Theme of the Week: Pets

Lucy learned all about pets at school this week, and while I'm just not brave enough to get her the pet she really wants, I could do a fish.

But, she was still a bit disappointed it didn't bark or have a wagging tail...

And yet, she couldn't stop watching...

We also made fish cupcakes in anticipation of celebrating Grandpa Wecker's birthday when he arrives tomorrow.

At This Moment

Time is slippery with this little one and before another stage comes and goes I wanted to record who we are at this point in our lives.

The other evening I was putting Lucy to bed and where previously she wanted her crib filled her dolls and stuffed animals and blankets, this night she insisted on just two blankets. She was very clear that she wanted two and nothing else. I kept thinking, she will be so lonely tonight and will change her mind soon. But from there on out she would throw anything of excess of two blankets out of her crib before going to sleep. It struck me then and still does how acutely she knows what she wants and how empowered she feels to ask for what she feels is right for her.

Another interesting piece of this stage in Lucy's life is how curious she is up to the point of touching something messy. She doesn't like too much stimulus on her hands. Reluctant finger-painter and play-dough user.

Lucy constantly refers to herself in the third person and loves to give every item ownership. "Lucy's whale shirt" or "daddy's sock". She is getting adjusted to the access that full sentences give her to connecting with other people and getting what she wants. Every night Mike and I will lay in bed and invariable one of us will say, "Did you teach Lucy ______ because she just _______ and ________ is so cute." But most days it is unclear how she picks up everything she does.

I also want to remember who I am as a mother at this point.

I hate that I have to wake Lucy up in the morning to go to school with me but I love that I always get to be the first person to talk to her each day. She is slow to wake up but starts talking from the moment she opens her eyes until the moment we get to school. She loves when I sing "Good Morning" from Singing in the Rain even though I only know two lines. Every morning I think, I should really look up the rest of this song, but I never do. I hate getting her dressed, she is too big to be tossed around and stuffed into clothes without straining my back and I can't wait until she can go potty and get dressed by herself.

I'm not a super house cleaner, but what I do, I always try to involve Lucy. I want to her to see work and be a part of it. She likes to stir food and pull laundry out of the machine. She likes to wipe counters and dust tables. She is not particularly good at picking up because she is easily distracted. Both because of this philosophy to work alongside Lucy and out of the sheer need for some down time, I don't normally do chores when she naps.

I love love love reading books with Lucy on my lap. It is the best activity that ever happened to me. But it kills me when she loves a book that has pictures I find aesthetically unpleasing and is equally frustrating when I am reading her a brilliantly clever book and she is clearly not in to it. We usually have about 30 books checked out from the library at any given time.

I never want to forget what a perfect cross-section of time this stage has been. I adore where our family is right now. It shouldn't be neglected to say that while I haven't nailed down exactly who Mike is at this stage in our family, he is such a brilliant father and husband. I can't imagine being a mother without him by my side.

Portland Temple

On Sunday Katie was giving tours of the temple for visitors, so we stopped by. While I was hoping that this would be one of those tender teaching moments when Lucy really gets something new, she slept through the entire temple experience. We still had a lovely time and I'm going to make it a point to bring her back more often.

Iconic Moments

I feel like there are a few landmark moments in motherhood that you kind of know are coming, but they always come sooner than you thought. I felt like that the first time Lucy unraveled all the toilet paper in the bathroom. And I felt the iconic moment when Lucy, with unexpected adeptness, walked around the house in my high heels. I love how she is growing and learning but I just wish she could give me a little warning so I could be sure to put her pants back on after the diaper change and before the photographic moment so that looking back in twenty years I don't mistake her six month dress as a reluctance to let her grow up instead of the frugal use of too-small-dresses as shirts which it really was.

BYU vs Texas

We are a little sad over here that our matching shirts weren't enough to pull BYU through the game on Saturday.

Body Parts

The theme of the week at school is "all about me," so in an effort to learn more about our bodies, we made eyeball cookies and handprint art. Lucy did a really great job in the kitchen, but kept calling all eye colors "pink." I guess we need a colors theme of the week soon.

Fountain Fun

Lucy and I had serious fountain ambitions at the beginning of summer, but with all the trips and then all the recovering from trips, we left many fountains unexplored. We did fall in deep like with Jameson Square Fountain, which actually fills up and then drains every ten minutes or so. It taught Lucy patience in things she can not control (a skill so hard to acquire), while also being very fun. We also frequented the Beaverton City Fountain a few times but that one is not for the weak hearted. You have to head full steam in to shooting sprays of water that may change intensity at any minute. Not our favorite. But still oddly addicting.

"T"

Katie is "between jobs" which really means "in the middle of playing" and we are lucky to have her staying with us until she commits to a 9 to 5. We hope she lingers for a while but Mike and I are starting to feel a little old and frumpy with our lives in juxtaposition to Katie's. Our 10 o'clock bedtime seems awfully early when we have to turn on the porch light knowing Katie won't even be home for a couple of hours. And when she flies out the door during the day with just sunscreen and keys in her hands I look around at my diaper bag and toddler shoes and snacks and start to feel very slow. Lets not even talk about how she can innocently play with Lucy all day and then leave me on the phone all night with a nurse because Lucy has had food stuck up her nose for most of the day. In her defense, she was quite supportive as I was blowing in my daughter's nostril to get a pea out of the other one. Laughing, but definitely supportive. But mommyish as she sometimes makes me feel, I love having her her. And did I mention that Lucy adores her? She does. Lucy adores her aunt T.