Rose and Lucy: The best of friends already

Rose recently turned 3!

Here are some moments from the daily journal I keep:

December 7

Rose: Took little Lucy under her wing and they played together for over an hour. Rose would say, "Come on Lucy, let's go this way." She would ask her nicely for something and patiently plead with her until she would get the desired toy back.

December 8

Rose: Is Lucy's little advocate. She'll come up to me and say, Lucy got a bonk, she needs a kiss. Or she'll just do the kissing herself.

December 10

Rose: Overheard this conversation between Lucy and Rose today: Lucy - "Op, op." Rose - "You want to open that (can of nuts)?" Lucy - "Uh huh" with a nod of the head. Rose - "We can't have a snack Icy, we just had our lunch. We can't have nuts." Lucy - "Mm ha" with a reluctant nod of her head. She's such a little mother already.

December 11

Rose: Loves to pretend to be Mary by putting a blanket over her hair and holding her baby doll and saying it's baby Jesus.

December 12

Rose: Andrew dressed up as Santa at Mom's Club today and Rose whispered to me, "Daddy?" I told her that he was Santa's helper today.

December 13

Rose: Went to see the Kid's symphony concert with Santa today (An early Christmas present from Paul and Melissa). Rose was loving it and started conducting the music in her chair and laughing and smiling when the music got really loud.

December 14

Rose: Had a mini birthday party for Rosie at Grampa and Nai Nai's house. She was so excited to blow out the candles she could barely finish the song. She got new PJ's and a bowling set from Nai Nai and Grampa, and her first tricycle from Mommy and Daddy since it was too big to take to Texas. I can't believe my little Rose is almost 3!

December 15

Rose: Refused to eat her celery in her chicken noodle soup for dinner. It wasn't until promises of a candy after dinner and Mommy eating celery with her spoon, did she decide her fork was no good and asked for a spoon. Then she proceeded to eat lots and lots of celery using her spoon. She was pretty proud of herself.

December 16

Rose: Loves racing! Especially from our car to our house or if we are done playing outside, then it's a race to the house. She loves being the fastest and winning. Occasionally when Andrew or I doesn't realize she is racing and just bringing Lucy in, she gets very very upset if she loses.

December 17

Rose: Found Rose in her room with Lucy. She was giving Lucy a pretend bath. She had her sit in the laundry basket full of toys. Then she had her get out and sit on her lap with her towel and then started brushing her hair. Lucy loved it as much as I did. It was simply adorable.

December 22

Rose: Was super good on both flights to Texas. She didn't get scared like last time and had fun playing with toys and looking out the window. She liked to play with the tray and get her own drink.

December 23

Rose: Had so much fun playing with her cousins and all the toys at Grandma and Grandpa's house that we hardly saw her at all. I had to keep checking on her to see if she was OK because I wasn't used to not seeing her in that big house. But she was always having the time of her life. The one bad thing was that potty training went out the window and we eventually stopped trying and let her wear pull ups while we were there.

December 24

Rose: I can't believe she's 3 now. It just hit me today how old she is. We had a fun Sleeping Beauty party where I made her my first attempt at a fancy cake. You could tell she really loved it all. She is an expert candle blower by now so I had to keep the cake far away from her just so we could finish the Happy Birthday song before she blew them out.

December 25

Rose: Was so excited to wear her new backpack for her doll from Grandma and Grandpa. She also had fun finding things in her stocking and eating all the food as quick as she could.

December 26

Rose: Grandparents and everyone all had fun going to the Children's Museum of Houston. Rose especially liked the pretend grocery store and wanted to get everything on her list. She also practically beamed when she was able to use paint for the first time and paint a picture wearing a full blown smock.

December 28

Rose: Looked so pretty in her Christmas dress from Grampa and NaiNai and with her hair half up looks all grown up. She loves to show everyone her princess sandal shoes that light up when she stomps.

December 29

Rose: Had fun playing ping pong with Grandpa, playing on Grandpa's phone, and reading books with Grandma. Was excited to see Grandpa set up his electric train and listen to Grandma's clock play Christmas music every hour.

December 31

Rose: Flew to Phoenix to visit Great-Gram and Rose did pretty good again on the airplane. She was very excited to help us find our bags on the conveyor belt, especially her carseat after the flight.

January 2

Rose: Went to visit Grampa Griffith's gravesite and were explaing to her about how people die and she asked "How do you get to heaven?" We told her Jesus takes us there. Right after this conversation we get a phone call that Gram has to go to the emergency room. She had to stay there 2 days, but luckily it was nothing serious.

January 3

Rose: Without Gram there, Di and Kathy and Kevin came over with dinner to keep us company. Rose warmed up to DiDi and even had a pea eating contest with her at dinner when Rose was refusing to eat hers. The game worked like a charm and Rose ate them as fast as she could to beat DiDi.

