Happy Birthday to Lucy!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LUCY!

Yesterday was my baby girl's one-year birthday! It is amazing how quickly this year has gone by. It feels like just yesterday that this was our family portrait:

Now, one year later, this is it:


Lucy started out her big day with a great surprise...a lamby saying good morning to her when she woke up! She was very excited, pointing at the lamby and exclaiming "da!" (she calls everything "da.") Here are some pictures with her new friend:

Showing the lamby some love...this is sooooo cute, when she puts her little head down on something to show it affection.

Wow, it's a chair -- cool!

After refusing to take a morning nap ("No way, Mommy! I am not going to miss my birthday!), we headed to the New England Aquarium. Thankfully, she did snooze a bit in the car on the way there. We had so much fun looking at the penguins and the fishies!

Wow, there are penguins on the other side of the glass!

Touching a starfish

Another family portrait

We then stopped by a nearby Starbuck's where Auntie Laura met us to say Happy Birthday!

When we got home, she played with some balloons...

...and then Dylan came over with his mommy Naomi to have a little pizza party!

Lucy got to have a mini cupcake...her first real taste of sugar! She mostly just played with it and a lot of it ended up on the floor.

Today we had a little tea party at home with Lucy's grandparents (Nonna, Nonno, Grammy & Popi) as well as her Auntie Laura and Uncle J.R. It was a perfect little party -- not too big (we really wanted to avoid the huge first birthday party full of pandemoneom). We took LOTS of pictures...here are some of my favorites:

First trip to the dentist

We visited the dentist today for the first time. Lucy had a lot of fun looking at the fish tank in the waiting room, trying to climb into the chair on her own, and posing for pictures taken by her crazy Mommy.

Feeling groovy

Lucy is all better! Last week was rough, but as of yesterday morning she was 100% and we felt like we had the old Lucy back. She has had a good two days and is really excited for her trip to the Aquarium on Friday. Tomorrow is her first dentist appointment...wish us BOTH luck with that!

Tickling the ivories in her Patriots PJ's (GO PATS!!!)

I look just like my daddy...if my daddy wore a pink hoodie!

Roseola!

Lucy's illness turned out to be roseola...at least I am 99% certain that is what it is. It has been a fairly classic case -- a very high fever followed by a rash that starts as soon as the fever goes away. Thankfully, I caught the fever early on and medicated her so that it didn't shoot up too quickly. Apparently, febrile seizures can be a part of roseola if the fever gets too high too quickly. Other than the fever and rash, she had other typical symptoms as well -- extreme irritability, loss of appetite, puffy eyelids, etc. At least I know what has been making her so sick, and that it is temporary and not dangerous!

Here is a picture of her face today, where the rash spread. Poor baby! It is mostly gone now. She took two great naps today and had more food for dinner than she has had in a while, so I think she has finally recovered after a very long week. Just in time for her birthday next week!

She's still my baby

Lucy isn't feeling well today...she has a fever :( She has been very sad at times today because she feels so icky. So, she has spent a lot of her day cuddled up in the sling close to her Mama. It's pretty powerful medicine, if you ask me (well, along with Advil and Tylenol). I hate it when she is sick, of course, but days like this remind me that my "big girl" is still just a baby...and that to me, she always will be.

Happy Lucy

Here are two video clips of a very happy Lucy! In the first one she is grinning from ear to ear and breathing loudly, which means she is excited. In the second one she is giving her "doggy" hugs and kisses (she is so sweet!) and making her little squealy happy noise...music to my ears!

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Big girl in the car

Lucy is now 20 pounds and will be a year old in under two weeks, so we decided it was time for her to face forward in her car seat. I think she really liked it...we sure liked being able to look back at her smiling face! However, we think this new arrangement has made it more difficult for her to nap in the car (too much excitement, maybe) and so the afternoon nap we hoped she'd start in the car didn't really happen. As a matter of fact, no naps really happened today except for one 20-minute catnap...that hardly qualifies as a nap. I know that she'll transition to one nap a day (instead of two) sooner or later, which is fine, but NO naps a day is NOT fine! Of course, she ended up going to bed an hour early tonight. Our silly "big girl"!

Presenting the new Shirley Temple...

I can't believe she actually let me do this...probably because I let her chew on a curler. But look at the result...

The new Shirley Temple!!!
She actually looks quite silly but also very cute (of course). I am in LOVE with this picture because it is the first one in which I can really see what she will look like as a little girl. It also makes me sad because she is growing up so quickly...but isn't she pretty?
(click on the photo to see it larger)

Mini gym

Here are some pictures from the "mini gym" class that we took -- the session is over now, but Lucy really had fun so I think we'll sign up for another session soon. Or, we may try a music or sign language class. She's getting pretty good with her signs, so that may be what we do. It will help cut down on her shrieking if she can let us know what she wants with a sign...I hope so, anyway!

Happy New Year!

Lucy wore a very beautiful outfit last night for New Year's Eve. My boss and his wife bought it for her in Vietnam when I was still pregnant. They gave it to me soon after Lucy was born and I thought at the time that it looked so big that it would never fit her. Well, it just goes to show what a difference a year does make! It is still a bit roomy and fits her more like a long gown than a tunic, so I think she'll be able to wear it for another year or so still. She was especially excited to wear it in honor of her new great friend, another little Miss Lucy Elise who has just been adopted by her mommy & daddy in Vietnam. Lucy gives a shout out to Lucy today!!! She can't wait to meet you!! And happy 5-months!

