Life à la Moad: Lucy's Toddler Update

That is a year and a half.

You're welcome for doing that math for you.

I can't even believe it. I know I say that like every time but... it's just always true!
When she was just a wee little infant, screaming in my arms instead of napping, I remember thinking

Those lucky moms with 18 month olds. If only she were 18 months! Then she would be manageable. She'll be interactive, have a personality and I can explain to her why nap time is so important.

I am not sure why 18 months was my magic number... also I am not sure why I thought I could explain logically to a toddler of 1.5 years why nap time makes sense for her.

But... I was new. What did I know!

Anyway, I was partly right - at 18 months her personality has only increased and grown and she is much more interactive than that precious, sweet, floppy infant.

Once again, allow me to state this ground-breaking fact that I know no mother has ever said before me:

I fall in love with this sweet girl more and more every day! It's often surprising! She'll do something, say something or just look at me and my heart explodes and just makes a big, sticky mess all over the place!

It bears mentioning - if this is how much I love this sweet girl I cannot imagine being God and how much HE loves her. And me. And you. If I feel like my heart could just jump right out of my chest he must just be going crazy with all that love that he... IS! And then the love he has for His son whom he sent to a cross. Whew. I tell ya what, this mind and heart can't quite handle all that emotion.

Enough blubber, let's get to the update!

T O D D L E R

T A L K

There's no keeping up with it now, ya'll. This girl has so many words and is saying so many things and learning new ones every second that I don't even know what the number is! So here's some adorable toddler talk that she's been saying lately:

"It's you" - This made us laugh so hard! Of course she is on our phones so every time she looks at our phones we always say "It's you" In all her brilliance she picked up on that and now any time she sees herself, be it in a photo, a mirror, on our phones, etc. or when she sees a picture of any baby or toddler, she exclaims : "It's you!"

Cutest.thing.ever.
amiright?

"no!" She has started saying "no" to things. Though I don't know that she grasped the meaning of it... and she hasn't gotten to the point of a defiant "no" but she will still every-so-often respond with "no". Or she'll tell the cats "no" because we do that a lot too! haha

"yunch" That's "lunch" for those not fluent in toddler. However... in her mind every meal is "Yunch"

Mom: Lucy would you like to eat dinner?
Lucy: YUNCH!
Mom: Okay, we can eat lunch then... for dinner.

"Sun" She used to just say this when she opened her "God Made Everything" Book but then randomly in the car she kept saying "SUN" and I figured she was reading... until I looked back and saw her point at the... well, ya know. The sun!

That's genius material at 18 months, right?

Then add to all that cuteness like a billion words that I can't possibly keep track of! But she expresses herself quite well these days. Sentences are holding strong at "I wuw wuw" and "what's that" and everything is "it's."

It's a mama
It's a dada
It's a Jessica

She loves her "to be" verbs and I love her sweet toddler talk!!

T O D D L E R

A C T I V I T Y

Lucy has a lot of activities she loves these days!

She seems to run everywhere now! It's so cute. I am really, really going to miss seeing those chubby cheeks jiggling as she runs

both sets of cheeks!!

She loves to run after the cats, run while pushing something, run down hills, run and chase or be chased. She's getting her exercise... and so is mom!

She is a dare devil! She LOVES to be swung, hung upside-down, thrown and any other slightly terrifying movement! She can't get enough :) I hope this stays around for when she's old enough for roller coasters! :)

Lucy is also an incredible artist.

okay... maybe there's a little mom-bias there with "incredible".

Any chance she gets to draw /scribble she will. We can't walk out of the house without her wanting to use the sidewalk chalk to draw all over the pavement (and inevitably get it all over her clothes!) eek. But, give her a pen, crayon or pencil, chalk and any piece of paper (or mom's book, the wall, the floor, a box, etc) and she will scribble away!

I am really wanting to get her to dabble in finger paints or painting a pumpkin... I'm just not mentally ready for the mess.

baby steps.

She is still loving to read books, sing and dance - her moves are getting to be more intense even, she loves to watch elmo and name the sesame street characters and thoroughly enjoys sitting! She will sit on anything her size and proclaim "SIT!"

we really need to get her a chair that's her size! I think she'd just love it!

We have finally made the switch to one nap a day! I think she could still do two quite well, but I am directing the school play in the afternoons so there's no chance for a second nap... so one nap it is! She is doing well on that, sleeping from about 12:30-3 usually.

