Just Lucy

This morning as I was brushing my teeth and getting dressed, Lucy occupied herself by taking our pop up mesh hamper (which for the record was empty as ALL THE LAUNDRY IS DONE!) and placing it over her head and walking/running around like a little mesh monster... had I not been so amused watching her, I would have run downstairs and grabbed the camera

At one point, she walked into the wall (her line of vision was slightly impaired) and yelled
Hey! Wall! Look out for my noggin!

Then, she was running between her room and our room "scaring" me with her best monster growl.

I moved into the bathroom to floss and out of the corner of my eye, saw her dart across the hall into her room (which is directly across from the bathroom) I leaned back to watch her in action and witnessed the following exchange as she stood in front of the basket full of animals at the foot of her bed:

I'm a Wild Thing! RROOAARR!
RROOAARRRR
RRRRRAAAOOORRRRR

All of a sudden, she flipped the basket off her head and said to her animals with great care and concern in her soothing little voice:

No no, it OK! Don't be scared!
Its me! Lucy Ellen Sykes!
I not scary! I just silly!

Maria, the Mum

The Princess of Quite A Lot

Remember when I told you about Cousin De and Brad's Wedding?
De sent me a couple pictures that just have to be shared....Thanks De, as always, I heart you!

There you have it! Lucy in her pretty princess dress......!!!!!
As I said in my previous post, she made it two hours before demanding to be changed into a t-shirt and a pair of shorts....see below, photos by Daddy. If you ask me, she's still pretty darn cute (and precocious) regardless of what she's wearing

Maria, the Mum

100

100

I’ve noticed, through my trolling, that when bloggers hit their 100^th post, they then post a blog “100 Things About Me” (Let me clarify, it may appear that there are 110 posts but Sean actually posted 10 of the said 110)

Not too long ago, I did something similar…it was an exercise I learned in a creative writing class I took where you were challenged to sit down for 60 minutes and write as much as you could about yourself. I took the class back in 1997…....I wish I could find what I wrote back then as it would be interesting to compare it to what I wrote in 2011

Anyway, I was not sure I could come up with another 100 things about myself. Fortunately for all of us, I’m pretty long winded and was in fact able to come up with 100 things

My goal is to over time elaborate on each of the 100 things (and the things from the list I made back in May so really 233 things) If I am ever at a loss for what to write, or Lucy stops being funny and entertaining, at least I’ll have something to fall back on….

1. I have a scar on my right hand that I’m pretty sure came from the time I was in college walking home from M Street with Bridget and Karmin, bumped into a Stop sign and fell

2. I hate crowds

3. I get nervous when I fly – I get so nervous I’m the one in the airport/on the plane trying not to look suspicious thereby looking suspicious but still trying not to look suspicious

4. I’m an over packer (for the record, Sean is worse)

5. When I was in college, I almost dropped out at the end of my Junior year…I’m not sure I’ve ever told anyone that

6. I secretly get jealous when I find out someone I know is pregnant

7. One time, in junior high, I got beat up by this girl…she came to our house and was all like, hey, want to hang out? But when I came outside, she beat me up – to this day, I have no idea why…..and I never told anyone

8. When I was younger, I desperately wanted a cool nickname….never got one, but my siblings did call me Fatso for awhile

9. My Dad used to call me Re-Run or Re-Runny Rose….every once in awhile he’ll use it and it makes me smile…

10. The first time I went to Wrigley Field, I cried……second time I went to Wrigley Field, I met Bill Murray

11. I was an extra in Major League II – it was filmed in Baltimore and I was there with some friends in college – we went by Camden Yards, they were filming, looking for people to sit in the stands, so in we went

12. I met Tommy Lasorda at a bar in St Louis

13. I’m afraid of failing which often prevents me from trying

14. I failed my driving test the first time I took it…..he wanted me to back into a parking spot and I had been practicing parallel parking for a month……unfuckingbelievable

15. I’ve been to traffic school…twice

16. One time, I got locked up in a drunk tank…with a bunch of Marines

17. I’m all about instant gratification – so much so that I’ll read the last chapter of a book before I even get to Chapter 3…..

18. Except for the Harry Potter books. I was never inclined to skip ahead in those books

19. When a new Harry Potter book was released, I would go back and read the whole series before reading the new book…EVERY TIME

20. I have not seen the last Harry Potter movies because I don’t want them to end

21. I started reading the series again so soon, I’ll see the movies

22. I love children’s books and young adult books – I love reading them and I get all excited when my nieces or nephews get into reading because then I have someone to buy them for!

