the pool is open

It's that time again, and this weekend was certainly a nice taste of summer. The Cousins have opened the pool and another successful pool party was enjoyed by all. [Even Cheyenne had a great time.] The triplets were having lots of fun climbing in and out of the pool. And, Lucy was happy just sitting and pouring water from the buckets. This made for lots of viewing entertainment but not much of a photo opportunity with them all together.

What a big difference from the cousin's last pool party . . . see the previous post from July 11, 2006.

a day on the farm

. . . Davis' Farmland that is. We had lots of fun with some old friends and some new friends, from a local Mom's Group. The farmland has lots of things to see and do. In the springtime, you get to see, pat, and feed all the baby animals. The baby goats and sheep [so cute] were walking around outside the pens and Lucy loved them! She even patted a baby goat on the nose.

After patting and feeding the animals, we played in a big water trough. Lucy and Sebastian loved to feel the water pour down on their hands as it flowed from one trough to the next. Nina liked to play with buckets, while Sawyer really liked splashing!

After a nice break and lunch, we went over to the toddler play area which had some big, plastic trees [among other typical playground stuff]. Lucy spent lots of time inside one of those trees, while Caroline and William climbed in and out of it.

If you'd like to know more about Davis' Farmland, you can check out their site at: http://www.davisfarmland.com/new-site/index.html. We will definitely be going back [maybe next time with the cousins (who go all the time, and were there that morning — but only for a short time)] — we had a great time and can't wait to explore more.

what does the kitty say?

Lucy has really been saying lots of words [a regular copy-cat if you will]. This is more about her cute facial expression saying the word rather than the word itself.*

*If you just can't get enough, an extended version of this video is available on her video website.

cheeky monkey

Although Lucy is nervous walking, she doesn't think twice about climbing. She sets her eyes on the prize and just goes for it . . .

[Any guesses what she was after here?]

choo choo

Lucy's friend, Sebastian, has really started walking lately. He still prefers to hold a hand, but is perfectly willing and able to go it alone [Lucy, however, will always choose to hold a hand, a wall, or some piece of furniture rather than going it solo].

Yesterday, we went to a local playground for our weekly Tuesday-outing. The kids were having a great time climbing and playing on/in the structures [hot dogs anyone?]. After a while, that got boring, and Lucy thought it would be fun to stand holding onto Sebastian's back for support. Now Sebastian has a hard enough time holding himself up without someone clinging to him, but being the rock that he is, he held them both up. And, with the help of Josette, he started a conga train with Lucy and they marched around the playground.

When I was reminiscing with Sebastian's Mom, Josette, this was what she had to say about the day:

"I told Mike [Sebastian's Dad] about Lucy hanging on to Sebastian’s shirt and our little conga train around the playground, and about Lucy hugging Sebastian while they were eating crackers. Mike reached over and touched my belly and said, 'You didn’t just make a person, you made a friend for another person!' I just laughed and said, 'Yeah, they are buddies now! It warms my heart to see them playing together and being so cuddly.'"

aww . . .

a day in the park

What's funner than a ride on a slide?
How 'bout just sitting at the bottom and banging your feet?

That's what Lucy thinks, anyway.

sheepshearing festival

Today we went to the 20th annual Sheepshearing Festival at Gore Place [in Waltham, MA]. We met our friend Max and his parents there. They had all kinds of fun animals—oxen, miniature ponies, goats, sheep, sheep-herding dogs, and even the alpaca Lucy is checking out above.

There was lots of food, activities, and entertainment for everyone. And of course, some sheep were sheared.

To find out more about the festival, check out the website: http://www.goreplace.org/sheepshearing.htm

nice mommy

Lucy is taking good care of her babies . . . she is even making the "sipping" sounds as if the baby is drinking.

Milk for everybody . . .

a day at the beach

The weather was so beautiful last weekend, that we just had to go to the beach. Lucy had a fun time playing in the sand with her brand-new beach toys. All the while, Auntie Linda was trying to bury her foot and toes with sand. ["Wiggly worms . . . "]

Then, she went for a walk down by the water [with Mommy and then with Auntie Linda]. Even though it is only April, She kept putting her feet in the surf. [brrrr]

on the move [part two]

Three days shy of 15 months, Lucy took her first solo steps. It happened so spontaneously that her Daddy and I didn't even realize it had happened at first. We were hanging out and Lucy just side-stepped [about three steps] from the couch to me. I was lying on the floor and said, "Did she just walk over here? She was not holding onto me." As soon as we realized, we broke out in a loud, joyous chorus of "Hip! Hip! Horray!" Which Lucy most enjoyed, and begged for more. We did manage to coerce her to take a few more steps to me, but that was it for the night.

