Thursday, December 23, 2010

December Daily :: Daily 21

This little puppy provided a few welcomed moments of distraction while waiting for our delayed flight from San Francisco to Atlanta. The puppy didn't love Lucca near as much as she loved him. Or maybe he didn't love being squished in a duffle bag for hours. The good news is Lucca was a good girl on the LOOONG flight, despite our epic fail of bringing a dead laptop that had all her shows loaded on it. She didn't sleep a wink on the flight - but what's new?

Monday, December 20, 2010

December Daily :: Day 20

Christmas is right around the corner! You know how I know? Because it's Monday morning and Daddy didn't go into work until 11AM! We had a nice family morning down at our coffee shop and then we walked along the Sausalito waterfront to look at all the boats - one of our favorite things to do. Lucca loved how the boats were decorated for Christmas...lots of lights and ornaments to see.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Saturday, December 18, 2010

December Daily :: Day 18

Lucca helping Pops hang a wreath on our house.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

December Daily :: Day 14

My little (right-handed) artist loving an early Christmas present.

December Daily :: Day 13

Tickling her own armpits (& cracking up). Yep, this is definitely my daughter.

Does life get better?

Sunday, December 12, 2010

December Daily :: Day 12

Today we celebrated an early Christmas with Grammie & Pops...so fun! Lucca did great unwrapping the presents and giving us reactions we all hoped for. Christmas is a thousand times better when you have kids (and I thought I loved Christmas before!).


Today was extra special because we also received our very first gifts for our BABY BOY on the way. Thanks Mom and Dad! Let the fun begin :)

December Daily :: Day 11

Feeding the ducks in Folsom




Friday, December 10, 2010

December Daily :: Day 10

And the Christmas spirit continues...

Lucca is one lucky lady! Today she got a special delivery from Mimi & Papa - her very own pink suitcase! Filled with Christmas goodies of course. She's been wheeling this thing all over the house, and even asked if we would put it in her bed!! um, no. You will not be sleeping with your new suitcase, Lucca. Here she is - trying to figure out how to get the suitcase in the crib :)

Thursday, December 9, 2010

December Daily :: Day 9

Lucca LOVES wearing mommy's Uggs. Can't blame the girl!

But Daddy, please buy mommy a new pair for Christmas - these poor boots have seen their better days.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

December Daily :: Day 8

Bedtime snuggles with Daddy after another very long day.

Also, can someone tell my husband Movember is over???

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

December Daily :: Day 7

Yippee - more early Christmas presents! Lucca was so excited today to get a box of Christmas books from Grammie. Lucca LOVES books!!! She's smiling so big here you can't even tell she's sick. We both came down with something yucky, and had a rough day, including no nap -- my worst nightmare.

Thanks Grammie for the surprise...it made for a bright spot this afternoon!

Monday, December 6, 2010

December Daily :: Day 6

Helping Mommy untangle the Christmas lights

Sunday, December 5, 2010

December Daily :: Day 5

The Calm after the Storm

Whew! Bedtime! Today was not so merry & bright. You gave me a glimpse of a toddler tantrum and I would be content to never experience that again. To set the scene: we had a very rainy Sausalito day, a skipped nap, and a dead car battery. Once the car was fixed, you decided you did indeed want a nap, only it was too late in the day to let you sleep for long. When I woke you up, you were not happy.

We got in the car to go to the grocery store and discovered our stereo system needs to be re-programmed after the battery situation. To get the code, we have to physically go to Land Rover. You do not understand this. You want to hear "I'm a Little Teapot" NOW!!! The tears begin. The screaming begins. "Teapot, teapot, teapooooot" you shout. I figure once we get to the store you will be just fine, for this is certainly not my girl. I get you in the cart and the tears start falling again. You can't communicate what you want, but you are mad. I put a few things in the cart before realizing we needed to get out of that store asap. As soon as we got back in the car, you begged for the teapot song again. My singing wasn't cutting it. Pandora on the iPhone wasn't cutting it. Nothing was making you happy...Until we got home and let you watch Sesame Street. I've never been so happy to see Elmo in all my life. Dinner plans failed, and a Domino's pizza was ordered.

First stop tomorrow? Land Rover dealership.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Friday, December 3, 2010

December Daily :: Day 3

We ran into "Oliver Twist" today while Christmas shopping at The Village. This jolly green elf made Lucca a purple puppy dog balloon and she was amazed. And then she wanted to take every other balloon animal he made for all the other kids. We came home with more balloon animals than we did Christmas gifts, but such is life when shopping with a toddler...

Thursday, December 2, 2010

December Daily :: Day 2

After a long day, here we are reading our bedtime story by the fire.

"Sweet dreams little kitty, Rock-a-bye and nighty night.

Sweet dreams little bunny, Big hugs and sleep tight.

Sweet dreams little puppy, Love and kisses, good night."

