I love Lucy!

Lucy is just over a year now, but my golly this little girl of ours is going to keep us on our toes. She just turned 16 months on Sunday. I took her in for her doctor appointment this morning. She refused to sit down on one of those baby scales for her weigh-in, so she stood there (naked) making all the nurses in sight laugh out loud. She weighs 26 pounds 2 ounces, and is now 32.5 inches tall, continuing her trend of being in the 90-something-th percentile in both. Within minutes, the doctor who was seeing her for first time, pegged her as the ham that she is, as she was running around the tiny office, doing her funny dance and laughing! I love her colorful personality!

She is a climber - her favorite place is the kitchen table, which she ends up on at least a dozen times a day, standing and smirking the entire time. Tonight she shook her head when we told her she needed to get down.

She is an eater - often eating as much as the boys and has already pretty much perfected the use of utensils.

She is a hider. She'll disappear and I'll look around for her and not find her anywhere. Call her name. No response. I've found her in our closet, behind the curtains, in the bathroom with the door closed, and on Sunday she actually went into my bedroom and locked the door behind her. How is that even possible?? Good thing the boys had already tested out locking themselves out of their bedroom because I knew exactly how to get the door opened to save my sly and silly girl. No panic at all, except trying to figure out how she learns how to do stuff like this.

She is a reader. She'll come snuggle up next to you with a book and pushes it at you until you push aside any and all distractions and read to her.

She's learning to talk. "Mom" is for Mom (of course!), but it's also for Dad, more, milk, and pretty much anything that she wants and gets excited about. Ball is another one that is for ball and pretty much any other toy. She meows, woofs, oinks, and growls. She says cracker, but it comes out in a bit of a growl. She says "down" for down, but also for up... funny girl! She can sign "more" and "please". And, water... that one is the best. Do you know what she says for water? She does the swallowing sound in her throat! Brilliant!!

She is an equal with her brothers. The boys were playing in their closet today with their flashlights and Lucy was sitting in there with them with a book in hand, just chilling with the boys. They don't get away with anything. They take a toy or food or something she has and she goes for blood. Luckily she hasn't drawn blood yet, but tears and pleas for mercy, YES! I'm always amazed at how scared they can be of her.

Lucy is as sweet and cuddly as you'd expect from a little girl, but she is feisty and strong-willed like you wouldn't imagine. She is so much fun! We were dancing around to songs from the Nutcracker this morning and she runs in circles, shooting her arms straight up into the air about every five seconds while still in motion. It's super cute, even if it is a little Richard Simmons-ish. But, stuff like that, where did she learn that from? I think there is so much innate about the personalities we're born with and the inner songs that move our lives. I love, love, love learning more about those innate attributes of my three little ones!

Living and loving my life!

Life is busy around here. My free time lately has been dedicated to things that I love doing. And, I feel so grateful to be able to do so many things that I love.

First, of course, is time spent with my babies. I guess some might argue that time spent with them is not my free time, but I'm going to call it that anyway. On most days and in most moments they are just so much fun. Lucy is growing like crazy! As of today, she is TEN months old. A month ago she weighed 21 pounds 9 ounces and measured at 29.5 inches long - in the 90-something percentiles for both. She has learned how to wave and does it all the time. She's refusing the pureed baby food she used to devour and now insists on eating off my plate. She has figured out how to ride her big brothers' motorized quad, even daring to stand while it's in motion (redefining for us what it means to be fearless). She can stand up with ease and is so steady that we're pretty sure she'll be walking before she turns one. I keep wondering where my baby went... they grow so fast!

It seems that the older the boys get, the more time they spend playing nicely together. They are best friends and do pretty much everything together. I'm so glad they have each other and get along so well, for the most part. They are talking like crazy and come up with the most hilarious things. The other day I captured a moment of the two boys in the backyard, sitting on the steps with big sticks talking about how they were fishing, reeling in their catches. Pretend play at its very best!

They're into pretending to fish because we've been doing a lot of real fishing the last couple of months. My mom bought my dad and I fishing licenses, so we've have a set day of the week when we go fishing together. The second time we went out Hugh happened to wake up while I was getting ready, so I asked him if he wanted to go with us. He was so excited! When we came home later, Ben wanted to go so bad that we all went back out for a little longer. It's a little crazy to have the two boys out with us, worrying about them falling in the water or doing something crazy like getting a fish hook stuck in a finger (like what happened to me when I was a little girl out fishing with my dad and brothers). So, we have rules that we try to get them to follow. Some rules are sinking in better than other... Last week as we were driving out to our fishing spot, I was going over the rules with the boys and when I asked them what the first rule was, Ben said, "Eat doughnuts." Pretty smart kid, I'd say!

Most other mornings are spent running or biking, training for my half marathon next month. So far it's going great! Tomorrow is a 9-miler and I'm feeling pretty good about where I'm at.