January 4

Rose: Was super sweet with Gram and let her read her lots of books. She liked looking at the pictures of her aunts while eating meals when they were 3 just like her.

January 5

Rose: Did really well on the short flight home and was super cute with Katie and Mary who picked us up and then came back to our house with a Papa Murphy's pizza for dinner. She especially liked to see that there was snow here in Utah and started crunching it with her feet before we came inside, even though she was exhausted from our trip.

January 14

Rose: Decided she has croup again. She didn't have a feverish afternoon where she crashed on the couch today like she has all the rest of the days and had a better appetite, so hopefully she is almost through the illness. 

January 15

Rose: Andrew and I couldn't understand what Rose was asking for for the longest time when she kept saying "Fenchie Menchie?" until Andrew finally figured out she wanted her "Fancy Nancy" book. Her pronunciation is still a little comical at times.

January 16

Rose: This is what she told me today: "I have a baby in my tummy, but I have to wait a loooong time (with emphasis) before it comes out. I have to wait until after Ashley's (she never uses my name) birthday. It is a baby brother. I have to get some clothes for the baby." Then she gathered lots of Lucy's clothes and one of her suit cases and said, "I'm going to the hospital." Later she said things like, "I can't eat candy because I have a baby in my tummy and the baby will get sick." Or "the baby brother isn't a little baby it is a big brother who can talk and walk and is taller than you."

January 18

Rose: Has started purposely being on the end in our pew at church so that she can be the one to get the bread and water first. And she even likes to hold the tray to pass it to the rest of us. She wants to do things herself now a days.

January 21

Rose: I love hearing Rose try to say new words like "Congratulations" or "Your highness." Her pronunciation and cute voice make it so adorable.

January 22

Rose: We got some new shoes for Rose today at DI and she was so excited about the whole process. She put on her new pink sneakers and said, "Now I can run so fast!"

January 24

Rose: Measured the girls today. Rose had a pretty good growth spurt for six months.

January 25

Rose: Andrew and I got to teach Rose's sunbeam class today. She did so good about sitting in her chair and being quiet (unlike some children), but was super shy when anyone would call on her or ask her a question. During sharing time everyone was supposed to go up to the microphone and say their name and that they were a child of God. Rose would only go up with me and then started acting like a baby with baby talk and crawling on the floor. She is just a little shy.

January 26

Rose: For FHE tonight we taught Rose about the 1st Article of Faith and the Godhead. She got the last part, "and in the Holy Ghost" down really good. We are going to start saying it every night so she can learn them well since they are doing them in Primary this year.

January 28

Rose: Even though Christmas is over, Rose still requests Jingle Bells often as her choice of song and sing/shouts it loudly through the house.

Lucy is 18 months and growing up fast.

Here are some of her highlights:

December 7

Lucy: Is starting to understand discipline a lot better. She has been so picky at meals lately, so I finally tried the tactic, "If you eat this first, then you can have this." She understood and it works most of the time now.

December 8

Lucy: Every time I'm doing something in the kitchen, she'll start saying dishes and beg for a chair. After she gets her chair set up in front of the sink, she'll play with the water and spoons and cups sometimes making water messes, sometimes not. I'm usually able to keep cooking or doing dishes fairly well for a long time while she plays unless Rose wants to join in too and then it's usually less productive.

December 9

Lucy: Loves to go through our names, she'll say Mama, Dada, Wooah (Rose with a big Oh face), sssss (for Lucy). She'll have us say it with her and point to the right person and do it over and over again. It is so fun and cute.

December 11

Lucy: Has become a huge eater the last few days. She is either making up for her sick periods or is going through a growth spurt because she is eating constantly and the only thing that gets it to her behave: i.e. "You're not going to get any yogurt, unless you put your jammies on." She complies immediately.

December 13

Lucy: Was excited at the Kid's symphony concert with Santa to clap her hands after every song and look around at all the other people clapping. She followed Rose's lead and started conducting too and was very interested in Santa and excited to see him.

December 14

Lucy: Was singing away almost all through church today very loudly even when everyone else was done singing. She loves to sing! Then she sang and danced a lot at Nai Nai and Grampa's house.

December 16

Lucy: Loves shushing everyone when she decides her baby doll or another toy is sleeping. They usually only stay asleep for a few seconds because Lucy is so excited for them to wake up.

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December 17

Lucy: Was so excited to be the one to hold the challah bread when we were delivering to neighbors tonight. She knocked on the door herself, and handed it over to a nice Korean lady. This is our 3rd year in a row with this Christmas tradition.

December 21

Lucy: Put her in the nursery in our ward for the first time and she did great! She didn't come out at all and they said she was a little touchy at times, but they were able to calm her down. This is huge improvement over Rose's nursery battles!

