9 months, walking, and playdates!

I can't believe she's been out as long as she was in (actually, a little longer, at this point).  Her 9 month photos aren't as impressive as previous months, because she was just getting over a stomach flu, and didn't feel 100% on the day we took them, but here are a few:

Lucy impresses me and makes me proud every single day, with the things she is trying to do, and the things she succeeds with!  This week, she successfully started walking up to 5 or 6 steps across open spaces, instead of always dropping to the floor and crawling.  She's so mobile, it's incredible.  She's started putting things IN instead of always taking them out, and she learned how to stack two cups inside each other (although she usually prefers to bang them together).  Since she's getting bored with being stuck in the playroom all the time, I've started letting her loose in the kitchen area while I'm cooking or cleaning, and she loves to dig through the tupperware or the pots and pans cabinet.

She also has two teeth now! Her bottom front teeth came in, and now she can take bites of soft foods like banana and cooked carrots.

Earlier this week, Grandma and Grandpa Forest took Lucy to the park while Mommy and Daddy attended an adults-only event, and she got to see ducks and geese close up.

... Perhaps a little closer than she really wanted to...

Also this month, Lucy has had the opportunity to play with two little girls who are near her own age!  Last weekend, she had an evening playdate with Michaela, who is 11 months old, while Mommy and Daddy had dinner at a friend's house.  Today, her friend (who she doesn't remember) Anna came over to play.  Anna is only 3 days older than Lucy, and they seem to be experiencing parallel developmental stages.  Anna-Banana walks a little better than Lucy-Bean, and Lucy talks a little more than Anna, but they share interest in the same toys, and I think they really enjoyed interacting (and not interacting) with each other.  We definitely need to make this a habit :)

We've started thinking about Lucy's first birthday, and what we may want to do to celebrate.  Once the holidays are over, it will only be a couple months away, and time FLIES when you're taking care of a little one.  I feel constantly overwhelmed and blessed to be caring for such an intelligent, curious, determined little girl, and look forward to the person she'll be in the future :)

Lucy hanging out with Uncle Tommy :)

A Toothy Artist

Lucy is growing up so fast, it feels like everything is happening at once...

She has her first tooth! It's barely peeking through her gums so far, and she's very protective of her mouth (because it hurts), but her bottom left front tooth made its appearance two days ago.  The bottom right is about to break through as well, so pretty soon we'll have (as Daddy calls her) an upside-down chipmunk :)

Her hair is really growing in quickly, too, and is now long enough to put up in little pigtails or a tiny (tiny) ponytail.

Mommy and Lucy with a little ponytail :)

Lucy took her first step last Saturday! She only took one, towards her Uncle Tommy (who caught it on video).  Since then, she's taken a few more individual steps, mostly for her Grampa Forest, but hasn't quite figured out her balance to stand and walk yet.  Here's the video Uncle Tommy made the day she took her first step:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kL1q2PYWIc

Since she's so interested in standing and walking, I wanted to be able to walk her around outside sometimes, just for a change of scenery.  We went to the store a few days ago and bought her her first pair of real shoes to walk around in!  She's a little awkward in them, but it makes Mommy feel better that she has something on her little tootsies when we go out.

Lucy is also exploring her artistic side! I've let her play with finger paints a few times before, but yesterday she seemed to really "get it" in a way that she hasn't in the past.  She didn't immediately try to put the paint in her mouth, like she has before, and she was very interested in smearing the colors around on the paper.  She even turned the paper around when it got too messy, so she could smear colors on the blank parts.  After the first painting, she indicated that she wanted a fresh paper, and she made a second painting too!  Unfortunately, after the second painting she thought it would be fun to sample the finger paints again.  The verdict: Red tastes awful, but for a truly scientific evaluation, repeated sampling was required.

the aspiring artist

her artwork

I can't believe she's closing in on 9 months already!  Time sure flies when you're unbelievably busy... (and having fun) :)

Playing catch-up!

Since I'm only starting this blog now, I thought I'd stick all the updates I've emailed to family and friends in the first post, just to get up to date.

Let's start at the beginning:
Lucy's Newborn Photos

This is an online album hosted by the friendly folks who came to the hospital to photograph our little bundle, less than 24 hours after her grand entrance.  She's so beautiful... I wish she still slept so peacefully...

Enjoy a few of my personal favorites from her first month at home :)

Mark said:
"All the hyperbole about parenthood is true. I'm so in love with this little girl that we made. I was completely unprepared for the intensity of it. Here's a quote I like: "Making the decision to have a child is momentous.  It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body."  ~Elizabeth Stone (Incidentally, I'm glad other, more eloquent people are also parents, so I can borrow their words.) She's perfect. Every sound she makes tugs at my heart, and every face is just adorable. I feel like she's an old soul.

Today she's 4 weeks old! Yay! Practically speaking, we're all doing very well. Lucy is gaining weight steadily; she's perfectly healthy. Eating well... pooping well... sleeping -- um... Hey, at least she's sleeping. She's on a pretty random schedule right now, which is a bit of a headache, especially for Julia, who has be the one to feed her. Very soon Dad will be helping Mom out by feeding with a bottle. We've been able to keep her only on breast milk, which is supposed to have significant immune benefits for Lucy (apparently, Julia gives antibodies to Lucy right through the milk! Isn't that amazing?).