23. Looking back on it, I was pretty naïve when I was a teenager – I had no sense of pop culture, no idea what was cool, what kind of music to listen to…I was totally clueless…people would talk about movies, music, clothing labels…I had no idea what they were referring to…sometimes I still don’t…and could totally care less

24. I may be insecure about who and what I am but I will never change for anyone….I tried that and it just did not work out for me

25. I used to try harder to please other people, not so much anymore. As long as Sean and Lucy are happy, I’m good

26. Sometimes, I’m too nice – yes me! And by that I mean I’ll talk to people, help them out and even when they snub me or offer me no help (or say no when I ask), I’ll still “be there for them”

27. Did I mention I’m passive aggressive?

28. I’m a bit scared of the dark

29. I used to sleep with a light on – until I got married

30. I love a good breakfast – bacon, eggs, toast, pancakes, home fries

31. When Sean and I were dating, and even when we were married but before Lucy, we used to go to Zoe’s in Cambridge for breakfast at least 2/3 times a month. We’d get there early with a stack of magazines and sit for hours eating breakfast and reading…..I loved those breakfast dates

32. Zoe’s has, hands down, the best breakfast I’ve ever had

33. I used to smoke Camel Lights…I loved Camel Lights

34. When I lived in Illinois, I had this friend Paul who I worked with and he happened to live next door to me. We both loved baseball and watched the Ken Burns documentary Baseball together. We watched the 1999 All Star Game in Boston together too – I miss Paul

35. When Paul and his wife moved, just to a different part of town, I moped around for like a month – I hated not having them next door anymore…….

36. I missed their wedding because I did not get out of work on time and never told them I was sorry for that – one of my many regrets

37. I’ve never been to Cape Cod

38. I joined Facebook because Sean did; left it once because I got depressed I had so few friends and saw all these people on the periphery I knew but was scared to send a request to for fear they’d reject me…got back on so I could watch the Royal Wedding with Cousin De and sister Teresa ..left again because someone was snooping on me and frankly, she was bugging me…so I deactivated, edited my friend list and just got back on because I’ve decided to become a professional blogger and FB is the best way to get my blog out there

39. I went to Paris when I was in high school – hated the city but loved all the churches and the Louvre and the Rodin museum

40. When I was in Paris, Jen, my brother’s girlfriend at the time, and I got really really drunk on rum…so drunk that the next day, I threw up…while we were touring Versailles

41. I know nothing about art but I know what I like and I appreciate it

42. I know nothing about music – except what I like to hear

43. I have no rhythm and can’t dance…but that does not stop me

44. Can’t sing for shit either….except in the car or the shower….does not stop me

45. And I don’t care what anyone thinks about my singing or dancing (at least that’s what I tell myself)

46. Funny, when I was younger, I really didn’t care what anyone thought or how stupid I looked dancing or singing – I did it and I had fun!!! Course I was also drunk……..

47. There’s a whole lot I don’t remember about my 20’s

48. What I do remember makes me laugh

49. Annette and Brandon are two people who will always be important in my life…no matter when I last saw or spoke to them, if I called them, they would totally drive the Bronco out of town for me…

50. Annette and Brandon were guilty participants in my 20’s!

51. In 1999, I was the victim of identity fraud…a “friend” who was watching my house for me while I traveled opened up a bunch of credit cards in my name using the offers that came in the mail…..she racked up $100,000+ in credit card charges……we’re not friends anymore

52. That incident preceded what felt like was the worst year of my life

53. I can’t tie a square knot and I have a couple sister who take great delight in that – that is they take great pleasure in ridiculing me for it (and not in a fun, hahaha way) …apparently the ability to tie a square knot is very important in determining your lot in life

54. I quit smoking cold turkey…..I had serious DTs and was a raving lunatic for three days

55. I can spend hours looking up recipes, studying how something is made or a cake is decorated and in my head, have grand plans to cook the meal and bake the cake….and then never do it

56. I hate roller coasters and I hate ferris wheels, they both terrify me

57. I’m scared of heights

58. And snakes

59. And death

60. I have terrible handwriting, looks like that of a 12 year old boy

61. And I never mastered cursive writing, that too looks like it was done by the hand of a 12 year old boy….ok, probably a 10 year old boy

62. I’m not a big fan of company Christmas parties or forced fun events….I always feel socially awkward and find myself standing off to the side shaking my head at the behavior of certain people….makes me look like a bitch….

