Sleepy Ritual

Magic chair: If I don't pat Jack's leg or tummy, he lifts my hand and drops it on his leg to get me started.

Fan

Lucy's box fan has been part of her bedtime routine her whole life.

Tonight, it gave out.

I located and procured a replacement in less than ten minutes and when I got home, she was sitting up in her big-girl-bed with the sweetest look on her face. She said "Daddy! You found me a new fan! Thank you, thank you... It will help me sleep."

I sang ABCs and Hey Jude to her and helped her back into bed. She ran her thumb over my scruffy chin while I reviewed animal sounds for her.

"Goodnight Lucy. I'll see you when the sun comes up."

Sent from my iPhone

Winter PJ's in the Summer

I was cleaning out Lucy's closet to pull out clothes to pass on to
some friends. Lucy was determined to keep some of the clothes and put
them on herself. I couldn't convince her to take off the fleece pj's.
She wore them all morning.

Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head

Family Pic

Stuffed Shirt

After she falls asleep, we check on her to see if we need to adjust
her or the covers. We found her like this with Miss Bunny stuffed in
her shirt.

Family Picnic

Morning Friends

Lucy typically comes to our room holding Miss Bunny. This morning she
had her hands FULL. She had Smokey Bear, Bunny Bear (bear in bunny
outfit), Mickey Mouse, and both Miss Bunny and Miss Bunny's momma
tucked in her gown (notice they pop out at the top of her gown).

Resemblance

MeMa's Baby Picture

Hook 'em!

Lu: The apple slice is so white!
Me: Is it sweet?
Lu: Yes.
Me: Are you sweet?
Lu: Yes but you won't eat me up.
Me: No I wouldn't because you're my favorite little girl.
Lu: Yes, and you're the daddy to take me to the potty.

MeMa, PePa & the Kids on the 4th

Fourth of July!

PeaPaw: Lucy, you need some new shoes.

Lucy: [looks at her feet] Yep. But these'll do the twick.

Sent from my iPhone

Superdaddy danced all night with both kids (at once). They had a
blast. WannaBeatles are a big favorite of ours and we try to see them
every year. When we came home, we asked Lucy what her favorite song
was and she said Yellow Submarine. Of course, it's on a Wonder Pets
show, so she is somewhat influenced. Plus, her favorite color changes
from day to day. It was a great evening with friends too (the
Eischens). She and Michael got to run wild in their bare feet! What
could be more fun for a child?

Lucy slid a notecard into her dresser without opening the drawer. She said "Wook daddy! It's an special DEV-wer-ry (delivery) for mommy!"

Sent from my iPhone

If I put Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on, Jack talks to the screen nonstop through the intro & each song.

Sent from my iPhone

Lucy's asleep and Jack was shrieking so I shushed him. He shushed me back.

Sent from my iPhone

Spanish

Lucy: Jack is eating huevos, manzana and cheerios. Is he drinking
agua? I'm eating huevos, yogur and...
Me: jugo.
Lucy: manzana jugo.

I think this stuff is sinking in! Must speak it more fluently around
the house.

Independence or Just Particular

I was feeding Jack his waffle, giving him a bite to pick up from my
hand. This time he would take it from my hand and drop it on the
table so he could pick it up without my assistance. I don't remember
Lucy starting on waffles this early. Jack had two this morning.

Such a Poser

She loves sitting on large rocks. She's always asking to sit on the
large red balls out in front of Target. This was on our way to the pool.

Jack's Latest Tricks

He reaches for the security sticker on our front door and says "sticker!"

He reaches for the picture of a duck on his pool floaty and says "duck!"

He plays peekaboo and says... wait for it... "peekaboo!"

He leans in to pucker for a kiss.

Night Stalling

Lucy came to her bedroom door tonight and said "I have a boo boo on my foot. I need a band-aid and some goop." I obliged her with a Hello Kitty bandaid.

As I finished doctoring her tiny scratch, she asked me to hold her in the green chair and sing along with her Beatles lullaby cd. I obliged her by singing Michelle My Belle.

I carried her to bed and she asked me what the next song was. She cradled my face in her hands as I sang it to her:

To lead a better life I need my love to be here...

