Today is Two’s-day, Lu’s-day. All things about our second child.

By the way, I semi-stole that phrase from Anne’s Blog. She uses “Twosday” to mean date day with her husband. So thanks Anne! If you haven’t read her blog, go there now! Her photography stuns me, and her eloquent writing always inspires me. Their long journey to a beautiful daughter is proof to me of God’s unfailing goodness.

Lu time!

I’ll start off with some photos of people I love, holding the baby I love.

Anneliese is a friend of mine from high school. It was absolutely wonderful to visit with her this past weekend. She has an adorable 1 year old and we spent most of our time asking “When did we become old enough to have kids?!”…or own a house, or be married, or even be adults? I know everyone has that quarter life crisis, but chatting with someone I’ve known since we were 13 sure brings adulthood into sharp focus.

Uncle Tim, of course. Alternatively, “Tom!” as Mo likes to call him.

Great Grandpa Wes. Jessie was visiting him all last week, and they built a formidable rock wall on the south side of the house. It make sense that  Grandpa put her to work. Have you seen her muscles? And, she got a break from chasing my babies around. Apparently they did nothing but work, nap and watch the Olympics. Sounds good to me.

Now on to pics of just our little Lucy Jean.

By they way, we get asked quite often, “So, what do you call her.” The answer: I don’t really know. Whatever pops out. So, here’s a list of her names/nicknames beginning with those we use most frequently:

Lu, Lucy, Lucia, Lu-bug, Angry-One (she has quite the temper), Lu-Lu, Lucy-Jean (I think that sounds like a cowgirl name!), and Low (that’s when we mix up her nickname with Monica’s…I sometimes call them Low and Moo). She is also often called: Stinker, Love-Bug and Little One, but those are names I’m sure all parents use.

We may have a thumb-sucker on our hands (ha ha, I seriously did not intend that pun. That’s right, I’m just naturally funny… Right?… Right?). Mo made no effort to suck on her hands, but in the last couple days Lu has discovered them and loves to suck on a knuckle or finger or whatever appendage happens to touch her face.

As much as I would dread teaching her to stop thumb sucking, if she could self-soothe it would be wonderful! I only have so many hands, and I often find myself with no other option than to let her cry while I do something with Mo (take away the permanent marker, kiss an owie, change a diaper, shut the back screen door she’s opened and wrangle the cat back inside…you get the idea). I hate to hear her cry, but sometimes there’s just no other option. I should ask Jess if being the second child causes any lasting trauma…

In happier developments, she has definitely started to smile and coo. My FAVORITE! At a friend’s wedding this past weekend, Lu was content to lay in the shade and coo at my Dad for a good hour or so. It was simply delightful to watch.

Lu also gets a lot of “Wow! That’s quite a bit of hair!” and “When do you think that hair will fall out?” I don’t think it’s going to. Mo’s grew out platinum blonde and I’m starting to think Lu’s will do the same. Lucy’s is definitely darker than Mo’s was, has red undertones, and is super curly when wet! I love that.

The most frequent (and loaded) question, however, is “How does she sleep?”

“Fairly well,” I usually respond. I’m never sure how much people want to actually know. Are they hoping to hear that she’s sleeping through the night (she’s not)? Do they actually want to know how many times we’re up to feed and change her (anywhere between once and four times)? I can never tell.

Of course we’re not sleeping enough, especially Andy. It’s nice once the kids are down to get some time to organize, clean, just be together. This means you can often count the hours Andy sleeps on one hand. I, on the other hand (again! Man, I am on a punny roll today!), can cuddle with Lu till around 7:30 or 8 or whenever Mo decides to get up.

Did I mention he changes Lu’s night-time diapers, and then reads to me while she’s nursing? Partly it’s so I don’t go postpartum crazy on him, but mostly it’s because he loves me.

Bottom line: Andy is awesome.

Truly, Andy and I both feel the same way about lack-of-sleep-due-to-itty-bitty-babies: it’s totally doable. Every once in a while we’ll look at each other and say, “Wow. It’s been more than 5 weeks since we’ve slept through the night…How are we conscious right now?” And the answer is, we just are. Our bodies have adjusted. Kind of like college. Only, different. There’s definitely more poop and screaming involved now.

Anyway, back to Lu. She’s cuter and bigger every day. She seriously has the most chubby cheeks (can I say jowls?) ever!

Lu-Bug, if you ever read this, I’m sorry I ever called your cheeks jowls. I’m also sorry to say, it’s the truth. I love you! Does that make it better?…  

Probably not.

And, that’s a wrap (rap?) from Casa Elder. Happy Two’sDay everyone!