project lucy—month 9

9 month stats for bitty bean: 14lbs 15oz (5.4%) and 26.75in (18.02%)

lucy, despite her bitty stature is shaping up to be just as big a personality as her big brother. bullet points for the little miss at 9 months:

• eats like cah-razy. seriously. even our daycare provider has commented on her ability to pack it in. and she is still eating anything and everything. each day is a taste adventure, and she is totally in. she has had guac and beans from chipotle, and decided they were awesome (we train early). i'm amazed at what she can manage with her one, lonely, little tooth.
• and speaking of eating, she has discovered how to stuff her own face in the last week or so. her favorite finger foods are cheerios, bread, pieces of waffle, cinnamon teddy grahams, and pieces of pear.
• she has discovered that she can scoot around on her bottom on the hardwood and linoleum floors by pushing with her hands or grabbing onto things and pulling, so she's slightly more mobile these days. i am trying to curb her enthusiasm for harassing the plants. she has also tried pulling up to stand using the coffee (and ended up bonking her head, silly little bear).
• she still loves to be sung to, and will do some of the motions to itsy-bitsy spider on occassion (see above photo).
• she's a hot sleeper. she wakes from naps with a sweaty little head, my "sweaty spaghetti".
• is just getting over her first bout of croup, which has left us all a little more sleep deprived than normal (except for sam, who is as rambunctious as ever).
• does a lot of talking and makes lots of sounds. we frequently hear "dada", "mama", "buhbuh", "goodgood", and something that sounds a lot like sam's rocket noise (she likes to use this noise when flying transformers around, or just about any other toy).
• lucy also can wave hi and bye, though she rarely does it on command. she usually reserves this skill for sammy, daddy, her mirror friend, and occasionally grandparents. smiles are also a little bit reserved, but she passes out curious glances by the ton (lots of people comment on her "big eyes" as she examines the world around her).

lucy is such a wonderful, curious, cheerful little person. a little sunshine in a rosy-cheeked package!

project lucy—month 8

this is lucy at eight months old. she's quite the awesome little person (despite the fact that she's a lousy sleeper). there haven't been big, monumental changes since my last update (probably because i waited so long to do her seven month post), but she's definitely keeping us busy (at three o'clock in the morning, no less).

i'm constantly marveling at the differences between sam and lucy (well, not in the looks department, of course). at eight months sam was all over the place crawling and cruising around the furniture. for the most part, lucy is fairly content to stay where she's put. i tried getting her down on all fours the other day, but despite the fact that she rocked back and forth, she was not happy about that situation. at eight months sam had at least four teeth, but lucy has only sprouted one so far (and even that one is taking it's time poking it's way up). she's also not exactly huge in the size department and can easily fit into 3–6 month onesies (depending on how stuffed her diaper is). i think lucy is just interested in doing things in her own time. i keep telling her that it's okay to not grow up too quickly, i really don't mind.

first tooth!

lucy's first tooth is finally sprouting! after months of anticipation i can finally see (and feel) the little white ridges on her little gums. one little tooth is poking through, and if i hadn't randomly stuck my finger in her mouth to feel about, i would have been none the wiser (ie there hasn't been any extra fussing on its account). there has been, however, a new sound effect today which is somewhere between a kissing and popping noise. I tried to get video but she keeps stopping each time i try. figures, eh?

