Epic tantrum

For the past few days, Lucy has been in a mood!
It comes and goes - like on Saturday, Grandma came to hang with Lucy while I went yard sale shopping with Auntie Ema...they had fun and Lucy was nice and cute and happy...and she was nice and cute and happy until everyone left.  We went inside for nap time and she was agreeable and went to sleep quickly.
But when she woke up, she was whiny and grumpy and was throwing things...nothing made her happy until I asked her if she wanted to go somewhere.  We went to Meijer and played in the toy aisles and looked at the fish - we were there for nearly 2 hours!

On Sunday Lucy and I went to GranJan's house so us gals could go to the Monroe outlets together.  She was fine at home but as soon as we got there, another mood set it.  Whenever anyone would talk to her, she'd turn her head so that they couldn't see her.  She whined and was anti-social...but then she was excited to go somewhere...for a minute.  She whined almost the entire 45 minute drive up there with some full-on crying mixed in.  Once we were there, she seemed nice and fine but did some more awesome whining on the way home.  Back at GranJan's, she was reunited with her babies and was served pizza and life was good.

On Monday, we got a special delivery!  We came home to a new (to us) dollhouse on our porch!  Cleo had passed it along to a very happy Lucy girl!
(But before that, I refereed a fight between Lucy and Dominic over a "blue guy" at the babysitter's house).

I keep referring to it as her dollhouse but she keeps calling it her "other princess castle"

 

Super happy!

We played with that "other princess castle" for quite awhile but then we decided to go for a walk - we had some things to take to the post office.  We got outside and things were going great - she'd decided that we'd take the wagon...but when I went to lift her in, I realized she needed a new diaper.  We went in for a change and then moody Lucy showed up!  She was pouting and no longer wanted to go for a walk to the post office!  She wanted to "stay on mine porch."  Finally I carried her to the wagon and she cried about 1/3 of the way up the street - and then she decided to turn it off!  She instantly stopped the crying and said, in a super-cute voice, "There's a birdy!  Tweet tweet!"
Aaagh!

So we were happily walking along when I spotted Grandma and Alli up ahead, also taking a little walk.  I said, "Lucy, look who it is!  Grandma and Alli!"
She turned her head so that no one could "see" her and refused to look at them or answer them or respond in any way.  I asked Alli if she wanted to ride in the wagon with Lucy and come with us to the post office and she said, "Sure!"
She got in and Lucy started crying.  Hard.  And loudly.  She let her arms and head hang over the side of the wagon and just cried - and sobbed "mama!" every once in awhile.  After the post office, we walked over to "chutes and ladders" (this dramatic, crying wagon ride was probably 5 minutes max).  When we got there, I did my best to clean the tears and snot off of her face since she was finished crying...but she still wasn't loving life. 

We'd brought a ball with us and Alli was bouncing it around. 

(Here is where the epic tantrum begins)

Lucy wanted her ball - not to play with, mind you...just to ensure that no one else was playing with it!  Kathy and I were encouraging the girls to play together (which Alli was all for!) and Lucy did her thing - her go-to action to show her displeasure.  She let Tessa drop out of her hand.

(She has these two plastic giraffe figures - a bigger one and a smaller one.  The big one is "Tessa" like the mama giraffe at the zoo and the small one is "Lulu" like the baby giraffe at the zoo.)

We were standing on the steps at the time and Tessa happened to fall under the steps.  This was very unlikely.  The opening is quite small and Tessa had to fall (aka, be dropped) at the perfect angle to be able to fit down there.  "Tessa!"
Grandma was able to stick her arm down there but not far enough to reach Tessa: "We need a skinnier arm!  Alli!  Can you reach Tessa?" 
Alli was anxious to save the day and reached her skinny little arm down there and grabbed Tessa right away...but then that silly giraffe got away again.  Alli was ready to give up her rescue mission - but her arm was stuck!  She panicked, poor little thing, and started crying right away and was yanking her arm up.  A couple of strangers ran up, offering to call someone for us or let us use their cell phone.  It was very dramatic.
I leaned in to help Alli and...I elbowed Lulu down the hole with her mama!  So yes, both giraffes were now stuck under the porch, worried strangers were hovering about, Lucy was bewildered, Alli was frantic and Kathy was trying to figure out what we could do.
Luckily, I was able to get her un-stuck and her poor little arm wasn't stuck long at all - but I imagine it was pretty traumatic for her there for a moment.  She recovered quickly.  I said, "I'm sorry your arm got stuck - thanks for trying to save Tessa!"  She was rubbing her arm but was still worried about those dang giraffes and what we were going to do.

