Lucy Claire 2 years (and 4 days)

Lucy is 2. I hope she enjoyed her birthday celebration(s) but I'm not sure she ever really got what we were celebrating. Every time we wished her a happy birthday she would wish us a happy birthday too. It didn't help clear things up that her brother and sisters were all up in her presents and cake, I'm sure she thought they were meant for all of them instead of just for her.
We had a party with Grandma and Grandpa

A birthday picnic on the beach

And a special family party afterschool on Wednesday.

So now she is 2. She wakes up every day happy. She lights up our lives with her funny snort/laugh and her bright smile. She loves birds, pictures of birds, songs about birds, books about birds. She is both terrified and fascinated by bugs. She likes Curious George and Elmo and Angelina Ballerina. If you ask her where she wants to go, she will choose Grandma's house 98 out of 100 times.  If you ask her what she wants to eat she will say Dunkin Donuts or pizza (but she doesn't really want pizza, she wants pasta but she gets the words mixed up). If you ask her what her name is she will say Emily (because that is what Julia tells her her name is), if you ask her who loves her she will say "Me!"

I love you roo, Lucy. Happy Birthday to The wonderful Wooz.

(there are pictures meant to go with this post but my phone is being wonky and I wanted to get this up before too long, I'll try again tomorrow)

Lucy Talks

All three big kids are off to school this morning so Lucy and I have the house to ourselves. You would think it would seem quiet but Lucy is going through a major language explosion so there isn't much quiet time around here. It is amazing to watch her vocabulary grow. Ace and Julia both had speech delays and at two they were still speaking mostly in one word sentences so I had forgotten how talkative an (almost) two year old can be.
If Lucy is awake, she is talking. And, if she feels she is not getting enough of a response, she is YELLING. Yesterday she did not feel Andy was interested enough in her commentary on Ace's pet ladybug so she grabbed his face, pressed her face to his and yelled "Ladybug! Inna cup! Dee it? Dee? Dee?"
She blows me away with how smart she is and all that she has picked up on just by observing her brother and sisters. She knows the names of characters in her favorite books, she can count,  recognizes most colors, shapes, and the letter L. I love listening to her make connections all on her own.  I also love the times when she doesn't quite get it. A few minutes ago I was so impressed that she showed me a triangle block and said "Triangle". I showed her a circle block and she said "Cir-dle", what a smartie! Then I showed her a square and she said  "Buddy!" (our dogs name). Not sure what connections were firing in her mind on that one but I give her an A+ for effort.
I love hearing about what is on her mind. The other day in the car she couldn't stop talking about seeing airplanes with Daddy. We had gone to meet him for dinner at his work and we went to sit on the helicopters and airplanes. I knew she had a good time but it was so cool that she was still remebering and thinking about it the next day. When she wakes up from a nap she will tell me what she was dreaming or thinking about, it is the sweetest moment. Usually the first thing she says when I go to get her from a nap is "My guys? At school?"  ("her guys" are Hayley, Ace, and Julia and she always looks forward to picking them up after naptime).
It is hard to narrow this list down but here are some of Lucy's most frequently used words and phrases:
Grandma (used for both Grandma and GrandPa)
Coco going? (when she is looking for her favorite playmate, the dog)
Dinner ready?
I do it
You help me
I help you
Read it to me
Angelina (her favorite book)
Big huggies (this is reserved for Daddy)
I hungry
Carry me
I walk
I put my head down (one of my favorites, she says this right before she leans her head back when she is swinging or someone is hugging her. I love that she tells us beforehand what she is going to do, it makes it that much sweeter)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

The little girls and I have enjoyed the relative quiet of the house while the big kids are away at school. We keep busy so we don't miss them too much (we still do, a lot).  It is nice to go to the grocery store and not have to argue with Ace about why we can't buy every product that has a picture of Buzz or Woody on it and since it is just the three of us we can get the mini carts and Trader Joes to push around.  We usually get home with our errands around 11 so we have lunch and plenty of time for relaxing at home. Here is are some of the ways we've been keeping entertained:








Lucy entertains us with a song (obviously folding the laundry is not high on our list of things to do)

Taking an afternoon drive to explore the backyard






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Sometimes we just lay around and watch tv







And sometimes we get our geek on and dress up in goofy glasses