January-February 2011

We started out the New Year savoring the last available moments at the restaurant. We would go there to eat, pack up food, and just enjoy being there together for the last time. It was really sad, but my parents are thrilled to be retired now!

Luci is little miss independent now. She insists on doing everything by herself - eating, dressing, even changing her diaper - we know what her limits are, even if she doesn't. She actually does a really good job at dressing herself, it impresses me. She even tries to choose her outfits, but I have to intervene when they don't match, but she doesn't mind too much.

The funniest thing about her is how she refers to herself. If you break up her name, she can clearly say "lou" and "see" but when you ask her to say "Luci" it comes out "Dee Dee." It's hilarious. So when you are trying to buckle her in her seat, she points to herself and says "Dee Dee" to tell us that she wants to do it herself.

She loves to sing and dance for us too. She puts on a little show for us every night before and after her bath where John and I have to sit on the floor, watch her, and clap for her when she finishes. I can't wait to enroll her in a dance school - she will be very entertaining at a recital.

I am not sure how much she really understands that a little baby is going be to invading her space in the next 2 months. We almost finished her new room, and she loves to go in there and lay on her new bed. For now, she is still in the nursery - but we intend to move her within the next month just to get her used to the new space before the baby is here so that she doesn't associate the move with the baby. She should transition well - the 2 times we have left her all night with my parents' she slept all night in a twin bed with bed rails without any problems.

We are really looking forward to next couple of months - lots of birthdays to celebrate (including Luci's 2nd), Easter, and of course the new baby's arrival!

Here are pictures from the past 2 months.

Very Slowly...

...that's how I intend to potty train Luci.

She has been really good about running up to me with a diaper and wipes even before I realize that she pooped, or she will just call out "DI-PA" and I know that I need to change her.

So I decided just to get her interested in sitting on the potty.

I started about 2 weeks ago with having her sit on the potty seat after her morning milk (because she usually poops within 5 minutes of finishing), and then again right before her bath. She liked sitting on it because Elmo is all over it, but nothing ever happened.

Until last night. Before her bath, she tinkled a little while on the seat, and of course we make a big deal about it to let her know that she should continue to do that. Then again this morning, I sat on the seat after her milk, and sure enough - she pooped!

I am not going to push this on her too forcefully because I am afraid that she will digress once the baby comes, so we are just going ahead slowly.

PS - sorry about the potty-post, but this is what excites me these days!

Quit - cold turkey

Luci has been a thumb sucker since she was in utero (she came out with blood blisters on her hands/wrists due to sucking in there!).


I was never too concerned about it - it was a great soother for her.


Well last weekend when she had a stomach virus, I noticed that when she would put her thumb in her mouth, she would then immediately remove it and frantically wipe it over and over again with her other hand.


This continued through the earlier part of the week. Then I also noticed that when she would go to put her thumb in her mouth, she would pull her hand down at the last minute to not suck her thumb.


Now, she is practically broken of the habit --- ALL.BY.HERSELF!!!!


We did bust her with her thumb in her mouth in the middle of her nap today, but that didn't last too long.


There is a downside - getting her to fall asleep for naps or nighttime is not as easy anymore because she doesn't have her thumb to soothe her anymore.

My little girl is growing up TOO fast!

Not-so Super Bowl

You'd think that I am talking about the Steelers loss - but I'm not.

How would you like it if you were a die hard Steeler fan and paid a good amount of money for a trip of a lifetime just to get to the stadium to find out that your seats were not complete and didn't meet code.

That is exactly what happened to John and his Dad.

Here is an article in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette explaining what happened.

Hopefully they own up to their promise about compensation.

BTW - I was at home with Luci all alone because she was vomiting all day - not so super for me either.

Making Room

With another bundle of joy on the way, we have been trying to figure out ways to make a little more room in our house for the baby stuff that we need to dig out again (i.e. pack-n-play, swing, bouncy seat, etc.).

First off - Luci's new room.

We are keeping the nursery as is. The bedding we got when we were pregnant with Luci is gender-neutral in a yellow room, so we have no desire to change it at all. Our other 2 spare rooms have been an office and a guest bedroom since we have been living here.

The guest bedroom was a fluke because all the furniture was given to us: queen-size mattress, box spring, bed frame, head board, dresser with mirror, and night stand. One of John's buddy's parents was getting all new bedroom furniture right after we got married and we inherited their old stuff - which was actually really nice. This is now going to be Luci's new room - however, I didn't think that a queen-sized bed was necessary for a toddler. Fortunately, a friend who I work with just bought a house and is in desperate need of spare beds - so we gave her the bed from that room. The rest of the furniture remains, and Luci's twin bed is being delivered on Tuesday!

Next step - find space for all.the.toys!

Our family room is narrow, but we were able to comfortably fit all the baby things in the room without feeling too cramped when we had Luci. However, we have accumulated so many toys since storing all of that stuff that we now know we need to make additional room.

We also have a living room, which is right off of the family room. The furniture in that room was also all given to us by a friend's parents. In there now are: a love seat, 2 wing-backed chairs, an end table, and a coffee table. We have offered some of the furniture to one of John's cousins who recently got a new place. So we are giving him the chairs and the coffee table. Now we will be able to fill the long wall of that room with all of the Luci's toys - thus clearing out our family room to make space for the baby stuff.

Phew!

It's funny how things change - when we first got married, we were in such a hurry to fill the rooms to make the house feel like our home. And now that we are growing - I can't wait to get rid of the furniture that was so generously given to us to make room for TOYS? What's wrong with the picture?

Pittsburgh's Going to the Superbowl!

and so is my husband!

Game tickets at face-value, staying with family in Dallas - this is going to be one of the cheapest Superbowl trips!

Oh yeah - he's not taking me! He's going to bond with his Dad!

Dancing Queen

The music is in her head!