My Love Lists

16 Things I Love About My 16-Month-Old Lucy

• Her "squeeeeeeeze!" Lucy loves to hug back now. When you squeeze her, she scrunches her eyes and squeezes until she's out of breath.
• How nice she is. Every day we get into our "groove" a little bit more. She's very nice company and rarely makes a fuss over much. We're really learning about each other each day. Newborns are very cute, but the day to day changes are tiny. Toddlers? Whew. She changes from minute to minute and keeps me laughing all day long.
  
• Her curly, curly bright red hair. It's a rare thing to take her out without someone bouncing a curl and asking where she got her red hair from. She's really learning to love the attention! Now, if people don't ask her about her hair she just kind of cocks her head and waits indignantly.
  
• Her gasping. She loves it when I inhale and say, "Lucy! Whassat???" She looks around pretending to be scared and surprised and dissolves into giggles.
  
• Her bellybutton. She's fascinated by bellybuttons and loves to point to hers.
  
• The way she stands by the stairs at naptime.
• I love that I'm her standard for everything. "Does Mommy like it? Is Mommy afraid? Is Mommy laughing? Is Mommy watching?" Nobody cares about my day quite like she does.
  
• I love that she still curls up on me for naps. My belly is growing fast, but she just pushes it out of the way and keeps sleeping.
  
• I love that she has to read Parents magazine with me and point out every dog she sees.
  
• I love her love of Crayons. She can spend ages looking at each color, scribbling on her feet, sorting the colors...
• I love the way she claps and screams when she sees something she likes on TV.
  
• I love the way she's learning to use utensils. Watching her concentrate on her spoon until it smacks her in the forehead never gets old.
  
• I love her babbling. She likes to sit in the white chair next to my desk chair and ask me questions in her Lucy-talk. I usually just answer her with "I know! I love that too!" and she seems very satisfied.
  
• I love watching her build with her Mega Blocks. She's brilliant.
  
• I have to collect two more while I fall asleep. I want them to be good, but I also have a strict bedtime to keep.
  

10 Things I Love About Andrew Today:

• That he knocked his head and probably has a minor concussion, but still tried to help with the dishes.
  
• That he reminded me to pack more soup for his lunch tomorrow.
  
• That he bought me earrings on a Tuesday.
  
• That he walks right in the door and swoops Lucy up for a cuddle, every day.
  
• That he works so hard every day.
• I love the way his hair fuzzes when he's fresh out of the shower.
  
• He pointed out the fact that I have a fruit skin phobia last night. I had no idea.
  
• That he's exhausted but still wants to talk about baby names.
  
• He laughed hysterically when I got a cramp in my side a block from home on our walk and had to stop. It made my cramp hurt worse, but it was actually pretty funny.
  
• I love that the house was all clean when we got home last week. He knows just how to welcome me back.