June in Our House

A little late, but better than never. Here's what happened in our family in June:

We introduced some new games to the boys. They are old enough to move beyond CandyLand (and we parents are more than excited to leave those preschool games behind for a while!) Here they are playing Ticket to Ride. Some other favorites are Catan Junior, Loot, and Rat-a-Tat-Cat. 

Mark got a stellar end-of-fiscal-year review at work so we threw him a dinner party to celebrate. We made his favorite foods (butternut squash ravioli and carrot cake). It was a ton of fun.

Big brothers swam with little sister (supervised, of course!)

Lucy practiced standing

The boys were ring bearers at their second cousin's wedding. They looked so handsome and grown up!

This hair happened.

We went crazy with the tie dye kit. We tie-dyed everything we could, including bibs, onesies, and baby blankets.

Room Swap/Makeover

Two weeks ago, I got it in my head that I wanted to switch the kids' rooms around. Lucy's old room was a tiny bedroom in the middle of our hallway, right next to the front door which was always slamming and waking her up. She was too close to the rest of the house and all the thumping and rowdiness that comes with two big boys. The boys' old room was right next door to Lucy's. It was a huge bedroom in the back corner of the house, which made it very quiet since it was so far away from the activity of the rest of the house. Plus, the boys' room was much too big for them; they only slept in their room, and rarely played in it. It seemed obvious that switching the rooms was the way to go.

Mark agreed, so we worked like mad people in a single afternoon to dissemble the bunk bed, crib, and switch everything around. A few days later, this was the result: Baby Land. 

That's what we are calling this room because it is so stinkin' adorable that I want to move my bed in and live there. I love this room because it is bright and fresh. It's feminine and sweet without being garishly pink and girly. We plan to foster-adopt another girl within the next two years, so it makes sense to have a bigger space for a crib and a toddler bed, along with all the stuff that goes with a baby and a toddler or two toddlers. It also doubles as a guest room once we move some things around and blow up an air mattress. We had weekend guests and it worked out wonderfully (Lucy slept in Mark's office).

We already had most of the stuff that went into this room. The only thing I bought was the leaf above the crib, the curtains (both from Ikea) and these super cute wall decals from SkipHop.

Changing table and dresser conveniently hidden inside the closet.

Major props go to my mother-in-law for the idea of hanging Lucy's dresses on the wall clothesline-fashion. It's one of my favorite things about the room.

The boys are happy with the move. We had talked with them a while back about switching the bedrooms, so they knew it was somewhere in their future. Their new room is just big enough for their bunk bed, dresser, and small toy bin, and a bit of floor space for stretching out and reading books or working on their projects. But really, they spend the bulk of their day either in the kitchen with me, the living room, or outside, so their room is more of a resting place. In this room, the rug is from Pottery Barn (via Craigslist for us!) and the curtains are actually a duvet cover from Ikea made into curtains by Mark's grandma.

Happy 1st Birthday, Lucy!

This last month your personality has grown. You have been very happy and silly, and really interactive. You make lots of what your brothers call "happy sounds", which is when make tons of babbling noises that make it seem like you're trying to hold a conversation in your baby language. It's incredibly cute. You don't have any words yet, but you definitely have sounds with meaning. I have to say that this is one of the biggest difference between having a girl vs. boys: you are so much more talkative and creative with your voice than they were at this age.

We had your birthday party the weekend before your actual birthday. Your brothers were happy to help you open your gifts and blow out your candle. Your favorite gift was a little pink doll given to you by Great-Grandma. Dolls are definitely one of your favorite things. Another great gift was a quilt that Tommy made during his sewing lessons. He was so eager to give it to you and could hardly wait until your party. You loved your birthday cake, which was carrot cake. You scraped the icing off first and then smashed the cake to bits, and then ate that. I have to say that your method was the most interesting 1st Birthday Cake Smash yet!

Milestones & Stuff: You are getting your two top teeth in. You've been feverish and fussy for about a month, so it's a relief to finally have something to show for all of that effort. You are still doing your unique crawl, and unfortunately you have to go back to physical therapy to learn how to crawl correctly. You are pulling up on things to your knees and trying to pull up to your feet. I think it's going to be a few months until you're walking. You have some funny nicknames: Lulu, Lulu-Bean, and Doodles.

Another milestone is that you finally started eating food this past month! Thus far, you would taste things but usually spit them out. Now you are eating a lot, and can eat almost anything as long as it is diced and soft. You seem to really love vegetables. Some of your favorite food is banana, peach, avocado, carrots, and zucchini. Our birthday tradition is to make a favorite meal for the birthday child, so for your birthday dinner you had the things I've seen you favor the most over the past few weeks: homemade mac & cheese and vegetables (you ate a ton!).

I've written before about people asking me questions like, "So, are you enjoying having a girl?" I couldn't say yes or no before, but now that I can see your personality coming out, I can say that I really am enjoying having a girl. It's fun to see you explore things in a uniquely 'girl' way: gently turning things over in your hands examining them, using your fingers to nimbly pick things apart (things your brothers weren't able to do until much later). You talk to things, you snuggle your dolly, and you light up when you see animals and try to talk to them. When I'm reading a book aloud at the breakfast table, you get very chatty and try to talk along with me, which for now, is very adorable. Lucy, I'm enjoying you so much and I can't wait to see how you grow over this next year.