lucy, nineteen months

This is definitely my second child. Just some facts about this one:


1. Her favorite word right now is "No." It comes in handy in various and sundry situations for her. As in, "No, Huntleigh, get away from me," or "No, I don't want to eat meat," or "No, I am not going to obey you," or "No, I'm teasing you," or "No, I don't like that." With differing inflection and decibel level, it means different things. As her mother, I have the privilege of deciphering which "no" it is. This is usually quite easy for me. Go figure.

2. She has a fierce independent streak. Much more than my first child. I find this fascinating, especially since she is also my snuggly child. I suppose these two character traits can simultaneously exist, as I see that they do in Lucy. It just surprises me sometimes. I love all the snuggling.

3. She doesn't sleep in her bedroom with Huntleigh. I am somewhat proud/somewhat ashamed to admit that she still sleeps in her pack n' play in the corner of the guest bedroom. She loves her space. She will sometimes joyfully run to it when we say "ni-ni." Someone in my life likes to (often) give me guilt trips about how I am ruining my child (I will not name names) and I like to just shovel the guilt right back. I like to think she's adaptable, because she is. And we all sleep great. That's what really matters, right?

4. She has subsisted on a (mostly) liquid & carb diet for some time, now. For awhile the only thing she ate was crackers. That was about a four month period. It has been a battle to get protein in her diet other than through milk. Josh has been the one to battle this out with her, as I wasn't willing to deal with the stress of it. He was successful, because now she will eat chicken without crying, but only if we put it in her mouth for her. She loves yogurt, too.

5. She is our family ham. She often provides comic relief.

6. She's really laid back about things, but has the will of a Missouri mule. Her tenacity is incredible.

7. Being the younger one, she has taken a beating from her older sister her entire life. But she's tough and I love that. Huntleigh can dish it out, but she's not so often tough.

8. When Lucy says "more" it really sounds like "Mao?" and for awhile there we responded to her with "Zedong?" but she didn't get it. She still says, "Mao?" It's super cute. I'm going to miss it when she outgrows it.

9. We sure love this kiddo.