Lucy's 2 Year Well Child Visit

We visited Dr. Rainwater's office for Lucy's 2 year well child visit. Overall, Lucy is doing great - she is a healthy 2 year old! The first part of the visit consisted of a weigh in and height check. Lucy did a great job standing on the scale. They had little paw prints to show her where to put her feet and she listened really well to the nurse's directions to put her hands on her belly and stand still. Our girl weighs 30.8 pounds with her clothes! That is at the 90th percentile. We have never been in the 90's for weight before! :) Lucy did shed some tears and freak out a bit when the nurse measured her - the RN said that since this was Lucy's first time standing up to be measured that the percentile usually goes down. She measured at 35.2 inches which is at the 84th percentile. Way to grow Lucy!

 

Lucy is doing great on all of her developmental checks for 2. The only item on the checklist that I couldn't answer in the affirmative was whether she was able to put beads on a string. We had just never tried this activity before! So the RN brought in some sting and beads for Lucy to use. Lucy was not really interested in it - she took all of the beads out of the box and just put them on the ground.

 

The office chair and computer were much more interesting!

The exam went well - Dr. Rainwater gave Lucy lots of choices - for example, 'What to do you want me to look at first your eyes or your ears?' Lucy Bear was super cooperative and happy.

Then it was time for our flu shot. I need everyone at our house to get a flu shot mostly for Roman's sake - some herd immunity, right? Although Lucy is old enough for the mist, I wasn't sure that she would be very cooperative with the procedure so I opted for the needle. Yikes. I had to hold Lucy's arms down so that she wouldn't punch the nurse in the face. She was very sad to get a shot - to put it mildly. The whole time she was yelling, 'Mama Nooooo!' Ugh! At least we are done for this year. I am all for trying the mist next year. Poor little peanut. She quickly cheered up with some hugs and snacks and we were on our way. We are super thankful for our healthy kids and I feel so lucky that we seem to be over the hump with Lucy's food/texture issues. Yay!

Weekends at Olbrich

Now that it is late fall our times playing at Olbrich Gardens are getting fewer and further between! Lucy still loves spending time at the playground outside the garden - she never seems to get chilly. I like this picture - with the leaves in the background and Lucy in her jacket, it just radiates autumn. :)

 

 

Good thing that there is a balmy conservatory to visit too. Lucy likes to watch the koi and birds while Roman loves to snuggle in to his frontpack and nap with all of the heat and humidity.

 

Lucy navigating the steps

 

 

Hanging out and watching the plants. Lucy has kind of a wierd look on her face because right before i took this picture I rescued her hand - it got stuck in one of the slats in the bench.

 

We are getting excited for the upcoming Olbrich Gardens Christmas Train event! Pictures and stories to be posted in December.

It is sweater weather

It is officially chilly outside! The kids are sporting their winter clothes these days. I found this sweet little striped sweater for Roman at a sale. I just love it - he is such a handsome guy! Here are some pictures of Roman in his winter wear.

 

His feet are a little bit blurry because he is kicking - which is his favorite activity. His day care provider told me that they nicknamed Roman "Crazy Legs" because he is always doing his kicks. :) That sounds just about right. Mama knew that he would be full of kicks based on his activity in utero!

 

Our little dude

Staying warm! 

Lucy's 2nd Birthday Party

For Lucy's 2nd Birthday we rented part of the gym at Goodman Community Center! We had lots of awesome tot time toys at our disposal! :)

 

 

We decorated with a few dollar store items - the happy birthday banner and some sweet Elmo/Happy Birthday mylar balloons.

 

 

Not sure what it is about toddlers and Elmo but Lucy can't get enough of that furry little monster! She loves him. I made the mistake of looking on Pinterest just to see what Elmo birthday ideas are floating around out there. Wow! Are there some over the top children's birthday parties out there or what?!? We didn't really have a theme to her party so I settled on making some Elmo cupcakes and called it good.

 

Red food coloring, marshmallow eyes, chocolate candy noses and black gel frosting! I am not going to quit my day job to become a cake decorator or anything but these turned out pretty well.

