Big girl!

YOUR BABY IS 82 WEEKS OLD Toddlers are becoming more and more independent: For the most part they can use a spoon without spilling much. They also love getting undressed by themselves and unzipping, and are thrilled to “brush” their teeth (which, at this age, usually means chewing on the toothbrush; your toddler needs help with the actual cleaning). Most 19-month-olds are starting to respond with words (rather than actions) when people speak to them.

She's definitely becoming independent!
Lucy loves to use her own spoon and/or fork (and likes to choose which color utensil and which color plate or bowl she will be using at meal time!) and doesn't accept help much, but she does do a pretty good job!  I'm definitely not about to retire the bibs (or SprayNWash!) anytime soon but she gets more food into her mouth than not!

Luckily she does still let me help her get dressed (and undressed) but it's true that she loves zipping and unzipping!  And she's into helping me choose her clothes (and mine!  On Saturday, I said, "Mommy needs to find a shirt..." and she said, "Purple!"  I picked out a shirt that was not purple and asked her if it was okay and she just kept repeating "Purple!" until I chose a purple shirt to wear...) and gets very opinionated.  I shared this on Facebook but it's worth reposting:

On Thursday she was a bit under the weather...she hadn't slept much on Tuesday night or Wednesday night and overnight Wednesday, she had a fever.  Early Thursday morning it was still hanging around so we decided she's spare Cooper and stay home...Daddy stayed home from work in the morning and then Mommy came home so Daddy could go to work.
She had been sniffly and sneezy and congested so I knew she had a cold and wasn't planning to take her to the doctor but then we learned her friend Claire Bear had hand/foot/mouth so we figured we'd better get Lala checked out since she had plans for her cousins to come over that night.  When I got home from work, it was time to get Lucy dressed and head to Pediatric Associates...she picked out a one-piece fleece outfit but as soon as I got it on her, she was pulling at it, wanting it off.  I took it off and she headed over to the bins of clothes that are out of season and/or too small and pulled out these Capri pants...I explained to her that it was too cold...I explained to her that they were too small...my girl was not taking no for an answer!  She let me pick the shirt so I did my best to match but she picked the shoes and socks - she looked ridiculous...ridiculously cute!

We brush her teeth every night and she knows Mommy goes first, but then it's her turn...so she lets me brush her top teeth and her bottom teeth but then she's in charge of brushing her tongue, which makes her smile!

She's still stubborn about people she will talk to but she's also gotten more vocal.  Her new word is "no" and while we're sure it will get old and frustrating, for now it's pretty funny...like last night at bath time:
Me - Lucy, it's bath time...are you ready?
Lucy - No!
Dave - (laughing from the living room)

For now she continues to only say one word at a time and has yet to really string 2 or more words together (except when she's singing!), though it has happened a time or two.

Lucy loves talking on the phone!  She's always holding one of her play phones up to her ear saying "Hello?" and now when we ask who she's talking to, she totally gets it and answers us.  Sometimes when Dave isn't home, she tells me she's talking to Daddy but her most frequent caller seems to be my dad...almost every time we ask her who she's talking to, she tells us "pawpaw!"  She knows about the real phone, too, and knows voices...last night I was talking to my mom on speaker phone when she came through the room and smiled and said "NanNan!"

So after we fought over what she was going to wear, Lucy and I went to see Dr. Reidy.  It was our first time meeting him.  He was alright but he was no Dr. deBuys...

She did a little reading and a little snacking (she's signing "more" in the fourth picture) while we waited for the doc...but once he came in, she was ready to go!  She is still not a fan of a doc looking in her ears, nose or mouth and she let him know it...but he said she had a cold but looked just fine otherwise.  Whew!

We had a book to return to the library so I let her go - until she melted down when another kid sat down too close to her...time to go!  I couldn't be mad at her because I knew she was sleepy and not feeling her best but the kid's poor mom was pretty confused, "What happened?  What did he do?"  I assured her he'd done nothing wrong and got my grump the heck out of there!

When we got home, though, her frown had turned upside down and she was ready to play so we took advantage of the sunny afternoon for 20 minutes or so:

Soon, though, it was time for lunch and a nap.  And after we woke up, it was almost time for cousins Alli and baby P to come visit!  Aunt Jessi and Uncle Craig both had to work so we had friends for a few hours:

The girls had a lot of fun together - playing outside in the backyard on the swingset and at the water table and at the park across the street.  They also bonded over a love for spaghetti at dinner (though I think Lucy may have eaten more than Alli!) but there was also a little bit of friction - turns out these cousins have very similar tastes in toys and each always felt the need to play with what the other one had!  All in all, though, it was a fun time and we're looking forward to doing it again this Thursday!


On Saturday Lucy and I met up with Auntie Ema and my cousin (in law) Amy, and Lucia, to do the Cincinnati Walks for Kids...we ran into Uncle John who took our pic for us:



The little girlies!

 GranJan had warned us that it was a pretty cold day and told us to bundle up so we sent her this pic to prove we did:

Lucy loved wearing her pirate hat but typically won't wear hats...she agreed to wear this hood all day, though, which made me happy but also really surprised me!

She would not have minded sleeping in a bit more that morning but we had to get moving so once we were at the walk and ready to go, she was feeling pretty sleepy and her lights went out...she still earned her ribbon, though!

Once the walk was over, we got lunch and played a little but quickly decided to get out of there because the sun never came out and it never did warm up:

Lala loves collecting rocks...

That evening, Lucy and I spent the night apart, for only the second time since she's been born.  The first was back in June when I had to go up to Chicago for work...I went to work on a Monday and came home from work normal time on Tuesday...so it was as if I'd met a friend for dinner on Monday and got home after Lucy's bedtime, which is something that occasionally happens...but it was the first time me and my baby hadn't slept in the same house (or hospital room!) and this Saturday night was the second time.  I went to Louisville to celebrate my friend Stacy's bachelorette status, which is soon expiring...Lucy stayed home with her dad and they had a date night - they went to Homecoming!  He said they got their picture taken and I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE IT!  She was a hit in her leopard-print dress, stomping around int her dress shoes and running around through the streamers and hogging all of the big kids' attention.

When I finally saw my girl on Sunday evening, I was so happy!  And so was she!  We missed each other!  But we both had fun while we were apart.
She was in a very silly mood last night which was lots of fun.
And though we argued about it for a moment, it was soon bath time.  Almost every night before bath, I undress her and she takes her diaper off and I ask her if she has to go potty.  I sit her on the potty and she stays there for a few seconds before we start bath time.  Last night I let Dave do that part while I started filling the tub but he called for me to tell me...
She was actually peeing on her potty!!!!!