It's a Cowgirl Party!

I think of where I was two years ago and I was nearly ready to have a baby.  Now that baby is a mini-adult, functioning independently (as much as a toddler can).  She's singing to "Do You Want to be a Snowman" in the car on the way to and from work.  As I desperately hope for sunshine, warmth and spring to arrive, she's requesting winter songs (my kind of girl!).

Since the weather has been nicer, I've started to run again and that means Lucy gets the chance to experience the runs with me.  She calls our runs, "walks".  that's what she knows how to say.  She looks forward to our "walks" because she gets to see doggies, people and busses.  And gets a free ride in the sunshine.

The Inspiration (and also beer&soda labels)

As I was scouring the web for 2nd birthday party ideas for the past handful of months, I was trying to find something easy and fun, maybe even something we could use later for another party. Realistically she won't remember much, if not anything, about this party.  I know that.

The inspiration this year came from the professional photos we had taken this fall which highlighted a beautiful young toddler with a pension for blank stares.  Thus, a cowboy theme was born.

Inspiration: Lucy "Stoneface" Wilson, a sweetheart who will kill you with her stare.


But I haven't really taken the time since she has been born (other than her birthdays) to let my creative juices flow and actually make things.  So I made things.  I made banners and banners.  I made hand stamped sporks.  I made juice box covers and soda & beer labels.  I found mini cowboy hats (probably for a Barbie) for the cupcake toppers.  I made homemade chocolate cupcakes.  I had my dad make her a wooden pony & a lasso as a game. And, I made horse tails for Pin the Tail on the Horse game.

Lacking time to saw a "2", the chalkboard worked just as well. 

So many banners......

My favorite homemade chocolate cupcakes with buttercream frosting.

Cowboys & Sheriffs

In case you needed a spork to tell you what to do.

Customized Juice Box Covers 

   

Birthday Girl's Chair!

Gift Boxes for the Friends! 

Our little cowgirl waiting for her friends to arrive!

The Birthday Girl on Grandpa's Horse! 

It started with a chilly, blanket of snow on the ground.  By the end of the day, it included an accidental wet bed from an overloaded evening diaper, a broken wine bottle in the driveway, a backed up standing pipe in the basement, a shattered wine glass in a lap, a spilled beer over carpet, and a mattress dribbled with cat pee and a carpet with puke.

Despite this insane list of unexpected surprises, that party was awesome!  We had a lot of our closest friends and immediate family here.  It was a sun-filled, beautiful day.  Lucy loved spending time with all of her friends that could come!  

Plus, she completely got to dig into her very own HUGE cupcake (something she definitely didn't do last year!).

23 months!

Since our last post, I've celebrated a birthday and we spent a couple weeks of our holiday break, visiting our families in Wisconsin and Northern MN.

Traveling with a little tot is always nerve-wracking...mostly for us, it's because we don't want our sleepless baby interrupting other people's schedules/rest.  But, Lucy was a pretty good trooper.  While she got used to sleeping in the same bed as us so we could keep her sleeping and not screaming, she was great during the day and the winter road conditions were ideal for the multi-city trip.  We found that Lucy does best with someone in the back seat to keep her company or feed her snacks so she stays happy.  Maybe snacks and movies are truly what keep kiddos in the car happy on long rides.

Lucy was more active this holiday than last.  She definitely liked opening presents - everyone's presents.  She's a great helper and was happy to boss people around to open their gifts!  She was excited to talk about Santa "ho ho ho" but not really keen on hanging out with the guy.


Key Phrases

• I want mo'ah (more)
• I pooped.
• I toot.
• I hide.
• Kitty.
• Sit, which sounds more like sh#t.
• Stairs.
• Poppa (grandpa)

Recent Highlights in Development Skills/Abilities:
In the last two weeks (22 1/2 months), her vocabulary is EXPLODING.  We knew she could comprehend and follow through with multi-step requests/directions but her vocabulary was so limited.  Likely, compared to other kiddos, she might still have a limited vocabulary (what do we know - she's our first?!?).  But, to us - she's starting to pull all of the concepts together.  It's nearly as though overnight, components in her brain just "clicked".  When we read books, we can ask her where (insert whatever is in the picture but not in the story) and she can point it out.  She has verbally identified multiple colors.  She has now added "water" to the mix of vocabulary (today 2/13).   She has gotten to the point of telling us where we can change her diaper (on her bedroom floor, our bedroom floor, etc).  She'll just go and lay down there and wait.  Unsurprisingly, she still dislikes the word 'no'.  We don't use it a lot but when we do, it's Tantrum Town.

