The Goose at 18 Months!

If I ever stop referring to Lucy as The Goose, it'll be a miracle.  Although I'm pretty sure (based on the last couple of months) that other nicknames will become appropriate as well.  Death Wish Brimer, Lucy Knieval, and my dad's new moniker for her - Crash Brimer.  Lucy is quickly, without a doubt, dispelling all preconceived notions i had about little girls.  She is into EVERYTHING.  She does not just sit there and watch.  She will copy her brother, climb on the table, nosedive on the pavement (multiple times) and although she has accrued multiple scabs and scars over the past 4 months, she has cried a total of 10 minutes for all of those bumps and bruises.  She's a badass.

Here's a little glimpse of the best girl on earth at 18 months:

She is now obsessed with Minnie Mouse since she can drink out of a regular cup.  Although she calls her "Minnie No," she wants her cup, her shoes, and her doll - always. She loves all the Mickey Mouse characters but of course, Minnie is her favorite :)

She is into EVERYTHING.  Meaning whenever we go somewhere I'm chasing her more than Jack now.  This is a definite change.  Here she is at The Muse one rainy day.

Commander Jackman & Navigator Lucy Goose.  She is also a ham b/c whenever I say "cheese" she will smile and pose with the best of them.

One day I took them to school so I could print some stuff.  Lucy insisted on running everywhere and I had to take a picture of her smallness in the halls of Farragut.  If we are still here when the kids are in high school this will be a nice contrast pic with her senior ad...not that I'm thinking that far ahead or anything :)  Look how small she is!  She was also perfect while we were at school.  Lucy continues to be a very adaptable kid (just like her brother)and buddied up to every person she met.  This is new for her and she is still at times VERY clingy to me.  But I see hope here.  There was a point in the FHS library where i honestly thought, "I could walk away for 10 min and she'd never know I was gone."  Little disturbing but nice to know she can handle losing sight of me for a couple minutes.

Lots of time in the sandbox.  Lucy loves it more than jack I think.  This girl is not afraid of dirt.  Or scabs.  Or bugs.  Or anything that might seriously hurt her for that matter...  She's even wearing Jack's shoes.  I need to quit putting her in dresses.  This move is futile.

The two of us reading one of her favorite books.  This one is a look and see of Mickey Mouse.  She will name all the characters - even Pete! - but refuses to name Goofy.  It's almost like she doesn't want to recognize him b/c he's not a real dog or something.  Totally get it Lucy.

She also is going through a willful phase where she must do everything herself.  Feed herself, dress herself, read to herself, endanger herself... you get the idea.  I cannot even put her in her seat at the table or in the car without protests and screams b/c this girl insists on climbing in there and doing all the clasps herself.  It's exhausting at times but I'm still impressed with how quickly she is growing up. (impressed is code for sad and reluctant.)

Cutest Minnie Mouse in the world.  Ever.  I know I'm biased but she seriously is the prettiest girl I've seen. Period.

On July 28th, I took her for her 18 month checkup.  This was also her first day back in daycare b/c I used that week to work in my classroom on the myriad of stuff I'm consumed with already before teachers have to be back (take that people who think teachers do nothing but vacation.)  She was, of course, above average in all categories.  I'm not surprised about height and weight b/c everyone at her school couldn't get over how tall she's gotten since we left for the summer.  And this girl LOVES to eat.  Very proud naturally.  I got to give affirmatives for all the developmental questions - until the nurse asked if she could walk backwards.  I said, "I don't know - we don't moonwalk much in our house."  But as if Lucy could understand, she immediately looked at the nurse and began walking backwards.  There's something to be said about a girl and her momma.  We know how to stick together and help a girl out.

She also had shots.  Two of them.  This is Lucy just 45 seconds afterwards.  I'm not kidding when I say this sweet girl is a badass.

Other stats: (for my own enjoyment - feel free to quit reading!)
Eating:  She's starting to get slightly picky.  Lucy will eat carbs (except rice and mac n cheese) and she LOVES all fruit except blueberries.  I cannot get her to eat veggies unless they come in squeezy pouch form.  She can name almost any food she wants (especially Cheetos which I know is a little worrisome.) And her favorite is "NACK" aka "snack."  Some of her favorites:  cheetos, spaghetti, toast and waffles, sliced strawberries, red seedless grapes, sliced turkey (sometimes), veggie straws, milk, apple juice, cheese sticks, pesto pasta, burgers, fries, vanilla wafers, bananas, crackers with cream cheese, and anything resembling a cookie.

Sleeping:  Still not the best at napping but such is her life.  She is pretty awesome at night.  Bedtime around 7-7:30 but we have yet to get a bedtime out of her where she isn't crying for the first 5 min after you lay her down.  She will usually cry, need a diaper change, or to be covered back up with her blanket at least 1-3 times a night.  Then she typically sleeps in from 5:30 - 6:30.  Depends on the morning.  I will say this - the willfullness translates into her sleeping practices.  There was one day this summer when she had been awake for 8 hours and I thought to myself, "screw it you are getting a nap no matter how long you fuss in your crib." After about 45 min of crying and fussing, she finally fell asleep.  I go check on her an hour later and find that she has ripped her diaper off, peed all over her mattress in protest, and fallen asleep in the dry corner of the crib.  Have I mentioned she is willful?

Talking:  ALL.THE.TIME.  I am proud to admit that on a language development scale, she is very advanced.  She just is.  I'm not bragging and I'm also no longer blaming it on external factors such as, "well she has an older brother."  No.  Lucy is just an early talker and I thank God for this b/c it makes my life easier.  So Much Easier.  Jack and Lucy have been on track or late when it comes to most developmental markers so it's nice to have Lucy ahead of everyone on this one.  She will repeat most anything you have to say: upstairs, Jackman, basketball, amazing, lizard, MarioKart, You're Welcome, Batman, Spiderman, Waffle, etc.  Her teacher, Miss Megan, told me that Lucy will repeat everything she says in school so when Megan is correcting a kid, like this boy Lincoln in her class, and saying, "No Lincoln, let's share," Lucy will come right behind her and say, "No Lincoln, share!"  She is bossy.  Which means she is definitely my child.  And it means that she will take after me and boss her siblings around.  Which she already does.  Every morning she yells to Jack from across the hall to wake up.  I LOVE THIS GIRL.

Other fun stuff:  I've already discussed her climbing/daredevil ability but other than that, I think her favorites include looking at "puppy dogs," books," blocks, sucking her thumb, snuggling her glowworm to sleep, brushing her teeth, brushing her hair, eating crayons, pulling flowers off my plants, swimming (she has no fear of submerging her face right in there and kicking about), Peppa Pig on NickJr (which I secretly love and Andy does too.  Andy does the best impression of Grandpa Pig :), dancing, taking her shoes off, escaping from shopping carts, saying hi to everyone she meets, blowing her nose - on everything, and lastly, being the most perfect, most amazing little girl our family could ever hope to get.  When I've asked people to describe her, they've given me the following adjectives:  smart, silly, determined, talkative, bossy, sweet, outgoing, precious, blond, and as jack says,"always into my stuff!"  that is Lucy to a tee :)

Some Goose videos :)