Most evenings are spent relaxing on the couch with Marc, either watching a favorite show on TV (Survivor or Amazing Race, anyone?!) or helping Marc with some website projects. He's taught me how to do some basic things and I find it fun to help him do what he loves to do. Now, if we can just get my new blog design up and running... hopefully soon!

Growing Ben

So, Ben turned three almost three months ago, but we just barely were able to get in for his three-year physical. At his appointment a year ago he didn't handle the whole doctor's office too well. He did some kicking and screaming and made the whole process really difficult. At the time I was five months pregnant and had a really hard time keeping him from hurting himself or anyone else in his struggle.

So, with that memory still fresh in my mind I was a little hesitant in anticipation of this appointment. Thankfully I was able to leave the younger two with Grandma and Grandpa, which gave me some really nice one-on-one time with my little boy who is growing up so fast. If nothing else I realized how much I need to find more time to spend with each of my kids alone.

Right away Ben was weighed and measured. He is 34.5 pounds and 38.5 inches tall - putting him in the 75th percentile for both.

I found the doctor's exchange with Ben to be pretty funny. She started asking him yes or no questions that all had an ideal response of "yes" and Ben answered them all perfectly on cue. "Do you like fruits and vegetables? Do you eat bananas? Apples? Carrots? Broccoli? How 'bout brushing your teeth - do you brush your teeth before bed? Do you eat meat? Chicken? Do you drink milk? Water?" Anyway... you get the idea. There were some questions where his answer should have been "no", but I wasn't going to correct him. It was just too cute!

Ben continues to be far above average when it comes to gross and fine motor skills - the kid is so coordinated, running around in his rain boots that are two sizes too big with effortless ease. We're so happy with the great progress he's been making with his language skills. That has been our biggest concern with his development and I'd say that at this point it's no longer a concern. I mean, it's still something we're actively working on, but he has made such great improvements that we're not as worried about it.

Right now we're mostly concerned with his new-found love of spitting when he's mad and wanting to break things (which reminds me of a good story I should tell about our first broken window a couple of weeks ago.) But, besides the normal three-year old behavior of testing the limits and expressing his independence, he is one fantastic little boy! I love how he likes to hold my hand and when he sits next to me, he'll gently rub my back or my leg to show his affection. He is so gentle with Lucy and continues to work on being gentle with Hugh, too. Ben is so sweet, so adventurous, so creative, and such a joy!

Lucy at six months

Lucy got to spend her six month birthday taking a little plane ride with me to go visit my sweet friend Christy. The plane ride there she was a champ! She smiled at everyone that would notice her, she nursed through take-off and landing and slept peacefully in between it all.

Then, for three days she got snuggled on by some of our favorite people in the world and enjoyed every minute of it! Luckily there was almost enough craziness in their home as their is in ours, so Lucy felt right at home among their three turkeys.

Some other firsts for Lucy - going to the movie theater (we were all dying to see Les Miserables and Lucy did awesome, sleeping through almost the entire movie! It was such a good movie, too!!), going out to eat, and chilling out at the salon while we got pedicures (no pedicure for Lucy, though... we'll wait a few more years for that!). She is such an easy-going, happy baby!

The plane ride home wasn't as smooth, but it wasn't terrible either. Lucy was extra tired and wasn't too much in the mood to be stuck anywhere for any length of time.

A couple of days after getting back home Lucy had her six month check-up, revealing more of the same healthy growth stats as we've seen from the beginning.

Current weight: 19 pounds 5 ounces (91st percentile)

Current length: 28 1/2 inches long (99th percentile)

She is growing up so fast. Rolling over to get across the room and back, practicing her push-ups, and starting to show some initial signs that crawling might be close around the corner. She has been sick the last little bit, so her sleeping habits have gotten terrible, but I'm not without hope that she'll bounce back into sleeping through the night again really soon. She is a sweetheart, loving us with her passionate face grabbing and pulling us closer for some slobbery kisses. We love her and love the soft and gentle side she brings out of the boys, too! They just adore her!

Lucy - four months

Last Saturday Lucy turned four months old. Today I took her in for her four month check-up. She is getting so big and I guessed that she'd probably weigh about 15 pounds. I think the nurse's eyes were as big as mine when the scale told us she was SEVENTEEN pounds (plus FIVE ounces)! In addition, she's 27 inches tall. I came home and warned her brothers. At the same age, Hugh weighed 16 pounds 4 ounces and Ben was 14 pounds 12 ounces.

Our sweet Lucy Jane is just oozing with cuteness and calm. She brings such a different dynamic to our home. She is the calm amid the chaos; the soft amid the rough. The boys can be bouncing off the walls, but as soon as they approach Lucy they gather all their wild energy and with the most amazing restraint and control, they softly kiss her on the head. I have loved watching such a sweet side to them emerge when she is around, and I'm looking forward to watching how their love for her will continue to develop as they grow up together.

