rollin', rollin', rollin'

Lucy now knows how to roll over. She is better at rolling from front-to-back than from back-to-front [and likes to practice every chance she gets]. When I put her in her crib for naps, I put her on her stomach. In the past, she'd be asleep in a matter of minutes [occasionally, with the help of a little back rub — but that was all]. This routine was working just fine, until . . .

Lucy figured out that sleep times occur when she's on her tummy.
Instead of quietly [or not so, as the case may be] laying on her stomach, she immediately rolls over as soon as I put her down. Nap time is no longer a quiet time, but now a new sort of play-time. I roll her over and she rolls back. I roll her over — she rolls back. I roll her over again — she rolls back . . . .

Yep, this sure is a fun game.

a day at the beach

Lucy went to the beach and swam in the ocean for the first time yesterday. A good time was had by all, and Lucy took to the water
like a fish.

She liked the taste of salt and licked it off her hands, feet, and the little ruffle of her bathing suit. [Mmmm, salt.]

hooray for bubble wrap!

Why is it that babies prefer the packaging to the gift? Lucy's Godmother had an adorable chair made for her. Though she liked the chair, she loved the bubble wrap.

Too bad gift-giving is not so easy with adults.

the start of something good

Well, maybe [keeping my fingers crossed]. Lucy slept from 9:30pm–7:00am! I, of course, was still up off and on all night — just making sure nothing was wrong. And, that she really was OK.

Here's hoping it wasn't just a fluke.

everyone loves the curls

Caught red-handed — poor little Lucy had nowhere to hide . . .

3 amigas

We had another visit with the cousins. All the babies had fun playing with each other. Lucy did a fine job of sharing [or taking what she wanted in true triplet fashion] with her cousins. She even interacted with her cousin Henry by bopping him on the helmet with a plastic cup [he didn't seem
to mind].

Later in the evening, Lucy got to sit up at the special table with Genna and Vivi. She loved that and showed her excitement by bouncing up and down, screaming with joy, and reaching out to them. The girls seemed to enjoy the novelty of their cousin in the middle as well.

Lucy loves her cousins.

yah me!

Got my first giggle [woo.hoo.]

Now, if I can just catch it on video . . .

happy 1/2 year birthday!

I can't believe that 6 months ago [at this very time, actually] Lucy was born. It really feels like there never was a time-before-Lucy. How does it happen that one little person can make such a large impact on your life in such a short time?

It's amazing to see all the changes and developments that have occurred already. Lucy has better than doubled her birth weight [7lb 7oz], has grown at least 6" [though, I think more], and even has her first tooth.

And, her developmental changes are just staggering. When Lucy was first born, she did nothing [Rob refers to this as the blob stage] but eat, sleep, cry, and dirty her diaper — not unlike the old baby alive dolls [for those of you who were kids in the '70s]. Now in addition to the afore mentioned skills, she can smile, hold her own bottle, eat cereal, sit up, coo, scream with joy, giggle, play with her toys, notice/grab for things around the room, roll over, and numerous other subtle things that we all take for granted on a daily basis.

I can't wait to see what the next 6 months will bring — maybe even, a good night's sleep . . .

humpf.

90th percentile

We just got back from Lucy's 6 month check up. The doctor says she is in the 90th+ percentile for her height [27"] and weight [18lb 1oz]. The doctor says she is tall for her age. Lord knows where she got her height from — neither her father nor I am exceptionally tall. [Jeesh, I am only 5' 2" so she's certainly not getting it from me.]

Lucy is doing very well, and according to her pediatrician is developmentally advanced [no surprise there — we all know she is smart].

Beauty, and brains too!

nearly there.

We are getting closer to a full-night's sleep. Last night Lucy pretty much slept the whole night through. She was awakened twice by loud claps of thunder, but was easily soothed and fell right back to sleep.

I think the key to this new development is the fact that Lucy has figured out how to roll over on to her stomach. When putting Lucy to bed, I always start her on her stomach — she falls asleep much quicker that way. At nap time, I let her sleep on her stomach as well. Lucy's crib is in my office [or, my office is in her bedroom] so I am right there should any trouble arise. [I think she sleeps better on her stomach because she tends to have tummy troubles]. At any rate, as soon as she falls asleep at night I roll her over [it's back to sleep you know, and God-forbid anything should happen while we were sleeping].

Now that she can roll herself over, I can let her stay on her stomach. Lets hope this is the key to a good night sleep. [knock. knock.]

hey, what about me?

I am with Lucy 98.6% of the time. I am there for all the every-day happenings — the feedings, the baths, the diaper changes, the naps, the melt-downs . . . you name it. But for some unknown reason, Lucy prefers to wait and perform all her new tricks when I am not around.