After Lucy got all dressed up (including a snazzy new hair flower from Santa!), we went to a party at my boss's home, so I was really happy that she was wearing the outfit they gave her. She was quite a hit at the party, showing off her walking skills and making new friends. So many people told us how adorable they thought she was! She really did look especially cute in this outfit. We kept calling her the "little empress." Also, she was a really, really good girl at the party. Her behavior lately has been, well, less than stellar (lots of high-pitched screams when she doesn't get her way), so we were worried about how she would act. But she rose to the occasion and was a real charmer! We left the party just after 8pm and then she went right to bed when we got home. Jeff and I crashed fairly early, so we "missed" the New Year. Oh well, it was turning midnight somewhere (over the Atlantic, I suppose!) when we went to sleep.

Happy New Year to all...may it bring you much love, joy, growth, health, and PEACE.

Bah hum(stomach)bug

Here are some photos from Christmas...I was sick with a stomach bug from about 2pm on Christmas Eve until the 26th. So, basically, for the whole holiday! But Lucy seemed to have a great time, which is the most important thing. Plus, Christmas became the first day since Lucy was born that I changed zero diapers and got tons of rest. So, perhaps the sickness was a blessing in disguise...

Look what Santa brought for Lucy!

Lulu loves her new dog!

Kisses for Lucy!

Santa's elves must really like to make hair bows!

Mommy manages to smile, thanks to her Christmas girl!

Santa Claus!

What's that sound, Nonno? Who is coming??

Oh, it's Santa!!!

Lucy loves Santa

She is a very lucky girl to have her very own Santa Claus...

and Mrs. Claus is a lucky woman!

Bye, bye Santa! See you next year!

Some special ornaments

Here are some special ornaments from Lucy's very own little Christmas tree.

This is a Nativity scene inside what looks like a little egg. It was handmade in Peru. I bought it at a local store that supports fair trade. I plan to get Lucy a new Nativity ornament every year for her tree.

Lucy and I painted this together -- those are her little red fingerprints!

This is her very special Lenox "Baby's First Christmas" ornament. Here is the best part...

It has her name on it! I think this ornmanet is so precious.

These boots were made for walking

We thought that Lucy deserved a little "walking present"...ok, so we just wanted to buy her these adorable boots and we needed an excuse!

Baby steps!

Here are two short videos we took of Lucy walking tonight. She has been taking a step here and there for a few weeks now, but tonight she really seemed to be getting the hang of it really well! The most steps she took in a row was 11, but of course we didn't get that on tape. The second video is so adorable because she tries to do a little wave at Jeff as she steps and then claps her hands when she is done because she is so proud of herself. We're so proud of her, too!

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Party time

Me and my girl, all dressed and ready to greet our guests!

Daddy's girl!

The Christmas cookies that I made...I was very proud of them! They are all gone now, so I guess people liked them.

We had our annual holiday gathering last night. Parties are always a good source of motivation for us to get our place in really good order. We spent a lot of time in the weeks leading up to the party making sure that things around the house got done. Everything ended up looking really nice I think -- I just hope that no one looked inside our closets!

The party got started at 5pm so that people with kids could bring them along. It was so fun to see all the little ones running around exploring! At one point I felt like there were children just oozing out of every corner of our house. It was really cute. Lucy has so many nice little friends, including tons of really cute boyfriends :)

We thought we had plenty of food and drinks, but people really brought their appetites with them and we ended up running out by 8:00 or so. Jeff actually had to run out and get more cheese and wine! I take it as a sign that people had a really nice time, but I feel badly that we didn't have enough. Next year I will buy twice as much! We just feel so lucky to know such nice people, many of whom are fellow new parents that I have met over the past year and half since I got pregnant/had Lucy.

We asked guests to bring a toy for Toys for Tots rather than the obligatory bottle of wine. I am amazed at peoples' generosity -- I literally have 5 bags full of toys to drop off. I would love to spread the word about this idea because I think that lots of toys could be collected at holiday parties. And I think people really had fun picking toys out!

I feel like we have already had so much Christmas already, and it's not even mid-December yet. I certainly am taking full advantage of the holiday season this year. I knew that holidays with a child would be fun, but I had no idea they would be this much fun! I really want Lucy to enjoy Christmas every year and to look forward to it the way I always did (thanks, Mom and Dad!)...I think I'm off to a good start...

Fa la la la la

Santa's little helper, Miss Lucy Elise

The tree fits perfectly in our bow-front window

The stockings...hung by the chimney with care

Lucy's tree!

We decked the halls this weekend, getting ready for Lucy's very first Christmas. I have always loved Christmas, but this year it is extra extra special for me. Before I even had a child, I remember looking at a Christmas display in a store and thinking about all the wonderful years I had ahead of me sharing the holidays with my own children. I just can't wait to make Christmas as special for Lucy as it was for me as a child. I am so glad that our new home has a fireplace -- that is one of my fondest Christmas memories...sitting by the fireplace, looking at the tree. I am trying to rememer not to put too much pressure on myself this year to create the "perfect" holiday for Lucy. The perfect holiday, I know, comes from the wonderful times we will spend with our friends and family and does not depend on how much I decorate. Still, I just love how everything looks this time of year and it really gets me in the spirit of the season!

Teething is a messy business

Here is a little video of Lucy chewing on a teething biscuit ("mmmmm!" she exlaims) -- and throwing it on the floor. She also demonstrates her skills in clapping when she is asked "Are you happy?" (thanks to her Nonnie for teaching her that!) and waving "bye bye." My little genius :)

I had another bad cold this week so I sound very stuffy in the video. Lucy had a small cold, but it was accompanied by a cough that acted up at night. We are both on the upswing now, I think!

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