Just thought I’d post a few recent pictures.  First,  we visited my parents a few weeks ago so that I could go to the Packers game with my dad.  The below picture was taken right after the game, after Lucy woke up from her afternoon nap.  It’s not unusual for Lucy to struggle a little with waking up in the afternoon, luckily Grandma Ruth was there this time with some snuggles to help out:

So precious- Lucy just snuggled in and soaked up the love!  :)

Next, Lucy and I went to the Shedd Aquarium with Carrie, a very good friend of mine from college, her husband, and their two sons.   It was so much fun seeing them.  We especially loved when the kids all played in the Polar Playground- a special area right by the penguin exhibit, where kids can dress up as penguins, and then climb and slide on a little play area.  Trying to get all of the kids to look at one camera proved too big of a feat, but here are our attempts!

Lucy the penguin:

Carrie and Lucy:

Lucy and I sliding:

Next, Lucy is dressing up as a lamb for Halloween– here she is right before we went to her party for her playgroup:

Scott stopped home after her playgroup, and I snapped a few pictures of the two of them:

Finally, if you would like to see all of the professional pictures we had taken last month, here is the link to the full album:

http://picasaweb.google.com/dorothypaler/Gallery?feat=directlink

We are absolutely in love with the pictures!!!

Lucy had her one year doctor’s appointment a few weeks ago, and all went well.  She is now 28 1/4 inches long (25th percentile) and 20 pounds, 12 ounces (50th percentile).  Genetics is definitely catching up to her, as you can see from her height!  Her head circumference is still in the 75th percentile, which I think is funny- she doesn’t look like she has THAT big of a head, but there were a LOT of people at her birthday party.  :)

Speaking of the birthday party, I thought I would post some amazing pictures that Lucy’s Aunt Tanya and Cousin Laurie posted on Facebook, just in case there are those of you checking this blog who don’t have Facebook!

Here they are:

The birthday girl, showing off her pink tutu.  :)

So far our little girl does not have a sweet tooth.  She was not into her birthday cupcake and had to be encouraged to take a bite!!!

Those are just a few of the pictures.  It was SUCH a wonderful party, and we were so excited to have so many of our friends and family there to celebrate Lucy’s first year of life.

On Lucy’s birthday itself, we tried to do some of her favorite things.  My mom was in town, which was wonderful as well.  We took Lucy downtown to have lunch with her daddy, and then let her play in the fountain at Millenium Park- definitely a favorite spot for her!

And now for some pictures from our celebration of Rosh Hashanah with Scott’s family a few weeks ago:

Lucy insisted on crawling into her second cousin Ben’s lap:

Great Grandpa Irv always is the one taking pictures, instead of being in them!  Luckily, this time I was able to get one of him– here he is tickling Lucy:

At one point, everyone watched the slideshow I put up of Lucy’s first year– Lucy decided to climb on the couch and watch, too- she thoroughly enjoyed it!  :)

The next pictures are from just a few days ago- Lucy and I went to the Shedd Aquarium (we have an annual pass), and it just amazes me, with each visit, how much more aware Lucy is each time of the animals, and how much more she loves our visits.  This time, we spent all of our time in the Oceanarium.  Lucy loved pointing at the dolphins in the underwater viewing area, and she LOVED visiting the penguins.  I took these pictures with my iPhone so they aren’t the best, but still fun!

“Look mommy, a dolphin!”

Standing at the penguin enclosure:

There’s a penguin swimming by in the next one- the white tube is because they were cleaning the tank when we were there:

Finally, an update on Lucy’s walking– last night, to our total amazement, she walked all the way across a small room (probably 9-10 steps).  For the rest of my life I don’t think I’ll ever forget what it felt like- I gave her a little nudge, Scott gently called out to her, and off she went, toddling her way toward independence.  We don’t think she really understood what she had just done, she just did it.  Of course, as soon as we pulled out the video camera she stopped!  We’ll keep trying to catch it on camera, but in the meantime, here she is showing off her mad stair climbing skills!  Note that because she never crawled, she really doesn’t use her knees very much- she steps up on the steps, instead of really crawling up them.  Too funny!

