Lucygirl

Well I'm happy to say that Lucy seems to have stopped biting her nails...we haven't seen her bite them in a couple of weeks, though when I look at her nails, I can tell she's still biting them on occasion...but for the most part, that habit seems to be fading.

Your 3-year-old now

It's hard work being a kid, and when there's a big change in the familiar world your child has come to count on — the start of preschool, a divorce — she may regress. Regression is taking a few steps backward from a skill previously mastered. She may start wetting her pants again, insist that you spoon-feed her, or lapse into baby talk.

Annoying? Yes. Uncommon? No. This is your child's way of saying, I feel overwhelmed and need extra TLC. For her, acting like a baby harks back to a safer time, when no one gave her time-outs or made her clean up her toys. Try not to react too negatively to the babyish behavior. And don't exhort your child to act like a "big girl." She won't see the benefit in that, just the higher expectations and demands. Instead, reward or praise more mature behavior when you see it and be ready to provide extra attention for a while. Children occasionally need to fill up their emotional tanks with extra hugs and snuggle time. Consider whether you need to notch back your expectations and give extra help with dressing or cleanup until she's ready to tackle these things on her own again.

That's an expert from a recent "your child now" email I got.  Baby talk is her latest thing...and as the email said, yes, it is annoying...but also like the email says, we've tried to ignore it and reward her grown up behavior.
Look how grown up she is - maybe she should be a make-up artist when she grows up?  Maybe for Barnum & Bailey...

Fun times at the Monroe outlets recently...she was happy to help GranJan dig in her purse for quarters to ride on these rides!

She continues to love her new school...drop off is still a little rough some mornings but we had rough mornings at her old school, too.  When I pick her up, I can't get her out of there!  She looks up and sees me, and then goes right back to playing!  I was worried and felt bad about making another change in her world (switching schools so soon after Max came into our family) but she's really thriving and it makes me so happy! 

In the late afternoons, there are fewer kids there so they condense classrooms.  She's usually in the 4 year-old room by 5pm when I get there.  She loves this loft and wanted to show it to me and hang out up there for awhile one evening...

A couple of weeks ago, they had a spirit week which was pretty cool in Lucy's opinion!

Monday was Backwards Day and little Lucy was a little too sleepy (aka moody) on Monday morning to get on board with that one...

But Tuesday was Character/Dress Up Day...hooray!

As far as I know, there were only two "Elsa's" at school that day (surprising, huh?!) but ironically, the other "Elsa" was another girl named Lucy!  Yes, there are two Lucy's at Kids & Cribs but the other one is older and in a different class.

Wednesday was Mix Up Day and Lucy had fun with that one, too:

She didn't want to wear mis-matched clothes (she picked out this outfit herself!) but she chose two different socks (one has a giraffe and one has a bird) and two different shoes and I gave her zig-zag pigtails...and the finishing touch was her wacky pose!

Thursday was "amaze!" as she would say...PJ Day!  She used to have PJ days with Ms. Megan and they made her very, very happy so she'd been looking forward to this one all week!

Friday was pretty great, too...they had a teddy bear picnic!  Everyone was supposed to wear red, white and blue and bring a packed lunch and a teddy bear so they could have a picnic outside...she'd been looking forward to this all week, too, though the picture Daddy got doesn't quite capture her excitement, ha:

This week is a big week, too...she was selected as the Star Student!  She had "homework" and everything...she had to decorate her Star Student poster, which was a lot of fun!
She got to take a prize for all of her friends (bubbles and Frozen stickers!) and a treat to share at snack time - mini cupcakes - so Monday was a really special day.  Today she took her favorite book in for Ms. Julie to read to everyone at circle time.



Goofy girl!




Look at that hair!! 
Recently Daddy took Lucy to Kidzoo for some fun at "the place where we take our shoes off!"


We celebrated some birthdays recently...GranJan's and Grandpa's...Lucy loves helping to make the birthday cake or brownies..and especially loves tasting the batter!

This girl is crazytown and we love it!

Park fun

Fun photos of my cuties at a couple of parks last month...

August 9 at President's Park in Edgewood.  We went to Color Me Mine to make some special artwork and afterward, we stopped by the park for a bit.  Lucy has only been there one other time - with GranJan when she was barely a year old - and didn't remember it.  She was loving life!  She pretended the blue rock climbing wall was the North mountain and sang Frozen songs for me and Max.



He loves being outside sooo much!



