Things that make me happy

So I've been saving up pictures of a few things that make me happy (aside from my wonderful family and friends, of course). Who knows, maybe this will be an ongoing blog series!

I've started painting a bit again. This is quite different from what most of you probably think of painting- I use kid paint, big brushes, and large pieces of paper (the one below is abt 3 feet tall by 5 feet wide). I just love mixing the different colors.


I've been taking the commuter rail into work 1 day a week. Each time I ride, the conducter punches a hole in the 12-ride pass. Apparently each conducter has a different hole punch, and I love seeing what the newest one is.

And finally, my Whole Foods recyclable bags. I used to feel awful about how many plastic bags we used shopping, and then they'd overflow in our closet. So I finally went out and bought a whole bunch of recyclable bags. They're so pretty and environmentally friendly, and I feel so happy to not be wasting plastic bags.

Feast

Happy Thanksgiving, faithful blog readers!


Now that we've all enjoyed the traditional culinary banquet, here is a feast of Lucy pix and videos, starting with a few pictures from our trip to Philly earlier in November.

Our little mountain goat. She climbed up onto the suitcase but couldn't get back down.

Like father, like daughter.

Having fun at the hotel. As I recall, we were rocking out singing ABBA's "Super Trooper" at this point.Another picture of our smiley one.
And just so you see that she does have other expressions...

She's quite an eager crawler these days, and can really pick up speed.

We noticed that whenever we brushed our teeth Lucy would climb over and pull up on us, trying to get the toothbrush. So I got her a little toothbrush, which she loves. As soon as we give it to her she puts it right in her mouth and chomps away.

I love this sweater my mom got for Lucy.

And now here are a few videos. Sometimes Lucy has fun making different noises- one of her favorites is the raspberry, which she'll do for a long time, as you can see in this one.

Lucy also plays her version of soccer, pushing something ahead of her and then chasing after it (in this case, a tupperware).

Just this past week Lucy has started climbing stairs (with our close supervision, of course). She also has become even more talkative- lots of "ba, ba, ba's" and "da, da, da's".

Keeping up with Lucy

At least, that's what we've been trying to do, now that she's crawling (or should I say, speeding) around. She can move at quite a good clip, and is keeping us on her toes. She is also now loves pulling herself up onto her knees and feet using any available furniture or surface. I captured one of her first attempts a few weeks ago.

She's much more adept now, and is quite good at balancing and even leaning over to try and touch the floor. She hasn't quite mastered the sitting back down part, though.

Many more pictures to come, once I get them off my camera, including some fun shots from our hotel room in Philly (we were there the week before last for my work conference).

Our little one

I thought I'd make up for the paucity (go vocab) of pictures of Lucy in that last post. It feels like she's starting to change from a baby into more of a little person. She can do all these real person things now, like sitting up on her own and eating cheerios. She is also crawling for real on hands and knees, pulling up so she's kneeling, and most recently saying "Ma, ma, ma" and also clicking her tongue on the roof of her mouth. It's so fun to see her growing and developing!

Lucy really likes going grocery shopping with me- so much to look at, and lots of people to smile at. She seems to enjoy sitting in the front of the cart too, though she often turns around to see where we're going.

We visited our good friends Laura and Michael recently, and had a wonderful dinner and grown-up socializing time after the kids were in bed. Their younger daughter, Naomi, is about 3 months older than Lucy- Lucy was fascinated with her.


Our little crawler.

I couldn't resist this picture of Lucy in her snowsuit. She reminds me of Maggie from the Simpsons in it.

And here's Lucy in her footsie pajamas with her Papa. Matt and I both feel so blessed to have Lucy in our lives- she is such a joy and a delight.

Trees

So trees are already really beautiful in their normal greens and browns (think light shimmering through lush leaves or stark branches against a night sky). But then twice a year they throw a lavish ball and put on extravagant crimson-orange satin gowns (or pale pink and lilac taffeta ones in the spring). Each time it catches me by surprise. I'll be driving down a road and suddenly realize- there's a feast of colors out there, and it just happened, without anyone doing anything. And I get to enjoy it. Trees are like fruit that way- easy, natural bundles of beautiful goodness. Praise God for colors and his creation!

Speaking of which, here's the view from our back deck. We love our view, and the smell of the woods.

A few weekends ago we went for a hike with a friend around Walden Pond- a beautiful day, and the trees were- well, you'll see.

Puddle pictures.
And for the finale, red, yellow and green fireworks!

A few weeks in pictures

Here's a catch-up post, with some pictures from the last few weeks. Lucy has been moving around a lot, and sometimes gets wedged in places.



My mom is so great with Lucy- she has an amazing talent for making her laugh and guffaw, and they seemed to have a fun time together.



Lucy hardly ever cuddles, except when she's tired or hungry (or both, as in the picture below).

Our little munchkin.

An early reader. :)

"Mama, I'm not so sure I agree with what they're saying about post-modern theoretical discourse in the face of the changing politicial-economic climate."

4 generations together!

There's a beautiful wooded street near where we live- it's a dead end and loops at the end. Lucy and I like to go walking there.

There's even a bridge where you can play pooh sticks!


Lucy loves playing with stacking cups- one of her favorite toys. She'll bang them against each other and then when one rolls away, will go scooching after it. You can also see her two bottom teeth in the picture below. Speaking of which- Lucy has two more teeth coming in on the top! We just discovered them earlier this week.

And another exciting development- as of this past week, Lucy has finally decided to start eating solids. She really enjoyed munching/gumming on some dried apricots (pictured below). And then has gone on to applesauce, sweet potatoes, a bit of a whole wheat bagel, banana pieces, and cheerios! Hooray for our big eater.

Way behind

That describes how I'm feeling about most everything in life right now- unpacking, keeping in touch with friends, journaling...and blogging! Sorry loyal readers for keeping you hanging for so long. We're still trying to get unpacked, which doesn't happen quickly when you're working/taking classes and hanging out with a delightfully fun and active 8-month old. We're all loving our new place, though- especially the room to walk/crawl around, and the forest right out back. There's also a street nearby where we go walking- it has beautiful houses and woods on either side.

This post isn't going to be that long (I'll try to post some pictures soon!), but in the meantime here's a video of Lucy "commando scooching" as we call it.

Lucy's the only one in our family who doesn't seem to be feeling stressed or overwhelmed- ah to be a carefree baby.