 

We had 8 kids at the party which was a good number! Not too crazy but enough for a fun afternoon of playing. Here is Anders with the scooter toy.  

 

Roman watched all of the kids from afar for now...one year from now he is going to be all over the place! :)

 

 

Our good friend MacKenzie was there.

 

Lucy practiced her somersaults. She still hasn't mastered the mechanics of getting her feet over her body but she knows to get her head on the ground and then fall over! :)

 

 

We had some fantastic 2 seater bikes at the gym. Here is Lucy with her friend Raphael! We miss living across the street from Raffi!

 

This is my favorite picture from the party. Lucy and her friend from daycare Juniper riding the bike. How cute are these girls? You can tell they are having the best time.

 

 

Of course we had to have cake! Here are Lucy and Daddy with her special cupcake.

 

I have to admit that part of me is still a little sad that I don't have any of the crazy-messy-1-year-old-birthday-cake-in-the-face pictures of Lucy. Can you believe that one year ago at this time she was not putting any food in her mouth? Crazy! Anyway, she gobbled up her cupcake with no mess at all. Happy Second Birthday, peanut! 

 

Lucy is 2!

Our baby girl turned 2 on November 8! Mama and Dad can't believe how quickly the time has passed! Lucy is such a sweet, funny, and smart kid. At two years old she loves to read, she takes such good care of her babies - her dolls, her brother, and her doggies - she can say her ABCs and count to 10, she knows her colors and how to sing all kinds of songs. Lucy loves playing hide and go seek, she is a big fan of the playground, she likes going to the library and children's museum and loves spending time with her little friends. She is running, jumping, and dancing all over the place! Lucy is getting more independent every day - she chooses her clothes, she pulls on her pants, socks, and shoes, she 'brushes' her own teeth, she can do lots of things 'All by myself!' Lucy is learning new vocabulary all of the time and she can sometimes be pretty sassy! 'No way Daddy!' or 'Go away Mommy!' are popping up in her speech! :) We love our Lucy Bear so much and it is so much fun to see the little personality that is developing! You are the best, Lucy Goose! Mama and Daddy and Roman love you so much!

 

We did throw a birthday party for our little peanut on November 9 (I will do a separate post on this event!) but we also did some celebrating at home. Here are the pictures!

 

Here is our birthday girl at the breakfast table! Miss Lucy was born at 9:10 in the morning so this was pretty close to the exact 2 year mark. :) We had one of her favorite meals on her birthday - bran muffins.

 

 

After breakfast she got a gift from mom and dad. Lucy loves pushing the little grocery carts at HyVee so we got her a little cart of her own.

 

 

Grocery shopping with her baby Sofia!

 

 

Lucy received some pretty awesome gifts in the mail for her special day! She loves getting packages!

 

She got a cabbage patch doll from Grandma Sharon and Grandpa Glen! She loved it! Mama still remembers getting her first Cabbage Patch from the very same couple about 30 years ago. What a great gift!

 

Lucy gave her big hugs right away. I asked Lucy what she was going to name her baby and right away she responded with 'Roman!' I found the little Cabbage Patch birth certificate that said the baby's name was Sofia. I told Lucy that she could definitely call the baby Roman or that Sofia could be another choice. Lucy did decide on Sofia - she has a little friend named Sophia too so I think that the familiarity helped - and it has stuck! She asks to sleep with Sofia at night now. :)

 

Feeding a baby takes lots of concentration!

And now feeding herself! A little for the baby...a little for Lucy.

 

 

Lucy received a beautiful book from Grandma Nola and Grandpa Ken! Grandma Nola used lots of pictures from our trip to zoo this summer and put a story together. Lucy was captivated!

 

Lucy loves reading this book over and over again! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

 

On the evening on November 8, we had Lucy's favorite dinner - pizza! Yay for Glassnickel! What are we going to do when we can get pizza delivery in Rhinelander!?! Haha! We then watched The Very Hungry Caterpillar movie in the basement - another big treat! What a fun day!

 

We love our 2 year old!

 

Lucy knows her ABCs

Please ignore our messy living room in the background and the fact that Lucy loves to hang out with her pajamas unzipped these days but here is our sweet girl singing her ABCs! She is a big fan of singing this song.

