I think she meant that her stomach was growling, but couldn't quite remember the correct phrase. She also recently named one of her dolls Klackus. Which she totally made-up. Toddlers are the best.

Lucy loves letters right now and know the sounds and/or names of A, F, L, P, Q, S, T, U, and W. I think she knows more, but those are the ones that she is consistent with. We are focusing on lowercase and their sounds first, but she is picking up the uppercase and names without our prompting.

I'm so excited to see what this year brings us!

What does three year old Lucille enjoy?
Reading books (Favorites: Sophia, Pinkabella, Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?)
Playing in her Sandbox
Riding her tricycle
Jumping, climbing, and balancing on things
Singing about everything
Playing with water
Giraffes, dogs, and cows
Construction trucks
Pretending to do schoolwork
Washing her hands with lots of soap
Making play dough
Helping momma cook
Swinging with daddy
Playing with my old Barbies (Didn't plan on this, but she is so entertained by them)
Putting together puzzles
Going to the park
Asking lots of questions. All the time.

Photos by A Fresh Take Photography

The Thirty-Third Month

My sweet girl is only three months away from being three!

She is still tiny, but growing fast this year! Her most current stats are 33.75 inches tall and 23 pounds, but I'm sure she is even bigger now. She wears size 5 shoes and mostly 2T clothes (18 month tops and dresses haven't been put away yet). She has tiny feet, but will definitely be in size 6 shoes by summer.

Lucy with her favorite stick for drawing in the sand at the playground.

The newest thing in her life is creative dance class. She loves putting her ballet clothes and going to class. I think the teacher is new to this age group and is trying to adapt the class as we go. None of the girls really have the patience to wait in line and it is really hard for them not to touch all the mirrors on the walls. Lucy would prefer to just run back and forth in her leotard for half the class.  I pretty much just let her do that as much as the teacher allows. She LOVES her teacher by the way (I told Lucy that her teacher was a real ballerina, so that might have something to do with it).

I only have this cell phone photo of Lucy in her dance clothes, I really need to remember to take my camera to class!

We still are going to the library for story time every week. Lucy looks forward to seeing her friends, singing, reading books, and dancing. She also loves to check out library books and take them home. Michael usually will help her check out books on a different day of the week, as one of their daddy-daughter dates. Occasionally they go shopping at Ace Hardware instead, which she thinks is fun because of the free popcorn.

Walking to the playground.

Something new that she started incorporating into her speech recently is "no matter", which she says when she doesn't want us to worry about something she is doing. Example: "I'm just going to get something from the fridge for my kitchen, no matter!" Oh the fridge, we considered putting a lock on it, but I like that it is accessible to her and helping with her independence. She likes to pick her own snack or retrieve/put away things when we are cooking. So, occasionally I'll find a stick of butter with a bite out of it, no matter.



I only got this goofy smile today.

She loves to eat, her favorite foods right now are scrambled eggs with spinach, oatmeal, tortillas, sweet potatoes, homemade jello, cucumbers, plain Greek yogurt with a little honey, kefir smoothies, any cheese, and any fruit. She enjoys chicken with ketchup to dip in, but she loves ground beef and sausage. She enjoys most fish, especially salmon, halibut, and tuna. She will eat coconut oil and butter by the spoonful if you let her. Her most frequently requested dish is Dutch baby and her all time favorite food (if you ask her) is muffins. Especially these muffins: whole wheat muffins, caramelized banana oat muffins, and coconut flour pumpkin muffins. She will usually try at least a bite of something new or something she doesn't care for,. She currently dislikes broccoli, white potatoes, and shrimp. She will eat spicy food on occasion. I can put pretty much anything in a burrito, soup, or smoothie and she will eat it.

Drawing in the sand is serious business around here.

I let her help in the kitchen as much as my sanity with allow. Cooking with a toddler is exceedingly slow and messy, but she loves it. Mixing, measuring, pouring, cleaning, and tasting are her top skills in the kitchen right now. We are working on cracking eggs. She cracked two today without getting any shell in the bowl! She really enjoys cutting things with a knife, but I haven't upgraded her from a butter knife, so she can cut soft things like bananas and mushrooms. I explained to her how to make a béchamel sauce while I made dinner tonight and I had her attention the whole time.

