Lucy's Summer in Adorable Photographs

I haven't blogged recently as much as I had hoped. To make up for it, here is a photographic record of Lucy's extreme cuteness this summer.

Tea parties with Oo-Oo (monkey) 

Playing outside after her first finger painting (also outside)

Posing with Daddy before graduation

Bathing in a plastic tote in a shower on vacation

Diving into a barrel of dice at a game store

Brushing TEETH in new Elmo PJ's and coordinating necklace

Drinking by herself

Building sandcastles

Chasing fireflies

Interest in the potty and pigtails

General cuteness in pigtails

Combing her beard with Daddy's comb just like Daddy does

Sliding at Burger King on a Mommy/Lucy lunch date

Playing educational apps while sitting on her Elmo potty seat

Using a screwdriver to help Daddy put together her new slide

Sliding down the huge slide at Bounce (Kidwise)

Trying out the smallest bicycle at Wal-Mart

She put shirt on by herself (inside out)

Getting ready to go to the pool

Climbing a ladder over Mommy's head to get to the slide at the park

Just hanging out by the slide

See-sawing with a new friend

Sitting in the recliner with Mommy and playing on the tablet

Wow, she's good (and so grown-up-looking)

Helping Mommy water the garden

Entertaining Mommy and the entire store with her choice of headgear

Putting on Mommy's sports bra all by herself

Gifts for Lucy

It's August. Lucy turns 2 next month! I've started thinking about her birthday party. And Christmas is just a few months later. So I've updated Lucy's Amazon list. It's over 100 items. And I've left a lot of things on it that are great but would probably not be her first choice, so here are a few suggestions. 

Lucy loves Sesame Street, Elmo, Curious George, Shaun the Sheep, Daniel Tiger, books, vintage Fisher Price Little People, playgrounds and slides, babies, toilets, bubbles in and out of the bathtub, frogs, sheep, dogs, cats, ducks, monkeys, and elephants. That's what I can think of off the top of my head. She enjoys drawing/writing, playing with play dough, playing dress up, playing kitchen, building with blocks, and doing puzzles. Anything that combines anything she likes and loves will be a hit.

A reminder that we are fine with used gifts in good condition. At this age she doesn't know the difference, especially because most of the toys and books we buy her are used. If you can get a good deal, go for it. If a good deals means that you can afford to get her more, hurray! :)

Blocks
She's just starting to put Duplo bricks or bristle blocks together. She hasn't started imagining things to build yet, but she likes playing with figures and houses (like her Little People house), so Duplo sets that allow her to play while learning to build are a good idea. Lego Duplo First Playhouse is great because it has doors to open and a slide. And the Duplo First Farm has doors and a sheep. 

Puzzles
Most of the puzzles she has are very easy and teach matching. She's ready to work on putting pieces together. If you're into Ebay, you can find vintage wooden Playskool puzzles like the ones I grew up with. 

Books
There are a lot of books on the wish list. Some are from recommended reading lists I've found online. She requests that we read Sandra Boynton, Duck & Goose, Curious George, and Sesame Street, so more of those would be good. I think she'd also like Sheep in a Jeep. Our library doesn't have a copy of it. The Olivier Dunrea books are nice, too.

Videos
Videos are not a high priority. We have Amazon Prime and Netflix, which supplies plenty of Sesame Street, Daniel Tiger, Curious George, and Shaun the Sheep, most of which are also available on PBS. 

Music & Instruments
I don't know where to begin looking for good kids music, but I think she needs some. I grew up listening to a lot of music and would like for Lucy to also live surrounded by music. We try to introduce her to many styles of music through radio, Spotify, and Pandora (all free sources). I sing a lot of kids songs to her: I'm a Little Tea Pot, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Ring Around the Rosie, etc. I also sing her the Sunday School/Children's Church songs that I remember as well as hymns, praise songs, and scripture songs. I'd like some CDs to sing along with. As for instruments, she has several, mostly percussion, which she plays with sporadically. Sometimes she's really into them, and sometimes she forgets them. They aren't a high priority, but she'd enjoy them.

Art Supplies
We have markers, crayons, and paints. She doesn't like the Color Wonder stuff because of the lag between touching the marker to the paper and the appearance of the line of color. I don't blame her. It's frustrating, even though I like that it's mess-free. She could use a MagnaDoodle. That would be mess-free and not frustrating. She doesn't really need coloring books. I easily made her one batch of play dough months ago that she still uses. What she could use are tools to use with the dough. She has a roller and some cutters, but the Rollers, Cutters, and More set has scissors and some shape-making tubes. I've also put a set of small rolling pins on the list that actually roll like real rolling pins. The one she has is solid and so can't roll if you just hold the handles.

Dress-Up Clothes
She has some hats and bead necklaces that she loves to wear and put on Matt and me. I have put more hats on her wish list, but they are expensive. If you come across anything cheaper that could be used for dress up, for example Halloween clearance items, she'll probably like it.

Imaginative Play Toys
She has a kitchen with plenty of dishes and food. She has plenty of stuffed animals and dolls (in my opinion). She could use some accessories for her dolls. She has bottles and a stroller. She would probably like diapers. These diapers from her wishlist are cloth and fit many sizes of doll. This brand comes in other styles. If they are cheaper, buy the cheaper style. I've bought some clothes so that her cheap plastic naked babies aren't naked by necessity--I can't help if they are naked by choice--but they could use some diapers. She would also enjoy tool sets or doctor kits. We would prefer doctors' kits that don't make noises. She also likes puppets and finger puppets.

Active Toys
Lucy is physically gifted. She moves like a much older child. She slides on the biggest slides at the bouncy house place, hangs and swings on bars at the playground, and climbs ladders wherever she finds them. Active toys like a slide or tricycle are right up her alley. And she's almost able to somersault by herself, so a cushy mat would be helpful.

Clothes
I still need to inventory Lucy's 24 month and 2T clothes to see what she needs. I put a few Curious George shirts on her wish list. I do know that if you find long sleeve pajamas (one- or two-piece) with any of the following characters, she will be happy: Elmo from Sesame Street, Curious George, Spiderman, Shaun the Sheep (perhaps will be available because of the movie coming out this month), pretty much any superhero.