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

25 Days of Christmas

December Daily
Day 1 of 25
(Heidi's Christmas Tree lot in Novato)

It's December, my favorite month! We will be taking a December Daily photo of Lucca for the first 25 days of December to capture the 2010 Christmas season and all it's magic. The goal is to make a scrapbook out of these photos, and to make this a fun tradition for years to come.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Lil' Gourmet Chef

Lucca's Christmas started early this year! Her first present just arrived from Mimi...a new kitchen! She has been busy all morning making noo-noo's, cookies, soup, pizza, bread and pancakes. What a healthy diet!

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Venting

How annoying are other moms? Today at gymnastics, we had to deal with a few of my not-so-favorite types of moms. If your kid is too old for class, MOVE THEM TO THE NEXT AGE CLASS. Instead, don't let your bully run over the little tots and kick them in the face. And then when they do kick a 1.5 year old in the face, don't make excuses for your kid and tell me "it was just a gentle tap" when my child is sobbing with a red welt on her face. Then, don't proceed to try to make everything better by telling me how much you just love my daughter's name and how adorable her outfit is. Really.

Also, is it just me or does every single mother think their child is "sooo coordinated" when they can handle a ball at 2 years old? Newsflash: every 2 year old likes playing with balls. This does not mean you are raising the next Pele, nor do you need to brag to the rest of us, whose children also can run and jump and kick and throw balls.

I can't even wait til I meet the REAL soccer moms. This is going to get fun!

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Plague, be gone

Well, we can cross 1st barf off the list. And 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 9th, 10th, etc...

What an eventful few days it's been. Trying to block it all out of my memory, but let's just say I won't be serving Lucca green peas for a verrrrry long time. Also - very much regretting not taking Lucca in sooner for the beloved flu vaccine. BUT, very thankful I got vaccinated and did not get this terrible bug that also took down Rustin. All 6'3" of him.

Valuable lessons learned:
1) I'm super-human/moms are superhuman
2) I don't need sleep
3) Moms don't get breaks. Ever.

Good times around here!

Thursday, October 28, 2010

My heart is full.


Some days are better than others, and that's just how it is.

Today was one of those days. A day where I find myself so very thankful to be able to stay home with my girl and treasure all the sweet & simple moments of these precious days.

It was just an ordinary Thursday really, but I'd like to remember the details. This post is more for me than you, but then again they all are :)

After sleeping 12 glorious hours, Lucca woke up this morning and asked Daddy to cook her a waffle and put it in her pink bowl. And that's exactly what he did. After breakfast, she grabbed all her different colored straws (her obsession at the moment), and we played the "Pick a color" game. Side note: Mothers, go to Bed Bath & Beyond and buy a bag of colored bendy straws for HOURS of tot entertainment.

We all got back in bed for more cuddles, and Lucca showed off her greatest "move" ... jumping up in the air and landing on her bottom. This makes us all laugh, and we watch her do it every morning. She thinks it's pretty cool, and actually, it is. Then we went as a family to the coffee shop and enjoyed lattes before sending Dad off to work.

Lucca and I went to story time at the Mill Valley library and she was so good. We sang songs and listened to the stories and sat still the entire time (!!!). She loved the songs, and would stand up to dance & clap each time we sang. After the library, we went to Cafe del Soul and picked up a Thai chicken wrap to share. We came home, ate lunch, and Lucca told me she was ready for nigh-nigh. She told me to put her down for a nap. I LOVE this stage.

After nap, I took Lucca to the Village. As we always do, we threw money in the fountain and squealed "blip" each time it hit the water. Mimi taught this to Lucca and it stuck. We hit up Pottery Barn Kids to play with the kitchen set, vacuum and dolls. Then, it was off to the kids museum. Mom fail: when we got there, it was closing, but instead of crying (as I anticipated) Lucca just kept saying "closed" as if she understood and was cool with it. WHAT?! This is her favorite place! So instead, we went down by the water and watched the seals swimming by the Golden Gate bridge. Magical moments with my 19-month old.

We picked up Daddy from the ferry and he took Lucca to the park. I got some quiet moments alone before those two came back home to tell me all about the snake exhibit down at the community center. We ate dinner, built a fort, took a bubble bath, and watched the World Series (and Gabba!) before putting our sweet thing to bed. And for the very first time ever, when I set Lucca down in her crib, she whispered "night-night" to me and melted my heart.

A day with my big girl. No tantrums, no whining, no begging, no time outs.

Thankful. So very, very thankful.



Snack time at the fountain

Monday, October 25, 2010

Lucca's smiles

My SWEET girl.....

My SILLY girl....

(and the smile we will probably get for the next 5 years)

Rainboots

Thursday, October 21, 2010

19 Months!

What a fun stage this is. Lucca is talking so much, and so much more clearly these days. It's ADORABLE. She likes to sing Happy Birthday. All. Day. Long. Today she keeps saying "Go Giants!" and "Good-bye Phillies!" because that's what Daddy taught her before leaving for work this morning. It's pretty cute. I'm trying to get it on video, but when I open the laptop and start recording, she becomes so obsessed with looking at herself that she stops saying it.

