Sweet Lulu

You were such a doll today. We just had an ordinary Thursday, without a set agenda, and it turned out to be the loveliest of days. We took a trip to Trader Joes, the park, had a lunch picnic in the backyard, jumped on the trampo, didn't nap (!) and took a slow & sunny walk to the country club down the street and watched the ducks swim in the pond.

Today filled my heart with love & laughter & a whole lotta pride for the beautiful, sweet and most fun girl that you are. And you really are the best big sister. Jackson just adores you.

And I do too.

Goodbye July

What a month! I can't believe I ever thought I was tired or busy when I just had one child. How easy that seems now! HA. No offense mothers of one baby -- your job is still tough, but just WAIT til you have another one ;) muhahahaha...

We stuck close to home in July and started to find our groove with Lucca & Jackson's schedules. Everyone always tells me to just get through the first year of life with two babes and the rest is golden. But as crazy as it is having two, we realize these are sweet, sweet days, and my mindset is anything but "just getting through this year" and more like trying to soak up each moment of this year. A few favorite moments...

Our beloved park bench. We eat lunch here almost every day. We also read books here.

Jackson listens to the stories too.

Lucca is becoming quite the little artist, which I'm so happy about. We've been doing lots and lots of painting...watercolor, acrylic on canvas, finger painting, you name it. I love watching her be creative. She names every painting, a few of the most recent are "Cowboy" "Boo Boo" "Buddy" "Peedie" and my personal fave... "Crazy Jumping Pirate Bugs"

Unfortunately, I now have a big stack of Lucca's art that I can't seem to part with yet. You may be getting some in the mail soon if you're lucky :)

The bath time ritual is something we so greatly look forward to every day. 7:00 on the dot -- this girl gets in the tub, sometimes with balloons (string of balloon pictured below..ha)

Lucca the Ballerina!

Lucca went to her first ballet class a few weeks ago and I'm not sure she's taken her tutu off since. Which is funny, because we've had 5 tutu's here for the past year but they all the sudden are the coolest thing in the house. Now that she actually realizes they are for dancing she likes them. Just bend be thankful that I did not post a photo of ME wearing one of her tutu's, because yes, that happened.

Lucca LOVES her brother. I have become more than Jackson's mother, I am his bodyguard - from Lucca. The love she has for him is shown in many ways, including squeezing, squishing, squealing, holding, poking, shouting and jumping all over him.

But who is Lucca's #1 fan? Jackson.

My heart.

My sweet Lucca,

I've so appropriately called you a little gem since you were a wee babe and today this nickname could not have been more fitting. You melted my heart about a billion times today. Two years old is a crazy age -- some days are amazing, some days test every bit of patience that exists in my body. Your personality is larger than life and most days the sky is your limit.

Today you wore a pretty little white dress, sweet as could be. Daddy woke you up and made you breakfast and let me stay in bed. I woke up to you climbing into my bed asking me to read you a Curious George book. "Mommy wakes up," you said. We watched your favorite show, Super Why, which you dance and sing the intro to every single time. We walked to the park and went straight to the swings of course. On the swings you like to sing Doe-a-Deer, play the Rhyme game, and count, both in English and Spanish. Then you made a birthday cake in the sand, used sticks for candles and sang happy birthday to Muno. You ran in the grass, chased a butterfly until it flew away, and then you came running back to me saying "Excuse me mommy, do you know where that butterfly went?" ... I died.

You ate three bean salad and a mini Cibo muffin for lunch. We had lunch with Daddy, so that was a treat. You touched the flamingos and crocodiles (people in Sausalito have wacko yard ornaments..) on the way back to our house the way you always do. We galloped. We hopped. We jumped.

After nap, you didn't want to go anywhere - you just wanted to play at the house. You love to use your imagination. You played with your animals, lined them all up on your surfboard so they could surf. Then they had a tea party. The gorilla stayed in the bag like he always does...you play with all the animals but him.

We went to the grocery store and you got two balloons from the nice old guy that loves when we come in. You also took a bath with those balloons tonight. We watched Gabba and got ready for bed. Jackson was having a rough time settling down and was crying which sometimes makes you cry, you sweet little thing. I got him to sleep and then read your Mickey Mouse story that you waited so, so patiently for. Sometimes it's rough being the big sister and being second in line to the newborn baby, but you do it so well - you really are the best big sis.

You sang your way to sleep to the song of choice lately, This Old Man. I hope you have the sweetest dreams tonight my little lady Lucca-Lu.

You. Are. A. Gem.

100 Things To Do

Came across this list recently, and although some of the things are a part of our daily routine, some sparked new ideas. Maybe it will be helpful to you too? Toddler days can be long.

