microwave check!

Lucy is such a great communicator.   I feel very confident that we understand each other well, which is really a treat!

There are, however, a few things that get a little mixed up.  Here are a few of my favorites:

• "Poopy-ray" is Chipotle--our favorite
• This morning, we were "hungry calculators" (hungry crocodiles)
• She ran around with her guitar, saying, "Microwave check!" instead of microphone check.  (PS--where did she get this rock and roll terminology??)
• She was given a Barney doll (which she loves, although we never watch the show) and she calls him her "Barbeque"
• I'm on a health kick, and we were buying tofu for the first time (to use in a salad dressing).  I asked her to help me remember we needed extra-firm silken tofu.  She CRACKED up!  She thought that was the funniest thing she'd ever heard, and belly-laughed every time I said it.  When she said it back to me, it was not extra-firm silken tofu, but "extra fuu-fuu toes!"
• Ethiopia, until very recently, was "Oompaloompa"
• Arrested Development (a very funny show, but not for children!  oops!) was "Bah-nah-DAH".  That one puzzles me so much!  But she really meant Arrested Development every time she said Bah-nah-DAH!
• Chocolate milk (which she ISN'T allowed to have) is always "chocolate candy milk"

And, on the subject of words, a few have become taboo around here.  My girl is so proud that she's potty-trained and a big girl.  She does a lot of talking about how diapers are for babies and pull-ups are for big girls.  If I happen to inadvertently say diaper instead of pull-up, she gets all put-out.  "Don't say DIAPER to me, Mama!  Don't say that!"

Gratuitous Cuteness

 

friends

We're so blessed to have friends!  She's at an age where it's really fun to watch her interact.  I'm always amazed at how they just entertain each other!

So, he's actually family, but he's a really good buddy, too!

 

 

 

football and prayers

Lucy!  You are cracking your mama up!  Today, among many other lovely things, you said:

This water isn't drinking.  (When the straw wouldn't work).

We were bouncing a balloon back and forth, and you had to take a moment to put on my football hat and then insist I put on my imaginary hat, too.  Then you growled and grumbled a bunch of sporty things like:  Frower!  I frow it!  20-80-90!  Frow!  Then, since we were so proud that we were so athletic, we took a moment to share tilty-faced smiles :)

We went to Panera with Nana and Uncle John and you prayed.  I LOVE that your prayers are getting more like a conversation with God than a memorized thing you'd said.  Tonight, with the rare treat of baked chips on your plate, you prayed:  God Father, Thank you for chips and food and my friends.  Amen.  It was so sweet!

 (Which reminds me that last week, you prayed with your little head bowed and just had to lower your mouth an inch and eat a green bean in the middle of it.  Some things are just too good to resist :) )

You told Nana as we left, You can call me ANY time, Nana.  So supportive!

 You are a delight every day, Lucy Joy!

taco?

My daughter created and has carried around this "taco" for days.  It's a snack size baggie with a plastic ear of corn in it.   Several times I've asked her to do something, and it's "Just a minute, " with her finger up, as she scrambles to locate it, "let me find my taco first."  Then she totes it along.   Funny bunny.

happy birthday to mama

Yesterday was my birthday, and my sweet girl was so excited!   Two year olds really know make the most of special days!  There was singing, and singing, and more singing.  All very sincere and very sweet.

 

We went to the zoo in the morning, went to visit friends, and stopped by Nana and Pap's house.  We were up at an unprecedented hour, and my girl was still having a great time (despite being kind of stumbly due to extreme fatigue :) ).  I do so love the life God has given me!

 

Lucy wrote L-U-C-Y!

A couple of weeks ago, we were at Nana and Pap's house and she was drawing at the kitchen island with JW and Rachel and I.  She said "L-U-C-Y" and I watched her pen write the letters as she said them!  I was flabbergasted!  I know her sitter had had her tracing the letters of her name, but I was really surprised that she could produce them on her own (and from her head--it wasn't written anywhere on her paper).  She hasn't done it again since, but she'll make a letter at a time and say it out loud.  She was drawing the other day and kept saying, "Says Mama, says Mama."  I looked at her paper and she was making little M s.  I think I have one smart little cookie on my hands!

I asked her the other day what her favorite toy was and she said "pen."  :)

hair cut

Okay, people.  For these Ethiopian beauties, hair is a big freakin' deal.

Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE big, gorgeous hair.  So I had these visions of Lucy's hair just getting very large and in-charge. 

However, I have a daughter who is tender-headed and HATES to have her hair messed with.  This can be unpleasant with your every-day, run-a-brush-through-it toddler hair, but we have once a week, marathon hour-long detangling session super-curly gorgeous kind of hair.  Needless to say, things got pretty unpleasant.  On many occasions, we both were in tears by the end of these sessions.  And they didn't last the hour they needed to, so we both were upset and her hair wasn't even done. 

We tried many things:  Quite a few different (expensive) hair products, various in and out of bath detangling regimes, Dora + forbidden candy during sessions, daily smaller sections to detangle, a special tangle-teaser brush... we learned a lot, but it boils down to the fact that she hates having someone touching her hair (much less combing it!).  And as much as I LOVE her hair, I realized that I was keeping it long as a vanity (for me) which made things harder and more unpleasant (for her).

I decided to chop it for the summer.  It would be cooler for her and easier for us to work with.  And this beautiful girl can pull off any hairstyle, I'm sure.  We bought new bows and talked it up, and then set to chopping.  (Nana and I doubled-up on her).  She loves it.  She ran to see in the mirror and she liked what she saw!  (So do I--she's so pretty!)

This has been a great decision for us!  Our summer is much lower-stress and I feel like I'm able to keep her hair healthy for her, so it's a big relief!

summer buddy

What a blessing to have time off in the summer to spend with my little buddy!  We've had such a good time together.  Lucy seems to enjoy being right with me, and we all know I love being right with her.  We do a lot of talking over our plans ("We're going to Target, then to the park...") and she's quick to ask, "A-gether?  We go a-gether, Mama?" 

 

 

 My buddy stays close in the kitchen.  And, resourceful gal that she is, she finds a cool spot and a little tomato snack.

 

 

 

Here's another place where my buddy made the most of time with Mama today.

 



 

She scooted her chair in and even made sure to bring her "cell phone."  Always good to be prepared!

 



 

funny banana

It's so easy to be funny when you're a Mama to a two and a half year old.

This is kind of long (and be fore-warned that you do hear me singing on it) but I love this end-of-her-rope laugh!  This was right before nap and she had already laughed until she had the hiccups.  (I was trying to get her to sing a few of her new favorite songs from our Seeds of Faith cd--which is excellent!)

She says "Oh my goodness!" at the end--it makes me so happy!

 

by myself

This girl is getting so big and so independent!

A few things she's doing "a myself":

Going to the potty.

Lots of writing/drawing.

Talking with friends and family on the phone.

Getting dressed (so far, only pants and panties, but she is SO proud of herself!  She comes in at a run, spins, prances, jumps, and smiles at me like, "Check me out!")

(notice the inside-out, backwards nature of the pants.  And the cool-as-a-cucumber, I-dress-myself attitude.  We definitely left them this way and went out and about proudly :)

These are the shoes she ran in and put on when I said we were going to take a walk.  Not so practical for walking/playground, but super-stylish!

 

Since she's so very big (and mighty, she often adds, because of the song we love about God being big and mighty), it's sometimes hard to distinguish what are things she should do on her own and what she still needs help with.  I painted her toenails and she "helped" by taking the nail polish back in to put in the drawer.  After a too-long quiet, this is what I found. 
 

 

Thank goodness it was silver and not RED!

And a very indignant girl.  She couldn't understand why this was a problem--she felt pretty good about it.

And there are still things that she "needs" mama for.  I love seeing this independence emerging, but I'm secretly delighted that she still wants to depend on Mama sometimes.  One funny example is that when we eat Chipotle (which she LOVES) she sometimes gets a spicy bite, and says, "Ow ow ow!!"  My job is to quickly grab her sippy cup of milk and hold it up to her mouth while she drinks it and say soothing things like, "Drink some milk, baby, and it'll feel better."  She is definitely old enough to hold that cup up, but she really likes that I do it.  Now, I hear "ow ow ow!" fairly often when we're eating.  She somehow got a "spicy" bite of an almond butter/banana sandwich today.  I rush into action and hold her cup for her and we meet eyes and smile... our little secret that we both know it's just a comfort and a check that Mama's paying attention.  :)