She's also become such a little lover this past month. Lots of cuddles, LOTS of kisses. This is starting to scare me a bit, but for now she mostly kisses her Daddy and I, and a few friends :)

Favorite activities include squashing spiders, looking for ants, unloading the dishwasher, (un)folding the laundry, going to the library with Daddy, playing with our iPhones (Bad!!), singing and of course running. If Lucca doesn't become a sprinter or long distance runner, we will be VERY surprised.

Every day, she asks to wear pink. Every day, she wears mommy's shoes. I have to hide her rain boots these days...those are her FAVORITE. She got to splash in some puddles last weekend, as we had a tiny bit of rain for once, and it was so cute. She loved it. Today, for the first time ever, she told me she was ready for her nap. I can get used to this.

Friday, October 8, 2010

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Lucca's BIG News


Baby Chao #2 is due in April. We are so thrilled!

In the meantime, you will find mommy on the couch or hugging the toilet...24/7. Ahh, the joys of pregnancy :)

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

18 Months!!!

Our little gem is 18 months old today! We celebrated by watching Super Why, reading books, eating Round Table Pizza for lunch, playing at the park, napping, and having some Tutti Melon frozen yogurt for an afternoon treat.

Lucca is busier than ever and keeps us on our toes! Always. She might be the smartest tot ever to walk this earth and the joke around here is that she will be smarter than us by 2nd grade. We have the upper hand now, but in a few years...????

Since this is Lucca's blog and blogs are for bragging, I will go ahead and do so... Starting with the fact that my girl knows her ABC's. And she knows the sounds each letter makes. She knows her colors. And "purkle" is by far her favorite. We are debating dressing her up as a little purple monster for Halloween because we know she won't complain about her costume if it's purkle. Lucca counts to 10. Number 8 is her favorite. We're kind of afraid next week she might start asking us about fractions. She balances her brains with her beauty, still stopping people every time we go ANYWHERE to say how beautiful she is with her sky blue eyes and golden blonde hair. She balances her beauty with athleticism. She can run faster than any kid on the playground. She loves kicking her red Espana soccer ball down the field with Daddy. She walks up and down stairs without holding the rails and likes to be independent when on the jungle gym. She climbs to the top and goes down the slide by herself. She loves to play "throw & catch" (from Gabba) and is most definitely right handed, despite having two left-handed parents.

She is "sweet as pie" and she'll tell you that. She will also tell her her name is "Coco" and hold up her lil' pointer finger if you ask how old she is. She tells us every time she's pooping or peeing, but doesn't want to have anything to do with the potty yet. She says "Luhh You" for love you and she kisses dad every morning before work and tells him to go get on the "Bus".

We are so thankful for this little person God entrusted us with and still aren't quite sure what we ever did to deserve being her parents. Whatever we did, we'll take it!! And we will also gladly accept your prayers for us as we continue to raise this little lady the best we know how.

Happy 18 months, Lucca!

Doctor Visit stats:
34" long
23.14 lbs
*The accuracy of these stats is debatable, considering Lucca was screaming, crying, and wiggling all over the place during her measurements :) That's our girl.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Happy 17 Months!

Happy 17 Months, you pretty little thing. The best thing that happened this week? You became a good sleeper!!!! Finally! Easy to put down and sleeping 12 hours a night. You've been sleeping through the night for a long time, but such a little bugger to put down. KNOCK ON WOOD. May this pattern continue through Months 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23...2 years old, 3 years old +++

You gave us a little run for our money between month 16-17, and I'm not even gonna say 16 months was my favorite. But as your dad so eloquently said tonight, and I agree -- "This is the day you turned good" :)

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Anyone want a 17 Month old??

We've had quite a rough week around here. What, it's only Wednesday?! Say it aint so. Lucca came down with a nasty virus, which she so generously shared with her mama. I thought moms didn't get sick? So 2 doctor visits and 3 sleepless nights later, here we are, still miserable. Actually Lucca is hopefully on the mend, it's now me who is getting my butt KICKED. I've learned moms don't get a day off, even when feeling like death. You gotta just muster up the energy and go, go, go. Give, give, give. Interesting fact no one tells ya! :) To all my non-mom friends, next time you are sick, just lay in your bed alllll day. For me. Please?

Can't you just see how happy she is??
She got her 1st Jamba Juice after the doctor appointment. She took about 3 sips.
Sort of a smile at the park tonight...THANK GOD.....
Hey God, it's me Kelsey. May this week end quickly, and may the health of my family be restored. Oh, and may Lucca pleeeeease go back to sleeping her 12-hour nights again asap. Mama + Daddy need some major sleep.