Lucy hasn't gotten to be very interactive yet, so all her toys are still new and un-puked upon. Everyone says she looks lots like me; when she was born, I couldn't see anyone's face in her except for my mom. Now, she looks more like her own self, but the most distinct features (mouth, nose, furrowed/worried brow) seem to come from me. She still has beautiful, dark blue eyes - we think she'll either keep those or go green. I look closely every day for Julia's features to show up - so far, she has dainty, slender feet like Julia... I'm sure more will show up!"

After that, it took me quite a while to get collected enough to start updating... But now I get a chance to make up for it, by posting tons of photos here!
Lucy at one month old:

A cool side-by-side showing how much she grew during her second month :)

2 months:

3 months:

4 months: (next to the outfit she came home from the hospital in)

playing with finger paints:

This is the point where I started to send email updates to our friends and family, in the spirit of keeping everyone up to date!

August 1, 2012:
"Luciella reached 5 months today!
Her milestones for the last couple weeks include sitting up on her own, pinching (does that count as a milestone?), and putting herself to sleep at night.  She can now sit without support for several minutes at a time, only losing her balance and falling over when she tries to reach for things beside her or out of her reach.  She's pretty good at falling without hurting herself, although it gives Mommy a bit of a scare - especially when she falls forward!  We're a little less proud of her pinching... She met her baby cousin, Amelia (Re and Charlie's daughter), on Sunday, and the first thing she did was grab her arm and pinch.  Poor Amelia!  Although Lucy has been sleeping through the night (mostly) in her own crib for a couple of months now, just in the last week she has resisted being rocked to sleep.  It breaks my heart, but she wants me to put her down in the crib and let her fall asleep on her own :(.  I kind of miss my little baby, although every new stage is amazing in its own way :)

It's been a big month for our little girl.  In July she got a new baby cousin and a new baby friend (Kho and Nicole's little boy, Benjamin), took her first (second, third, fourth, and fifth) airplane ride, met her great-aunts, great-grandparents, Aunts Michelle & Liz, and many of her cousins on her Daddy's side, experimented with finger paints, attended her Uncle John & Aunt Megahn's wedding, took her first swim, and (much to my relief) started napping in her crib.

Lucy's favorite things right now include soft things, like stuffed animals, the indestructible books Aunts Carol & Maggie gave her, and toys she can manipulate on her own (and put in her mouth).  She likes music, and bobs her head to the rhythm.  She also loves water!  We went swimming for the very first time in Aunt Carol & Aunt Maggie's pool while we were in New York last week, and she couldn't get enough of it.  She looked pretty adorable in her little bathing suit and floaty :)

I hope you enjoy these photos!"

Shortly after we got home from New York, Charlie set up a photo studio in our living room, and we had our very first family photo taken!

On August 26, 2012, I sent this update:
"As of last Wednesday, Lucy weighs 15lbs 10oz, and is 25" tall!
In the last two weeks, Lucy has started pulling up on EVERYTHING.  She still can't get herself to sitting (or standing) from laying down, but if she is sitting up within reach of anything, she pulls herself to her feet.  As a result (and on the doctor's recommendation), we lowered the crib mattress to the lowest setting last week so she can't stand up and fall out.  We also started "solid" foods, beginning with banana, then trying pears, and finally spinach.  So far, she likes it all!

We can't believe she's nearly 6 months old already - the time has really flown by.  She's really starting to show us her unique personality, with a love for music and books, and a healthy stubborn streak (we have NO idea where that came from...).  Every new stage comes with new excitement.  We can't wait to see what comes next!"

Then I  missed a couple months, while trying to settle into my new role as Mommy-who-goes-to-school.  Here are a few photos to fill in the gap :)

6 months:

7 months:

Most recently, on November 2, 2012, I sent the following update:
"Lucy is 8 months old!
In the last few weeks, she finally figured out real crawling, and learned to climb the step between the playroom and the dining room... Prompting us to frantically install baby gates and move the fish tank.  She's pulling up on everything, and practicing letting go to stand without holding on (which is terrifying to Mommy and Daddy), and cruising along the edges of all the furniture.  She also figured out all by herself that she could pull up on the step-stool, and push it around like a walker!  We're pretty sure she'll be walking before Christmas, at this rate!

We've started solid foods, and Mommy is making most of the baby food so far.  It isn't really as hard as it sounds... Especially with a personal blender on hand.  So far, she loves oatmeal with blueberries, isn't sure how she feels about spinach, and can't stand watermelon.  She really, really likes the Gerber cereal puffs, but I think it's mostly because she gets to practice eating with her fingers.  She isn't very good at picking things up with her thumb and finger yet, but she's determined to master it :)  Lucy also really enjoys playing with a sippy cup, and sometimes manages to drink out of it.

With all this new activity, she isn't sleeping very well at night.  She's suffering a little separation anxiety, and I think she has trouble shutting off her brain and settling down.  Fortunately for me, Mark is amazing and gets up with her a few nights a week so I can sleep."

Follow this link to an awesome slideshow of the photos Uncle Charlie took of Lucy at 8 months:
8 month slideshow

And here are a few snapshots of her playing :)

Being a Mama sure has a lot of ups and downs, but I wouldn't trade my life for anybody's.  Yesterday morning, Lucy said her first word: "MAMA"!!!  It melted my heart.  One of the oh-so-frequent moments that reminds me why I'm missing so much sleep <3