Today, however, Lucy and I played a fun game where she ran from the couch to me and back again. I managed to get a few seconds on tape but filming really is a 2-man job. [Especially, where she wants to see herself in the camera (thus the crying).]



Hopefully, we'll get better footage this weekend.

i outta be in pictures

This past weekend Lucy and her cousins, Genna, Henry, and Vivi, were in their first movie together. And, not a home-movie that their parents took either — it was an educational film.

Auntie Linda and some of her colleagues filmed the kids for a communication in-service. [We really don't fully understand what that means but . . . it's something like, they show the movie to parents who want to improve communication skills with their babies/toddlers. (Right, Linda?)]

Anyhoo, they were all stars and communicated brilliantly. Linda and her crew were very accommodating, and fulfilled all the demands of the rider lists we submitted.

another screaming holiday

As you can see from the series of blogging I have done, it has become increasingly clear that Lucy is not a big fan of holidays or their traditions. [Except, perhaps, Halloween which is Mommy's favorite too].

We spent Easter weekend at Lucy's Uncle Richard's house, in upstate New York — he was kind enough to purchase this cute little bunny suit for her. Since I couldn't get her picture with the Easter Bunny, why not dress her like him instead? [It really is adorable and Lucy only cried for the 20 seconds I put on the hood for her picture.]

Anyhoo, a good time was had by all at our good-old-fashioned Easter [with ham, jelly beans, and snow].

I guess fair's fair — Lucy doesn't like Santa, why would we expect her to like the Easter Bunny?

Happy Birthday GrandMum, Mémé, GramGram, Gama, Grammy . . . !

spring has sprung?

Happy Easter! Happy Spring!

It is spring, right? You'd never know it by the weather we've been having — cold temperatures and SNOW!! Fortunately, Lucy's backyard is lush, green, and cute-critter filled.

Thanks to the help of the image I found on downLoadsofts.com, [I think, created by Pixel-Artistry software] and a few other pictures I borrowed from the internet and embellished, I was able to create a nice place for Lucy's Easter egg hunt.

don't mess with the bee

Watch out, Lucy has been practicing her karate chops.

top o' the mornin'

Happy St. Patrick's Day, from the old sod!

Have bus will travel . . .

nice max

Lucy had a nice play date with Max this afternoon. She did not have a nap today and to say she was a little cranky would be an understatement. Lucy was in no mood for company or sharing. Every time Max tried to play with [or eat, as they case may have been] one of Lucy's dolls, Lucy would yell, grab it away, and slap him on the hand. She also felt that his binky was hers to take as well.

Fortunately, Max was a good sport and I think he'll be back again for another visit.
FYI: Max does not have super-huge hands — it belongs to me.

mystery of science?

Who knew that hairstyles were hereditary? Clearly, Lucy has inherited this beautiful hairstyle as a result of her Auntie Linda's prep work back in 1989. Could it be true that Aqua Net® is transferred genetically?

Either way, to quote Scuttle from The Little Mermaid, "[it's] an esthetically pleasing configuration of hair."

sharing new toys

Lucy and Sebastian had a fun day playing with Lucy's toys — especially, the Fisher-Price farm and school bus that Lucy received for her birthday. Even with these cool toys, the big favorite was the ribbon that came on the package — who knew it made such great toy? [We found that it makes great stuffing for the silo too.] Thank you, Auntie Megan!

Then, when they got bored with that, they plotted their big jail break.
Attica . . . Attica . . .

where are baby's eyes?

Lucy has been practicing and is getting very good at identifying the different body parts.

Good thing this isn't a real baby.

slumber party

We went on an over-night at the cousins'. Lucy had lots of fun with them all. Here are Vivi, Genna, and Lucy all ready for bed.

winter wonderland

Valentine's Day brought quite the snow storm — we got about 4" of snow and ice. It finally warmed up enough today to go out and use the new sled Santa brought Lucy for Christmas. Mommy and Daddy were very excited about sledding and enjoyed themselves immensely — Lucy, not so much.

look who turned one

Lucy celebrated her first birthday with all her friends and family. Here are a few of the attendees [Lucy (the birthday girl), Genna, Vivi, Henry, and Sebastian].