Lucy is such an easy baby, so sweet and so happy. She hasn't quite returned to her (really) long stretches of sleeping at night, but I'm really not complaining at all with what usually ends up as a couple of 5-6 hour stretches. Plus, when she wakes up in the middle of the night fussing and hungry, as soon as she sees my head appear over the side of the crib, she kicks her legs, spreads out her arms and gives a little squeal. I mean, come on, who wouldn't want to wake up to that, even if it is at 2am?!

Before Lucy was born I was really preoccupied with thoughts about how she would or wouldn't compare to our twins. Would she look like them? Would she remind me too much of them? Would holding her make me happy or sad? Would life feel more complete with her or would her presence just remind me of the two that were missing?

It was a battle of opposing emotions and I had no idea how to prepare myself for so many questions that were unknowable beforehand. Lucy arrived and took her proper place in our family, not replacing anyone, but filling a new void that I wasn't even aware was there until she filled it with her light and her love. She has brought so much happiness into our family and so much healing into my heart. I do find myself thinking of the twins more often, but more in terms of anticipating the relationships that will come later when we're all reunited again.

For now, I'm loving every waking moment I have with my baby girl. She and I are pretty much inseparable and I really don't mind her need to be near me at all times. I love the nearness of her and feel so grateful for the light she has brought into my life.

Lucy is two months!

Where has the time gone?! It's so crazy how much babies change in the first weeks/months of life! I look at Lucy lately and am in awe at how fast she's growing and how much she's changing.

Lucy turned two months this week and she's kept up a good pace with her growth. She weighs 13.5 pounds and is 25.5 inches long... above the 95th percentile for both.

She is already more interested in sitting up and seeing what's going on around her and will make it known if you try to lay her down.

She smiles all the time and is a huge distraction at church because of it. One woman told me this last Sunday that she's never seen a happier baby. She is a sweetheart, for sure!

Lucy LOVES bath time! As soon as she hears the water filling the tub, she settle right down. And as soon as she gets in the water she kicks and coos and is happy to stay in there for at least 20 minutes.

Lucy has already had quite a few nights of sleeping 9-10 hour stretches. It's amazing to me! Ben and Hugh didn't sleep like that until much later. Her sleep habits haven't been quite as good since our last little trip, but I'm not worried about it. Even her worst nights are not that bad at all.

The boys just adore her and worry over her, just like big brothers should!

Lucy is such a sweet baby! We are so super lucky to have her in our family. She adds a happiness to our lives that I can't imagine going without.

School Bus Adventure

This time last year Ben started going to an Early Start class twice a week, after concerns we had about his slow language development. He adjusted quickly and loved his teachers, and within the first six months he had achieved all of his goals that we were hoping to reach after twelve months. We've been so grateful for the help we've gotten from his incredible teachers and it has been so much fun and satisfying to watch him learn and grow.

With a new school year starting, we opted to try out riding the bus. Ben loves buses and now that he's a little older we thought he might be ready for this next step. This week he's had his first experiences with riding the bus and so far it has gone remarkably well. We show his pictures of the bus before he leaves and tell him the bus will be taking him to school, to prepare him. The first couple of times he was a little hesitant, but by the time the bus arrives, at school or at home, he is all smiles!

Even after the mishap that happened during his very first bus ride home. Apparently the bus had mechanical problems and had to go back to the bus station to get some help. So, instead of the 15 minute ride home it was more like 50 minutes. I was a tiny bit frantic, but so relieved when he came bounding down those big bus steps with an enthusiasm I wish I could bottle, like such a big boy!

I would have captured one of his huge smiles in the photos below, but then I would have missed out on getting the huge hug as he runs into my arms... and that is far better than a photo!

Ben had an audience waiting for his arrival - Mom, Dad, Lucy, Hugh, Bapa and GG.

Can you see Ben's little head peaking out the window?!

It's still a little strange that my little two-year old is riding a bus. He's growing so fast and making us so proud. He is such a tender soul and so much fun!

Lucy - one month

I really need to put some more photos of Lucy up, but I just haven't gotten around to getting them off the camera. I'll try to do that soon, but in the meantime she had her one month appointment the other day and I figured I'd at least update her current stats.

Lucy is tipping the scales at 11 pounds 15 ounces! (That means she's gained two and a half pounds since birth.)

She has already grown three inches - is now 24 inches long!

And, her head is measuring at 15.4 inches.

The nurse was so shocked at her length and had to re-measure her to make sure she got it right. She's in the 95th to 98th percentile for both height and weight - we clearly have a very healthy baby girl! She is already smiling lots and just starting to make cooing sounds. She typically wakes twice during the night - usually sometime around 1am and 5am. She hates laying down flat if she's awake and prefers a sitting up position to see what's going on. Both boys are growing more and more fond of her and constantly want to hold her and kiss her. Lucy has added so much happiness to our life in her first month. We are thrilled to have her in our family!