Fun in the sun

We've been having a really fun time with my parents. Lucy took to Mimi and Papa Jack right away. Highlights so far include: a tea party with my dad, giggle-fests with my mom (she can just look at Lucy and make her laugh), swimming at Walden Pond (Lucy loves going in up to her neck, as well as walking on her hands in the shallows) riding Swan Boats and bird chasing at Boston Gardens, my mom and I visiting the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum, and more. We've also had some nice dinners and movie-watching after Lucy's in bed.

At long last, here are our pictures from our visit with Matt's mom.

Lucy and me on the flight. She did great both ways, making friends with everyone in the aisles and sitting relatively still, for an 18-month old.


Judy was so excited to have her grand-baby there. "Grandma" is a bit tough for Lucy at this point, so she called her "ee-oh" (apparently the vowels in Judy reversed).

Judy had a bunch of fun toys for Lucy, including a little beach chair!

Lucy putting her doll to sleep in her new doll bed.

Lucy loved playing play-dough with Grandma.

Lucy also enjoyed the wading pool. She has become quite the water-scientist, pouring water back and forth between cups.

Lucy also loved the big pool. She was a bit skeptical about it at first, but after a day or two loved jumping into our arms and swimming around with us.

Mr. Octapus (Lucy called him "tapuss").

Lucy in her floatie.
Judy and Matt enjoying the water.

Judy helped Lucy start the practice of saving (you can also see her pigtails in the picture).

Lucy enjoying a horse-ride at Chuck E Cheese.

We had brunch with some of my dad's cousins and their sons who live in the area at Mimi's Cafe. It was so nice to connect with family. And we loved the name of the cafe, of course!

Judy and Lucy enjoying an afternoon at the splash park.

Matt's brother, Todd, and his girlfriend Terri. We had a few fun dinners with them- they were so sweet with Lucy.

Lucy learned "cheers" and wanted to do it over and over.
Ready for a safari.Hiking at a state park.

Back at home, with our swimming buddy Skyler.

And riding high on Papa's shoulders.

Lucy in action

We're back from our vacation with Matt's mom out west. We had a wonderfully relaxing 10 days away. Judy was a wonderful hostess, making us feel very much at home. She watched Lucy some mornings so that Matt and I could enjoy some time at a local coffeeshop. That was such a treat! We also got to see a few movies- Matt and I saw the new Harry Potter, and Judy and I saw Julie/Julia, which was really fun, and has inspired me to try cooking some of Julia Child's recipes.

Lucy was quite the water-baby in the big pool ("bihhh!" as she says), and also a water-scientist, fascinated by pouring water from cup to cup in the wading pool. She had a great time playing play-dough with her Grandma Judy, as well as trying on her shoes and helping Grandma put her hair in curlers.

I'll post pictures from our trip soon, but thought I'd post these 2 videos for now since I've haven't done videos in awhile. The first is from before we left- one of Lucy's favorite things to do these days.

Lucy has started a new kind of pretend-talking recently. I find it so endearing.

Blueberries, Books and Beaches...

...these are a few of Lucy's favorite things. The rain finally stopped in mid-July, and since then we've gone on some great outings.

First, my favorite recent picture of Lucy- isn't she lovely?



You'll notice a theme to this next set of pictures. Lucy is taking after her parents...

She really does love reading books. When she's left to herself it's often the first thing she plays with.

Lucy has been getting in touch with her inner mountain climber. The first time she did this I didn't realize it until she was up to the 3rd or 4th step!

We've been going to Walden Pond at least once or twice a week, now that the weather is better. Lucy loves the "bee!" as she calls it (beach), and can't get enough of digging in the sand and splashing in the water.

We had a wonderful family trip to Portsmouth a few weeks ago. I hadn't been there in a few years, and it was so nice to be back. We had a delightful picnic lunch, and Lucy had a great time watching the boats come and go, saying "bye!" as they headed away.

We found a little chair that I had when I was little and have set it up with a piano bench. Lucy loves reading books or doing puzzles at her little table.

Lucy and I went blueberry picking with my grandmother, aunt and some cousins recently. The weather was a bit cool, but we got a nice crop of blueberries. Lucy perfectly re-enacted the book Blueberries for Sal: the first few berries she picked made it into her pail, but after that they all went straight into her mouth. Grandma joked that we should have weighed Lucy before and after our trip, just like we did for our pails.

My cousins were great with Lucy, showing her how to pick only the blue ones.

Here's the whole crew.And our berries!

And a final family picture- this is from the birthday party for one of our friends' son, which included a hayride.

Potpourri Post

Here are a few random photos from the last few weeks.

Lucy helped me make muffins recently- she did a great job dumping the ingredients in and then helping me stir. And it even mostly stayed in the bowl!

Lucy's been really into our cell phones so we got her an Elmo one. She knew just what to do with it, putting it up to her ear and saying "Ai!" She's also very quickly caught on to multi-tasking while on the phone.

Another happy cottage cheese eating picture.

And having a blast with a balloon and Papa.

The Littleton Whirlwind

Here's a belated post about our visit with Caitlin and John and Sam and baby #2. Sam and Lucy had both changed a lot in 2 months, and got along a lot better. Lucy actually enjoyed Sam's hugs and kisses instead of pushing him away, and they exhibited some healthy "parallel play", as shown in the picture below.

Playing with a book (it later made it onto Lucy's head).

Sam showing where Lucy's belly button is (which Lucy calls, "Beh-buh").

My parents treated the 4 of us to a fantastic dinner at a local gourmet restaurant. Every dish was amazing, and it was so nice to spend some relaxing time together. Here we are outside the restaurant.

And then savoring our after-dinner drinks and creme brulee (Cait left a few minutes early to put Sam to bed).

Another night we stayed up late playing Puerto Rico, one of our favorite board games.

There was a big family gathering at the beginning of the week- the rain let up so that the cousins could all enjoy playing outside.

Sammer.
Lucy lamb.

Sam about to strike.

Lucy trying out the "I'll offer you the ball and then take it away at the last minute" game.

I always love hanging out with my sister. We can't wait to meet the new little guy soon!