“Phalaenopsis, phalaenopsis…pretty flower, pretty flower… “(to the tune of Frère Jacques)
— Lucy’s song after visiting the orchid farm

We’ve had a pretty mild summer, a few hot days here and there. On the hot ones we head out of town…to the foggy city or to the cool beach. Here are some snaps from our summer so far, mostly beach pics. Stay tuned for part 2…

Notable happenings from the past month:

• Celebrating Jill’s birthday in SF (too bad John couldn’t make it!)
• Easter Egg Hunt at Gma Vita’s place
• BJ Penn Book Signing
• Getting together with old friends, including Kelly

Stuff I’ve watched/read this month:

Movies & Books

Last week we went to see the daffodil hill at Filoli…it’s a great place to run around!

Grandmommy loved the daffodils…we imagined her enjoying them with us, just like we did when Lucy was a baby.

We were reading one of Lucy’s fave books, Father Christmas by Raymond Briggs, when Lucy decided it was about time to write her letter to Father Christmas.

We got out her letter-writing kit, and with some prompting, she dictated to me:

Dear Father Christmas,

I like your reindeer. I would like a train set. And Wubert would like a dry towel.

(The dry towel being for after he got out of the tub and was a “soggy moggy.”)

I left the room for a moment, and when I came back, she had started to write another letter in her own hand. So I left her to it.

She used all the stamps on her letter, just in case.

A bit later I wandered back in to see Wubert in the midst of creating his own letter. I suspect he did not want a dry towel after all…and was making his wishes known.

We sent the letters out the next day. We’ll keep an eye on the post and report any interesting mail.

Here are some examples of Lucy’s first stab at painting. She LOVED it. She is asking even now (in her sleep!) to paint. I think we may move on to watercolors next, and after that, maybe making some egg-carton caterpillars with auntie…the sky’s the limit.

p.s. the artist is quoted as saying that most of these paintings are of ‘Kipper‘ or his nose or ears.

• Music: “The Hindu Times” from Heathen Chemistry by Oasis
• “Metal Guru” from The Slider by T Rex
• “Hateful” from London Calling by The Clash

This being inauguration day, I thought I’d post a few pics (above) that I never got around to posting back during the Nov. 4, 2008 election.

I remember Jill taking pics of the tv screen as soon as news started breaking that Obama had won the election. I also remember the kid playing in her “diaper mobile” while mom and dad channel-surfed all the news channels for election info. It was a fun night.

Here’s a screencap of the whitehouse web site today.

The kid is learning new words every day. During our time in Hawaii, she started using words like “Uh-Oh!”, “Wow!”, “Shoes”, and “Hi!” on a regular basis. However, by far her new favorite word has got to be “two”. She’s pretty creative in her usage, frequently using “two” in place of “yes”. Example:

Mom: “Would you like a cookie, Lucy?”
Lucy: “Two!”

Anyway, Lucy’s favorite beach by far was in Kailua, most notably because it was very hilly in parts. She loved crawling up the hills, very much surprising her mom and dad with her climbing prowess.

Once she scrambled to the top of each vanquished hill, Lucy would motion for a parent to come visit her lofty perch. Inexplicably, mom would usually be very busy feigning interest in something else whenever the little hill-dictator demanded a visit. This was usually my cue to start climbing.

As soon as I’d huffed and puffed myself to the top of her hill, she’d let out a high-pitched shriek (the kind that frequently scares Wubert) and propel herself down the hill, fully confident in her ol’ dad’s back-pedaling and toddler-catching abilities.

What I found truly funny about all of this was how the kid paced herself during each of her climbs. In the way a squad of soldiers might yell “hup, two, three, four” to help keep themselves in time and on point, the kid would say “two!” for each and every foot or hand movement that helped her scale each of her hills.

Thus, as she crawled up each hill, in a very determined tone she would say, “two, two, two, two!” The cadence would help push her along until she’d reached her hilltop. Once at the top of each hill she’d give a final, triumphant, “TWO!”

Then, she’d beckon her dad to help with that pesky “getting down the hill” part and do it all over again. One of my fondest memories of our trip to the islands.

Every six months I try to put together a compilation pic showing how Lucy has changed over the previous half year. This is the fourth in the series, aka “#4, the hair and teeth cometh”.

It’s very strange; when I look at these pics it really hits me that this kid’s only been hanging around for 23 months. Sheesh, she wasn’t even around for the third season of Lost!” It seems like she’s been around forever (in a good way of course!)

Here are the previous pics. Click on a pic to view the original post. A super-duper size compilation of all 23 months is here.

This is the other part of the “Year One” video I posted earlier today. All pics used in these two videos have been arranged chronologically. ‘Part 1′ concentrates on the first half of 2007, “part 2″ the latter half.
Music:

• “Outdoor Miner” from Chairs Missing by Wire
• “Saturday Night” from Rollin’ by The Bay City Rollers
• “No Matter What” from No Dice by Badfinger