Cutting mushrooms for fried rice. (Excuse the blurry cell phone picture!)

What does thirty-three month old Lucille enjoy?

Reading books

Singing songs, including made up ones

Running and climbing

Playing with her friends at the playground

Going to on walks

 Listening to poetry (from this)

Playing with play dough

Collecting sticks

Bird watching

Pushing a kid cart at the store

Playing with blocks and Schleich animals

Garbage trucks and construction vehicles

Pretending to run errands with her baby dolls

Cooking pretend food

Helping mommy in the kitchen

Receiving mail

Painting and coloring

"Watch me dance, Mama!"

Sometimes, if you live with a two year old, they interrupt you when you're trying to make the bed because they need to dance on the very bed you're making.

Sometimes two year olds find tutus in their closets and remember that they are, in fact, a ballerina.

Sometimes mama has her camera close for moments like this.

 

I love my cute little reminder that making the bed really isn't always important.

 

 

Lucy is such a sweet blessing in my life. I love to watch her dance and jump until she has to stop and catch her breath. 



 

 

I'm thankful to take breaks from cleaning to admire this little ballerina.

 

 









Two and a Half Years

Our little darling girl is two and a half years old now. She is so much fun to play with and spend each day with. I'm so grateful to watch her grow and learn each day.

She is currently sleeping next to me, in the stroller, with her outdoor layers peeled off as much as I could without waking her. It is 26 degrees outside and we just got back from our mile of a uphill hike returning from the library, so she was pretty bundled. Wednesdays are story time days. Today the WSU Animal Science Department put on a special presentation about how to play with your pets after story time, complete with DIY pet toy stations at the end. (We made a Christmas present for Grandma Susan's Carmen kitty.) She enjoyed the extra hour at the library, but the poor girl was so tired she couldn't make it home for a nap.

I asked her some questions yesterday about her favorite things to add to her post. She is old enough to do that now. Where does time go?

Favorite color: "Blue" (This one changes daily.)

 

Favorite song: "Happy Birthday!" (I though for sure she was going to say Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.)

 

Favorite thing to wear: "Bird sweatshirt"

 

Favorite food: "Dutch baby!" (Didn't even have to think about this one)

 

Favorite book: "Llama, Llama" (ALL OF THEM.)

She is pretty opinionated and is usually pretty decisive. I try to give her plenty of opportunities to make choices.

Some of the things she says are so funny. I love the little glimpses into how toddlers perceive certain things. I wish I took the time to write down more of her quotes (I need to get better at that!), but here are some favorites from a couple months ago.

"The neighbor's house is STUCK to our house."

(Well, yes. That is generally how townhouses work.)

 

"Are we awake?"

(After insisting that she took a nap, but didn't, and had a dream about daddy, who is standing next to her.)

 

"I'm laughing because I need more yogurt!"

Did you know that yogurt tastes better when you eat it straight from the container?

She is very interested in letters and words rights now. She asks what certain words are on paper and asks what new words mean if she hears them. She enjoys talking about letters and sounds. I hope to make her a moving alphabet soon and get her some sandpaper letters to help her explore this interest. Grandma got some Bob books, too, which she is enjoying.

She is more reluctant to eat vegetables lately, but will still eat cucumbers, lettuce with dressing, peas, sweet potatoes, spinach, and pretty much anything else that I give her to put into her homemade calzone or pizza. She loves fruits, all dairy products, meat, fish, and anything starchy, as well.

She is doing great on her scooter, mostly in the house because it is hard to control with mittens. She loves sledding with daddy.

She prefers to be naked, which is occasionally difficult in public places.

She is doing AWESOME with potty training. She is amazing. Our friends gave us a little travel seat for public restrooms and it has changed out lives. She is no longer afraid of public restrooms. We got her these to wear when we are out and about (more for our piece of mind) and she asks to go potty at stores and restaurants all the time. Seriously, all the time. :) She can go days staying dry, including naps and at night. She often tells me that she is in fact potty trained. I think it might be true.