Friendship Park in Cold Spring on August 16.  We decided to walk there - something Lucy and I did several times before she was a big sister.  Let me tell you...I am more out of shape than ever and pushing two kids in the stroller is way more intense than pushing one...and has that park gotten further away???  Dave met us there to play, eat lunch...and, most importantly, give us a ride home!

 Two differing versions of "hanging out:"

Lucy wanted to take some toys with her for the walk to the park...she chose a handful of items including a little mermaid figurine (one of Ariel's sisters...Alana, I believe).  We were in front of St. Joe's when Lucy started freaking out.  She could not find Alana.  I was able to calm her down by telling her we'd find her after the park...

My kid is not one to forget and Alana was purchased at a yard sale so she wasn't easily replaceable so after fun in the sun at the park, I had Dave drop me off at St. Joe's so I could walk the rest of the way home and search for that dang mermaid.  Seriously.

Shortly after I got dumped, though, Dave called to say he'd actually spotted it on the sidewalk in front of the Verizon store!  He pulled in there and waited for me to walk down and retrieve the doll.  I got in and just said, "Isn't parenting hilarious?"

Max - 3 months old!

My baby guy is 3 months old!
He now weighs 13 pounds, 1.5 ounces and I have already had to pack away some clothes that he's outgrown...he now wears a mix of 0-3 and 3-6 months.  Most things get retired because they become too short.

So, what's this little cutie up to?
He learned how to roll from his belly to his back a couple of weeks ago.
He still enjoys tummy time and he's been "playing" a lot lately...he kicks and grabs at toys while under his gym.

He loves chattering...he's had some pretty lengthy conversations with his daddy...he coos and shouts out when we talk to him.  I think he'll be giving us actual laughs any day now, too!

He likes his B but he also sucks on his thumb a lot!

He's becoming a serious drool monster...and he spits up sometimes, too, which is weird for us because Lucy never spit up.  I think it's time for him to start accessorizing his outfits with a bib...
He still loves being outside!  I can't believe he's big / old enough to sit up in the umbrella stroller but it's true so lately I've been putting him in there so he can enjoy the great outdoors and keep an eye on his crazy sister (or fall asleep).

Apparently, he's also big enough to sit in the Bumbo...

this comes in handy when he and Lucy need to see eye to eye to have serious discussions:

He also continues to loooooove bath time!  Dave has been nervous about giving him a bath but finally gave it a go one day when Lucy and I were out.  Piece of cake!  Max loves it so much that it's actually something we want to do!  Lucy still likes to help sometimes, too!

Max is such a good little sleeper!  He's also a good little eater!  He doesn't complain too often but when he does, it's usually either because he's hungry and we're not reacting quickly enough or because he's overly tired.  We bundle (swaddle) him at night but during the day, he often sleeps "free."  He sleeps in his bed, on our bed, in the swing, on his lounger, in our arms, wherever...

He's such a little sweetie!
There really isn't a list of things he doesn't like...he used to get annoyed when we touched his feet but that doesn't seem to bother him anymore...and he used to scream through diaper changes but now he's at least 50/50 so if he's yelling through a diaper change it's probably because he'd rather be eating or sleeping...
The only thing he really hates is red lights.  When we're in the car, we should be moving!! 

Look what my Granny made for him!

She also made one for Lucy 3+ years ago...

And of course my guy loves owls!!

More school stuff

She has her own cubby where she hangs her giraffe backpack...which, so far, she has taken home every night despite the fact that all it contains is a jacket...

When I picked her up on Monday and Tuesday, she wasn't ready to leave - I walked in and she looked at me but continued playing...I took that as a good sign!  In the late afternoons, as many kids start getting picked up, they condense those remaining into one room (not hers).  So when I find her, we go to her room to get the all-important backpack and on Monday she showed me the musical instruments in her classroom:

They have a cute little bench outside that she needed to sit on before getting in the car both Monday and Tuesday...

Monday was full of excitement.  Tuesday she was a little hesitant but her teacher made sure Lucy was busy right away.  I had a bad feeling about today, the third day, especially because Dave took her instead of me and that was another change...

But she seemed to be doing well when they left home.  Today is "grey day" and she was excited to be wearing her grey:

However, I got this text from Dave this morning: "Screaming and crying at drop off"

I emailed her school and by 8:51 I had the following reassurance:
Just checked in with Ms. Julie.  Lucy was playing and having fun.  Julie said she only cried for a couple of minutes and then she got involved playing.  She was smiling and wearing a cape when I was in the room.

Super Lucy to the rescue!