Lucy just took her first steps.  We’ll work on getting it on camera- it was only a couple steps, but we know it won’t be long now.  Wow.  Wow.  :)

A couple weeks ago we had professional pictures taken in a park in Milwaukee, and our photographer just put up a few samples of the images on her website:  http://www.caseybowerphotography.com/blog/?p=1448

We absolutely love the pictures, and can’t wait to see the rest!!!

I thought I had finished a very long post with Lucy’s first year stats and a bunch of photos, only to discover that the pictures I had uploaded were not behaving correctly.  I’ve figured out how to fix everything, but it will take me another day or two to get everything up.  In the meantime, here’s a quick (albeit boring) video from a couple days ago.  You can see Lucy “cruising” between furniture, and walking with just one hand.  Please excuse my coughing- Lucy and I had a minor cold at the start of the week, but are now both fully recovered!

Here are both videos- the full video is 10 minutes, the first “half” below is the first three minutes, the second “half” is the last seven.  I made the video not so much for this blog, but for Scott and I, and for Lucy.  I wanted us to have something to look at to reminisce about this amazing, unreal year of Lucy’s life.  I also plan on making a copy and putting it in her baby book.

The song on the first portion of the video is “Evermore” by Allison Krause.  I ran across it in iTunes and ever since it has been one of my favorite lullabies to sing to Lucy.

The second half has two songs- “Daughters” by John Mayer, and “In my Daughter’s Eyes” by Martina McBride.  The second song, “In my Daughter’s Eyes” is one I heard when I was 8 months pregnant with Lucy.  I am normally not a country music fan, but I absolutely fell in love with the song the first time I heard it, and every time I heard it this year it became more and more meaningful to me.  Here’s the video:

And here are the lyrics:

In my daughter’s eyes I am a hero,
I am strong and wise and I know no fear.
But the truth is plain to see,
She was sent to rescue me,
I see who I want to be
In my daughter’s eyes.

In my daughter’s eyes everyone is equal,
Darkness turns to light and the
world is at peace.
This miracle God gave to me, gives me
strength when I am weak,
I find reason to believe
In my daughter’s eyes.

And when she wraps her hand
around my finger,
Oh it puts a smile in my heart.
Everything becomes a little clearer,
I realize what life is all about,

It’s hangin’ on when your heart
has had enough,
It’s giving more when you feel like giving up,
I’ve seen the light
It’s in my daughter’s eyes.

In my daughter’s eyes I can see the future,
A reflection of who I am and what will be.
Though she’ll grow and someday leave,
Maybe raise a family,
When I’m gone I hope you see how happy
she made me.
For I’ll be there,
In my daughter’s eyes.

I’m working on uploading the surprise- it’s a video montage of Lucy’s first year.  It was too big for Youtube, so now I’m splitting into two videos.  They should be up by mid-morning!

Oh, my little love.  How can it be?  Tomorrow, September 15, 2009, you will turn one year old.  If I had to summarize my first year as a mother in just a few words, I would simply say: “I thought I knew.”  It applies to everything, including you turning a year old.  I thought I knew how it would feel when you turned one, but I had NO idea.  I am filled with such happiness and joy, and yet also such nostalgia.  My baby girl is ONE.  Wow.  Oh my, my little baby girl.

I think I will try to write out, over the next few days, everything I THOUGHT I knew.  For right now, though, I will say the most important one:  I thought I knew what it was like to love another human being.  I love your daddy, I love my parents, I love a lot of people… and then you came along, and I suddenly realized that I knew nothing.  It is like we suddenly realized we have been given the most amazing gift ever given to this world, and somehow, somehow WE are the ones who miraculously get to take care of that gift.  We are so grateful every single day for the gift that is you.

