The Life and Times of Lucy Chase

Dearest Lucy Chase,
You were so good about singing “Happy Day” to your Grandmom a week and a half ago. And you have been practicing singing your name, “Lucy Chase.” Finally, after all that practice, it’s your birthday! We can all sing to (and with) you!

Now you are two (for real), and though you have many years ahead of you, you have already grown so much. Here you are two years ago:

One year ago:

And one day ago:

You are such a little girl, so talkative and energetic and happy! We love you so.

Happy (Birth)Day, Lucy Chase!
Love,
Momma and Daddy

Here’s how Lucy likes to cool off. She’s also fond of standing next to the fan and announcing that she is cooling off her tummy.

Still hot here!

Lucy has taken to calling Justus “Uncle Duck” (with some support and encouragement from all involved parties). It comes out sounding more like “Uck Guck” but is uttered with such affection that it is almost always recognizable. Of course, this fact has become clear during Justus’s recent visit, during which Lucy demonstrated that distance can indeed make the heart grow fonder. For about a week prior to his arrival, Lucy would excitedly tell us how “Uck Guck” was coming to “Cece’s home.” When he arrived in the flesh, she was, at first, a little more reserved, but after a very short warm-up period, she became as attached to him as to just about anyone else (with the exception of Momma, of course). When Justus and I went out to help a friend move, Lucy apparently spent a good deal of time seeking reassurance that Uncle Duck was returning. After he left to return to Philly, she spent a good deal of time happily repeating his name, “Hello! Uck Guck! Hello!”

Also, we must use the term “guys” for generic “things,” because Lucy’s been saying “dees guys” a lot, usually in reference to inanimate objects (though it works for people, dolls, etc, as well). She sounds like she’s from Brooklyn.

It’s a rainy, dreary Monday here. The whole family got up late, and Lucy and I are just finishing our breakfast.

I’m so enjoying our quiet morning. And Lucy FINALLY said milk! Granted Lucy knows lots of words, but for some reason she wouldn’t say milk until this morning. And she said toast too. It’s still so fun to hear her say new words – she knows so many.

And after she was done eating, she pretended to blow bubbles from her spoon. Watching her pretend is just so cool.

Dear Momma,
I’m dictating to Daddy since he’s so bad at writing posts for this blog. I just want to say I love you and Happy Mother’s Day! You are the best momma a girl could ever have. I know I can be tough some days, but you are so so patient with me (even when you think you aren’t). You are so inclusive. I get to come along on so many adventures… like hatching a butterfly:

Or baking:

Or knitting:

You share your love of the world with me every day. I do so enjoy taking you with me to the Children’s Museum, the Aviary, Phipps, the Zoo, the park, and all the other places we go together (especially if there’s ice cream involved).

I really like all the things you make for me. You are so good at knitting and sewing. Creative and practical – two things I will certainly be as I get older! You’re already helping me get there with all the painting, crayons, markers, bathtub crayons, and sidewalk chalk.

I love you, Momma. Thanks for putting up with me when I’m fussy, cranky, clingy, screechy, “no”-y, bite-y, and/or otherwise unpleasant. You are so good to me; I’m one lucky kiddo – all around.

Happy Mother’s Day!
I love you,
Lucy

PS. Daddy says Happy Mother’s Day, and he loves you, too.

Lucy has been working on her colors and talking up a storm! Blue came first, so she’ll often tell you things are blue when they aren’t. But, if it is blue, she definitely knows. Last week she picked up yellow and green. I can’t really do justice to the way she says both colors. Something like “lello” and “gaween”. Adorable!

Lucy also seems to be practicing being 2 so that she’s ready when next month rolls around. She says “NO” a lot, and she can bounce from being happy to being really mad/crying so quickly. I’m trying to keep up!

But now we’re off to the bookstore for story time, then a special treat of pizza and cuppycakes. Yum!

Lucy is enjoying her rocking “horse” and eagerly awaiting a visit from her Grandmommy and Granddad (Mom and Dad as she calls them)! Momma is procrastinating on the cleaning up for the visit.

Happy Friday everyone.

Today is another sunny, spring day in Pittsburgh! Lucy and I got to head over to Eben’s old neighborhood for some coffee (or hawa as Lucy calls it) for me and some socializing for both of us. We had a nice little walk with friends from the Hip Mamas group – including two pairs of twins! And then we went to Dozen. It ended up being about 11:30, so Lucy and I decided to stay for lunch. As soon as we got there, Lucy requested ba-ba cheese, which as everyone knows is mac n’ cheese. Dozen’s mac n’ cheese is very very good. So that is what we got, along with a molasses cookie.

While we waited for the ba-ba cheese to be ready, Lucy and I had a conversation. We talk a lot these days, and while you have to fill in some blanks, she is very effective at communicating. Here’s how it went:

A bus drove by.
Lucy: “Bus. Dada. Bus. Shoes.”
Momma: “You’re right, Daddy takes a bus to go to work. And he has to put on his shoes to take the bus.”
Lucy: “Ba-ba cheese. Cookie. Wawa.”
Momma: “Are we waiting for your mac n’ cheese?”
Lucy: “Yesh.”
Momma: “Are we eating cookie and drinking water while we wait?”
Lucy: “Yesh.”
Momma: “After nap, do you want to go to the Children’s Museum?”
Lucy: “Yesh, yesh, yesh.” [points to her wrist and then to Momma's wrist because you get a wristband at the Children's Museum]
And so it continued.