63. Sometimes, I feel the same way at family functions – and I love my family so what does that tell you about me?

64. Clearly, I’m insecure

65. Sometimes, my mind goes faster than my fingers can type or my hands can write

66. I just tried to write the alphabet in cursive…I can’t remember how to make the capital G

67. When writing (and by that we now know I mean typing), I ALWAYS type the as teh….ALWAYS

68. One of my favorite memories as a kid is clipping coupons with my mother and then going to the grocery store with her

69. We had this family friend named Michelle who used to babysit us; I totally wanted to be her when I grew up….…I’m so not

70. One of my other favorite memories is Christmas Eve

71. And donut balls – my mother used to make homemade donut balls on the weekend…way better than Munchkins

72. I have fond memories of coming down to the Boston area (Revere specifically) to visit my mother’s aunts and uncles as a kid…..probably because they didn’t yell at anyone like Grammy did

73. My maternal grandparents did not speak to me for like 5 years because of some stupid family fight. When I was welcomed into their home again, my grandmother had dementia and had no idea who I was…..I was angry at her when she died because of that….Aunt Nell made it better though…..

74. I still miss Aunt Nell who passed in March of 2010

75. Aunt Nell used to write letters – like long 5-10 page letters! I’ve saved most of the ones she sent me…I saved all the cards she ever sent me too

76. I hate shopping for myself but love shopping for other people

77. I don’t have OCD (as I could care less about how my towels are folded or if there is a stack of magazines somewhere they should not be) but I can be obsessive about things…like the Royal Wedding or a TV show or a news story that catches my eye

78. I wish I prayed more

79. I don’t have many friends but the friends I have, I would do anything for

80. As much as I joke about not having a lot of friends, it does not bother me as much as it probably should

81. I do, however, have a lot of acquaintances and I like them just fine

82. I don’t have as high of a rate of disclosure as people think I do – I may tell you stuff, but rarely will I tell you anything of substance

83. Juts had a flash back to my 20’s – it involved Karaoke, The Devil Went Down to Georgia, Capt and Coke and drinking my shots on one swift pull….I miss my 20’s

84. No I don’t….I appreciate my 20’s and am totally loving my 30's

85. But have to admit, not looking forward to 40

86. I’m happy with one child – and I’m not so sure why people and society are hell bent on making me feel guilty for having “only one” Maybe I will have another baby, but is that something that is really of anyone’s concern except mine and Sean’s?

87. And am I less of a woman, less of a mother if Lucy is in fact my only child? I don’t think so….besides God works in mysterious ways….the world better be careful or I could reproduce twins! And we all know twins freak me out so then where would we be?!?!

88. I never dreamed about my wedding – but I always dreamed about being a wife and a mother

89. I don’t wear makeup – I’ve tried a few times but because I have no idea what I’m doing, I always end up looking like a whore on pay day

90. I had this friend in College, her name was Mrs. C, she was the receptionist in the Residence Hall I lived in…..she was in her 60s when I met her…..she used to tell me I was an old soul and that someday, it would all make sense….I’m still waiting Joan! I’m still waiting!

91. But I will admit, it makes more sense now than it did then

92. She also introduced me to Paul Harvey and Talk Radio

93. I moved to Massachusetts in 2000….I always thought by now, by the time I was this age and married with a child, that I’d be back living in Maine…..a part of me is disappointed by that, but a part of me can’t imagine going back there and living…..

94. Though I grew up in Maine, I don’t have the connection to it my brother and sisters do…I’m somewhat envious of that…..but I still call Maine home…I guess because that’s where Mum and Dad are….and that seems to be where all our hearts are

95. Which begs the question – where should I be buried (see how I make crazy jumps?!)?

96. Which means I should probably consider cremation

97. Spaghetti and meatballs with nice bread may be one of my favorite meals

98. Since I moved to MA, I have lived in two towns – and in both towns, I have lived right on the border. When I lived in Medford, if you went to the top of my street and turned right, you’d be in Malden in ¼ of a mile. If you went left and straight for ½ mile, you were in Somerville. If you went left and then left again, in ½ mile you were in Everett. We’re in Woburn now and if you leave our house and go right for ½ mile, you’re in Wilmington, if you go left for not even ½ mile you’re in Burlington. I think that says something about me….I’m not sure what but I’m pretty sure it says something

99. Meeting Sean is one of the best things that has ever happened to me…..I love him so much that sometimes it makes my head hurt!

