And yet most of what Lucy says is quite incomprehensible! But her current vocab includes:

Hi! (Hi!)
Kah (car)
Bah (bah-bah – sippy cup)
Daa (Dad)
Pop (Poppa)
Shhh (Shoes)
Chhhh (Cheese)
Meow (her shoes with kitties on them)
Nana (banana)
Ppppooo (Pooh bear)

No, she doesn’t really say Momma. I’m not sure whether to have hurt feelings or not. 🙂 When you ask her, “where’s Lucy?” she jams her thumb repeatedly into her chest. When you ask, “where’s Momma?” she does the same thing! Maybe she hasn’t realized we’re two different people yet. She’s also getting quite good at pointing at her eyes, hair, ears, toes, fingers, etc on command. Such fun!

Two weeks ago I won a radio contest (yea!) for 2 tickets to Hurricane Harbor in Valencia. We went yesterday and had a super good time. Mom-in-law kept the baby (SO helpful) and we brought a buddy of Max’s, Christopher, to double the fun. The park wasn’t crowded, the weather was nice, and the boys were very excited to be there. Christopher’s added bravery really helped when Max was feeling timid about a particular ride. Peer pressure!

Afterwards we went to Jan and Jeff’s for Emily’s 3rd birthday party. Great time with family and friends. Then Lucy fell right on her face and cut her upper lip and gums. Man, what a bleeder! It took so long, through the screaming and the blood, to figure out that she had not lost a tooth or anything. Thank you God. (She’s ok today.) Such a day!

Last week, Toby won a radio contest by
being the tenth caller and knowing the name of the band that Natalie Merchant fronted
in the 1990’s. She won a pair of tickets to Six
Flags’ Hurricane Harbor. Since this is a water park, we need to use the tickets
before the summer ends.

Toby, being as organized as she is, determined that with an expected high of 81 degrees
(F), Saturday, 10 Sept would be a great day to go. She quickly coordinated some grandparent
babysitting with an assist from my sister, Jan, for Weezy, so that Max and Toby and
I could go to the park. We left Carpinteria immediately after Max’s AYSO team, the
Red Flies (0-1-1), lost to the Blue Sharks 12 to 4. It was typically cloudy and cool
in Carp, but we were confident it would be nice and warm in Valencia. When we got
to Jan’s house, it was very cloudy and breezy.

What?? Cold and cloudy in Santa Clarita in September? What can you do?

Jan and Jeff were very gracious on short notice, and grilled up some very tasty burgers
for lunch. We decided that it was too cold to go to the water park. We had some really
good ‘alone’ time with the Bernards, something we had not had in a while. It was great
to laugh with them.

We will try Hurricane Harbor again next Sunday, 18 Sept. As of today, the
forecast is for 85 degrees. We will see.

Here is Lucy’s 1 year picture and Max’s 5 year picture. They certainly look like siblings to me! 🙂

Holy
cow, my baby is growing up (sniff). We are all returning from Planet Birthday, after
3 consecutive days of parties and celebrations. Friday we played at the park with
some good friends (who brought cupcakes and a present) and that night we had a great
dinner with Auntie Kelly and Uncle Ray (of course, more treats – s’mores – and presents).
Saturday was the ‘all boys’ Batman party, which including swimming, lots and lots
of running, a pinata, cupcakes, presents and fun party toys. Sunday lunch was with
our family at Andria’s restaurant in Ventura, and after some good food, some ‘stomp
rocket-ing’, more cupcakes and s’mores – there were more presents! Whew! We are so
blessed by family and friends; thank you God.