Pretty in Pink

My Funny Valentine

Now that Lucy is over a year old, I love to look back to see what she was like one year ago. A year ago this Valentine's Day, Lucy still had a raging case of baby acne! Poor baby! I am glad I took her picture anyway because she looked so small and cute. So, here she was, "Miss Baby Acne Valentine, 2006":

But WOW, what a difference a year makes. Here is our girl on Valentine's Day 2007!



And some video...

Hanging out

A lazy Saturday afternoon...

Kisses

I realized today that Lucy knows how to give kisses! I say "realize" because it's not like she just learned today -- like many things with Lucy, she had it all figured out already and just needed to be asked to do it! I wonder what else she has got figured out in that pretty head of hers...a lot, I am sure. Here she is...

Here, I ask her to kiss the reindeer toy, but she'd rather dance with it. She saves her kisses for her kitty cat (of course)! If you listen closely, you can actually hear a little kiss noise.

But Mommy, I don't want to sleep!

This is how I found Lucy in her crib this morning. She's in a swim diaper because I was getting her ready for swimming lessons when I THOUGHT she wanted a nap. But when I put her in the crib, she had other plans. I think she just wanted to get out of going outside this morning because it is 13 degrees. I decided that I was on the same page as her, so we are inside and cozy and planning to make soup!

Lucy's latest antics

Jeff got home from London on Friday night and we have been spending the weekend relaxing at home. Travel is wonderful, but so is being at home as a family. Here is some video of Lucy last night. We had this little booster chair on the floor in the kitchen (it actually belongs to her friend Dylan) -- Jeff and I were cleaning up and all of a sudden we looked down and she was sitting in it. We hadn't even shown her what it was or how to sit in it! She just amazes us every day. So, of course, we had her sit in it again so that we could film it. She sits in it for a bit, but then gets up and runs to me for a hug...priceless.


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Here is a picture from this morning of Lucy modeling one of her new outifts for her next travel adventure...Aruba! In just 3 more weeks! I LOVE THESE SHOES!

Trip to Bristol

As I mentioned before, Lucy and I went out to see Angela in Bristol (Compton Greenfield, to be exact) while we were in the U.K. this week. Angela's family hosted me when I was in sixth grade and my school took a trip to England. Her son, Joe, is my age and is one of my very close friends. Joe lives in Dubai now, so we didn't see him on this trip. But it was so wonderful to see Angela and to see her home in Bristol, which I had not visited in the four years that she has been living there. Lucy and I took the train to Bristol Temple Meads Station on Monday from Paddington Station in London. The journey was an hour and 45 minutes and fortunately she slept the whole way there! Angela picked us up at the station -- it was SO great to see her. We went back to her house and had a lovely tea before taking a walk around the property. Here are some photos...

Me and Lucy in front of the pond behind the house

Angela and Lucy -- I think you can see the hills of Wales in the distance!

Lucy having fun in the grass

She had such a blast playing outside! Look at those teeth!

Later on, Angela cooked a wonderful dinner (salmon, green beans, new potatoes) and we enjoyed some wine while catching up. Lucy went to bed so nicely and got a real treat sleeping in the bed with Mommy :) On Tuesday, we spent more time at the house and took some fun pictures...

Look!!!!!!!!!!

Angela loved meeting her little Lucy

We got a train back to London in the afternoon. The trip to Bristol was short but we are really glad that we went. We will definitely stay longer next time!

Cool Britannia

We spent the day on Sunday exploring London. And I do mean exploring! We set out in the morning and did not return until the evening and we did the whole day on foot. We can't believe how much we packed into one little day -- then again, we probably walked about 8 miles, so it's not entirely surprising that we saw so much. Lucy slept through the first part of it, so she'll just have to take our word for it that she visited certain places. Oh and we also have some photographic evidence for her. So, here is how our day went...the pictures are in the order of our journey!

Picadilly Circus (Lucy is asleep in the stroller)

Trafalgar Square, with the National Gallery in the background (still asleep)

Footbridge over the Thames, with the Millenium Wheel in the background (you guessed it, asleep!)

Look, Dad...Big Ben! Parliament! (She woke up for this!)

With Mommy outside Westminster Abbey

On the lawn outside Westminster Abbey, with a view of Big Ben

Playing in St. James's Park

On the swings, with Buckingham Palace in the background (naturally!)

Hugging Daddy in front of Buckingham Palace

With Mommy at Wellington Arch (showing a bit of belly!)

We then went to Harvey Nichols and Harrods, where Lucy got some very fancy organic milk from the Food Halls. After that, we walked through Hyde Park to Kensington Gardens. I took Lucy in to see an exhibit of Princess Diana photographs and dresses at Kensington Palace. They were the really glamorous Mario Testino pictures...and one of them was the photo I displayed at Lucy's birthday tea! They also had several of the actual dresses on display that she wore in the photos. It was a breathtaking exhibit, especially for a huge Diana fan like me. After that, we had a lovely tea:

Afternoon tea at the Orangery at Kensington Palace

Feeding Daddy a piece of scone

A swim in the hotel pool to finish off the day...not bad!

Actually, the day wasn't over yet. We went out for a very yummy Indian dinner with Lucy in the stroller. We thought we struck gold because she fell asleep, thus allowing us to have a really nice meal out. We figured we could just stoll back to the hotel and neatly transfer her to her crib for the night...but no such luck. She decided to wake up on our walk home, and proceeded to stay up until 1am or so. Maybe she was angry that she missed out on Picadilly and Trafalgar and was trying to make up for lost time? Anyway, it was a wonderful day!

I will soon post some pictures from the journey that Lucy and I took to see Angela in Bristol.

Greetings from London!

Lucy and I decided to tag along on a business trip with Jeff! VERY last minute plan, but we are glad we came. As many people know, London is a very special place to me and I have been coming here since I was a child. I hope that Lucy grows to love it here as much as I do. I didn't plan to take her here until she was 2 or 3, but the opportunity presented itself and we took it! Call us crazy!

Our travels to get here were long. We flew trough Toronto and everything was very delayed because of snow there. So, instead of arriving here this morning we arrived in the early evening. We made the best of it, stopping briefly at our hotel to refresh before heading out for a walk on Oxford Street. There are so many beautiful shops there and I hope to re-visit a few tomorrow. We will have one full day in London tomorrow, and then on Monday Lucy and I are headed to Bristol to visit Angela, a close family friend. Going to see her was one of our big reasons for making this trip -- I want her to meet Lucy while she is still little. Jeff has to work during the week, so Lucy and I will travel to Bristol on our own. It is a relatively short train ride from London, so it should be fun. Lucy and I also will be traveling back to the US on our own on Wednesday -- Jeff is working here until Friday, but I need to teach on Thursday morning in Boston. I am more than a bit apprehensive about flying such a distance alone with Lucy, but I'll muddle through somehow.

Jeff is giving Lucy a bath right now and it sounds like they are having a lot of fun! It is nice to relax in the comfy hotel bed :) I am not sure what our plan is tomorrow, but I hope to cram as much London into one day as is humanly possible! I will try to post pictures while we are still here, but they may have to wait until we return home (I didn't take the one above -- it is just something that I pulled off the web!).

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!