December 22

Lucy: Was pretty good on the airplane too. She finally crashed on the second flight in my arms while sucking on her lollipop. It was hard to get the sucker away from her for awhile, but eventually had success. She liked to play on the floor and found that it was a good place to do her business since she had a little privacy.

December 23

Lucy: Took a long time warming up to everyone, but had fun discovering the big house at Grandma and Grandpa's. She became very clingy to me and could be shouting "Mama, Mama" very often usually from the upstairs balcony.

December 25

Lucy: Go figure, the one day she is sleeping soundly and I have to wake her up because everyone else is waiting to start Christmas at 7:30. I didn't mind because it was fun to watch her open her presents. She was into it and had lots of fun making "Wow" faces as she opened them.

December 26

Lucy: let Uncle Merrick lead her to a craft coloring area and worked on a picture together. I was able to finally leave the room without her caring. Then later, when we were playing in the tots area, she came up to Merrick with a book and they had fun reading together for a while. It was a good bonding time.

December 27

Lucy: Has slept so well here in Texas too. She was first in a pack n play in my parents walk in closet with a monitor and then we moved her to her own room when the house was not so full of people. Both times, she slept all through the night, napped great and was a champ. She woke up a little too early sometimes, but I was so surprised and pleased with how this trip has gone.

December 29

Lucy: Has started asking where Grandma and Grandpa are or being sad when they leave for a little while. Used the word "no" over and over again this trip mostly to Grandma when asked if she could hold her. She definitely lets her opinion be known.

December 30

Lucy: She also put on a show at the Benihana dinner. She would shout "More" so loudly for food I couldn't keep up at all with her demands. Then she would dance around in her chair and smile and enjoy the chef tricks which made her grandparents beam.

December 31

Lucy: This was not a good flight for Lucy. It was long and Lucy did not nap all day. So she was tired and cranky and did not want to be held in my lap. It was hard to distract her and keep her happy. We had to use lots of tactics like looking out the window a lot and lots of snacks. She finally crashed in the car when Grampa came to pick us up from the airport.

January 1

Lucy: Was pretty clingy and kept her distance to the new faces in Arizona, but especially liked trying to find the cat which she called "Mow".

January 4

Lucy: Didn't do well in nursery again at Jayne and Paris' ward. But she was definitely more comfortable with Gram when she came home from the hospital and had fun finding peach pits and putting them in the wagon with Rose.

January 5

Lucy: Had fun looking at the little baby Jonah back at our house. She really likes babies right now and I hope she stays that way for when our little boy comes along.

January 13

Lucy: She must understand to some extent that there is a baby in my tummy because Andrew said when I was at my doctor's appointment she said "Mama...baby" and pointed to her tummy.

January 14

 Lucy: Definitely growth spurting, slept in til 8:15 this morning and had gone to bed at 6:30 the night before. She ate like a little piglet too, snarfing her beans and pulled pork down by the handfuls and all the time shouting "More!"

January 16

Lucy: At the Mommy & Me Yoga class for Mom's Club today, Lucy looked so cute trying to do a few of the stretches. She only did a few here or there and then mostly wanted to climb all over me which didn't allow me to accomplish anything.

January 17

Lucy: After being babysat by Grampa and Nai-Nai so we could go to the temple, Lucy included them in her broken record song she sings every day, "Mamamama, Dadadadada, RoRoRoRoRo, Icy,Icy,Icy, Grampa, Grampa, Grampa, NaiNaiNaiNaiNai, etc." She was so good for them too.

January 18

Lucy: Anytime there is music on or we're singing a song or even today in church (the sacrament song) Lucy puts her groove on. She has this jerky stomp dance that is hilarious and she loves to get into it no matter where she is. We've got to put both of these girls into dance someday.

January 19

Lucy: She loves taking care of her baby dolls right now. She will give them pretend baths, change their diapers, give them a bottle, and put them to bed, and tries to share her food with them. She is a good mommy in the making.

January 21

Lucy: Has gotten so cute about saying, "Ummmmm". Sometimes when you ask her something she will say "Ummmm" before answering or if we are singing songs in the car, after we finish one she will immediately say "Ummm" so we can think of another song to sing.

January 24

Lucy: Measured the girls today. Lucy is a little taller than what Rose was at 18 months.

January 27

Lucy: Whenever you ask her what color she wants, she always says "Yellow!" Sometimes I think she is getting her colors down, but most of the time it is a lucky guess because she is not consistent. But she sure loves to shout Yellow!

January 28

Lucy: Even though Christmas is over, Lucy still likes to sing the only Christmas song she caught on to, Away in a Manger, (just the Asleep, Asleep chorus). She will sing it to herself while she's playing with her toys or sing and dance to her own music.