Onward and Upward

Quite suddenly (at least in my mind), Lucie and Ryan are turning into kids, leaving the toddler and baby days farther and farther behind.

Little things remind me of this, like the beginnings of successful card games, and time spent in deep concentration creating tiny Lego structures. Gone are the Candy Land games that lasted mere minutes before cards were bent, chewed and scattered about. Gone also are the alphabet blocks and chunky Duplo blocks. These two are ready for new challenges.

With grandparents visiting this past weekend, Lucie, Ryan and Grandma played a rousing game of Old Maid for the better part of an afternoon. While Lucie munched on pretzels dipped in hummus and intently studied her cards, Ryan repeatedly tried to offload the Old Maid card on Grandma, giggling hysterically in the process.

And later in the week, Lucie and Ryan got a special treat in the mail from Gigi and Papa -- their first box of real Lego blocks. Many hours have been spent since creating firetrucks (Ryan), helicopters (Ryan), and houses with steering wheels and slides off the roof going into swimming pools (Lucie). Ryan was so proud of one of his trucks that he brought it into preschool for the letter "T" sharing day.

On a side note, Lucie was thrilled to get this Tinkerbell dress as a hand-me-down from cousin Maggie. It was originally an Aunt Betsy creation, and has quickly become Lucie's favorite dress. Any time it's clean she'll wear it, even though it means having to wear an undershirt, which she usually protests. But for Tinkerbell (and cousin Maggie), anything is possible.