A good time was had by all . . .

it's my party

Apparently, Lucy is not such a big fan of cake . . . good thing Henry likes it.

old friends

Lucy had a play-date with her friend Elizabeth. They haven't seen each other since May, and really enjoyed their time together today. Elizabeth is only 5 months older than Lucy, so I am sure they'll grow up to be fast friends. As you can see, Lucy is already planning on how to do Elizabeth's beautiful red hair.

Lucy's and Elizabeth's Mommys have known each other since they were 4 and 3 years old.

merry christmas

Despite Lucy disobeying Santa's song by pouting and crying [well, screaming was really more like it], he still came to town, and was very good to her.

Hope Santa was good to you too!

party with the cousins

Lucy loves this standing business. As you can see, her true Irish side is showing — they all look like they are bellied-up to the bar having a chat and a cookie.

Vivi, Lucy, and Henry are having great craic at Grampy's.

evil santa?

No wonder the triplets are upset — just look at this guy!

not yet?

Only 5 more days, Lucy.

ho ho oh no

After waiting in line for well over 1.5 hours at the Burlington Mall to see the real Santa [not just one of his helpers like at the other malls], Lucy finally got to sit on Santa's lap. Lucy screamed for the whole 8 seconds she was on his lap — for this, Santa rewarded her with a candy cane.

Poor little Lucy — maybe a smile next year . . .

Happy Birthday, Claire Mary McGowan!

no batteries required

We have a new angel for the top of our Christmas tree.

Energy-efficient and cute to boot!

20 more days . . .

Lucy is getting excited for Christmas. Today she hung her ornament on her very first Christmas tree.

babies are cute

Lucy had a nice visit from her friend, Max [and his Mom]. Although Max is only 5 weeks old, Lucy loved talking to him and would squeal and laugh when he cooed. She also liked looking at him and kept trying to touch his face [easy].

Lucy did get a little territorial when Mommy held him too long.

Gobble. Gobble. Gobble.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Lucy likes her new room

We are finally getting settled in the new house, and Lucy had her first visitor. She showed Sebastian her new room and shared her books with him.

You know, reading is fundamental.

enough

Maybe I have gone a little overboard with picture taking?

on the move

Lucy has finally started crawling with perfect [well, near perfect anyway] form.

I've made a little movie to capture some of her first attempts.

enjoy!



Per You Tube's rules, this one does not include the musical background. You can still see the the original video [in Quicktime] on Lucy's video site.

an urban pumpkin patch

Trick-or-treat!
Happy Halloween!

Hope post-dating is only illegal with check-writing. Don't want to miss Halloween on account of the move.

packin'

We are moving in a week and are getting everything packed. Don't want to forget the baby, so we loaded her up with plenty of toys, Cheerios, and a book to help pass the time.*

*We did not really pack-up the baby to move her — she is out of the box.

happy birthday

Happy 1st Birthday, Genna, Vivi, and Henry!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday Dear Genna, Vivi, and Henry!

Happy Birthday to you!

I had lots of fun at your party.

Love,
Lucy
xo xo xo

say cheese

Lucy went for her 9 month check up today. Her growth has slowed down a bit — she is now in the 50th percentile for weight and 75th percentile for height. The Pediatrician says this is perfectly normal, and Lucy is just settling into her own growth speed. Personally, I think this will make things much easier for guessing her clothing size [nice that she is wearing her age again].

The Pediatrician has also given us the go ahead for table foods. Today for lunch, Lucy had her first taste of cheese [Land O'Lakes white American]. She [as do I] finds it very enjoyable. In addition to the cheese, she has already been enjoying a few other non-baby-specific foods like bananas, yogurt, and of course Cheerios.

corralling babies

We celebrated the triplets' first birthday on Saturday. It was a large party, and everyone was invited, so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to snap a few pictures of all 5 cousins together. [This is something that has never been attempted in the past.] I knew keeping 5 babies sitting still and smiling for 5–10 minutes could be tricky, but I certainly did not expect it to be the huge production that it was.

To capture this historical shot I enlisted the help of seven adults — four to keep the babies sitting, two to capture their attention and make them smile, and one [me] to snap the pictures. Above is the best of the lot — pretty good all considering. However, I think the reject pictures are pretty funny — you can see just how difficult getting this one decent shot was.

You know, I am pretty good with Photoshop, maybe I'll just create one with everyone looking forward and smiling . . .

cousins5 photoshoot

As promised, here are the not so perfect group shots of the Cousins5.








The Cousins5 [in order of appearance] are:
Vivi, Lucy, Cameron, Genna, and Henry.

the many faces of lucy

While Christopher was off exploring the house, Lucy had fun with her new, and not so ambulatory, friend Declan. Being that Lucy is 2 months older, she made sure Declan knew who was calling the shots.

