project sam—kindergarten!

sam and his plastic "i know you want me to smile and look 'normal'" smile (also our nice, new fence and awful weeds)

the real sam

sam and his good buddy remond | sam and his teacher, mrs. smith (you can tell who he was most excited to see)

sam started his first day of kindergarten today! it was just a half day (we don't start in to full days until after the labor day holiday—they like to ease the kids in), but sam was so ready. while other kids were clinging onto parents for dear life or shedding tears, i asked sam if he wanted me to stand in line with him and his response was "no. i'm okay with my friends." that's my sam.

at noon, we picked him up and heard that he had lost another tooth while he was there, and several classmates commented about the fact that he got a tiny "tooth box" to keep his tooth in. it was a very exciting day. sam's report: "it was good."

sam and his tiny "tooth box"

in honor of sam heading off to his first day of kindergarten, i made him a little sign (full disclosure: i saw one like this on pinterest, but i like a diy, so...). too bad he probably can't read all of this yet. he's getting dangerously close to being able to, though. he's about to break the "let's spell whatever it is so he won't know what we're talking about code (dang!) he already figured out "i c e c r e a m", and "d e s s e r t". (actually, even lucy knows what "d e s s e r t" is at this point. if it's mentioned, she will ask for "drt".)

anywho, in case you need a reminder/motivator for your mornings, you can get a pdf here to print out one of your own.

pooh boots, for posterity

the lucy project—lucy @ 2

for the past month or so i've been thinking about the post i wrote about sam when he was two, and the list of all the fun, quirky things that he was doing at that age. i've been thinking that i wanted to do the same for lucy, but every time i sat down to the computer, i just didn't know how to put lucy into words. or maybe it was that there just seemed to be a lot of words, because even though lu is a small person, she's got a lot of personality, and trying to cram all that into one list felt like trying to cram a whale into a tin can (not easy). however, i've decided to make an attempt, if only because not making an attempt means that i'd have nothing to reminisce over later on.

things i want to remember about lucy at two:

- the sparkly shoes. the red sparkly shoes that came from cousin alice are the footwear of choice these days and are definitely a hallmark of lucy's style. sometimes she adds a hat (sometimes daddy's so she can be "tiny daddy", sometimes mommy's, sometimes the felt bucket that she refers to as the "toothpaste hat"), or her pink blanket (if she's a "cold princess"), and frequently there are sunglasses involved, but mostly it's all about the shoes. and they are so VERY important. also adding to the girly factor, her favorite color is pink. if we can't find the "happy airplane" shirt, the "daddy angel" onesie, a buckeye shirt, or the darth vader tee, i better be able to dig up something pink, otherwise "naked" will be the outfit of the day.

- the puzzles. we are puzzled daily. she's very fond of one or two in particular, and as soon as she gets the last piece in we have to break it apart so we can do it again (and again, and again). my favorite part is the "ta-da!" at the end.

- speaking of ta-da's, there are lots of words. i'd do a count of her vocabulary, but there are really too many to keep track of. several people have commented on her verbal-ness, but considering the company she keeps (sam), it's no wonder that she's got a lot to say. also, one does not get the nickname "tiny tyrant" without being able to instruct her subjects about what they should (or shouldn't) be doing. the girl knows what she wants, and for better or worse, she will let you know what that is.

- that when lucy plays with action figures, everyone gives hugs and kisses. sure, they also knock each other down (they ARE action figures), but it's also likely that there will be a few hugs and kisses thrown in, and it makes me smile every time i see the riddler or doctor doom giving robin a nice wet one. i don't know if it's a "girl" thing or a lucy thing, but there is a lot of lovin' to be had with this little lady.

- that funny thing where she puts rubber bands on her hands and calls them lucy duck and sammy duck (and she's very specific which one is lucy and which is sammy, i tried mixing them up and was sternly corrected). then i have to be mommy and daddy ducks with my hands.

- that she likes to draw people. her people have heads, eyes, mouths, legs (she often calls them "foots"), and usually one arm, and hair. sometimes you can even tell what she's been drawing. i am also instructed regularly to draw family portraits. most recently it was a family portrait of everyone as turtles.

- that she is determined. lucy likes to do things on her own and in her own way. when she got her doll and pink stroller at oglegay, she declared that she was going to walk from our cabin to the playground (which was a walk that i couldn't get sam to do without complains), and darned if she didn't walk all the way there, pushing the little stroller, by herself. 

- lucy is all about the do-it-yourself attitude. she handles a spoon and fork almost as well as sam (sometimes better), and is very close to being able to dress herself (possibly with everything being backwards). she prefers to brush her own teeth (but we force her to get help anyway), and she has figured out how to go up and down the stairs standing up (which occasionally freaks me out). she can definitely do enough climbing to get herself into trouble if not watched, and i have to keep an eye on her at the playground, lest she get in over her head.

- like sam, lucy loves to sing and dance. favorite songs include, "elmo ducks", "man sing", itsy-bitsy spider, baa baa black sheep (sometimes "baa baa pink sheep"), twinkle twinkle little star, and the voltron theme song. i'm sure there are others, including those she makes up on her own.

- she has taken to building cities and playgrounds with wood blocks and sometimes make spaceships with legos that she will zoom around. when she does, i definitely feel like i've been here before. i do believe the ends of her jump rope were rockets this morning.

all in all, lucy is about as awesome as can be. she may be little, but she's definitely a force to be reckoned with. happy second birthday, little lu. you are a precious, precocious, little bear and i love you so!

lucy's stats at two:

height - 34.25 inches (59th percentile)

weight - 21.06lbs (below 3rd percentile)