New

"The Roper" (a.k.a Tickling)

She absolutely adores reading.  We read so many books.  We mostly read books when we wake up, before/after nap, on lazy weekend mornings and before bed every night.  While she loves many books, she has a certain affliction for the book G's grandma made him 35+ years ago.

Just yesterday (Feb.13th, 2016) she started to try to wink back to her daddy.  It was one of the most adorable and hilarious things I have witnessed yet.  She winces both of her eyes closed and sometimes get this sour look on her face while she does it.


Another favorite of ours is when she is wants to play hide and seek.  She insists "I hai-de" and then runs off in her waddling gallop to find her prime hiding spot.  This prime hiding spot is usually out in the wide open area of our king sized bed.  Sometimes, it's next to her crib.  And, just recently, she hid behind the couch cushions.  She has gotten more creative in her hiding and astronomically better at staying still and quiet while we look for her.  There are still times, however, where we can hear the excitable panting of pug....and then we realize it's just Lucy.

She still doesn't really sleep through the night.  Sometimes she still wakes up 30 minutes - 2 hours after we put her asleep and goes right back to bed.  Nearly every night she sleeps good once she's down but we still can't get her to sleep past 5:30 am and that's a good day!

She is way more independent.  She reads books by herself.  She sits in the chair near the fireplace, draped with a fleece blanket and reads magazines.  She plays with her dolls and loves taking everything out of the kitchen.

Telling Grandpa to brush Uncle's hair.  She's a pushy one.

She tries to emulate everything we do whether it's cleaning, putting lotion on our face or wearing a belt - she is all about doing whatever the adults are doing.  It's adorable and I love it, though sometimes when you are trying to leave to get out of the door in the morning, she insists on doing everything herself (mostly) and I'm sure this phase will only get stronger.

She still loves bath time but is at a point when she'll say 'no' to bath time every single night.  She's a fan of showers. Really, she's a fan of water....however and wherever she can be in it or play with it.

I love picking her up from daycare.  As soon as I open the door I can hear "momma?  momma?".  When I walk down the stairs, she gets this huge grin on her face and runs to me with open arms and wraps them around me for a squeeze.  In the past two weeks, she's MUCH more enjoyable to drive home in a car.  Previously, she'd just cry or scream the entire way home even if I had given her toys to play with.  I haven't done anything different these past two weeks, I think she just might be a.) getting to the car ride, or, b.) getting older.

An aspiring mini pilot like her Grandpa.

Life, since the last post, as had a dramatic change.  Lucy's beloved grandpa, Larry, passed away on Tuesday, January 5th.  While it wasn't unexpected, it was still surprising and nonetheless, devastating to all of us.  It's a deeply emotional process to go through but it's even more challenging to try to explain it to a small child that really doesn't get it.  When we arrived, she ran into the bedroom (as was her usual for the past 18 months) to find her grandpa in bed and when he wasn't there, she then checked the bathroom to see if he was there instead.  He wasn't.  G and I tried to do our best to explain to her that Papa now lived in her heart.  She'd point to her heart and say "Papa".

Before he passed, we made a family handprint together with both grandparents and Lucy.  When we got home, I mounted it above her dresser near where we change her diapers so she could see it every day.  She often asks to touch it and, depending on the day, may say "Papa" and point to her heart and then make the airplane sign with her hands.

We plan on doing the hand print thing with the other grandparents - just need to break it out at the next opportunity so the walls in her room can reflect all of her favorite people!

It's insane to think she will be two in a a month!  TWO.  DOS.  2.  I wonder what new things next month will bring!?!