Here, making each day of the year
Changing my life with a wave of her hand...

She said "Daddy, those are MY hands!"

"Yes, Lucy, and they changed my life."

"I love you Daddy. I love you so much!"

"I love you too. I had such a good day with you today and tomorrow is going to be super! We're going to clean clean clean and plan plan plan for Jack's birthday. Here's what we're going to do: I'm going to kiss your forehead and you're going to close your eyes really tight and talk to Bunny about plans for Jack's birthday."

"Okay Daddy!"

...

On my way out of the room, I overheard her telling Bunny, "Okay Bunny, we need to go to the store and buy some party hats and..."

Wrapping up the Night

Every now and then we let Lucy watch the Goodnight show on Sprout.
It's a great show to calm your child before bed and even sings a
goodnight song. Great transition for bed. Plus, she's getting special
privledges while Jack goes to bed first. Elevates her "big sister" role.

Jack Finishes his Sister's Sandwich

This dude could eat all day!

Kisses

Jack has learned to give kisses. It's the best!

WannaBeatles Concert

We took Lucy out to a nearby farm to watch our favorite Beatles tribute band. She danced with my friend's daughter and ate fresh kettle corn and danced some more. We let her run herself ragged in an open field. The WannaBeatles were so much fun when Lucy had just turned 1 year old, so any time we hear that they're playing nearby, we want to take her!

Playing Through the Door

Lucy is supposed to be on the potty, but she and Jack decided to play between the door.

Jack is Climbing!

As Lucy and I were playing in the kids room, Jack decided to climb on her bed. At first, I thought Lucy pushed him up there because Jack can't climb yet. After she said she didn't do it, I put him on the floor to see for myself. Now he's climbing the chair in the living room, toy boxes and attempting to climb the futon. He was so proud when he did it.

After a Full Afternoon

She was so tired after our trip to the pool & dinner.

My 3 Year Old is ready to Read!

I think lucy is really ready to read. He's sounding out words on her
own. Tonight she sounded out SALAD. Later tonight, this was our dinner conversation:

L-U-C-Y

L is for Lick
U is for up
C is for cold
Y is for yawn

Balloon Animal

After a full day, which included swimming, we ended it with dinner at
Chick-fil-A. They had music and balloon animals.

Magic Nose Goblins

So weeks ago Glen taught Lucy not to say boogers. How? He told her they were called Magic Nose Goblins (from Ren & Stimpy show). It was strange just now to hear Lucy call them that. She was so serious about it, too.

Off to Pinkerton Park

On Her Way to Reading / Memory Like a Trap

Lucy is really interested in sounding out words. Thanks to her early development of learning her ABC's, she's starting to make great connections with spelling words and sounding them out. I love her interest in reading.

Glen asked me to search through his iPhone for his friend Mike's phone number. Lucy chimed in from the back seat "Mike's a nice monster who saved the little girl." (Glen showed her bits and pieces of Monsters Inc. a few weeks ago, and it apparently made an impression.)

On another note, it's been fun seeing her understand Spanish words we have been speaking for some time now. Today she was waving at me and said "mano... that's my hand". I love her! She's our little sponge : )

Peekaboo!

The Zoo with Friends

Dinosaurs & Pirates

This morning, Lucy said "Mommy! Dinosaurs say 'rawrrr' and pirates say 'arrrrr!'"

Jack's First Swim

Lucy & Karleigh

Lucy & Karleigh Have Fun

Talking

I took Jack with me to get some groceries. The whole way there I heard him saying "DehDeh! (gigglegiggle!) DehDeh! (gigglegiggle!)"

Crafts Day

Mother's Day

Jack puckered his lips for a kiss.

Jack Has a Snack

Our son doesn't like to use his hands when he can just use his mouth.

Diggin' for Toys

Notice that his feet are no longer touching the ground.

Humidity vs Jack

Looks like the humidity from all this flooding is affecting Jack's hair.

Potty Training Reward

For about three weeks Glen told Lucy that if she filled a poster board of stickers for each time she went to the potty, he would buy her a violin. This was the big reveal... her reward.

Lucy is being taught how to care for her violin.