1. Color
2. Blow Bubbles
3. Play Hide-and-Seek
4. Peek-a-Boo
5. Play Chase
6. Do Finger-plays
7. Sing a song
8. Collect rocks in a basket
9. Make an obstacle course out of cushions and/or furniture
10. Make a fort out of cushions and sheets
11. Go for a Walk
12. Make a Car out of a Box
13. Read a book
14. Go to the park
15. Finger-paint
16. Play with Play-Dough
17. Toss Bean bags into a Bucket
18. Play the shell and pea game
19. Dance to music
20. Download games for toddlers from the Internet
21. Practice putting things in and taking things out of boxes and bags
22. Make a temporary slide out of a table leaf and your couch
23. Roll a ball back and forth on the floor
24. Scoop dirt or sand into a child's bucket (or use a serving spoon and bowl)
25. Practice climbing by stacking boxes on top of each other (only with adult supervision)
26. Put on a puppet show
27. Go fishing with a yard stick and yarn
28. Make a Horseshoe game
29. Make a Shape Puzzle
30. Play paper basketball
31. Run through a Sprinkler
32. Play with a bucket of water and a sponge (PLEASE WATCH CHILD AT ALL TIMES!)
33. Make a Drum out of an oatmeal box
34. Play with a kazoo
35. Wash windows together
36. Bang on Pots and Pans with a spoon
37. Brush each other's teeth
38. Play dress-up with stuffed animals and your child's clothes
39. Stack canned or boxed food on top of each other
40. Let child stack mixing bowls inside each other
41. Make a playhouse out of a large box
42. Let child play with a sticker sheet (make sure your child doesn't eat them!)
43. Put stickers on fingers for finger puppets
44. Play a musical instrument together- i.e.recorder, piano, etc.
45. Go on a Smelling Hunt
46. Frost Cookies
47. Plant a flower or vegetable plant together
48. Roll a tennis ball into an empty trash can or bucket
49. Draw on a mirror with dry-erase markers
50. Play hide and seek together- trying to find a stuffed animal or other object
51. Have a splash party together in the bathtub
52. Put a leash on a stuffed animal and walk around the house
53. Record each other on a tape recorder (great for scrapbooks or journals!)
54. Make and try on paper hats
55. Give a piggy-back ride
56. Play "Horsey"
57. Talk into an electric fan (it distorts your voice)
58. Play tug-of-war with a blanket
59. Collect flowers (felt, artificial, real...)
60. Make a camera and go on a Safari
61. Play games with frozen juice lids
62. Disconnect your phone and pretend to make phone calls to relatives
63. Leave your phone connected and really make phone calls to relatives- let your child talk too
64. String large beads onto or along a shoelace
65. Squirt each other with squirt bottles
66. Glue shapes onto paper
67. Make sock puppets
68. Make paper puppets
69. Fill an old purse with toys
70. Use a paper towel tube as a megaphone
71. Make binoculars and go "Bird Watching" or "Stuffed Animal Watching"
72. Put snacks in different fun containers (paper sacks, empty canisters, etc.)
73. Act out a story from a book
74. Walk on a balance beam- use a 2x4 placed on the ground
75. Draw with chalk on the sidewalk
76. Sketch an outline of your child on the sidewalk or paper with chalk
77. Paint child's palms with tempura paint and blot on paper. Makes a great card for loved ones!
78. Put lipstick on child and kiss a mirror
79. Make a puddle on cement and splash barefoot in it
80. Let child decorate and eat an open peanut butter sandwich
81. Make a toilet paper barricade for child to go under, over, or through
82. Do the Hokey Pokey
83. Make a super-hero costume out of household items
84. Do Knee-Bouncing Rhymes
85. Play "Red Light, Green Light" saying "Go" and "Stop"
86. Make a shoe-box train for stuffed animals
87. Make a pillow pile to jump on (keep it clear from any hard surfaces, including walls!)
88. Make an easy puzzle with felt and Velcro
89. Make bracelets or collars for stuffed animals out of pipe cleaners and jingle bells
90. Learn numbers from a deck of cards
91. Play the matching game with a deck of cards
92. Make a domino chain
93. Have a picnic in the park, backyard, or living room!
94. Play dress up in Mommy or Daddy's clothes
95. Make a tin cup telephone and talk to each other in it
96. Make a nature collage
97. Mirror each other
98. Make a "Mummy Mommy" with toilet paper
99. Make a tape recording of short music selections and instructions to move in different ways
100. Make and walk along a toilet paper trail

Ladies who Lunch

2 going on 20. Can't believe my own eyes sometimes when I stare at this little lady, becoming exactly that -- a little lady! Today she asked to go to the coffee shop, with her sunglasses and purse in tow. Why did she want to go there? To eat a pastry, of course. Such a chick!

Conversations with Lucca

Mama: We're almost home, Lucca.

Lucca: Getting closer!

Mama: Yep, almost there.

Lucca: Bring orange balloon in house?

Mama: Yep, we can bring the orange balloon inside.

Lucca: Squash spiders?

Mama: Yep, we can squash some spiders.

Lucca: Squash spiders just like Daddy!

