Lucy has a chair.

We recently purchased Lucy her very own chair, just the right size and (coincidentally) it appears to match her pajamas. If you just sort of let your eyes go out of focus, like one of those 3D paintings at the mall, she actually disappears.

In this picture, we can all appreciate Lucy's excellent form. A perfect "10" from the East German judge, and no blood was shed in the dismount...this time.


Here Lucy is appreciating the finer points of Sesame Street...she loves her soaps before bed. What will Elmo do next??

Lucy loves her purse. She loves it so much in fact that she will often hang off the edge of the chair, sort of scraping her hand around the carpet as far as she can reach, trying to find the purse and pull it up onto the chair with her. Sometimes the purse isn't there, and she's stuck with a big handful of hair and some broken goldfish crackers. Something to put in the purse later!

I just like this picture. Lucy is getting very good at handing you just about anything you ask for. Hand me the ball! Hand me the blanket! Hand me the remote and a martini! She's so earnest.

Lucy enjoyed the last day of summer.

I know what you're about to ask, and the answer is "No, she hasn't said Mama yet."

Lucy had a very long day.

And tomorrow, weather permitting, we're going pumpkin picking, so she might just sleep until Tuesday after a day of petting zoos, corn mazes, and picking her very own Halloween pumpkin!

A day in the life of Lucy...

Lucy is a VERY busy baby. In the course of an ordinary day, Lucy has the events that she simply must attend to - such as naps, diaper changes, sippy cups, snacks, and bath time. But, even though her schedule is very full, she finds lots of time for mischief in all of its various forms.

If all you ever looked at was this picture, you would think Lucy was the most sweet and innocent baby in the world - sugar and spice and everything nice! But....

...just when you're sitting there thinking about how cute and sweet she is, totally lost in your own thoughts and not expecting anything terrible to happen, she would stand up on the ottoman, shriek with delight, and launch herself directly at you, whether you are ready to catch her or not. Repeat 400+ times per day.


Sometimes, Lucy starts to feel a touch of cabin fever. Why let artificial boundaries like doors and locks separate you from the big world outside, full of awesome things like rocks, bugs, sticks, strangers, asphalt, speeding cars, rabid dogs? You guys - there could be FIRE out there! Or poison! YOUR HUMAN LOCKS WILL NOT CONTAIN ME!

If you'd like to join the Free Lucy campaign, she's taking donations through Paypal.


After an hour or so of wrangling with the locked door and finally giving up (or so we think)...Lucy turns to wreaking havoc with her indoor toys. In this picture, you can see Lucy trying desperately to shove a plastic rolling pin into the frunk on her plastic car. Thank the good lord above for plastic...the only substance on earth that is (so far) immune to Lucy's destructive powers.


After a full day of Lucy the Baby Destroyer fun-filled activities, Lucy reverts back to her MOST favorite activity - climbing up and down on the couch, laughing her head off the whole time. The only thing that could make this better is if the couch was on fire.

Lucy isn't sure about this whole "bee" idea.

You can have your antenna headband back thankyouverymuch.

Lucy USED to trust me...also makes bee noises

Lucy LOVES to dance. When we ask if she wants to dance, she normally runs over to the radio and turns it on - but we still have to go over and push "play" if there's a CD in the player. Yesterday I was urging Lucy to perform the above mentioned trick for the camera, and she was apparently feeling a little bit of trepidation...until I urged her to just go for it. And...well, you'll see what happens to little girls who trust their mothers.



In this one, we are teaching Lucy to say "bzzzzzzzzzzzz" because she's going to be a bumblebee for Halloween. She's doing great!!

Lucy has a personal chef....

Chef Boyardee! Yeah, that's right...I feed my kid spaghetti-o's! She loves them and I don't have the energy to feel guilty. I'm just glad she's not licking the toilet brush or eating light bulbs. Also, take notice of her superb spoon handling skills - BABY GENIUS!

Lucy will put you in her purse.

One of Lucy's favorite toys right now is a purse that Grandma Linda gave her for her first birthday. I'm not usually one to jump into the nature vs. nurture debate - but I do NOT carry a purse over my shoulder at all. Ever. So, what I'm saying is - Lucy does not see me slinging my purse over my shoulder like this on a regular basis. I'm not sure that's exactly scientific evidence that purse carrying is located on the X-chromosone, but I'm leaning towards "nature" on this one.

