Eight Months

Dear Lucy,

This week you turned eight months old. Your daddy and I still can't quite believe we made such a sweet and beautiful you. Every night some time after you go to bed one of us looks at the other with wonder and says, "I love that baby." And the other one nods.

I hold your tiny new friend Scarlett and marvel at how little space she takes up in my arms, how my hips are useless for balancing her, her eyes are still a little bit frightened of the big wide world and her cries, while fierce, are still so very small. But you, my wiggly thing! You are a kinetic wonder: kicking and jumping and shaking your head, slapping and biting and pinching and rolling and stepping and squeezing and kissing and army scooting and oh so ready to crawl.  I actually caught myself using the phrase recently, "When Lucy was little . . . "

When Lucy was little!

When Lucy was tiny, when Lucy was skinny, when Lucy was still bow-legged and curled into a ball.

And as tiny as you still are, you will never be this tiny again.

So I think it does go as fast as everyone says. The theory of relativity and all that, time stretching out indefinitely before you then snapping up behind you, small enough to fit in a thimble, to stack in a hat box in the back of your closet, to rifle through when you are suddenly old.

Someone asked me recently what the best part of motherhood is and honestly, right now, the best part is just making you laugh. A laughing baby is like a bubble of joy.

At bedtime I still nurse you to sleep. The book we read said to avoid using nursing as a sleep crutch so you could develop self-soothing skills, and we've been able to do that for naps, but I have no desire to part with you at bedtime. I like to stare at you in my arms, fresh from the bath, your eyes opening and closing slowly as you fall asleep. You will never be this tiny again.

I love you, my gorgeous monkey! Happy eight months.

Love,
Your Mama

Friday Cute Shot

Those Eyebrows

I was grocery shopping with Lucy the other day and she was doing her typical thing of staring at all the strangers with her big unblinking eyes (I'm pretty sure she could win 1000 staring contests and never crack a smile). The man in the aisle next to us who was the immediate focus of her attention commented on her "very adult eyebrows".

Yes, that is my daughter. In our family, even the baby eyebrows look like adult eyebrows, and by the time you're an actual adult, watch out.

On the Beach: Part 2

So Friday was beautiful, almost 70 degrees in the afternoon, and the wind was soft and the water calm. We took Lucy down to explore the beach at low tide--low tide at the Netarts Bay meant lots of rocks and lots of seagulls.

On Friday evening our friends Charlie and Emily and their lovely daughter Scarlett came to visit, and that's when the real gastronomy began. In fact, they brought quite a bit of clouds and rain with them, so most of the rest of the weekend was spent cooking, drinking coffee, lighting the woodstove, eating, baking, eating, eating some more, drinking wine, and watching the ocean from the cozy Belvedere.

And of course, playing with our sweet babies.

On the Beach: Part 1

Last week we went to Netarts on the Oregon Coast for a few days. The weather through Friday was gorgeous (Shaggy says possibly the nicest day he has ever experienced at the Oregon coast), we learned how to work a wood stove, ate many delicious items including Paella, brown butter salted rice crispies, homemade pizza, cast iron skillet chicken, and German apple pancake. I always say there are no great restaurants on the coast, so we just make a great restaurant in our kitchen.

On our way into town on Wednesday we stopped in Tillamook to buy some groceries and Lucy's first pair of sunglasses. On the first day she tried them on she was pretty amused, on the second day she enjoyed chewing on them, but the thrill had pretty much worn off by day three. I'm not sure how we're going to protect those baby blues from the sun this summer.

On Thursday we took a 40-minute walk along the beach from Netarts to Oceanside, then ate some lunch, then Lucy fell asleep in the Moby on the way back. In the restaurant Lucy tried a taste of clam chowder (she liked), a dill pickle (she weirdly loved), and some house-made marionberry cobbler (she wanted more, more, more).

Marionberry cobbler: do not try this at home

Windblown after the walk to Oceanside

The walk back

Later that afternoon we took Lucy down to get her feet in the sand for the first time. She seemed amused, though I think a little less wind would have helped. She did enjoy her first walk in the sand, and I enjoyed capturing her first footprints.

On Friday the weather was amazing . . .

(tune in tomorrow for part 2!)

Friday Cute Shot

Gratuitous Cuteness

Lucy Smiles from Amber Broughton on Vimeo.

In this one Lucy smiles as she waits for her lunch. At the end she may or may not be making the sign for "eat".

Baby Calisthenics

Lucy does a push-up (photo credit: Charlie)

I was about to say that this is yet one more thing she did not inherit from me, but then I remembered that when I was little I was great at push-ups and sit-ups and even pretty good at pull-ups, and I could beat most of the boys in my Tae Kwon Do class in arm wrestling. So it may be a stretch, but I'm going to chalk this burgeoning physicality up to my side of the genes.

Stop laughing.

What Lucy is Reading Now

It doesn't really look like she's enjoying the witty banter, does it?

lucy and scarlett: part 2

 The fresh one

They meet again, Scarlett now doubled in age, Lucy a week older but still Godzilla like in her proportions.

 The great baby switch of 2010, with matching stripes!

Lucy was very patient, letting her parents ogle and cuddle the new baby for several long minutes before screaming for a righting of fortunes, demanding her rightful place in her mama's arms.

Word on the street is that Scarlett is now almost a month old, and these pictures are already completely outdated. A whole month, and only a month!

 (Confidential to Lu: Don't worry! Scarlett will always be younger than you,
but you'll always be my baby.)

Friday Cute Shot

Standing, Standing, Peas

 

Today was a big day for Lucy!

This morning she took a few steps alone while pushing her fancy new walker wagon.

In the middle of the day her daddy sat her down in the middle of her crib while he took a bathroom break, and came back to find her standing up next to the rail.

This afternoon she took a new pair of shoes for a spin and ended up standing all by herself for a few seconds. Giggles followed.

And this evening, she ate a whole ice-cube sized portion of peas without snorting, gagging, or spitting them out. First green vegetable conquered!

Here is some video cuteness to feast on:

Lucy Takes a Stroll from Amber Broughton on Vimeo.

Lucy Tarantino

Quentin isn't the only one who likes feet.

lucy and scarlett: part 1

Hello, Scarlett! Fancy seeing you here!

Monday before last, Lucy and Scarlett got to meet for the first time.

Lucy looked like Godzilla next to new little Scarlett, reaching out her seemingly gigantic hand to pluck the little baby from her mama's arms and eat her.  But it was exciting, because even a few months ago Lu wasn't paying other babies any mind.

 

Scarlett loves Lucy! Her shirt says so!

 

Lucy's shirt is still unfinished, but her arm says it all.

Shaggy was excited to hold a cute little baby that didn't make his arms immediately tired.

I am so behind on the chronicling of these events that they've already met a second time, sharing secrets and securing their friendship. So, part two of these adventures is soon to follow!

Before and After

To give some context for yesterday's cute shot, here is Lucy in the minutes before that shot was taken, tired of being on the ground, of being inside, of being unable to propel her own motion, and possibly just feeling betrayed by life in general.

But a few ties of the Moby wrap later, and we have the happy and toothsome baby you saw yesterday.

Friday Cute Shot (Now with Teeth!)

What Lucy is Reading Now

 

 . . . and pretty much every day before her first morning nap. I'm not sure yet if she's a creature of habit, but her mother certainly is. 

 

Goodnight, moon!  Goodnight, cow jumping over the moon.