PUZZLES!

Rebecca is becoming a puzzle master. My cousin sent her a "real" puzzle (as opposed to a peg/wood puzzle) and she completes it obsessively every day. It has 24 pieces and depicts Disney princesses. I figured that this number of pieces was appropriate and she had just familiarized herself with the picture, so when I went to the store to acquire a new puzzle, I simply got a different one of equivalent difficulty level. The new puzzle was mastered within an hour (by mastered I mean taken to the point of rapid assembly). Clearly, I new to move to the 48 piece versions.

Teething woes

I am very sorry to report that Lucy has begun the long and arduous process of teething her first incisors. Happily, it seems to be the same gradual and intermittent exercise that it was for her big sister, so we do get some days off. We had one truly horrific day of it earlier this week, where she was basically unable to sleep for more than a half hour and experienced great difficulty sucking on a bottle comfortably. Since Lucy is only 2 months of age, I was looking for any and all alternative explanations for her suffering, but her sudden silence when given a frozen wash cloth to gnaw on was quite telling. Because she is so young, most of our tried and true teethers will not fit into her mouth just yet - so the good old-fashioned knotted washcloth, dampened and tossed in the freezer seems to be the best solution. She is also gnawing on her hand, and hopefully that grants her a measure of relief. Lucy bats at her ears and makes the sudden cries of seemingly random pain that were so characteristic of Rebecca's teething experience. While it is nice to have a sense of what exactly is going on, it is still so very hard to see such a sweet little cuddler enduring something like this. The teeth have not worked themselves up very high yet, so the copious drooling is still to come. I had hoped that teething would not start for another few months, so that getting Lucy on a schedule would be easier, but I guess it's not to be. Oh well, life continues.
Lucy and I have been having "conversations" for a while now. She likes to lie down on a blanket while I lie beside her. She then begins to smile and making gurgles and cooing sounds, as well as little yelps and vowel-like noises. We go back and forth in this manner for quite some time. The best part is that this occurs predominantly in the evenings once Rebecca is asleep - so I am getting some very high quality one on one time with Lucy.
Sometimes I feel as though I have days where neither girl is satisfied with the level of attention they receive. This is exceedingly frustrating for me, because I want so badly to do my best. But, then there are other days where everything is delightful, so all in all, these things balance themselves out.

The blue "Cinderella" dress and Lucy the monkey

This is Rebecca's blue sundress. She wants to wear it every day. This is no doubt, due in part to the fact that she has designated it her "Cerella" dress. Sadly, my laundry skillz are such that the blue dress does not get washed every day. This means, I must resort to persuasion and creative fiction to sell Rebecca on the appeal of other items in her wardrobe. Therefore, acceptable substitue garments include the Sleeping Beauty Dress (pink), the Jasmine dress (green), the Belle dress (yellow), the Snow White dress (has a red apple on it), the Giraffe shirt, the Elephant shirt, and the Hallowe'en Spider shirt.
The monkey is a monchichi. Rebecca was initially terrified of it, but for reasons unknown, later decided she loved it. In fact, she calls it her baby, named it Lucy, and brings it everywhere (although she insists it be wrapped in a blanket that she stole from the real Lucy's room). I think this is a very good sign. That, and she tried to feed my Lucy from her sippy cup recently. Still, jealousy does rear its ugly head, especially when grandparents hold the baby. They are given "the look".

Vibro chair adventures

Lucy has successfully batted animals on the vibro-chair arch.

Miles of smiles, and other cuteness

First vaccinations

Lucy now weighs 13 lbs, and is 60 cm long!
She is in the 90th percentile for both height and weight.
Also, she has a herniated belly button, but apparently, this is not concern unless it persists beyond 1 year of age, in which case a simple surgical procedure can correct the situation.