Nothing could be finer than Lucy in the Carolinas...

We took Lucy on her second plane trip this past week (unless you count the trips when I was pregnant -- in which case, she has already been to South Carolina, as well as Chicago and Orlando). We left last Wednesday and flew in the early early morning from Boston direct to Raleigh Durham, NC. Lucy slept almost the entire way and woke up as we were descending -- just in time to look out the window and see what was going on.

After picking up our rental car, we headed to the Duke campus to see whre Jeff had gone to college. It was so pretty to walk around there -- especially the chapel. Lucy loved it in there but started to get a bit "chatty" so we had to leave before we disturbed people taking a tour!

From Durham we drove to Fayetteville, NC to spend the night on our way to Myrtle Beach, SC. It was a great stopping-off point and we had a very pleasant stay. The hotel staff was wild about Lucy and of course she made tons of friends with her smiles. On Saturday after breakfast we hit the road to Myrtle Beach. We arrived at our hotel, the Sea Island on the Beach, in the early afternoon. We changed into our bathing suits and hit the pool. Lucy loved it -- she seems to really enjoy swimming! We also went down to the beach for a bit and sat under an umbrella. I started to feel sick later in the afternoon (no, I am NOT pregnant!) so we headed back up to the room. Our room was really nice with a great view of the ocean and I wish I felt better so that I could have enjoyed it more. Oh, well. We were supposed to meet up for dinner with my friends Dana and Lou but I cancelled because Dana is expecting twins and I did not want to make her sick. We stayed in and ordered a pizza and I went to bed early.

The next day I felt MUCH better! We hit the beach and Lucy got her first feel of sand in her little fists. She really seemed to like playing with the sand and the shells but was rather terrified of the waves. She did very well at first but started to cry a lot when a big wave came along and spooked her. Poor baby! She seems so wise and alert and grown up that I have to remind myseld that she is only 6 months old!


After our time at the beach we packed up (yet again) and hit the road to Charleston. We surprised Jeff's family by showing up at his Aunt Rita's house a day ahead of schedule. It was so great for Lucy to meet her Great Aunt and they got along so well. Lucy quickly discovered how fun it was to crawl around on Rita's plush carpet -- much better than the hardwood at home. We spent the next two days exploring around Charleston. On Monday we went downtown and walked around the Market and the Battery. On Tuesday we took a walk at the beach on Isle of Palms and took a drive around Sullivan's Island to look at the pretty beachfront houses (maybe SOME day...). We flew home today (Wednesday) and again Lucy slept most of the way and woke up just at the end of the flight to look out the window. We only have a few more weeks until our Scotland trip and we hope that this positive travel experience is a preview of what is to come on our much bigger excursion!

Lucy is 6 months old

My baby girl turned 6 months old today! In some ways we can't believe that the time has gone by so quickly, and in other ways we can't believe that it's been ONLY 6 months. We really cannot remember life without her. What did we do with our time? Watch stupid reality tv??? I suppose that we were busy with the early part of our relationship, then our engagment and wedding planning, and then *poof* we were pregnant and planning for little miss's arrival. It's amazing how far we've come in the (just under) four years that Jeff and I have been together!

So, what is Lucy up to these days? She is certainly a very active, curious, and happy little girl! She is a huge smiler and makes new friends wherever we go, especially when I walk around with her in the Baby Bjorn and she is facing outward. She makes a really big hit when she is wearing her bright yellow "flap hat" (to protect from the sun) -- she looks so cute all tucked away under it. We just feel so very lucky and truly blessed to have such an amazing little ray of sunshine.

She has learned to be quite an efficient "creeper" and can really move across a room on her own. She pulls herself forward with her arms and uses her legs for some propulsion, but she still doesn't lift her tummy off the floor so for now it's a "creep" rather than a crawl. She does tuck her legs underneath her and tries to push off with them, but often this just results in her flipping over or looking like she is breakdancing :) She also is sitting up on her own, pretty much, though sometimes she tips over -- so I really need to be close by to "spot" her when she is sitting. It is very fun to watch her sit and play with a toy. When she does something like that it makes me realize how big she really is getting. Last night she was sitting in her "Bumbo" chair and had a rattle in her hand. She started shaking it and hitting it against the side of the chair -- to which Jeff and I responded by saying "Yay, yay, Lucy!' and clapping our hands. This really encouraged her to keep hitting the rattle, with a grin from ear to ear!

She started eating rice cereal about a week and a half ago and took to it very well. I was afraid that she would refuse food because she refused bottles -- just like I did when I was a baby, and I also refused food. But she really has taken to eating and it's a lot of fun for us to feed her. Tonight I gave her some oatmeal cereal for the first time and she seemed to like it even better than the rice. Pretty soon I will start to give her some veggies like sweet potatoes and avocado, but I am in no huge rush (especially because I know it will make the diapers smell pretty bad).

Last night she slept from 8pm until 5:30, which is the longest she has ever done. I think the food is really helping with her sleep. I still love that first feeding -- the one that used to be the middle of the night feeding. It is really "our time" and she eats so intensely and sweetly. It is the time of day I really feel the most needed by her and connected to her. My sweet baby girl! Happy 6 months!