I’m sure the other patrons at Dozen thought I was a little bit nutty for the conversation I was having with my not-quite two year old. But, it really was an entire conversation. Lucy is so decisive about what she wants and likes, and it’s so clear that she really understands what I am saying and what she is saying.

On the way back to the car, we sang the “A,B,C Song”. Super cool!

I’m pretty sure I can’t remember all the words she can say now, but here’s a list off the top of my head:

water (wawa), tea, juice, coffee (hawa), banana (nana), cookie, cracker, pine nut, peas, date, apple, naan, pizza, mac-and-cheese (ba-ba cheese), please, thank you, yes m’am, no, yes, toes (we-wees), nose, eyes, baby, Ellie, Emma, Avery, Joe, Beth, Jana (Nana), Momma, Daddy, cat (meow-meow), dog (woof-woof-woof), pee, poop/poopy, diaper (ba-ba), up, down, in, out, on, off, one, two, three, “a”, “b”, “c”, “p”, “f”, car, bus, house, shoe, home, park, Ernie, Elmo, train (choo-choo), ball, owl, duck, bee, mouse, moose, goose, airplane (meoooow), help, hop, go, peek-a-boo (ba-pooh), me, Lucy (Lu), hi, bye, popsicle (pop-pop), why, nice, that, hug, jump, wow, whee, snow, glasses (gahs), guy, you, tattoo

Lucy says so many words now! We can’t even keep track.

It’s been awhile since our last substantive post, but that doesn’t mean that Lucy hasn’t been growing like weed – a very cute, spirited, dance-y weed. After our excellent impromptu visit to Phipps in mid-December, we did some traveling (to Winchester for Christmas and to Maine for New Year’s), learned about not one but two Goose-cousins coming soon, weathered a major snow storm, and marked Lucy’s 20 month birthday.

It was great to see Grandmommy, Granddad, Aunt Bethany, Uncle Joe, Great Granny, and the whole family in Winchester and Frederick. Lucy enjoyed Christmas and seemed to “get” the morning festivities and unwrapping. The news of Lucy’s soon-to-be cousin was one of the biggest surprises!

In Maine, we had a great time celebrating Great Grandpa’s 90th birthday, which was also accompanied by news of another cousin for Lucy (this time from Uncle James and Aunt Emily). Next Summer will be full of excitement for sure.

Lucy spent some quality time with Bampa (now Bampa Wa-wool?) and Bamma (now Bamma Meow-meow?) as well as G.G. Bop, who managed to give a gift that combined the two animals that Lucy consistently recognized (at the time): the Owl and the Pussycat.

Snow gave Lucy an opportunity to go sledding for the first time with Grammy Peg, Aunt Jana (Nana!), Uncle Justus, and Julie.

Sleep was a little harder for Lucy with all the excitement of travel, so we resorted to napping with her toward the end of the trip… which led to some cute pics:

On our way out of town, we stopped to see Cecile and Zoé for quick visit. Hopefully, we’ll be able to see them a little more (and Taylor too) in the Summer.

It was a great trip. We really enjoyed getting some extended time with all the grandparents. Many, many more photos are up on Flickr.

Starting February 5th, we had days upon days of snow. The whole East Coast got slammed, and Pittsburgh was no exception. A friend told me that this was the worst storm Pittsburgh had had in 15 years, and I heard elsewhere that we got as much (or more) snow in the month of February than the annual average for a full winter! Needless to say, we had a few snow-days, and Lucy got to spend some serious quality time in the snow. It’s a good thing she got to practice up in Maine!

Despite having a gutter pulled down by ice, we have (so far) escaped without any major mishaps. We had a bit more snow this past Friday, but all-in-all, things seem to be clearing up. Many more photos of Snowpocalypse are on Flickr (I’ve also heard “Snowmageddon,” though some have said it’s “snoverrated”).

Snow-bound or not, Lucy has continued to blow us away with her constant development. She now says “Please” and “Thank you” in the correct contexts (mostly). No matter how distracted or exasperated I get (when she’s throwing her dinner on the floor, for instance), her cheery “thank you, Dada” never ceases to snap me right back into shape. If she can thank me so nicely, surely I can pull myself together to deal with a little spilled milk.

The Goose has also really taken to music, even more than before. She now goes once a week to a Music Together class, which I had the pleasure of attending on a day off from work. Lucy participates enthusiastically, but throughout the week between classes, we’ve noticed little refrains or dances from class making their way into her day-to-day vocal and physical vocabulary. Plus, she just likes to dance (here with a stuffed mouse)!

In amidst all the frozen precipitation, Lucy had her 20-month birthday. And now, she’s 3 months and 8 days shy of turning 2 years old! How time flies. Already, I find my internal perception of her isn’t keeping up with her growth. I’m still turning the corner from seeing her as a baby to thinking of her as a toddler, when in reality she is quickly becoming a true little girl. I can barely contain my pride.

As always, many more pictures are available on Flickr: here, here, here, and here