four and one in two

I cannot believe I’m going to have a 4-year old and a 1-year old in 2 days. I can’t believe Lucy has been in our lives for a year. I still have days where I can’t believe her due date was over a month AFTER she came into this world. I left our house in an ambulance and came home with a healthy baby.

I met a mother at the library yesterday. Her son was Emma’s age, but had obvious developmental delays. I didn’t ask, but the subject came up, and I found out that he was 6 weeks early due to similar complications that I had with Lucy, who was 5 weeks early. He was born under 5 lbs … Lucy was 6lbs 11oz. He was in NICU for a couple of weeks. Lucy never even had to go to NICU.

I may have had to take a moment to “go find a book for myself” just so I could choke back tears. Those gasping, sobbing, ugly cry tears.

I had to take a minute just to FEEL how unbelievably lucky we are. I don’t think the other mother believed me when I told her our story … I can’t blame her. I didn’t do anything “right" to deserve a totally healthy baby at 5 weeks early – we just happened to be the lucky ones.

I’m just thankful. That’s all.

So yeah … we’ll have a one-year old in just a couple of days, and I’m kind of in shock. She still seems so baby to me, whereas I remember Emma being so toddler-like at one. It must be a 2nd child thing?

She is definitely more active than Emma was … even though Emma was “early” with crawling and standing and walking and whatnot, she took it somewhat easy. Not Lucy. She is a holy terror and gets into absolutely everything. They are definitely not two peas in a pod. They are not even in the same garden.

[riding mommy horsey]

Okay, let’s just discuss the nasty door. The stuff on the glass is on the outside – it’s from Macey sitting and begging and drooling and licking the door pretty much all. day. long. And the dirty baseboard got a good scrubbing after I uploaded these pictures.

Anyway, I’m not one to do the monthly milestone posts or anything, but here’s what’s going on with Lucy.

She crawls, pulls up to a stand and cruises along furniture.

She did this the other day …

… but she doesn’t stand or walk on her own.

She eats whatever we are eating … I honestly can’t narrow it down to a favorite, but she’s a big meat eater [loves chicken and hamburgers] and also loves fruit. So far, she will eat whatever I put in front of her. And anything she finds on the floor or ground.

She kisses … and yes, it is just as adorable as you think it is.

For the most part, her and Emma get along just fine. Emma is a little selfish with her toys, but she will learn. I am working on saying, “Take turns,” instead of, “Share.” Because I don’t think that Emma should have to lose a toy just because Lucy wants it, and vice versa. Lucy is also starting to get mad when Emma takes things away from her, and I’m glad! She needs to learn to defend herself when Emma tries to be the only child. They will work it out. [Of course, I realize that Lucy is still a baby, so I let her get away with more than Emma, but I am sure there will come a day when they are both in time-out at the same time]

Sleeping is actually pretty great. She’s not much of a napper lately, but we’re working on it. I don’t normally do schedules, but we’re trying a little light scheduling to see if it helps. Other than a bad week and a few nights here and there due to teething or reflux or something unknown, she sleeps 12-13 hours a night without waking. Even if she does wake up, she will usually settle back down by the time I get up and get to her room.

As far as we can tell, she has no delays from being premature. She doesn’t talk, yet, but I’m not worried about that. Ken was a late-talker, and he’s totally brilliant, now.

I really don’t know how to end this post. Lucy is unlike any other baby I’ve ever known, and I’m so lucky to have two daughters that are a million times more amazing than I ever imagined they would be.

A four-year old and a one-year old. Wow.

Thank you for sharing!

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