project lucy—month 7

at seven months old lucy can now sit confidently and is making attempts to try to scoot or crawl (mostly ending up with her face-first or falling over on the floor). she will happily sit and play on her own for 20 minutes at a time (or until she decides to make an unsuccessful attempt at an escape). she still has no interest in being on her tummy, so the occasional flops onto her belly leave her rather upset, and she will do her best to roll over asap.
her favorite toy is her xylophone, though she is also highly entertained by rattles and trucks, but watching sam turn on his silly makes her smile and laugh more than any toy can. she is still tasting everything, and typically has a plethora of chew toys (or a star wars action figure) at her disposal . 
she is definitely a fan of music and likes being sung to (particularly at diaper change times when she needs a bit of distraction). she's also very talkative and will babble loudly (often in church).
she is still eating everything she can wrap her little toothless mouth around, so figuring out what her favorite food is is basically impossible. so far she has tried: pears, peaches, apples, prunes, bananas, avocados, squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, peas, black beans, red beans, green beans, yogurt, lentils, cheerios and oatmeal. if only she could get beyond the spitting up. i'm still waiting hopefully for the end of that phase.
she likes being read to, and playing with her friend in the mirror. yesterday we read a book with little mirrors in it, and each time i turned the page, she leaned forward toward the mirror and put her mouth on it, and then sat back up. i think she was giving the cute baby kisses. it was adorable.
she still doesn't sleep through the night, but she does spend several hours a night in her own bed. our pre-bedtime snuggles is one of my favorite parts of the day, so i usually hold and feed her until she drops off to sleep and then put her down. i suppose i could sleep train her and let her cry, but i figure she's going to be too old for snuggles soon, and i'd much rather enjoy this time with her instead.
lucy is extremely curious and enjoys being part of the action. i think this is one of her main obstacles to sleeping, as she doesn't really want to miss anything. her best naps happen when she's riding around in the ergo, and i'm fine with that, since having her near makes me just about as happy as can be.

project lucy—month 6

6 month old lucy is focused on two things: sitting and eating. at 6 months lucy is just starting to really work on sitting on her own. she enjoys being plopped down in the middle of a pile of toys (with the boppy around her for when she eventually falls over) and spending some quality time tasting them all.
and speaking of tasting, lucy is taking to solids like a duck to water. despite the fact that she still has no teeth, lucy is becoming quite a good little eater, and enjoys everything that's put in her adorable, little mouth.
stats: weight 13lbs 4oz (5.84%), height 25.75 (45.54%)

project sam—4 years old

i know this post comes a bit late, but it seems to me that "better late than never" is a good motto to go by. in any case, here are some bullet points for sam now that he's had four whole years of awesomeness:

• star wars is still VERY important. a day without star wars is a day that has not been lived to it's full potential.
• angry birds (and angry birds—star wars) are also key in a life worth living. and if he can manage to convince us that he deserves to use the ipad, then he is one happy fellow. also, he cannot be trusted to not explore via the ipad (this boy is a clicking maniac), so he needs to be watched like a hawk
• he has opened his own diner (with his sister as sous chef). it's a great place to grab a slice of pizza and an ice cream cone. he also makes a mean grilled cheese, and lots of interesting salads.
• he is not above playing with trains and cars still. this sometimes surprises me. i thought perhaps he'd outgrown that phase, but every once in a while it shows up with a vengeance.
• he's great at sharing toys with his sister (provided she doesn't put them in her mouth). 
• he still gets frustrated when he thinks he ought to be able to do something and can't. this includes playing lego games on the playstation as well as daddy does. i keep telling him daddy has had lots of practice (LOTS and LOTS of practice). he will be way too good at it before long.
• he has learned how to work the vcr, including what channel to put the tv on and enjoys picking out features to watch (particularly baby einstein and yellow submarine). he still hasn't mastered the idea of having to be patient while a video tape rewinds (he is the child of a dvd/netflix age).
• he likes to bake with mommy.
• despite the fact that he can dress himself perfectly well on his own, he enjoys having someone dress him (which basically means being in the room while he dresses himself).
• if you can survive all the lightsabering, bad-guy shooting, and general boyishness, he's a really sweet kid.
• he is learning how to sound out words. he calls it spelling. he gets super excited when daddy leaves new words for him to sound out on his little white board.
• is really starting to be interested in swimming. he can touch in most parts of the indoor pool at the gym, and enjoys jumping in and putting his face under the water. for a while it was a trauma to get his whole head wet, but not anymore! he has also starting practicing his kicking and moving his arms (not exactly successfully, but he's finally making the effort).

every day with sam is a great adventure, and i'm sure this year is going to be chock-full of new accomplishments!

the stats: weight 35lbs, 7oz (50.28%) and height 39.5" (37.62%)

two videos

because i just figured out how to get them off my phone. and because my kids are cute.