Lucy, Mom, and Dad Day

Husband and I spent the whole day today with Lucy, to celebrate her birthday. We had grand plans to take her to Build-A-Bear, but when we got to the mall that morning, we found out the store was closed! Boy, did I feel stupid...but it was seriously there a month ago when I was at the mall. I never expected it would have gone out of business. Luckily, we didn't tell her that's what we were doing, so she was none the wiser. She was happy with Husband's Jamba Juice, but we still owed her a gift, so it was off to Toys R Us.

We had a fun time looking around, and Lucy had to try out every car in the lot. Eventually she ended up choosing a toy with some much more manageable cars (and at a much more manageable price)...a racetrack and a box of special Matchbox cars!

After the toy store, we headed off to Chuck E. Cheese. This was our first trip there as a family, and I was a little skeptical, but we had a ball! You certainly don't go for the quality of the food, but Lucy was enthralled with all of the games and rides, and I have to say Husband and I enjoyed ourselves too. We even got to meet Mr. Cheese himself, although Lucy wasn't too sure about him. She was obsessed with the fact that he was silent, and kept asking "why is he alive, but he can't talk?"

After lunch we came home and picked some flowers, and then played with the new racetrack. Later we took a trip to Costco to buy items for the birthday party tomorrow. It was a wonderful family day!

Birthday Girl

Happy Birthday, Lucy!

Dear Lucy,

Today you are FOUR YEARS OLD! You have been waiting for this day for a long time, asking “how many days until my birthday?” and saying, “maybe I can do that when I’m four years old.” You get an extended birthday celebration – with your friends at school today, a special day with Mom and Dad tomorrow, and a family party on Saturday. Special times for a special girl!

You have grown up so much this past year. You’re just finishing up your first full year of preschool, and we have really enjoyed seeing your development both socially and academically. You’re getting really good at recognizing all your letters and we’re working on sounding out words. You still love to have books read to you, and will often take the book from me and re-tell the story as you flip through the pages. You’re crazy about coloring and anything art-related, and can often be found with markers and paper strewn around you. Many evenings you are pretending to be “the mom” and taking good care of your animals and babies, or dropping them off with “Grandma” (we have to talk about that) while you go to work. You like movies and TV, but you won’t pass up a chance to walk the dog or ride your bike, or just walk around the yard and pick flowers or check the strawberries in your garden, or the peas you and Daddy planted. Singing is also high on your list of priorities, and in addition to standards you have many unique songs “in your head” which are hilarious and creative.

You tried lots of new things this year, too. Dance class, soccer, swimming, and ice skating, to name a few. You like dance, which is half dance/half tumbling, but are usually more interested in what everyone else is doing, vs. what you're supposed to be doing. You really come alive when it's time to go into the gym, and I'm thinking you're just more of a "free play" kind of girl, and feel more comfortable when you can move about the way you want to. :) Swimming was a hit until you suddenly became scared and clingy to your teacher towards the end, but we'll try again in the fall. You liked soccer and will do that again this summer, too. Ice skating was special Daddy/Lucy time, and I know that's something you'll probably do more of next winter.

We are not without challenging times…getting you out the door in the morning (or anytime) can be a chore. You’re quite a putzer and can find a million other things you “have to do” besides get your shoes on or brush your teeth. It drives your mama crazy! You’re generally a pretty happy kid, but you can turn on the drama at the drop of a hat when you’re tired, hungry, or just feeling sassy. I never thought you’d be slamming doors already, but it has happened. Listening is something you certainly exercise selectively. We talk A LOT about listening. There are times you also give up too easily and revert to those two words your Daddy hates to hear, “I can’t.” We are trying to be better about pushing you to at least try.

You are a brilliant negotiator. You don’t often take “no” at face value and you ask a MILLION questions. You’re in full “why” mode which I don’t mind, but it gets frustrating when you don’t find my answers acceptable. J Many times I can’t argue with your reasoning! You’re a talker and a leader. You love your friends and after several minutes of being shy and quiet, you fall in easily with kids you just met. One of your teachers just commented to me last week how well you also communicate and interact with adults, which I see through the special relationships you have with your grandparents and your aunts and uncles.

 Over the past couple of months I do sense a change in you; you seem more calm and frankly, are simply delightful most of the time. Every day I look forward to coming home to talk to you. You are discovering new things every minute and I love answering your questions and asking what you think. You’re so funny and insightful in the things you come up with! Daddy and I are constantly cracking up at your proclamations or facial expressions (most of the time, the two go together).

Overall, I feel as though we have really settled into a groove as a family. You are a smart, funny, caring little girl (I know, I know…you’re not LITTLE!) and we are just so blessed and lucky to have you.

Love,
Mama

Oh, Buddy!

