Road Trip #4

Lucia has been keeping her parents busy...and vice-versa. She has done a lot over the past several weeks and it's been hard to keep up with the postings. Here is what she has been doing!

We took another week-long road trip to Chicago to visit with Grandma Roxana and Grandpa John around Memorial Day. She watched the Preakness horse race with Grandpa John. It looks like her grandfather is priming Lucia to beg for a pony sometime in the near future. ...and setting her up for TV addiction...

Uncle JR helped with tummy time...

...and showed Lucia how to grab onto her toys.

She visited with friend, Max, who tried some moves on Lucia. She made it clear she was a daddy's girl, though (see bib).

Grandma Roxana taught her some songs and rhymes in Spanish.

Lucia took her first Metra ride to the city to see Grand Auntie Lynn and Uncle Jim's apartment in the Loop.

Nice view!

On the way home, Lucia practiced copying her mom's facial expressions.

Later in the week as an extra Mother's Day event, we took a brunch cruise on the boat The Odyssey on Lake Michigan with Lucia's grandparents, great grandmother, uncle, and aunt. Lucia had a sailor suit just for the occassion.

On Memorial Day, Lucia went with Grandpa John to the big Memorial Day parade in Elmhurst. There, they ran into Catherine's cousin Lynn and her kids Kevin, Matthew, Jack, and Annie. She was quite taken with all the kids.

Sit, Stay, Roll Over

Lucia has had the "stay" mastered for a while now. On Mother's Day, Lucia gave her mom a special gift. She rolled over for the first time. Now the only thing left is learning "sit"!

First Mother's Day

Lucia wished her mom, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers all a happy mother's day by phone and in person. She met her great grandmother Betty for the first time on Saturday.

A Chair of One's Own

Lucia got her own chair! Now she can join us at the table during dinner. She loves to watch us munch. When she gets bored, her chair came with a tray toy for her to look at. Fancy!

Smiley Band-Aids

Lucia had her two month doctor visit for a check-up and immunizations. Doctor says she is healthy and looking great. She weighed in at 13 lbs (93rd percentile) and is a full two feet in length (95th percentile). Apparently, a baby as long as Lucia is generally pretty lanky. Not Lucia! She makes sure to eat every two hours to keep herself proprotionate. Her mom can hardly keep up.

Lucia then got three immunization shots. One second before she got poked she was smiling and laughing, the next 30 seconds we had a screaming, red faced baby, and the following 30 seconds Lucia calmed down and had forgotten what had happened. Fancy children's bandaids must be hard to come by these days. Lucia got three beige circular bandaids with penned on smiley faces. I can't imagine who they must be paying in the back to draw all the little smiley faces on little round bandaids. At least they're trying to make the kids feel better...?

Sweet Rides

Lucia may not have a Ferrari, but she does have some fabulous rides at home that keep her happy. She is a fan of the Fisher Price models. She has a new 2008 swing and got a slick deal on a used 2007 bouncy seat complete with rattlely giraffes. Sweet...!

Descubri las Manos

On Cinco de Mayo, Lucia discovered her hands! Que chula!

Day at the Zoo

Lucia had her first visit to the zoo. Grandpa Jim and Grandma Sue took all of us to the Como Zoo in St. Paul. They bought Lucia a pink safari hat. We discovered that Lucia may never aspire to be a zookeeper.

She hated the flamingos....

Couldn't be talked into seeing the monkeys...

And was afraid of the lions.

The bison were OK.

The flowers were pretty non threatening as well.

Kentucky Derby Days

For the Kentucky Derby, Lucia put on her Derby best, including a large hat to keep with Derby tradition. She placed bet on the horse named Denis of Cork. How did she make her pick you ask?--We read her the list of names and when we got to Cork she said, "Gaa". We placed her $1 bet. Lucia apparently has a knack for picking a winner! Denis of Cork placed third in the race. She won the household pool of $3. It's in her piggy bank. Later this week we'll have her choose some Lottery numbers.

2 Months Old

Two months have gone by so quickly! Lucia has been growing like a weed. She still continues to be a great eater and gains about a half pound a week. Last doctor visit over a week ago put her at 12 pounds 5 ounces. She'll be going back to the doctor again on Tuesday to get her first round of immunizations. Ben and I are nervous about this as we're not looking forward to seeing her poked by needles.

We are so lucky that Lucia loves to sleep through the night. I'm afraid to say this as it may jinx our good fortune, so keep your fingers crossed for us! Despite her good sleeping habits, we're still exhausted. Must be because she's awake all day long--only takes two short naps where we scramble to get just a few things done--usually to squeeze in a quick shower, eat something that requires no more than 2 minutes to prepare, throw in a load of laundry or dishes, and maybe a quick return of phone calls and emails. We're always desperate for more time or more arms to hold Lucia during the day.

Lucia has been visited often by Grandma Sue and Grandpa Jim. We'll be planning another trip to see Grandma Roxana and Grandpa John over Memorial Day weekend. Grandma Roxana's health is getting a little better each day so we may have her up here for a visit by summer's end!
Here is a new picture of Lucia with Rowlf--see how much she's grown since the last one!