Look very closely - you may have to click on the pic to enlarge it - two giraffes stuck beneath the steps!


I said it was fine - they weren't going anywhere - we'd just come back another day with something to grab them to retrieve them.  That sparked a thought for Kathy - she remembered she had a grabber at home and went to get it while I played with the girls.  By then, happy Lucy was back.  She giggled and ran with Alli and played with the ball and took turns and it was awesome.

When I told Dave this story, he couldn't decide which part was his favorite - he liked the worried strangers part and really cracked up when I told him about me knocking Lulu down there...but my favorite part is coming up -

Kathy returned but she was unable to find her grabber...so she brought salad tongs!  It was hilarious but effective...soon the crazy Lucy was reunited with her friends!

Finally being nice



So happy to have Lulu back!

********************************************

Yes, there have been some moody moments lately, but there have been a lot more moments of fun and hilarity.

Like last night (before our adventurous outing), I asked her what she wanted to eat:

Me - What would you like for dinner?

Lucy - Pasta!

Lucy (10 seconds later) - Hey!  Mama!  Me order pasta!

Sheesh, give me a minute!!

A few days ago, while we're outside:

Me - Why did you take your jacket off?

Lucy - On purpose!

Walking out of the house recently, she was holding her stuffed Ariel doll and her milk and handed them to me:

Lucy - You carry mine stuff so me don't drop 'em.  Me just little kid.

Bud Light minutes

I can’t believe I forgot to mention this in my last post about the things she does and says because this is a good one…

For the longest time, beginning months ago, I would hear Lucy say something that sounded like “Bud Light.”  She seemed to say it in different contexts, making it even harder to figure out.  Sometimes she said it to us but many other times, we’d hear her saying it while playing independently. 

About a month ago, she added something to it…”Bud Light minutes.”

This final clue was just what Dave needed to crack her code…she’s basically saying she’ll be back in a few minutes, aka “Back right minutes.”

We bought some sand and filled up the crab sandbox she got for her birthday this weekend...she LOVES it!  And last night we were looking at the Toys R Us catalog we got in the mail and she spotted the water table Uncle Jason got her for her 1st birthday and she asked where it was and wanted me to get it out NOW...I had to seriously redirect her at that point because she wasn't fond of my answer...but we'll be getting that out in the next couple of weeks.

For some reason, Lucy calls her sandbox toys (and any other tool she sees me get out to de-weed our garden) her "cleaning tools." 

We went to the toy store on Saturday to buy her a rake so that she can help us in the yard...we used the super awesome coupon she got in the mail for her birthday.  Since Johnny's Toys is no longer in business to mail out the key to their castle, Toys R Us has taken over in making kids feel special on their birthday...by sending them a $3 coupon.  Jackpot, baby! 

We were just looking for a rake but - A) we didn't find a rake by itself for sale (even though I have seen them there before!) and B) we did find a cool set that had a bucket and lots of shovels, a big hoe, a big shovel and many other sandbox toys for $11...so after Lucy's $3 contribution, I was happy to fork over the 8 bucks for some new "cleaning tools" for my girl.

She and Dave played in "Sebastian" for over a half an hour together on Saturday!

Lucy's 2 year old stats

We had her 2 year doctor visit on Friday, March 29 - 4 days after she turned two.

We'd been practicing with the new doctor kit she got for her birthday from Auntie Ema and Uncle Jeff so she'd know exactly what to expect and she did pretty well at the appointment compared to prior visits...but still, she definitely wasn't loving it.