Today is Buddy's adoption birthday. We've had him for FIVE years now, which makes him about 6 1/2 years old...so he's older than all of us if we're talking dog years. At his last check-up I found out that he'll be considered "senior" when he turns seven. How time flies.

Buddy is doing alright, he's still a pretty needy guy in terms of having to be near someone all the time. He drives Husband a little crazy. :) But he really is a good dog and pretty well-behaved. He doesn't get the attention he once did, although the constant affections of a certain preschooler are probably quite enough for him. Lucy is usually up in his business, but he is either growing more tolerant or just resigning to the fact that he can't avoid it. She loves her some Buddy, and he doesn't seem to mind.

He still loves tennis balls and his big bone, and we are convinced he's part cow because he really loves to munch on the grass in the backyard. Buddy loves his walks and get super excited whenever somebody puts their tennis shoes on. He sits in the window for long stretches at a time, and is mostly silent but can hardly contain himself when another dog walks by. "Friends? Friends. FRIENDS, MOM!! DID YOU SEE?!" He shows similar enthusiasm when we have guests, and is often relegated to his gated area downstairs in response to his unwanted advances.

Overall Buddy's nature is gentle and playful, and those big brown eyes get me every time. Now if he would just stop peeing in the flowerbed and attacking the back door when he wants in, we'd all be more apt to give him those belly scratches he likes so much.

Happy Adoption Day, Bud!

More Than a Dog Walk

This is the way Lucy dressed herself to walk the dog the other night:

I have learned, as her parent, not to fight these moments. I could care less what the neighbors might think about her wearing a winter hat and gloves, with her purple socks pulled up under her apple dress, when it's 80 degrees out. Most likely, even if they don't know my daughter (but especially if they do), it will garner a chuckle and a smile. She is who she is, and she ain't hurtin' nobody...though I did draw the line at the snow boots, because I also know her well enough to know if her feet start to hurt, she will stop dead in her tracks and refuse to move.

The walk started out a little rough. It's not easy to hold the hand of a slow-moving preschooler, while also holding the leash of an anxious dog. We live in one of those annoying suburban neighborhoods with no sidewalks, so with two different walking speeds it takes a lot of maneuvering to keep them both in a safe area of the street. This is especially difficult when the girl wants to help walk the dog, who weighs almost twice what she does and could pull her down in two seconds flat at the sight of a squirrel. As I struggled, I thought back to that first summer after she was born, when it was so much easier to hang onto the dog's leash while also having two hands on the bar of the stroller, and take a much longer, faster walk. These days I'm lucky to make it around the block and maybe raise my body temp a few degrees. "I'm not really getting anything out of these walks," I thought.

A little over halfway, the dog tired a bit and we were on a quiet street, so I relinquished the leash. As I watched my little funny girl walking down the street with our pup, I was struck with how big she is getting, and how grown up she seems. And how that summer of 2009 sometimes seems like yesterday and these (almost) four years have gone by so, so fast. 

And I knew in that instant that I am certainly "getting something" out of these walks. 

Family Fun

Last year we started summer with a wedding, and this year we started a little earlier with another one. My cousin Tyler got married, so we made the long haul down to Bettendorf, IA to join in the festivities.

We headed down Friday and met up with Mom and Dad, two of my brothers, and my sister-in-law and two nephews. We ate at a buffet that night and then went swimming at the hotel pool (and yes, the irony of gorging at a place where you can get sweet-and-sour chicken, tacos, and roast beef on the same plate followed by putting on a swimsuit was not lost on me). The wedding was not until Saturday afternoon, so Saturday morning we found something to entertain us by going to the Bettendorf Family Museum. What a cool place!

Music with Grandma.

Crane operator.

Waterworks.

The boys putting out a fire!

Our little vet.

The wedding was of course, lovely. Lucy rocked the reception dance floor early, then decided the music was too loud and preferred to color at the table, then sit out in the lounge with Daddy. She loved the "bridemaids" and was particularly attached to my cousin, Shelby.

I loved seeing my immediate family and all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins and was again reminded what awesome people I come from. It was a long drive back home on Sunday, but well worth the trip.

Studio Lucy: Mom Hanging From a Mountain

That top purple line is the top of a mountain. The purple words below have strings on them so they can be safe climbing the mountain. The big purple blob is giant monster footprint.

That's me in the orange, hanging on for dear life. I am wearing earrings, a watch, and a ring, do you see them? I also have a baby in my tummy, which I am informed is Lucy when she was a baby, or in her specific description, "before I was a toddler." 

The blue circles below me were the start of Daddy's toes, but then she counted his real toes and realized he has five on each foot, and got upset because she drew 6 and 4. And so that was the end of this piece of fine art. But I'm digging the creativity, how about you?