Memorial Day Weekend

It was another great Cape weekend and, alas, our last one at my parents' rental house by the water. We had a great time playing on the beach, eating good food, hanging out with family...a wonderful start to the summer season!

Lucy sitting on her rock

Should I put my shades on?

Getting a horsie ride from Greatpoppa while Greatnana smiles (I LOVE this picture!)

Digging in the sand

Throwing sand...fun!

"A-wow!" (Lucy's new favorite word)

Spaghetti is yummy!

And so is avocado!

A mouth full of teeth and food...what could be better?

Updo

I put Lucy's hair in an "updo" last week...more like a high ponytail with lots of clips, but still, it looked sort of sophisticated :) The best part was that you could really see her beautiful face. I think these pictures give us a glimpse into the future of what Miss Lucy will look like as a little girl. What a heartbreaker she'll be!

Someone took my baby & replaced her with a toddler with a perm

A few observations I have made lately...

First, Lucy is officially, 100% a toddler. She will always be my baby, and in many ways she is still baby-like, but she is as toddler as toddler gets now. She is into EVERYTHING and, just like her Mommy did when she was little, she climbs on everything. The house can be sparkling clean one minute and a disaster the next. I am trying to adopt more of a "bless this mess" attitude, but it's not so much in my nature. I am very far from being a neat-freak, but nevertheless a messy house does bother me. I know that in 20 years from now I won't remember or care what state my house was in when Lucy was little, so I really need to work on just worrying less and just enjoying this, um, creative phase of her life. A few recent photos of her toddlerism in action...

Discovering Mommy's lisptick. Hey, at least it's MAC, so we know she has good taste!

All slickered up and ready to go out in the rain. She just looks like such a big girl to me in this shot. What a sly little smile!

Ok, my second observation is that Lucy officially has curly hair. This has become especially evident over the past two days because it has been very rainy/humid and that has helped the curls along. It honestly looks like she got a perm! Just like my hair, hers is straight in the front but curly in the back (mine is more wavy than it is curly). But today, even the front curled up. Here she is, modeling the latest dress that I made her and looking especially curly!

Mommy and me

Lucy and I wore "matching" outfits on Mother's Day...though we did not plan it that way (I swear, we didn't)! It was a really fun day that Lucy got to enjoy with her parents, grandparents, aunt and uncle. Thanks to everyone for being here...it was great!

Happy Mother's Day!

Lucy and I wish a VERY Happy Mother's Day to...

Mom/Nonni...

Julie/Grammy...

Nana S./Greatnana...

Nana G./Greatgrandma....

Laura/Godmommy...

...and to all mommies everywhere!

Cape Cod Weekend

We had a great weekend (I feel like I say that a lot...but it's true!). On Saturday morning, we picked up our bikes at the shop -- we had racks installed on both of them so that we can use a baby seat on the back of either bike. We then headed down to the Cape. Our first stop was Orleans to see my parents. The weather was beautiful and we were outside the entire time. We took the bikes for a spin around the neighborhood and had so much fun! The views were breathtaking and we enjoyed dreaming about all the huge oceanfront homes that we saw. Lucy's Greatnana and Greatpoppa stopped by, and her Auntie Cam and Uncle Erwin were also there, so it was a wonderful family day.

Lucy's not so sure about the helmet...but it looks SO cute!

"Weeee! This is fun! But Dad, where is YOUR helmet??"

Princess in training! She was so proud of herself in these shoes. Like mother, like daughther. Oh and I must brag...I made her dress!

Four generations of ladies...Lucy with her mother, and her mother's mother, and her mother's mother's mother! We are SO lucky!

Gathering rocks with Nonno

"Thanks for letting me play in the ocean, Nonno!"

On Saturday evening, we left Orleans to go to Falmouth for a visit with our friends Josh & Jodi and their son Aaron. Lucy had a lot of fun playing with her handsome friend!