Shopping at Ikea!

Lucy was also recently babysat by our friends, so Michael and I could go on a date night. It was the first time anyone other than grandma and papa watched her. I missed her really bad, but she had a great time playing with her friend Jonathon. When we came back to get her she wasn't ready to go home yet!

Lucy and Jonathon at his momma's baby shower that we hosted.

What does two and half year old Lucille enjoy?

Decorating and redecorating the Christmas tree

Reading books all the time

Playing in our giant closets

Going to her friends' houses

Playing in the snow

 Watching our pet praying mantis, Mallory

Playing with play dough

Putting together her heads and tails animal puzzle

Singing songs

Making up songs

Listening to music

Reporting to me whether surfaces are rough or smooth

Helping with the dishes

Washing her hands

Jumping on the bed

Pillow fights

When daddy throws her up in the air

 

Lucy watching Mallory. Don't worry about the bandaid, it was just a little scratch that is all healed up now.

 

Toddlers, Tractors, and an Apple Orchard

We were blessed to spend last Saturday picking apples at a beautiful orchard. Even better, the apples were free and we got to hang out with some awesome people!

The sun was out and we had a little breeze to cool us down. We couldn't have asked for better weather.

Michael giving directions.

We picked an assortment of apples including some I've never had before like Spartan and empire apples. It was fun to taste them as we picked to see what they were like.

 



Lucy watching her friend get an apple.

Lucy and the other kids were having a great time exploring. The branches of the trees were quite low and just the right height for them to fit under. This made for great adventures and difficult toddler chasing. They also loved that there were apples all over the ground. At first I tried to redirect Lucy from eating them off the ground, but later I found myself just hoping that she wouldn't pick up a rotting one. We also had to pick out a few from the basket that she wanted to keep.



There might have been some tasting going on.

We eventually stumbled upon a tractor and the toddlers thought is was a dream come true. It was hard to share, as always. So, then we all found ourselves in a shed filled with tractors and other farm equipment. I'm sure it was okay for us to be in there, I mean, there wasn't any signs or people to tell us otherwise.

All the two-year-olds on the tractor.

We then headed a town over and stopped for lunch. We squeezed  eight adults and four kids around a six person table in the middle of a very busy café. I loved it.

 



Lunchtime!

We left the café to explore the museum next door and an antique shop down the street. By the time we were done, all the little ones needed naps.

Checking out the Newspaper and Printing Museum.

Luckily, Lucy fell asleep on the way home and we were able to get her from the car seat to her bed. She napped for two and a half hours. She must have been exhausted from all the fun.

Welcoming Fall

We welcomed autumn today by making some cinnamon play dough. It smells amazing! We used this recipe, but omitted the essential oil.

We're pretty excited for the rest of the leaves to change color. They've started, but just barely. Campus is so beautiful in the fall.

The fall festivities are right around the corner! We're apple picking this weekend and next weekend we're going to the fall harvest festival at WSU's organic farm.

Shortly after I took these pictures she insisted she need more "tools".  A couple pumpkin cookie cutters, a wooden spoon, a fork, two canning jar lids, and a small bowl later... she is content.

Happy autumn everyone!

The Twenty-Seventh Month

Also known as 2.25 years. I just wanted to write a quick little update on our little Lucy.

We had a doctor's appointment earlier this month and we found out that Lucy is finally 20 pounds! She is perfectly healthy, just a petite little girl.

We've been back in Pullman for a couple weeks now and have been having a great time meeting our new neighbors. Lucy is making a lot of new friends. We went to story time at the library last week with two little neighbor boys and their mommies. They had a blast, so we're going to try to make story time a regular event.

We've made friends with a couple from Germany, who just moved in to the building next to us. Lucy has played with their nearly two year old son almost daily since we've been back. They really enjoy playing with each other, they even hold hands sometimes. It is adorable.

Another family that we've befriended just moved here from Olympia. They are just the sweetest family and I can't wait to get to know them better. They have three boys aged 5 years, 3 years, and 10 months. They have SO MUCH energy that sometimes Lucy just stands back and watches them play. She did jump in and play with them at the park the other day though. She was yelling, running, and keeping up with them quite well.

