more summer stuff

Hi everyone! Just posting some photos from a few weeks ago. Im back to work (boo!) so I needed to update this for myself, actually. I miss the summer days already and need to see Lucy on my computer during the day. Im sure you all have the same heartache, right?

We took her to Copley Heritage day and low and behold! Thomas the train (or his generic look-a-like) was there. Bonus!! Lucy spotted it and seemed so anxious to ride it... but as soon as we boarded she changed her mind. She wanted off so badly, I had to pin her down and force her to ride this train! It was a two dollar ticket! She's riding! :-)






Im sure you all guessed, but the next tearful photo is from AFTER the initial ride, which she ended up loving tremendously and therefore threw a similar tantrum as I forced her off the train. Here she is, crying "Again! Again!"



And then God made grandmas. Oma saved the day and took Lucy "again." Whew...the storm has calmed.




Opas are just as valuable. Here Opa is reading one of Lucy's favorite books, which she can recite on her own. She was puzzled as Opa went through the book and read his version. She let him know he wasn't reading it right. :-)



She's just plain silly sometimes.

July fun!

We all laughed at how horrible this picture might look to a social service worker...or any breathing person for that matter. She actually liked being dipped upside down into the water. And I'm guessing those rocks aren't as close as they appear. It was all in the spirit of celebrating the Fourth of July at the lake! I even tried not to squirm when Lucy touched the fish's eyeballs. Thanks, Grandpa, for catching all those little fish for her!






To occupy time during the slow afternoons, we have become frequent visitors of the zoo. Lucy's favorite animal is the Llamas, which we see first. Then she likes the jellyfish and the sea ray, which we see last. In between is just murky gray, I guess. She definitely suggested that she wanted to ride the train, so we bought her a ticket and dad threw her on there. She lasted maybe 1.5 seconds...and here she is coming off the train. We'll try again next time!


Puddles remain a priceless pastime. She would never come out if it were up to her.



I couldn't resist celebrating someone's birthday in the summer!!! So we celebrated a half birthday, 1.5, with Grandma & Grandpa Freund and the Great Grandmas too! It was a great excuse to get together and to eat ice cream cake! Yummy!



Grandpa won the favorite person award of the evening. We have many more pictures, but here's a few for fun. Happy Summer, Everyone!!

Summer is Here!!

Lucy's first parade!



Lucy and her neighbor friend, CJ.




Even bedtime is fun... Splits!!




Let's go swimming, already!!





Lucy spends much of her time at swim class outside of the pool.

I LOVE my sandbox!!

Thanks, daddy, (and grandpa, t00!) for building me a sandbox in my backyard! I love it! See??

Beauty & the Beast

Here's the Beauty part...



And then the beast!!

A Lucy Story

It was May 13th, about 5:30 pm, a sunny but cool evening... a Tuesday night. Dad is mowing the lawn, and Lucy and I head outside at Lucy's request. She always heads north, like a compass, directly to the dirt and gravel driveway that runs beside our property and eventually leads back to the wooded acres behind our lot. Her usual interest is the pile of rocks on the road. She just picks them up, moves them around, puts a few special ones in her hands, and moves on to the next pile.

This evening however, daddy, while riding on the tractor, points to the moon. Although it is still light and sunny, the white moon is beginning to rise and is very visible against the blue sky. Lucy knows the word moon from her book Goodnight Moon, so she catches on easily.

We walk away from the gravel path and the trees to the middle of our yard and I ask Lucy, "Where is the sky?"

She points up and replies "There?" Still at 16 months old, her statements always sound like soft questions.

I ask, "Do you see the moon? There's the moon, in the sky."

"Moon?"

"Yes. Where's the moon?"

"There? Moon?" Lucy says, as she points to the moon.

"Yea. That's the moon." A few seconds pass, and Lucy looks up at me.

"Climb?" she sings. She is looking at me , but still pointing up.

"Climb!? You want to climb to the moon?"

"O.K.," she replies breathlessly, quickly, and with determination. She is now looking down at her feet, trying to extend one foot high and far enough to start her ascent to the moon.

I hesitate to reply, "Baby, we can't climb to the moon. Im sorry." And I really am.

Her eyes seem to catalog each of my words, and I can tell my statement makes perfect sense to her. She replied in a louder, higher whine, "CLIMB???"

...Oh Lucy. If I could help you climb to the moon, I hope you know, I would certainly do it.

Springtime

Hello everyone! I know it's been awhile since I've posted anything. We've just felt pretty busy, I guess. I have a few pictures of things we do these days... mostly outside fun, now that the weather has turned beautiful. Lucy will run to the door and say "outside?" in her best Canadian accent until we finally put her shoes on and take her out. She also asks for her "boy" coat, since it's dark blue, before heading outdoors. "Boy?" she says. I guess only Eric and I know what that means.


We got her a Radio Flyer wagon..and she loves it! We just pull her around and pick "lions," dandelions, for her to sniff and collect in her wagon along with rocks, another outdoor favorite. Dirt is a valuable commodity as well... We play in the flower beds for now (Eric is making her a sandbox soon!) and she'll use her "scoop" (shovel) and put the dirt in her bucket, then dump the bucket all over her legs and shoes and lap. She's an absolute dirty mess, but she will do it for 40 minutes if you let her!! She will constantly say "dirty" and "messy," but she doesn't mind it at all.



We're able to watch the horses, and Lucy will say "neigh!" when she sees them. We watch the birds "birdies?" and talk with them "tweet tweet!" And Lucy is the first to hear a school bus "school bus?" coming down the road, and she'll break into song "round and round"- since the wheels on the bus go round and round. She'll also exclaim "cycle?" long before we actually spot the motorcycle...but she can hear them coming!




Recently, her new trick is jumping...looks more like a little hurdle jump. It makes her so happy to show this one off. And my new favorite is she will blow lots of kisses and give lots of hugs. Not always to mom and dad, but definitely to her favorite toys or her friends at Dorothy's. The other day I saw her pick up a picture of Eric, give it a kiss, and put it back. It was adorable!



Hope everyone is doing well!!