It's Daddy who's been getting all the first time events — all the giggles, the roll-overs . . . Oh, and Grammy got her to sleep through the night! [Just how in the heck did she do that?]

Sure, I've gotten a half-hearted giggle, but not the full-on belly laughs that Daddy gets. Rob [aka Daddy] will have Lucy laughing and call me into the room to see it. The minute I arrive, all giggles stop. [Why is she so stingy with the giggles? Smiles I get all the time — giggles, however . . . I guess I will just continue to wait patiently.]

Speaking of waiting, I am still waiting for that night when I go to bed and sleep until morning. [It has to be soon, right?]

eureka

On our annual birthday pilgrimage to the Cape [Cape Cod] for the best lobster rolls, Lucy discovered something much more exciting than sand, shells, the ocean, or even lobster rolls . . . she found her voice!

I don't know if she was afraid of losing it again or just likes the sound of it, but she used her voice loud and proud for the rest of the afternoon. It was really cute when she'd shout out and you'd say, "do it again, Lucy," and she would. It was really cute when she seemed to be responding to, and a part of, the conversation. It was all really cute until . . . we had to drive home. It was at that time Lucy felt the need to be heard from the backseat — she had a long story to tell, and shouting it out was the best way to tell it. Perhaps, she was summarizing her first trip to the Cape and all her adventures of the day? Maybe she was singing "Happy Birthday" to her Daddy? Hard to say. Fortunately for her, we hit quite a bit of traffic and she had a long time in which to say it.

I think once Lucy starts talking, there will be no stopping her.
She is woman, hear her roar.

those punk murphys

Lucy has triplet cousins [aka "the Murphy3"] who are just 3 months older than she. Presently, Lucy is an only child and forced to hold her own against the gang of cousins. The triplets, like any normal children, want the toy that Lucy [or any of their siblings for that matter] is playing with. The Murphy3 do not have as much hair as Lucy and seem to like her mop of curls — you can catch any one of them pulling it whenever Lucy is in close proximity. I am happy to report though, Lucy is learning quickly and does do fine with the toy stealing and hair pulling. [If you'll notice in the picture, she is reaching out to her cousin.]

Don't get me wrong, we love the cousins and know that being raised in a group is much different than one at a time. Imagine always having to fight for attention, or toys, or anything of which there is not three. I am hoping that Lucy will learn patience and sharing from her cousins.

This past weekend we went over to the cousins' house and Lucy went swimming for the first time in their pool — a good time was had by all. I sent out the usual commerative photos to all the interested parties and this was one response:

"Those pictures are great. Looks like Lucy can hold her own with her cousins." Grammy

Lucy loved the pool so much that we will be installing our own roof-top pool soon.

i love living in the city.

I love the diversity of city living — honestly, nothing beats the colorful characters you encounter on a daily basis.

The other day, I went out with my dad and Lucy for brunch and a nice walk. While at the diner, we saw a local "celebrity" which my dad confirmed in a spirited voice "Yup, that's him."

On our walk back towards the house, we came upon a senior center where a fire alarm was going off. As we walked past, there was a seemingly friendly and jovial woman talking to some of the residents sitting on a bench outside. As we passed, my dad greeted her with a friendly, "Hello." Instead of responding to him with an expected greeting, she noted that the fellows she had just been speaking to were "a couple of f'ing a-holes."

That afternoon, I got a call from my husband letting me know there was a strange man sleeping in the driveway down the road [which is more of a dirt alley than a road, really] from ours. No one knew who he was or appeared to care that this strange person was snoozing on the ground as they passed. Dogs would sniff him and still he slept on . . . eventually, he must have gotten up and walked away as he was gone when I later checked out my window.

I honestly don't think you'd see all of these types of interesting things [certainly, not all in one day] living in the burbs. I love living in the city — wouldn't change it for the world!

0 to 60 . . .

It seems that babies have this remarkable ability to go from happy, smiling baby to fussy, crying crabapple and back again before you ever even register that her mood has changed.

Lucy's Grampy came over this morning and we decided a photoshoot was in order. We started out with a happy child, and then she's sour. I could get her to smile again [as if there had never been any tears], but the smile lasted only a few seconds before the tears resurfaced — sometimes long enough to snap a picture, other times not.

I think a lot of this mood-swinging can be attributed to the new tooth — I had forgotten just how painful tooth-cutting can be.

I'd say it's safe to assume, this too shall pass . . .

things have started to happen.

So, Miss Bee [aka Lucy] had herself a banner weekend. She cut her first tooth and her daddy got her to giggle for the first time [I am still waiting for my giggles]. They say things happen quickly once they hit a certain age, but I was hoping she'd spread it out just a little more — I certainly wasn't expecting everything to happen so quickly, and all at once.