For the most part, these last few months have been extremely easy. Once Lucy got over all of her illnesses, she went back to being a happy, easy going baby and was sleeping really well too. Lucy still sleeps 12-13 hours at night (7:30/8pm - 7:30-8:30am) and takes one 2-3 hour nap during the day (going down around 12 or 1pm). I've found as long as she gets in a good amount of sleep, our days seems to go much easier with few tantrums/melt downs and little whining. Things have been this way for most of the past two months, although the past two weeks Lucy has gone back to not sleeping well and being pretty cranky during the day (seems to be a repeat of how she was acting at 13 and 14 months). I guess all things, whether good or bad, eventually come to an end when you deal with babies! I'm not sure what phase we are in now, or if it's a sickness (she has a runny nose and I took her to the doctor to have everything else checked and they said she was fine), but I'm hoping my sweet little angel will come back soon!
An example of this change over the past month - we took Lucy up to Lake Wawasee/Lake Webster (more to come on that in the future) and she was incredibly happy and slept perfectly (I swear I didn't hear her cry once). Then the Monday we got back from vacation, everything was frustrating Lucy and making her have a melt down, leading to lots of "rest" times in her crib (when I wasn't sure if she was tired, but we both needed a break from each other!) and at night she has been playing in her crib for 30minutes - 1hr+ before falling asleep. I guessing the crappy sleep she is getting is related to the crabby attitude she has during the day.
Maybe the girl has just become more opinionated? Or maybe she is tired of being with her mom all day - i.e. she doesn't seem to cry at all when playing with Grandma/Grandpa/Mimi or JJ. Typically melt downs seem to happen when Lucy gets frustrated about something, I can't figure out what is frustrating her, how to help, or I refuse to help (i.e. give her a paci when it's not bed time) so she starts screaming/crying at the top of her lungs and flailing about until I am able to hold her/cuddle her to calm her down. Sometimes we get over this easily - like when we are at home and I can pick her up right away. Sometimes I go nuts in the car because I can't comfort her in her car seat so I listen to a screaming baby in the car till we reach our destination. Or sometimes these melt downs happen at the store and I must push the cart, hold Lucy and get out of there as fast as possible! (since I'm also carrying around baby boy all day as well!) sigh... welcome to toddlerhood I suppose...
Ok - now for more fun updates! I say all of the above, because we are in the midst of a crabby time, but seriously, must of the past two months Lucy has been all smiles and no tears - and a whole lot of fun. She loves to carry things around, whether it be her library book bag, her blankie or her baby, she loves to be responsible for toting something around. She also loves pushing things, again sometimes it's her baby doll stroller, but sometimes it's any random object, like her own stroller, boxes or items around the house. She has been giving the most amazing hugs lately, running up to me or ben and grabbing us around the neck (which seriously makes my heart melt every time) and has discovered a new fake laugh that she likes to show off when other people are laughing or when she is doing something silly. It's pretty cute :) She continues to LOVE dancing, seriously, this girl likes to break it down any time there is music playing and she also continues to love reading. We spend lots of time throughout the day going through her books while she calmly sits in my lap. She loves swinging and we also sing songs as she swings - whenever I say let's sing our ABC's, she starts us by going "A, B..." and the rest is her own language, but it's cool to hear her say the first two letters!
Her vocabulary has taken off, it seems she not only is learning several new words a day, but she is also willing to try out any new word you give her. She also has started making strong associations, like whenever we see a baseball park she asks for daddy (since she knows he plays softball) or whenever she sees a young dark skinned girl she thinks it's JJ (this ones kind of funny, but super cute). I think she has started to associate curly haired girls with Katy too!
Ben and I are absolutely in love with the stage Lucy is in, we love playing with her and find ourselves laughing with her all day long. She has become such a fun playmate and continues to be an absolute joy in our lives!
A few pictures from over the past couple months...
Debuting her two piece at the splash park...
We went to a splash park about once every two weeks this summer. Although Lucy would have fun, she still never warmed up to the idea of water being splashed at her by the fountains!
Playing in the back yard with Jadyn and Jordyn - I had them most Monday nights this summer and Lucy has a blast playing with her cousins!
Sleeping...
.
My absolute favorite part of the day is when I sneak into Lucy's room before going to bed to check on her and watch her sleeping. Watching her as she is completely passed out is the most precious thing in the world! I love seeing the different positions she has ended up in and watching her little chest rise and lower while she sleeps. I like to think that she is laying there feeling completely protected and without a care in the world, that her dreams are filled with happy things, and anxiety and worry don't bother her as she drifts off to sleep. I love that we are able to provide a warm, safe, loving environment for her every night and every day, and I guess seeing her laying there, completely vulnerable, reminds me of that.
Here's a picture of Lucy from a photo shoot we did... oh wait... that's Ben as a baby! Isn't the resemblance amazing! People always say she looks like her daddy, but I think this picture really shows how much she looks like Ben...
At the Park!
We usually make it to the park at least once a week, if not more. Lucy, my little dare devil child loves to do EVERYTHING at the park, so I follow her around as she attempts all the slides, all the swings, all the steps, etc.
Dinner at Bazbeaux. Lucy was dancing almost the entire dinner. I tried to get a good video of it, but our food came right when I was taping her, so I didn't get anything good. We had such a nice time sitting outside, eating, and watching our little girl dance throughout the entire meal!
No comments:
Post a Comment