A bit more Mimi

Finally downloaded pictures off of our other camera. Here are some more from when my mom visited.

Lucy thinks she's pretty funny...

Neal and Kelly visit

This is a bit out of order but Neal and Kelly were here visiting...

You guys may hate me for saying this but you look very natural holding a baby...

Bros and the ladies

parents

Lucy and Ryan doin' some yard work. Ain't no thang. She is a great "manager". 

Family portrait.

Helping me with the housekeeping. Vacuuming is so much fun!

Ok. Maybe this hat is a little big yet. We apparently really like putting things on Lucy's head and laughing about how silly she looks. I can't imagine this will go over well once she realizes what's going on. No no honey, we're not laughing AT you...

laughter

Ryan captured this grin through the window in our living room. I was raising her up and down and she was laughing and laughing and laughing. It made me laugh and laugh and laugh too. 

A flash to the fairy future...

Ry and I watched the new Alice in Wonderland last night. Low key evening as everyone is getting over a cold. One of the previews was this up and coming gem...(let's just say it's probably not going to be in the Oscar's top 10)

It made us both break out laughing thinking the same thing...in a few years Ryan is going to find himself snuggled on the couch with our daughter who has begged him "please daddy please can we watch tinkerbell?". I can't wait.... 

My uncle bought me a pony...

Fun with Lino and Dad

Smiles

Every (New England) girl's gotta have an LL Bean sweater. I had no idea they made them this small. Thanks Kristen, Chadd and Soren!

Smiles for Dad.

Hawk Ridge

Hawk weekend. Lots of people. Lots of birds. Brunch with family and friends. Good times.

Ed and Angie

So much to see!

Grandma's girl

Sleeping professional

And she's out...But she was really excited sometime recently because she's only wearing one sock. Socks rarely stay on and she's has even managed to wiggle out of her pants in her sleep. Lucy definitely makes us laugh.

Lucy's new room

A few weeks ago we switched Lucy's room with our computer room. There is more space is the red room and my closet was in Lu's old room and it was logistically challenging...
So - changing spaces. It has worked out really well. We can now fit a rocking chair in there and while we rock, she looks at the leaves outside and I look at the lake. :)

Mimi takes Duluth

My mom came to Duluth for the week. It was so great to see her. Also wonderful to see how much fun Lucy had with Mimi while Ryan and I were at work or shopping for a new car (that's a whole nother blog post). We do have better photos than this but here are a few to share.

Lucy totally lights up when she sees my mom. That's kind of her thing lately. Smiling and being super charming. She's pretty sleepy in this picture but you can get a general sense of her cuteness.

Lucy's week with Mimi included among other things:

1. Costume changes (really folks is it any wonder where I get this trait from?)

2. Slurping on her hands

3. Photoshoots by the clematis

4. Pillow forts

5. Puppet shows

5. Fun with feet

We received all of these wonderfully generous gifts from folks for Lucy. The trick is now remembering we have them and using them at the age appropriate time. My mom discovered all kinds of things that I had forgotten about in the everyday hustle and bustle. Such as these animal head booties from the Reed-Ericksons. Lucy thought they were pretty cool. The more excited she'd get, the more she'd move her feet and the more she'd move her feet the more excited she'd get...

Stay tuned for more/better photos to come when Ryan returns home from the boy's weekend with the camera. And no, I won't be posting any photos from that adventure....

Thanks Mom for visiting!

napping buddies

Hawk Ridge Hike

A lovely sunny weekend with a cool breeze and hint of fall = raptor migration!

And a great time to go play outside. Leaving our house work behind (although we did manage to get quite a bit done this weekend)...we set out for an in town adventure. You gotta love having views like this only minutes from your front door. For folks not familiar with Duluth - we live somewhere in the bottom right corner of this picture.

While at Hawk Ridge we saw a Cooper's hawk and a kestrel released. Very cool. As some one who can really only identify eagles and chickadees, I'm always impressed by the folks up there who can spot a spec against the blue sky and then identify it as a "rare ridonculous hawk with 1/3 juvenile plumage...and I can't be quite certain but I think it ate a mouse last Tuesday. You can tell by the way it holds it's wings just 0.4% more to the left."

I may be selling myself short as a naturalist as I'm sure I know more than your randomly plucked stranger but I'm always impressed by bird nerds. So if you are one - kudos to you. And now that my secret is out you can probably make up most of what you say and I'll believe you.

We hiked down the hill toward Amnity Creek where we stopped on an old structure made of concrete and had a snack. We also discovered that Lucy's just the right size to fit in my backpack. Makes an awesome spontaneous hands free baby bed. For regular blog followers you may think that she looks enormous. Three things contribute to that effect: 1. She is still eating like a champ and weighs in at well over 13 lbs. 2. She is wearing a fleece that is a tad too big 3. She's now able to fit into her cloth diapers and they significantly increase her...well let's just say that those diapers do in fact make her butt look big.

Wide eyed and in awe with the world. AND in awe of her parents which I have to say is fantastic. She actually giggled at me the other day when I was doing something silly. My daughter thinks I'm funny! Awesome. The true test will be - does she think I'm funnier than her father...jury is still out but I imagine in the end Ryan will win. He's pretty ridiculous.

Hiking in the Moby wrap. She still likes this for the most part unless there is lots to look at. We tried her in the Baby Bjorn again this weekend so that she can look out and see things. It went pretty well once she got settled. I think having her legs dangle freaks her out a bit. She helped Ryan do some yard work this morning and was pretty engaged until she fell asleep.

More Seattle...

Look Lucy! Puget Sound!
Sure Mom, whatever. Can I go back to sleep now?

Cool light fixtures on the way to Pike Place Market where we enjoyed the chaos, calamari and  crepes.

I SAVED money by buying this much ice cream! Really!

Thanks to Jana and Chris for their hospitality! Chris and Ryan battle it out Carracone style and Jana checks her email.... :)