The woodland creatures are no longer safe

So for most of Lucy's short life, her times on the changing table were pleasant and calm idles (she's always loved having her diaper changed), when she would flail her limbs gently and gaze up at the Winnie the Pooh mobile hanging overhead. At some point she started trying to touch the animals, but had so little control over her limbs that they just moved in the general direction of the creatures only to go somewhere else. Lucy eventually grew more adept at controlling her limbs, and could reach out to bat them, though most of the time she would miss. Then in these last weeks she has gotten really good at holding onto things and putting them in her mouth- blankets, shopping lists, my hair, washcloths. Still, the mobile was just a bit out of reach and usually turned peacefully in its little circle.

That was until this past week, when it became very clear to the Hundred-Acre-Woods critters that they were no longer safe. One morning, Lucy reached out and grabbed Eeyore down so she could suck on him, causing the whole contraption to shake and twist violently. Since then she's also gotten Pooh Bear a few times, and I'm sure Piglet is a little nervous that he'll be next. When she's not grabbing them down, she will sometimes hold her hand out steadily, her fingers just brushing the feet of the animals. She also talks to them, staring with great concentration at their little faces.

We're amazed at how much Lucy is growing- sometimes she wakes up in the morning and seems like a whole new baby! She is such a delight and is getting cuter every day. We'll try to post some pictures and another video soon, though my mom is visiting this next week so it may not be for a few days.

In Lucy news

Are you ready for the big (somewhat belated) news? Drumroll.....Lucy rolled over for the first time! It was the Saturday of memorial day weekend, and she rolled over 3 times from her tummy to her back. Since then she's rolled over a few more times (including once from her back to her tummy on a slightly inclined bed). We don't want to be too accomplishment-focused, but it's so fun to see her growing and developing.

She's getting more and more vocal. Sometimes now she just goes "ahhh" for a long time, as if she's testing out her vocal chords. She's also much happier with life in general, and doesn't fight sleep so much. She's a great sleeper- sleeps from about 8:30-6:30, just getting up once to eat.

Here she is in a onesie Matt's cousin Sarah gave her.

Lucy always enjoys going for walks, as do I. I'm so thankful that the weather is nicer now. Walking with Lucy is a bit like being a movie star (as I imagine it). Heads turn, people stare, everyone wants to talk with her (at least we don't have to battle paparazzi). It's fun how she brightens the days of people we see just by being who she is.

My grandparents have been coming to watch Lucy once a week while I work. We love seeing them, and are so glad Lucy is getting to know them from an early age. Here she is with my grandma.

A walk in the woods

Lucy went on her first hike over memorial day weekend. We headed to the trails by Walden pond with our good friends Susan and Brian on a beautiful summer day. Lucy seemed to really enjoy the hike- we were out there for at least 3 hours or so and she didn't fuss at all, just kept looking around and taking everything in. Here she is with Brian.


Our "chirpie birdie" as I call her. The group of us, about to head up a Steep (with a capital S) hill.

It was so green and lush- I love the New England woods. We got lost a few times (where are those breadcrumbs when you need them!?!) so our hike was extra long, but it was great exercise and so wonderful to be outdoors.

College reunion plus 5 little ones!

So it's been a bit longer than a few days since the last post. Life with an almost 4 month old, what can I say?

Back to two weekends ago. The fun started Friday night with dinner with friends from college. Matt and Tara were in town for a wedding, and Michael and Laura graciously hosted us all at their place (3 couples and 5 kids between us!). We had a really wonderful time together- it's always a delight to be with old friends (Matt, Tara, Laura and I all went to college together).

Matt with his son Emmett and Michael with his daughter Naomi.


Irene (Matt and Tara's daughter) in the front and Sabrina (Michael and Laura's daughter) in back. The girls got along well, and had fun dancing together later in the evening.
Emmett showing Lucy how to play with the block.
Our family.
Matt, Tara, Irene and Emmett.
Sadly we didn't get a family photo of Laura and Michael, as they were being awesome hosts and getting dinner ready!
The next day a friend from our small group came over for lunch and helped with stuff around the house (such a blessing!), and then we had dinner with other good friends from our small group. On Sunday we had a super fun and relaxing picnic with dear friends in Brookline, and then on Monday we went hiking in Walden Pond, which brings us to our next post...

Giggling!

Lucy has been smiling and laughing a lot more of late. Sometimes she looks up at me while I'm eating and laughs- apparently it looks pretty funny. We managed to catch a bit of her giggling on camera- enjoy!

More to come on our fabulous, friend-filled memorial day weekend in the next few days...

Lilac Sunday

A belated happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there! It was really special to celebrate my first one with Matt and Lucy. We started with a delicious brunch cooked by Matt- homemade Egg McMuffins, tater tots and fresh asparagus from Grandma's garden. Yum!

Then we took the train to the Arboretum for Lilac Sunday. They have something like 40+ varieties of lilacs, and most hit their peak right around Mother's Day. The festival has been going on for 100 years. It was such a delight to smell and see the beautiful flowers and to be outside on such a beautiful day. We had really missed being in nature, and enjoyed giving Lucy her first taste of it.

This past week Lucy has really gotten into sucking on all available fabrics. She likes that much more than sucking on a pacifier. Here she is with her little lamb blanket/friend.

She has also started blowing bubbles and making raspberry noises, and being a lot more vocal. It is SO cute to hear her venturing into the domain of language.

In bottle news, Lucy drank about 1 ounce this past Wednesday when I was away. Hooray! Hopefully this is a foretaste of things to come.

Let there be laughter

Breaking news: Matt and I were taking a walk with Lucy on Monday afternoon and we heard a radio on loud outside, playing "Just a Gigalo". I commenced to dance (how can you not when that song is playing) and sing in front of Lucy while Matt danced with her too. Lucy started smiling (like in the picture above with my sister) and then started laughing, a real chortling belly laugh. It was the most beautiful sound. And then we danced some more and she laughed again. It just totally made our day!

Now onto pictures. Above is Lucy with my sister, who has an endless capacity to delight Lucy for long periods of time.

Lucy and I out on the town in Morocco.

Mom and dad (aka Mimi and Papa Jack) with Lucy and Sam.

Caitlin and John are a wonderfully adoring aunt and uncle.

Sam and Dad playing with the Cheerio book. Sam is so super cute- these pictures hardly do him justice (no pun intended). You can check out more on my sister's blog (linked from ours).

And now onto the Lucy photo gallery.

A picture of our little gnome.

Gerber baby and daisy.

I love these overalls!Flying babeeeee!She's such a cute little tyke and we love her so much. This last picture shows one of her favorite positions. She loves standing up- I think so that she can look around and see more.

Here's a longish video that shows her smiling a few times. She's a bit groggy as she had just woken up.