Right now I am working on uploading a surprise, which I hope to post first thing tomorrow morning (I’d post it tonight, but I’m told it will take another hour or so to upload!).   I have much to say, too- I have  oodles of people to thank for helping us throw you an AMAZING first birthday party yesterday in Wisconsin, and I need to write out your birth story, as I remember it one year later.  I hope to find time tomorrow to do all of that, and I hope to update this blog more frequently.  We finally have a new computer (YAY!), so things should be easier.  I’ll sign off for tonight, and just ask everyone to please check back tomorrow for your surprise.  It will be worth the wait, I promise.  :)

Lucy,

I can hardly believe that we are only a few weeks away from your first birthday!  You seem to be growing and changing so fast these days.  You officially are losing your “baby” look, and are inching more and more to being a toddler.  It is so much fun to see your personality emerge, and to watch you become such a wonderful little girl– but I definitely feel myself already just a little sad at how fast you are growing up!!!

Last week you had a couple of really great “firsts” to celebrate.  On Monday, you pulled up on your own from a sitting position to a standing one.  I don’t think you really understood what you had done, and you are still working on perfecting that particular feat, but it was fun to see nevertheless!

Your other fun first is that you have officially figured out your first word.   A week and a half ago, as you and I were saying goodnight to your daddy, out of nowhere, you began waving and saying “da da.”  Since then, you have repeated that particular trick over and over again, and it is so much fun to see and hear.  You definitely, without a doubt, know what that word means, and you love to use it correctly.  I have to say that I am not surprised at all- it is obvious that you are, without a doubt, a daddy’s girl.  For example, this summer, you and I have taken to waiting for daddy at the train station (he calls us when he’s on his way home), and when you see him walk out the door of the station, you do a delightful mixture of applauding and squirming excitedly– you can’t wait to get out of your stroller and into his arms!  You definitely bring a smile to the faces of the many strangers who walk by, too, as they can see how incredibly delighted you are to see your daddy.

Just in this past week, you have also perfected the art of pointing.  You love to point at things you find interesting, and ooo with excitement.  You also point at whatever it is that you want, and my dear, you are definitely determined when you see something you want!  Once you have something in mind, it is very hard to distract you- it makes us laugh, but also lets us know that you are going to be a very stubborn little girl!

You continue to love to walk holding our hands, and you are getting stronger and more steady every day.  You also love to let go of our hands, and try to stand on your own.  You last only a few seconds, but I can already see how much you love being independent.  I have no doubt you will be walking on your own in just a few short weeks.

Your top two teeth have now broken through your gums, and I think they were definitely the most painful ones so far.  Your gums actually turned black and blue underneath where one of your top teeth were struggling to break out.  Your pediatrician assured me that it was perfectly normal, but I have to say it scared me quite a bit when I first saw it.  I am also beginning to suspect that you may be starting to get your first year molars.  You have taken to biting on your fingers way back in your mouth- something you really haven’t done before.  Lately, your eating has been really erratic, as well, and I sometimes think the two are related.

Speaking of eating, you continue to be a very picky little eater!  As for your likes and dislikes, your absolute favorite thing to eat right now is yogurt,  and you have started to completely reject a lot of your other purees- especially any of the ones containing pureed meat.  The rejection of the purees isn’t the worst thing, as it is time for you to start eating just finger foods… but you have yet to really like a lot of them!  You will eat pasta, bread, cheese, pizza (who doesn’t like pizza?!?), eggs and sometimes waffles, turkey and cauliflower.  Other than that… well… we’re still working on it.  You absolutely refuse to eat “real” fruit.  You love fruit purees, but real fruit?  Not your thing!  You pretty much spit out everything except your favorites, but we’ll keep trying to expand your picky palate!

To supplement your eating, I am continuing to nurse you.  It was always my goal to make it until you were a year old, and I have to say, I’m happy that we’re still going strong.  I feel extremely fortunate that nursing came easily for both of us, and I am still really enjoying having that special bonding time with you.  I can tell you are beginning to eat less than you once were, and the time will come in the next couple months for me to wean you, but for right now, I am happy to keep going.

I have started to try to wean you from your night feeding, however.  It has been almost a year since I slept more than 5-6 hours straight, and the time has come.  This past weekend I was able to move your feeding back a couple hours.  I’ll continue to work on it, as long as you don’t put up too much of a fuss.  I truly can’t listen to you really cry!  I’ll let you fuss, but cry? I’m a wimp!

Okay, on to some pictures.  I have a lot to catch up on!