Having her at rehearsals can be a bit of a challenge - but we are managing. I finally introduced toddler activities for her to play with on the iPad. I really feel like that is shameful to admit or I've fallen short of some sort of mom-ideal by letting her play on an electronic device... but... you do what you gotta do, right? RIGHT?

T O D D L ER

E A T S

Not too much has changed here in the last month except that she is getting much more skilled at the use of utensils! She hasn't quite grasped the difference in when you use one over the other but she almost always insists on using one or more utensils for every meal.

Her favorite foods at 18 months include: hummus, belvita crackers, bananas, apples, apple sauce, hotdog, zucchini, yogurt, eggs, broccoli, grapes, veggie straws, fruit/veggie pouches, potatoes.

T O D D L E R

G R O W T H

We have not yet had her 18 month appointment but I'm sure when we do she'll still be in the 90s for weight and height. She just seems so much taller than most others her age.

But even without the doctor's official numbers - I can tell she is growing big and strong!
That bulbous belly of hers is ADORABLE but also makes fitting her shirts a challenge - everything is a high-low shirt on this kiddo.

Feet are still a big challenge. I tried to get boots on her yesterday and really... it was torture for mama and baby. Not sure what we'll do come winter!

Still lots of teeth, no signs of new ones yet.

Fitting quite nicely in 2T - though if the stores could PLEASE get together so that all 2T's are the same it sure would be helpful!
sheesh

T O D D L E R

B E H A V I O R

Lucy is simultaneously sweet and sensitive and then mischievous and sneaky! She will just come up to my legs and pat them and say "awww aww", or give hugs and kisses so generously!

At the same time though... when she touches something she know she shouldn't or goes somewhere she knows she shouldn't she has this sneaky little mischievous grin when she sees me come over or hears me tell her "no".

That girl KNOWS. No hiding it.

Her wining and pouting when she doesn't get he way has increased in many areas. We are working through that. Trying to start teaching the idea of waiting and patience.

PATIENCE. This is the biggest struggle. She hates to wait!

But I have seen strides in her responsibility with her things. After much correcting and practicing she will hand me her cup or put it on a table instead of just dropping it. I've seen her a few times start to pick up what she is playing with and put it "away" when I say it's time to go, or all done. This isn't every time of course, but often enough that I have been quite encouraged!

Some things are still a challenge though - we have worked hard on not throwing or dropping things from the high chair. The other day she was trying my patience in many ways and was testing me by holding her plate over the edge of the high chair as if she would drop it, then she'd quick bring it back. I told her no. She did it again. I told her no. She held it over again. I told her no. Then she held it over and dropped it. CRASH SMASH BREAK. That small plate shattered all over the floor. My inclination was to discipline her for breaking the plate. But the truth is... the broken plate was not the issue, the disobedience was. This is a lesson I think that I will need quite a few refreshers on! As a teacher I too often reacted to the consequences of disobedience instead of the disobedience itself. So the broken plate, while frustrating, was not what she needed disciplining for, but for the disobedience - whether the plate had broken or not. In those moments I need prayer for patience and a calm heart. Because at that moment... I was mad.

It's a process. A slow one it seems at times.

Now a fun part of Lucy's personality that I'm so enjoying is this girly-girl side! She loves bows and clothes! She is always draping things over her shoulder or over her head like a shawl. Trying to put the bows on her head, or running to me insisting I put it on her. It's so cute! I can't wait to see her play dress up!!

T O

LUCY

F R O M

M O M

My sweet year-and-a-half old. With each month I praise our Lord even more for the privilege to be your mom. I battle the fear of anything every happening to you or of losing you! You shine light into dark times and bring joy to tough situations. I'm so, so thankful to have you in my life. In this month of your life daddy and I bought a house! We can't wait to be in it as a family and watch you grow and learn within it's walls. You have started to really fall in love with your daddy more and more recently and this mama loves to watch it! (And totally understands because I love daddy too!) You run to him and love to have him play with you and throw you in the air! I pray that that relationship will continue to grow and that he will be the man of your dreams... until one day when God brings you a new man to protect and care for you. Never forget how wonderful your daddy is and how much he loves you! Something I'm loving right now is to hear your sweet voice say "amen" after we pray. It spurs me to pray even more fervently that God would give you a tender heart that will seek him and know him. There would be no greater joy! Staying home with you is the best job this mom could ask for! You are tough-skinned and willful, but in this life you will need toughness and determination - may God use those traits for HIS glory!

All my love,

mom.

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P H O T O D U M P