Lucy and Aaron

A nice family picture...though I think Lucy looks a bit annoyed!

Artiste

Lucy had a lot of fun with her bath crayons last night. She is getting better at using crayons, but we are still working on distinguishing them from food...

What, we're going to play with crayons? Yeah!

This is going to be fun!

Ok, enough fun, now I must concentrate on my work

Don't interrupt me while I am working

Hmmmm, that looks about right

Ok, Mommy, so I admit that I drew on my leg...

...but I did NOT eat the crayon!

I swear, I did not eat it! (Thank God these things are non-toxic!)

Oh happy day

Lucy took a 3-hour nap yesterday and woke up sooooo happy! Must have been all that sleep, combined with the gorgeous weather. I had to take photos of her smiling face, of course. She is napping now and I sure hope she wakes up in another great mood...

(I wish this one were not so dark...her smile is just so precious)

Weekend fun

Spring has finally sprung! We could not be more excited. My parents were here Thursday and Friday and brought the good weather with them. Jeff was traveling last week but came home Friday morning, so we had the chance to go out to dinner on Friday night while my parents watched Lulu (thanks, Mom and Dad!). Yesterday (Saturday), it was absolutely gorgeous out and we were lucky enough to have Red Sox-Yankees tickets. So, Lucy got some more grandparent time in -- Jeff & I went to the game and his parents came to watch Lucy at our place (thanks, Julie and Peter)! The Sox won and the weather was glorious. In between all this action, we got to spend some great family time with our girl. She is so silly...

Dorothy

"Make mine a non-fat, sugar-free, vanilla latte with extra foam please."

Boogie shoes

Lucy and I both wore our snazzy new shoes on Thursday...I sure wish they made those red flats in my size!

Marathon Monday

Lucy pointing out where the runners would be coming by. Thanks, Luce.

Today was Patriots' Day in Massachusetts...otherwise known as "Marathon Monday." It is pretty cool to live in the city that is home to such an elite marathon. I am always in awe of the runners and every year I wonder why I couldn't get my butt into gear to do something like that. I read today that the average age of a runner in the Marathon is 40...7 years older than me! And that's the average age! So, I really have no excuse...oh, except for one little person who takes up my time. Oh, and I almost forgot, I hate running :) Anyway it was sure fun to watch. Lucy and I arrived along the route just before the elite runners arrived, so we got to see the lead women and men. That is always so exciting. We then went home so that Lulu could nap, but when she woke up we took another walk and saw my other favorite part of the race -- the runners who are still going, 6+ hours after the start time. Those are the people that really need the cheers, and I was happy we were there to give a bit of support. I told Lucy to wave to all of them and I did my best to yell "Keep running! You're almost there!" One of the runners (who was limping along) asked Lucy, "Which way is Boston?" (with a smile on his face) and we were happy to say, "That way, you're about 2 minutes from the border!!" Despite the rain, it was great to see the runners. I hope Lucy was inspired -- both by the "winners" and also by those still determined to complete the race even after the winners had long since crossed the finish line.

The lead women came by first. The woman in the yellow top won. It sure does take a lot of guts to run 26.2 miles in your underwear.

These were the lead men. I think the one in the yellow shirt won. I guess it was a lucky day for yellow shirts!

Stylish girl

Lucy has some very cute new outfits for this funny weather time between winter and spring. Oh, wait, it IS spring...easy to forget when it's cold and rainy every day!

In her pink coat getting ready to go to the baptism of our neighbor's baby, Conor

Very coordinated in pink and brown. She let me take pictures but only if I let her chew on her toothbrush.

Lucy: "Does this skirt make my butt look fat?"
Mommy: "No, sweetie. Just your tummy."

"I'm not giving up the toothbrush!"

Boppy!

Lucy's favorite food these days is an apple, which she affectionately calls a "boppy." You can hear her say it fairly clearly in this video:

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Here, she identifies her body parts, all the while chewing on her boppy:


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