100. And I love Lucy so much that sometimes it makes me cry….I love both of them so much I am often times rendered speechless….no easy feat I might add….

Maria, the Mum

The Sick House

Lucy spent the past week sick - throwing up, diarrhea, summer cold and cough....throw in her molars trying to break through and a growth spurt, a sick Daddy and a tired Mummy and you can only imagine what the last week has been like at our house.

A recap of the week:
Sean caught throw up in his hand...twice. As you may or may not recall, throw up is Sean's Kryptonite. Nonetheless, he was a trooper and twice when his little girl was throwing up, he bravely threw his cupped hands under her mouth to catch it...

We let Lucy watch TV more than we normally would while she was home sick - it kept her resting on the couch (she would often doze over the course of a movie) and allowed us to still get some work done (selfish, I know but lest we forget, we both have full time jobs)
Her favorite movie right now is Pooh's Heffalump Movie. It's a cute little 68 minute ditty about the friends from the 100 Acre Wood capturing a Heffalump...we watched it so many times, Lucy now recites the lines with the characters and can sing the score (provided by the ever talented and lovely Carly Simon)

Lucy also wanted to watch a Princess movie and chose Sleeping Beauty. We made it to the end of the movie and she looks at me and says
Next time Mama, we watch Cars

At one point, Lucy's legs, fingers and toes were covered in band aids...for an afternoon, she also had one on her cheek....and her belly....why? Because her belly hurt...and her arms and legs hurt....any where that Lucy felt pain or just seemed to hurt, a band aid was placed....To be fair, she did have a legitimate boo boo on the biog toe of her right foot - that was the only real wound.
When I took her to see Dr Harper, I felt like I had to justify why I caved in to my daughter's demands for band aids....my defense? Well, Band Aids are better than tattoos...and they're on sale at Target right now...

Covered in Band Aids, Lucy informed me she was just like the whales in Burt Dow, Deep Water Man....but she doesn't have a seagull, can we get her a pet seagull.....? Please Mama?

I was having a much needed cup of coffee Saturday when Lucy looks at me and says
I don't like coffee Mama
Oh well, that's okay Lucy
You like coffee Mama?
I do.....
I don't...
Oh...Ok (I was not sure what else to say)
I like you Mama
I like you too Lucy
Good Mama...but I don't like coffee

We missed, for the second year in a row, Benjamin's birthday party (last year, we missed it because of this, you could just skip to the section called Time to Get Your Folk On but frankly, the whole post is pretty amusing)

By Saturday, I think we all had a bit of cabin fever. We needed to get out. Lucy's suggestion? Target!

Maria, the Mum

Am I serious?

So if I'm going to be serious about this blogging thing, I have a few things I need to do:

Learn (take the time) to edit - or hire an editor - I am taking applications, you  must be willing to work for cookies, dinner, or M&Ms

Learn how to do pictures - that is upload them into said blog - which poor Sean has shown me at least 110 times but I'm just not as smart as I look (don't let the glasses fool you!)

Get a badge or a button - everyone has one, I think I should too...I'm not 100% what they do or how they work but they look so fun on all the other pages I visit

Learns how to add some one's badge or button to my page - again, caving to peer pressure but if I'm gonna hang with the Top Mommy Bloggers, I gotta make connections and badges and buttons seems to be the way to do it...its like getting pinned....or being asked to wear some one's class ring....

Finish the blogs I start.....I have at least 6  that I've started and just not finished....my brain goes too fast sometimes and I feel like I lose my ideas.....so I don;t finish....

Pick a time to write....I used to do morning pages - I used to do a lot of things! But wifehood and motherhood trump everything so right now, I write when I can (on conference calls, when reports are running, Sean is bathing Lucy, I'm waiting for the laundry....) someone asked me once if I actually worked because it looked like I did all my blogging while I was on the job...yes I work! And no, I don't sit on the job and blog...I write on  my lunch hour and when Sean and I are watching TV at night....and yeah, sometimes I write at work because I need a ten minute break from what I've been doing,....sometimes, I think of something while I am at work, open a new post, jot down my idea then come back and finish it later...but what I've discovered is that the blog time stamp is when I opened the post, not when I published it - so there!
I will admit though I do usually end up publishing when I'm at the office - mostly because when I finish writing, I read it a couple times (not that well as you can tell from spelling and tense errors) and my computer at work is quicker than my laptop at home.

