19 Months

This month has gone by so fast with all of the holiday activities. Here’s what Lucy has been up to.

She is:

• talking, talking, talking! At her 18 month appointment in mid-December the doc asked me how many words she has. I had counted about 40. Apparently 10-15 is average, and she has added more since then…we have a gabber on our hands!
• starting to put words together, as well. “More, please;” “Daddy go?” “My tee-tee” (blankey).
• 30 pounds and 32 ¾ inches long. Still a big girl!
• fighting persistent red patches on her cheeks – doc says it’s dry skin, but every time we seem to clear it up, it comes right back.
• loving her “babies” and stuffed animals, and has to have about 5 in bed with her or in the chair when we’re reading books.
• starting to take an interest in the bathroom and has even requested to sit on the toilet a couple of times. (Right now we’re just sort of facilitating the interest and explaining things, but aren’t in a rush to break out the potty training just yet).
• answering a lot of questions or requests with “NO.”
• putting Mommy through some pretty difficult mornings lately…Miss Independent is getting harder to get out the door.
• scolding the dog on a regular basis – my favorite is “Buddy, GO!” as she runs him over to the gate and points downstairs. That being said, she is not very nice to him sometimes…and we are trying to correct that.
• enjoying all of her Christmas gifts, especially her bean bag, baby dolls, Little People Farm, tea set, and play food.
• doing a lot of running up and down the hallways, and jumping into her bean bag.
• a dancing machine. She's got quite the fancy footwork!
  
• A busy, busy bee. The girl rarely slows down, but when she does, it is usually for food, sleep, or books!

As always, Lucy keeps us on our toes – whether it’s chasing her around from one toy to the next, or being careful about what we say in front of her. There is always something new to explore. It’s a really fun time right now, as she learns new words and phrases and is able to communicate better with us. She amazes me every day!

Christmas Recap

We had a great Christmas at our house. Lucy really had no concept of what was going on, but she enjoyed opening gifts and talking about "Sata" (Santa). We had Husband's family over for the afternoon, so she got more presents and all kinds of attention. It was a blast. Here are some highlights:

A beanbag from Santa. I think she's got the hang of it, huh?!
A gas card for Brandon...driver's license is coming soon!
Grandma and Grandpa and the aunties and uncles showered both kids with lots of gifts. Lucy got some new babies and a little stroller to push them around in.
Of course, Lucy gave some love too! Here she is with her cousin, Miss H. Is this not the CUTEST?!
We travel to Iowa for another Christmas this weekend, and a special anniversary celebration for Grandma and Grandpa. Should be lots of fun!

Merry Christmas!

Hi, Nen-Nen!

Just Call Her Bruiser

Punky's got a black eye! She took a spill at daycare and landed on a toy truck. It hit just below her eye. It didn't look too bad at first, but bruised up pretty well. That in combination with her red, chapped cheeks have her looking pretty rough.

I hear the truck is in worse shape, though. :)

Stack 'Em Up

Stacking is one of Lucy's favorite pastimes. We don't have any proper blocks (holding out to see if Christmas brings any!) but she stacks cups, boxes, books...and even cans from the pantry. Go Lucy!

Ladies Weekend

Last weekend I had the pleasure of being invited to a ladies weekend at Grandview Lodge in Nisswa, MN. It's only about 2 1/2 hours north of "The Cities," and yet felt like a step into another world. I can't remember another time I have been away for a whole weekend since Lucy was born.

What a beautiful place. It was like walking around in a snow globe. The main lodge is a historic building, and I was charmed from the moment I walked in. The guest cabins are amazing, and we got quite a deal through a special winter weekend package.

Oh, and did I mention there is a spa on the premises? Glacial Waters Spa is an Aveda spa, and I spent almost the whole day Saturday there. I had my first facial and after a few minutes of, "OK, I'm paying a lady to rub stuff on my face..." it was actually very relaxing - I even fell asleep for a little bit! My skin felt amazing afterward, too. It's too bad I can't afford all the products in that 8-step process to beautiful glowing skin! After the facial I was able to sit in the Relaxation Room and finish a book, and then headed into my 60-minute deep tissue massage. Just writing that now makes my back ache for another one! It's a crazy feeling getting up from the massage table...I call it a "massage hangover." Your hair is all messed up, you've got marks on your face from laying face down on the table, and you're groggy from being so relaxed. I was able to take a shower and relax for a bit more before heading back to the cabin to rejoin my group.

Another thing I was able to do on this weekend retreat was go out. Not that I never go out, but in this case I didn't have to drive myself anywhere, and I didn't have to worry about having to wake up at 6AM and put on my mommy hat. We drank beer out of pitchers at a townie bar and danced to a bunch of new music we didn't know, and cleared the floor of anyone but us when we requested tunes from the early '90s. We felt a little old at times but we also felt mighty awesome. It could've been the 3.2 beer but I'm sure it was more about some ladies cutting loose!

All in all this weekend reminded me that I'm a much better mom, wife, co-worker when I give myself a break. Even in packing for the weekend I realized I haven't bought myself any new clothes in a long time, and I don't have any good clothes that aren't for work or aren't for knocking around the house chasing around a toddler and doing laundry. And that reminded me that I work and I'm a mom, but there's also a little bit of me in between the two. That woman needs some time too.

I'll be heading back next year. :)