You'll feel yourself getting sleepy....

If cute isn't barf running down your chin while you indulge in a well-earned nap, well...I don't know what it is.

Christmas 2009 - The Year of the Plague.


Lucy looooooooooooves Grandpa...it's true.

And I buy toys why?

For Christmas, Lucy got an Exersaucer, some toys for her car seat, a teddy bear and two fluffy ("chewable") books. It turns out we should have just given her one of Aunt Caroline's old airline ticket stubs that's been used as a bookmark for the past two years.

Lucy is a contortionist.

Lucy started rolling over about two weeks ago and since then she's been on the fast track towards a career with either an acrobatic troupe or a sideshow. If we lay her down on the floor, she spends most of the time contorting herself into a pretzel to try to roll over while facing us while also rolling the other way. It's crazy. She will also turn ALL the way around while we try to feed her in order to see the TV. Whatever you do, don't interrupt her stories!!!

Lucy is...um...still confused

Some of Lucy's loyal fans might remember a few weeks ago when we mentioned that she was a bit...confounded...by the Johnny Jump-Up. Specifically, the jumping part seemed to be a problem. As this picture shows, the problem has really only gotten worse, if anything. Don't worry, no babies were harmed in the making of this blog post, and Lucy is always fully supervised in the jumper-thingie-majigger.


EYELASHES!!!!

My drool...let me show you it!


Seriously, please...no pictures. I AM NOT AN ANIMAL IN A ZOO!

Lucy loves to get dressed up.

Even though most days I can barely get a shower and comb my hair, Lucy somehow manages to always be well dressed for the occasion at hand. In this case, Lucy wore a special dress her Grandma Linda bought her to the family Thanksgiving celebration. The dress even has bloomers! What girl doesn't love bloomers?

You can tell this isn't our house because it's clean and the couch doesn't have barf all over it. Yay babies!

Lucy is very musical.

Well, maybe not musical per se - but she does love her puffy Elmo book, complete with sound effects. Over the weekend she really started to get into turning the pages back and forth all by herself. Next thing you know she'll be rolling her eyes at everything I say and borrowing the car to "go to the library".

Lucy has shows.

I know I shouldn't let Lucy chew on the remote control...but...it's just so cute. I probably won't think that when she chews up my phone, or an electric cord, or sticks the remote in the blender or something. Oh well, there's always tomorrow to establish better habits, right?

Lucy is having a very busy day.

We are celebrating Thanksgiving later today with Brian's family - so Lucy gets to stay in her pajamas all day until it's time to put on her special Thanksgiving dress and go over to Uncle Scott's. In the meantime, she's doing all manner of baby activities, including pulling Daddy's lips off, yanking on her ear (a new thing she's just starting to get the hang of), napping, and giving us big toothless smiles. Pretty much a day in the life of Lucy.

Lucy has skillz.

If Lucy approaches everything she does in life with even HALF the concentration that she summons while trying to shove her entire fist in her mouth, she might rule the world one day. Just sayin'.

Not for those with a weak stomach...

This is what happens when you play the "Airplane Game" about 10 minutes after Lucy eats. The good news is that, even though I laughed so hard I almost peed my pants, I had the presence of mind to break out the camera and take a picture. Lucy got great coverage - Brian, the couch, the floor, and even some clean clothes that we had folded on top of the bookcase...good job kiddo!!

Lucy is feeling sluggish

OK, bad pun. It's been pouring down rain for...oh...about 40 days and 40 nights, and the slugs have started to invade the house. It's so gross. The other night we found three right by the door that goes into the backyard, and have found several other ones making solo self-rescue missions on other days. I almost stepped on one the other night in my bare feet - puke.


Since I don't want to leave you with gross pictures of our slimy sluggy invaders - I thought I would instead leave you with a series of pictures of Lucy chewing on her arm and hands. The pacifier has become a distant second to her own hand, or my hand, or my phone, or...really...anything she can fit into her mouth that is dirty and/or easily destroyed by spit.

Lucy might like this. Or not.

In our never-ending attempt to entertain Lucy, Brian and I are constantly coming up with new stunts. Recently, I discovered that if I blow in Lucy's face, she thinks it's kind of funny. But, as these pictures show...sometimes she doesn't think it's funny. Basically, she has all of these feelings all at the same time. I wonder if she does this just to mess with us.

Lucy has the longest eyelashes in America.

If there was an Olympic sport of Eyelash Growing, Lucy would win the gold medal. People often stop us and comment on how crazy long her eyelashes are...and I thought this picture showed them off nicely. What a cute baby!

Learning how to fly.

In our neverending attempt to keep Lucy happy and entertained, Brian has recently taken up flying her through the air...either as a plane or a rocketship depending on the day. Lucy seems somewhat amused by these antics, but also a little bit confused...I think she's more amused at how excited Brian gets about the whole thing.

Tomorrow starts Lucy's second week with Julie. We're all very excited that it's going so well and that Mommy can go back to work with something at least approaching peace of mind. I told Julie I was going to take her picture next week to put it up on the website, so she can be famous...like Lucy!

So mean. Funny, but mean.

Lucy started daycare this week on Monday with her new babysitter, Julie. Julie is totally awesome and loves babies like...well...like it's her job. Every day, when I get there to pick Lucy up, Julie is holding her, or singing to her, or they are playing with the other little boy that Julie watches. When we get home, Lucy just seems so content, and frankly, so tired. I think with all the playing, songs, walks, and other activities, she's just plum tuckered out by the time she gets home. Being in daycare is pretty much a full-time job apparently.

These pictures are worth AT LEAST 1,000 words - and all of them are "Mommy, you're so mean to do this to me!" But, look at how relaxed she is! I think daycare agrees with her.

Family Halloween weekend

Grandma and Grandpa Dietz came to Seattle this weekend to visit Lucy and hang out with her on Halloween. Lucy loved having four extra arms to hold her and play with her, and I think she charmed Grandma and Grandpa pretty thoroughly.

My mom is doing so great after her aneurysm (in May). She is still working through some fatigue as she continues to heal, but in every other way she is doing fabulous and we are so happy and blessed that she's able to come up and visit Lucy and be a part of her life.

Lucy didn't get too excited about Halloween, but we thought she looked pretty cute in her peapod costume. Brian took her out trick-or-treating at the neighbor's house and got his first candy bar procured through baby exploitation. I think next year she'll be a lot more into the whole thing since she'll be walking and whatnot.

Next up: Thanksgiving, then Christmas. Thanksgiving will be here with Brian's family, then we'll be heading to Grants Pass for a week to spend Christmas with my parents. They say after you have a baby you don't go on vacation, you take trips. So...we're looking forward to our Christmas trip to Oregon.