I'm considering a gymnastics class and a ballet class for Lucy this fall. I'm not sure I want to do both, so we're trying out the gymnastics class this Saturday and then I'll make my decision.

Lucy has been working on pouring water lately. Usually while I'm making breakfast. It can get a bit messy, but water is easy to clean up.

She really enjoys using the teapot. The first time I set it up for her she ran over and hugged my leg every 30 seconds and said "I love doing this mommy!" and "I'm really good at this!"

Lucy has discovered a couple few new foods this month that she enjoys: goat cheese, wild rice, and roasted grapes. She is eating great as always and is enjoy being more involved with cooking. She ALWAYS wants to get out her stool and help cook. She even helped us pick out cherry tomatoes and tomatillos at the farmer's market on Saturday.

Every day I am surprised by a new word that Lucy can use correctly. We're definitely amidst a language explosion.  I love all the things she says. Yesterday when I was helping her get settled in her bed for the night she looked out her window and said "There is a big building over there. We can't pick it up. It is too heavy." Another favorite of mine happened at the park the other day, she had just gone down the slide and exclaimed, "I'm so brave!"

What does twenty-seven month old Lucille enjoy?

Riding her scooter (Thankfully, she insists on wearing a helmet)

Visiting fountains

Meeting new friends

Taking care of her dolls

Pretending to wash the dishes while mommy actually washes dishes

Hiding behind pillows on the bed and couch

Reading books

Visiting the bears and a nearby cow (we named her Peony)

Sticking stickers on everything

Painting (Mostly in the bathtub, for mommy's sanity)

Jumping anywhere and all the time

Getting the mail and taking out the trash (Oh yeah! So much fun!)

Anything ballet related

Walking up the hill behind our house

Pretending that the laundry baskets are boats

 

Kanaskat-Palmer State Park

We recently had our second camping adventure this summer. Earlier this month we camped at Lake Easton with family (including our newest little nephew!) and Lucy had a blast running around with the kids. When we got home, I was antsy to go camping again. We enjoyed the state park experience of Lake Easton, so we wanted to try another state park. We decided on Kanaskat-Palmer State Park because it was pretty close to our home base. 


Lucy had fun picking these little daisies and I had fun putting them in Michael's beard.

I was thankful for the flushing toilets because Lucy is still in potty training mode. We had her wear diapers the whole time, because it would be easier clean-up if she couldn't make it to the potty. We needed her to use the potty though because our cloth diaper stash will only last a day and a half, maybe two days at most. She did great though, and we were able to stay the whole five days!

I was also thankful for the showers because five days is a long time for me to go without a shower! I would have survived without them, but I wasn't about to forgo them because we were camping like Michael chose to do. (Ew)

Michael and I played Bananagrams every time Lucy napped.

This was the first camping trip that I did dishes after meals and it was so much easier than trying to make meals that didn't require dishes. We also used a camping stove for the first time, rather than just relying on the backpacking stove and cooking over the campfire. I loved it and it allowed us to eat yummy real food.

We also hiked with Lucy a few miles for the first time without a carrier with us. She did great! She was able to hike about a mile without needing to be carried for a little bit.

We had a campfire or two everyday, which wasn't something we did last year. Two of the days we waited until after Lucy went to bed to have one. We had a fire every morning after we woke up. Lucy just stayed in her high chair and waited for breakfast while getting fire-building lessons from her daddy. Then we would leave after putting the fire out. That way she wouldn't be running around our camp spot while the fire pit was still hot. Where would we go? Oh, you know, we just drove into town and got coffee while Lucy took a morning nap in the car.

We went down to the river everyday after lunch. It was our favorite part of the day. Splashing around, watching little fish, and throwing rocks. It was pretty hot the whole time we were camping and this was a good way to keep cool. Thank goodness for sunscreen!

I love camping because it is easy to just enjoy my little family. There are so many distractions at home.

We have one more camping trip planned for the summer and I'm so excited for it!