Things that Lucy carries in her purse: goldfish crackers, remote controls, Elmo cell phone, puzzle pieces, socks, and books.

Things that Lucy would definitely carry in her purse if I would let her: fire, poison, toxic cleaning products, toilet brushes, dirty diapers, rocks, and half-chewed peanut butter crackers.

And, for those of you counting such things, Lucy says the following words: Mama (OK, I'm totally making this up - but she will SOON!), Dada (Sigh), Daaaa (duck and dog), Uh-oh, E-O (Elmo), EIEIO, and Dat (That). She also blows kisses, which is ridiculously cute.

Lucy will give you a kiss!

Lucy has recently learned to give kisses - she's very good at it and often includes a side order of slobber - FOR FREE!

Another thing Lucy loves is sitting on the couch. I'm positively certain that our habits have nothing to do with Lucy's absolute conviction that the couch is made of magic (*looks away in shame*). Once she's on the couch, she can do one of two things: 1) climb off backwards - ie: get down safely; or (see below)...

2) JUMP OFF RIGHT ON YOUR HEAD! So, yeah. Often, Lucy will be up on the couch and Brian or I will be sitting on the floor talking to her...like, "Oh Lucy, you're so sweet! Are you such a sweet baby girl?? You are a sweet baby!!" And then she's like "AAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH" and she launches herself directly onto our face like Alien, laughing like a maniac the entire time. HAHAHAHAHA - nothing is funnier than breaking Mommy's nose!! RIGHT? (sidenote...see those little bottom teeth??)
I'm convinced that the last thing I'll see before I black out and die from my nose bone being shoved into my brain is this:

Lucy is a very good helper.

Brian and I long ago decided that it would be best for our marriage if he does the handyman projects and I watch/bring iced tea/leave the room as quickly as possible if things start to go bad. Lucy is still innocent though, and given her extreme love of all things Daddy, she LOVES to help him with his projects around the house. I tried to warn her, but she wouldn't listen and so far they seem to be getting along swimmingly.

As much as we loved our previous make-shift fireplace gate, which was made of colored plastic, it had a number of serious flaws. 1)Lucy figured out how to move it and go behind it to TOUCH TOUCH TOUCH the fireplace about 3 milliseconds after she started walking, and 2)since it was made out of plastic...it had a tendency to be slightly melty when we actually used the fireplace, which seriously cut down on our ability to warm out house since the fireplace is our only source of heat.

Today, Brian and his faithful assistant put up a new and improved gate. Not only does it look better, it is reportedly heat-proof and it is bolted to the wall - Lucy the Destroyer-proof (or whatever).

PS: Please don't mind the hair. I'm feeding her lots of vitamins and hope that someday it will grow out enough to be fixed by a professional. Sigh.

Lucy is delighted with the menu.

We took Lucy to the Seattle Aquarium this weekend. The fish were...OK. The Mexican food for lunch? FANTASTIC!!! Also, contrary to what people will tell you - forks are PERFECTLY SAFE for 1-year olds. That's why she has two eyes!


I don't even remember what was going on when I snapped this picture - but Lucy looks dubious and Brian looks like Sigourney Weaver in Alien - LOOK WHAT JUST GNAWED ITS WAY OUT OF MY CHEST!!

Lucy did enjoy looking at all the fishes - she even said "fish" once! I think this picture sets off her perfectly uneven bangs very nicely. Sigh.

After our outing to Dairy Queen in July, we weren't sure Lucy would be up for her very own ice cream cone. BOY WERE WE WRONG! I have to admit - this development warms my heart. If I can get her to read US Magazine while eating Ben and Jerry's and watching Wipeout - my work on this planet will pretty much be done.

Lucy says "Uh-oh", dances and waves goodbye.

This video is 4 minutes long - which might be firmly into Grandparents-only territory. Lucy was at her prime tonight though. Around the 2min 30sec mark, she does her "Stomping Dance" which is something she just picked up over the past few days and which we find particularly enchanting. Thank goodness we don't have downstairs neighbors!

I know I've been remiss in my blogging duties lately. The combination of a holiday weekend, a sailing trip with Brian, and a crappy computer have proven to much for this blogger. I promise to be back in force this week!