Lucy's 2nd Birthday

Lucy's birthday events were spread over a week, from the first card in the mail until the 2-year check up with the pediatrician. Here's how we celebrated Lucy.

Monday, Sept. 14
Lucy received a card from Gram and Papa (my parents) that plays the Pointer Sisters' "I'm So Excited." The card also has a cardboard cut-out of a dog that twirls around during the song. Lucy LOVES that card. She plays the song over and over and dances, sometimes with her dolls. Lucy's word for music is "doo doo," which makes sense if you sing "doo doo doo," but she doesn't sing it. She is starting to put words together and calls her singing card her "dog doo doo." So thanks Gram and Papa for the "dog doo doo." :)

Tuesday, Sept. 15
The local bouncy house play space is free for kids under two, so we went one more time while she was still free. There were no other kids that morning, so I jumped and climbed and slid with her. She had a good time.

Wednesday, Sept. 16
On Lucy's birthday I tried to do things she wanted to do. I took her for a pastry at the local coffee shop. I let her pick a seat, and she picked one right next to a man that may be homeless. He didn't look dangerous, so we say there. I still haven't figured out how she judges people. Some people cause her to hide and run, but this man was someone to sit next to. I must admit I was kind of proud. Lucy refused to eat either pastry I bought, but she agreed to drink a little chocolate milk. Then we went swimming at the university pool. Lucy has been refusing to wear a flotation device in the pool, but she agreed to try a pool noodle. And she swam well with just a pool noodle. Since then she's started using a smaller noodle and has even tried swimming without support. She went under water and I had to pull her up, but she's brave and will keep trying. After we went swimming, I asked what she wanted for lunch, and she responded enthusiastically for chicken strips, so we went to Dairy Queen. There she discovered the white gravy that comes with chicken strips, and dipped her french fries (and her fingers) in the gravy. She refused to eat the chicken strips. [Have I mentioned that she turned 2?] She randomly decides what she will or won't eat at any given meal. She still likes a wide variety of foods, but she's likely to declare something she likes is "blech" at every meal. When Matt got home from school, we let Lucy open her gifts from family members. Ashley got her cute clothes. Grammie and Papa (Matt's parents) sent a card with money, which she was very excited about. Rick, Cathy, Drew, and Katie got her a couple of Curious George books, for which Matt was also grateful since he reads at least one Curious George book every night. Gram and Papa got Lucy some puzzles, which she likes but is still growing into. Grandma Tanner made Lucy a princess play dress that velcros so that Lucy can put it on and fasten it herself. Matt and I gave her a package of reusable doll diapers to go with a combo doll changing table/cradle/bathtub that I got at the Peddler's Mall. I am happy to report that when the two naked babies received diapers, they also wanted clothes, and they have remained diapered and clothed for a week now. If only I had known what the formerly naked babies really wanted, I would have gotten diapers sooner. We ended the birthday with ice cream at Baskin-Robbins with Shawn and Susie. It was a good day.

Saturday, Sept. 19

 We had Lucy's Curious George birthday party at the church. Several friends came, so Lucy had plenty of kids to play with. Susie painted Curious George for us. Other than that our decorations were plastic table covers and some Dollar Tree balloons, but it looked like a party. I splurge on a huge George balloon on Ebay, which you can see near the presents. It's almost as big as Lucy. We ate a sub sandwich from Wal-Mart again this year with chips and veggies.

Lucy doesn't like it when groups of people sing, and she doesn't like the "Happy Birthday" in particular, so we didn't sing. (Oddly enough, she's fine if I sing the church "O Happy Birthday to You" that I grew up with.) And she refused to blow out the candles on the Curious George cake I made, so Matt blew them out. [Have I mentioned she's two?] She got a lot of nice gifts, including a puzzle, Play-Doh, a doctor's kit, clothes, sidewalk chalk, a Marvel story collection, and a Curious George story collection.

I had gotten a pinata on clearance at Dollar General the week before, so we ended the party with that. It took amazing effort to open an already-banged-up clearance pinata.

Eventually, it did open, and the candy, bracelets, fruit snacks, stickers, and whistles inside were enjoyed by about 10 kids.

Monday, Sept. 21
Lucy's check up went pretty well. We had to wait for about an hour for our appointment. Lucy seemed to think the fun people were all in the "sick" side of the waiting room, where she wanted to crawl and roll on the floor. At times I had to hold her upside-down and swing her to keep her entertained. She played a few games on the Kindle, but what worked best was reading her a Curious George book on the Kindle. She sat still for the whole thing. She did not sit still for her exam. She resisted everything they did to her. I had to hold her and twist her this way and that so that the nurse could take her temperature and the doctor could feel her belly and listen to her heart. [Seriously, can she be any more of a two year old?] But as soon as the doctor was done and her clothes were back on, she started smiling and waving at him in the hall. She actually likes Dr. Mike from a distance. :) Her growth and development are on track. She is now 34.5 inches tall (76th percentile) and weighs 26 pounds, 7 ounces (47th percentile).

It was a good birthday week. Lucy seems to learn something new everyday. She's repeating words and putting words together.