Holiday Cheer

One of Lucy's favorite things to do is sit in my lap or dada's lap and look at books. She has to be in control of the page turning and how long is spent examining each page, of course. She'll stare for a while in silence at a page and then point with one chubby finger at something on the page and exclaim "AH?" which we interpret as, "What is that?" Then we give her the word: "cat" or "banana" or "house." She takes a while to digest this word before moving on to another object on the page. "AH?"



For Christmas Joel and I got her this rocking horse:

It sings and rocks and she is slowly learning to love it. We decided to give it to her early since we're driving to Santa Cruz for Christmas this year and there's no way that was coming in the car with us.

I think she looks pretty adorable on it. Especially in her little girly outfit. So cute!

The Wild House

I know that we only have one child, but even still, our house can get really wild. Crazy things happen around the Cohen casa, and I occasionally have the presence of mind to whip out my camera and try to document them.

Take, for instance, one of the biggest reasons Lucy is so excited for dada to get home in the evening and why she asks for him all day long. His seemingly boundless energy.



While by 5:30 I'm just about drained from a day with Lu, Joel walks in the door and within seconds Lucy is being swung around in his arms, wrestled with on the bed, or being give a ride in a plastic box.



Isn't she a lucky gal? She tries to imitate the fun with her stuffed animals, but really it's more fun when you're the pushee.




Also, there are the odd places that my child decides to plop her derriere when she's tired. (Lucy will probably kill me when she's older for posting such an unflattering picture. Or maybe she'll be able to recognize the humor in the situation? Let's hope for the latter).




And of course, there's your daily dose of kitty torture. Whether it's giving her gentle pat-pats:





Or attempting to balance plastic cups on her head:

This poor cat takes it well. Only the occasional scratch has happened, and it's definitely not enough to stop Lucy from playing with her beloved kitty.

And then, of course, there's reading time which, since there are no chairs Lucy's height, sometimes happens in the carseat when it's indoors:

And lastly there has been Lucy's favorite family tradition to date: Advent chocolate.

We're not sure how much made it in to her mouth, to be honest:

All these things and more make my day-to-day life very interesting and wild. And I love it! Bring on the wild house.

Walking in a winter wonderland

What with the warmer Eugene climate, this year Joel, Lucy and I are just going to have to pretend we're living somewhere nice and snowy for those few weeks of the year that everyone wants snow in December.

And even though there are still some brilliantly fall-colored trees around Eugene, it's December and it's time for a Christmas post! So here's some decorations we've got around the Cohen casa.

We're still undecided on whether we'll do a tree this year since we won't be in Eugene on Christmas, but in the meantime I've put our fun white twiggy tree out with ornaments on it to festive up the place.

And here's our hearth (complete with Joel's nice fire). I strung the ornaments from yarn and I think it looks nice and cheery!

And lastly, this is how we spend our days when the weather is not nice enough to go outside. We lounge around in our pajamas at all hours of the day, snuggle up in a nice, festive blanket, and read books. Sounds about perfect!

Walks with Papa

I found these pictures on my camera from back in October when my parents came to visit. I love the sequence. Lucy was enjoying her outdoor walk with Papa on that beautiful fall day.

The dramatic point is Lucy's signature move.

Fall days

Have I already mentioned how beautiful Fall is here in Eugene? The trees really take their time turning red, yellow and orange, and the weather has very slowly become cooler, easing us into the darker days of Winter. It hasn't been very rainy yet either, although I think this week is going to be the begining of some cold, wet weather. But that just means more time inside making forts and pretend baking with my little cute friend, and that's alright with me!

Here's a picture of the bush outside our window.



And the view from my back porch:

With all this nice weather and a child who loves walking, we've spent a lot of time outside playing with leaves and exploring.

Lucy is not content to stay in our backyard for long, she wants to get out and see the big world.




So many new textures to learn about like leaves and pinecones, it's such an adventure!



I think she found a ladybug on the wall. (Also known as a "cat-cat").

Happy Fall everyone!

One year checkup

Lucy had her one year checkup today, and she's right on schedule! She is now in the 77th percentile for height (30 1/4 inches) and the 40th for weight (20 lbs 14 oz). She had achieved all of the developmental milestones they asked about, and on top of that she's also exceptionally cute (not that we're biased).

Especially when she makes faces at herself in the mirror:

And waves for the paparazzi at the park:

Fallish Things

Happy Late Halloween! Here's a picture of our little Lu enjoying herself some marionberry pie at our pumpkin carving event.



And here is the pumpkin we carved. (Mom, I know you're probably shuddering right now.)




And our adorable little Piglet! She actually did have a blast going around to some of the stores in the 5th street market and getting to pick out a candy from the different merchants.




Also, in other fall news, tonight I made something amazing, and I think you need to go out, buy the ingredients, and make it also.

Stat.

Bree calls it Sea Salt and Vanilla Bean Caramel Sauce. I call it nectar of the gods. So enraptured was I by this stuff that I didn't even pause to take a good picture. So here is the one she posted with the recipe. One thing you can do with this sauce is pour it over ice-cream. But I'm also envisioning it in coffee. And on these blondies I'm about to go make.

The best things in life

I love baking. I also love eating what I bake, which can be dangerous, and which is why I don't bake all that often. I love excuses to bake for others (like our after-church social times), and since it was my turn to bring treats this week, I decided to make cinnamon rolls.

And it made me realize: is there much better in life than home-made dough coated in butter, sugar and cinnamon?



Here, let's lean in for a closer look:



And then after it's rolled up:




And cut into pieces:



It's baked and drizzled with more sugar. I mean, talk about blessing upon blessing.




I love to bake because it is therapeutic and rewarding: hard work that turns into glorious aromas spilling out of the oven and filling my house. Not all hard work reaps such immediate, tangible results. And in that sense, baking helps remind me of God's promise to bless all hard work that is done to His glory. Even if my work doesn't immediately show results like warm, doughy cinnamon rolls, I can rest in the fact that those blessings will come. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

1 Year Old

Yesterday our sweet baby girl turned one. Nana and Papa Ditton were able to come visit, so we had a party-filled day, complete with a trip out to the Lone Pine Farms, cupcakes, singing, and presents.

Here's little Lu at the pumpkin patch:



Admiring one of her presents:



She was a little befuddled by the shoes, but I know she'll appreciate them even if she doesn't know it yet. :)

Mom and I decided to make pumpkin cupcakes for my fall baby:

And Lucy had a ball stuffing her cupcake into her mouth (after we removed the chokeable candy):

Later KeriAnn and her three kiddos were able to stop by for another round of singing and presents, Lucy was pleased as punch to be sung to twice, and she even got a second cupcake. How fun!

We love our little baby. Happy 1st birthday Lucy Rose!