Dog Days of Summer

When it's so hot here that we can't even go outside, we head to the Landmark Mall's indoor playground. She likes to crawl around and check out the other kids. I have to do my best to make sure she does not get run over by the wild children there! She always makes friends, like this little guy whose face was covered in chocolate. Purell is always in order as soon as we leave!!

Zoo Day

Today we went to the National Zoo with Lucy's buddies...it was HOT! But we saw the elephants, panda, apes and zebras, etc. Lucy really was not that interested in the animals, but she did like riding around and people watching. There's Tiny over on the right...she is the youngest by about 3-6 months from all these other kids so keep that in mind!

MMM, Zipper

I can only think Lucy is about to have a few more teeth erupt giver her demeanor lately which has been a bit whiny. And the fact that she literally wants to chew everything in sight.

Beach Trip

Lucy had her first visit to the eastern shore at Lewes, DE this past weekend with the Pfarrs and Drennans (and their BITOs..BUNS in the oven). She was not too fond of the sand, and in fact refused to crawl off the blanket as she did not want her feet or fingers touching the sand! She also hates the grass on her toes. Funny. Nor is she fond of sleeping in her Pack n Play, so needs to come into bed with me to get through the night. Not so funny! Thanks so much to the Pfarrs for having us to their lovely home!

Bikini Beauty

We took Lucy to the pool Friday night and put on her new suit from Grandma. She was not too happy on the way over, but loves tooling around the baby pool in her ladybug floatie.

Morning Routine

Lucy and I have a specific routine each morning. Since it begins at 5:30, it's a bit rough for mom. I get her from the crib, she has a diaper change, quick trip to the momma milk truck then we head downstairs. She loves to help me push the buttons to turn off the house alarm, then comes along as I get the papers out front. I plop her in the backroom and she usually watches a minute or two of WETA Kids....Teletubbies comes on at 6 am for those of you looking for something to watch at that time! We hang out for about an hour until it's time to try and shove down some food or yogurt...then countdown until her first nap. She loves her early morning TV and this shot is just so cute. She's modeling her new "big kid" jammies. I can't believe 9 months have gone by in such a flash!!

9 Months Old!

Well we just returned from the checkup and....Lucy is under the 5th percentile for weight so we are on to drastic weight gaining measures! She did grow almost 3 inches from her 6 month visit (yeah!) but her hyper personality, dislike of the highchair and indifference toward food in general has brought us to spending the next 6 weeks doing all we can to bulk her up before the next weigh in. At the same time, Jud is trying to lose weight for his Sept. triathalon so it will be a very interesting time in the kitchen. So far today she's had an extra bottle of formula, mashed potatoes with cream cheese and butter and 2 Yo Babys. She likes to eat the Yo Baby ONLY if she can have her hand in the container. What a mess! I'm also going to work in pasta with cheese..yumm alfredo sauce, slices of cheese, avocados (try it again....) and someone suggested puting EVOO into her baby food too. The whole weight thing just stresses me out but I know developmentally she's thriving so I have to try and not worry too much about it. This is the best shot yet of her teeth!! Love them.

The Wave

Here's Lucy up on her haunches. She likes to sit on her little knees like this. She also likes to wave her arms up and down like a mental patient, which I can't capture on film. But she is learning how to wave "hi" to people we see out and about. We have her 9-month checkup tomorrow! I hope they don't tell me I need to start feeding her sticks of butter to fatten her up. But she did like the croissant chunks I fed her today!

Carbo Loading

As we near her 9 month birthday, I've decided to start feeding Lucy several new things this week, including more carbs. Grow Lucy grow! For lunch today I gave her mushy white rice with cheese (not so much on that.....but I ate it!), a waffle and a slice of sourdough bread. She LOVED the sourdough bread. Go figure. I gave her some egg and gluten free waffle and she was not so into that. It was pretty gross. I think I'll move on to the plain Eggos, those things are so darn good. Also, Yo Baby with cereal is a hit, as were the mashed potatoes yesterday.

Cheerio Surprise

We hide Cheerios in Lucy's Leapfrog table cubby. She goes absolutely crazy when she finds them in there and shoves about 10 in her mouth at a time. Whatever we can do to get this kid to eat!! Also pictured here is the only carrot she will eat--a wooden toy one.

Sneaky Pete

Shocker...Lucy has circumvented my barrier and turns up in the kitchen where she's not supposed to crawl!

