Michael's favorite Toys

My Michael BOY! And he is ALL boy. It's crazy to me to see the gender differences showing themselves so distinctly so early. I love it. 

Michael loves the Leap Frog Barn we have for the fridge - the pieces don't stay on the refrigerator for long because he takes them all off and and after looking at each one, most of them end up down the step on the carpet. :) 

 The barn also sings some songs - which Michael LOVES, he often dances and "Sings" along (His singing is just grunts - but is still cute!)

 Michael absolute favorite toy is this green ball - we have a few (thankfully) because he has bit holes through them and crushed a few already! He will throw it and crawl after it. The balls are really light and easily "jump" if your hand skids over it - Michael thinks this is super funny and will often giggle as he's playing with his green ball. :) 

This guy doesn't stay still anymore! He's up the stair, down the stair, around the corner, in the bathroom, in his room, in the cat food, in Lucy's room, playing really hard everywhere and anywhere!

He's all boy! 

Coloring with Ellie

My little girl has come a long way since last December! (How fitting - I'm writing his post on December 4th and this post was written on December 2nd, 2011) It makes me smile - with both happiness and a bit of sadness - that my first born is getting bigger. She is such a joy and a constant reminder that I need to live intentionally. 

The other day, Lucy was bringing her Ellie and Precious Bunny into watch a movie with her Daddy. She said, "Bunny is Ellie's best friend!" Brad asked her, "Well will you be my best friend then?" "No." Lucy replied, "Mommy is your best friend." (Imagine my heart melting in the other room as I overheard the conversation)

Ellie's best friend changes, sometimes on an hourly basis. Lucy told me today that Ellie was HER best friend - this was after Ellie had a "bath" and Lu had been separated from her buddy for 2 (whole) hours. "Horray! Ellie's all clean! Oh Ellie! Ellie's my BEST FRIEND!" She exclaimed after I brought her clean and dry used-to-be-pink elephant to her. 

Lu and Ellie did some coloring the other day - together!

 Helping Ellie hold the crayon - apparently Ellie is left handed? Lu's hair was CRAZY this day, she insisted on a "Messy bun" - a hair style that keeps her hair up for about an hour but then looses it's grip. 

 "Like this Ellie!"

 We had been working on coloring inside the lines - Lucy stayed in the general vicinity of each of the balloons... we'll keep practicing. :) 

 This was the face she gave me when I asked her to smile.... haha

 A little better!

 Well, that's my girl. :) Haha - I'm pretty sure she had a tickle in her nose or something but I have had to tell her a few times lately to not make mean faces but be kind and have a nice face. 

This little girl... seriously - I think she's the best (I'm aware I'm biased).

At 1.5 weeks from 2.5 years old, Lu is 90% potty trained. She still sleeps with a pull up on for both nap and night-time and has accidents occasionally - but she is much more independent and can "take a potty break" on her own with minimal assistance ("I need help turning on the light!").

She still takes a good afternoon nap, laying down around 2 and sleeping for at least 2 hours - although she has taken to fighting her need to sleep 2 or 3 times a week. Ellie is a constant companion but has started waiting for Lucy at home when we go to friend's houses or run errands or taking a nap on mommy's bed when friends visit.

We try to go the library for story time once a week - Lucy loves it! And will sit and listen quietly - the reason we go is to help her learn self control in sitting and listening and she does great! Michael even enjoys the books and sits in the stroller listening and looking around for 3 out of the 4 books that are read. :)

Lucy LOVES spending time with her friends and often asks me when I'm putting her down for her nap, "When I wake up we can go to ____'s house?" or "_____ is coming over for dinner!" :) Sometimes I can say yes, other times I have to answer - "Lets see if we can set that up with her mommy for next week. " :)

Lu loves to sing, her favorites are Jesus Loves Me, Twinkle Twinkle, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Call Me Maybe, This Little Light of Mine and the "Princess Song" (The lyrics of that one change every time she sings it, here's the one she sang me yesterday morning "Once upon a time, there was a beeeaauutiful princess named Lucy! She put on her make up and got her swimsuit and went to the beach!"). She heard The Muffin Man song somewhere and put on her Chef hat and apron and said, "I'm the Muffin Man!" last weekend - she cracks me up. :)

Although Lucy gets dressed in her clothes every day (She can do it herself too! SO helpful!) she is mostly seen with her tutu, ballerina slippers, crown on and wand in hand. She MUST have all 4 items in order to be a "princess in a tall tall tower" and gets very concerned if she can't find one of her princess accessories. Lucy has a few things she is particular about, 1) Her princess costume, 2) Her breakfast routine, 3) Her blanket arrangement at nap time and night time. Here is an example of our daily conversation that happens before breakfast:

S: Lucy do you want Cheerios, Granola or Chex for Breakfast?
L: I want Chex with milk and a spoon and milk in a big girl cup. I need a place mat so I don't scratch the table and a napkin and a bib!

No joke, the child lists everything she needs every. day. Phew! Most days I can keep up because I've had my coffee but there are days that her "reminding" grates on my nerves (just trying to be honest here). But it is still true that my attitude is reflected like a mirror in my daughter and so we try to be patient and kind with each other. We pray for Lucy's obedience and mommy's patience every day. :)

Lucy is also particular about her blankets - Brad found this one out as he was putting Lu to bed one night, to be silly, he put her quilt on her upside down. Lucy would NOT have it! And insisted on having it the "right" way. :)

Lucy is pretty good about playing by herself - when we have library books in the house she can often be found sitting in the front room on the couch leafing through a book. The girl's got an amazing memory and has the titles if not the main story-line memorized after we've read each book only once. I've been thinking lately how to use her sponge-like mind and give it GOOD things to absorb. Lu has been listening to Steve Green's "Hide 'Em in your Heart" for the past week (along with Christmas music of course!) and I'm hoping the truths of scripture will seep into her little mind. Lucy loves playing with her babies and making beds for all of them - each of them HAVE to have a pillow AND a blanket (My couch pillows get commandeered for this purpose) and most of them have a bottle tucked into the blanket next to them. Duplos have also been a favorite lately - of BOTH Michael and Lu. Lucy likes to make "gas stations" and "gardens" out of the blocks and also builds a very nice tower every once in awhile.

Well, that's more than I thought I remembered about Lucy's current life-stage. She's a little girl with a lot of spunk. She keeps us on our knees (we need a lot of prayer) with sore stomach muscles (she has her daddy's ability to make people laugh)! We love her bunches!