First, last month we spent lots of time visiting with Karla and Sammy.  Karla is originally from Costa Rica, and stayed with my family when I was a junior in high school as a foreign exchange student.  We have remained close, and a number of years ago she moved to Colorado.  Since then, Karla has been able to visit my family a number of times, much to our delight.  Anyway, Karla and I were born one day apart, and have always been “cosmically connected” in a number of ways- don’t believe me?   There are lots of reasons, but I’ll give you the biggest one– the exact same day Lucy was born, Karla had her first child,  a little boy named Samuel.  Karla and Sammy came to visit for the month of July, and we got to spend lots of time together.  Karla’s son is truly, without a doubt, one of the sweetest babies I have ever met.  He is so easy going and loving!  Lucy wasn’t sure what to think of him at first, but after awhile, they actually became friends. Karla has a great picture of them in Sammy’s crib together which I hope to post someday that proves it.

Anyway, here’s a picture of Sammy (in the exersaucer), my nephew Emmet (in the bouncy seat), and my nephews Leo and Henry.  Leo and Henry were trying their best to entertain Lucy– Sammy didn’t need entertainment, he’s one chill dude!!!!

This is random, but I wanted to throw it in here because it makes me smile– Karla teaching Henry Tae Kwon Do (at Henry’s request!)

Sammy chatting up Lucy while she was chillin’ in her stroller:

Karla and Sammy:

We also took Lucy to her very first Brewer’s game!  She did great for the tailgate, but didn’t make it even an inning in the park– too much noise and craziness for her!

Here she is with Grandma Sandy and Grandpa Bruce before the game– Grandma Sandy bought Lucy the adorable Brewers outfit!

Family picture:

This summer we have discovered the joy of our neighborhood park- we are there every single day.  A few shots:

And now for Lucy’s “official” ten month picture– I’ve given up on the sign, and am hoping to figure out a way to add a caption using the computer!  Until then, here are the pics:

Some of Lucy practicing her walking:

Playing with her daddy:

At the beginning of August, we went to Napa, California, for Scott’s family reunion.  We had a great time, but I, unfortunately, didn’t take a ton of pictures.  I’ll try to steal some from others, but until then, here are just a few–

We had an early morning flight out, so Lucy was still in her pajamas at the airport.  Here she is charming the other passengers before we got on our flight.  She was AMAZING on our flight out (the flight back?  A wee bit painful!).

There were full length mirrors in the condo where we stayed- Lucy was absolutely fascinated by her reflection.  We look in the mirror all the time together, but she had never been able to be this close to her reflection before!

And finally- a very recent pic that I used for her first birthday invitations.  I was so happy to get such a good shot!

Sorry for the randomness of the pictures– I just felt like I needed to post whatever pics I have right now, to get caught up!  We did finally purchase a new computer, so I hope to be posting more often.  Until next time…

Lucy,

Little one, you are just getting more and more fun every day.  At ten months old, you are now beginning to express yourself in lots of new and fun ways.  You make really funny faces at us, like wrinkling your nose, raising your eyebrows, or pouting when you don’t get something you want!  You are also starting to screech when you are happy (it’s cute, I swear!), and you are continuing to babble more and more.  You love to wave “hi” to people (when you are in the mood!), you continue to clap when you see or hear something you like (I especially love that you clap when I sing to you sometimes!).  This week you have started to initiate “peek a boo.”  You cover your eyes (mostly- although sometimes you like to leave an eye uncovered to peek out!), we pretend we can’t find you, and then you uncover your eyes and shriek with delight when we express how happy we are to see you again.  You have also started sharing- when I hold out my hand and ask if I can see something you are playing with, you happily hand it over with a grin, proudly displaying your new “trick.”  I imagine it won’t be long before you won’t be so excited to hand your toys over to me! 

One trick we didn’t teach you that you recently learned, is dropping items over the side of wherever you are- your carseat, your highchair, your bathtub– everything goes over the side.  You drop your sippy cup, food, bath toys, etc., and then look at us expectantly waiting for us to retrieve them.  Your dad and I generally think this is hilarious.

