Lucy- 14 Months Old/Reporting Back From Last Week

 

 Lucy, 14 Months Old:

My sweet girl is 14 months old today. She is the absolute sunshine of our whole family. At 14 months old, she-

* is not walking, but is a very fast and proficient crawler who loves to cruise the L-shape of the couch and try to climb the first three steps of our stairs. 

* Lucy LOVES to sing.  She does a very exaggerated curled tongue as she says, "La la la!" in imitation of my singing "la la la" to her. She also has mastered the "EIEIO" of Old MacDonald, except she says, "AYE-ee-AYE-ee-AYE!" right in time with the song. She is loud! 

* Lucy loves her Bunny Bunny, but has also adopted two mooshy bunnies I made for her and tucked into her crib. She clutches the trio of bunnies to her when she sleeps, and calls all bunnies "DA DA!". Don't tell Joe she's not really saying HIS name. :)

* She says, "Hi-eee!" to everyone she meets. A lyrical, expressive hello that gets a lot of attention and almost always compels the stranger to say hi back to her. After which she'll say "Hi-eee!" again. They respond again. Repeat 5 more times. Without fail. She is a total FLIRT. 

* Whenever she hears a beep-- either from my cell phone alerts or from a car honking or a construction vehicle beeping, she perks up and says a staccato, "Det!", her own version of a beep noise.  She adores doing this. 

* Lucy is definitely in the pre-verbal stage where if she wants something, she stretches and reaches for it with a terribly obnoxious whine. I cannot WAIT til this habit is kicked. 

* She totally has rhythm. She will bop her head or flap her arms or otherwise dance to almost any song that comes on the radio with a good beat. She loves LOVES music. We even have a few songs that she goes NUTS for, looking over to Noah for affirmation that he is also dancing hard, then letting loose and dancing like crazy with a huge grin on her face. It is nearly my absolute favorite part of the day with her. 

* Lucy loves water--- the hose, the swimming pool, the bath, a squirt bottle... you name it, she wants near it. 

* Lucy loves cheese, applesauce, ice cream, blackberries, strawberries, watermelon, peas, green beans, lunch meat, and anything we are eating that she can't have. 

* She's starting to fit 12-month clothing, but is still a small little thing. The part of her that has been growing the most has been her hair. I am totally in love with her wispy blonde curls. 

* The photo above is from this evening... Joe helped me take Lucy out to get a few photos with the basket of citrus I'd gathered for a client session last week. I knew I'd love the results of my blonde sweetie in the same setup, and she did not disappoint. Daddy was the perfect clown behind me, getting her to laugh and smile for my camera. She was perfectly content to stay in the basket and be cute, so she made me a very happy mama and photographer.  We'll see how much longer I get to con her to be good for photos. We're close to the era of "running away from the lens", I know. 

* I am so enamoured with my Lucy Lu--- It boggles me how much I can delight in the tiniest moments and physical details of this baby of mine. And not just her, but my sweet Noah, too. Our capacity as human beings to love amazes me, and is never more apparent than when I am in the role of mother. I am so in love with my children. 

*

Thank you, sweet friends (and some VERY sweet strangers) for your positive comments and thoughts and advice last week. It meant so much to me to  be reminded that we're all in this struggle in one way or another, and we are all getting better, even if we take a few steps back now and then. I should've come back to report sooner, but honestly, the VERY next day was a vast improvement for me. I woke up the morning after writing that post and remembered my feelings of the night before... and from that moment, I vowed to practice mindfulness that day. If nothing else changed, I wanted to at least get back into being mindful and purposeful with all of my decisions. To be honest, not much outwardly changed. We still went on an outing that day-- got out of the house instead of practicing contentment in our own home-- but for the first time in weeks, I made that decision with awareness and purpose and I knew WHY I was doing it instead of just doing it. 

And I reveled more in the simple things again. 

And I just felt...... back on the right path. Not necessarily at my destination (established good habits, slower pace, balance, etc.)... But on the right path. Back on track. 

So thank you. I truly feel that receiving encouragement from you guys helped keep me aware for most of this past week. 

It's an ever-constant work in progress, this life of mine. But I'm handling it much better, thank you very much. For now, at least. 

Meanwhile, I get to be tested a bit in my ability to stay flexible and keep hold of my goals even when life throws a few curveballs. Tomorrow, instead of getting one more slow day with just my Lucy-Lu while Noah spends his last day on his trip to my parents' house, I get to have him home a day early, but still only get one or two hours with him before taking my small packed bag and heading on a very sudden, very last minute road trip to Utah with my parents and 3 sisters for my grandmother's funeral. I'll be leaving my two kiddos and my husband behind for this quick trip, and I'm already missing them before even leaving. 

I'm surprised that I'm not desperately sad at the loss of my grandmother. I can't feel anything but joy for her, to be completely honest. The last year and longer, she's been trapped in the body of a frail stroke-victim, and she's not been able to be her truest self for a long long time. I feel peace in my faith that she continues on in a better place-- that she is reunited with loved ones and is back to her best physical self once again. I KNOW I will see her again, and until then, I am thrilled she is free and joyful. I am grateful for the opportunity (though peppered with stresses) to go to her funeral and to celebrate her with my extended family. This is a good thing. It is worth the last-minute worry about babysitters and meal arrangements and other things suddenly at the top of my to-do list before I leave tomorrow. 

So. 

All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well. 

It is good.