For the first time, she got to stand on the scale and be measured against the wall - instead of sitting on a baby scale and laying down on the table to be measured.

She now weighs 31.20 pounds - 91%

She is 33.5 inches tall - 40%

Still in a good mood and playing peek-a-boo before Dr. D came in

We can't help but wish Dr. D would get a chance to see the funny and smart Lucy girl instead of the mama and daddy clinging wiener baby...but he said she looks great and is doing great (and that we're doing great, too)!  There were no shots at this appointment so there were no tears at the end which will hopefully reassure her for next time.  (Since her appointment, she has started mentioning "Dr. D" so it seems like he is her friend now!)

So yes, our sweet girl is TWO…and she’s exactly that – sweet (most of the time).

She says “thanks” a lot…every time she gets into her police car, she yells, “Bye, thanks!”  I think because every day when we leave the babysitter, I tell her to say goodbye and thank you, it must be in her head to say “bye, thanks!” whenever she leaves!

If we’re walking into the house and hold the screen door open to let her go ahead of us, she’ll say, “thanks, Mama” or “thanks, Daddy.”



Super wacky! 
The baby she is holding was a birthday gift from Great Grandma Meyers - and she calls the doll "baby P!"



She is so good at playing…she loves playing with Little People – especially her Easter house (trying to decide if we should leave it out or pack it away with our Easter stuff) and princess castle.  She and Dave can play for long stretches where she takes one of her Little People and makes them knock on the door and waits for Daddy and his character to answer the door.  Sometimes she even makes different voices when she’s making one of the princesses talk!

When I am dressing her, I’ll hold up a sock and ask which foot first and she’ll wiggle one of them and say, “memememe!” in a high pitched voice – she makes her feet “talk!”  She also makes other body parts “talk” while getting dressed or getting a bath.

Just the other day I was about to brag about the girl and tell Dave that she could count to 11…and then she counted to 13!!!  I was so proud!  I was surprised but Dave wasn’t…he said we’re always counting things with her and I often make it a point to count the steps with her going up to her room…and there are 13 steps.

She can also sing her ABCs, though she does not enunciate well.  She still likes to sing “Happy Birthday” a lot and she cracked me up the other day…we had her Melissa & Doug wooden birthday cake in the basement and were singing “Happy Birthday” repeatedly – sometimes to her, sometimes to me, sometimes to her baby – and then she’d cut the cake.  At one point I asked her whose birthday was going to be next and she pulled a Little People out and said “this guy!” (it was a construction worker guy).  So we started singing and I trailed off and let her take it away…”Happy  birthday dear…this guy, happy birthday to you!”  She hesitated for a moment and filled in “this guy” and I nearly peed my pants laughing!

We were at the park the other day and she raced over to a patch of weeds and said, “Me play-nin mine garden!”  Sad that because of me and my landscaping skills, she seemed to think the patch of weeds was a garden…



Her "garden"



Lucy loves being outside so we're all very excited that spring is finally here and that summer is coming!  She really enjoys taking "stroller naps" on the weekends:

We love the way she talks.  Her vocabulary is quite extensive and she blows away the 20 words Dr. D said she should be using by this age.  She speaks in sentences, and sometimes they’re pretty long!  But the sentences are very choppy and there’s a stop between every word.  “Me.  Play.  Outside.  Little.  Bit.  Please?”

She’s a bit of a picky eater, though she’s getting a little bit better lately.

For breakfast, she’ll often have cereal – she is willing to eat the following cereals:

Trix (her favorite)

Cheerios (only original…she has rejected the Apple Cinnamon and MultiGrain and Honey Nut)

Kix

Sometimes she’ll have some fruit with it and sometimes she’d prefer to eat a piece of bread for breakfast.  We went through a major bread eating phase with her a few weeks ago where she probably ate an entire loaf in about a week.

