Living, Loving, Learning

My little girl is going to be 1 tomorrow. So many people have asked me if I can believe it, and frankly, oh yeah, I certainly can. This little girl has made a HUGE impact on our lives that has been felt everyday for the last year. She is so wonderful, so beautiful, so...just as she should be, just as she was always meant to be. Her personality fills up my heart, pushes me on, challenges me. She is the ultimate little sweet and sour morsel. She can be so sweet - smiling at strangers, flirting, giggling, sharing. And so so sour - throwing full blown tantrums, wining, yelling, crying, clinging and PINCHING. She feels so tiny still, it is hard to imagine how that little body holds so much energy. We have gone for weeks with her being so intense, us just trying to get through it sane. And then, the clouds part, it stops raining and the skies are filled with unicorns and rainbows and glittery hearts. Just a week ago I felt like I was at my wits end with her and then *poof* this amazing lit...

Wow, a week away from being one. I can hardly believe it, but yet it feels like she has been part of me forever. She has started to wean herself off the breast. Mostly, this makes me so so happy. I am really ready to be done with it and I love that she is feeling the same way, that we are on the same page. A teeny tiny little part of me feels a little bit sad but I just tell that part to shut up and have a cocktail! :) Griffin and Lucy are having a ton of fun playing together now. Griffin cracks her up like no other. They have the same laugh so when they really get going it is hard to hear where one starts and the other ends. She can be aggressive with him though. It is much more often Lucy who is stealing the toys or playing too rough (she loves to pull his hair). Griffin is struggling to navigate the sea of standing up for himself vs. being gentle with his sister. He is such a good brother. It has been a beautiful week here, tons of the trees are blooming. This is Luc...

Just like her brother was at this age, tall and so skinny she can't keep her pants up. Snoozing with Papa.

Another child to love the homemade blocks... Soooo BIG.....

Life is now all about figuring it out. She is fascinated by the world around her...what does it smell/taste/feel/do? Her curiosity has sprung into full gear and it is so FUN! We met up with our friends today at Fun4Kids (like Ceaserland without the crappy pizza and only$3/hour!) Lucy and Carlie are only 4 months apart, but what a developmental difference in those 4 months! Hey brutha, wait for me!

This is a classic "Lucy" look, meaning "I am having a GRRReat time." I was happy to get this look this morning, believe me. She has been cutting her two top front teeth all week and has been totally miserable. There has been much pulling of hair and gnashing of teeth lately. Finally, this morning was the first morning in about a month that she woke up not crying. It is hard to get the shot with my little camera, but you can kind of see the pressure on those top gums. The teeth are just peeking out. OH, the drool, pools of drool and a week of soaked necklines.

We went to the pedatrician yesterday for a check-up. She said Lucy is perfect, developmentally speaking. That was kind of her to say since Lucy was screaming at the top of her lungs as the doctor tried to look in her ears! We are in full "pull up" mode; the movement not the diaper. Lucy is pulling up on anything, including the leg of my jeans, the outside of the bathtub and her toy stroller. Maybe a dancer?

Hanging at the mall...

She LOVES this ball!

We had a BIG week here! Lucy stood up in her crib for the first time (and I was lucky to have a camera close by to catch it!) This was the first time she had pulled herself up at all. It was on 1/20/09...she was doing her part for change! Who is that gorgeous girl looking at me? This week she also started crawling in the "traditional" way. Up until now she has been just doing the army crawl. Now that she is mobile, she is gone the minute you set her down. (Yeah, I realize this picture shows the world we have yet to do something about the hideous bedroom wallpaper...what can I say? We have been busy.) If I leave her unattended for even a minute I am never sure what I'll come back to. She is really enjoying exploring. For old times sake: This was taken the first time Griffin ever pulled himself up. Definitely siblings!

Lucy and her first "baby". Custom made doll from My Little Etsy Shop . Very adorable and high quality, the personalization makes it extra special.

Another cool outfit on loan from the Amors, thanks guys!! This is the first time Lucy has worn jeans...any kind of denim, I believe. I guess I am pretty into the girlie girl thing with her. She ate her first complete "real" meal this week. I had some leftover acorn squash and she LOVED it, some shredded chicken and cut up peaches. I will be happy to leave baby food in the past! I think she would be willing to give up nursing now but, you know what, I am not ready to give it up. She almost fell asleep last night in Bruce's arms and I almost panicked - I want a few more months of cuddles and quiet time with her. I hope she will hang in there with me until her first birthday. She also started to pull up on things this week. I have to watch her like a hawk now so she doesn't land head first on the floor. Fun times! The Moms will be here this weekend...we are all looking forward to it. I have a few more cute sibling pics that I will put up over the weekend. Hope...

How could we resist that shirt?? These are the birds I made her for her room. They are made entirely from the fabric scraps that Jessica had leftover from her quilt. The smallest one was in the top of her Christmas stocking.

Chilling with her buddy in her new Christmas Eve pj's. Sunshine is loyally devoted to this precious little Cheerio dropper.

Lucy is getting so mobile. She can easily creep from the kitchen to her bedroom...in pursuit of her brother, of course. I have to really keep an eye on her as she is reaching that "OH, electrical plug, that looks interesting, maybe I should stick my little wet finger in there" stage. She is working hard on getting herself into a sitting position from crawling, and can do it about 80% of the time. She is still stranger shy - She was cooing at and smiling at Bruce's co-workers at their Christmas luncheon, but if they made a move to hold her she cried instantly. Hoping we grow out of this stage soon. Griffin has been helping by feeding Lucy her breakfast while I make his. This is fun for both of them, but oy, what a mess! *Notice how Griffin had gotten himself dressed the night before...mismatched pj's with the shirt on backwards. I just love that he takes the initiative most evenings and many mornings to get himself dressed. He still will wear clothes I lay out...

Bath time is Lucy's favorite part of the day. Especially so, now that she can sit up in the bath and is not confined to a bath chair.

I'm not going to lie - It has been a rough week here at the Gast house! Tuesday night I started feeling crummy and by Thursday morning I had glands the size of golf balls - strep throat. Bruce had to stay home for 2 days to take care of the kids - I just physically could not do it. My little velcro baby was not at all happy that Mama did not spend the normal amount of time with her. I'm starting to feel better, that is the good news.

I've been trying to get a photo of those 2 little adorable teeth - it has been a challenge. Lucy is creeping all over the place and very motivated by toys. Meal time has become an exercise in patience for me. Ohhh boy, this girl can scream, and does it a ton at meals. Griffin was such a good little eater, this is quite a different experience. She does like most of the things we make for her so I am not entirely sure what she is screaming about. She sure is easy with the smiles the rest of the day, though!