Field Trip!

You know you live in an amazing place when you wake up on a holiday and have to decide between spending the day at Half Moon Bay, Muir Woods, Wine Country, exploring the streets of San Francisco, etc etc etc.

Yesterday, we chose Muir Woods. It's not bad having this practically in our backyard. Lucca loved "the forest" even though we didn't see any tigers. That's what she was hoping for ;)

The lil' fashionista insisted on wearing her red shoes, despite hiking through the woods

The "huuuge-mongous" trees

Such a fun President's Day. After the woods, we ate lunch on the water at FISH in Sausalito, followed by family nap time. Holidays rule.

Jet-set no more

Warning: sentimental-pregnant-mommy post ahead.

I just realized it's the end of a sweet era. I'm grounded (i.e. no more flying) from here on out for the remainder of this pregnancy, so it dawned on me tonight that Lucca and I took our last flight together today as just the 2 of us. Kinda sad because I've traipsed all over the place with my girl. She's such an easy traveler, so there have been many times since she was itty bitty that Lucca and Mommy would hop on a flight together (mostly to go visit Daddy when he was away on business).

On today's flight she was such an angel and slept curled up on my lap the whole time. I didn't realize in the moment it was the last time that scenario would take place :( Next time, she will be the big sister in her own seat, and her baby brother will be on my lap. Gone are the somewhat easy travel days!!!

Shedding a tear for the end of my travels with just LC. Sooo many fun memories, and now anxiously awaiting the arrival of our dude and the travel chaos he will add to our jet-setting family...

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.

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.

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.

Cheers!

Two small (but HUGE!) victories in my world today.

1) Got Lucca down for both her nap AND bedtime sans the beloved bottle. With only a few quick shrieks both times. You probably heard them. Why I got Lucca attached to a bottle after 12 months of exclusive breastfeeding is beyond me. Lessons learned for Baby #2..... (NO, I am not pregnant!!)

2) LUCCA POOPED ON THE POTTY. Before you go all crazy thinking I've potty trained a 16 month old, this was not on purpose, really. We have not begun potty training yet, but we do have a potty and Lucca was running around without a diaper on after I changed a small turd. Letting the girl air out a bit, until she decided to pee on the carpet. Sooo, I immediately placed her on the potty to tell her that's where she needs to pee when all of the sudden I realized she was pooping. ON THE POTTY. Yessssss!!!!!!!!!! And I'll spare you the picture I took of the big poop that I had to send to Daddy at work!

Big day, I know.

Eating with Lucca

Sometimes we use a spoon...

And sometimes a fist...

Sometimes two fists works best...

However she eats, it's always messy and (almost) always a good time...

1st Bike Ride!

It was all fun and games until we put the helmet on her. Then it turned ugly. So, Lucca won and we broke the law, letting our most precious cargo ride without a helmet. Good thing I am such an amazing bike rider ;)

The progression...

"She may have won the battle, but she won't win the war." Just don't tell her that...

"Parkkkkkk"

If you have talked to Lucca in the past month, somewhere in the conversation she probably told you she wants to go to the PARKKKKKKKKKKKK. She wakes up and says "park(kkkkk)", she gets dressed and says "parkk", lunch and then parkkk...you get the idea. I really need to get a video of the way she emphasizes the "K" sound in this word. She would make our German and Russian ancestors very proud. I've started to drive out of the neighborhood a different way than usual, so we avoid seeing the park when we aren't headed there. She knows her park. And loves her park.

We spend many moments here. It's nothing fancy, but it's a sweet old neighborhood park with wooden climbing structures and metal slides. It's Lucca's park and she knows the entire thing, inside and out. She knows where she can play, where she can't play, how to climb the baby slide, how to ask for help to climb the big slide. We count the fish, she points to all the different colored fish, she points to the pelican that sits above the swings and says "tweet-tweet". We play basketball and soccer, dig in the sand and count rocks. We roll down the hills, stopping to pick flowers and toss blades of grass. These days are SWEET.

The best ball ever

Future athlete

Where's Lucca?

Collecting leaves

A little one-on-one basketball

The fish

Lucca's new favorite spot

your daily Lucca fill...

sassafras

she likes giving herself kisses

long legs

"HI!!!"

swim day

We've been having the most amazing weather lately! I LOVE IT. Usually during this time of year in San Francisco, I wish I lived somewhere warmer, but this past week has been nothing but gorgeous, sunny days. Perhaps I should be more specific...Sausalito has been beautiful...the city is probably still chilly! Finally, our move to Marin is paying off and I've rediscovered my summer wardrobe.

We deemed this past weekend our best weekend yet with little Lucca. She just gets more and more FUN. We were busy non-stop...going to the park, kids museum, playground, fountains, long walks, eating ice cream and ... playing in the pool! Life keeps getting sweeter and sweeter as the days go by. 14-month-olds rules!

To many more SUNNY play days......