Fruit she will eat includes:

Bananas

Pears

Pineapple

Strawberries

Grapes

Blueberries

And…that’s about it…there are several she won’t even try and there are some that make it into her mouth…but then she opens up and lets them fall right back out…

For lunch we have limited options – we don’t want her to have to eat the same things every day – but she’s just so stubborn about trying things!

Things we pack in her lunch:

Turkey dog with bread and cheese, ripped up lunch meat like turkey or chicken breast with bread and cheese (though just within the past week, she has started eating sandwiches!  She never would before, even though she was basically eating them unassembled – torn up bread, ripped up lunch meat, cheese), cut up salami (one of her favorites!), pasta salad (she loves the Suddenly Pasta Salad by Kraft – Caesar), spaghetti, Lunchable Snack Duos (cubed lunch meat, strips of cheese and mini Ritz crackers)…and that’s about it.

Dinner is similar but she’ll also eat pizza (we’d question where she came from otherwise!) and will occasionally try new things.  She does like burgers (cut up, so she can dip-dip-dip in ketchup) and we’ll continue to work on broadening her horizons.

For snacks, she’ll have fruit or cheese, Goldfish crackers (the regular multi grain ones or the graham cracker ones) or yogurt (we buy YoBaby and YoToddler yogurt for her per her pediatrician’s recommendation).  In the evenings, sometimes she wants a snack before bed.  Sometimes she asks for cookies (mini Oreos) and sometimes she’ll ask for bread.  True story.



Having a picnic

Before bed is her tv time and she still typically chooses “Little Einsteins.”  Sometimes she chooses Tangled and sometimes The Little Mermaid gets requested but both of those have decreased in frequency.  Lately, she’s been talking about The Lion King which should make her Uncle Jason happy.

Which reminds me…the other day, we were playing in the basement and she spotted her tunnel and said “Uncle Jeff in mine tunnel!”  Yes, she still remembers when wacky Uncle Jeff tried to fit in her tunnel…but that was the first time she ever used the word “uncle!”  It was especially cool because it was unprompted!

And speaking of unprompted, earlier this week she was swinging at the park, and she blurted out “Baby in Ema’s belly!”  So true, but so random!  Then she smiled and yelled “Girl!”  She knows the baby will be a boy and was being wacky!

These are my sunglasses but she said she needed them "to drive."

Last weekend I asked her if we should go somewhere on Saturday since it was so nice and she said “Yes!” as I knew she would.  Curious about what she’d suggest, I asked her where we should go and she said, “Shopping!  Buy. Somethin’.  For.  Daddy!”  (Sorry, daddy…we ended up at the zoo instead).

She is so, so smart!

Recently, Dave had some car trouble and Lucy and I met up with him and had to watch as the Jeep was towed away...this pretty well freaked her out and she had a lot of questions - especially when we followed it to the shop and she saw it being unloaded from the truck, too.  

We had to empty a lot of stuff out of Dave's car, including her carseat from his car plus the carseat she uses in Fawn's car.  This sparked a discussion and I asked her which of her three carseats was her favorite.  She pointed to the one next to her, the one that is usually in Daddy's car - "That one!"  I asked, "What about the pink one you use in Fawn's car?"  She said, "No!  Pink.  Polka-dot.  One!"  I couldn't believe she knew "polka dot!"  Sure enough, the one in Dave's car is gray with pink dots and the one for Fawn's car is solid pink.

That night we headed to GranJan and Grandpa's house to borrow a vehicle while the Jeep was worked on.  We stopped at Frisch's to pick up dinner in the drive-thru first and I thought it was her first experience in the drive-thru.  A few days later she was in the backyard playing in her police car, leaning out the door saying things like, "Um, me take burger please!" or "I need one pizza" so she seemed pretty familiar with the whole drive-thru concept - either she has been through one before, after all, or she's a quick learner!

Lucy is very used to her routine.  Most nights, she gets a bath and then I dry her, put lotion on her, dress her, and comb her hair.  Occasionally we don’t wash her hair in the tub (on nights where we were lucky enough to discourage her from combing her hair with her fork – aka “dinglehopper” - at dinner) and recently we had such a night.  But after I finished dressing her she said, “Purple comb!  Are you?”  She was calling out, asking her where her purple comb was, knowing that hair combing usually comes next!

