Lulu turns One!

Lucienne turned one on our vacation to the French Pyrénées. We rented a house in near the little town of Ercé with cousins Michelle and Axel and Niall and Norah. Norah baked Lu a birthday cake, an amazing feat since we had a very sparce kitchen in the cabin. It was the first refined sugar infusion that Lu had been exposed to and boy it did the job. She was buzzing around for hours and topped off with a sugar hangover. We woke up to a vomit covered baby and travel cot.

Our first weekend of vacation was filled with celebration as the Sunday was then Easter. Norah brought Easter baskets for everyone and all contributed to making a tasty Easter brunch. We even attended the Easter mass in the little village church.

We weren't expecting to be snowed in during our visit, but it added to the ambiance of the place since the house was in fact a converted mountain stone barn. Just in time to meet Gramma Jan and Dylan the snow melted and we drove to Toulouse to pick them up. We said good bye to our mountain hut in Ercé and to Michelle, Axel, Niall and Norah and headed to Collioure and the blue, sunny Mediteranean.

I'm a Skypin' Pro

Lu is almost one year old! She is developing very fast! She crawls now like a pro all over and is very confident about standing and walking (with help of course), but she can stretch from one prop to another. She’s stood momentarily on her own when she’s distracted by something. Her language is coming along too. She barks at puppies and knows when she sees one that she makes a barking sound. She likes to chase mommy around and loves peek-a-boo. She’s always looking through her books and points at everything! She makes a little questioning sound and points like she’s saying ‘what’s that?’ Skyping with family is one of her favorite things to do and she’s started ‘brushing’ her teeth on her own now.

February Break

During the lent break Feb. 11-15 Lu learned to stand up on her own. She pulls herself up in her crib and on the couch and walks when we hold her hands. She likes to copy what we do. Really likes to make sounds with her tongue. She is also a little temperamental and can get frustrated when she can’t do something. Is the beginning of temper tantrums?

Waving Bye-bye

It’s Feb 12th and Lu says da-da deliberately to her daddy. She also waves bye-bye when we say bye-bye to her. She waved to her bath toys when Mommy said bye to each of them today. She also waved today at people leaving the café we were having breakfast at. She climbs onto her knees and can stand unassisted (holding something), but can’t pull up to sanding on her own consistently (although she has twice on the couch and once using her new car seat.) She’s been sick since Christmas off and on, but has kept her good humor. She likes to roar and copies us when we do too. She still really likes fruit and cheese and will now eat veggies if they are boiled in flavor (bouillon). She knows her name when we call her too. She will clap when someone is doing it on TV. She points at things and says, “dat” like the birds in the round-about outside the crèche.

Puppies!

Lu can play peek-a-boo now on January 23 when I was waiting in the doctor’s office waiting room she lifted up the blanket over her face to mimic me playing peek-a-boo. She really loves her doggie house with her 5 soft doggies. She scoots around like a seal but no crawling. She can stand on her own holding on to something and pulls herself up on her own. She is feeding herself now and would rather do that than be fed. She likes chicken, avocado, and especially cheese. On January 29 Dada saw Lu pull herself up to standing without help from anyone. She used the back of the couch to get to the plant behind the couch. She also will kiss the puppy when I ask her to. She’s no longer crying when we drop her off at the crèche. On the weekend of January 19 we visited Paris, Lu's second time there, for Cousin Michelle's birthday. She had fun partying at the bar with all the adults!

Here Comes Santa Claus

After our trip to Vancouver for Christmas Lu have been doing lots of new tricks. She must have wanted to keep up with her cousin Rielly. On New Year’s Eve she clapped for the first time. We have been working on this for quite a while. She always yells when she claps because when I would show her I’d always saw Yahhhh or Bravo so it seems she can’t clap without making noise! Lu can also sit up on her own from a laying position. She is also scooting forward and using her knees some…ALMOST crawling. As soon as we got home to Brussels she started scooting around the house attacking everything she could get her hands on. She is also pulling herself up almost to standing using the high chair. Boy does she have some intense upper body strength! She is also finding little pieces of lint and such on the floor and is intent on eating them! Lu still is so good natured, hardly ever crying. She loves people, and will go to anyone. The French stewardess on the plan from Portland to Frankfurt wanted to take her home. She smiles at everyone and yells to get people’s attention. She knows her name and will turn her head towards you when you say it. She goes to the crèche tomorrow since it’s my first day back. She has a little cough she most likely got from Rielly so hopefully it doesn’t get any worse.

Gramma Myrna visits

On Nov. 29 and 30 was Lu’s first time at the Crèche. She seemed a bit upset about being away from mom and dad. When I picked her up she was crying. She had her first thanksgiving on Nov. 24 with Cousin Michelle, Axel and Niall. On Nov. 30 Grandma Myrna came to help take care of me and Lu after the surgery. Lu got her first cold on Dec. 5 and it lasted 3 days. She became more winey after, but was able to charm the doctor on Dec. 7 when she had her routine checkup. Grandma came too. She weighed 7.7kg and was 72.5cm long. She likes ‘dance’ to music now and will stay on all fours, but has yet to crawl. Lu likes to babble to herself when she plays with her toys. She also can feed herself pieces of carrots and little cereal pieces. She can pull herself up to a sitting position in the crib using the rails. We had to move her mattress down to the bottom of her crib because she seemed like she could almost climb out. Her second tooth is coming in and causing her some pain it seems. She doesn’t want her bottle as readily and seems crabbier she won’t even eat a biscuit! She went again to the crèche on Dec. 11. It was hard for mom to leave her. She reaches out now and tells us she wants us to pick her up and can wave well and is beginning to clap. She turns the pages of the book when we read to her and loves to open the flaps of her peek-a-boo books. She also likes to drink from a cup or bottle, whatever mommy and daddy are drinking.