I am open to any and all comments, concerns and suggestions...and if you know how to design a button/badge or even a blog page, even better...

Maria, the Mum who wants to also be a Blogger

Bullseye, Back Off, Gotcha!

Bullseye
Lucy's teacher Rika, who we all adore, has been on vacation the past few weeks. Lucy misses her terribly and her name comes up at least once a day....and if you ask her where Rika is, without hesitation she gives you a one word answer:
Target!

Back Off!
Lucy learned from a young age to go up and down stairs and does so with relative ease. When she goes down the stairs, one of us is in front of her, when she goes up the stairs, one of us is behind her.
Lately, when we've been following her up the stairs, if we get too close, she turns over her shoulder and declares:

Wait your turn Mama!
Wait your turn Daddy!

Gotcha!
Lucy has been sick all week and last night, she was racked with horrible coughing fits. She'd sleep for 20 minutes, wake up and cough for a few minutes, cry for five minutes, sleep for 20 minutes...started about 6pm last night, just before Sean got home. And there is nothing we can do for her except give her a drink, try to soothe her and give her as many hugs and snuggles as she wants....

So Lucy and I slept in the second bedroom last night (between coughing fits, she managed to get out "I wanna sleep in Uncle Gareth's room")

I have no idea what time it was when Lucy woke me up telling me she needed a clean diaper.....by handing
me the diaper she had so thoughtfully taken off of herself!

I scooped her up and took her into her bedroom to get a clean diaper. I set her down on the floor to flip on the light hen I heard her say

Uh Oh Mama! I pooped! and with a giggle, she shot off across the room.

I didn't have my glasses on and could not really see what she had done - I glanced down and did not see anything except what appeared to be a couple wet spots...but she had had a couple bouts of diarrhea earlier......

I captured Lucy (who was  giggling by the way) and laid her on the table. Sean came in the room and I asked him to grab the Clorox wipes as she said she had pooped on the floor. Sean was still rubbing the sleep from his eyes and had not focused on anything yet - I was wiping Lucy down and squinting looking for signs of poop

Sean made his way back into the room and kneeled down to start cleaning
Lucy leaned over the changing table and says to the top of her Dad's head

Don't worry Daddy! I kidding! It not poop, just pee pee!!

Maria, the Mum

That was the deal....

Lucy has been sick all week so she's not really been at day care...that is she was there all day Monday, 1/2 day Tuesday and home Wednesday. She made it until 11am today when I got a phone call to pick her up.
I phoned the doctor as her behavior and symptoms have been a bit baffling and we wanted to make sure it was nothing we needed to be overly concerned with.

The doctor's office called shortly after we got home and moments after Lucy woke up (she feel asleep on the 7 minute drive home)

As I was speaking to the nurse, Lucy was in the background coughing, gagging and crying all at the same time. The nurse said say no more, bring her in at 1:30.

In an effort to hurry her up and get her to go with little or no argument, I tried to bribe Lucy (not one of my prouder moments)

Lucy, we're going to see Dr Harper
No thank you Mama, I no want to go
I know honey but Dr Harper just wants to make sure you are okay
I *cough cough, sputter sputter* OK Mama! Just snuggle Lucy..and she climbed up into her bed with a half whine and a half cry
Honey, I know you don't want to but we need to - to make sure you're okay. And after we see Dr Harper, how about we go get an ice cream?
How about just ice cream? Lucy counter offers
How about Dr Harper than ice cream? (good come back Maria, brilliant)

We eventually made our way, with little resistance, to the appointment.

Dr Harper decided that we need a couple cultures (nose and throat) and a quick finger prick to collect a bit of blood for testing. Lucy, none too keen on the Dr's office to begin with, began to wail as soon as we stepped into the lab waiting room...the tech, Alison, threw down her own bribe f a lollipop for Lucy and for Clifford (her stuffed red dog) when the test were all done. Lucy picked a blue one for herself and a red one for Clifford.

As she and I made our way back down the hall to the exam room, Lucy looks at me and says

You still get Lucy ice cream Mama, that was the deal.....lollipop no count!

Maria, the Mum