This girl makes us smile and makes us crazy and we love it!

She has her sunglasses on upside down in the picture on the left...

Lucky Lucy

Yesterday we were at the park and our neighbor had a scooter there with him.  He let Lucy try it out before he went home and she loved it!  I tried to teach her how to use it but she wasn't catching on...instead, she put both feet on board and held onto the handlebars while I pushed her around a bit.  She was loving life!
Soon after he left with the scooter, Lucy asked, "Where mine scooter at?" and I told her, "You don't have a scooter!"
We left the park to search for birds and were about 3 houses away from home when a lady came out of her house.  She asked us to come into her driveway...and she pulled out a scooter!  She asked Lucy if she liked it ("Uh huh!") and told her she could have it! 
I have no idea where the lady got the scooter (it's used but in decent shape) but she said she didn't have a little one for it and told Lucy she could have it...I admit, it was pretty strange...but within five minutes of asking "Where mine scooter at?" she had found it!

And somehow she knew that she needed her helmet on while riding her scooter...so proud of my safety-first girl!

Birthday girl

I was off work on Lucy's birthday so that we could go have a fun "birthday date."  We went back to Recreations Outlet where her friend Reese had her 3rd birthday party because Lucy had soooo much fun.



Being cool in the car

I just told her we were going somewhere fun where she could play, and the 20 minute car ride there was way too long for her!  She was pretty excited and kept asking to "play!"

Once again, she had an awesome time.  And once again, she and her baby (new Rapunzel Barbie this time) spent quite a bit of time at the play diner.  At one point, she was in one of the play houses and another little boy came in, too.  She started freaking out, saying, "Out!"  I knew that she wanted the little boy to get out, but just as I was about to tell her to share and be nice, the boy's mother told him to move over because Lucy wanted out...luckily she thought her kid was just blocking the door and Lucy was freaking out because she wanted to get out instead of realizing the truth - Lucy was being a bully and was telling her kid to get lost...

I got her out of there and steered her toward something else all the while telling her that the toys were for everyone and that she had to be nice and share...I'm sure she was tuning me out...

She jumped on the trampoline a lot, too...for awhile by herself then for awhile with me in there, too...she's such a funny jumper, giggling the entire time.  I loved seeing her have so much fun.


Lucy got to choose where we went for lunch and it was no surprise when she yelled "Skyline!"

That night we sang "Happy Birthday" again and she got to blow out candles again...and open one more gift from Mama and Daddy.

A "real" blowdryer that turns on so she can dry her baby's hair...and her own hair!

And later, Grandpa Meyers and Aunt Nikki stopped by to give her one last gift:

A basketball hoop!
She was in a MOOD when they stopped by but she still managed to open the gift...
She has since proved that it was a great present which she really enjoys

Happy Birthday, wacky girl!

Party girl

Lucy’s 2^nd birthday party was a great success…she had lots of fun (and cake and candy!) and got lots of good stuff!

Maybe next year she will get to at least help with picking the theme but for now, I was able to keep the giraffe loving alive!



A monthly picture of Lucy in her giraffe suit for the first year of her life!

 

A monthly picture of the Lucy girl for the second year of her life!


Since the party began at nap time, it was a little tricky - they dropped me off early and Lucy and her driver, Daddy, cruised while she slept...but she was still a little sleepy when she arrived at her party.  It took her a bit to wake up but spotting her gifts sure perked her up!

She was as spoiled as ever and had quite the mountain of gifts...she did very well opening them...but she got sooo excited by some of them and just wanted to play with them right away!  She didn't understand why I was setting them to the side and asking her to open more gifts when she was perfectly happy with the one she'd just opened!

Since "Happy Birthday" is her favorite song, she enjoyed being sung to even if she was a bit overwhelmed...cupcakes make her happy, too!

  



Happy birthday, sweet Lucy!

 

Even the cheeseball GranJan made looked like a giraffe!



She helped bake these cupcakes!