 

The Wheels on the Bus

We had a big adventure with our friends Mary and MacKenzie recently - we rode the bus downtown and visited Madison's new central library. The girls loved it!! We boarded the bus near our house at Olbrich gardens. It was a little bit of an ordeal - 3 kids, 2 mamas, 2 strollers, diaper bags, etc. Kind of obnoxious so good thing that it wasn't rush hour! Haha. Lucy and MacKenzie sang and looked out the windows the entire way.

 

Our eager bus rider!

 

Lucy and Kenzie on the #4 

 

Singing the Wheels on the Bus 

 

We got off at the Capitol Square and walked to the new Central Library. I have to say that I am not a fan of the new building. It is super modern and not very cozy. It feels more like a hospital or a museum on modern art to me than a place to curl up with a book. We quickly found our way to the Children's area downstairs.

 Lucy liked sitting in the bright purple chairs!

These weird pods were the closest we came to couches!

 

The girls relaxing

 

Thanks for the fun morning, MacKenzie and Mary!

 

Proof that Roman enjoyed the pod too!

 

 

Side note - I do have to say that bundling up 2 kids and getting on the bus was fun for a morning of playtime but I am super thankful that I don't need to do it every day! Mamas who get multiple kids off to daycare and get themselves to work each day on a bus are amazing!!

Children's Museum

Lucy loves going to the Children's Museum in Madison! Thanks again to Grandma Sharon and Grandpa Glen for the family membership! :)

 

We visited MCM a couple of weeks ago and Lucy quickly found her way to her two favorite activities - the water feature and the Madison city play table.

 

Mama has a love/hate relationship with the water play area. I love it because it is clearly Lucy's favorite thing to do. She has so much fun and squeals with delight when she is splashing. I hate it because, despite wearing the little waterproof apron, Lucy always gets soaked and, once we are playing in the water, she never wants to leave and try any of the other activities at the museum! 

 

Here are some pictures of our little peanut splashing in the water. 

 

 

Wait- Mama wants to take a picture?

 

I love playing in the water!!!

 

The most recent favorite is this city of Madison play table. Lucy can stand on the little stool and set up her part of the city - adding trees, buildings, traffic signs, cars, etc. She really like standing up in the middle of things! She looks like a little prairie dog in there! :)

 

Creating a city

 

Maybe Lucy will be a city planner or an architect when she grows up!

Daddy's Big Guy

Here is Roman wearing his Daddy's Big Guy deer pajamas in honor of the upcoming gun deer season! :) Good luck hunters!

 

Some Sibling Love

A sweet sister/brother shot of Lucy and Roman.

This picture makes me smile every time that I look at it.

 

Stories and sweets

Every few months our library will have a Stories and Sweets event on a Saturday morning where kids can come in for a donut hole and a story time.

 

As you can see Lucy was super excited for her donut hole and book!

 

 

We also watch a short movie, during this Stories and Sweets event it was a 5 or 7 minute film on the Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats.

 

 

Lucy has been talking about it ever since! She was captivated! She totally started crying and yelling 'More!' after it was over. :) She rarely uses her sign language for more any longer unless she really wants something and, on this Saturday, the sign for more was being flashed like crazy!

 

Our little man lounging during story time!

 

After Stories and Sweets, we went to play and look at books in the children's area. Lucy desperately wanted to use the stool so I let her. Here she is selecting a book...

 

...I guess she wants to visit California! Who doesn't? :)

Side note: Before I snapped this picture the first book she chose was about Mississippi. Haha!

 

After choosing her books, it was getting close to lunch so we got ready to leave. Between Lucy's sugar rush, lack of lunch/nap, she was definitely not using her listening ears! She didn't want to leave and on our way out the door she ran into the Men's Room. ugh! There was no outside door, just an entrance - kind of like a mall or an airport bathroom. Anyway, she bolted in, laughing the whole time. There were other people in there so I couldn't just run after here. I was just asking another Dad in the children's area to check on her when she came running out, smiling, super proud of herself. Lucy - sometimes you drive your mama crazy! :)