Fortunately, Declan is a good sport and took it all in stride.

fun with boys

Lucy had a playdate today with her friends Christopher and Declan. Lucy got along great with the boys and they all had a fun day. Christopher, who is a little bit older, was able to show Lucy and Declan lots of new, fun things. He showed them how to crawl, creep, whip balls [or any toy within arms reach], swirl out the Cheerios in the bowl, and even play quietly in his playpen. All the babies were so good, and we even had them all napping at the same time for about an hour.

If you can believe it, the moms and aunties actually had some girltime for themselves — a good time was had by all!

o, o, o cheerios

Lucy tried and enjoyed Cheerios for the first time today. She has been eating some finger foods already: Hot-Kid's Baby Mum-Mum and little Gerber fruit puffs and wagon wheels with no trouble. She likes to pick them up and feed herself. [Definitely much more fun than being spoon-fed by someone else.]

I enjoy eating dry Cheerios as a snack, and thought Lucy might too. [Really, what's not to like, they're toasty o's of goodness.] My hunch was correct — she even chose them over the cherry-flavor fruit puffs when they were both placed in front of her. [I can't speak for the other snacks yet — they have not had their own head-to-head contest with Cheerios.]

Spoon-feeding is becoming increasingly more difficult with little miss independent. Sure hope she learns to work the spoon soon. And, I have a feeling she will . . .

road trip

We took Lucy on her first over-night road trip this weekend. We drove three hours out to Saratoga Springs to visit her Grandmum and Uncle Richard. [No, not to go to the track, just to visit family — honestly.]

Lucy was great in the car [both directions]. Fortunately for us, she enjoys car rides and looking out the window at the world passing by. The car is also a great place to nap and she took advantage of that too.

We all had a great time in Saratoga. Lucy played with her Uncle, Grandmum, and Spookly [the square pumpkin, for those of you not in the know]. Lucy gave them lots of waves from across the room, or right next to them, as the case may have been. She was even content sitting on their laps for quite a while before souring.

It was a banner weekend for Lucy.

and old friends

Lucy had a nice playdate with her friend Sawyer. Lucy and Sawyer had a fun day sharing secrets, playing instruments, and chasing bubbles. Sawyer was a little better at actually chasing the bubbles, whereas Lucy just reached out for those that were close to her. Either way, a good time was had by all.

way to go, lucy

Today, I took Lucy to the grocery store and she rode around in the cart like a big girl — sitting up all by herself in the front seat.

Lucy seemed to really enjoy the fact that she was up in the cat-seat and could see all the exciting goings-on at the grocery store. From this perch, she could easily see all the colorful products on the shelves and more importantly, all the colorful shoppers passing by. [People-watching is far more entertaining than any toy could be.]

This will certainly make future shopping experiences much easier. [Well, at least until she realizes that she can reach out and grab the products.]

new friends

Lucy met a new friend, Jack, on a recent visit to Fairhaven. Jack showed Baby Lucy all sorts of fun things. He shared his cash register and highchair with her. He sang her the alphabet, recited her the numbers from 1 to 10 [in English and Spanish — boycotting the 7 in both languages], and he introduced her to Utz honey-wheat pretzel sticks. [Well, his mom may have helped a little with that one — but, either way, she finds them very enjoyable.]

Hopefully we will see more of Jack and his parents when they head north again.

everyone needs a little culture

Lucy visited her first art exhibit at the Peabody Essex Museum today, "Painting Summer in New England." Joe (Self-Portrait) by Brett Bigbee was her favorite painting. [Personally, I found it a little disturbing with the blank stare and unnatural position of his left arm — though the baby is cute enough.] Lucy, however, liked looking at it and tried to get the baby's [who was pretty darn close to life-size] attention by bouncing and waving. Unfortunately, Lucy never did get a reaction from the baby — despite her best efforts.

In addition to flirting with the paintings, Lucy enjoyed interacting with the other exhibit visitors — they were much more responsive, and lots more fun. Plenty of smiles and waves for everyone.

Later on, we actually ran into a museum-goer at dinner. Turns out she used to work with Rob. When Rob brought her over to introduce her to Lucy, she admitted that she had seen Lucy in the museum — loved the curls and smiles.

Lucy loves the social life — don't think she'll ever be a wall-flower.

Joe (Self-Portrait), 1994–99, oil on canvas, 60" x 51", Collection of Seven Bridges Foundation