So far, you have stubbornly refused to crawl.  You have started, however, to absolutely love walking while holding our hands, so I think you are going to be one of those kids who goes straight to walking from sitting.  Walking while holding our hands has opened up a whole new world for you, though- you are finally able to reach things in our apartment that have been tantalizing you for months!  I am quickly realizing, however, just how poorly our apartment is suited for a baby, and are already thinking of creative ways to rearrange things to make things safer for you.

You are slowly getting better and better with eating solid foods.  This week we found out that you like cauliflower, of all things.  You also love turkey, noodles (playing with and eating spaghetti can keep you occupied for a LONG time!), and especially CHEESE.  You are a Wisconsin girl at heart, my little love! 

We have also discovered that one of your absolute favorite things to do is to simply observe other people.  When we go to the park, we put you in the swing and after placating us with a few cute giggles, you quickly become entranced by the kids in the swings next to you, along with the adults pushing those kids.  The other day we sat on a park bench, with you standing on my lap watching the older kids run around, and you were as happy as could be.  I think you could have stood there for hours, simply observing.  It’s fun to watch your little mind at work processing the world!

Lately people have asked me what your personality is like, as sort of a window into the person you might become.  I tell them that you are neither a really difficult child, nor are you the easiest- you definitely know what you like (this leads me to sometimes call you my little diva), and you aren’t afraid to express your opinions.  You will try out new things, but you are careful, and your actions considerate when you do so.  You love being home, and having familiar things around you- but you tolerate change, and are pretty good with going with the flow.  You will smile at strangers, but they have to work a little before you’re willing to let them see your silly grin. 

I’ll stop with the update for now, and post a bunch of pictures.  The first batch are from a family get together we had with my side of the family in June.  We went to a campground and had a wonderful time playing with all of the kids.

Emma entertaining Lucy

At some point water guns were brought out- here is Andrew running from Timothy or Henry…

Uncle Scott helping his nephew Leo fight the good fight

If your water gun breaks, just dump the water on your enemy’s head…  (this is our nephew Timothy)

Henry getting in on the action

Scott retaliating

Leo

Henry and his daddy

Emma and her mom

Emmet and his mom

Lucy and her Aunt Kim

Little Emmet is going to be a heart breaker!

Lucy has a few pounds on her cousin…

Henry and Timothy working on carefully applying a band-aid…

Lucy and her Uncle Dave

One of my favorite pictures from the weekend

Emma and her family’s new puppy- Tasha

Tasha gets her own picture… she’s pretty darn cute!!!

Henry entertaining his baby brother Emmet- Emmet just laughed, and laughed.  SO cute.

Timothy, Grandpa and Leo

Somehow my mom and my brother Joe avoided getting their pictures taken ext time, you two!!! 

One last one from the weekend- another of Lucy and her Aunt Kim!

And now to catch up on all of the other pictures from the last month!

Back at home- Lucy helping her daddy read his Father’s Day card… a few days late!

Lucy’s Great Aunt Shari came to visit- and introduced Lucy to Guitar Hero!

Lucy with her Great Grandma Marilyn, Aunt Tanya and Uncle Steve

Chillin’ with Uncle Steve (note the green spatula…)

Aunt Tanya and Lucy

And you thought I missed her “official” 9 month pictures, didn’t you?  Have no fear!  I did actually take these when she was 9 months old. 

I’ll admit it- she kills me with her cuteness.

The sign didn’t last long.

She still has her rolls!

For a couple weeks, she was loving eating her feet again.  The phase has passed- but it was in full swing when I took these pictures.

Okay, this post is getting ridiculously long, so I’ll wrap it up.  I actually have more pictures to post- a trip to De Pere to see Karla, Sammy and Dave and Laura, a trip to a Brewers game, and more pics with Daddy, but I’ll save those for next time.  I’ll try to post them soon, though!!!

One last note– a few people have mentioned how much they love seeing the videos of Lucy, and yes, we do have more… unfortunately, our computer is almost totally out of memory, and it makes it virtually impossible to edit videos and post them.  The pictures you see above are all on our external hard drive, as our internal hard drive is out of room.  A new computer is in the budget for the fall, so hopefully I’ll be able to post videos again in a few months.