Grannies

Judi and Lauren have been here and are leaving this afternoon. We've had fun making strawberry and blueberry jam, playing with the cousins, going to the pool, out to dinner and allowing them to watch Lucy so I can do some fun baby-free activities. This morning I went back to Body Pump for the first time in 9 months. If I can't lift Lucy tomorrow, that will be why!! I am hopeful Lucy can get more comfy with the gym babysitters so I can keep going to the class at least once a week.

Where's Miss Lucy?

This is her current favorite game. I think she will do nicely as a ghost for Halloween. She loves to be covered in the blanket and figure out how to get it off her head. She shreiks and pants with delight when she pulls it off. It is so funny!! I wish I had audio for these pics.

Growth

Jan. 22nd....July 11th. Hah!! I love the bunny hat pic. Had to find a reason to recycle it.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Jud had a great b-day today Lucy woke singing him Happy Birthday at 5:07 a.m.! Then on my way back from Harris Teeter at 6:15 a.m. I discovered the little car had a flat tire...so he and Lucy came to rescue me. Finally, hours later and after a broken wrench, trip to Merchant's to get their wrench, with the help of the USAA guy we got the spare on, etc. We had G & L, the twins and Grandparent Allens over for breakfast (after another trip to HT for more bacon) and then did yard work and headed to the park! You'd think it should be dinner time by now. But it was only 3:00! After that everyone was pretty tired, but we had a quick outing to Dick's for new golf gear for Jud and take-out sushi and one Dos Equis for dinner. Contrast that with the first b-day party I threw for Jud 6 years ago at Brass Monkey in Adams Morgan (I really need to scan a pic of Jud from that night for posterity). And so we can show Lucy what happens when you drink 30 beers in one night. We love you daddy-Jud for all you do for your GIRLS!!

Cousins

Sulley and Colton came over for a visit this morning and Lucy let them borrow the Baby Einstein gym. Cute! They are 12 weeks old and getting big..Sulley is a hoss compared to her shrimpy brother...oh boy this will be funny when Sulley is bigger than Lucy! She is getting more independent by the day. Standing without holding on or just leaning her belly on something for support.

Thumper

Jud explaining to Lucy where baby rabbits come from. Just kidding! I fear for when we have to talk to her about the birds and the bees. There will be many battles to face before that one:) Her thighs are looking chubbier. Yeah Lucy!

Mom's New Job

I've taken on some civic duties since resigning from Edelman and am the Secretary of our neighborhood Claremont! Lucy helped me post signs inviting people to our meeting this Saturday. I figured trying to improve my hood was better than complaining about it! Ps. before you make fun of the sign...my neighbor John made it and my artistic skills would probably be worse.

Drills

We ran some drills today with Lucy's animal flash cards. She mostly likes to chew them and scatter them all over the floor. This child will be in the spelling bee before long!!

Happy Kid

Here's just a cute on of her...happy as usual. In her Tony Soprano shirt, spotted with vitamin drops (yuck!). I think we are going to move on to giving them to her in the bathtub, but the Clorox Bleach Pen works wonders on these and other strange baby stains!

Lucy's Bitc**es

Here's Lucy and her friends at playgroup today. It's funny watching them interact. Lucy is with Carson who's 2 weeks older than her and Maggie in the dress who's 10 months.

Tea Party

Here is where Lucy will hold her future tea parties and do her preschool homework. Thanks to Gran and Pap Sheriff for the adorable Amish-made table and chairs. I think our family has bought enough stuff to put Levi the Amish carpenter's kids through college....I guess the home-schooled kind!

Happy 4th!

We had a great time in Erie seeing all our friends and family.....if only we could avoid the PA Tpke for now and eternity!! Here are some pics....Lucy loves her Amish bonnet! With this hat and all the babies coming in the next few months we have a good group Halloween costume option as the characters in ESCAPE (about a polygamist cult!)

Evil Momma

I decided to take advantage of one of the many perks of Belle Haven....day care!! Yes they have a center where you can drop off the kids for up to three hours as you lounge at the pool, as I planned to do. Lucy did ok for the first 10 minutes. Then she realized I was gone and she proceeded to bawl for 45 minutes. The lady said she almost had to come and get me. Super job Lucy! Yeah.....this make take a while to get her used to anyone but momma the milk truck. In the pic, if you enlarge it, you can see her tooth on the bottom!!

Push Your Cart!

Lucy is into pushing her little cart. She tools around the back room. She also loves to chew on our new rattan makeshift coffee table. I'm sure that's safe.....